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Libby Denkmann

Host, Soundside

About

Libby Denkmann has covered veterans' issues, homelessness, and local politics during her radio journalism career. She became the host of KUOW's Soundside in November 2021. Previously she was a producer, reporter, anchor, and host for stations KIRO, KFI, and KPCC in Seattle and Los Angeles. During a yearlong hiatus from journalism in 2011, she worked as a congressional staffer in Washington, D.C.. Libby was born in Seattle, grew up on the eastside, and graduated from the University of Washington. Her favorite things include soccer, video games, and her dog, Monty.

Location: Seattle

Languages: English, limited Japanese and Portuguese

Pronouns: she/her

Podcasts

Stories

  • Classroom_Stock
    Education

    Washington schools need more deaf educators

    Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a deaf student could sue his Michigan school system – under the Americans with Disabilities Act – for providing inadequate services. The family of Miguel Luna Perez says his constitutional rights were violated because he was provided an ASL aide who did not, in fact, know American Sign Language. Nationwide, there’s a shortage of qualified deaf education teachers for public schools, including here in Washington.

  • caption: Washington state has three national monuments, which include Mt. St. Helens National Monument, Hanford Reach National Monument, and San Juan Islands National Monument.
    Environment

    Hear It Again: The fraught political battle over national monuments

    With the news of new national monuments in Nevada and Texas, and a renewed push for a national monument around Grand Canyon National Park, we revisit our conversation with McKenzie Long about her book: "This Contested Land: The Storied Past and Uncertain Future of America's National Monuments."
  • caption: Yasmin Mohammed (left) and Roberto Ascalon (right) pose in the corner of the Bureau of Fearless Ideas, in Beacon Hill.
    Arts & Life

    Charting change in Beacon Hill with poet Roberto Ascalon

    The Bureau of Fearless Ideas (BFI) is one large classroom on the ground floor of the Yesler Terrace complex, a multi-use housing development in Beacon Hill. The walls are packed with language – words, rhymes, and creative affirmations. It's here that Roberto Ascalon, the poet in residence, is a mentor to new poets.
  • caption: Eddie Vedder performs during his concert, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, Calif.
    Arts & Life

    A curtain call for MoPop's Pearl Jam exhibit

    Since 2018, Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture has given fans a first-hand look at the band’s journey through more than 1,000 artifacts directly from Pearl Jam’s members. But it’s the final curtain call for the exhibit. After five years, "Pearl Jam: Home and Away" will close on April 23.

  • caption: Tents line South Weller Street near the intersection of 12th Avenue South on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in Seattle.

    With costs mounting, some hotel shelters are at risk of closing

    Hundreds of people in King County and Tacoma may soon need to vacate hotel rooms they’ve been living in for the past several months. Last year, the Lived Experience Coalition, or LEC, moved hundreds of unsheltered people into these rooms through the help of a series of federal grants. But as PubliCola’s Erica Barnett reports, the money quickly ran out. And the residents are now at risk of becoming unsheltered again.

  • caption: Koon Woon has lived throughout Seattle, and many locations inspired his poetry on immigration and life at the margins.
    Arts & Life

    Poet Koon Woon on his verses of solitude and the working-class immigrant life

    Koon Woon has been an important member of the Seattle poetry community for decades. He’s the publisher of Goldfish Books and Chrysanthemum Poetry Journal, as well as a formidable poet in his own right. But his poems aren’t lofty and highbrow — they're deeply rooted in his lived experiences of poverty, working-class immigrant life, and living on the margins.

  • seattle skyline summer cruise
    Environment

    The high environmental cost of cheap cruises

    Next month, it begins again. Tourists flooding Pike Place Market, plonking their luggage onto precious light rail seats, crowding downtown bars and restaurants. Yes, we’re talking about the start of the Alaska cruise season.