Behind the Wheel: Life on the Metro Bus

Stokley Towles's work is all about the humanity and complexity of Seattle's municipal systems. In the last several years, he's done performances about the sewer system, the garbage system, and the water system. This year, he's turned his attention to the bus system. Set on an actual (but stationary) Metro bus, Towles presents a sort of anti–TED Talk (unpretentious, low-tech, and actually meaningful) full of stories from the perspective of several Metro bus drivers he interviewed. The stories are incredible, and they reveal these bus drivers to be sages, tricksters, and masters of social interaction. One of the drivers even conceives of her position as a kind of riddle: "We work inside but we're always outside. We're sedentary but always traveling around. We see hundreds of people per day but nobody knows our names." Go hear Towles tell these stories of violence, compassion, and resilience. Go learn these peoples' names. RICH SMITH