Meet Me Here

More and more Native Hawaiians are moving to the Pacific Northwest. In fact, Washington state has the third largest number of Kanaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiians, outside of Hawaii and California. As they move here, people are bringing their beloved customs and traditions with them. Like the artform of making lei, which are garlands made using all kinds of materials including flowers, nuts, clay and feathers. Seattle Times business reporter Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton belongs to this community and was curious about how cultural traditions and customs have evolved in the Seattle area. Her article, Hawaiian lei makers blossom in Seattle area, but challenges grow, dives into this issue. Boyanton spoke with Meet Me Here host Jeannie Yandel about what she learned from local lei-makers for this story, and about the history of lei in Hawaii.  This interview originally ran on KUOW's daily news podcast, Seattle Now.    Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at meetmehere@kuow.org.  Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at arts@kuow.org  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here!  Become a KUOW member today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 29th Annual Model Train Festival - Washington State Historical Society Opens Fri 12/19 - runs through Jan 1, 2026 2025 Winter Beer Fest – WA Brewers Guild  Fri/Sat - 12/19-20 Hell’s Belles at the Croc Sat 12/20 United Indians Native Art Market » United Indians of All Tribes Foundation - Daybreak Star Sat/Sun - 12/20-21 Seattle Torrent vs Boston Fleet Sun 12/21 - 2pm 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you visit an art museum, you are the VIP. At least according to art curator and Schmidt Ocean Institute artist-at-sea-manager, Haley Ha. She says the people who work behind the scenes at art museums care enormously about visitors and their experiences.  One result from all that work? Haley says art museums are places where you slow down, enjoy yourself, and connect with yourself or with friends.  Haley also gives us the inside scoop about three of her favorite pieces at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, where she previously worked. They include a deeply moving sculpture in SAAM's entryway by Kondo Takahiro, Park Young-sook's Moon Jar (which counts among its superfans a member of the K-Pop boy band BTS), and Ai Weiwei's Water Lilies, a 50-foot-long mural made entirely of Legos. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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:  SPORTS! Seahawks vs Indianapolis Colts - Sun 1:25pm Buffalo Sabres at Seattle Kraken - Sun 5pm Seattle Torrent vs Ottawa Charge - Wed 7pm WildLanterns: Night Owls (21+) - Fri 12/12 Mozart & Mutts: Annual Holiday Concert - Fri 12/12 Jurassic Quest | Washington State Fairgrounds The Naughty Novel Social Club: Krampus Edition DEAF SANTA CLAUS - Sun 12/14 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Books are the best gift you can give. And this holiday season, our book besties are recommending their favorites of this year and more. Host Katie Campbell opens the mail bag with KUOW producer Brandi Fullwood to find out which books you'll want to give this year… and maybe a few you’ll want to keep for yourself.    Here's a list of some the books our book besties recommend this year: To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor I'll Make a Spectacle of You by Beatrice Winifred Iker Archangels of Funk by Andrea Hairston Hild by Nicola Griffith Horsefly by Mireille Gagné Milk Fed by Melissa Broder Looking for even more recommendations? Check out Katie Campbell's write up on KUOW.org: https://www.kuow.org/stories/holiday-gift-guide-books-ditch-gift-cards-gimmicks-seattle-readers  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here!  Become a KUOW member today.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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:  Live Wire with Lindy West, Meagan Hatcher-Mays, Mohanad Elshieky, R. Eric Thomas, The Brudi Brothers, and Rick Steves WTO/99 - Northwest Film Forum 21st Annual Urban Craft Uprising Winter Show Figgy Pudding Caroling Competition | PMSC-FB KRAMPUS BREMERTON Seattle SantaCon Scintillating sci-fi striptease Kraken vs Detroit - Sat 12/6 Kraken vs Minnesota - Mon 12/8 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The holiday season means trees, cookies, family, spirituality, or presents to many. For Meet Me Here's Dyer Oxley, it means it's time to watch his favorite Christmas movie — "Die Hard." This 1988 action flick staring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman has become a Christmas tradition for many, including the actors behind "A Very Die Hard Christmas," a holiday musical performed at Seattle's Green Lake Bathhouse Theatre each year. But not everyone agrees that "Die Hard" can be a Christmas tradition. Week in Review host Bill Radke is in that camp. He challenges Dyer's "Die Hard" opinion in a special holiday throw down. Bill and Dyer debate a modern holiday question: Is "Die Hard" a Christmas movie? EVENT RECOMENDATION:Seattle Krampus: Go see Krampus at various holiday events in December. Krampus will show up at the Seattle Christmas Market at Seattle Center on Dec. 12-13.   Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at meetmehere@kuow.org.Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at arts@kuow.org  Help support the local stories you love! Give now at https://www.kuow.org//donate/meet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you meeting up with family or friends over the holidays? Someone will likely be roasting meat and veggies, maybe mashing potatoes and someone else will likely be watching a loud football game on TV. Sports seem almost inevitable this time of year. But what if you’re not a fan? This week, we will give you all the tips and tricks you need to fake your way through a sports conversation this holiday season. No need to fumble that conversation with your uncle. Event Recommendation: Holiday Magic Cabaret - Dec 14 and 20  Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at meetmehere@kuow.org.  Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at arts@kuow.org  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here!  Become a KUOW member today.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  THIS WEEK: Seattle Christmas Market Julefest 21+ Night Market Renegade Craft Fair - Seattle Winter Warren Miller's Sno-ciety | McCaw Hall Heart - Climate Pledge Arena NEXT WEEK: SPORTS PWHL Home Opener! Seattle Torrent vs Minnesota Frost - Fri 11/28 UW Men’s Football vs Oregon Ducks - Sat 11/29 Kraken vs Edmonton - Sat 11/29 Seahawks vs Vikings - Sun 11/30 Seattle Marathon - Sun 11/30 GeekCraft Expo NOVEMBER ART MARKET — Duwamish Tribe 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Men are reading less. Reading less than women, not reading as much as before. But Author Daniel James Brown has got the key. This week we’re getting lit with Author Daniel James Brown and tackling the ~discourse~ to find out how authors like him are writing authentic men, complex men. Plus we give you a ton of recommendations of books and authors that will make anybody want to read. If you need some help filling that book shaped void, here’s Daniel James Brown and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL):  The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Tim Egan Ok, your turn! Tell us what to do after ugly-crying over The Boys in The Boat. Send us your picks--books, movies, exhibits, events whatever fills that space. Email meetmehere@kuow.org. What we read about when we talk about men not reading: The Anxiety Plaguing Male Fiction Writers - Vulture Why Did the Novel-Reading Man Disappear? - The New York Times The Real Reason Men Should Read Fiction - The Atlantic We're Doing ‘Men Don’t Read Books' Discourse Again. Here's What We're Missing - GQ   Event recommendations from this week’s episode:Livewire with Luke Burbank: Mohanad Elshieky, R. Eric Thomas, and The Brudi Brothers at Benaroya Hall on December 5th  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! Become a KUOW member today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before the bestsellers, before one of her bestsellers became a movie, before Meryl Streep (!) played her in that movie...author Susan Orlean started her career in Portland, writing for the Willamette Week and the now-defunct Paper Rose. Orlean writes about her love of the PNW (among other things) in her new memoir Joyride.  Orlean talks with Katie Campbell about finding mentorship as a writer, the changing landscape of long-form journalism, and more in this bonus episode of Meet Me Here.  Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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:  SIFF Cinema Italian Style 2025 Sew, Quilt, Needlework, Craft, Expo & Festival in Puyallup Gobble Up Northwest! - Urban Craft Uprising Seattle International Auto Show The 2025 DB Cooper Conference Seattle Kraken vs San Jose Sharks Gilman Village 2025 Winter Fest Grit City Comic Show UW Huskies Men’s Football vs Purdue Death and Music | Town Hall Seattle 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“There’s no right or wrong way to look at art,” according to arts writer Jas Keimig.   Which is good news because there’s a lot of art at the Telephone exhibit at both locations of Base Camp Studios in Belltown.  Jas explains how the exhibit was inspired by the kid’s game telephone, that game where you tell someone something and then they tell the next person and so on. When the final person has been told, that person says what they heard and everyone compares how the message changed as it was passed along. Jas says the game of telephone exists in different ways all around the world. Since the exhibit spans two different locations, Jas suggests how to approach it. One tip: if Telephone seems overwhelming, think about memes and how often you alter them and send them in the group chat, and how memes can communicate everything from a simple response to more complex feelings. Then, think of the pieces of art in the exhibit as if they were memes.  In other words: whether you realize it or not, you’re playing a version of the game telephone pretty regularly. And the exhibit Telephone is a fun, clever, artist-imagined way of demonstrating how we’re all riffing off each other, all the time.    Also recommended in this episode: Drag performer Dina Martina has been doing her Seattle holiday show for 25 years. Meet Me Here host Jeannie Yandel is a huge fan and says, “Her shows are surreal and hilarious and some of the best, weirdest theater I've ever seen.” The Dina Martina Christmas Show runs from December 5-24 at Union Arts Center.   If you love Meet Me Here and KUOW's other local shows, help us make them! Donate at kuow.org/meet.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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: Port Gamble Ghost Conference Best of the Northwest Fall Show 2025 - Seattle NW's Largest Garage Sale & Vintage Sale Brew: A Clue-Themed Winter Beer Festival America's Test Kitchen Live at Food Fight with Rachel Belle GeekGirlCon - 15th Year! Captain Slinky Presents Oddmall Emporium of The Weird Light the Forest: Pilchuck Glass School Seahawks vs. Cardinals SIFF Talking Pictures: Ken Jennings presents Quiz 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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s no getting around it. It’s here … the big dark. Every year, Northwesterners battle with shorter and shorter days, and longer and longer nights. It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s dark. It’s kind of a bummer. But it doesn’t have to be!  All three Meet Me Here co-hosts join forces to share suggestions for defeating the Big Dark by getting out and immersing yourself in some great local arts and culture events.    The Geometry of Light - Seattle Asian Art Museum Netse Mot: One Heart, One Mind Gathering - The Paramount, Nov 18 A Evening with David Sedaris - Benaroya Hall, Nov 16 Yume Kitasei w/ Katie Campbell on Saltcrop, - Elliot Bay Books, Dec 7 "Holidaze" Black Night Market - Tacoma Armory, Dec 1 and Dec 6 Julefest - Poulsbo, Dec 6 Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at meetmehere@kuow.org.  Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at arts@kuow.org  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here!  Become a KUOW member today.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Short King Contest Seattle Kraken vs NY Rangers - Sat 11/1 Short Run Comix Festival Seattle Opera - The Pirates of Penzance Brewallup 2025 Washington State Toy Show Sea-Meow Convention 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs - Seattle vs Minnesota - Mon 11/3 Seattle Kraken vs Chicago Blackhawks - Mon 11/3 Seattle Welcome Day - Tues 11/4 DIA DE LOS MUERTOS: Nov. 1 — El Centro de la Raza Nov. 1 — Phinney Center Nov. 1 — Shoreline Recreation Center Nov. 1 & 2 — Seattle Center Nov. 1 & 2 — Town Hall Seattle (ticketed event) Nov. 2 — Tacoma Art Museum 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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s more to horror than Stephen King and it’s about time we all started reading it. This week we’re hitting the books with Roxanne Guiney, owner of Haunted Burrow Books in Seattle, and local author Sadie Hartmann, aka Mother Horror, about the new era of horror authors and how they're revolutionizing the genre. Plus, we tell you about the book you’ll definitely want to add to your nightstand. And… if you need some help filling that book shaped void, here’s Roxanne, Sadie and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica What Hunger by Catherine Dang The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim The Lamb by Lucy Rose Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker Full Brutal by Kristopher Triana The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered by Sadie Hartmann Feral and Hysterical: Mother Horror’s Ultimate Reading Guide to Dark and Disturbing Fiction by Women  by Sadie Hartmann Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark And of course, go to Haunted Burrow Books for Roxanne’s recommendations https://www.instagram.com/hauntedburrowbooks and follow Sadie’s IG for even more recommendations (from, like, a real person…) https://www.instagram.com/mother.horror/  Event recommendations from this week’s episode: Author Susan Orlean, with Claire Dederer on Friday, November 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM https://ticketing.townhallseattle.org/events/019861e7-ffac-fb24-c69a-e94753846e32  Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at meetmehere@kuow.org.  Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at arts@kuow.org  Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here!  Become a KUOW member today.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In time, people can be like sequoia trees. That's the premise of the new graphic memoir by artist and writer Jeremy Collins. The memoir is called Eventually A Sequoia: Stories of Art, Adventure and the Wisdom of Giants. In this bonus episode, Jeannie Yandel talks with Jeremy about how ten years of travel became this graphic memoir, and the role time played in his travels and the making of the book.  And yes, actual sequoias -the largest trees on earth - show up in the book too. Jeremy even climbs one. Jeremy will be in town on Monday October 27th to bring audience members into his process of writing and artmaking with an evening of performance art and cinematic visuals. That's followed by a conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning graphic memoirist Tessa Hulls. It starts at 6:30 pm at the Mountaineers Program Center in Seattle.  Eventually A Sequoia with Jeremy Collins and Tessa Hulls, October 27 from 6:30-8:30 pm  Eventually A Sequoia: Stories of Art, Adventure, and the Wisdom of Giants   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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: Tacoma Holiday Festival Dustin Nickerson at the Neptune Seattle Kraken vs Edmonton Oilers 2025 PSMS Annual Wild Mushroom Show Seattle Coffee Festival AI & Democracy - Women’s University Club SPOOKY STUFF:  Washington State Horror Con Fashionably Undead: The Goopening KEXP Kids' Halloween Dance Party Pumpkin Bash - Woodland Park Zoo The Museum of Fright GWAR | Showbox Presents 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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Margo Vansynghel sometimes jokes that she’s the harbinger of doom. As the arts economy reporter for The Seattle Times, it's her job is to spell out the connections between the arts and the economy here in Seattle.  She’s written about the Bellevue Art Museum's sudden closure last year. Along with SIFF’s recent announcement that it’s leaving the historic Egyptian theater on Capitol Hill. In this episode, 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 The classic silent horror film Häxan (1922) at The National Nordic Museum. 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.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.