“Small scene, big heart”: Why Seattle nightlife is special

“Small scene, big heart”: Why Seattle nightlife is special

On today’s episode, we’re talking with two night owls who found freedom and community in Seattle’s local nightlife.  Growing up just south of Seattle in Des Moines, music and nightlife advocate Leigh Bezezekoff felt like she saw a new world while watching Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” video on MTV. “The coolness factor of Des Moines at that time was not great”, said Bezezekoff. But the video suggested that an extremely cool local music scene was waiting for her just a few miles north.  These days, Leigh is the marketing and ticketing manager at Conor Byrne, a cooperatively owned music space and bar in Ballard. She's also a cofounder of the Washington Nightlife and Music Association, an organization that supports and champions independent music venues and artists.  DJ Emily Griffin grew up in the Los Angeles area. She was drawn to the underground rave scene. Emily and her friends called telephone hotlines to get the scoop on where the underground raves were located – often in grimy warehouses on the edge of town.  Emily said her days of clubbing in LA “opened up this whole world to me of being able to get lost in music, dance, and feeling fully self-expressed.” Decades later, she’s still seeking that out. You can catch DJ Emily Griffin, aka GriffinGrrl, spinning regularly at late-night dance parties around the city.  On this episode of Meet Me Here, these two night owls will tell you where - and WHY - to find late-night community in Seattle.   In this episode, we mention: * Conor Byrne Pub [https://www.instagram.com/conorbyrnepub/?hl=en] on Instagram * Conor Byrne Co-op [https://www.conorbyrnepub.com/#/events]  * Washington Nightlife and Music Association [https://wanma.info/] * GriffinGrrl on Soundcloud  [https://soundcloud.com/griffingrrl] * Emily Griffin on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/emilygriffingrrl/] * Monkey Loft, [https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/6382885/monkey-loft/recent/?hl=en]Dance & Nightclub  * Do206 [https://do206.com/]    Host Jeannie Yandel recommends checking out the new Hot Rat Summer mosaic unveiling [https://www.hotratsummer.gay/summer2026] at Actualize Gallery in Pioneer Square on June 13th from 5-9 pm, and the afterparty from 9pm-midnight.    *********   Support Meet Me Here and all KUOW's podcasts at kuow.org/meet  [https://donate.kuow.org/donate/meet] Got an arts and culture idea you'd like us to talk about? Email us! arts@kuow.org  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

What to do with YOUR weekend: Bark! Honk! Battle! And MORE!

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS: * Bark! The Musical [https://keycitypublictheatre.org/events/bark-the-musical] * HONK! Fest West [https://honkfestwest.org/festival/] * Mason County Forest Festival [https://www.masoncountyforestfestival.com/] * Glazer's PhotoFest [https://www.glazerscamera.com/pages/photofest] * Battle on the Bank [https://battleonthebank.com/] * Sally Ride: A New Opera About Queer Love and the First American Woman in Space [https://everout.com/seattle/events/sally-ride-a-new-opera-about-queer-love-and-the-first-american-woman-in-space/e237439/] * Pollinator Fest 2026 [https://pollinatorpathwaynw.org/pollinator-fest-2026/] * Run to End Weekend Hunger 5K [https://runsignup.com/Race/WA/Seattle/EndWeekendHunger5k] THE STUFF WE DIDN'T GET TO: * Brandi Carlile - Echoes Through the Canyon [https://everout.com/seattle/events/brandi-carlile-echoes-through-the-canyon/e228443/] * 14th Annual Seattle Asian American Film Festival [https://www.seattleaaff.org/saaff2026] * Trae Crowder [https://www.emeraldcitycomedy.com/events/123705] at Emerald City Comedy Club * Seattle Mariners vs Arizona D-Backs [https://www.mlb.com/mariners/schedule/2026-05] * Stamp & Scrapbook EXPO [https://scrapbookexpo.com/2026-expo-show-list/pu-26/] * Seattle Spring - Renegade Craft [https://www.renegadecraft.com/event/seattle-spring/] Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  [https://www.kuow.org/donate/meet] Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

What's at the end of author Lily Brooks-Dalton's world

Speculative fiction is often about society, how people think and work together. Sure, there's something decidedly out there, something not quite possible, sometimes something downright magical. But at the end of the day, the genre speculates about what might happen if... What exactly comes after the "if" depends on the writer. Author Lily Brooks-Dalton's "what if" often includes a kind of societal collapse, and that collapse sets her latest main character, Ember, on a journey into a surprising past. Ruins [https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/lily-brooks-dalton/ruins/9781538770528/] is, on its face anyway, about an archaeologist who goes looking for a lost empire. But what is this lost world? What clue does Ember have of its existence? And why is the end of something so often the beginning for this author? Lily stopped by to talk to host Katie Campbell about the allure of societal collapse in her storytelling. If you want to stay speculative, check out Lily and Katie's Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): * Piranesi [https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/piranesi-9781635575637/] by Susanna Clarke * I Who Have Never Known Men [https://www.transitbooks.org/books/iwhohaveneverknownmen] by Jacqueline Harpman * On the Calculation of Volume [https://www.ndbooks.com/book/on-the-calculation-of-volume-book-i/] by Solvej Balle * The Husbands [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/743083/the-husbands-a-read-with-jenna-pick-by-holly-gramazio/] by Holly Gramazio * Sea of Tranquility [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/692735/sea-of-tranquility-by-emily-st-john-mandel/] by Emily St. John Mandel (Honestly, Katie recommends anything by Emily St. John Mandel * For All Mankind [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7772588/] on Apple TV Read more about Lily Brooks-Dalton (and all the authors who stop by for a chat with our host Katie Campbell) at kuow.org/books [https://www.kuow.org/series/books/]. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet [https://donate.kuow.org/donate/meet].  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

BONUS: The things we do for love with Sonora Jha

Finding love can be so weird these days, which is why the main character in Seattle author Sonora Jha’s new novel decides to take a big swing to find the right man for her.  She holds a swayamvar. It’s an ancient Indian custom in which suitors competed in a feat of wills and strength to win a beautiful princess’s hand in marriage. But the woman in the novel Intemperance [https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780063440845] is not a young princess looking for her first love. She’s a twice-divorced professor of feminist theory in her 50s who lives on a rad houseboat in present-day Seattle.  The KUOW Book Club read Sonora’s novel in May. KUOW’s Katie Campbell sat down with her on May 21 in front of a live audience at the Seattle Central Library to talk about love, aging, and the kinds of feats Sonora would require at her swayamvar.  Join the KUOW Book Club at kuow.org/books [https://www.kuow.org/series/books/]. Help keep KUOW's local podcasts going strong! Donate now at kuow.org/meet [https://donate.kuow.org/donate/meet].  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

What to do with your weekend - Books, books, and more BOOKS!

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. HOST: Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows LINKS: * Inaugural Ballard Book Crawl [https://www.instagram.com/p/DYF0_kGkt6l/] * Lost the Plot Mobile Books [https://www.losttheplotbooks.com/schedule] * Bremerton by the Book [https://ballastbookco.com/bremerton-by-the-book] * Page 42 Bookstore [https://www.page42bookstore.com/] Smut & Sips [https://www.instagram.com/p/DYdaXmPARE7/] * Book Recommendations thanks to @beckybooksandbeads [https://www.instagram.com/beckybooksandbeads/reels/]! * Trailhead Direct [https://trailheaddirect.org/] - Begins Saturday! * Whidbey Ren Faire [https://www.whidbeyrenfaire.org/] * Festival | Northwest Folklife [https://nwfolklife.org/festival/home.html] Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/meet  [https://www.kuow.org/donate/meet] Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.