Meet Me Here

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS: Salmon Bay FC vs FC Olympia - Public Radio Night! Brass Screw Consortium Seattle Pride Classic 2026 Pride Ice Skate Lifelong Pride Gala Washington Brewers Fest 2026 Beacon Arts Street Fairs Viking Tour – Poulsbo Rotary Club Furry 5K Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.   

Seattle's own Fantagraphics is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. That's 50 years of comics, graphic novels, and counterculture media to look back on.  To mark the occasion, we got in touch with artists, fans, and Fantagraphics staff to hear what they love most about the publisher. Plus, we spoke to Eric Reynolds, the vice president and associate publisher who identifies as the company's former "corporate shill and paid apologist." He's been with Fantagraphics for more than three decades, yet he said he doesn't feel like he's worked a day in that time.  There's not a formal RIYL this week, but you can support Fantagraphics for the next 50 years by visiting their shop in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. Check out some of the biggest names they've published over the years, including: Peter Bagge Daniel Clowes Robert Crumb Emil Ferris Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez Trina Robbins Joe Sacco Carol Tyler Jim Woodring Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Think of some of your favorite Pacific Northwest critters. What’s at the top of the list? Maybe some of the region’s great birds, like the bald eagle, Steller’s Jay, belted kingfisher, or the iconic tufted puffin. What about the pigeon guillemot? Probably not, right?  The pigeon guillemot is a rather common seabird around Puget Sound and all along the Pacific Coast. But they’re not super well-known, which is why Maria Mudd Ruth set out to document them in her new book.  This month, the KUOW Book Club is reading Maria’s book “The Bird with Flaming Red Feet: Seasons with an Uncommonly Common Seabird.” We're sharing this interview with Maria early in June, rather than the end of the month, to give birders plenty of time to put the book to work and see the pigeon guillemot while they’re near Puget Sound shores this summer.  Join the KUOW Book Club at kuow.org/books.  Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS: Seattle Pride in the Park Paws & Pride Dog Walk Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show NORTHWEST NOIR: NWFF's 2026 Annual Gala DubSea Fish Sticks 2026 Cascade PBS Ideas Festival Kent Nerd Party 2026 Duvall Days 2026 Anacortes Waterfront Festival Point Defiance Flower & Garden Festival The "Sound of Sunshine" Steel Orchestra Concert Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

On today’s episode, we’re talking with two night owls who found freedom and community in Seattle’s local nightlife.  Growing up just south of Seattle in Des Moines, music and nightlife advocate Leigh Bezezekoff felt like she saw a new world while watching Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” video on MTV. “The coolness factor of Des Moines at that time was not great”, said Bezezekoff. But the video suggested that an extremely cool local music scene was waiting for her just a few miles north.  These days, Leigh is the marketing and ticketing manager at Conor Byrne, a cooperatively owned music space and bar in Ballard. She's also a cofounder of the Washington Nightlife and Music Association, an organization that supports and champions independent music venues and artists.  DJ Emily Griffin grew up in the Los Angeles area. She was drawn to the underground rave scene. Emily and her friends called telephone hotlines to get the scoop on where the underground raves were located – often in grimy warehouses on the edge of town.  Emily said her days of clubbing in LA “opened up this whole world to me of being able to get lost in music, dance, and feeling fully self-expressed.” Decades later, she’s still seeking that out. You can catch DJ Emily Griffin, aka GriffinGrrl, spinning regularly at late-night dance parties around the city.  On this episode of Meet Me Here, these two night owls will tell you where - and WHY - to find late-night community in Seattle.   In this episode, we mention: Conor Byrne Pub on Instagram Conor Byrne Co-op  Washington Nightlife and Music Association GriffinGrrl on Soundcloud  Emily Griffin on Instagram Monkey Loft, Dance & Nightclub  Do206    Host Jeannie Yandel recommends checking out the new Hot Rat Summer mosaic unveiling at Actualize Gallery in Pioneer Square on June 13th from 5-9 pm, and the afterparty from 9pm-midnight.    *********   Support Meet Me Here and all KUOW's podcasts atkuow.org/meet  Got an arts and culture idea you'd like us to talk about? Email us! arts@kuow.org 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS: Bark! The Musical HONK! Fest West Mason County Forest Festival Glazer's PhotoFest Battle on the Bank Sally Ride: A New Opera About Queer Love and the First American Woman in Space Pollinator Fest 2026 Run to End Weekend Hunger 5K THE STUFF WE DIDN'T GET TO: Brandi Carlile - Echoes Through the Canyon 14th Annual Seattle Asian American Film Festival Trae Crowder at Emerald City Comedy Club Seattle Mariners vs Arizona D-Backs Stamp & Scrapbook EXPO Seattle Spring - Renegade Craft Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Speculative fiction is often about society, how people think and work together. Sure, there's something decidedly out there, something not quite possible, sometimes something downright magical. But at the end of the day, the genre speculates about what might happen if... What exactly comes after the "if" depends on the writer. Author Lily Brooks-Dalton's "what if" often includes a kind of societal collapse, and that collapse sets her latest main character, Ember, on a journey into a surprising past. Ruins is, on its face anyway, about an archaeologist who goes looking for a lost empire. But what is this lost world? What clue does Ember have of its existence? And why is the end of something so often the beginning for this author? Lily stopped by to talk to host Katie Campbell about the allure of societal collapse in her storytelling. If you want to stay speculative, check out Lily and Katie's Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): Piranesi by Susanna Clarke I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle The Husbands by Holly Gramazio Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Honestly, Katie recommends anything by Emily St. John Mandel For All Mankind on Apple TV Read more about Lily Brooks-Dalton (and all the authors who stop by for a chat with our host Katie Campbell) at kuow.org/books. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Finding love can be so weird these days, which is why the main character in Seattle author Sonora Jha’s new novel decides to take a big swing to find the right man for her.  She holds a swayamvar. It’s an ancient Indian custom in which suitors competed in a feat of wills and strength to win a beautiful princess’s hand in marriage. But the woman in the novel Intemperance is not a young princess looking for her first love. She’s a twice-divorced professor of feminist theory in her 50s who lives on a rad houseboat in present-day Seattle.  The KUOW Book Club read Sonora’s novel in May. KUOW’s Katie Campbell sat down with her on May 21 in front of a live audience at the Seattle Central Library to talk about love, aging, and the kinds of feats Sonora would require at her swayamvar.  Join the KUOW Book Club at kuow.org/books. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS: Inaugural Ballard Book Crawl Lost the Plot Mobile Books Bremerton by the Book Page 42 BookstoreSmut & Sips Book Recommendations thanks to @beckybooksandbeads! Trailhead Direct - Begins Saturday! Whidbey Ren Faire Festival | Northwest Folklife Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Margo Vansynghel sometimes jokes that she’s the harbinger of doom. As the arts economy reporter for The Seattle Times, it's her job to spell out the connections between the arts and the economy here in Seattle.  She’s written about the recent layoffs of 250 local arts workers; Seattle Art Museum employees working to unionize; and the Bellevue Art Museum's sudden closure in 2024.  In this conversation from October 2025, Margo gives us a temperature check on how Seattle arts organizations are doing overall and says it's not time to freak out just yet. She also shares simple, actionable ideas for things we can all do to support Seattle artists and arts organizations.  In this episode we mention: The Seattle Symphony and its new music director, Xian Zhang Seattle’s 13 art walks, in neighborhoods like the Central District, Capitol Hill, Belltown and Hillman City. Along with the mothership art walk, First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square King County’s cultural funding agency, 4Culture The Seattle Public Library’s free museum pass program. Discount tickets to arts organizations, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Rep and Seattle Art Museum.   Local storyteller Emmett Montgomery Plus a shot out to one of our listener's who suggested volunteering with these groups: Freemont Arts Council VamoLa! Northwest Folklife  MORE ON MARGO: For more of Margo’s coverage of the arts and economy check out her articles about unexpected art experiences in Seattle and 12 ways to support the arts in Seattle.  There’s also this visual story Margo wrote that explains 15 ways you can support local arts and artists.  If you’d like to ask Margo for her arts suggestions based on your personal preferences, email: mvansynghel@seattletimes.com ********** Support Meet Me Here and all KUOW's podcasts at kuow.org/meet  Got an arts and culture idea you'd like us to talk about? Email us! arts@kuow.org   

"The Yankee Sphinx" may sound like a mysterious novel in line with "Twin Peaks," which author Mark Frost co-created, but it's much more normal than the famous surrealist crime drama. Note: I said "more normal." The novel is about President Franklin D. Roosevelt — nicknamed the Yankee Sphinx — and his presidency in the later years of World War II. There was very little that was "normal" about that period, considering the novel covers FDR's third full term and partial fourth term as president. Then, there's the matter of the novel's source material: a clandestine diary kept by FDR's longtime staffer and friend William D. Hassett. Frost stopped by KUOW while on tour to talk about someone who has classically dealt in the weird and uncanny came to write something so normal.

Symphonies have long struggled with shrinking audiences, yet some classical performances are packing concert halls with music from video games, TV shows like Game of Thrones, new and old pop charts, and blockbuster movies. You can find string quartets performing Taylor Swift, the music of TOOL, and classic hip hop. At the Seattle Symphony it's Andrew Joslyn's job to produce pop culture mashups that will get newbies through the door. He's the Symphony's associate director of popular programming, and he speaks with host Dyer Oxley about putting these shows together, and his path to Benaroya Hall from starting violin at age five. You can support shows like Meet Me Here at https://donate.kuow.org/donate/meet

Shelby Van Pelt is the author of the hit novel Remarkably Bright Creatures about a giant Pacific octopus who develops a relationship with the cleaning lady at the aquarium where he is held captive (that's how he's sees it anyway). The novel has been adapted by Netflix, which released the film on May 8. The octopus, Marcellus, is kept in the fictional Sowell Bay Aquarium, which sits on Puget Sound. And he’s not happy about it. He considers the aquarium a prison, and he’s all too aware of the limited time he has left in his life. Marcellus may not be warm and cuddly like other animal narrators before him, but he does set the audience up for tears. Shelby stopped by KUOW while on tour with the film to talk about how the octopus came to life on the page and now the screen.  And... if you need some help filing the octopus-shaped void after reading the book or watching the movie, check out Shelby and Katie's Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett The Summer Book by Tove Jansson Read more about Shelby Van Pelt (and all the authors who stop by for a chat with our host Katie Campbell) at kuow.org/books. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS: Seattle International Film Festival Seattle Beer Week  Maifest - Leavenworth Washington Get Intimate with the Shrub-Steppe | KEEN World Migratory Bird Day Celebration! · Seward Park Audubon Center Beat the Bridge for Breakthrough T1D Spring Walk n Wag Penn Cove Water Festival 18th Annual Flower Festival - Pike Place Market BonsaiFEST! | Pacific Bonsai Museum Sounders vs San Diego FC Seattle Reign vs Washington Spirit - MOTHER’S DAY Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Looking for a home can be overwhelming. There’s this fear that you might choose wrong. This week, Seattle author Kim Fu's new novel, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts, brings your wildest real estate nightmares to life. The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts unfurls quickly. The main character Eleanor’s mother has died and left her enough money for a down payment on a house. It’s not a ton of money, though, so Eleanor goes through a process that will sound pretty familiar to anyone who’s bought a house in recent years. She makes a few offers but gets beat, or she’s just not impressed with the properties in her price range. That is until she’s shown a dream house. It’s big and stylish and is flooded with natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows. As other prospective buyers approach, she moves fast to put in her offer. The problem is she waives an inspection and all the other contingencies that are there to notice, for example, that those beautiful windows will leak when it rains. What follows is a true nightmare, built on the crummy foundation of Eleanor’s new home and of her own adulthood.  Read more about Kim Fu (and all the authors who stop by for a chat with our host Katie Campbell) at kuow.org/books. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS:  Seattle May Day 2026 Seattle Black Film Festival Sequim Irrigation Festival Mariners vs KC Royals Kentucky Derby Day Party at Emerald Downs May the Fourth | The Museum of Flight Seattle Erotic Art Festival PNW Burlesque Festival Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Laura LeMoon decided to create portraits of women and girls who were victimized by the Green River killer. She was moved to begin the project when she saw pink daisies in bloom, in the parking lot of a hotel where one of the girls was last seen. "It was almost like a glitch in the Matrix," she told KUOW’s Jeannie Yandel. "Part of the reason I felt that way was because I knew the history of the hotel I was at. I knew somebody had been working here and had disappeared and then was murdered." How do you create a portrait of someone who's long departed and you know little about? Laura LeMoon describes her "portraits in absence" on the latest Meet Me Here. Laura LeMoon is the resident artist of Lottie’s Lounge in Seattle. Her portraits are on display in her exhibit, "What the Earth Knows." Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today.

Part of the fun of living in this literary era is seeing how modern authors take old concepts, sometimes even cliches, and make them new again. Seattle author and educator Molly Olguín is one of those authors. Her debut short-story collection “The Sea Gives Up the Dead” takes some classic elements of folklore and fairytales – even some biblical references – and gives them new life. The KUOW Book Club read Molly’s collection of short stories in April. KUOW’s Katie Campbell sat down with her on April 23 in front of a live audience at the Seattle Central Library to talk about folk lore and fairytales and the power of queering old stories. Sign up for the next talk in our Book Talks series in partnership with the Seattle Public Library at kuow.org/events. And join the KUOW Book Club at kuow.org/books. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS:  Seattle/King County Clinic at Seattle Center Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Melissa Auf der Maur: Even the Good Girls Will Cry, A '90s Rock Memoir Professional Bull Riding - Tacoma Dome The Pancakes & Booze Art Show Carnival of Cocktails — Seattle Cocktail Week 2026 Seattle Independent Bookstore Day The Tacoma Flea Seattle Seawolves Rugby vs Chicago Hounds Seattle Sounders vs FC Dallas Seattle Reign vs Utah Royals Seattle Torrent vs Montreal Victoire Pre-game "Tailgate" will be held at the corner of 1st Ave N & Lenny Wilkins Way from 4pm until the doors open at 5:30! Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Looking for a great place to stay on the Oregon coast? Maybe you just want to find a good restaurant and a show in downtown Seattle? It's likely you turn to social media for answers. But when you're actually exploring these places, does having a phone out all the time affect your experience, and everyone else's? How have phones and social media changed the recommendations we're getting and the experiences we're having?  On the next episode of Meet Me Here, travel expert Rick Steves and Seattle content creators Two Seattle Girls discuss how phones are changing the way we travel and experience culture.  You can support shows like Meet Me Here at https://donate.kuow.org/donate/meet

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS:  Mariners vs Texas Rangers Seattle Torrent vs Vancouver Goldeneyes Seattle Sounders vs St Louis City SC Indoor Plant Festival Oddmall Emporium of the Weird: SPRUNG Tilted Thunder Roller Derby POP Cats Seattle 2026: Pacific Northwest’s Ultimate Cat Convention International Children's Friendship Festival Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival RSD 2026 List | RECORD STORE DAY Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

What do we do with our fear? Fear can paralyze us, befuddle us, lead us to inexplicably run up the stairs to escape a killer when the front door is right there. But in Stephen Graham Jones’ world(s), fear can empower and be used as a tool against that which caused it. We’ll ask Jones what it means to harness terror and become the terrible. And… if you need some help filling the horror shaped void, here’s Stephen Graham Jones' and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): Cliffhanger (1993) The Blair Witch Project (1999) Read more about Stephen Graham Jones (and all the authors who stop by for a chat with our host Katie Campbell) at kuow.org/books. You can support shows like Meet Me Here at https://donate.kuow.org/donate/meet

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS:  Fin de Fest - Latin Film Festival MARINERS vs Houston Astros Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival Spring Fair | Washington State Fair Event Center NW Model Hobby Expo SDFF 2026 - Deaf Spotlight WA State Toy Show 2026 Tea Festival - April 11th | Cascadia Tea Fest iDiOM Theater - “All Our Tragic” 4 part series Dungeons and Drag Queens Brunch Show SIFF 2026 Annual Volunteer Meeting Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.   

Xian Zhang says she never wanted to be a conductor. Instead, she says, “conducting chose me.”  Zhang is in her first season as Seattle Symphony’s music director. On this episode of “Meet Me Here,” she explains how her conducting teacher threw her into deep waters as a 20-year-old conservatory student in Beijing.  She also shares how she gets ready for conducting (“I prepare 300% mentally”), and advice for anyone who hasn’t experienced a symphony performance at Benaroya Hall.  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today.

Environmental author Terry Tempest Williams captures not just the physical beauty of the natural world but she also invites the reader to deepen their spiritual understanding and connection with the environment. In her new book The Glorians, Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, Terry seeks to understand the obscure meaning of moments in her life. From the personal to the universal. A way to reveal the joy in being present.  Sign up for the next talk in our Book Talks series in partnership with the Seattle Public Library at kuow.org/events. And sign up for the KUOW Book Club newsletter at kuow.org/books. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS:  Norwescon Sakura-Con Seattle's Easter Swing Women Made Film Festival in Everett, WA The Stranger Presents: The 2026 Undisputable Champions of Comedy! 93rd Annual Daffodil Festival Grand Floral Parade Seattle Torrent vs NY Sirens at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

This week hosts Katie Campbell, Dyer Oxley, and Jeannie Yandel discuss which music festivals in Seattle are worth checking out this summer. And we get recommendations from our arts friends in the region, KEXP and the Seattle Times music desk.  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here!  Become a KUOW member today.

Seattle’s punk scene in the ‘90s left a big impression on Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe.  Bands like Bikini Kill were angry about sexual violence and oppression like she was, and they yelled about it, made music about it. But the punk scene was also very white, like a lot of the spaces around Sasha. And as a Coast Salish punk, she wanted a space to be her – all of her.   The KUOW Book Club read Sasha’s latest book “Thunder Song” in March. KUOW’s Katie Campbell sat down with her in front of a live audience at the Seattle Central Library to talk about being a punk, reconnecting to salmon, and following in the footsteps of her iconic great grandmother, Vi taqʷšəblu Hilbert.  Sign up for the next talk in our Book Talks series in partnership with the Seattle Public Library at kuow.org/events. And sign up for the KUOW Book Club newsletter at kuow.org/books. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS:  Mariners Opening Weekend Puck Place Market 2026 Seattle Torrent vs Ottawa Charge Onda Origins Coffee/Seattle Torrent Rain Country Dance Association - 2026 Emerald City Hoedown Seattle No Kings- March 28 Celebrate the new Crosslake Connection! | Sound Transit Stand By Me: The Film and Its Stars 40 Years Later Bellingham Children’s Film Festival Spring Salon Fundraiser 2026 - Key to Change Moving Stories – TDOV Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Do you cringe when your favorite novel is adapted for the big screen? Or are you first in line for tickets?  This week, "Project Hail Mary" kicks off our books vs. movies debate: How do you know when the movie will be better? Which titles should have never hit the screen, and which should have just been movies in the first place? Send us your hot take! Email us at meetmehere@kuow.org.  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS:   Taste of Iceland Seattle 2026 | A Festival of Food, Music & Culture Plate of Nations BrainFest with Allen Institute - Pacific Science Center Steamy in Seattle 2026 - Clarion West Torrent vs Boston U-District NIGHT BLOSSOM Festival Columbia City Night Market | Go All Night! Bands Stand With Gaza - The Vera Project Band of Horses at the Showbox Seattle's French Fest PROJECT HAIL MARY - Jason says GO SEE IT! Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Western Washington is dotted with towns and neighborhoods that, once a month, transform their streetscapes into galleries. Seattle claims the oldest and longest-running art walk in the U.S., and this episode of Meet Me Here is your virtual guide to art walks in Bellingham, Capitol Hill and Pioneer Square. We reprise our 2025 conversation with artist Tommy Gregory, and we tag along with our producer Kyle Norris. Art walks featured in this episode:  First Thursday Art Walk In Pioneer Square Capitol Hill Art Walk Bellingham First Friday Art Walk  Seattle art walks: Ballard Art Walk, 2nd Saturday Belltown Art Walk, 2nd Friday Central District Art Walk, First Friday Columbia City Art Walk, Last Thursday Downtown Art Walk, 4th Friday Fremont Art Walk, First Friday  Georgetown’s ART ATTACK 2nd Saturday Lake City Community Art Walk, 3rd Thursday PhinneyWood Art Walk, Aug 14-15, 2026   U District Art Walk, 3rd Friday Uptown Art Walk, 3rd Thursdays West Seattle Art Walk, 2nd Thursday  Washington art walks: Edmonds Third Thursday Art Walk Olympia Art Walk, April 25-26, 2026 Tacoma Third Thursday Art Walk  Bainbridge Island First Friday Art Walk First Friday in Spokane Rat City Art Walk in White Center, 3rd Thursday Langley First Saturday Art Walk Art Walk Sequim, 1st Friday Port Townsend Art Walk, 1st Saturday Anacortes Art Walk, First Friday Everett Art Walk, 3rd Thursday Places mentioned in this episode: Bellingham: Allied Arts of Whatcom County Whatcom Museum Children of the Setting Suns Productions  Pioneer Square:  Stonington Gallery  ArtX Contemporary Collins Pub The Meyer Pilchuck Glass School Seattle Office SOIL Art Gallery 4Culture  Capitol Hill: Steve Gilbert Studio  The Factory Vermillion Art Gallery & Bar 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS:  Pi Day Dash Pi Day Community Math Festival Kat Robichaud’s Misfit Cabaret “Circus” | The Triple Door Quilters Anonymous - Quilt Show Seattle Golf Show Wings Over Water | Northwest Birding Festival Firebird | March 13 -22, 2026 | Pacific Northwest Ballet St Patrick’s Day Parade Irish Festival Seattle Emerald City Irish Film Festival Mariners 50: Community & Baseball (MoPop) Also, let us know - where do you fall in the Quilters vs Golfers venn diagram? AND where is your favorite pie in the region? Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

You've heard “Beam me up,” “Resistance is futile,” and “Live long and prosper.” You live in a world with automatic doors and you can talk to your handheld computer. Star Trek has been influencing our culture for the past six decades with a unifying view of humanity, inspiring generations to create a better future. But recent series like "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Starfleet Academy" have many fans wondering if Star Trek has boldly gone off the rails. Will future generations be talking about today's Star Trek like we talk about the series from the 1990s and 1960s? Or has Star Trek finally jumped the targ? Meet Me Here beams in fellow journalists / Star Trek fans (Libby Denkmann and Essex Porter) to debate if Star Trek is still the cultural force that it once was. Or, is something else going on?  Check out Star Trek meet up groups in Western Washington: Star Trek Fans of Tacoma: Ready for Raktajino Star Trek Fans of Seattle: There's Coffee in that Nebula  Klingon Speakers of Greater Puget Sound Have you gone to an event you heard about on Meet Me Here? Tell us how it went! Email us at meetmehere@kuow.org.  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows.  LINKS: Emerald City Comic Con Tacoma Beer Week Winthrop Hot Air Balloon Round Up Oops All Goalies! Lunar New Year Celebration | Seattle Chinatown-International District Penn Cove Musselfest Northwest Record Show Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Artists who design book covers want you to judge the covers. The goal of the cover is to make you look twice...and, hopefully, pick the book up, open it, and walk it over to the cash register. Host Katie Campbell talks to Elisha Zepeda, a book cover designer based on the Northwest, about what it takes to make a cover, and why you should consider the cover art of your next read. Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here!  Become a KUOW member today.

When you think about shipwrecks in the Northwest, what comes to mind? Bad weather? Old English paintings? Maybe a Kraken?   What about settler colonialism? That may not be one of the first things exactly, but author and historian Coll Thrush wants to change that.   The KUOW Book Club read Coll’s latest book “Wrecked: Unsettling Histories of the Graveyard of the Pacific” in February, and KUOW’s Katie Campbell sat down with him in front of a live audience at the Seattle Central Library to talk about how shipwrecks brought settlers and Indigenous peoples suddenly, violently together — and how we’ve made sense of time and space through the wreckage.  Sign up for the next talk in our Book Talks series in partnership with the Seattle Public Library at kuow.org/events.   Plus, help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet. 

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows.  LINKS: Mad Science: A night of Improv and Laughter Seattle Torrent vs Toronto Scepters Kraken vs Canucks Sea Slug Animation Festival 2026 Poulsbo Blues & Jazz Festival Tacoma Beer Week Events Free Rose Pruning Demonstration - Woodland Park Zoo Doughboys - Seattle Theatre Group 4th Annual Black Makers & Creatives Art Exhibit Iranian Vigil & Solidarity Art Exhibition Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

The artist Barbara Earl Thomas has made a promise: to keep the artistic legacy of her mentor Jacob Lawrence alive and growing. Barbara met the Black modernist painter Jacob Lawrence as his student at the University of Washington in the 1970s. As her career and artistry developed, so did her friendship with Jacob and his wife Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, who’ve now both died. Last fall Barbara contributed four of her own portraits of Jacob to accompany his debut in the Netherlands–his first solo show in Europe. The exhibit, and being there at the opening, were part of her promise. Barbara enlisted the help of her friend, the arts journalist and cultural strategist Leilani Lewis–to go on the trip, and to be part of stewarding Jacob and Gwendolyn’s artistic legacies. In this episode of Meet Me Here, Leilani and Barbara are in conversation about their trip, friendship, and art. Barbara Earl Thomas’ website Leilani Lewis’ article: The Barbara Earl Thomas’s High-Frequency Art Method Leilani Lewis’ article: As the US Slides Into Tyranny, Europe Champions Black American Artists Jacob and Gwen Knight Lawrence Information Center   MoMA profile of Jacob Lawrence  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows.  LINKS: Northwest Flower & Garden Festival Seattle Home & Garden Show Wintergrass Festival Black History Month Soirée 2026 - Bainbridge Island Museum of Art Lunar New Year Family Festival | Seattle Art Museum Cupid's Undie Run at The Dock in Fremont Cardi B - Climate Pledge Arena Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

We look ahead to March and the awesome arts and culture coming up, and we convince each other to go check out one new thing. Event Recommendations: Emerald City Comic Con - March 5-8 at the Seattle Convention Center  KUOW Book Talks with Author Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe - March 23 at Seattle Central Library Frye Parlor x Jayme Yen - Until January 2027 at Frye Art Museum Have you gone to an event you heard about on Meet Me Here? Tell us how it went! Email us at meetmehere@kuow.org.  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows.  LINKS: The Atomic Bombshells: J’ADORE 17 Year Anniversary at Triple Door Winter Festival | Early Music Seattle Noir City - SIFF After Hours Premier: No Pressure Valentines - Seattle Aquarium Busch Light PBR Everett Comedy of Love: A Valentine's Day Improv Disenchanted! | Tacoma City Theaters Science After Dark - Pacific Science Center Get a Friday the 13th Tattoo at One of These Seattle Shops Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Seattle readers are loving romance books. From heated hockey players to… yes, Bigfoot romance. Seattle bookstores can't keep them on the shelves. Katie Campbell chats with Ashley Adair, an owner of Beguiled Books, about why Seattle readers have caught the love bug for romance books. Hint: It’s rough out here. And… if you need some help filling that book shaped void, here’s Ashley’s and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): Beguiled Books Squatch Out! A Bigfoot Shifter Rom-com by Deysi O'Donal The Lust Crusade by Jo Segura Like in Love with You by Emma R. Alban The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley The Possession of Alba Diaz Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver Book Bedazzling Ink Drinker Event recommendations from this week’s episode: Thomas Mallon w/ Katie Campbell - The Wyncote NW Forum at Town Hall Seattle, Feb 20 Do you have a favorite romance novel? Tell us about your favorite steamy reads at meetmehere@kuow.org. Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows.  LINKS: Olympic Opening Ceremony Olympic Women's Hockey @ Rough & Tumble Ballard Full Watch Party Schedule Ear Hustle | Town Hall Seattle Eagle Festival | Arlington, WA Enumclaw Wine & Chocolate Festival Chocolate “Escape Room” challenge Washington State Gaming Expo / Anime Washington The Grave Plot Film Fest Seahawks at Patriots Super Bowl LX Game Center Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

We made our hosts read (some of)  Infinite Jest, the thousand-page novel by David Foster Wallace that turns 30 this month, to answer the question once and for all: Do we have to read this book? The publishing world hailed Wallace as a genius voice of his generation when Infinite Jest became a bestseller in 1996. Interest in the book has spiked many times since then: with Wallace’ death by suicide in 2008; again after accusations in 2012 that he had abused and stalked women; and again now that Infinite Jest is 30. If you want to check it out from the Seattle Public Library, you'll have to get in line. But there’s no hold time for this episode of Meet Me Here. This episode discusses sexual assault and stalking. Please take care while listening. Guest: KUOW producer Will James  Book recommendations: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Lit by Mary Karr On the Road by Jack Kerouac Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace We by Yevgeny Zamyatin   Event recommendations from this week’s episode: Merlantis at Base Camp Studios in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood, through March 27 My Circus Valentine at the Bellingham Circus Guild, Feb. 12-14, 20 & 21

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows.  LINKS: Washington Sportsmen's Show Tacoma Home + Garden Show Heated Rivalry Rave | Neumos sQuatch Fest + Galactic Fest 2026 For Your Consideration - SIFF The Chronology of Water - SIFF Battle of the Sound: Seattle Thunderbirds vs Everett Silvertips Tacoma Tattoo Expo 2026 Seattle Wedding Show Drag Queen Bingo - Chuck’s Hop Shop Seward Park Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

The Seattle-area drag scene has grown into the national spotlight. Two local queens, Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme, have won the franchised competition show RuPaul’s Drag Race. Other locals have passed through the show, like Bosco, Irene the Alien, and, currently on the 18th season, Jane Don’t. Seattle drag shows operate in a DIY, underground way, thriving off an engaged fanbase and a regional circuit of clubs. When an art form blows up on the national scene, like grunge did in the '90s, can it lose what made it special in the first place? Diving into this question and revealing the big picture of Seattle's drag queen scene are our guests: Journalist Adam Willems with Chum News and Miss Texas 1988. Read Adam's coverage of Seattle's drag scene here: Can Seattle drag afford to stay weird?  Also, a visit to a live performance of Seattle's Dungeons & Drag Queens Live, featuring Kylie Mooncakes, Ma'amShe, and Irene the Alien. You haven't experienced anything like this.  Have you gone to an event you heard about on Meet Me Here? Tell us how it went! Email us at meetmehere@kuow.org.  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows.  LINKS: Edible Books — Shorelake Arts GameSymphonic with Eímear Noone | Seattle Symphony Pacific NW Reptile & Exotic Animal Show Jet City Roller Derby 20th Anniversary Season Game 1 5th Annual Viking Beard Competition Anaheim Ducks at Seattle Kraken - Fri 1/23 - 7pm New Jersey Devils at Seattle Kraken - Sun 1/25 - 12pm Seattle Torrent vs Vancouver Goldeneyes - Sun 1/25 - 3pm IN DENVER Seahawks NFC Championship Game - Seahawks vs LA Rams - Sun 1/25 - 3:30 Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.   

This week we are hitting the books with our book bestie Spencer Ruchti, the events manager at Third Place Books. We dig through the Seattle reads that skyrocketed to the top of so many TBR lists in 2025 and... why hardcover books are the Porsche of books. Plus, we give you some tips for setting book-ish goals for reading more in 2026.  And… if you need some help filling that book shaped void after listening to the episode, here’s Spencer and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): On the Calculations of Volume by Solvej Balle You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue Third Place Book Events Third Place Top 10 of 2025: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/our-top-ten-books-2025  Explore the Seattle Room at the Seattle Public Library  KUOW Book Club https://www.kuow.org/series/books   Crux by Gabriel Tallent Event recommendations from this week’s episode: Broadview Branch 50th Anniversary Celebration, Saturday, January 24, 2026 Got a book rec? Tell us about your favorite books of 2025 or the ones you can’t wait to read in 2026 meetmehere@kuow.org. Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here!  Become a KUOW member today.

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows.  LINKS: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS vs San Francisco 49ers - Saturday 5pm Seattle Torrent vs Boston Fleet - Sun 7pm Seattle Kraken vs Pittsburgh Penguins - Mon 2pm Seattle Retro Fest Monster Jam | Tacoma Dome Fat Con Kidstock! 2026 | Edmonds Center for the Arts Follow the Yellow Brick Road: An Oz Film Festival 2026 Winterhop Brewfest MLK Day Events: Annual Community Celebration of MLK | Seattle Colleges - Fri 1/16 2026 MLK Day March & Celebration on January 17 - Parkways - Sat 1/17  26th Annual Expansions MLK Unity Party and Live Broadcast - Sun 1/18 MLK Celebration 2026 - Bainbridge Island Museum of Art - Sunday 1/18 Events | SCBHC - Everett, WA Sun 1/18 - Celebration + Mon 1/19 - March & Rally MLK Day — Seattle MLK Jr Organizing Coalition - Mon 1/19 NAAM | Annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration 2026 - Mon 1/19 Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.