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Join us in this episode for a conversation with Lisa Fruichantie, citizen of Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and Executive Director of ALMA, an expansive campus carved out of an old union hall anchored within Tacoma’s historic Hilltop neighborhood. This multifaceted business and venue are devoted to creating community by incubating and presenting a diverse range art, food, culture and music. ALMA includes state-of-the-art recording studios as well as a 500-person performance venue. This place describes itself as a welcoming and inclusive gathering spot that channels, celebrates, and seeks to nourish the soul of this land, the people on it, the people from it, and those just passing through. Lisa, a 20-year mainstay of Tacoma’s art scene, describes her distinct approach to leading her organization, which includes aligning ALMA with indigenous values. “Make them feel welcome. Say “Hello.” Start a conversation. Share space with them. Break bread. I think a meal with someone is one of the most powerful things you can ever do.”                                                                                      ~Lisa Fruichantie

Join us in this episode for a conversation with Eric Reynolds, Vice-President of Seattle-based publisher Fantagraphics. Headquartered in Seattle’s Maple Leaf community—with their Bookstore & Gallery in the industrial Georgetown neighborhood—Fantagraphics has quietly produced a stunning body of work over the last 40+ years. Their genres span alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines and graphic novels. The imprint’s stable of contemporary comics creators includes Jessica Abel, Peter Bagge, Ivan Brunetti, Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Mary Fleener, Roberta Gregory, Mega Kelso, Manny Murphy, Joe Sacco, and Chris Ware. They also include the enigmatic artistry of Jim Woodring as well as the magical realism of the Hernandez Brothers. Eric’s passion for comics brought him to Seattle in the early 1990’s at age 20 to intern at Fantagraphics, whose owners soon promoted him to publicist. In this podcast, Eric explores synergies between the fledgling alternative comics movement and Sub Pop Records, as well as independent media (including The Rocket & The Stranger) during this watershed period. These and other stories reveal Eric’s purposeful stewardship of a vulnerable yet resolute enterprise through untold business obstacles, elevating comics into a mature art form along the way. For Eric, Fantagraphics remains a labor of love. “Sometimes it’s a matter of be careful what you ask for; But it really is incredible to see comics taken seriously as art in a way that we could only dream about, years ago.” ~ Eric Reynolds

Join us in this episode for a conversation with Instagram phenom Susanna Ryan, author of the Seattle Walk Report Series; Seattle Walk Report an Illustrated Walking Tour Through 23 Seattle Neighborhoods (2019) and Secret Seattle, An Illustrated Guide to the City’s Offbeat and Overlooked History (2021).  Susanna's distinctive comic style and eagle eye illustrate the charming and quirky people, places, and things that define Seattle’s neighborhoods. Her wide-ranging observations infuse pedestrian experiences with the possibility of discovery and wonder—and an expanded connection to the world as we pass through it. In this episode Susanna will also field questions from local children—all avid readers of Seattle Walk Report.  “Through Seattle Walk Report and through being just more open and present with what is, it’s changed how I see the world completely; and how I see my own life—and my own Journey.  It’s all Journey; never destination. This comic has changed how I see everything.”  ~ Susanna Ryan

Pull up a bar stool and join us in this episode for a conversation with Timothy Dooley—regular, bartender and now owner of the historic Seattle tavern, the "Blue Moon." Founded in 1934 just after Prohibition to serve mostly college students, the Blue Moon has since been serving up a heady mix of politics, poetry, visual art, and live music, while building community spanning generations. Come learn the lore of Seattle’s landmark watering hole. "I've talked to people from all over the world and people have said there's not really any place like this: People from New York; people from London; people from other parts of Europe…say this place is special. We have had visitors come in from all over the world and they say just that." ~Timothy Dooley

Join us in this episode for a conversation with Michael Hoover. Michael was recently granted clemency­—from a life prison sentence without chance of parole—by the Governor of the State of Washington.   Michael's is a cautionary tale...on remaining anchored to place; and to people. An upbringing of affluence in Woodway, Washington failed to protect Michael from childhood abuse; devolving into addiction, homelessness, and crime, for which he paid through two decades behind bars.    Michael will also share details about Stone Bridge Re-entry Services, which he founded in Asotin, WA with his wife Stephanie, so that they might guide others from incarceration to emancipation.   "I went from one second of being buried under the prison to now I have this paper in my hand that says I'm going to be free someday."                                                                  ~Michael Hoover

Welcome to our first podcast episode of 2022. Beginning with this episode, EK on the Go is now Power of Place, Stories of the Pacific Northwest, with a new appearance and soundscape In this episode we will hear from one of the Pacific Northwest’s most acclaimed living novelists, Jim Lynch. Jim's approach to storytelling reflects both meticulous research as well as years living and working in four distinct locales: The wild mudflats of Eld Inlet near Washington State's capitol in Olympia; the Canada-U.S. Border near Blaine, WA; Downtown Seattle at the time of the Century21 Exposition; as well as the docks of Victoria, B.C. and the sea-based boating culture connecting all of these lands. Jim will also provide us with a glimpse into his upcoming novel. "I had never really read a novel that tried to put readers right on mudflats, right down into Puget Sound, as opposed to it being a backdrop." ~James Lynch

Join us in our final episode of 2021 with guest Richard Hartlage, Founder & CEO of Land Morphology. His firm has designed gardens for the Chihuly Garden and Glass at Seattle Center, the upcoming 20-acre Seattle Waterfront Park, and the private gardens of celebrities and CEO's nationwide. Richard will explain how thoughtful and intelligent garden design has engendered joy and happiness by activating all of our senses, across millennia and across cultures. We will learn how important this form of happiness can be in harried urban centers such as Seattle. "I garden. And gardening is about a craft. I don’t say that we practice an art form. I think art asks questions and design answers questions." ~Richard Hartlage And to celebrate new beginnings, starting in 2022, EK On The Go podcast is changing its name. Look for details in the New Year.

Join us for a conversation with Tom Heuser, President of the Capitol Hill Historic Society and visual artist, Lana Blinderman in an exploration of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood through it's easily overlooked architecture, apartment buildings from the 1950's-1970's. For decades, these apartments and condominiums had provided architectural ambience, offered relatively affordable housing, and become places where residents gathered to develop and shape the city's culture and community. At the start of the pandemic, Tom & Lana surveyed their neighborhood's mid-century multifamily buildings, thanks to a grant from King County's arts and heritage organization 4Culture. Today we will hear what they discovered.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, chances are you appreciate the region's unspoiled natural beauty especially forests, farms, shorelines, parks and other natural areas. Join us today for a conversation with Nick Bratton, Senior Director of Policy for Forterra. Since 1989, Forterra has secured over 275,000 acres of land through over 450 land transactions. From the farmlands and river canyons of Yakima to the estuaries and forests of Washington’s coastline, Nick's organization safeguards a healthy environment while fostering community resilience through land acquisition. In this episode Nick will explains how Forterra has helped smaller cities (including Issaquah, Tukwila, Everett, and Kirkland) transition from suburbs into small urban areas while embracing land stewardship. Finally, he provides a primer on Forterra's innovative transfer of development rights (or TDRs) from the rural areas and wilderness to cities like Seattle, for the benefit of both.

Join us in this episode with Doreen Alhadeff, Co-Founder of the Seattle Sephardic Network and the first Jewish American to receive Spanish citizenship under a 2015 law permitting descendants of Jews expelled in the 15th Century to apply for it. Doreen's family history and life choices connect her to both the 21st Century in Seattle and the 15th Century in Spain, with many far-flung stopping points including Istanbul and New York City in between. If you would like to learn more about Doreen and The Sephardic Studies Digital Collection please visit: https://www.seattlesephardicnetwork.org/doreen-alhadeff

Just in time for baseball season! Join us in this episode with Mark Holtzen, author of A Ticket to the Penant, a children's book that explores the Seattle's Rainier Valley, circa 1955, through the eyes of a young baseball fan.

Join us in this episode with Marga Rose Hancock & Rosalie Daggett, board members of the Queen Anne Historical Society. In this episode we will focus on urban spaces, specifically the nooks and crannies throughout one of Seattle’s oldest neighborhood’s Queen Anne Hill. Queen Anne is a vibrant collage of stately Old Seattle mansions, Charming Hilltop Parks, Strolling Boulevards beneath Tree Canopies, and polished Urban Conveniences including some of the city’s best restaurants. Tune in till the end for a special guest who will share a few of his Queen Anne Hill ghost stories.

Just in time for summer! If you live in the Pacific Northwest, chances are you enjoy outdoor recreation. In this episode, Christine Mahler, executive director of the Washington Wildlife & Recreation Coalition, will share how our region’s most beloved outdoor spaces—from urban wildlife areas and family farms to tiny pocket parks—are created and preserved through an unusually broad coalition involving hunters, tribal governments, environmentalists, labor unions, corporations, Democrats and Republicans.

Join us in this episode with Christopher Patano, AIA, Studio Director for Patano Studio. Chris has executed projects that include civic spaces and places such as parks, aviation facilities, schools, higher education buildings, and other learning environments, factories, corporate headquarters, transportation facilities, & private residences. In this episode we will learn how Chris is able to see opportunities for a better way to live, by exploring his belief that cites are humanity’s greatest creation and that each city is an organism that grows and changes.

Join us in this episode with architectural historian, Adam Alsobrook, AIA where we will explore how a love of history connects us to the places we love.  You may be surprised to learn the original names of some of Seattle's neighborhoods and how they have changed over time. Adam's appreciation for old buildings, vintage neon signs, industrial history, archaic electrical systems, postcard collecting, masonic architecture, and the history of demolition is infectious and entertaining. Adam will also show how racial and class bias has limited the type of places valued by historians and he points out ways we might correct this in order to gain a complete understanding of our city.

Join us in this episode where we will speak with another leader in this industry, broker Bob Bennion of Compass Real Estate, on Making a Difference in the Pacific Northwest. With 30 years of experience handling high-end real estate, Bob shares insights that come from working closely with some of the region's titans of industry, as well as leaders in the arts, science and medicine.

Join us in this episode where we will explore the relationship of nature & Seattle’s ever-changing built environment, by exploring the work of Seattle-based architects Ray & Mary Johnston of Johnston Architects which has been around since 1990. With offices tucked into the hillside along the Burke Gilman Trail north of Lake Union, their practice has quietly turned out a gorgeous body of work including projects across many Seattle neighborhoods; The Maple Valley Library, South Park Library, Casa Latina Headquarters, The Seattle Humane Society Building, and the Seattle Public Utilities Ship Canal Water Quality Project in Ballard, to name a few.

Join us in this episode featuring Paula Johnson of Willamette Cultural Resources Associates. Paula has over 27 years of archaeological experience across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California and has contributed to permitting and construction of many of the largest infrastructure projects in the Puget Sound, including transportation, wastewater, and utility projects. In this episode we will discuss how and why creating brand new urban infrastructures require the makers to study who occupied these spaces historically—as well as to take steps to preserve historical artifacts discovered in the process.

Join us in this episode featuring Paul Suzman, founder of OfficeLease. In this episode we will deepen our appreciation of place—focusing on the business skyline comprised of Seattle’s office buildings for a fascinating glimpse of the people and companies that fill these office towers. Paul started his company in 1981 and at the time it was the West Coast’s first commercial tenant/buyer representative.

Join us in this episode featuring Stacy Segal, someone who has devoted years helping people in Seattle learn and appreciate their built environment. Stacy, the Executive Director of Seattle Architecture Foundation, discusses why connecting people to the architecture, design, and history of Seattle matters.