Heidi Aurand has watched her son Adam spiral from one psychiatric crisis to the next for about eight years, bouncing between emergency rooms, jails, and homelessness. Now, after treatment at the state's largest psychiatric hospital, Adam was just released back onto the streets of downtown Seattle. A mother asks: How could her son pass through so many institutions and none are able to stop his decline?

Heidi Aurand has watched her son Adam spiral from one psychiatric crisis to the next for about eight years, bouncing between emergency rooms, jails, and homelessness. Now, after treatment at the state's largest psychiatric hospital, Adam was just released back onto the streets of downtown Seattle. A mother asks: How could her son pass through so many institutions and none are able to stop his decline?

New Season "We Keep Us Safe" starting September 21, 2026.

In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved. In this eight-part series, first published on NPR’s Embedded, KUOW’s Will James and The Seattle Times’ Sydney Brownstone track down key figures and eyewitnesses from the night of the shooting and surface crucial evidence that has never been made public.

We Keep Us Safe is a joint production of KUOW, The Seattle Times, and NPR’s Embedded.

Focus is KUOW’s home for immersive audio documentaries. Each season zooms in on a single story that challenges commonly held narratives about life in the Pacific Northwest and reveals something bigger about American society. Series include Adults in the Room and the Peabody-nominated Lost Patients.

New Season "We Keep Us Safe" starting September 21, 2026.
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.&nbsp;In this eight-part series, first published on NPR&rsquo;s&nbsp;Embedded, KUOW&rsquo;s Will James and The Seattle Times&rsquo; Sydney Brownstone track down key figures and eyewitnesses from the night of the shooting and surface crucial evidence that has never been made public.
We Keep Us Safe&nbsp;is a joint production of KUOW, The Seattle Times, and NPR&rsquo;s Embedded.
Focus is KUOW&rsquo;s home for immersive audio documentaries. Each season zooms in on a single story that challenges commonly held narratives about life in the Pacific Northwest and reveals something bigger about American society. Series include Adults in the Room and the Peabody-nominated Lost Patients.

Focus: We Keep Us Safe

Imagine a sprawling house in which every room, doorway, and hall passage was designed by a different architect. Doorways don't connect. Staircases lead to nowhere. Rooms are cut off from each other. That's how reporter Will James describes our complicated system for treating people with severe mental illness – a system that, almost by design, loses patients with psychosis to an endless loop between the streets, jail, clinics, courts and a shrinking number of hospital beds.

Lost Patients is a deeply-reported, six-part docuseries examining the difficulties of treating serious mental illness through the lens of one city's past, present and future. With real-life testimonials from patients, families, and professionals on the front lines, Lost Patients provides a real, solutions-oriented look at how we got stuck here...and what we might do to break free.

Lost Patients is a joint production of KUOW and Seattle Times. It is distributed by the NPR Network.

Imagine a sprawling house in which every room, doorway, and hall passage was designed by a different architect. Doorways don't connect. Staircases lead to nowhere. Rooms are cut off from each other. That's how reporter Will James describes our complicated system for treating people with severe mental illness &ndash; a system that, almost by design, loses patients with psychosis to an endless loop between the streets, jail, clinics, courts and a shrinking number of hospital beds.
Lost Patients&nbsp;is a deeply-reported, six-part docuseries examining the difficulties of treating serious mental illness through the lens of one city's past, present and future. With real-life testimonials from patients, families, and professionals on the front lines, Lost Patients provides a real, solutions-oriented look at how we got stuck here...and what we might do to break free.
Lost Patients&nbsp;is a joint production of KUOW and Seattle Times. It is distributed by the NPR Network.

Mental healthcare in America is a maze — by design.

Focus: Lost Patients

Lost Patients: Churn

When 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. was shot and killed inside Seattle's CHOP protest zone in 2020, protesters claimed self-defense. For years, that version of events went unchallenged. Reporters Sydney Brownstone, Will James and David Gutman investigate what really happened the night Antonio died.

We Keep Us Safe is part of Focus, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network.

Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus.

When 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. was shot and killed inside Seattle's CHOP protest zone in 2020, protesters claimed self-defense. For years, that version of events went unchallenged. Reporters Sydney Brownstone, Will James and David Gutman investigate what really happened the night Antonio died.
We Keep Us Safe is part of Focus, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network.
Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at <a href="https://www.kuow.org/donate/focus">kuow.org/donate/focus</a>.

EPISODE 1: When 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. was shot and killed inside Seattle's CHOP protest zone in 2020, protesters claimed self-defense. For years, that version of events went unchallenged. Reporters Sydney Brownstone, Will James and David Gutman investigate what really happened the night Antonio died.

We Keep Us Safe: Who Killed Antonio Mays Jr.?

“You let Tom Hudson off the hook."

That was one of the first things Paul (not his real name) said to host Isolde Raftery during their first conversation earlier this year. He wanted her to know about his own experience with Hudson, which included years of manipulation and molestation.  

And that wasn’t all. Paul also recounted harrowing details about Hudson’s death, puncturing the narrative Isolde held true for so many years. 

In this final episode of Adults in the Room, we uncover how extensive Tom Hudson’s crimes were … and how little we really understood about his death. 

CONTENT ADVISORY: This episode includes graphic descriptions of sexual abuse, drug abuse, and suicide, and includes a slur for gay men. 

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. Please take care while listening.  

KUOW only allows sources anonymity on rare occasions. You can read our entire ethics policy, which details how we approach anonymous sourcing, here. 

Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus.

Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan.  

Special thanks to King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, Phyllis Fletcher, John Bancroft, Mary Mills, and Levi Pulkkinen. 

&ldquo;You let Tom Hudson off the hook."
That was one of the first things Paul (not his real name) said to host Isolde Raftery during their first conversation earlier this year. He wanted her to know about his own experience with Hudson, which included years of manipulation and molestation.&nbsp;&nbsp;
And that wasn&rsquo;t all. Paul also recounted harrowing details about Hudson&rsquo;s death, puncturing the narrative Isolde held true for so many years.&nbsp;
In this final episode of Adults in the Room, we uncover how extensive Tom Hudson&rsquo;s crimes were &hellip; and how little we really understood about his death.&nbsp;
CONTENT ADVISORY: This episode includes graphic descriptions of sexual abuse, drug abuse, and suicide, and includes a slur for gay men.&nbsp;
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. Please take care while listening.&nbsp;&nbsp;
KUOW only allows sources anonymity on rare occasions. You can read our entire ethics policy, which details how we approach anonymous sourcing, <a href="https://www.kuow.org/ethics-policy#sourcing">here</a>.&nbsp;
Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at <a href="http://kuow.org/donate/focus">kuow.org/donate/focus</a>.
Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by <a href="https://www.kuow.org/people/isolde-raftery">Isolde Raftery</a>. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and <a href="https://www.kuow.org/people/alec-cowan">Alec Cowan</a>. Our editor is <a href="https://www.kuow.org/people/jeannie-yandel">Jeannie Yandel</a>. Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Special thanks to <a href="https://www.kcsarc.org/en/">King County Sexual Assault Resource Center</a>, Phyllis Fletcher, John Bancroft, Mary Mills, and Levi Pulkkinen.&nbsp;

In this final episode of Adults in the Room, we uncover how extensive Tom Hudson’s crimes were … and how little we really understood about his death. 

Adults in the Room: The Ultimatum

The team behind Adults in the Room is hard at work on an Epilogue episode, set to release later this summer.

In the meantime, the team recently gathered for a live event to discuss behind-the-scenes moments and decisions from the series—including interviews that didn't make it into the final episodes, the continued challenges of addressing grooming and childhood sexual abuse, and audience questions.

KUOW's Libby Denkmann was joined by Ella Hushagen, host Isolde Raftery, producer Alec Cowan, and editor Jeannie Yandel. 

Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating atkuow.org/focus.

Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, including Ella Hushagen, host Libby Denkmann, producers Alec Cowan and Hans Twite, editor Jeannie Yandel, event manager Charlotte Duren, and marketing associate Carina Bolaños Lewen.

The team behind Adults in the Room is hard at work on an Epilogue episode, set to release later this summer.
In the meantime, the team recently gathered for a live event to discuss behind-the-scenes moments and decisions from the series&mdash;including interviews that didn't make it into the final episodes, the continued challenges of addressing grooming and childhood sexual abuse, and audience questions.
KUOW's Libby Denkmann was joined by Ella Hushagen, host Isolde Raftery, producer Alec Cowan, and editor Jeannie Yandel.&nbsp;
Get in touch with the team by email at <a href="mailto:focus@kuow.org">focus@kuow.org</a>. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at<a href="https://donate.kuow.org/donate/focus"> kuow.org/focus</a>.
Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, including Ella Hushagen, host <a href="https://www.kuow.org/authors/libby-denkmann">Libby Denkmann</a>, producers <a href="https://www.kuow.org/authors/alec-cowan">Alec Cowan</a> and <a href="https://www.kuow.org/authors/hans-twite">Hans Twite</a>, editor <a href="https://www.kuow.org/authors/jeannie-yandel">Jeannie Yandel</a>, event manager <a href="https://www.kuow.org/authors/charlotte-duren">Charlotte Duren</a>, and marketing associate <a href="https://www.kuow.org/authors/carina-bolanos-lewen">Carina Bola&ntilde;os Lewen</a>.

The team recently gathered to discuss behind-the-scenes moments and decisions from the series—including interviews that didn't make it into the final episodes, the continued challenges of addressing grooming and childhood sexual abuse, and audience questions.

Lost Patients: Churn

Focus: Lost Patients

In 1 playlist(s)

Focus: We Keep Us Safe

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips