Shows / The Olympia Standard
Episodes
The Olympia Standard#163: General Election Preview
What has changed in the sheriff and commissioner race since August? What can we expect after the ballot turn in deadline next week? These questions and more…
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#162: Thurston County Assessor Candidates
Daniel and Jeff sit down with county assessor candidates Lynda Zeman and JJ Olson to talk about the role of the office and their visions for leading it.
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#161: Thurston County Clerk Candidates
Daniel Garcia and Jeff DeLuca sit down with Thurston County clerk candidates Nicole Miller and Garrett Cady. They discuss the role of the office in our justice…
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#160: Timberland Regional Library Levy
In our first episode of this general election campaign season, Daniel talks with Brent Caron of the Timberland Library workers union and Rachel Martin of the…
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#159: 2026 Primary Election Review
Host Daniel Garcia is joined by expert panelists Jeff DeLuca and Robin Vasquez to unpack the Thurston County election results. Together, they analyze key…
The Olympia Standard#158: How Does Lakefair Fit in Olympia?
Everyone has an opinion about Lakefair, and we drive directly into that every summer discussion. We talk with former and current business owners downtown and…
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#157: Live with Sofie Landis, Sam Miller and Olympia’s Kid Mayor
We returned to the porch at 3 Magnets this summer to do our now traditional (3 out of 4 years!) Live Show. We welcomed Sofie Landis of Sofie’s Scoops…
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#156: The 2026/27 Olympia School District budget
Erika Lari from OSD4All is back on the podcast, this time walking us through the dynamics around the current budget recently approved by the Olympia School…
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#155: O-POP and the New Olympia
Over the last ten years or so, Olympia has led the pack in local governments in Washington State in reversing course on decades of restrictive zoning. Behind…
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#154: Crisis at the Library
This week, we bring you two interviews. The first with two trustees of the Timberland Regional Library and the president of the Timberland union. We discuss…
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#153: 2026 Primary Election Ballot Rundown
Daniel sits down with former city councilmember and county commission candidate Jim Cooper to talk through who will be on your ballot in August.
The Olympia Standard#152: Pride Storytelling
Daniel sits down with the folks behind Window Seat Media’s Pride Storytelling Project. The project is a partnership between Window Seat Media and Capital…
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#151: Evergreen Pool and the Future of Aquatics
What is the future of aquatic sports in Olympia and beyond if the Evergreen Pool is closed. We sit down with swim-team boosters this week to walk through the…
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#150: Sine Die 2026 with Beth and Claire
We expand our annual Sine Die episode this year to include education expert Senator Clair Wilson! Also on this episode is our own Rep. Beth Doglio who does the…
The Olympia Standard#149: What do we think about when we think about closing schools
As we enter budget building season for the Olympia School District, Erika Lari sits down with veterans (both students and parents) about the debate just a…
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#148: Neighborhood Associations
For decades, official neighborhood associations have been an essential part of Olympia’s civic fabric. This week, we examine how these associations operate…
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#147: Planning for a Better Olympia
Daniel sits down with Greg Quetin, Chair of the Olympia Planning Commission, to talk about the city’s recently approved Comprehensive Plan and the role…
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#146: How to Understand the Fine Grain of Olympia Schools
We are in the season where, in the Olympia School District, you can choose a different path for your kids. In this episode, we sit down with OSD4All’s…
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#145: Intercity Transit
Daniel visits with leadership at Intercity Transit. Emily Bergkamp, General Manager, and Nick Demerice, Chief Marketing, Communications & Outreach Officer…
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#144: Olympia School District Tech, Safety and Facility Replacement Levy 2026
You’ve already received your ballot, so this week Erika sat down with Superintendent Mr. Dr. Patrick Murphy and Marc Elliot, Chief Information Officer…
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#143: Legislative Preview
What is Olympia going to get from Olympia this year? Erika sits down with Maria Flores from the school board and Daniel visits with State Senator Jessica…
The Olympia Standard#142: 2025 Holiday Special
We sit down with Mayor Dontae Payne and City Councilmember Dani Madrone (also host emerita) to walk through the formative issues in Olympia of 2025 and how…
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#141: Sarah DeStasio looks back at 2025
Daniel sat down with Sarah DeStasio to round out our campaign coverage for this year. Destasion worked on the Caleb Geiger and Robert Vanderpool campaigns and…
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#140: Justin Stang Exit Interview
Not that we expect Justin Stang to exit civic life, but Daniel sat down with him following the election to reflect on how it went for him and the future of…
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#139: The Last 2025 Election Episode
This is the last election 2025 episode! We are joined in the first segment by Danielle Westbrook, long time friend of the podcast and political consultant. In…
The Olympia Standard#138: Did I-5 Kill Downtown Tumwater (the definitive debate)
Whether Interstate 5 “killed downtown Tumwater” will never actually be answered, mostly because we don’t have a time machine and we…
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#137: Ballot 2025 Roundup
Emmett is joined by Erika Lari and Daniel Garcia to make a complete rundown of your Olympia ballot for this election. Erika and Daniel dissect the interviews…
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#136: Berendt vs. Geiger (Position #7)
Daniel Garcia returns to interview Paul Berendt and Caleb Geiger for Position #7 on the Olympia City Council.
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#135: Workers’ Bill of Rights (Prop 1)
Mayor Dontae Payne and Caleb Geiger debate the pros and cons of the Workers’ Bill of Rights (Prop 1), which will be on your ballot this week! This…
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#134: Vanderpool v. Stang (Position 6)
Daniel Garcia from the Heal Olympia project is back on the podcast, this time sitting down with Robert Vanderpool and Justin Stang, who are competing for the…
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#133: Olympia City Council Position #4 (Gilman, no Carlson)
This episode was supposed to feature Daniel Garcia from Heal Oly sitting down with two city council candidates for a conversation. But at the last minute, we…
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#132: Renee Fullerton and Rhyan Smith (Olympia School Board)
Erika Lari from OSD4All again takes the wheel to talk with Renee Fullerton and Rhyan Smith, who are facing off for the position in District 3 on the Olympia…
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#131: Gil Lamont and Emily Leddige (School Board)
Erika Lari from OSD4All rejoins the podcast to talk with Gil Lamont and Emily Leddige, who are facing off for the position in District 5 on the Olympia School…
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#130: How cities grow and the podcast for the 2025 general election campaign
In this episode, I’m sharing a story from my blog about how neighboring cities shape each other and the surprising ways that history still affects us today. I…
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#129: Reparations and Olympia
Olympia’s history is deeper and more connected to the larger American story than many people realize. From the city’s founding to its role in shaping regional…
The Olympia Standard#128: Live with FC Olympia!
This week, we have the one segment we were able to get in at our live show last week! We welcomed FC Olympia (Ryan Perkins and Van Crisp) to talk about…
The Olympia Standard#127: Primary Results Review
We welcomed Erika Lari from OSD4All and Rob Richards, political consultant, to walk through the results of the 2025 August Primary. While we talked a little…
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#126: Starbucks Union
In this episode of the Olympia Standard, we delve into the burgeoning movement to unionize Starbucks locations in Olympia. With two more Westside locations…
The Olympia Standard#125: Heal Olympia
Daniel Garcia is a planning commissioner and internet phenomenon (at least locally). He runs Heal Olympia, which is driving a vital conversation about the…
The Olympia Standard#124: Parking or housing, pick one.
Host emeritus and city council-member Dani Madrone rejoins the podcast for a discussion about housing, parking, parking minimums and how we’re going to…
The Olympia Standard#123: Olympia’s story told in museum form
This week we welcome back former Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby to talk about the new AHA Olympia Museum downtown and the future of Olympia’s history…
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#122.1: Mea Culpa, Renee Fullerton
In the Olympia School District primary ballot rundown episode last weekend we incorrectly described Renee Fullerton’s position on school vouchers. So…
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#122: Olympia School District primary rundown
Note: In this episode, we incorrectly described Renee Fullerton’s position on school vouchers. So, we’re running her entire answer the voucher…
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Bonus: OSD4All Candidate Forum (July 12, 2025)
This is not a regular episode of The Olympia Standard, this is a bonus episode! We’re sharing the audio from yesterday’s Olympia School Board…
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#121: Reading “Facing the soft xenophobia of Emmett Watson”
We take a hard look at the soft xenophobia embedded in the jokes of beloved Seattle columnist Emmett Watson and the eco-soundbites of Oregon Governor Tom…
The Olympia Standard#120: Fourth of July Man
This episode explores the legacy of Judge George H. Boldt and the lasting impact of the 1974 Boldt Decision, which reaffirmed tribal fishing rights in…
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#119: We should be able to dispose of any statue we want
In this episode of The Olympia Standard, we dive into the debate over who and what deserves a statue on Washington’s capitol campus. As the state grapples with…
The Olympia Standard#118: Olympia ’57 and the Arts Walk we always needed
In this episode of The Olympia Stanard, we reflect on how Arts Walk has quietly become the festival Lakefair was always meant to be, a celebration of place…
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#117: What happened to Tumwater
The most enduring local history myth is that Tumwater’s downtown was destroyed by Interstate 5. Also, thanks for listening. After a month or so of…
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#116: Rep. Lisa Parshley and Sine Die
Join us for our annual “Sine Die” episode as we sit down with Representative Lisa Parshley, a freshman legislator for the 22nd Legislative District…
The Olympia Standard#115: Aaron Van Tuyl, the best local news podcast and local journalism
In this episode, we break our own rules and leave the county. We talk to one of the voices behind the best local news podcast in the country to ask them their…
The Olympia Standard#114: Jim Cooper and the next city council
This week, we dive into the heart of Olympia politics with a special guest: Jim Cooper, who is retiring after 14 impactful years on the Olympia City Council…
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#113: Reading “Exile Ourselves”
This week, I read an essay called “Exile Ourselves” I wrote last fall. It talks about how our current approach to housing and crime overlaps with…
The Olympia Standard#112: What to do with Olympia’s court
Dirk Marler is a longtime advocate for unifying Washington’s fragmented court system. As a Yakima County District Court judge from 1988 to 2003, Marler…
The Olympia Standard#111: Don’t think of an Olympia
On this episode, I read my blog post “Don’t think of an Olympia” from Olympia Time, revisiting one of my longest-running gripes: the use of…
The Olympia Standard#110: Gil Carbone and the City of Tomorrow
In this episode of The Olympia Standard, we reflect on the life and impact of Gil Carbone. He was a key but often overlooked figure in Olympia’s history. Gil…
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#109: Public Comment 101
In this episode of The Olympia Standard, we dive into the city’s now-dormant effort to revise its Memorandum of Understanding with neighborhood associations…
The Olympia Standard#108: Out of town corporate single family home ownership
I take a look back at a couple of blog posts I’ve written in the last couple of years about corporate home ownership in Thurston County and include some…
The Olympia Standard#107: Season 2 Episode 1 (thanks for hanging in there)
Hey! If you’re reading these show notes, I want to thank you a ton! We both got through 2024! And you in particular didn’t cull this podcast from…
The Olympia Standard#106: Sine Die with Sam Hunt
We are joined by Senator Sam Hunt to review the legislative session just past and talk about what Olympia got from Olympia. We also delve into his political…