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RadioActive

Stories produced by students participating in our youth media program. Meet the current youth producers, and learn more about the intensive, fun and free introductory radio journalism workshops we offer throughout the year. 

caption: The summer 2023 class of RadioActive Youth Media.
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The summer 2023 class of RadioActive Youth Media.
KUOW Photo/Lila Lakehart

Episodes

  • caption: Micky Randolph, Antonio Nevarez, Ava Cook, and Lucia Lavador pose for a photo at prom on the Argosy Goodtime III in Seattle on June 4, 2022. These are the people heard in the "my friends are looking at outfit inspiration" part of the story. The prom was "Hollywood Glamour" theme. Photo courtesy of Antonio Nevarez.

    'I really appreciate you being there for me': The importance of LGBTQ role models

    It's become a lot more common for young LGBTQ people to see themselves represented in media. Just look at the variety of streaming shows right now with "Gentleman Jack," "Heartstopper," and "RuPaul's Drag Race." These are programs where people can see themselves, and their potential future, represented and celebrated. But just because you see a part of yourself represented on the big screen, doesn't mean you feel welcome within your own community.

  • caption: The RadioActive 2022 Advanced Producers. Top row from left: Eva Solorio, Antonio Nevarez, Adar Abdi, Jennifer Nguyen. Middle row: Rhea Beecher, Rahmah Abdulazeez, Emily Chua, Colin Yuen. Bottom row: Alayna Ly, Najuma Abadir, Lyn Strober-Cohen, Morgen White.

    Meet RadioActive's 2022 advanced youth producers

    KUOW's RadioActive Youth Media is proud to offer our Advanced Radio Journalism Workshop. Twelve graduates of our Intro to Radio Journalism Workshop are spending the spring with KUOW, and gaining advanced communications, audio production, and journalism skills.

  • caption: Jakha Tunkara is one of two million high school graduates in the US that entered college this fall.

    High school didn’t prepare my sister for college. But hard work got her there

    Around two million high school graduates go on to attend college each year in the United States. Jakha Tunkara is a recent high school graduate who feels that the school system failed to properly prepare her for college. RadioActive's Muhammad Tunkara talks with his sister Jakha about the obstacles she faced.

  • caption: Zahraa Abdulazeez, a hijabi Muslim woman fighting for her rights to wear her hijab.

    POEM: My Hijab is my empowerment, my strength, and my honor

    Muslim women are powerful and can choose to wear a headscarf or not, says RadioActive’s Rahmah Abdulazeez. Rahmah wrote a poem about how she and her sister deal with discrimination as hijabis in the United States. Rahmah wove her poem together with moments from a conversation with her sister, Zahraa Abdulazeez.

  • caption: Hugo Guerra plays a song on the guitar as he helps his son Adrian read a book.

    How my dad survived teenage immigration with a guitar and a dream

    Hugo Guerra grew up in a tough home environment in Guatemala. He used his guitar to cope and help overcome challenges as a teenager. When he immigrated to the United States, his guitar became a tool to survive. RadioActive's Adrian Guerra shares his dad Hugo's story.

  • caption: A photo collage of Kylie Hooks (left) and Josie Gonzalez walking in the South Park Fiestas Patrias parade in 2019.

    How my best friend and I stay connected to our culture through dance

    Folklorico – dances of the people – is a style of dance from Mexico. It helps preserve traditions of spirituality, storytelling, music, and clothing design. And for many Mexican American teens, it serves as a connection to a culture not commonly represented in mass media. Fifteen-year-old Kylie Hooks is a Folklorico performer with Joyas Mestizas, a Western Washington-based Mexican Youth Group. This is the story of her relationship with the dance.

  • caption: Mia Crump playing the piece featured in this story

    Seeing people like herself changed this Seattle teen’s life

    Mia Crump is a musically talented teen determined to claim her space in the music industry, despite not seeing herself and other people with disabilities represented in it. Her friend since middle school, Lily Turner, shares Mia’s story of determination for making and playing music.

  • caption: Eva Solorio (left) and her mom, Ana Iglesias, on Eva's 15th birthday. Eva is wearing a traditional dress from her mom’s home state, Jalisco, Mexico.

    Breaking the culture of silence: My eating disorder and my Mexican mother

    When RadioActive's Eva Solorio was in middle school, she developed an eating disorder. Her mom, Ana Iglesias, stepped up to support her. And as Ana and Eva learned more about eating disorders, they confronted their own family's stigma against seeking care for mental health.