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John O'Brien

Senior Producer, All Things Considered

About

John O’Brien is KUOW's All Things Considered Senior Producer. He spends his days setting up interviews with newsmakers on subjects from politics and public health to arts and culture. John learned to make radio starting in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds.

Location: Seattle

Languages: English

Pronouns: he/him

Stories

  • caption: A Red-throated Loon family shelters in a small pond in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area.

    A visit to the pristine Western Arctic, which faces gas and oil drilling

    Lynda Mapes, the former Seattle Times environment reporter, made a trip recently to the Western Arctic, a vast region in the northernmost part of North America. It’s an area that the Trump administration plans to open for oil and gas drilling. Mapes talked to KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about what she experienced on that trip.

  • caption: The sign at Seattle City Hall.

    Will Seattle's election solidify its centrist shift, or move the city back to the left?

    The hours are ticking down for voters to get their ballots in for the November election. Last year at this time, there was a lot going on nationally and not so much locally. That script flipped this year. To talk about what's happening in Seattle races and measures, KUOW’s Kim Malcolm reached out to Seattle Times staff reporter David Kroman.

  • caption: GeekWire's Todd Bishop delivering packages in Amazon's new smart glasses.

    GeekWire tested Amazon's delivery driver smart glasses. How smart are they?

    You may see your Amazon delivery driver wearing something new soon: smart glasses. The retail behemoth is testing them out to see if they can boost delivery efficiency. GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop donned some Amazon gear and a pair of the new spectacles to see what's in store. He told KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about his experience.

  • caption: Front Row left to right:
John Wainscott, Cori Kauk, Morgan Huffman

Second Row:
Erinn Hale, Brandie Short Western, Ash Nickolaychuk

Back Row:
Pula Leasiolagi, Patrick Fick

    Bremerton food bank launches extra hours for federal employees working without pay

    A food bank in Kitsap County has opened its doors to some new shoppers. Last Wednesday, Bremerton Foodline launched a two-hour shopping period exclusively for military and federal employees. Kitsap is home to more than 21,000 federal workers who have gone without pay since the government shutdown began Oct. 1. KUOW’s Rob Wood talked to Foodline Executive Director Cori Kauk about her organization's efforts.

  • caption: "Humpy" reacts after winning the Salmon Run race for the first time during the 15th inning between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of baseball's American League Division Series Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Seattle.

    Seattle Mariners fans have Humpy fever. Is it catching?

    If you had gone to every Seattle Mariners regular season home game over the last couple of years, you would have seen that only one participant lost every contest, 167 times. That losing streak broke in a big way last Friday night in the 15th inning of the incredibly tense Game 5 of the American League Division Series. In the T-Mobile Park Salmon Run, Humpy came from behind, pushing past King Salmon, Sockeye, and Silver for the win. That unexpected victory started a cascade of Humpy-related happenings that seems to have no end in sight. To find out more, KUOW’s Kim Malcolm talked Seattle Times reporter Taylor Blatchford, who is writing about the phenomenon.

  • 20230929 Mariners

    The pressure’s on for the Mariners. Can Seattle keep its playoff run alive?

    We'll find out Friday if the Seattle Mariners have what it takes to make it to the American League Championship Series for the fourth time in their 49-season history. That's what's at stake in game five of the team's division series against the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park. To catch up on some M's history and get a look at what may be ahead, KUOW’s Kevin Kniestedt checked in with longtime Seattle sportswriter Art Thiel.

  • caption: The first test glass container that’s 7 feet tall by 4 feet wide was signed by Hanford workers and officials after it was poured. The plant will make thousands of these containers of low activity waste at Hanford.

    A long-awaited solution to Hanford's nuclear waste may be weeks away

    Earlier this month, it looked like a pivotal part of the effort to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in south central Washington was going to be stuck in limbo. Plans to build an important and long-awaited radioactive waste treatment plant appeared to be put on hold, but then the US Secretary of Energy's Office confirmed the plant would be operational by Oct. 15. Hanford is one of the largest Superfund sites in the United States. It was established in 1943 to create plutonium for atomic bombs. Northwest Public Broadcasting senior correspondent Anna King gave KUOW’s Kim Malcolm this update.