Meet Me Here

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
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: [email protected]
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"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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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