Washington, told by the people inside it.
Exploring Washington State follows Scott Cowan into relaxed interviews with people tied to Washington’s places and stories. Recent episodes move from Spokane baseball history and Wallace Falls ranger life to Wonderland Trail planning, Twisp arts culture, Alderbrook hospitality, and Snohomish walking tours.
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Exploring Washington State is a regional interview show with a wide map and a close-up lens. Its center is conversation, not narration. Scott Cowan speaks with guests connected to Washington by work, residence, research, memory, or long fascination, then lets each topic find its shape through questions and follow-ups. The result feels local in the useful sense: specific, practical, and full of names, places, and small turns that rarely survive in polished travel copy. Recent episodes show the range clearly. Eric Vickery brings Spokane baseball into focus through the 1946 Spokane Indians, the 1970 Spokane Indians, Tommy Lasorda, draft classes, and players whose later careers changed how the minor league story reads. Kevin Lease makes Wallace Falls State Park feel less like a trailhead and more like a working place, with parking lots, cabins, visitor expectations, Discover Pass enforcement, and the daily rhythm of ranger work. Tammy’s Wonderland Trail conversation keeps Mount Rainier big and demanding, starting with the simple correction that the loop is not easy and moving toward the real scale of a 93-mile hike. Mark Phelan’s Alderbrook episode turns hospitality into biography, from New York City and the University of Washington to wildlife biology hours and 20 years at the resort. Juliet Kennedy’s Twisp conversation ties the Methow Valley to childhood visits, Goat Peak, art walks, outdoor recreation, and the emotional pull of staying. Taylor Russell’s Snohomish episode makes preservation social, with walking tours, historic houses, local organizations, and homeowners proud of the work they have done. The show also makes room for Washington-made creative projects, including a discussion of Dirt and audio drama with Chris Cayella. Its strongest moments come when a guest digresses and Cowan catches the thread. It is friendly, curious, and grounded in the state’s everyday expertise.
Made for: For listeners who want Washington stories with more texture than a travel guide: local history fans, hikers, sports-history readers, preservation-minded residents, and curious newcomers. It also suits anyone who enjoys easygoing interviews that let guests explain how a place works.
What sets it apart: The show’s strength is its patient, place-first curiosity. It moves comfortably from Spokane baseball archives to park operations, resort work, trail realities, small-town arts, and historic preservation without sanding down the local details.
What if you could sit down at your favorite coffee shop with the most interesting people in Washington State?Every episode does exactly that. Host Scott Cowan has unhurried conversations with artists, entrepreneurs, historians, and makers—people doing fascinating work across the state. These 60-minute episodes feel less like interviews and more like catching up with a friend who has great stories to tell.No scripts. No time limits. Just curiosity and good conversation.340+ episodes and counting. There is always more to explore.
Wallace Falls parking trivia belongs in your headphones more than you might expect.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Spokane baseball chapter gains texture through Eric Vickery's interviews with eleven members of the 1970 Indians.
Spokane comes through as a meaningful baseball crossroads in this look at Eric Vickery's Before They Were Dodger Blue, a book centered on Tommy Lasorda and the 1970 Spokane Indians.
A Wallace Falls ranger talks Middle Falls, parking lot oddities and easily missed cabins.
Scott Cowan's conversation with Wallace Falls State Park ranger Kevin Lease starts with a question visitors might ask before they arrive. Lease points them toward the view at Middle Falls, then gets into the less scenic parts of a ranger's day: Discover Pass enforcement and the…
A local guide frames Snohomish history through homes, walking tours, pride, and preservation.
Snohomish comes across as a town where local history is not sealed behind glass but carried through walking tours, preservation work, and pride in old homes.
Pacific Northwest history, still in motion.
Mississippi stories, told face to face.
Japan, art, and ambition in raw form.
Host Scott Cowan interviews Chris Cayella, creator of the audio drama 'Dirt'.
Host Scott Cowan interviews Taylor Russell, founder of Snohomish Walks, about her journey from a history teacher aspirant to a local historian and entrepreneur.
Exploring Washington State with host Scott Cowan and guest Eric Vickery centers on Before They Wore Dodger Blue, a book about the 1970 Spokane Indians and the 1968 Dodgers draft.
Exploring Washington State host Scott Cowan interviews Kevin Lease, a Washington State Parks ranger who has worked for the agency since 2006 and at Wallace Falls since October 2014.
Rachel Pugh and Chris Pugh describe As Many Weirdos As Possible, a Seattle-area music portrait project that grew from Rachel's health-crisis plan for 50 photographs into more than 300 portraits and handwritten stories.
Scott Cowan interviews Mark Everton, president and CEO of Explore Seattle Southside, about tourism in SeaTac, Tukwila, and Des Moines.
Exploring Washington State host Scott Cowan interviews Claude Brun, a French-born Washington resident preparing for the Tri-Cities Ironman after nine years in endurance sports.
Jennifer Comfort, a triathlon coach with three full Ironmans and 20 years in the sport, tells host Scott Cowan how she prepares for the September 21 Ironman 70.3 in Tri-Cities.
Host Scott Cowan interviews author Tammy about her book on the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier.
Host Scott Cowan interviews Mark Phelan, director of marketing at Alderbrook Resort, about his background and 20-year tenure at the resort.
Host Scott Cowan interviews Juliet Kennedy, marketing director of the Twisp Chamber of Commerce, about her background and how she ended up in Washington's Methow Valley.
Host Scott Cowan interviews author Eric Vickery about his book on the 1946 Spokane Indians bus crash.