Features

Essay

Love at the End of the World

I opened my marriage when the pandemic shut everything down. In Seattle, I was hardly alone.

05/31/2022 By Sarah Stuteville Illustrations by Teresa Grasseschi

Feature

Let This Be the Last Time

Fire took everything they owned. When Ijeoma Oluo and Gabriel Teodros rebuilt, they filled their new home with memories and meaning right from the start.

04/13/2022 By Allecia Vermillion Photography by Ellie Lillstrom

Feature

Seattle’s Gum Wall: An Oral History

Gross. Iconic. Whatever you think of the Pike Place Market attraction, you can’t deny its staying power. But one single story about its creation and evolution hasn’t stuck—until now.

03/29/2022 By Benjamin Cassidy Photography by Brandon Hill

Profile

The Scientific Methods of J. Kenji López-Alt

He interrogates the chemistry of smash burgers and probes the elements of wok cooking. But outside J. Kenji López-Alt’s Seattle kitchen, one of America’s most influential home cooks gets a little more reactive.

02/24/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Feature

The Race to Free Washington's Last Orca in Captivity

A southern resident's violent capture off Whidbey Island was the original sin of a now-defunct local industry. Decades later, a Lummi-led effort to bring her home is on the verge of an improbable breakthrough.

02/08/2022 By Benjamin Cassidy

Joy to the World

Goodbye to My Jewish Christmas

Can I make peace with America’s yuletide obsession?

12/07/2021 By Emily Alhadeff Illustrations by Guang Lim

Good Stories

The 10 Best Long Stories about Seattle

We gathered our most recent and favorite longform articles from Seattle Met's award-winning writers.

11/24/2021 By Seattle Met Staff

Growing Up Hockey

What Hockey's Diversity Problem Means for Fans Like Me

My love for the sport never fit the stereotype. But can Seattle's franchise impart real change?

09/28/2021 By Angela Cabotaje Photography by David Jaewon Oh

mystery

Is D.B. Cooper Still on the Run?

Fifty years ago a mysterious criminal parachuted out of an airliner and into legend. An FBI agent, a self-trained scientist, and an outsider theorist have all dedicated years to unraveling the Northwest's iconic puzzle. But can you catch a myth?

09/27/2021 By Allison Williams Illustrations by Joseph Laney

Feature

Why Jay Inslee Chose to Stay in This Washington

The governor didn't ditch us for DC, instead opting to lead his home state through its worst public health crisis in a century. As he embarks on a rare third term, will Washington finally let him do the same in its response to climate change?

06/21/2021 By Benjamin Cassidy

Hunger Artists

Seattle Has a Weird Legacy of Fasting

Can renouncing food really improve your health? For a century, mystics, biohackers, and even one murderous Seattle doctor have sought—and sold—their own conclusions.

06/14/2021 By Stefan Milne Illustrations by Pete Ryan

ANARCHIST JURISDICTION

What Really Happened in CHOP?

One year ago, protesters transformed six blocks on Capitol Hill and captured the nation’s attention. Nobody knew where this would go.

06/08/2021 By Marcus Harrison Green

Feature

A Highway, Divided: What Drives Opposition to I-5’s Uncle Sam Sign?

How the Hamilton Sign's provocative messages drove one newcomer to wage his own battle for free speech.

03/01/2021 By Zoe Sayler

Feature

Seattle's Rocky Yeh Helped Craft America's Cocktail Landscape

He never technically tended bar. But before his death last year, the exuberant local left an indelible mark.

11/20/2020 By Allecia Vermillion Illustrations by Dozfy

Feature

Will Northwest Seaweed Farming Finally Take Off?

The potential is vast—for the environment, for nutrition, for Indigenous food sovereignty.

11/16/2020 By Stefan Milne

Feature

Santa Is Real—He’s Also My Dad

Dad was never big on holidays. Then a jolly seasonal job gave us a new form of father-daughter bonding.

11/13/2020 By Marisa Comeau-Kerege Illustrations by Franziska Barczyk

Feature

How Seattle Volunteers Boosted the World’s Coronavirus Vaccine Hopes

Early in the pandemic, they received the first shots of any coronavirus vaccine. Nobody knew what would happen next.

11/09/2020 By Benjamin Cassidy Photography by Carlton Canary

Feature

A Navy Vet's Indefinite Recovery from Long Covid

Following multiple brushes with death and a monthslong hospital stay, an Oak Harbor man returned home. But his rehabilitation continues.

09/21/2020 By Benjamin Cassidy Photography by Carson Artac

Feature

The Shooting of John T. Williams, 10 Years Later

A decade ago, a Seattle police officer killed Rick Williams's brother, a celebrated Native woodcarver. Nothing will ever be the same for Rick—or the city he calls home.

08/26/2020 By James Ross Gardner Photography by Lindsey Wasson

Feature

A Brief History of Seattle, in Three Disasters

After the Great Seattle Fire and the Boeing Bust, the city showed a knack for reinvention. Can that same spirit pull us out of our current crisis?

07/13/2020 By James Ross Gardner