Crosscut Videos

Now Playing:

Mossback's Northwest: The “Bird Woman” and an ode to ornithology

Mossback's Northwest

The “Bird Woman” and an ode to ornithology

Season
9
 /
Episode
8
 /
Video duration
7 min 33 s

A century ago, Seattle's first female principal, Adelaide Lowry Pollock, spread the gospel of birds and good citizenship to a generation of schoolkids.

Watch Next
Still from The Bird Woman

The “Bird Woman” and an ode to ornithology

A century ago, Seattle's first female principal, Adelaide Lowry Pollock, spread the gospel of birds and good citizenship...
Still from Sitka Spruce and Rosie the Logger

Lumberjacks, meet the Lumberjills.

You’ve heard of Rosie the Riveter, but how about Rosie the Logger? During both world wars, the Northwest brought working...
Jason Johnson and Ta-Nehisi Coates sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

A Word: Race and Politics

Political commentator Jason Johnson sits down with author Ta-Nehisi Coates to talk about race, power dynamics and the...
Hanna Rosin and Charlie Warzel sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Radio Atlantic: AI Elections

Will voters be swayed by deepfakes and misinformation? The Atlantic's Hanna Rosin and Charlie Warzel talk about the...
Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Babak Sarani and David Hogg sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Revisionist History: Unlocked and Unloaded

Podcaster Malcolm Gladwell discusses everything Americans get wrong about guns with activist David Hogg and trauma...
Still from Architect of Hope and Tragedy

How architect Minoru Yamasaki designed the future

Born in Seattle’s Japantown, he rose from hardship to build aspirational icons like the Pacific Science Center and the...
Megan McArdle, Elahe Izadi, Martine Powers and Shadi Hamid sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Post Reports: Identity Crisis

With trust in institutions at record lows, many are leaning into identity politics. Washington Post reporters discuss...
David Greene, Sarah Isgur and Mo Elleithee sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Left, Right & Center: Serious About Satire

Mo Elleithee and Sarah Isgur join KCRW podcaster David Greene to debate the impact of political satire and the media's...
Alexandra Schwartz, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry and Patrick Radden Keefe sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Critics at Large: Crazy for Crime

Are audiences still hooked on true crime? The New Yorker team breaks down the genre with author Patrick Radden Keefe.
Celeste Headlee and Heather Cox Richardson sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Hear Me Out: Living History

Historian Heather Cox Richardson talks with Slate podcast host Celeste Headlee about the state of democracy and the...
Ryan Knutson, Kate Linebaugh and Molly Ball sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

The Journal: Economy Anxiety and the Election

The actual numbers, and how they differ from voters’ perceptions, may determine the next president. Kate Linebaugh, Ryan...
Lindy West, Meagan Hatcher-Mays and Guy Branum sit on stage at Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Text Me Back!: A U.S. Supreme Court roast

Author Lindy West, comedian Guy Branum and democracy expert Meagan Hatcher-Mays raucously skewer our legal system...
David Rind and Nada Bashir sit on stage at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival

Tug of War: Covering the Crisis in the Middle East

At the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival, CNN’s David Rind and Middle East correspondent Nada Bashir discuss the challenges of...
Still from Upon Further Review: The Beach Hike

Upon Further Review: The Beach Hike

A Supreme Court Justice, an environmental activist, a lost film and a stunt that saved a pristine part of the Northwest.
Still from Where Buffalo Bill Roamed

Seattle loved Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show

The frontiersman’s act, a blend of the sensational and the authentic, helped construct the myth of the West in the...
Host Rachel Belle digs up truffles in a mossy forest while her guest Alana McGee guides her along with her golden retriever, Ruby

Meet the dogs trained to sniff out Washington truffles

Rachel Belle joins Truffle Dog Company to forage for the coveted delicacies in the Snohomish County woods.

 
Still from Keep Clam and Carry On

Keep Clam and Carry On

From Indigenous origin stories to restaurateur Ivar Haglund, the bivalves have become an edible emblem of Puget Sound...
Host Rachel Belle smiles as her guests, Kirstin and Yura Vracko gather around a table to make non-alcoholic cocktails

Exploring Seattle’s vibrant sober scene one mocktail at a time

The city is thirsty — for non-alcoholic options. Rachel Belle meets with the folks fostering community by rethinking the...
Black Arts Legacies

The Black Arts Legacies video series highlights the vital role of past and present Black artists in Seattle.

Mossback’s Northwest

True stories from the greatest place on Earth.

The Nosh with Rachel Belle

The Nosh with Rachel Belle explores the eclectic and delicious culinary scene of the Pacific Northwest through lively and curious storytelling. Hosted by longtime Seattle journalist Rachel Belle, host of the James Beard Award-nominated podcast Your Last Meal.

The Newsfeed

From the need-to-know to the want-to-know, news highlights, interviews and more.

Out & Back with Alison Mariella Désir

Alison Mariella Désir explores the Pacific Northwest with the change-makers who are reclaiming space, creating awareness and delivering access for the health and well-being of BIPOC communities in the region.

Made There

Made There features small business owners and their stories of creating local craft, food, and beverage products that celebrate the Pacific Northwest. 

Human Elements

The world of science is full of facts and figures ... and people.

Award-Winning Series
Latest Films
Still from From the Dutch Baby to Teriyaki, 5 Foods that Define Seattle
Mossback's Northwest

From the Dutch Baby to Teriyaki, 5 Foods that Define Seattle

Every city has a dish (or five) to call its own, and every dish has a story to tell. We're serving up a five-course meal of dishes that were invented or popularized in Seattle. The culinary tour starts with 19th-century prospectors on the hunt for a high-calorie breakfast before winding through the long lines of the World’s Fair and ending up in the 1980s, where a bagel vendor devised a new kind of hot dog for the late-night crowd.

Video duration
4 min 11 s
Still from When Being Poor in Seattle Was a Criminal Offense
Mossback's Northwest

When Being Poor in Seattle Was a Criminal Offense

In 1872, Seattle council passed Ordinance 32 that outlined punishment for vagrants — the idle, dissolute, immoral, profligate, or the unemployed — by specifying that they could be put to work. Many offenses earned a sentence on the chain gang: Swearing, drunkenness, illegal gambling, patronizing prostitutes. But for many, the only offense was being poor.

Video duration
3 min
Still from Where Are All of Washington’s Dinosaurs?
Mossback's Northwest

Where Are All of Washington’s Dinosaurs?

In 2015, scientists found the first — and only — dinosaur fossil in Washington state. It was the partial thigh bone of a theropod — a group that includes raptors, t-rex, and modern birds. Dinosaur fossils have been found in every state in the west, and Washington has plenty of mammoths, mastodon, and giant sloth bones. Why is evidence of dinosaurs so rare here? Turns out, the answer has a lot to do with an epic geologic journey.

Video duration
2 min 36 s