Opinion: Ranch dressing is a winner at the World Cup games ^33.7%

KUOW Public Radio - By Scott Simon - 6/27/2026, 12:00 PM

Availability Heuristic 28% - Anecdotal 25.7% - Post Hoc (False Cause) 20.4%

Soccer fans visiting the U.S. for World Cup matches seem to be delighted by American friendliness and dazzled by the way our highways roll from skyscrapers into wide-open spaces, abounding with monster trucks, big-box stores, "Big Gulp" drinks, central air conditioning, and ranch dressing. Elsa Thora, a visitor from Sweden, wrote in... more

Opinion: Algae doesn't care about our party lines ^49.8%

KUOW Public Radio - By Scott Simon - 6/20/2026, 12:00 PM

Biased Writer Voice 56.2% - Negativity Bias 36.4% - Appeal to Authority 28.2%

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has witnessed more than a century of American history, in all its heartbreak and majesty. Crowds have gathered around it in protest and in praise to denounce American wars, and hear great voices sing and speak. Today, it's the center of a slimy controversy. President Trump said in April he found the... more

Judy Blume says she's done writing: '50 years is enough!' ^4.7%

STLPR - By Scott Simon - 6/20/2026, 11:00 AM

Anecdotal 7.1% - Ambiguity (Equivocation) 6.7% - Hasty Generalization 6%

Judy Blume is the legendary writer of books for young adults including Are You There God It's Me Margaret, Deenie, Tiger Eyes, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Blubber. Her last book, 2015's In The Unlikely Event, was published more than a decade ago. Blume now spends her time reading children's books behind the counter at her... more

Opinion: Pope Leo reminds us of the value of our shared humanity ^64.7%

KUOW Public Radio - By Scott Simon - 5/30/2026, 12:00 PM

Negativity Bias 40.7% - Appeal to Emotion 27.4% - Framing Effect 26.4%

Pope Leo released his first encyclical this week. He called it Magnifica Humanitas — or Magnificent Humanity. In it, he compares the swift, irresistible rise of Artificial Intelligence in our lives to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, which ends with God punishing humans for their hubris. Though the pope says he welcomes the... more

Hegseth urges Asian leaders to boost military spending against China ^46.5%

NPR - By Jennifer Pak, Scott Simon - 5/30/2026, 11:42 AM

Appeal to Authority 20.9% - Confirmation Bias 16.3% - Negativity Bias 15.1%

SINGAPORE — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on allies in Asia to ramp up military spending to counter China's "historic military buildup" but also did not mention Taiwan in his speech on Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a key annual regional defense summit in Singapore. Hegseth's appearance comes just over two weeks after... more

Opinion: Remembering Kevin Klose, former NPR president and broadcasting icon ^58.8%

KUOW Public Radio - By Scott Simon - 4/18/2026, 12:00 PM

Indoctrination 27.9% - Halo Effect 24% - Appeal to Emotion 23.5%

Kevin Klose was silver-haired, silver-tongued, and the gold standard for broadcast journalists. Klose, who was president of NPR from 1998 to 2008, died this week. He was 85. He had covered the Cold War from the Soviet Union for The Washington Post, and used to say he had seen what can happen in societies where people can't hear real... more

Opinion: A well-deserved statue for a hero rat ^71.6%

KUOW Public Radio - By Scott Simon - 4/11/2026, 12:00 PM

Biased Writer Voice 25.7% - Halo Effect 22.9% - Availability Heuristic 16.8%

A large statue of a small national hero was unveiled this week in Cambodia Seven-feet tall and hand-carved from stone, the statue commemorates the life, and lives saved, by a real rat. Magawa was an African giant pouched rat. He sniffed out more than 100 land mines as a 'heroRAT' working for Apopo, a Belgian non-profit group that's... more

Opinion: Remembering the lives lost to a senseless act of terror ^88%

KUOW Public Radio - By Scott Simon - 12/20/2025, 1:41 PM

This has been a week where much of the news has been difficult and sad, and could feel personal even when the stories came from across the country, or the other side of the world. Last Sunday night was the first night of Hanukkah when two gunmen opened fire at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia as people were celebrating the Jewish... more