That’s a question we’ve been grappling with for years now as transgender people seek to use facilities that align with their identity without being harassed or attacked. I think this is a desire we can accommodate and actually all be better for it. In fact, I think we can make public restrooms safer than the traditional ones. Hear me out.

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I personally am disappointed that people have made this a political issue, stoking fears that accommodating transgender people would increase violence. The reality, according to a UCLA School of Law study, is that transgender people are four times more likely to be victims of sexual assault and violence.

The truth is, there is a way to address the many potential threats that could surface in a restroom from anyone. The problem is that many of the solutions have been patchwork. Organizations think they are doing the right thing in their remodel and, frankly, they’ve left more people feeling unsafe and awkward.

In one Seattle bathroom, the set-up was such that when you left a stall, the urinal was right in front, so the view leaving a private stall could have been something I did not want to see. Set-ups like these only fuel the resistance to finding a reasonable solution.

So I’m calling for us to get this right and design restroom facilities where everyone can feel safe and where parents feel even better about sending their kids in.

Some places are already doing it. And they are ones I have no hesitation using. For example, in the PCC grocery store in Burien, there is no door to the restroom. You walk in and there are sinks where people can wash hands and as you walk back, there are stalls that anyone can use. They are high and they go all the way to the floor. So not only is this a fully private experience, but a parent of any gender could walk in the hand washing area, watch their kid go into a stall, lock the door and know they are safe.

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With traditional restrooms, opposite-gender parents don’t have this luxury.

I realize every business can’t afford to innovate and make these kinds of changes, but half doing it and causing more harm is not the answer.

So if there’s anything we need to rally around, it’s not another protest or debate, but efforts that support making the fundamental changes we all could benefit from.

Angela Poe Russell fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio and has been around Seattle media in different capacities for a number of years.

But despite best efforts, life and the law don’t always mesh. Just because we as pedestrians have the right to cross at a given moment, doesn’t mean we should. For more reasons than I can count — think of drivers who are drunk, deviant, distracted, you name it.

But I want to talk about a more common scenario playing out on roadways and it contributes to more than 9,000 accidents each year. I’m talking about Sun glare.

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According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is the second environmental factor that leads to car crashes behind slick roads.

The summer and spring seasons are deceiving because we have more bright, clear days. But with sun glare, things can take a turn in a second. I experienced this the other day while driving. Even with glasses and pulling the visor down, the sun was blinding.

Suddenly, I had to slam on my brakes as a woman appeared in front of me moments from stepping onto the street. She was visibly frustrated because numerous cars had passed her by or almost hit her. The problem wasn’t distracted or impaired drivers or people who didn’t care — it was the sun creating this huge blind spot. And no one could see her until up close.

Thank goodness this woman was paying attention. But how many of us don’t and just assume a driver is going to stop? How many of us don’t look both ways? How many of us have the nerve to wear the air buds blasting music? OK, I’m guilty of that too!

But sometimes we need a reset, and this is a potentially life-saving one. Unfortunately, we can’t rely solely on other people and pedestrian signals. It’s ideal to make eye contact with drivers before crossing.

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I’m not trying to put all the responsibility on pedestrians. Drivers should slow down and look out for children or people in wheelchairs who are particularly vulnerable.

Ultimately, it is legally the drivers’ responsibility to watch for pedestrians and to ensure they operate their vehicle’s safely. But in life, when best efforts fail, pedestrians pay the price. And for that reason, I’ll take being safe over being right.

Angela Poe Russell fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio and has been around Seattle media in different capacities for a number of years.

So I have a pretty unusual question to ask. If you only had days or minutes left to live, what would you want to say and to whom?

I’ve always been fascinated with what we focus on when we have little time and a lot on our hearts and minds to say. I’m not the only one. Famous last words are a thing.

This fascination with meaningful messages makes me love the commencement season. Accomplished people attend a grand affair where they share their wisdom with a group about to embark on a new journey. There is excitement and uncertainty.

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It’s the ultimate drama and the speaker only has 15 to 20 minutes

That’s why the commencement speech by Kansas City Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker caught me off guard. His theme: Stay in your lane. But he spent the first 15 minutes veering outside of it, criticizing many things and people — the president, birth control, the COVID-19 response, priests, bishops, Catholics, Pride Month, shacking up, the emasculation of men, IVF, I could go on.

“It is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker said at the commencement speech. “How many of you are sitting here now, about to cross this stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.

“I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” Butker continued in his speech.

For some people, this is a dream. But for many others, their careers offer great fulfillment.

The problem with this commencement speech is exactly what he said with his own mouth: That the message wasn’t based on wisdom, but on his experience. And young people getting ready to start a new life chapter deserve more than his limited experiences.

Commencement speeches with long-lasting impact are inspirational and motivational. This one was more like a muted fire and brimstone Sunday sermon that we’ll discuss on Monday at best and then go on with our lives.

Using this unique opportunity of a stage and those precious few minutes that few people get for that is, at best, unfortunate. But perhaps it’s something we all can learn from.

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If we, one day, find ourselves on a stage or with little time left and a lot to say, we might meet the moment with the best of ourselves, embracing the wisdom gleaned through many experiences – not just our own.

Angela Poe Russell fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio and has been around Seattle media in different capacities for a number of years.

But this anchor used the report as an opportunity to stir up a culture war. North vs. south. Elite private institutions vs. public universities. All while saying, “See? This is why they don’t want to hire you.”

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While criticizing a school’s handling of a situation is fair and so is student behavior, good journalists know better than to make blanket statements about a group or a place. Having worked for years as a reporter, I know that within crowds are many stories and journalists should share them and offer context and nuance.

Columbia University has more than 30,000 students, either undergraduate or graduate level.

If you compare that population to the number of on-campus protestors, it becomes impossible to talk about any university as if the students and their motivations or methods for protesting are exactly the same.

When Columbia’s school newspaper polled more than 700 students, 45% hoped the protestors’ demands were met. So just under half. When asked if the disruption was worth it, 31% said they felt cheated out of their “Columbia experience.”

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The bottom line is anytime we label an entire group, we don’t see the whole story. Most importantly, we miss out on the opportunity to see each other and what we have in common. There is enough conflict in our world without someone stirring up a culture war. There are privileged kids at public schools and poor kids within Ivy Leagues. Some protestors are hateful and others are seeking peace.

We as consumers are capable of complexity. So, I suggest we seek out news outlets that give this to us.

Angela Poe Russell fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio and has been around Seattle media in different capacities for a number of years.

I’ll never forget the moment I was done with public school.

My fifth-grade daughter explained she’d been finishing classwork early and getting bored. I asked the teacher if she could keep worksheets on hand, never imagining the answer would be anything other than absolutely, but the response was indeed no. I can’t say I even got an explanation.

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We were fortunate to be able to do a private middle school where, coincidentally, the teacher kept challenge worksheets in a folder for any student who wanted the extra push.

The bottom line is that people want to work with organizations and businesses that go the extra mile. No doubt there are many SPS teachers who do, but something is clearly off.

The district has lost 4,000 students in the last five years. And there are some things Seattle Schools can’t control — like the fact that the city has more dogs than children. In King County, the number of people under the age of 18 dropped for the first time in 40 years!

During the pandemic, kids poured into private schools frustrated with continued delays to in-person learning. Also, a number of families left the city over public safety concerns.

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But with any problem, there’s always a role we play in it and Seattle needs to own its part. So I’ll channel Dua Lipa here and offer some “new rules.”

1. The plan you had to eliminate Seattle Public Schools’ advanced learning program, scrap it

I agree that the advanced learning program has problems, but the solution is to fix what’s broken, not shut it down. And by the way, telling people that the new neighborhood model is going to be better because it’s “equitable, inclusive and culturally sensitive” is not the best marketing.

Plans call for the advanced learning program to be gone by the 2027-28 school year, with the new model available in every school by the 2024-25 school year.

2. When people offer you help, consider taking it

It’s been reported on a few occasions that nonprofits offering to support Seattle schools are facing so many barriers they give up and go to other districts. We need partnerships.

3. Brush up on your customer service

While I get that you can’t treat schools like a business, you most certainly can embrace the principle of offering products people want. Programming, opportunities. If you make it attractive, people will come.

I realize declining public school enrollment is a national trend but Seattle seems to be expediting this by stripping away what makes it appealing to those with more choices.

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I hate to make education a numbers game, but at the end of the day, fewer students mean less money and cuts to programs. And while that may be a hard pill to swallow, better to take their medicine now before it gets worse.

Angela Poe Russell is a longtime Seattle media personality and a fill-in host for KIRO Newsradio.

While this certainly is a fascinating water cooler conversation, the whole thing just made me angry. It brought to the forefront the criminal justice systems in our country and how every single day there are different tracks — one for the haves and one for the have-nots. And the kind of legal representation, or “justice,” you receive often depends on what’s in your bank account.

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It’s estimated that O.J. Simpson paid more than $6 million for his dream team of attorneys. But most people who stand accused of something, regardless of guilt or innocence, can’t afford such a dream, much less the standard attorney fees.

What happens to the accused when they don’t have the resources?

If someone accused of a crime is declared indigent, meaning extremely poor, the court will appoint an attorney through public defenders. It sounds like a great system to support this right that everyone is supposed to have, according to our constitution.

But in reality – according to the American Bar Association – 42 states, including Washington, allow courts to charge fees for court-appointed attorneys. Sometimes they are up front or are assessed later. And it can vary from county to county.

And we can’t guarantee the quality of that representation. A new landmark study revealed public defenders have three times the caseloads that would be considered standard.

Regardless of someone’s guilt or innocence, the right to a fair trial is foundational to our democracy and is a cornerstone of justice. And the two tracks in the justice system are especially painful for those later found to be innocent.

Bring this issue to light

The Sixth Amendment Center is a nonprofit that focuses on this issue by offering support to federal, state and local policymakers and stakeholders who want to improve their indigent defense services. Other organizations dedicated to this issue are the locally-based Northwest Justice Project, the Equal Justice Initiative and the Innocence Project.

Reaching out to your state legislator is also an effective strategy.

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Look I get it, money buys access. Cases like O.J.’s shine a light on this. It’s been almost 30 years though and the problem persists. It’s time to change it.

The preamble to our constitution establishes the idea of justice as a way to form a more perfect union. While I never expect perfection, I am confident we can do better.

Angela Poe Russell fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio and has been around Seattle media in different capacities for a number of years.

At SeaTac Airport, while getting on the train that takes you to various gates, I saw something I’ve seen dozens of times before. But never thought much of it. The train doors were about to close and I spotted a guy running as fast he could towards the vehicle in hopes he could squeeze inside before the doors shut. Unfortunately, he just missed it. I swear his face smacked into the vehicle.

It was awkward.

And some people chuckled.

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All I could think at that moment was how I had never done anything like that. I’ve never run towards a train or after a bus that was about to leave.

My mindset has typically been to wait for the next one.

The question was why?

If I just look at that situation in a silo, there is a risk of embarrassment. I might look ridiculous barely getting on or missing and smacking into the car. Or even worse – injured.

Then, it made me wonder how many times in life I had chosen that mindset. Choosing to play it safe and stay put because it didn’t look like I would make it or measure up.

That hit me like a ton of bricks.

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To run or chase after something that is far fetched leaves us vulnerable and exposed. Rejection could happen. The metaphorical train could take off without us..

But what if you made it?

Staying put, we never know.

There’s this book I’m fascinated with called “The Power of Regret.”

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And in it, the author, Daniel Pink says we are much more likely to regret the chances we didn’t take than the chances we did. In fact, in a survey he completed, inaction regrets outnumbered action regrets by nearly two to one. When we don’t act, – we can only speculate how events would have unfolded.

He frames it this way – listen to both sentences:

If only I had tried

At least I tried.

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One is clearly more comforting than the other.

Look, I highly doubt the next time I’m at the airport I’ll be the one chasing after the train. But no judgment if you do!

But in my everyday life, when I’m once again given a choice to go for it or play it safe, perhaps I will see myself as that guy running for the train as fast as I can.. And whether I make it – won’t be nearly as important as the fact that I at least tried.

Angela Poe Russell is a local media personality and a fill-in host on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here.

I must admit, I could not believe it when it happened. Rarely do I agree with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on anything. But the bill he recently signed into law, on kids and social media, is spot on.

Law prevents social media for minors

In case you missed it, the law prevents a minor, younger than 14 years of age, from having a social media account. Fourteen and 15-year-olds can have an account with parental consent.

The bill also requires pornographic or sexually explicit websites to use age verification.

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However, what’s unfortunate is some people are so stuck in their political corners, they can’t see a good thing when it’s staring them in the face. When it comes to our kids, we can’t afford to make this about politics.

Recent studies have revealed technology and social media use alters the size and physical characteristics of the brain. Then there’s the comparing that goes on, glamorizing harmful behaviors like eating disorders and cutting and the attention and sleep problems that follow.  And we can’t forget the scammers and predators.

Look I get it, social media is not all bad. People feel less alone and can make meaningful connections. But, any good tool needs guard rails.

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We need boundaries! Like yesterday.

I am not so naïve to think that a law will prevent kids from being on social media, but does that mean we do nothing? Does that mean we keep marching deeper into this crisis? Talk about the problem, but do nothing about it?

The reality is technology is moving faster than lawmakers and regulators can act. Now AI is on the scene. And if the experts can’t keep up, how do you think parents are faring? Some think the government should just throw up its hands and leave it to parents.

Um … how is that going? Not everybody has great parents.

Some work two jobs and trying to manage their kid’s social media comes in second to keeping a roof over their head. Even parents with the bandwidth struggle to reign it in as the tech companies, the kids and the scammers always seem a step ahead.

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We need an assist. Desperately. This is a step in the right direction.

But, I don’t know if it will stick. Federal judges have struck down similar laws in the past due to privacy and free speech concerns.

Government intervention isn’t always a bad thing. It facilitates education, healthcare and is a safety net for some.

It takes a village to raise a child. And in this case, if the village is the government in the form of Ron DeSantis, then so be it.

Angela Poe Russell is a longtime Seattle media personality and a fill-in host for KIRO Newsradio.

The raid on Sean “Diddy” Combs’ home happened just four months after his once longtime girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, filed a lawsuit against him, accusing the artist of physical abuse, sex slavery and assault — allegations that are by law considered sex trafficking and human trafficking.

By definition, sex trafficking is all the activities around when someone is forced, coerced or tricked into performing acts or when the person involved is under 18.

I spoke with the co-founder of Real Escape from the Sex Trade (REST) Audrey Baedke. REST helps survivors of sex trafficking escape and heal.

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‘Trust and love go hand in hand with the threats and the violence’

“We typically think they are willing participants, not understanding the amount of force, fraud and coercion that is used to keep someone continuing to engage,” Baedke said.

Baedke also talked about how her organization has worked with survivors who were compensated by celebrities.

“At REST, we have worked with a number of survivors who were paid by celebrities to provide sexual services and in each of the cases we’ve worked with, there was always a pimp involved. And that pimp was the one who received the money. The pimp was the one who controlled the person … The victim did not have the option to walk away or leave. They had no option to say yes or no to what was being asked. But instead, if they said no, there would be consequences, typically violence that would come because of that choice,” Baedke added.

And, often, traffickers use manipulation to keep victims engaged. Trust and love go hand in hand with the threats and the violence.

“The combination of this love and fear keeps someone loyal,” Baedke continued. “So, typically, this looks like either becoming a boyfriend or sometimes traffickers are parents. Sometimes it’s a friend. But it’s someone who builds a lot of trust to be able to say ‘I’m going to take care of you. I see you’re worth something.'”

‘Survival mode will force us to love things that harm us’

Baedke said even if someone appears to be consenting to sex work, the reality for many is much more layered and complex.

“So, what happens is most survivors will portray this picture of ‘I love what I’m doing’ and particularly to their buyers. But it’s my matter of survival to ‘love what I’m doing’ in order to keep myself safe,” Baedke explained. “And survival mode will force us to love things that harm us because they keep us alive. If someone doing sex work and know their children eating is dependent on it, them not receiving a beating is dependent on it, will love doing sex work because that’s the thing that allows them to live.”

While the Diddy investigation is definitely shining a light on this issue, my hope is that we don’t look at this as just a celebrity problem.

REST alone helps more than 600 survivors each year in the Seattle Metropolitan area.

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What’s also important is realizing it’s not an issue we can take at face value. Just because someone looks like a willing participant, doesn’t mean they are. And understanding the truth about the problem is a meaningful first to doing something about it.

Angela Poe Russell is a longtime Seattle media personality and a fill-in host for KIRO Newsradio.

Last I checked, most kids actually don’t fit into a single box, and the problem with putting them there is it can be hard to climb out of.

What’s most infuriating? The schools themselves and the systems around them perpetuate these silos.

Yes, schools are part of the problem

The good news is schools also have the power to fix it, if they are willing to put aside their own agendas and prioritize students. The solution? Stop forcing kids to choose and specialize.

High school is when this pressure to choose really ramps up. But a kid’s teen years are supposed to be a time of exploration. But the experience for the majority of kids is that they have to find “their thing” and work on “that thing” so they can be the best at “that thing,” so their school can compete and win using “their thing.” As a result, they never get to try anything else.

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Now look, it’s awesome when kids have their thing — their skill, their school subject, their sport, their hobby they can obsess over. But what if trying something else actually made them better?

There’s a book out on this topic with a ton of research behind it called Range, written by David Epstein. The premise is that keeping a broad range of interests improves performance later in life. He points out the most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area.

It made me think about Albert Einstein, a musician himself, who said the greatest scientists are always artists as well. The great painter Leonardo da Vinci contributed to the study of the nervous system. And the man behind the Morse code and the telegraph was also an accomplished artist.

One of the hottest comedians right now, Trevor Noah, talked about this concept in a recent interview.

“I always feel that every discipline, whether it’s art or otherwise, can contribute or touch other disciplines in some shape or form,” Noah said in an interview with Esther Perel. “I don’t think you can talk about comedy without talking about psychology.”

You may be thinking that, with club sports and the rigor of high school, having more than a main interest just isn’t practical or possible. Trust me, I’ve heard it. But as the saying goes, where there’s a will there’s a way.

Schools adopting this practice

My daughter’s high school musical just wrapped and I was struck by the number of athletes who participated. I wanted to understand how this worked. Well, it is the school’s policy to encourage exploration as long as possible. I was told the theater department works with the athletic department to sync up schedules. And the coaches are flexible for important rehearsals and performances and vice versa. It’s adults working together for the benefit of the students. Imagine that.

This isn’t the only school to operate this way, but honestly, every student should have an opportunity to explore a wide range of interests. Think of it like cross-training for life. I totally get at some point in high school a student may need to specialize.

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But keep in mind, at least when it comes to sports, only 7% of high school students will play in college. What do we want the others to take away from those years? And how do they want them to show up in life?

Keeping kids in boxes isn’t a strategy that’s going to prepare them for a rapidly changing world. They need adaptability, critical thinking and resilience that develops when they step out of their box and ultimately out of their comfort zone. That’s where true learning begins and isn’t that our job to push them there?

Angela Poe Russell is a longtime Seattle media personality and a fill-in host for KIRO Newsradio.

While seeing them flex for the cameras is nothing new, something was way different about Ciara. She actually looked “human!”

OK, before you get offended, let me explain. Ciara recently gave birth to her fourth child and after each pregnancy, she always returned to the spotlight looking like nothing happened.

But this time was different. She gave birth back in December and at this Oscar Party, she looked stunning and she didn’t look just like her old self. And may I add, she was holding an In-n-Out burger in the photo. Bonus points for that.

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Isn’t it so cliché that a celebrity has a child, everyone oohs and ahs over how quickly they lost their baby weight and then wonder how we can do that too? But we all know this is not normal. It’s not normal in real life. It shouldn’t be normalized in La La Land, either. And it definitely shouldn’t be the gold standard.

Approximately 80% of women take more than three months to return to their pre-pregnancy weight, according to Story MD. Losing too quickly reduces milk production.

Plus, you have factors like sleep deprivation and breastfeeding, both making moms hungrier than normal. And you have a new human to care for, in addition to the physical recovery.

As a woman, it can be exhausting trying to pretend that nothing just happened. Well, there is a lot always happening and holding up the world while things closest to us are chaotic is unrealistic and harmful.

Ciara has four children now, all under the age of 10. Even if you don’t really care what’s happening with her and Russell, Ciara showing up with a beautiful post pregnancy body is the message our culture needs right now. We are a society obsessed with filters, minimizing our imperfections and inadvertently discouraging people from showing theirs.

And we pay a price.

Right now, eating disorders are on the rise – doubling worldwide in the last 18 years, according to Center for Women’s Health. It’s also starting to impact more teen boys as they consume what their ideal looks should be through social media (big and muscular).

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To be clear, no celebrity is obligated to keep it real with us. And if you have a baby and choose to lose weight quickly but safely, no judgment here. But if a new mom wants to follow the typical course, that should be celebrated.

And it’s just nice when a celebrity like Ciara, with 35 million Instagram followers, gets that. She even posted a picture of herself in a swimsuit saying “embrace every stage.” Well, I agree. So cheers to that Oscar Party photo for showing that stars can be just like us and that vulnerability is a beautiful thing.

As for the In-n-Out burgers featured in that Oscar party photo, yes, I am slightly jealous, but I genuinely hope she ate it.

Angela Poe Russell is a longtime Seattle media personality and a fill-in host for KIRO Newsradio.

DEI is definitely pushing some buttons these days and seems to be losing steam in the job market. According to employment website Indeed, DEI-related job postings in 2023 declined by 44% from the same time a year ago.

It could just be a temporary bump in the road as its future might have an unexpected ally — Generation Z.

Born in the late 90s through 2012, Gen Z’ers are generally between 11 and 26 years old. Here are some things you should know about them. They are on track to be the most educated of all generations – having higher high school graduation rates than previous generations. They are the most diverse generation to date. 48% are people of color.

And Gen Z grew up around monumental moments in U.S. history: The Sept. 11 attacks and the war that followed, the Great Recession that began in 2008 and a series of school shootings forcing them to prepare for the possibility.

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Then, towards the end of their youth, George Floyd’s death, a global pandemic, a serious mental health crisis and let’s not forget they have had social media from the start. All of these things together have made Gen Z more aware of social issues and they bring this to the workplace.

According to Pew Research, workers under 30 are the most likely age group to say focusing on DEI in the workplace is a good thing — approximately 68%. Many consider an employer’s commitment to DEI when deciding where to work. In a different poll conducted by Monster, 83% of Gen Zers felt companies must inquire about preferred gender pronouns.

Now, before you dismiss Gen Z as too idealistic or naïve, they may be on to something. For almost a decade, the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company has extensively studied diversity and its relationship to company performance. Through examining more than 1,200 companies in 23 countries, the research found businesses whose employees are more than 30% women financially outperform others by 18%. Those in the top range for ethnic diversity showed a 27% financial advantage.

I’d like to think that most people agree diversity is a good thing, regardless of it being good for business. But somehow along the way, an acronym became associated with lower standards or preferential treatment. DEI is not supposed to be discriminatory: In fact, it’s the opposite.

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• DEI can ensure that jobs are posted in places where more people in a community can access the opportunity.
• In schools, a DEI lens can examine curriculum for bias or create learning environments that work for students with different needs.
• In medicine, studies show patients fare better when care is provided by diverse teams.

I don’t know if it’s too late to save DEI as we know it, but the idea still has life because, at its best, the goal is to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to obtain what this country offers. And a strong majority of Gen Z seems to not only get that, but will likely demand it.

When you consider “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” the storytelling, the lyrics and the instruments used are consistent with the country music genre and its roots.

Like any other musical genre, it has evolved over time. And in my view, there is still some evolving that needs to happen.

After what I discovered, I feel like rolling out the welcome mat for Beyoncé.

Here’s why. Beyoncé broke a number of records in the last week. She’s the first woman to top both Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and she’s the first black woman to reach No. 1 on the Country Hot 100.

But what caught my attention the most was Beyoncé and Taylor Swift being the only female solo artists to debut a single at No. 1 on the Hot Country Billboard Chart.

And I honestly could not believe it.

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Female country music icons Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood, had their No. 1’s but they haven’t done what Taylor and Beyoncé did — a No. 1 single on their own.

It just feels like something is off. And, it is.

Consider this. Between 2000 and 2018, there was a 66% decline in the number of country songs by women. And the ones who are there aren’t getting as much air time as men. If the radio doesn’t play their music, it makes it harder for people to get familiar with it, which hurts the song’s ability to climb the charts quickly.

We found in 2015, that this wasn’t by accident thanks to something called Tomato Gate. It’s a true story folks – a radio executive saying that in country music, men are the lettuce in a salad and women are the tomatoes that should be sprinkled on top.

While that comment was made almost 10 years ago, the recent facts show not much has changed.

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According to SongData airplay reports, songs by women on country radio in 2019 received 10% of daily spins. In 2022, that number grew to a whopping 11%.

So, I’m less worried about whether Beyoncé’s song is country enough or debating if an artist should be allowed to cross over and more concerned about making sure the women who are staples in the genre have an equal opportunity to reach the top.

It shouldn’t take two major crossover artists to highlight this issue, but if it helps get some more air time for female country singers, I’ll take it!

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Right now, The brand, Stanley, has a reputation to protect. It is on the defensive as more people have filed lawsuits accusing them of failing to disclose the presence of lead in their products.

Their recent journey as a business is one that, quite frankly, has given me some mental whiplash. It was just late last year I saw everyone with these stylish water bottles. They were skinny on the bottom – which solved the annoying problem of a water bottle fitting into your car’s cup holder. That made it practical and cute. And I would later find out these bottles had quite the story behind them.

You see Stanley — owned by a company based in Seattle — is a 110 year old food-and-beverage container brand. Generations had used and trusted their products — known for being durable.

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Then last year, the brand reached new audiences as their new Quencher Tumbler went viral. It was a phenomenon. Folks camped out in front of stores to get their hands on special releases. In one viral video a woman shared how her car caught fire and the Stanley tumbler was not only still intact. But it still had ice inside.

And the popularity paid off.

In 2019 Stanley had $70 million in revenue.

By the end of 2023, revenues had climbed $750 million.

And then as 2024 was just getting going: a plot twist. News surfaced that the bottles contain lead. Specifically, in the sealing materials. Stanley pointed out that it’s all covered in stainless steel and only becomes exposed if the cover on the bottom of the tumbler comes off. But when you’re the darling of social media and the hottest and most high profile water bottle on the market, you won’t get let off the hook easily. “Saturday Night Live” even spoofed the situation (as part of an entire sketch about the cup).

“Big Dumb Cup. You can really taste the bacteria. I’m getting lead.”

And there’s more! Stanley’s competitors are taking shots. Hydro flask, based in Bend, Oregon, posted on Tik Tok that it hadn’t used lead in more than a decade because it quote “aimed for a higher standard.” Ouch!

Stanley is reportedly working on future designs using alternative materials.

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Reputation repair is tough. But a brand like Stanley has a rich legacy worth fighting for. Their journey – a reminder that being trendy may be fun and lucrative, but only customer trust will ensure it’s not fleeting.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

A new season of the popular reality dating show Love is Blind.

The idea is that singles try to find a match and fall in love without ever seeing each other face-to-face.

Dating shows have been around for a while.

I grew up watching the Dating Game, Love Connection and eventually learned what in the world “Whoopie” meant.

But these days, there are more than a dozen options.

The Golden Bachelor, Married at First Site, Love Island, 90-Day Fiance and so on and so on.

As dating shows expanded, it made me wonder what our love life is like in reality… like our actual life.

The bottom line is things don’t seem such a fairy tale or even straightforward.

More people than ever are single. In 1990, 29% of folks didn’t have a partner. In 2019, it was up to 38%.

And now, according to the Census Bureau, the number of people has jumped to almost half.

Some would argue this is a good thing.

There’s even a website to celebrate singleness and the gifts that come with it.

In fact, multiple surveys from credible institutions have found that almost half of single folks don’t even want to date. They are just not interested in a romantic relationship.

The top two reasons: Too busy. Feeling like it would be a distraction. Or because it didn’t work in the past.

Meanwhile, the dating apps are busier than ever. All those dating shows I mentioned — highly rated and doing well.

That makes the State of Our Unions a little confusing.

So what gives?

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Perhaps we are in love with the romance of a relationship versus the reality.

The reality maybe love in 2024 is more complicated.

Look at what could go wrong.

Taylor Swift has made a career of highlighting that. Meanwhile, we’re being trained with beige flags and red flags.

There are high divorce rates, custody battles, and the evil word — Compromise.

Because in 2024, we won’t settle.

Add in social media and the dating apps — where the grass is always greener and there are plenty of fish!

Something you don’t like? All you have to do is swipe, right?

But wait, once you’re past that — you might be judged on your activism.

According to Bumble Dating Trends — singles today expect their partners to not only care about social and political causes but to actively engage.

That’s exhausting.

So it just might be possible that dating shows are this generation’s escape. The way folks who still read have turned to romance novels.

At some point, though, we do have to reckon with reality.

Public health experts have sounded the alarm about America’s loneliness problem. At the heart of it, humans are wired for connection.

Technology and these new social norms made it easier and harder at the same time.

So in this season of love, I wish us all more connections however you manifest them.

Until then I know where you can find a happy ending — at least until the credits roll.

Angela Poe Russell fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio and has been around Seattle media in different capacities for a number of years.

I think it’s important we come up with a definition on which we can agree. And I’m going to share three good reasons why when it comes to this issue.

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First, do you know that Harvard received 56,000 applications this year, and you know how many they accepted? Under 2000, an acceptance rate of 3.4%. There were more people rejected than could fit in T-Mobile Park.

It was an almost identical story at Stanford, same at Princeton and Notre Dame, your chances are a little bit higher at roughly 15%.

These odds make the University of Washington seem easy, with an acceptance rate of 53%. Are we really to believe that all those people turned away weren’t qualified, especially when we consider this?

GPAs have risen drastically in the last few decades. We can debate why another time, but in 1990, the average GPA was 2.68. Today, the average is more like 3.3.

It’s estimated that half of high school seniors have A averages, and get this, the GPAs for girls are a bit higher. So if we’re going to look at grades and split hairs and talk about merit, only then maybe we should just have all-women colleges in the future because it is merit-based.

But I digress. The point is that colleges find themselves turning down highly qualified students all the time. There are just more people than there are spots, especially at elite schools.

When you have so many qualified people, how does the university choose? Do they prefer one extracurricular over another?

So getting into college has felt elusive for some, and when students with high-strung parents couldn’t figure out how to crack the code, they became more desperate, which leads to my next point.

The result? More families turning to private college counselors. 30 years ago, fewer than 100 people worked as full-time Educational Consultants. That number is now 8000.

Just like athletes pay for extra coaching, families will pay for the test prep for a better score. But yeah, we’re going into a meritorious system.

Point three, what could be more merit-based than legacy admissions? Oh, yeah, it’s giving preference to students whose family members attended the school.

In 2011 Harvard researchers studied 30 highly selective colleges and found that all other things being equal, legacy applicants got a 23% increase in their probability of admission. If the applicant’s connection was a parent who attended as an undergrad, the increase was 45%.

Here’s the bottom line, for all the people saying by this ruling, we’re going back to merit-based systems, it’s time to get to fantasyland.

Nothing about what I talked about is merit-based, as the word is being used. The truth is a lot of kids applying to schools are worthy, and using that word to describe this new era is really an insult to people of color because there’s an assumption they somehow weren’t qualified.

If you’re against the consideration of race as one of many factors on a college application, that’s one thing, but declaring it is now merit-based isn’t accurate. And next year, in this post-affirmative action college world, when thousands of qualified kids still get rejection letters from their dream school, I guess they’ll be forced to reckon with that truth.

It is a competitive world out there, and people have advantages for many reasons, not usually because they’re of color.

So with that, welcome to the real world. Now, go out and change it for the better for everybody, and I promise you, you don’t need an elite college to do that.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

But thinking a bit more about the situation, I actually saw an opportunity. You see, the last time I went on Twitter, it was during the search for the submersible OceanGate.

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Now, call me naïve, but I was flabbergasted at what I saw people saying online. At the time, five people were still unaccounted for and we didn’t know their fate. People were making jokes, condemning their desire to go that deep into the ocean to see a shipwreck, commenting that it’s the foolishness of people with money who are bored.

Now I’m not going to lie, I have no desire at all to go to the depths of the ocean and no desire to see the Titanic, and I have no idea why anyone else would want to. But exploration is part of our DNA. It’s why we have some of the conveniences we enjoy.

Now, before I go further, I want to be clear, it is fair game to judge how a person conducts their exploration and their business, especially when it impacts other people in our environment. But on social media, it seemed that the focus was less on that process and more on, “Why are you there in the first place?”

Imagine if we all judged one another’s interests and passions. Think about that. What you think is cool, I might think, is pretty weird, and vice versa.

And truly, our history is full of people who are determined to do what had never been done. Let’s go back to Orville and Wilbur Wright. They began studying birds so that they could figure out how to fly. And people had their suspicions and their criticisms just like they do now, a few years into their development process.

Wilbur Wright would take people on rides, and one reporter, Richard Harding Davis, initially didn’t have much interest. But then, once he was in the air, he apparently had an epiphany.

Davis said, “I begin to understand why young men with apparently everything to make them happy on Earth persist in leaving by means of aeroplanes. What lures them is the call of a new world waiting to be conquered, the sense of power of detachment from everything humdrum or even human. The thrill that makes all the other sensations stale. And the exhilaration that, for the moment, makes each one of them a king.”

Whatever this feeling, I’m glad they pursued it.

You know, air travel is how we’re able to connect with people all over the world, whether in service, celebration, or support of someone we care about.

And look, I have no idea where ocean exploration is going, but here’s what I do know: we should always hold people accountable for practicing reasonable care and due diligence.

As journalists, it’s our responsibility to call out shoddy safety practices and warnings that were ignored in lawsuits. That must happen with OceanGate, and the public should engage in that too.

But judging how people want to experience the world could stifle the very next thing that we need.

Oh goodness, I realized I went down a rabbit hole. I’m sorry. I was talking about social media and the new platform, and I do have a point. You see, Threads is this new opportunity for us to start again to make a commitment to old-school values and a high-tech world.

Just because you think it doesn’t mean you need to post it because often, we do need to think again. And if you decide to go down a rabbit hole or create one, perhaps we make sure we come out with something worth talking about or something that, like wine, ages well and manages to bring out the best in us.

That world is one I’d be interested in exploring.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.