By Erica C. Barnett
I’m excited to introduce PubliCola readers to the new podcast I’m doing with Sandeep Kaushik and KUOW political reporter David Hyde, Seattle Nice. The name is a tongue-in-cheek homage to the teeth-gritted, smiley-faced politesse of political discourse in the Pacific Northwest, to which all three of us are transplants; our goal is to give listeners a peek inside the conversation we’ve been having for years, about Seattle politics, issues, and personalities—including, in this inaugural episode, city council member Kshama Sawant, who just survived a recall attempt but may face a tough reelection battle in two years.
Sandeep and I met in 2003, when we were both reporters at the Stranger, and we’ve been arguing (and occasionally agreeing) about the often-frustrating politics of Seattle ever since. David, a longtime producer for KUOW radio, does the heavy lifting, interrupting us, keeping us (mostly) from shouting over each other, and editing our nonsense into a digestible half-hour format.
Since this is our pilot episode, here are a few answers to questions readers might have.
Q: Will this be available on iTunes, Overcast, or the podcatcher of my choice?
A: Yep—Seattle Nice will be available on all streaming platforms soon, if it isn’t already up by the time you read this. In the meantime, you can listen on Spotify or stream or download the first episode here.
Q: Can I contribute to the podcast directly, or should I just keep donating to PubliCola?
A: The podcast is its own project, and we’d love your support to make it happen. If you want to support PubliCola financially—and as an independent, completely reader-funded website, we encourage you to do so—here are all the ways. If you want to pitch in to help us make the podcast, we’ll have a Patreon soon and I will post the link here and on Twitter when we do.
Q: Do you seriously not know how to pronounce “Jacobin”?
A: Look, you know how there are some words that you just see in print? And nobody ever said them to you out loud because you never took a course in, I don’t know, French revolutionary history? Let me ask you something: Can YOU pronounce “Frühsjahrmüdigkeit”?
Q: Do you take comments, topic suggestions, or requests?
A: As always, feel free to reach out to me directly; I read every email sent to erica@publicola.com.
Erica: I have a great idea for your next podcast. The subject would be all the advantages which Seattle would accrue if they ramped up their Progressive approach and became even more like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia (the City of brotherly love). Imagine all the good times which Seattle would also benefit from. Seattle could have more looting (excuse me, “mass theft events”), more murders, more drug-crazed idiots running around. Hurry-up Seattle, we are losing ground in the insanity department. Lets see more free stuff already….Progressivism is comedy in action! Steve Willie.