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Will James

@willjames.bsky.social
4K followers 1K following 396 posts

Reporter and producer Podcasts: We Keep Us Safe (2026) Adults in the Room (2026) Lost Patients (2024) The Walk Home (2022) Outsiders (2020) Married to @sydbrownstone.bsky.social www.will-james.work

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Reposted by Will James
Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard @niemanfoundation.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
What makes a narrative podcast hold together? @markarms.bsky.social talks with Will James about “We Keep Us Safe,” source care, cross-newsroom collaboration, and finding the larger idea inside a story.
niemanstoryboard.org
Audio journalist Will James on investigating the unsolved murder of a teenager in Seattle's CHOP zone - Nieman Storyboard
The producer of podcasts including “We Keep Us Safe,” “Adults in the Room,” and “Lost Patients” on collaborating across newsrooms and finding the big idea within a story
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Reposted by Will James
Nieman Reports @niemanreports.org · 28/08/2026
"Time passing has a way of showing you which stories have staying power, which stories might have some universal ideas or insights embedded in them. My favorite place to look for stories is unresolved events in the past,” said @willjames.bsky.social of @kuow.org.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
It was an honor to be on the @niemanstoryboard.org podcast and talk with @markarms.bsky.social, who was very good at unleashing my rants about how audio journalism needs to change. niemanstoryboard.org/2026/08/28/t...
niemanstoryboard.org
The authority versus authenticity question - Nieman Storyboard
Audio documentary producer Will James on the making of NPR's “We Keep Us Safe.” Plus: How to pitch Slate's features editor
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Reposted by Will James
Mark Armstrong @markarms.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
This week's @niemanstoryboard.org newsletter: My conversation with @willjames.bsky.social on the making of the @npr.org @kuow.org @seattletimes.com investigative podcast, "We Keep Us Safe." Plus: @tressiemcphd.bsky.social @longreads.com niemanstoryboard.org/2026/08/28/t... #podcasts
niemanstoryboard.org
The authority versus authenticity question - Nieman Storyboard
Audio documentary producer Will James on the making of NPR's “We Keep Us Safe.” Plus: How to pitch Slate's features editor
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Our reporting on the killing of Antonio Mays Jr. at CHOP was featured on @npr.org's All Things Considered last week: www.npr.org/2026/08/07/n...
npr.org
A new investigative podcast uncovers new evidence in death of young BLM protester
"We Keep Us Safe," a new investigative podcast series from Embedded, uncovered new evidence in the 2020 shooting death of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. -- a killing that remains unsolved.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
If you think a physical description, a voice recording, and a code name is not a satisfying outcome, you are entitled to that opinion.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
At the end of Episode 8, we don't say, "We still don't know who did it." We, in fact, say, "This is who we think did it."
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Hey. This article is a summary of just some findings from our investigation. We made an eight-part podcast, which has much more detail. www.npr.org/2026/06/04/g...
npr.org
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest...
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Thanks for the plug! I spent a lot of time reporting this, and I hope more people listen.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
There's much more detail about what led to Antonio Mays' death and the identity of the suspected shooter in the podcast we made about this. The final episode just dropped. www.npr.org/2026/06/04/g...
npr.org
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest...
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Thanks a lot for reading. This story is a summary of just some findings from our investigation. We get much deeper into the theft of the white Jeep, and where it went that night, in the podcast we just put out: www.npr.org/2026/06/04/g...
npr.org
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest...
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Reposted by Will James
NPR @npr.org · 02/08/2026
Hours of video analyzed in an 18-month investigation reveal what really happened the night Antonio Mays Jr. was shot at the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, and how protesters mistook him for a threat. n.pr/4pPMxeG
n.pr
New video evidence upends the unsolved killing of a Black teen at a Seattle protest
Hours of video analyzed in an 18-month investigation reveal what really happened the night Antonio Mays Jr. was shot at the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, and how protesters mistook him for a threat.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Thanks so much for listening and sharing, Zachary.
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Reposted by Will James
Zachary Fletcher @zfletcher.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
if you listen to one podcast this year, make it WE KEEP US SAFE by @willjames.bsky.social / @sydbrownstone.bsky.social this is a hard, complicated story to tell. will, sydney and david gutman do an incredible service for us all putting the pieces together. www.npr.org/2026/06/04/g...
npr.org
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest...
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Reposted by Will James
NPR @npr.org · 30/07/2026
The fatal shooting of a teenager at a protest in Seattle has remained unsolved for 6 years. "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR’s Embedded, @kuow.org and @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social uncovers new evidence and witnesses who say they’ve never talked to police. All episodes available now. npr.org/CHOP
npr.org
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest...
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Reposted by Will James
Emory Like Memory @emorymemory.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Incredible audio reporting series, nearing its finale Dark and disturbing, incredibly well-edited, and for those who have experienced these kinds of spaces, important to hear
Screenshot of podcast image text EMBEDDED: WE KEEP US SAFE

from NPR, KUOW, and Seattle Times 
Image is a photo which is like a collage with some graffiti artistic flourish in yellow. One image shows two protester looking individuals walking on a street in daytime with gloves and one has a big gun. Another photo shows a banner “Capitol Hill chop’
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Reposted by Will James
Sydney Brownstone @sydbrownstone.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The killing of 16 yo Antonio Mays Jr. at CHOP has been unsolved for 6 years. Ep 6 has one of the biggest reveals from our year+ investigation: an interview with a witness police never spoke to who had one of the closest views of what happened that night. Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
podcasts.apple.com
Embedded
Documentary Podcast · Weekly Series · NPR's home for audio documentaries brings untold stories to light through deeply reported narrative series. We go to hidden corners of the headlines to explore wh...
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Reposted by Will James
NPR @npr.org · 12/07/2026
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.
n.pr
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.
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Reposted by Will James
NPR @npr.org · 09/07/2026
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.
n.pr
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.
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Reposted by Will James
NPR @npr.org · 09/07/2026
A Black teenager was killed at a BLM protest in Seattle in 2020. Why is his death still unsolved? And who should be held accountable? NPR’s Embedded podcast investigates. Listen: npr.org/CHOP
n.pr
We Keep Us Safe: The Chase : Embedded
EPISODE 5: What really happened the night Antonio Mays Jr. was killed? Protesters claim he was attacking CHOP and they had to defend themselves. But new evidence from that night turns everything we thought we knew about the shooting upside down.Support journalism like this by signing up for NPR+ at plus.npr.org
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Reposted by Will James
the moon report 🌗 @seachanger.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Important podcast if you are looking for a good series and/or want to wonder about what really went down during Seattle’s BLM adjacent autonomous zone occupation pca.st/episode/3909...
pca.st
Introducing "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied…
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Link: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
The Rolling Stones keep the tunes coming: best podcasts of the week
Norah Jones hosts the legendary rock stars as they return to the studio first in three years. Plus, mindfulness meditation with the Getty Museum
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Thanks to @theguardian.com for naming our podcast, "We Keep Us Safe," a best podcast of the week.
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Reposted by Will James
NPR @npr.org · 18/06/2026
For three weeks in 2020, a protest encampment transformed one Seattle neighborhood. It ended in tragedy. KUOW reporter Will James and Seattle Times reporter Sydney Brownstone investigate the unsolved killing of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. on NPR’s Embedded podcast. Listen: npr.org/CHOP
n.pr
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
If you listened to @npr.org's Up First this weekend, you heard a local Seattle story that's haunted me and my reporting partners for years. Grateful that Up First aired the first episode of We Keep Us Safe, our podcast series investigating the unsolved killing of Antonio Mays Jr.
npr.org
How an anti-police violence protest ended in a teen’s death : Up First from NPR
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to be part of the racial justice movement. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as C...
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Reposted by Will James
The Seattle Times @seattletimes.com · 11/06/2026
A new podcast series from The Seattle Times, KUOW and NPR's "Embedded" investigates the unsolved killing that led to the end of 2020's Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.
seattletimes.com
New podcast on Seattle CHOP deadly shooting features eyewitnesses and unseen evidence
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
We'll be uploading evidence, including videos, to our site after each new episode.
npr.org
Embedded: We Keep Us Safe
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest...
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
And we'll be uploading some evidence, including videos, to our site after each new episode: www.npr.org/series/g-s1-...
npr.org
Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest...
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Reposted by Will James
NPR @npr.org · 11/06/2026
A 16-year-old was killed at a Seattle protest in 2020. Protesters claimed they shot him in self-defense. But is that the truth? Listen to “We Keep Us Safe,” a new true crime series from NPR’s Embedded podcast, @kuow.org and @seattletimes.com: n.pr/4e5Bj1C
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Reposted by Will James
Sydney Brownstone @sydbrownstone.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Six years ago, a 16-year-old was shot and killed at a Black Lives Matter occupy-style protest in Seattle. Early reports from witnesses and protesters said the shooter(s) were self-appointed protest security defending the protest from an attack.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Today, the results of our investigation start coming out, week by week, on @npr.org's Embedded podcast. It’s called We Keep Us Safe. www.npr.org/2026/06/11/n...
npr.org
We Keep Us Safe: Who Killed Antonio Mays Jr.? : Embedded
EPISODE 1: When 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. was shot and killed inside Seattle's CHOP protest zone in 2020, protesters claimed self-defense. For years, that version of events went unchallenged. Repor...
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
We talked to nearly 100 people and found evidence that’s never been public. Facts started to look different from what protesters initially described. And questions opened up about how Seattle’s occupied protest that summer, CHOP, started out with a burst of idealism and then became something else.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
The killing of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. is still unsolved. And it always felt like there was this aversion to looking closely at what happened here, from former protesters to city leaders. So, last year, @sydbrownstone.bsky.social, David Gutman, and I started looking into it.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
As reporters who covered 2020 in Seattle, this story haunted us. Black Lives Matter protesters said self-appointed protest security shot a Black teen in self-defense — that he was involved with a gang, attacking the protest. Some praised his killing online: “What a shot!" We always had questions.
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Reposted by Will James
KUOW Public Radio @kuow.org · 04/06/2026
NPR's award-winning audio documentary podcast Embedded is partnering with The Seattle Times and KUOW to launch We Keep Us Safe, a new series investigating the unsolved homicide of Antonio Mays Jr. The 16-year-old Black teenager was shot and killed inside Seattle's CHOP.
kuow.org
Embedded series 'We Keep Us Safe' investigates teen's killing in 2020 Black Lives Matter protests
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Reposted by Will James
Podnews podcasting news @podnews.net · 04/06/2026
NPR's Embedded to produce We Keep Us Safe, a new series investigating the unsolved homicide of Antonio Mays Jr. podnews.net/press-release/we-keep-u…
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
I'm starting to think that the answers may not be here, on the computer
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Mark Armstrong @markarms.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Late to this, but @kuow.org's podcast "Adults in the Room" is outstanding. Congrats to @isolde.bsky.social @willjames.bsky.social Jeannie Yandel @podcastalec.bsky.social and the whole team. www.kuow.org/podcasts/focus
kuow.org
Focus: Adults in the Room
Focus is KUOW’s home for immersive audio documentaries.
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Reposted by Will James
Michael Stambolis @mstambolis.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I just finished listening to this podcast and it's an exemple of excellent journalism. Sexual abuse in high schools is extremely difficult to investigate. The journalists here started their quest for the truth about their teachers when they were still students. They were punished for it.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Seattle 2016-2026 distilled into one comic
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
They put us in the newspaper.
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Emmett O'Connell @emmettoconnell.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
If you're not listening to Adults in the Room, you're missing a lot. 4 episodes in, it explores a Seattle SD crisis 25+ years ago over abuse by a respected HS teacher and how fiercely communities and institutions attack those seeking accountability from the powerful www.kuow.org/podcasts/focus
kuow.org
Focus: Adults in the Room
Focus is KUOW’s home for immersive audio documentaries.
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Really enjoying this so far! Basically, what if you went back 20 years later and re-investigated "the incident" from your high school. www.kuow.org/podcasts/focus
kuow.org
Focus: Adults in the Room
Focus is KUOW’s home for immersive audio documentaries.
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Urbmonger @crowshair.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
As usual from this team, KUOW Focus's new podcast is excellent. If you were an AP kid or went to a high-performing high school around Y2K I think you'll find it particularly engaging.
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yazikus @yazikus.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
I'm on episode three and damn. This is an incredible piece of journalism, reflection, and examination of things we take for granted.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Update
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
KUOW is coming for you, Joe.
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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
I’m utterly uninterested in “debates” about whether AI can do things well. I wouldn’t care if it could. 1. It stole from me. 2. I prefer me having my job to a computer having it. 3. I don’t teach “with” Lockheed or Raytheon; why wld I teach with Anthropic or OpenAI?
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Hey look, a podcast made by a local public radio station is at the top of Apple Podcasts. Obey Apple and listen to "Adults in the Room" by @kuow.org.
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Will James @willjames.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
"Adults in the Room" shares a podcast feed with "Lost Patients," the series I hosted in 2024. Our goal is to keep this sort of deep storytelling alive, even as other news outlets retrench — to give this intense, high-quality treatment to local stories here in the Pacific Northwest.
kuow.org
Lost Patients
Mental healthcare in America is a maze — by design.
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