The founder of Vanishing Seattle, a digital archive documenting disappearing spaces, addresses loss and joy in a changing city.

It seems that everyone has an opinion about Seattle as the city grows, residents get priced out and businesses disappear.

In the latest Northwest Reports series, recorded live at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival on May 31, Sara Bernard and Maleeha Syed asked influential community members to share their thoughts on the city. The four guests featured in this series have launched projects and used their platforms to cultivate community here. In these conversations for Northwest Reports Live, they talked about their lived experiences and pushed back on widely held beliefs about this place.

The guest for the first episode is Cynthia Brothers, who founded Vanishing Seattle, a media movement that documents the displacement and disappearance of institutions, businesses and cultures in the city.

Brothers addresses the narrative that Seattle’s best days are behind us; why a business shutting down means more than just the loss of that physical space; and how she still finds joy even as she watches a city that she loves change.

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Credits

Producers: Maleeha Syed, Sara Bernard

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

Production Manager: Adam Brown

Production Engineer: Resti Bagcal

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Northwest Reports Live: Cynthia Brothers