Town Hall Seattle: Civics Series
Town Hall’s Civics series highlights everything from local policies to world politics. These events offer perspectives on a range of topics as diverse as Seattle itself—a bustling forum for activism, discovery, and thought-provoking discussion.
Don't miss our other series podcasts:
Jan 8, 2026
Just weeks after Seattle’s November elections, Town Hall Seattle kicks off a timely, can’t-miss series hosted by Marcus Harrison Green. The panel features political strategist Crystal Fincher, The Stranger’s news editor Vivian McCall, and the South Seattle Emerald’s political columnist Tobias Coughlin-Bogue. Together they’ll cut through the noise to unpack what the results really mean—from who’s setting the agenda at City Hall to what’s looming in Olympia, and connect it all to the turbulent political currents in Washington, D.C.
Expect an unflinching, illuminating conversation about what’s next for Seattle, the state, and our role in shaping the national story.
Host
Marcus Harrison Green is the publisher of Hinton
Publishing, the founder of the South Seattle Emerald, and
a columnist with The Stranger. Growing up in South
Seattle, he experienced first-hand the impact of one-dimensional
stories on marginalized communities, which taught him the value of
authentic narratives. After an unfulfilling stint in the investment
world during his twenties, Marcus returned to his community with a
newfound purpose of telling stories with nuance, complexity, and
multidimensionality with the hope of advancing social change. This
led him to become a writer and found the South Seattle
Emerald. An award-winning journalist, he was awarded the
Seattle Human Rights Commissions’ Individual Human Rights Leader
Award for 2020 and named the inaugural James Baldwin Fellow by the
Northwest African American Museum in 2022.
Panelists
Crystal Fincher is the Executive Director of KVRU
105.7 FM, an independent non-profit community radio station in
South Seattle that she and her business partner recently acquired.
She also publishes and hosts Hacks & Wonks, the region’s premier
podcast about local politics and policy. Crystal led an
award-winning political consulting firm for 15 years, helping elect
state and local candidates and pass ballot measures across the West
Coast. Crystal’s work has always been rooted in community
mobilization and economic development, serving on the City of Kent
Land Use & Planning Board, as a Deputy on the Washington
Roundtable, and on the boards of Kent Youth and Family Services,
the Northwest Association of Financial Professionals, Tabor 100,
and the Washington Institute for a Democratic Future. She currently
serves on the boards of Progress Alliance of Washington and The
Urbanist.
Vivian McCall is The Stranger’s News Editor. In her private life, she is a musician and Wii U apologist. If you’re reading this, you either love her or hate her.
Tobias Coughlin-Bogue is a writer, editor, and restaurant worker who lives in South Park. He was formerly the associate editor of Real Change News and has since covered politics for The Stranger and the South Seattle Emerald.
Presented by Town Hall Seattle and The Stranger.
