Weekly News Hour with The Trail
Every week, KUPS Staff collaborate with writers from The University of Puget Sounds Newspaper The Trail, to create a weekly news segment, highlighting local and national news, but also stories pertaining to student life at The University of Puget Sound.
Additionally, each weekly episode will have a featured segment, rotating through investigative stories, narrative work, and more in-depth interviews.
You can tune in to the weekly news hour, every Wednesday 12pm-1pm PST, or listen to past episodes here.
EPISODE ARCHIVE
Episode 001 – Off the Trail and on the Air
Host: Anna Dery
Air Date: 9/23/2026
Overview: Trail writer Anna interviews co-EIC Sophie Goble, and Trail Community Coordinator, Easton Umansky, looking back to years past as amateur writers, and looking forward to visions of the Trail today.
Episode 002 – To garner another year of DJs, KUPS & WCRD
Host: Anna Dery
Air Date: 9/30/2026
Overview: Trail writer Anna interviews Graham Whitney, the current GM of KUPS “The Sound”, as well as fellow staff members: Tristan Pfleger, Dave Stewart, and Gabe Sacco. Graham and Anna reflect on the history of the station, their involvement in student media, and how KUPS has managed to thrive and survive for over 50 years, as they approach World College Radio Day.
Episode 003 – The Roadless Rule
Host: Anna Dery
Air Date: 10/7/2026
Overview: Host Anna interviews student writer George Slaats and outdoor enthusiast Reggie Westgate about the current policy debate surrounding the Roadless Rule in what it means for Washington and University research and outdoor programming. Anna also reviews this week’s Tacoma news, with a short feature of Annie and Emma Stafki speaking on their 365th day plunging in the Sound to bring awareness to the Southern Resident Orcas. Additionally, Anna covers University news, including the newest University donor campaign about to launch and a return of campus house shows to nightlife culture, as well as the University’s latest sports coverage.
Episode 004 – Students at the forefront: Sustainability programming on campus
Host: Anna Dery
Air Date: 10/14/2026
Overview: Host Anna interviews student two University of Puget Sound Sustainability Services programming students, Josie Poplarchik and Caylah Shapiro. They discuss their history with the Universities sustainability initiatives, plans for the future, and why students engaging with a sustainable-focused campus vision is more important than ever.
Episode 005 – Debrief of the Published Paper
Host: Anna Dery
Air Date: 10/28/2026
Overview: This episode gives an overview of Tacoma and campus news and then dives into four of the stories published in the most recently published Trail. Writer Caroline Eaton shares her story about cranes for peace and its impact during war time. News editor Grace Farrell shares the process of publishing a piece which had to be anonymous for safety reasons of the writer. Jay Stafford discusses his news piece on a student who was robbed at gunpoint near campus this last week. Lastly, host Anna Dery shares a satirical piece on the University’s presidential search.
