Hello. It’s me, I’m back. My name is Emily Nokes. I’m a musician, artist, writer, and now, The Stranger’s new Arts Editor. Yay! 

Welcome to our Spring Arts issue! 

Once upon a time, I was the Music Editor here. I left in 2015, then nothing much happened in the world in the decade since. Unless you count this country’s bonkers descent into actual fascism, a steady diet of the cruel and incomprehensible, and the pandemic we never really processed—all against a backdrop of pervasive cultural context collapse aided by devices that make us deeply unhappy, but that we still have to use for almost everything. And now it’s 2025, a year that feels exactly like you’d expect a year to feel that was kicked off by an exploding Cybertruck!

Whoa boy. I may have abandoned some of my old methods of understanding the world we live in, but I have not abandoned all hope. In fact, part of my reason for returning to a local print publication was not based in nostalgia (okay, not entirely, my first Stranger era did rip), but in a deranged optimism for this thing we call the future.

I don’t know about you, but I feel a hint of something new in the air. We’re due for a proper revolt, but we’re also due for some joy, some humor, and some fucking human-being-ness. Humans are FREAKS, and one of the freakiest things about us is that we make art. Curiosity and creativity are our superpowers. My views on arts coverage in a city like ours are so strong they verge on civic duty. If people are making things, we should talk about them, experience them, help contextualize them, and be interested in them outside the churn of revenue and promotion. Community for community. I believe in Seattle, even when Seattle sucks! 

I also believe in print—in making something that lasts for a while, that you can sit with, and that won’t slide into the ether when you put it down. I believe in real reporting, and taking a beat before reacting (also known as “responding”). I believe in nuance, and in differences in opinion, long conversations, and the art of existing in the discomfort of coming to the conclusion that there is no conclusion. I also believe in having some fucking fun in this life. I want to see more of everything in print. Hell, if it were up to me, I’d bring back personal ads. I want those I Saw U’s blazing like it’s a god damn dating app! I want to hear about your cool band or pop-up or performance piece or art project or mime night or whatever the fuck, let’s gooo!

Anyway, back to the task at hand, which is now to tell you about this issue. We're rolling the stories out online, so the best way to see it all is grab a copy in the wild. On page 49, Megan Seling describes watching songs get made out of thin air, which is not dissimilar from watching this very newspaper come together. I almost forgot how much of it relies on teamwork, rapid decision-making, and a secret third thing on par with conjuring. It is such a profoundly human effort, from brainstorming to writing to the editing process… And that’s before it even gets set on a beautiful page. 

Now that The Stranger is back in print single every month, I’m hellbent on expanding the full “Things To Do” arts calendar (find a copy and flip to page 61). In a world full of janky bots that regurgitate press releases, and AI-fed apps that exist only to monetize every single aspect of an event, emphasizing this effort feels important. We humans labored over the hot stove of choice here—combing through barely functional venue websites, reading copious PR emails—to choose things we think are interesting and noteworthy, from a twisted reenactment of The Titanic to Annual Daffodil Day. Algorithms could never. Our collective taste is INSANE and cannot be PREDICTED! 

Also on these pages are wormholes, portals, bagel holes, and… hot butts (I can’t take that joke to its natural conclusion). We’ve got seafood boils, music to look forward to, DADS dadding, and moms giving heartfelt advice. And babe, we answer the question on everyone’s lips: Does the billionaire die? 

I would tell you about each piece, but I am running out of time (shout out to the angels waiting for me to type this before the paper can go to press! It’s 12:47 a.m.!), but I trust you’re going to read every word anyway because we worked really hard and made you something. See you next month! 

Love Actually,

Emily

COVER ARTWORK by Johanna Goodman, from the show Force of Nature at AMcE Creative Arts

Typography by Corianton Hale