KUOW Explores How Amazon Screwed Seattle in New Podcast

Bezos has some pretty big balls. David Ryder/Getty Images

Prime(d), KUOW's new podcast about Amazon, premieres today. Hosted by reporters Joshua McNicols and Carolyn Adolph, Prime(d) digs into how Amazon has changed the face of Seattle—quite literally, as they've brought an estimated 40,000 workers, $17 billion in wages, and $38 billion in investment to the city, according to Amazon itself.

Those of us in Seattle already know the impact this has had. In addition to the boom in traffic (and techies), housing costs have skyrocketed, and the median home now goes for $750,000. The average 2-bedroom apartment goes for well over 2 grand. And, sure, this is great for landlords, but, clearly, not everyone wins when Amazon comes to town, which is exactly what every city vying for Amazon's second headquarters needs to think about.

"One thing we've learned, just from talking to other radio stations about this podcast, is that other cities are focused on the positives and fairly unaware of the negatives," McNichols told me. "Amazon isn't solely responsible for the problems Seattle faces. But by dropping tens of thousands of hundred-thousand-dollar-salaried employees on Seattle, it helped increase demand for everything we need to thrive here. In this environment of scarcity, our shortages define us. Scarcity of transportation options, housing options, and well-paying job opportunities for minorities.... Amazon brings phenomenal prosperity to Seattle, but the prosperity isn't shared."

My hope for Prime(d) is that they take us deep inside Amazon, a place few of us without the lanyards will ever go. While the hosts were, at least in the first episode, unable to actually get inside Bezo's balls—those glass bio-dome things taunting us from Denny Triangle—turns out, it's not an experiment in self-contained living; it's just a staff lounge.

You should check out the show if you live in Seattle, but you should definitely check it out if you don't. As Adolph told me, "We are the only city in the world that knows what it's like to have an Amazon headquarters." It's time for everyone else to start listening.