New from KUOW: Adults in the Room

Dig

Louisville Public Media

Society & Culture/documentary, Documentary, News, True Crime, Reporting, Accountability, Transparency, Society & Culture, Investigation

4.5 • 998 Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2026

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We're still following the Stoner case, and we'll bring you an update when we have one. In the meantime, check out this new investigative podcast from KUOW: 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. Three decades later, 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 was she part of a whisper campaign that cost the life of a great teacher?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	In Seattle, Garfield is more than a public high school.
0:08.8	It's a calling card.
0:10.9	Quincy Jones was a bulldog.
0:13.0	So was Jimmy Hendricks and the guy who designed the World Trade Center.
0:17.5	My name is Azola Raftery, and I'm an investigative journalist in Seattle.
0:22.3	I'm also a proud bulldog.
0:25.1	So is my best friend Ella.
0:27.1	But 25 years ago, during our senior year, Garfield showed us its dark side.
0:33.6	Ella and I found out a popular teacher might have sexually abused boys.
0:38.3	So we told the authorities and we refused to let it go until they finally took action.
0:44.9	But then, all hell broke loose.
0:47.7	Our friends and teachers, parents, even a columnist at the biggest newspaper in Seattle, called us gossips, rumor mongers,
0:58.6	liars. The school we loved turned us into pariahs. Ever since we left Garfield, Ella and I have
1:06.8	had an unspoken agreement. We only talked to each other about what happened our senior year.
1:12.8	The story we told ourselves was that we were the only ones willing to face the truth,
1:17.9	the only ones who did the honorable thing. But recently, Ella and I had a conversation that shook
1:24.9	me to my core. She'd started questioning our shared narrative and needed confirmation we were right all along.
1:34.0	Ella was asking me to go back into the past and find out once and for all if our teacher
1:40.1	really was a predator. I told her I already knew the answer. But then Ella responded,
1:48.5	Isolda, people think we killed a man. We have to find out if that's really true.
1:57.7	From KOWOW in Seattle, this is Focus, your home for immersive audio documentaries from the Pacific Northwest.
2:06.2	This season, Adults in the Room, a limited series that tells the story of our beloved Garfield High.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Louisville Public Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Louisville Public Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.