(Airdate: January 21, 2026) Please join Nature Now this week as we review the remarkable life of pioneer/explorer James Swan, who lived and worked and recorded extensively in our area from 1859 to 1900. Host Debaran Kelso speaks with James Swan scholar Steve Ricketts at Swan’s burial site in the Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Townsend.
(Airdate: January 20, 2026) Maryanne interviews Jon Pinnow, president of the Board of Directors for KPTZ. Jon’s a career radio man, starting off by including a radio station in the Lego towns he built as a kid. Thanks to the wonders of technology he now works full time for Colorado public radio while living here and steering KPTZ. The station’s now taking the next step in its development as a non-profit. Jon explains what’s happening and why it’s necessary to divide up management responsibilities. Growth sometimes requires rethinking priorities. KPTZ is now entering into its next phase as a solid media enterprise. It must balance priorities in news and entertainment while serving the community as a beacon for emergency management for floods, fires and other disasters.
(Airdate: January 19, 2026) KPTZ’s Operations Director (and former General Manager) Taylor Clark sat down with our new Executive Director Genevieve Barlow and Board Vice President Fred Flanzer to talk about recent changes to KPTZ management and our excitement about working to chart the future of your community radio station.
(Airdate: January 16, 2026) This week on County Connections. Commissioner Heather Dudley-Nolette and Jim Burke speak with Viola Ware, Director of Housing and Community Services for OlyCap, about the Point in Time Count PIT of homeless sheltered and unsheltered people in Jefferson County. The PIT count takes place on January 29, 2026. This important count helps determine how the county receives and allocates funding for services to support this vulnerable population. Anyone wanting to find out more, volunteer, or donate, can go to https://olycap.org/.
KPTZ’s Taylor Clark and cohost Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro were joined by the new Port Townsend Mayor Amy Howard. There was a good question from a listener about how we might improve the dialogue between the city council and their constituents. Taylor also read a portion of Mayor Howard’ web post calling for “listening to one another with curiosity and compassion.” The entire statement is available here: https://cityofpt.us/citycouncil/page/january-2026-message-mayor-amy-howard. John mentioned that Amy is featured in the Association of Washington Cities magazine this month. The article can be found here: https://wacities.org/data-resources/cityvision/articles/2026/01/05/home-run.
On alternate weeks, Tuesdays at 5:30 and Sundays at noon, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker joins his co-hosts, Port of Port Townsend’s Director Eron Berg and Port Commissioner Pam Petranek, to bring you news, updates and stories surrounding our vibrant maritime community. This month, we’re down in the boatyard, visiting with shipwright and metal fabricator Mike Hogan.
Mike’s never at a loss for a story or two. He’ll tell you of run-ins with past Boatyard managers, how he once saved a vessel from its precarious perch beneath one of of the Boatyard Travel Lifts, how he share’s innovative dreams for the Yard’s future with a current staff who’s visionary qualities and support he deeply respects, and about two heaping platters of chocolate chip cookies.
