City Cast Seattle

Is Seattle Overly Reliant on Big Tech Money? Plus, a Novel You’ll Finish in a Day

September 18, 2026·34 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

With all the headlines in the last few weeks, it’s hard to parse what is happening with AI – the bot swarms, the threats to humanity (?!) and the new report saying the city is overly dependent on tech money. Host Jane C. Hu talks with Todd Bishop, GeekWire's editor and co-founder, and Alex Halverson, tech reporter at The Seattle Times, to parse through the noise and understand what’s really going on. Then, Stesha Brandon, literature and humanities program manager at The Seattle Public Library, and producer Sam J Leeds join to talk about this year's Seattle Reads pick — a program that invites all of Seattle to read the same book and then gather to discuss it. This year it’s a fiction novel that’s a coming-of-age story about Deaf culture, bodily autonomy, and education.  Learn more about the sponsors of this September 18th episode: Grand Central Bakery Washington State Fair Want to get in touch? Follow us @CityCastSeattle on Instagram, or email us at seattle@citycast.fm. You can also call or text us at 206-880-3931. For more Seattle news, make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, City Cast Seattle. Support City Cast Seattle by becoming a member: membership.citycast.fm/seattle Looking to advertise on City Cast Seattle? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise.

Podzilla Summary coming soon

Sign up to get notified when the full AI-powered summary is ready.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.

Listen to This Episode

Get summaries like this every morning.

Free AI-powered recaps of City Cast Seattle and your other favorite podcasts, delivered to your inbox.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.