KBTC's Weekly Public Affairs Show - Friday at 7:30pm

Northwest Now is KBTC's weekly public affairs television show hosted by veteran journalist Tom Layson. Now in its 17th season, Northwest Now takes a closer look at the issues and people who are part of Western Washington. 

WATCH LIVE| Friday nights at 7:30pm on KBTC and the KBTC Livestream.  

STREAM | Available here and on-demand on the free PBS App.  

LISTEN | Listen here, download, or find episodes at Apple Podcasts.

ARCHIVE | Visit the Northwest Now Archive to explore episodes by year.

Explore the Northwest Now Collection  

Northwest Now Digital Extra | Northwest Now Digital First |Open Government | Saving the Salmon |Specials

Northwest Now Host - Tom Layson 

Tom Layson is KBTC's Managing Editor and worked in Yakima, Terre Haute, Louisville, Sacramento, Columbus, and New York-New Jersey. Tom anchored 13 hours of live coverage in the NY/NJ market during 9-11 - just one example of the many thousands of hours he’s been on set or in the field covering politics, natural disasters, courts and crime, economic development, personal finance and the environment the past 40 years. Tom grew up in the Maple Valley area and is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University.

The Western Flyer

A updated look at the status of the renovation of the Western Flyer, a vessel built in Tacoma and made famous by John Steinbeck when he spent the Summer of 1940 and then wrote a novel about his voyage.

7/31 The Western Flyer It was a vessel that was first made famous in a John Steinbeck novel, and now it’s in a Western Washington boatyard being restored for its next adventure.

8/7Saving the Salmon For thousands of years, local tribes have survived on the abundance of salmon in Western Washington, and for the past century, the rise of industrialization and population has lowered those numbers at an alarming rate. We meet with local tribal members and fish experts and we'll discuss what's being done to help produce higher numbers in salmon in our waterways.

8/14 Shorelines of Stone In this special edition of Northwest Now we get out of the studio and into the community to take a closer look at how progress on the land is hurting the life in the waters of Puget Sound.

8/21Picking up the Past Northwest Now Host Tom Layson travels throughout Puget Sound to take a closer look at efforts to remove wood pilings coated with a harmful chemical that was placed over a century ago.

8/26Making the Connections From climate change  to toxins, there are hundreds of species directly threatened by declining water quality in Puget Sound.