Adults in the Room: Blame the Messenger
The school district sends an investigator to Garfield to look into the allegations against Tom Hudson. Isolde and Ella feel like the entire school blames them for Hudson's suspension and the new inquiry into his behavior with students. The investigator questions Isolde and fellow reporter Rosie Bancroft again and again as the Post 84 community closes ranks and refuses to talk. Months go by as Isolde and Ella anxiously wait for the results of the investigation. As their lives at school become darker and tension-filled, they wonder: Did they do the right thing, or blow up a respected teacher's reputation over a falsehood? Then, a sudden tragedy changes the course of the investigation and shakes the Garfield community. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan. A special thank you to Ella Hushagen, Rosie Bancroft, and Maria Coryell-Martin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Adults in the Room: The Price of Belief
Garfield High School is shocked after learning their beloved principal is in an inappropriate relationship with a student. In the fallout of the revelation about their principal, Isolde and Ella hear a second-hand allegation of child abuse against teacher Tom Hudson from a member of his outdoors club, Post 84. The students debate what they should do and decide to bring the allegation to their journalism teacher, Dave Ehrich, and Isolde’s parents. Nothing happens. Isolde and Ella publish a different, anonymized allegation in The Messenger. Hudson is suspended shortly after, and Ella and Isolde wonder if it was because of their story. Dave Ehrich accuses Isolde and Ella of publishing unfounded rumors about Hudson, and demands they resign from the paper. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, Ella Hushagen, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Adults in the Room: Mounting Danger
In 1998, a popular teacher at Garfield High School in Seattle — named Tom Hudson — falls into a crevasse while mountain-climbing in Olympic National Park. Hudson is accompanied by six teenage students from the school's outdoor program, who pull off a daring rescue of their teacher using techniques he taught them. Isolde Raftery, a reporter for the school paper, plans to write about the rescue as a hero story validating Hudson’s leadership. But she learns he cut corners during the climb... and it wasn't the first time he'd done so. This discovery leads to a confrontation between Isolde and Hudson, and is the first crack in the teacher's legendary reputation at Garfield — which shatters months later. Get in touch with the team by email at focus@kuow.org. Support KUOW and projects like this by donating at kuow.org/donate/focus. Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR network. It is hosted by Isolde Raftery. Original reporting by Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James. Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan. Our editor is Jeannie Yandel. Music by BC Campbell. A special thank you to Ella Hushagen, without whom this project would not be possible. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The production team behind the Peabody-nominated "Lost Patients" returns with a new investigative series: "Adults in the Room" begins on February 24, 2026.
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?
"Focus" is KUOW’s home for immersive audio documentaries. Each season zooms in on a single story that challenges commonly held narratives about life in the Pacific Northwest and reveals something bigger about American society.
