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Tomorrow, we drop the final episode of Outsiders
It's a quest to find the first person you heard in the series: Jessica
Subscribe: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/outsiders-podcast-knkx-seattle-times-project-homeless/
Join us Thursday for an event (!): https://zoom.us/webinar/register/6116020055207/WN__IsJ5Ga2QiSl6jm2msx2dw
And before I stop tweeting about this forever, a thread...
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It's a quest to find the first person you heard in the series: Jessica
Subscribe: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/outsiders-podcast-knkx-seattle-times-project-homeless/
Join us Thursday for an event (!): https://zoom.us/webinar/register/6116020055207/WN__IsJ5Ga2QiSl6jm2msx2dw
And before I stop tweeting about this forever, a thread...
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In many ways, Outsiders made no sense.
We committed to immersing ourselves in a city’s homelessness crisis for a year without knowing where the story would take us.
We forged a collaboration between @timeshomeless and @knkxfm without knowing exactly how that would work...
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We committed to immersing ourselves in a city’s homelessness crisis for a year without knowing where the story would take us.
We forged a collaboration between @timeshomeless and @knkxfm without knowing exactly how that would work...
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Instead of hunting for conventionally "sympathetic" characters, we did the exact opposite.
We sought out people who had been kicked out of programs, rejected by their neighbors, deemed too difficult to help.
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We sought out people who had been kicked out of programs, rejected by their neighbors, deemed too difficult to help.
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We decided early on to lean into complexity, to not shy away from complicated people or polarizing topics.
Many of our subjects did not have phones. We spent many hours just trying to find them on the streets.
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Many of our subjects did not have phones. We spent many hours just trying to find them on the streets.
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We taped almost all of it outside, in the rain and snow, cars and buses roaring by.
Of the dozens of interviews we did with sources, I recall only three that were in a studio. Three. A mix engineer's nightmare.
So. How did this podcast even happen? Well...
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Of the dozens of interviews we did with sources, I recall only three that were in a studio. Three. A mix engineer's nightmare.
So. How did this podcast even happen? Well...
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Behind every big project is a boss who says yes to something insane.
In this case, several: @erininsea @jmartin206 @mattmdm @ViannaDavila @florangela and others at @seattletimes and @knkxfm.
They took big risks and believed in this.
Then there are the people who made it...
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In this case, several: @erininsea @jmartin206 @mattmdm @ViannaDavila @florangela and others at @seattletimes and @knkxfm.
They took big risks and believed in this.
Then there are the people who made it...
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Outsiders had many beginnings. One was a meeting @evergreenstone and I had at Uptown Espresso in March 2019.
Scott's enthusiasm and creativity powered the entire project. He can do anything, including host and produce a stunning podcast episode:
https://www.knkx.org/post/episode-5-lets-dance
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Scott's enthusiasm and creativity powered the entire project. He can do anything, including host and produce a stunning podcast episode:
https://www.knkx.org/post/episode-5-lets-dance
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A joy of making this was asking @ViannaDavila an impossible question, hearing her pause, sigh, say, "Well..." And then listening in awe as she said something brilliant.
She's spent years building a model of U.S. poverty in her head. Her expertise infuses the entire project.
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She's spent years building a model of U.S. poverty in her head. Her expertise infuses the entire project.
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If you listen back to Episode 3, you hear how wary @sydbrownstone and I were of each other at first
Then we spent many hours reporting together. It made me a better journalist. She's the most thoughtful, thorough interviewer I've ever worked with.
https://www.knkx.org/post/episode-3-all-my-nightmares
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Then we spent many hours reporting together. It made me a better journalist. She's the most thoughtful, thorough interviewer I've ever worked with.
https://www.knkx.org/post/episode-3-all-my-nightmares
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For each episode, I'd send @bjodent a chaotic, rough mix, usually at 1 a.m. And then I'd wait, like a kid waiting for Christmas, for her to turn it into something magical.
She hears possibilities in sound most people can't. She is a wizard and we were so lucky to have her.
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She hears possibilities in sound most people can't. She is a wizard and we were so lucky to have her.
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Outsiders was produced in a public radio newsroom with three (three!) full-time reporters (plus, of course, part-timers, producers, hosts).
This only happened because the staff of @knkxfm is made up of superhumans. They stepped up, selflessly, in huge ways. I am so grateful
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This only happened because the staff of @knkxfm is made up of superhumans. They stepped up, selflessly, in huge ways. I am so grateful
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So many others. @annaleapatrick oversaw engagement. @AshleyAlvarado schooled us in engaged journalism. @anna_sussman gave close, tough reads of scripts. @keepsakeaudio helped us report, produce. People planned events, marketed, built websites, took photos, designed logos.
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Another beginning of the project was when I got a fellowship at @ReportingHealth, and a grant from the Dennis A. Hunt Fund.
The fellowship covers so much beyond what you think of as "health journalism." It's poverty, trauma, children, families, life and death. Apply for it!
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The fellowship covers so much beyond what you think of as "health journalism." It's poverty, trauma, children, families, life and death. Apply for it!
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Finally: Outsiders happened because dozens of people who were engaged in an hour-by-hour struggle to stay alive took time out of their days to talk with us. Again and again. Often without hesitation, with devastating honesty and insight, getting nothing in return...
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They talked with us under bridges, in the woods, in the rain, in the snow, through tears, cursing, exhausted, sick. They shared the worst experiences of their lives. They stopped to talk while getting evicted, swept, not knowing where they were going to sleep that night.
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They got nothing. Again and again, they told us they just wanted people to understand. Each one of those conversations was an act of astounding courage, a public service. I am honored to have met them, to have walked in their world for a little while. I'll never forget it.
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And to everyone who stuck with us for a winding, complicated story that could be difficult to hear: We asked a lot of you. We offered you little in terms of solace or relief or dopamine or answers. We're glad you came along with us. There’s courage in that, too. Listening.
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Alright.
Again, last episode tomorrow (Wed 10/21).
Please, please sign up for our event (Thu 10/22, 4 p.m.).
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/6116020055207/WN__IsJ5Ga2QiSl6jm2msx2dw
We will share things we weren’t able to share in the podcast, answer your questions. Don’t make us face the Zoom void, alone.
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Again, last episode tomorrow (Wed 10/21).
Please, please sign up for our event (Thu 10/22, 4 p.m.).
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/6116020055207/WN__IsJ5Ga2QiSl6jm2msx2dw
We will share things we weren’t able to share in the podcast, answer your questions. Don’t make us face the Zoom void, alone.
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