This week on Sound Effect, we hear stories of people who learned to hustle.
The Cookie Hustle
They may seem sweet (and they are), but sisters Hayden and Rena Korbol mean business. They are two of the top cookie sellers for the girl scouts in Western Washington, selling over 1,600 boxes each last year.
The Bootleg King
Back in the 1920s, during prohibition, Roy Olmstead supplied a dry Northwest with booze. Lots of booze. And we’re not talking moonshine here, this was the good stuff. Olmstead became known as The King Of The Bootleggers, but his life did not start out that way.
Growing Up Roma
The hustle holds a special place in the culture of the Roma people. At least, that’s how Miller Steve describes it. He grew up in Tacoma’s Roma community in the 1970s and ‘80s. Back then, it was a close-knit bunch of families descended from a nomadic minority group in Europe. Miller Steve says, for the Roma, the hustle is about more than just making money, it's a way of life that is taught, starting in childhood.
The Hustle For An Education
Gracelynn Shibayama is our member relations coordinator here at KNKX. When she was 17, she had a college fund. But Gracelynn’s family was falling apart. Her relationship with her parents was deteriorating, and her brother was fighting addiction. And then, the money she was relying on to help pay for her future, was suddenly gone. But Gracelynn was determined not to let that derail her.
Pinball Mafia
When people think of corruption, pinball might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But back in the 50s and 60s, pinball was generating a lot of revenue, and a lot of it was illegal. A former prosecutor tells the story of when the pinball cartels were king.
Law And Meth
About 20 years ago, Wil Miller was an unlikely drug addict who had to hustle to support his very demanding habit. Unlikely, because Wil was also a King County prosecutor. Wil experimented with other drugs while he was in college and never became addicted. He thought the same would be true for meth, but he was wrong.
Sound Effect is your weekly tour of ideas, inspired by the place we live. The show is hosted by KNKX's Gabriel Spitzer.
