Focus: Adults in the Room

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

Focus: Adults in the Room is a society podcast hosted by KUOW News and Information, with 16 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

KUOW News and Information hosts Focus: Adults in the Room, a society show with 16 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #8

  Adults in the Room Live: A behind-the-scenes look at an investigation 25 years in the making

  Jun 29, 20261h 22mS2

  <p>The team behind Adults in the Room is hard at work on an Epilogue episode, set to release later this summer.</p> <p>In the meantime, the team recently gathered for a live event to discuss behind-the-scenes moments and decisions from the series—including interviews that didn't make it into the final episodes, the continued challenges of addressing grooming and childhood sexual abuse, and audience questions.</p> <p>KUOW's Libby Denkmann was joined by Ella Hushagen, host Isolde Raftery, producer Alec Cowan, and editor Jeannie Yandel. </p> <p>Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #8

  Adults in the Room Live: A behind-the-scenes look at an investigation 25 years in the making

  Jun 29, 20261h 21mS2

  The team behind Adults in the Room is hard at work on an Epilogue episode, set to release later this summer. In the meantime, the team recently gathered for a live event to discuss behind-the-scenes moments and decisions from the series&mdash;including interviews that didn't make it into the final episodes, the continued challenges of addressing grooming and childhood sexual abuse, and audience questions. KUOW's Libby Denkmann was joined by Ella Hushagen, host Isolde Raftery, producer Alec Cowan, and editor Jeannie Yandel.&nbsp; 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 Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, including Ella Hushagen, host Libby Denkmann , producers Alec Cowan and Hans Twite , editor Jeannie Yandel , event manager Charlotte Duren , and marketing associate Carina Bola&ntilde;os Lewen . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #7

  Adults in the Room: Bad Apples

  Apr 7, 202638 minS2

  <p>A 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.</p> <p>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.  </p> <p>After a conv...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #6

  Adults in the Room: The Boy in the Photograph

  Mar 31, 202630 minS2

  <p>As Isolde looks through records on Mr. Hudson from Seattle Public Schools, she comes across a document describing a photograph of Hudson and two students at a mountain lake near Seattle. All three of them are naked.</p> <p>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. </p> <p>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 a...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #5

  Adults in the Room: The Bet

  Mar 24, 202632 minS2

  <p>As 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. </p> <p>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. </p> <p>Isolde realizes she must...

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Focus: Adults in the Room. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.