January 2008
Slow Burn R&B
South Seattle singer-songwriter Jaymin leans into vulnerability on debut EP Sweet Nothings, a self-recorded project rooted in intention and the city that raised him.
Seattle has long been a city that shapes artists before the rest of the world catches on. For Jaymin, that shaping happened in church choirs, suburban bedrooms turned makeshift studios, and late nights spent writing songs that favored feeling over flash. With the release of his debut EP, Sweet Nothings, the South Seattle–born singer-songwriter, backed…
To Skate Like A Girl
The Professional Women’s Hockey League expands to Seattle with the Torrent, a talent-filled team poised to sweep the ice.
When Danielle Serdachny was growing up, she dreamed of playing professional hockey. This wasn’t unusual, given that she’s from Alberta, Canada, where hockey is as much a passion as a sport. Her dad teaches skating and hockey skills, and he’d even worked for the National Hockey League’s Edmonton Oilers at one point. Her older sister…
The Piano Teacher: Payam Khastkhodaei
The instructor rethinking the approach to music lessons.
When Payam Khastkhodaei began teaching piano to a family friend’s daughter in his Bothell home at 16, he relied on the same method he had been taught as a kid—classical songbooks, rigid practice, and pieces he never connected with. It didn’t take long to see she was losing interest. “I had learned from the Alfred…
The Neighborhood Gym Effect
Inside Seattle Strength and Performance’s small-group training model and welcoming approach to fitness.
On a regular Seattle Wednesday morning, a little wet and dreary, I walk into a small gym feeling unsure of what I’ve gotten myself into. It’s late January, a time when many New Year’s resolutions are failing and motivation to keep exercising may be going out the window. I work out consistently—lifting weights, going to…
The Scientist: Dr. Mary E. Brunkow
The Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist is a UW alum.
When the Nobel Assembly called Dr. Mary E. Brunkow around 1 a.m. on October 6 to deliver the news that she had been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, she did not answer the phone call. When they called immediately a second time she set her phone to “Do Not Disturb” and…
Under the Big Top With ECHO
Cirque du Soleil’s latest show brings live music, astonishing feats of the human body, and circus magic to Marymoor Park.
The moment the lights dropped inside the Big Top, I squeezed my 11-year-old daughter’s arm. The collective thrill of being packed into the circus tent felt palpable, and you could tell everyone was thinking the same thing. Center stage sat a massive cube. What was it going to do? Crack open? Spit people out? We…
The System Smashers: Seth and Zach Pacleb
The brothers taking risks to disrupt capitalist restaurant models.
For brothers Seth and Zach Pacleb, all you need to know about their new eatery is in the name: Pidgin Cooperative. The employee-owned, pan-Asian restaurant and bottle shop that opened last fall in Fishermen’s Terminal represents a level playing field where people come together to fulfill a collective culinary vision. Fittingly, it’s inspired by the…
Restaurant Roundup: Celebrating Seaweed and a Humble Cuts Steakhouse
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
How are we feeling, Seattle? Fresh off of winning the Super Bowl right into… checks notes… Friday the 13th? Nay, we refuse to let a day that’s notorious for bad luck ruin the mood, although you certainly will need some good fortune if you’re still looking for Valentine’s Day reservations. Perhaps we can help. Can…
Seattle Center Festál at 30
How community backlash to a Disney plan helped shape one of Seattle’s most expansive cultural traditions.
In the late 1980s, Seattle Center was staring down an identity crisis. The city had hired the Disney Corporation to produce a redevelopment plan for the 74-acre campus—the most significant reimagining since the 1962 World’s Fair. When the final proposal was released, the reaction was immediate. Community groups pushed back, arguing the vision felt imported…
The Councilmember: Alexis Mercedes Rinck
Seattle’s youngest councilmember leads with a boots-on-the-ground approach.
Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Standing on Medgar Evers’ driveway. Looking over the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. At 16, Alexis Mercedes Rinck had heard stories of these Civil Rights Movement landmarks from her politically engaged grandmother, who was raising her, but in 2012, Rinck was there. And she was meeting the people—sung and unsung—of…
The Literary Leader: Christopher Frizzelle
The former Stranger editor launching a community-funded publishing company that puts its authors first.
The path to FrizzLit Editions began in the fraught days of March 2020. Christopher Frizzelle, then an editor at the Stranger, was searching for new ways to reach readers in a city that had all but shut down. “My brilliant idea is, we’ll do a book club,” he remembers. That first book club—a quarantine edition…
Built Into the Trees
A new design-forward alpine retreat near Mount Rainier blends craft, comfort, and slow-living rituals into a year-round stay that’s hard to leave.
It was dark when we arrived. Our family of four—my husband and our tween and teen daughters—left Seattle for a weekend getaway later than planned, the kind of Friday departure that feels optimistic when you pack the car and less so once you hit the slow crawl of traffic out of the city. We cruised…