Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Missed the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival? Listen here

Well, that’s a wrap! The 2025 Cascade PBS Ideas Festival took place in downtown Seattle on May 31. But the event’s thoughtful conversations, lively debates and incisive commentary are all coming soon to your podcast feeds.  

To kick off this season of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, host Paris Jackson catches up once more with events director Jake Newman to discuss what’s on tap for this year.  

We can expect a few returning media partners, including The Journal, but this time host Ryan Knutson takes the stage with travel guru Rick Steves. Plus, Criminal host Phoebe Judge and guest Amanda Knox will talk about life after acquittal; Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson will discuss their headline-grabbing book on President Biden with Mike Pesca from The Gist; and Latif Nasser, host of Radiolab, will join forces with Harvard historian Rebecca Lemov to dig into the history of brainwashing. 

All that and much more is on its way. A new episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast airs every Monday beginning June 9. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Sara Bernard

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.

“Text Me Back!” Prepares Us for the Election

Co-hosts Lindy West and Meagan Hatcher-Mays remind us to laugh in this bonus episode recorded live at the Seattle Public Library on October 15. 

Lindy West and Meagan Hatcher-Mays join us again for another lively discussion on The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast. 

In a special bonus episode, Cascade PBS partnered with The Seattle Public Library Foundation to put on a live podcast taping of Text Me Back! featuring West and Hatcher-Mays, who were part of the Ideas Festival lineup earlier this year.  

The conversation, moderated by Cascade PBS anchor Paris Jackson, took a lighthearted approach to the upcoming election and featured special guests Mariesa Bus, Brett Hamil and Naomi Ishisaka.  

This conversation was recorded on Oct. 15, 2024.  

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org/membership. In addition to supporting our events and daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS. 

Race, Power and Palestine with Ta-Nehisi Coates

In a live taping of Slate’s A Word podcast, Jason Johnson talks with Coates about the resonance between racism in America and the crisis in Gaza.

On his podcast A Word, veteran political commentator Jason Johnson invites leaders, journalists and other change-makers to have productive and provocative conversations about race in politics and society.  

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, Johnson sat down with bestselling author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates to discuss Coates’ perspectives on everything from the art of writing to the ongoing crisis in Israel and Palestine. 

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, Johnson and Coates discuss the impact of AI on creators and how lived experience defines the act of writing. Coates also reflects on a life-changing visit to Israel and Palestine, connecting the experience of being Black in America and the history of Jim Crow segregation to the segregation and oppression experienced by Palestinians. The two discuss America’s role in the Israel-Hamas war as well as in World War II, and what impact current events and historical forces have on American voters and the 2024 election.  

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.

How Artificial Intelligence Could Impact Elections

Atlantic journalists talk the future of election interference in an era of chilling political deepfakes — and, the one company behind much of this tech.

This year, two events will collide: AI voice replicas that can fool family and friends will be easier than ever to use, and half the world’s population will undergo an election. 

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, Hanna Rosin, the host of Radio Atlantic, and Charlie Warzel, a staff writer for The Atlantic who covers technology, explored the strange and potentially catastrophic effects of this collision.  

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, Rosin and Warzel examine the big trends in AI, particularly that of shockingly accurate voice clones, and discuss the one small company behind much of this software. They dig into how this technology could be deployed to interfere with elections and how likely it is to sway voters. They play clips of a variety of convincing deepfakes, including the fake President Biden robocall sent to voters in a recent New Hampshire primary, and speculate about a very uncertain future.   

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.

Malcolm Gladwell Talks Gun Violence in America

The Revisionist History podcast host discusses America's firearms problem - and reasons to be optimistic about it - with a trauma surgeon and an activist.

Acclaimed author Malcolm Gladwell explores all things overlooked and misunderstood in his podcast, Revisionist History. He recently produced a six-part series about what we get wrong about gun violence in America.  

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, Gladwell revisited that conversation with Dr. Babak Sarani, a trauma surgeon from Washington, D.C., and David Hogg, co-founder of March for Our Lives. Gladwell asked them, based on their individual expertise, why so many people are dying from gunshots in the U.S. and how we might prevent it.  

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, the three discuss gun-violence data, from the number of suicides by firearm to the number of gunshots per victim. They explore the impact of gun-control measures such as red-flag laws, the fraught politics around guns and the role of the Supreme Court. Hogg and Sarani also share what immediate changes each believe could truly make a difference.  

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.

How Identity Shapes Politics in a Fractured America

Is the personal always political? Washington Post columnists discuss how identity markers have come to define how we think and vote.

Trust in American institutions has reached record lows. Where do Americans turn to for a sense of identity, connection or belonging? Are identity markers such as race or religion a way to build community and understanding or do these affinities further divide us?  

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi, co-hosts of The Washington Post podcast Post Reports, spoke with columnists Shadi Hamid and Jason Willick about how personal identity overlaps with politics in our current highly polarized moment.  

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, the four journalists dig into the Israel-Hamas war and its impact on political and social debates in the U.S. They also discuss aspects of their own identities and how that shapes their worldviews, and whether there is such a thing as a set of shared American values. 

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.

Bridging the Partisan Divide with David Greene

In a live taping of Left, Right & Center, David Greene, Mo Elleithee and Sarah Isgur debate media bias ahead of the presidential election.

KCRW’s weekly politics show, Left, Right & Center, takes on the tough, polarizing issues that Americans struggle to have conversations about. Host David Greene invites guests with a wide range of political views to create provocative discussions that can bridge the left/right divide. 

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, Mo Elleithee and Sarah Isgur joined Greene to debate media bias, political satire and free speech in the context of current events. 

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, the three discuss the Israel-Hamas war, protests on U.S. college campuses and the way mainstream media covers these events. When it comes to free speech versus hate speech, who gets to decide where the line is drawn and how speech is characterized? They also examine examples of journalists skewing perspectives to favor certain candidates in elections and reflect on various forms of political satire and their cultural impact, including that of Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Saturday Night Live. 

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.

Unpacking True Crime with Patrick Radden Keefe

In a live taping of The New Yorker’s Critics at Large podcast, Keefe and a panel discuss the genre's enduring popularity – and its problematic aspects.

The appetite for true crime is more insatiable than ever, but audiences, authors and podcast producers are also grappling with the ethics of the genre. Patrick Radden Keefe, author of books including Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Family and Say Nothing: A True Story of Memory and Murder in Northern Ireland, has made a career out of telling nuanced stories about unconscionable acts and the people who commit them. 

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, Keefe got on stage to speak with Alexandra Schwartz, Naomi Fry and Vinson Cunningham, co-hosts of The New Yorker podcast Critics at Large, about his work, the state of true crime and what it's like to write about terrible things. 

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, Keefe shares his process and his approach to the genre. Rather than dwell on gory details, he seeks to understand the underlying circumstances that lead people to commit crimes. He discusses the role of the journalist in this work, the challenges of adapting this kind of writing for the screen and what he’s learned from past stories, including “The Oligarch’s Son,” an article he wrote for The New Yorker about the sudden death of a London teenager, which he’s currently expanding into a book.  

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.

The Past and Future of American Democracy

In a live podcast taping, historian Heather Cox Richardson debates the nation's founding and the state of democracy ahead of the 2024 election.

Historian Heather Cox Richardson, author of Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, points out a central tension in American history: The founding fathers penned the idea of equality before the law, but as white male property owners, they could always have meant to exclude some people from participating in their new government. 

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, Richardson got on stage to dig into this tension with Celeste Headlee, host of Slate’s  Hear Me Out podcast. The two debated the founders’ intentions, the country’s consistent struggle to live up to its ideals and how this fraught historical context impacts the current state of American democracy.  

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, Headlee and Richardson discuss the American story and the American dream; how some of these narratives help drive the MAGA movement; the bitter war of ideas taking place in our country and what gives each of them hope despite it all.  

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.

Good Economic Data and Bad Economic Feelings

The Journal co-hosts Kate Linebaugh and Ryan Knutson tackle the gap between bright data points and bad vibes with political correspondent Molly Ball.

Data suggests the U.S. economy is performing well, but many Americans don’t feel that way. How will those feelings influence the 2024 election? 

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, Kate Linebaugh and Ryan Knutson, co-hosts of the podcast The Journal, took the stage with Wall Street Journal senior political correspondent Molly Ball to dig into this strange economic picture and its political implications.  

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, Linebaugh, Knutson and Ball note how economic performance can swing elections, even when that performance is due to factors outside of elected officials’ control. They examine the unique drivers of the current economic picture, from pandemic recovery to inflation. They also debate the ways the economy might impact the Biden/Trump rematch, especially compared to other key issues, such as foreign policy, reproductive rights or political polarization.   

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024.  

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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If you would like to support Cascade PBS, go to cascadepbs.org. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Cascade PBS.