Review: Seattle Opera’s Luscious “Tosca”
The dashing Mario Cavaradossi (tenor Rame Lahaj), certainly looked the part of the Byronic hero, but his voice betrayed some reticence. “Recondita armonia” came off sounding a bit like an audition piece, without the ardor suggested by the music.
Baby Boomer: Trump’s Plan for us to Procreate
If increasing births is a Trump aim, it is hard to imagine worse incentives for having babies than the contradictory actions of the Trump administration, slashing pro-family spending.
Pope Donald? The Ego as Big as All Outdoors (and how...
How do you deal with a president of dictatorial tendencies, an outsized ego, sense of grandiosity, and the expectation of absolute loyalty? There are tested formulas.
Inside Trump’s War on Law Firms
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, gloated by telling the media, “Big Law continues to bend the knee to President Trump because they know they were wrong, and he looks forward to putting their pro bono legal concessions toward implementing his America First agenda.”
Hillbilly Vance’s “Chinese Peasant” Problem
Vance should know that it was not the “Chinese peasants” who stole jobs from the Americans; rather, it was American companies that placed orders of their products with Chinese manufacturers.
The Donut King of First & Pike
By the late 1970s, The Donut House had established itself as a central gathering place for the local populace, particularly wayward youth.
Father Ryan Announces Retirement as Pastor of St. James Cathedral
He will be replaced by Fr. Gary Lazzeroni. In a letter announcing the transition, Catholic Archbishop Paul Etienne described Lazzeroni as “a wonderful priest who will diligently and faithfully serve you and your parish family.”
On a 50th Anniversary, Remembering Saigon its Echoes in Ukraine
The backstory was similar -- a rich foreign power trying and failing to suppress an insurgency in a country it didn’t really know.
Does the “Abundance Agenda’ Make Sense for an Age of Radical...
When doubt of everything is pervasive and corrosive, there are other things that we aren’t able to build or even maintain very well. Like trust among people. Like character that makes you sure you can trust someone.
Olympia Report: This Year’s Winners at the Legislature
We offer this selection of victors from this year’s session with the caveat that we know very little about Gov. Bob Ferguson’s enthusiasm for the veto pen.
How the Northwest Grew a Nordic Heritage
In time, the great western lands and waters attracted Nordics to familiar professions: dairying, logging, fishing, mining, and village businesses. During the late 1880s Scandinavians found their way to the Pacific Northwest.
Melinda Gates’ Next Chapter
Chances are that many who rushed out to buy Melinda French Gates’ new book, The Next Day: Transitions, Change and Moving Forward expected to...
Thanks Trump: In Epic Comeback, Liberals Reelected in Canada
The Harvard- and Oxford-educated Mark Carney had never run for public office, but Canadians opted for the smartest kid on the block.
Much of What We Know of Seattle History We Owe to...
Rich Berner served as the first head of the University of Washington Archives and Manuscripts Division.
Trump’s First 100 Days: Chaos, Outrages and Stunning Incompetence
He’s trying to dominate or dismantle practically every institution in America—Congress, universities, the federal bureaucracy, independent federal agencies, the Federal Reserve, the states, law firms, the media and foundations whose activities he opposes.
Bang the Drum Slowly: How Sen. Cantwell Gets it Done
The Senate is about relationships, and Cantwell’s collaboration with colleague Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has been fascinating to watch.
Call the Lawyer: Fairy Tales (Adapted) for Our Times
In Dumpty v. King’s Horses Et. Al., Humpty sued for medical malpractice including
misdiagnosis, surgical errors, administration of improper medications, premature
discharge, and failure to recognize multiple fractures. The jury awarded Dumpty
$36.7 million.
How Did the State Grow a $8.6 Billion Budget Deficit?
Over the three years of this federal windfall, excess spending in the state compared to the trend totaled $5.4 trillion (2025 dollars). This surge in federal spending largely explains the surge in state tax revenues in fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Religion in America: Broken Bargains and Cross Purposes
Author Rauch now sees Christianity, particular in the historic Protestant varieties that dominated America at its founding, as having been a “load-bearing wall” for American life and democracy.
Springtime in Olympia: Politically Charged Votes
In a move likely to prove popular with Elon Musk haters, House Democrats passed a tax on the sale of zero-emission vehicle credits, which will fall almost entirely on Tesla in the short term.
How Pope Francis Changed the Vatican
"What a breath of fresh air he was to our Church, coming at a moment when we needed him so badly,” Fr. Michael Ryan, pastor of St. James Cathedral, wrote in a letter to parishoners.
After Some Lean Years, Seahawks need a Score in This Week’s...
In fairness, any NFL GM in the job 15 years likely has a knucklehead selection or two. And Schneider gets credit for the creation of the Seahawks' Super Bowl teams of 2013 and 2014
Democracy Vouchers: Will Voters Renew the Experiment?
The “Honest Elections” promise of “keeping big wealth out of politics” was thus not fully realized. It fell victim to the Citizens United decision that permits PACs to spend unlimited amounts.
Trump Said he’d End the Ukraine War in a Day. There...
President Donald Trump has apparently decided that bringing peace to Ukraine is just too hard.
Even giving Russian President Vladimir Putin carte blanche to dictate...
Central Player: How the Timber Economy Made Washington State
An 1853 edition of the Columbian, the newspaper of record at that time, reported that "fourteen sawmills" were in operation on Puget Sound, most of them run by waterpower from nearby streams and rivers.
Join Us for a Discussion of Local Journalism this Wednesday
Join journalists Kari Mar and Post Alley editor Douglas McLennan at Folio this Wednesday for a discussion ablout how outlets like Post Alley and the La Conner Community News are new models for local news.
Canada’s Restless West
The political cleavage in Canada is a mirror of U.S. divisions. The Liberals are an urban-suburban party, a party of the educated but also immigrants. A trio of great cities —Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver — are bastions of Liberal support.
Gentler Time: When a Rookie Teacher was Tossed into a Brooklyn...
It was May, 1967 and I was near the end of a troubling, challenging, and ultimately most wonderful ten months of teaching the sixth grade at a Brooklyn, New York elementary school.
Fifth Column: The Right Wing Think Tank behind Subversion of the...
Trump had a small but well-funded right-wing think tank help him turn our justice system on its head.
America is Losing its Superpower: The World’s Trust
People are angry at Trump’s leadership. Polls confirm that dissatisfaction, showing his numbers headed down. The same is true about public confidence in government. The trust that holds our democracy together is threatened as never before.