Welcome to the Colette Podcast. My name is Claire Lehman and I am editor and chief of Colette.

Colette is where Freethought lives. We are an independent grassroots platform for heterodox ideas and fearless commentary.

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Welcome to the Colette Podcast.

I'm Jonathan Kay.

Many American cities have witnessed protests and looting during the spring and summer of 2020. But none witnessed more sustained

violence in chaos than Seattle and Portland, two fairly well-to-do cities that

aren't exactly bywords for poverty and racism.

One analyst who's been following all of this closely,

in part because it's playing out in his own Pacific Northwest

backyard, is Christopher F. Ruffo,

Director of Seattle's Center on Wealth and Poverty at Discovery Institute.

He joined me recently to discuss why these two cities in particular continue to simmer even after

protests and looting in other U.S. cities had stopped.

I also asked Mr. Rufo to explain the origins and meaning of Seattle's so-called

Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or Chaz, also known as the Capitol Hill Occupied Program. Hill

occupied protest or Chaz, also known as the Capitol Hill occupied protest or Chob. And a note for

listeners, my conversation with Mr. Rufo took place after Seattle City Council

...