KUOW Book Club's June pick is all about a Puget Sound seabird you may not even know is there 67%

By Katie Campbell0%

6/1/2026, 4:03:27 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, Halo Effect, and Biased Writer Voice, with Appeal to Emotion as the most egregious example at 40.4% saturation with 153 hits. Analysis detected 1,105 faulty-reasoning hits from 379 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 60.4% and a BS Rank of 67% (7,349 of 21,886 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 66.40% of the article peer group.

The KUOW Book Club is reading Maria Mudd Ruth's "The Bird with Flaming Red Feet: Seasons with an Uncommonly Common Seabird" in June. 
As the title suggests, the focus of this quasi-field guide is a fairly common seabird you can find in Puget Sound and all along the Pacific coast, from Southern California to Alaska. 
But readers may not be familiar with them or even realize they're looking right at them  maybe because their vibrant feet are hiding under the surf. 
The pigeon guillemot is important, though. 
It's an indicator species for the Puget Sound, signaling the health of the marine ecosystem. 
Efforts to keep track of these birds drew our author in and led her to fall in love with this charismatic critter. 
Ruth brings elements of both field guide and memoir to this fairly quick read. 
Think of it as an invitation to get outside this summer and observe the pigeon guillemot. 
Because we want readers to use the information they get out of "The Bird with Flaming Red Feet," we'll do things slightly differently this month. 
As always, read along with the KUOW Book Club by signing up for our newsletter. 
Instead of sharing my author interview at the end of the month, though, I'll share my conversation with Ruth on June 8. 
That will give you plenty of time to listen and go outside to apply some of her tips to your own birding adventures. 
Then, we'll wrap up the month with a few more recommendations on June 22. 
This one really is for the birds, erm, bird lovers. 
Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of "Crow Planet," wrote this in a review: "Swimming effortlessly between lyrical prose and meticulous research, 'The Bird with Flaming Red Feet' captures the wildness, complexity, and charm of these extraordinary birds. 
Beyond this individual species, Ruth draws us into a wider story  connecting sea, cliffs, curiosity, care, and community  and celebrates what it means to pay attention, to watch, and to fall in love with the wild world. 
Readers will emerge enchanted by guillemots and the ecological connections that bind us all." 
Grab a copy and get enchanted, y'all! 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 2.6%KUOW: 2.6%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.5%KUOW: 1.3%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 5.0%Katie Campbell: 3.0%KUOW: 3.4%Availability Heuristic5.0%This article: 8.4%Katie Campbell: 1.0%KUOW: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic8.4%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.8%KUOW: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 6.6%Katie Campbell: 3.6%KUOW: 7.4%Framing Effect6.6%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.1%KUOW: 1.0%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 10.6%Katie Campbell: 0.5%KUOW: 1.0%Status Quo Bias10.6%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 21.1%Katie Campbell: 2.9%KUOW: 3.8%Optimism Bias21.1%This article: 7.1%Katie Campbell: 1.4%KUOW: 1.8%Pessimism Bias7.1%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 4.9%KUOW: 8.0%Negativity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.3%KUOW: 2.0%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 5.8%Katie Campbell: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias5.8%This article: 6.9%Katie Campbell: 2.2%KUOW: 2.0%In-Group Bias6.9%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 30.9%Katie Campbell: 5.2%KUOW: 2.7%Halo Effect30.9%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 9.5%Katie Campbell: 1.0%KUOW: 1.1%Recency Bias9.5%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 21.9%Katie Campbell: 2.4%KUOW: 4.3%Appeal to Authority21.9%This article: 6.6%Katie Campbell: 1.4%KUOW: 1.4%False Dilemma6.6%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.9%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.2%KUOW: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 3.7%Katie Campbell: 4.1%KUOW: 4.1%Hasty Generalization3.7%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 1.8%Katie Campbell: 0.5%KUOW: 0.8%Bandwagon1.8%This article: 40.4%Katie Campbell: 5.6%KUOW: 6.1%Appeal to Emotion40.4%This article: 1.6%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.8%Begging the Question1.6%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.4%KUOW: 2.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 3.7%KUOW: 3.3%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 7.1%Katie Campbell: 0.8%KUOW: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)7.1%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 9.5%Katie Campbell: 0.9%KUOW: 1.0%Unattributed Quote9.5%This article: 9.5%Katie Campbell: 0.5%KUOW: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection9.5%This article: 28.5%Katie Campbell: 7.4%KUOW: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice28.5%This article: 16.1%Katie Campbell: 3.3%KUOW: 1.5%Indoctrination16.1%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.1%KUOW: 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 33.0%Katie Campbell: 5.8%KUOW: 1.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…33.0%

379 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers28%attributed speech272writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
KUOW Book Club • 19 words • 100.0% coverageKUOW Book Club • 23 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 32 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 100.0% coverageKUOW Book Club • 15 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageLyanda Lynn Haupt • 36 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 100.0% coverageLyanda Lynn Haupt • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 100.0% coverage
Selected voice

Lyanda Lynn Haupt

100%flagged-word coverage
50 attributed words47% of attributed speech100% writer coverage
0%37.5%75.0%Unattributed Quote+72.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Lyanda Lynn Haupt: 72.0%72.0%Quote-first Misdirection+72.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Lyanda Lynn Haupt: 72.0%72.0%Biased Writer Voice-31.3 ptsWriter: 31.3%Lyanda Lynn Haupt: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -25.0 ptsWriter: 25.0%Lyanda Lynn Haupt: 0.0%0.0%Indoctrination-16.9 ptsWriter: 16.9%Lyanda Lynn Haupt: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.