The founder and editor of 'The Needling' on why Seattle is so easy to make fun of and how comedy can help us process the news.

Seattle’s high cost of living, policing and tech industry fuel a lot of local headlines, including those published by The Needling, “Seattle’s Only Real Fake News.”

On May 31, the Northwest Reports team invited four local changemakers to the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival and asked them to speak candidly about their opinions on Seattle. The guests took the stage to both celebrate and throw a little shade at a flawed city that they still love.

The fourth and final episode of Northwest Reports Live features Lex Vaughn, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Needling, often referred to as Seattle’s version of The Onion.

In this episode, Vaughn talks about why Seattle is so easy to poke fun at; shares the Needling headlines that have gotten the biggest reactions over the years; and explores the ways humor can help us process what’s happening in the news.

--- Credits

Producers: Maleeha Syed, Sara Bernard

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

Production Manager: Adam Brown

Production Engineer: Resti Bagcal

---

Northwest Reports is made possible by listeners like you. If you would like to join the members who help us create this series, go to cascadepbs.org/nwreports. In addition to supporting our journalism, members receive great member benefits, including Cascade PBS Passport, with extended access to an on-demand library of local and PBS favorites.

The founder of Hey, Black Seattle! talks about the good — and complicated — realities of building community in the PNW as a person of color.

It can be tough to find a sense of community in Seattle, where it’s rainy most of the year and there’s a notorious social freeze to break through. It can be even harder navigating those barriers if you’re not white.

In the third episode of Northwest Reports Live, which showcases conversations with Seattle changemakers at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival, Kiesha B. Free talked about the good — and complicated — realities of living here.

Free is a speaker, facilitator, emcee, stand-up comedian and former business leader at Time and Microsoft. She also founded Hey, Black Seattle!, an online resource and movement that she created to connect and nurture Seattle’s Black community.

Free shares why she started Hey, Black Seattle!; addresses the myth that there are no Black people here; and weighs in on whether the city’s progressive reputation is well-earned.

--- Credits

Producers: Maleeha Syed, Sara Bernard

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

Production Manager: Adam Brown

Production Engineer: Resti Bagcal

---

Northwest Reports is made possible by listeners like you. If you would like to join the members who help us create this series, go to cascadepbs.org/nwreports. In addition to supporting our journalism, members receive great member benefits, including Cascade PBS Passport, with extended access to an on-demand library of local and PBS favorites.

The creator of “View from the Floor” describes how people’s experiences in the Emerald City differ depending on their physical abilities.

Seattle’s got a lot to offer, whether you’re drawn to the city for its picturesque views or its rich cultural history. But people’s experiences of the Emerald City can vary a lot.

The guest in this episode of Northwest Reports Live, recorded at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival on May 31, is Mindie Lind. She’s a local writer, musician, filmmaker and overall creative person who’s working on an animated feature film about “sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll without legs.”

Lind has also written about some unpleasant experiences she’s had in Seattle, specifically the inaccessible spaces she’s had to navigate as a person born without legs.

She addresses all of that and more in this episode which, fair warning, does include some explicit language.

--- Credits

Producers: Maleeha Syed, Sara Bernard

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

Production Manager: Adam Brown

Production Engineer: Resti Bagcal

---

Northwest Reports is made possible by listeners like you. If you would like to join the members who help us create this series, go to cascadepbs.org/nwreports. In addition to supporting our journalism, members receive great member benefits, including Cascade PBS Passport, with extended access to an on-demand library of local and PBS favorites.