This episode of “The Forecast,” Seattle’s weekly women’s sports show on KVRU 105.7 FM, opens with host Maggie Mertens and producer Jeff Scott Shaw recapping a difficult week of losses for local teams while emphasizing the lessons and resilience that come from defeat. They review OL Reign’s 2–1 loss to the Washington Spirit on May 30, highlighting Lacey Santos’s free-kick goal, Phoebe McClernon’s key defensive stop on Trinity Rodman, and Maddie Mercado’s high press that forced an own goal, before noting Reign’s 4–5–2 record heading into a long international break. The show details multiple Reign players’ national team call-ups, including Claudia Dickey (USWNT), Holly Ward (Canada), Angharad James-Turner (Wales), and several U-23 U.S. call-ups, underscoring how the World Cup break will still be an active period for Seattle’s players. Turning to the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, Mertens and Shaw contrast two earlier blowout wins with back-to-back losses to the Washington Mystics and Toronto’s team, dissecting offensive struggles, defensive lapses, and the challenges of young rosters and demanding travel schedules. They spotlight standout performances by Jade Melbourne, Jordan Horston, and Natisha Hiedeman, while emphasizing the need for multiple double-digit scorers and a full roster including key frontcourt players like Ezi Magbegor, Dom Phillips, Awa Fam, and Katie Lou Samuelson. A major segment critiques WNBA officiating and player safety, noting an anomalous game with only two referees despite league rules, high foul counts, and concerns about concussion protocols following Dom Phillips’s second concussion and extended absence. The hosts preview a challenging upcoming Storm schedule against the Dallas Wings, Phoenix Mercury, Minnesota Lynx, and Las Vegas Aces, framing it as a key test for a team still integrating injured players and a rookie head coach adjusting to a shifting roster.They also briefly discuss broader league dynamics, including Portland’s disruptive start and questions about how midseason adjustments across the WNBA will reshape competitive balance. In a shift to professional women’s hockey, the show covers significant PWHL news: Toronto’s firing of its head coach, the fact that only two women currently serve as head coaches in the league, and the success of women-led teams in the Walter Cup finals. They explain the Players Association’s decision to make all salaries public, revealing a league minimum of $37,000, a top salary of $126,000 for Emily Clark, and only about ten six-figure earners, while noting strong ticket sales and upcoming expansion to Detroit, Las Vegas, San Jose, and Hamilton.The hosts reference the league’s complex expansion-draft rules and direct listeners to analyst Ava Wood’s coverage for detailed explanations. The episode concludes with a literary focus tied to Seattle Arts & Lectures and local library systems’ adult Book Bingo program, which now includes a dedicated women’s sports square. Mertens recommends her own nonfiction book, “Better Faster Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women,” and introduces an interview with Seattle author and former runner Stephanie Reents about her novel “We Loved to Run,” which follows a 1990s women’s college cross-country team navigating competition, friendship, disordered eating, and emerging conversations about consent and sexual violence. Reents and Mertens also discuss the emotional transition away from competitive running, the parallels between endurance sports and writing, and share additional sports and contemplative reading recommendations, reinforcing the show’s emerging women’s sports book club theme Episode Notes 0:00 - Weekly Sports Recap 31:16 - Book Bingo Interview with Stephanie Reents ____________________________________________________________ Stephanie Reents is the author of The Kissing List, a collection of stories that was an Editors’ Choice in The New York Times Book Review, and I Meant to Kill Ye, a bibliomemoir chronicling her journey into the strange void at the heart of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. She has twice received an O. Henry Prize for her short fiction. Reents received a BA from Amherst College, where she ran on the cross country team all four years; a BA from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar; and an MFA from the University of Arizona. She was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. ____________________________________________________________ The Forecast is a Production of : KVRU (https://www.kvru.org/shows/the-forecast/) & JEFFSCOTTSHAW _____________________________________________________________ Executive Producer + Host // Maggie Mertens // Maggie@KVRU.org Executive Producer // JEFFSCOTTSHAW // Jeff@KVRU.org Additional Production Support Provided By // Crystal Fincher & Shannon Cheng & Maurice Jones Jr.
