Bess Byers, journalist and rising voice at Reason Magazine, joined The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI for a wide-ranging interview that touched on Sound Transit waste, Second Amendment rights, government overreach, and women’s privacy concerns in Washington state. Byers’ viral videos are gaining traction online for doing something too few in the mainstream are willing to do: call out hypocrisy and hold government accountable.
Hoffman told Byers that her videos were like “the greatest hits of this show.” Hoffman added, “It’s like therapy talking to someone who actually gets it, and makes it look good on camera.”
Sound Transit: “The Biggest Grift in the Entire U.S.”
Byers first made waves with a video investigating Sound Transit, Washington state’s multibillion-dollar mass transit project. But instead of attacking it from a typical political angle, she exposed the environmental hypocrisy.
“Sound Transit claims to be green,” she said, “yet they’ve bulldozed hundreds of trees for these train lines. It’s one of the worst examples of performative environmentalism I’ve ever seen.”
Why is Seattle spending $148 billion and cutting down 14,000 trees under the guise of green transportation? Reason’s @BessByers shares why this mass transit is anything but sound. pic.twitter.com/DDEAbGzDIT
— reason (@reason) July 18, 2025
Byers, a Washington native who spent years in Seattle, said she was inspired to dig deeper after reading a story about more delays and overruns in the Bellevue-to-downtown Seattle line. Her research uncovered what she called a “transportation boondoggle” riddled with waste, broken promises, and a lack of oversight. She was particularly shocked to discover that King County Executive Dow Constantine, “one of the biggest scumbags in Seattle politics,” as she put it, was now chairing Sound Transit’s board.
Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine is “one of the biggest scumbags in Seattle politics"@reason's @BessByers slams the agency after digging deeper into the delays & overruns in the Bellevue-to-downtown Seattle line, calling it a “transportation boondoggle” pic.twitter.com/Ddd0PhOhnF
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) July 30, 2025
“What’s infuriating,” she said, “is how people who claim to oppose greedy corporations will blindly support an unaccountable government entity that continually raises taxes and never delivers.”
Byers emphasized that she supports mass transit when done right. “I’ve lived in cities around the world with great transit systems,” she said. “But when government manages these projects without accountability, the result is failure after failure.”
Gun Rights: “Gun Rights Are Women’s Rights”
Byers’ other major viral video took on Washington’s increasingly restrictive gun laws. For her, it’s personal.
“I was home alone when my house got burglarized,” she revealed. “Later, a stranger pulled a gun on me at a gas station. I know women who’ve been abused, stalked, and threatened. A firearm is the great equalizer.”
Washington is so anti-fascist they actually just took another step toward disarming civilians. Reason’s @BessByers shares who this law really harms. pic.twitter.com/I5WGfbXCxL
— reason (@reason) July 25, 2025
She slammed Washington’s new gun laws requiring residents to pay for a permit and training class to purchase a weapon, policies she says disproportionately harm low-income and working-class people.
“Who are you stopping? Law-abiding people who can’t afford the time or money,” she said. “Meanwhile, criminals ignore the laws entirely.”
Byers also criticized what she called the state’s leniency toward violent offenders. “We keep seeing people arrested for serious crimes being released without consequences,” she said. “Meanwhile, new laws are turning responsible gun owners into criminals.”
She pushed back against arguments that the Second Amendment can be “permitted” or restricted. “You wouldn’t accept needing a permit to exercise your First Amendment rights. Why is the Second any different?”
“Gun Rights Are Women’s Rights”@reason's @BessByers slams Washington’s new gun laws. “Who are you stopping? Law-abiding people who can’t afford the time or money. Meanwhile, criminals ignore the laws entirely.” pic.twitter.com/y2qKbTdunI
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) July 30, 2025
More Stories in the Works: EV Grants, Spa Lawsuits, and Mask Mandates
Byers isn’t slowing down. She told listeners she’s currently working on several more stories, each one touching on themes of government overreach, double standards, and cultural clashes in Washington state.
One video already posted examines the so-called “Washington EV Scam,” in which Governor Jay Inslee’s administration funneled millions in subsidies intended for low-income residents to buyers of luxury electric vehicles, primarily Teslas.
Another case involves a felony charge against a man who refused to wear a mask as an election observer, now facing two years in prison. “The punishment is wildly disproportionate,” she said.
She also teased a deeply personal upcoming story about Olympus Spa, a women-only nude spa in Lynnwood. After a legal challenge, the spa is now required to admit biological males who identify as women, due to Washington’s anti-discrimination laws.
“The spa was created as a sanctuary for overworked women and moms,” she said. “Now the courts are saying we’re bigots if we want to maintain a female-only space. That’s insulting.”
“I’m Just Pulling Threads.”
Bess Byers’ videos have struck a nerve with viewers across political lines who are fed up with institutional failures and gaslighting from the powers that be. With a mix of investigative rigor, personal storytelling, and a sharp libertarian critique, she’s built a powerful new platform through Reason Magazine and her own social channels.
“I’m just pulling threads,” she said. “And once you pull one, everything starts to unravel.”
For those wanting to follow her work, Byers can be found on social media at @BessByers and through Reason Magazine’s website, YouTube channel (Reason TV), and Instagram. Her videos are also regularly reshared across conservative and libertarian media spaces—including this show.
