Episodes

  • 🎧 Power of Place Episode #52 | Kerouac’s Cascadia – Jim Jones

    🎧 Power of Place Episode #52 | Kerouac’s Cascadia – Jim Jones
    Jul 31 2024
    Our guest, Kerouac scholar Jim Jones, describes Kerouac’s sojourn to Seattle in the summer of 1956. There, he worked as a fire lookout at Desolation Peak atop the North Cascade Mountains. Along the way, Jones recounts personal encounters and friendships with other Beat Generation luminaries, including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Gregory Corso. Adding a touch of practical insight, firefighter, EMT, and seasoned fire lookout Jim Henterly complements Jones' literary perspective. Together, they reveal Kerouac’s Cascadian adventure while exploring the feelings of anticipation, vulnerability, and disappointment that often accompany travel to unknown lands. "When people tell you about a place, you form an impression in your imagination. And when you get there, it's either going to coincide or clash with your imagination of it.” ~Jim Jones
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    55 mins
  • 🎧 Power of Place Episode #51 | Peaks & Pôsterity – Doug Leen

    🎧 Power of Place Episode #51 | Peaks & Pôsterity – Doug Leen
    Jun 28 2024
    Pack your camper as we tour America’s National Parks—from Acadia to Zion. Our guide is modern-day folk hero Douglas Leen, whose Ranger Doug Enterprises recently published “Ranger of the Lost Art: Rediscovering the WPA Poster Art of Our National Parks.” Doug describes how in 1971, while working as a seasonal park ranger at Grand Teton National Park, he unearthed an old poster tucked atop a barn rafter, saving it from oblivion. This hidden gem was among the last remaining promotional posters for 14 U.S. National Parks, printed between 1938 and 1941 by FDR’s Works Progress Administration. Doug recounts how his dusty discovery fueled a lifelong obsession to find the other 13 original silkscreened posters from that era. His hunt led to encounters with art thieves and fostered friendships with fellow connoisseurs. Leen explains how he forged partnerships with artists and commercial printers to recreate all 14 posters. His team soon began creating numerous contemporary artworks commissioned by many of the 400+ National Parks units. Leen remembers his simultaneous dentistry practice, which he launched above Seattle’s bustling Pike Place Market during its renaissance. This career carried Dr. Leen to faraway Barrow (now Utqiagvik), Alaska, and beyond. A restless spirit, Doug champions the intersecting causes of art conservation and land conservation. His solo “Ranger Doug” roadshows at National Parks have racked up nearly 50,000 miles to date on the restored Airstream trailer. Unlike the mythic Appleseed who sought to tame the wilderness, citizen Leen’s art and advocacy echo the democratic ethos of the New Deal era and a profound respect for natural wonders that inspire his life and work. "Today I'm on the road all the time with this book, kind of a Johnny Appleseed or Forrest Gump somebody called me once—I think it was the New York Times. But I'm out there trying to preach the message; and it's getting out there.” ~Doug Leen
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • 🎧 Power of Place Episode #50 | The Prodigal Dad – Sarah Eichhorn

    🎧 Power of Place Episode #50 | The Prodigal Dad – Sarah Eichhorn
    May 29 2024
    Join us in this episode for a conversation with Sarah Eichhorn, daughter of writer Dennis P. Eichhorn, known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series “Real Stuff.” With reminiscences echoing a central premise of her father’s work—that truth is stranger than fiction—Sarah recounts his birth and orphanhood at Montana State Prison. Sarah later talks of her fight to keep her infant child, which succeeded in part thanks to her father’s intervention. With healthy measures of wit and soul, the younger Eichhorn’s tales transport us to the Northwest's creative milieu of the 70's, 80's and 90's through which her iconoclastic father traveled. With a cast of colorful characters including comic book illustrators Peter Bagge, Pat Moriarity and Triangle-Slash among others, we learn of Dennis’ lauded editorial work for The Rocket in Seattle and, later, for Libertarian publisher Loomponics Unlimited, based in Port Townsend, WA. As if a testament to the fullness of her father’s capacious life, Sarah friendships encompass generations of talented artists: Anchoring this episode’s soundscape are the polyrhythmic laments of Jason Webley (originally of Everett, WA) and the pensive ballads of singer songwriter Eilen Jewell (originally from Boise, ID). We’ll also enjoy archival recordings of Dennis P. Eichhorn sharing stories. Warning: This episode’s content is more suitable for adult listeners. "My life may not seem that vanilla, but it could have been a lot more wild; I’ve lived on the side of caution because of a lot of his escapades." ~Sarah Eichhorn
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    55 mins
  • 🎧 Power of Place Episode #49 | Inspiration Generation – Colleen Echohawk

    🎧 Power of Place Episode #49 | Inspiration Generation – Colleen Echohawk
    Apr 26 2024
    What becomes possible when solutions to modern urban society’s most pressing challenges—housing the unhoused, corporate innovation, designing more beautiful places & objects—originate from the communities who have inhabited this place from time immemorial? Guiding us through this multifaceted exploration is Colleen Echohawk. Currently CEO of the Native lifestyle brand Eighth Generation, Colleen’s resume encompasses city politics including a Seattle mayoral run 2021. Earlier, as Executive Director of Chief Seattle Club for seven years, she oversaw the creation of 300 new units of affordable housing. Collen spotlights today’s rising generation of indigenous government and business leaders as well Indian Country’s most admired cultural creators. She suggests that a more enduring and just society would be place-based. In the case of Seattle, this involves incorporating Native values including those of the region's indigenous Lushootseed-speaking Coast Salish peoples. Inspired by Potlatch culture, for example, Colleen challenges corporate leaders to reimagine established notions of prestige and prosperity. Colleen’s mellifluous tales fuse with the harmonies of Black Belt Eagle Scout and the rhythms of Supaman. These young recording artists amplify the critical and ongoing dialogue between tradition and invention, a dynamic embedded in Colleen’s heartening life, work and stories. "We talk in Indian Country about how we are trying to help reframe folks to say, hey; ‘we are not just in these museums, we are not just artifacts…we are actually living, thriving communities." ~Colleen Echohawk
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    59 mins
  • 🎧 Power of Place Episode #48 | Talking CHOP – Nikki Yeboah

    🎧 Power of Place Episode #48 | Talking CHOP – Nikki Yeboah
    Mar 1 2024
    Join us as we stroll through Seattle’s Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) circa 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our guest, documentary playwright Nikki Yeboah, begins this journey at 11th & Pine, the CHOP’s epicenter—and the title of her current project. Yeboah, an Assistant Professor of Playwriting in the School of Drama at the University of Washington, shares how her team gathered oral histories of over 30 protestors, stories that allow her to convey this momentous event’s impact on its participants. She also explores why nearly all traces of the occupation (including street art, soup kitchens and vegetable gardens) vanished so quickly after the protest ended. Throughout this episode, experience the good vibes of hip-hop fusionists Marshall Law Band, courtesy of its leader Marshall Hugh, who rallied his bandmates to perform throughout the occupation. "CHOP was utopic. No matter how people feel it ended, it began utopically; it was a desire to create a space in which everyone was welcome, regardless of your class, or sexuality or race.” ~Nikki Yeboah
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    50 mins
  • 🎧 Power of Place Episode #47 | Crossing Coastal Corners – Andrew tenBrink

    🎧 Power of Place Episode #47 | Crossing Coastal Corners – Andrew tenBrink
    Jan 31 2024
    Join us for a conversation with landscape and urban designer Andrew tenBrink of NYC-based Field Operations as he reveals Seattle’s new downtown Waterfront Park project, which he has managed since 2010. From the cobblestones of Pioneer Square to Belltown’s crowded skyline, Andrew’s block-by-block tour through the 20-acre park demonstrates how this new landscape reflects community priorities. Along the way, he spotlights contributions of local partners. These include architects and artists, tribes and Urban Natives, the City of Seattle and the Office of the Waterfront and Capitol Projects, as well as cultural consultants and garden designers. Indigenous food sovereignty advocate Valerie Segrest (Muckleshoot) drops by to share thoughts on placemaking and history. Valerie explains how the interpretive horticultural exhibit she designed for the new Overlook Walk invites visitors to gaze across the Salish Sea while learning about Native cultural ecosystems. These walkways, stairs and plazas connect the Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion at the shoreline with Pike Place Market. Andrew’s inspiring stories reveal how a brilliant framework can express the civic dreams of multitudes. They demonstrate how city dwellers are most grounded when connected with nature, with themselves and with one another. Listen and learn how these new public spaces reflect the varied histories and cultures that define a great city and that will shape its future. "Outdoor space has always been at its best when people use it as a part of their daily lives: You take a stroll in the park, you unwind, you de-stress, you take your kids to the playground. These are the indelible things that exist across the world across time.” ~Andrew tenBrink
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    57 mins
  • 🎧 Power of Place Episode #46 | Porchlight Parade – Zack Bolotin

    🎧 Power of Place Episode #46 | Porchlight Parade – Zack Bolotin
    Dec 27 2023
    Step into the multiverse of Zack Bolotin, owner-operator of Porchlight Coffee & Records on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Not just a cafe, Porchlight is a platform for Zack’s varied talents, including graphic design, photography, art curation, book publishing and online retailing. It’s also a record label. Listen as Zack describes how his endeavors, admittedly wide-ranging, are anchored in his family's history and an affection for old things. He shares how he incorporated his parents' memorabilia collection into Porchlight's publication "62 Souvenirs: Keepsakes from the 1962 Seattle World's Fair." Zack also recounts his discovery of mid-century architectural photography by Art Hupy published in “Pacific Architect & Builder,” a defunct trade journal produced by Zack’s grandfather Roscoe Laing. Reminiscent to Zack of Julius Shulman's contemporaneous work in Southern California, he restored and published a selection of Hupy’s photos as "Art Hupy: Architecture and Life in the Pacific Northwest" in collaboration with Docomomo US/WEWA. Accompanying Zack’s inspiring stories are songs from an assortment of Porchlight Records' labelmates, among them his collaborative project, Pretty Old, whose tracks blend ruminations on remote motels, fictions by Raymond Carver and memories of roadside attractions. A self-taught entrepreneur, Zack chose to keep his business small, sustainable and anchored in community. His maverick spirit—casual, classically Pacific Northwest—affirms that a livelihood can be both purposeful and expansive. These lighthearted stories uphold Zack’s city as a place of goodness. "As much as a city is made by people; it’s made by the buildings and businesses that come and go as well; you can’t advocate for every single building to stay where it is. You have to pick and choose. There’s a balance between preservation and new buildings. That’s how it always has been.” ~ Zack Bolotin
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    1 hr
  • 🎧 Power of Place Episode #45 | Echoes From Alpenglow – Lowell Skoog

    🎧 Power of Place Episode #45 | Echoes From Alpenglow – Lowell Skoog
    Nov 27 2023
    Click into your bindings as we launch from the highest peaks of the North Cascades with ski mountaineering historian Lowell Skoog, author of "Written in the Snows: Across Time on Skis in the Pacific Northwest," published by Mountaineers Books and 2022 winner of the National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) for historical writing. Born to a family of Nordic ski jumpers, Lowell pioneered ski mountaineering routes across remote reaches of the Cascade and Olympic mountains. His stories abound in evocative details and introduce memorable characters like Wolf Bauer, Olga Bolstad, Hans Otto Giese and Milnor Roberts. Chronicling the birth of Pacific Northwest skiing from a little-known sport of immigrants to cultural cornerstone, Lowell conveys the wonderment of Scandinavian settlers waking to Seattle’s first big snow in 1916; the camaraderie enjoyed by founders of early Pacific Northwest ski clubs; and the chaos of the 1934 Silver Skis race. His characters range from backwoods trappers to the heroic fighters of the United States Army’s 10th Mountain Division—some of whom would later develop North America’s postwar ski industry. Amidst our current backdrop of climate change, Lowell’s snowy memoirs—portrayals of sanctuary and loss—are also a poignant record of a threatened pastime. "Being up in the mountains and having that connection with the natural world…is really healthy. It can help you forget about short term concerns; you are in a place that’s been there forever…and will be there forever.” ~Lowell Skoog
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    58 mins