Podcast
Focus: Adults in the Room
Hosted by KUOW News and Information · EN
The production team behind the Peabody-nominated "Lost Patients" returns with a new investigative series: "Adults in the Room." Episodes will come out Tuesdays at midnight Pacific Time.
Seattle, 1999. At Garfield High School, Mr. Hudson is a legend. With a thundering voice and imposing stature, Mr. Hudson — or “Tom” as select students call him — teaches biology and leads an elite outdoors program. But when teen reporters at the school paper start exploring a rumor that he sexually abused students, all hell breaks loose. Adults close ranks, and schoolmates turn on the young journalists. And then one day, a voice on the school intercom announces that Mr. Hudson is dead. Isolde Raftery is one of the students who first hears about and reports allegations against Mr. Hudson. Today, she is an investigative journalist in Seattle. In "Adults in the Room," Raftery re-reports the story to understand what really happened in 1999. Was a whole school community groomed by a charismatic predator? Or was she part of a whisper campaign that cost the life of a great teacher?
"Focus" is KUOW’s home for immersive audio documentaries. Each season zooms in on a single story that challenges commonly held narratives about life in the Pacific Northwest and reveals something bigger about American society.
29episodes
Episodes
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Adults in the Room: Bad Apples
Apr 700:37:57Summary readyA surprise archival interview with a former Garfield High School principal reveals that the teacher abuse problem at the school extended beyond Tom Hudson. Isolde discovers that the district received numerous credible allegations of temper outbursts and sexual harassment about her Garfield journalism teacher, Dave Ehrich, but kept him in the classroom until his retirement in 2019. As Isolde looks into the district’s recent history addressing repeat allegations against teachers, she finds more examples of teachers who were physically and sexually abusive towards multiple students, but were still allowed to keep their jobs. After a conversation with Ella and former Garfield classmate Rosie Bancroft, Isolde sits down with the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools to ask why predators are given multiple chances to stay in the classroom, and how he intends to make schools safer for kids. This episode includes an explicit description of a sexual act, and discussion of sexual harassment. Please take care while listening. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. A special thank you to Ella Hushagen, without whom this project would not be possible. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Adults in the Room: The Boy in the Photograph
Mar 3100:30:24Summary readyAs Isolde looks through records on Mr. Hudson from Seattle Public Schools, she comes across a document describing a photograph of Hudson and two of his students at a mountain lake near Seattle. All three of them are naked. Isolde learns that back in 1994, before she attended Garfield, this photo spurred a separate investigation into Hudson's relationship with students. But ultimately, records say the boy told investigators it was no big deal. Years down the line, that changes. Isolde finds an email from the same boy, now an adult, claiming he was ready to go on record about how Hudson abused him. While interviewing other Post 84 members, Isolde discovers the student’s identity and interviews him. His account of grooming and abuse matches with Ocean Mason's ... with a surprise revelation. Today, he, Ocean, and Jonathan Hill know that Tom has influenced who they are, for good and for ill. So how do they make sense of that influence now? This episode includes graphic descriptions of sexual abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, text the word HOPE to 64673. If you live in King County, you can contact the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center at 888.998.6423. Please take care while listening. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Adults in the Room: The Bet
Mar 2400:32:29Summary readyAs adults, Isolde and Ella start re-investigating the question of Mr. Hudson’s guilt. For years, they've wondered if they spread unfounded rumors that drove Mr. Hudson to take his own life. Isolde digs out a brown manila envelope containing the school district's records on Mr. Hudson, which she requested shortly after college. She tracks down the original school district investigator from 1999, Eddie Hill Sr., and the widow of Garfield's interim-principal at the time, Cheryl Chow. Both reveal things Isolde never knew ... but not about the extent of Hudson's misconduct with students. Isolde realizes she must reach out to former members of Post 84. She meets with one former member, hoping they will connect her to others. Instead, they reveal a deeply held story of abuse. This episode includes graphic descriptions of sexual abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, text the word HOPE to 64673. Please take care while listening. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Ella Hushagen, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan. A special thank you to Ella Hushagen, Maria Coryell-Martin, and the King County Prosecutor's Office.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Adults in the Room: Jonathan
Mar 1700:40:08Summary readyThe Garfield community -- and, it seems, the whole city of Seattle -- mourns Tom Hudson, remembering him as a great man and teacher. One of the students who was closest to him, Jonathan Hill, spends the weeks after Hudson's death trying to ensure his reputation and legacy go untarnished by the allegations that led to his suspension in late 1999. But secretly, Jonathan is still reeling from the weeks before Tom's death. During that time, Hudson repeatedly leaned on Jonathan -- then the president of Post 84, Hudson's outdoors club -- as his personal crisis counselor. Jonathan reveals he’s also wondered if he’s to blame for Hudson’s death. This is the closest Isolde’s ever come to understanding what happened to Hudson in the weeks between his leave of absence and his suicide. But it still doesn’t tell her whether Hudson sexually abused his students. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. Please take care while listening. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan. A special thank you to Ella Hushagen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Adults in the Room: Blame the Messenger
Mar 1000:35:13Summary readyThe school district sends an investigator to Garfield to look into the allegations against Tom Hudson. Isolde and Ella feel like the entire school blames them for Hudson's suspension and the new inquiry into his behavior with students. The investigator questions Isolde and fellow reporter Rosie Bancroft again and again as the Post 84 community closes ranks and refuses to talk. Months go by as Isolde and Ella anxiously wait for the results of the investigation. As their lives at school become darker and tension-filled, they wonder: Did they do the right thing, or blow up a respected teacher's reputation over a falsehood? Then, a sudden tragedy changes the course of the investigation and shakes the Garfield community. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan. A special thank you to Ella Hushagen, Rosie Bancroft, and Maria Coryell-Martin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryAdults in the Room: The Price of Belief
Mar 300:40:47Summary readyGarfield High School is shocked after learning their beloved principal is in an inappropriate relationship with a student. In the fallout of the revelation about their principal, Isolde and Ella hear a second-hand allegation of child abuse against teacher Tom Hudson from a member of his outdoors club, Post 84. The students debate what they should do and decide to bring the allegation to their journalism teacher, Dave Ehrich, and Isolde’s parents. Nothing happens. Isolde and Ella publish a different, anonymized allegation in The Messenger. Hudson is suspended shortly after, and Ella and Isolde wonder if it was because of their story. Dave Ehrich accuses Isolde and Ella of publishing unfounded rumors about Hudson, and demands they resign from the paper. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. A special thank you to Ella Hushagen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryAdults in the Room: Mounting Danger
Feb 2400:33:13Summary readyIn 1998, a popular teacher at Garfield High School in Seattle — named Tom Hudson — falls into a crevasse while mountain-climbing in Olympic National Park. Hudson is accompanied by six teenage students from the school's outdoor program, who pull off a daring rescue of their teacher using techniques he taught them. Isolde Raftery, a reporter for the school paper, plans to write about the rescue as a hero story validating Hudson’s leadership. But she learns he cut corners during the climb... and it wasn't the first time he'd done so. This discovery leads to a confrontation between Isolde and Hudson, and is the first crack in the teacher's legendary reputation at Garfield — which shatters months later. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. A special thank you to Ella Hushagen, without whom this project would not be possible. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Coming Soon: Adults in the Room (Trailer)
Feb 300:02:40Summary readyThe production team behind Lost Patients returns on February 24 with a new investigative series: Adults in the Room. Seattle, 1999. At Garfield High School, Mr. Hudson is a legend. With a thundering voice and imposing stature, Mr. Hudson — or “Tom” as select students call him — teaches biology and leads an elite outdoors program. But when teen reporters at the school paper start exploring a rumor that he sexually abused students, all hell breaks loose. Adults close ranks, and schoolmates turn on the young journalists. And then one day, a voice on the school intercom announces that Mr. Hudson is dead. Isolde Raftery is one of the students who first heard about and reported allegations against Mr. Hudson. Three decades later, she is an investigative journalist in Seattle. In Adults in the Room, Raftery re-reports the story to understand what really happened in 1999. Was a whole school community groomed by a charismatic predator? Or was she part of a whisper campaign that cost the life of a great teacher?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Presenting: The Fifth Branch
Sep 27, 202400:36:54Summary readyIn Seattle, police responded to nearly ten thousand scenes of people in crisis last year. And one of the only remaining paths into Washington State's largest psychiatric hospital is through jail.But some cities are experimenting with ways to disentangle mental health care from policing — setting up new branches of emergency services that specifically handle mental illness, addiction, and homelessness. Tradeoffs recently teamed up with The Marshall Project to produce The Fifth Branch, a three- part series examining a new approach being tested in the city of Durham, North Carolina.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Presenting: Hush
Sep 24, 202400:43:21Summary readyA story from the 'Hush" investigative podcast from Oregon Public Broadcasting. In this episode, reporter Leah Sottile explores the case of Jesse Lee Johnson, a Black man who lived for 17 years on Oregon's death row for a crime he says he didn't commit.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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