OPB's State of Wonder

This week’s show is a rebroadcast from April 2017. Twenty-two years ago Elliott Smith opened a door into a hypnotic new world. The album, “Either/Or,” released on Kill Rock Stars, marks a turning point in Smith’s transition from Portland rock journeyman to international star. This time had enormous consequences for Smith personally and professionally, but it also gave us heart-stopping music that continues to inspire fans and musicians all over the world.

Sometimes good stories take a while. This week, long-awaited gems from Astoria’s Fisher Poets and an arts outpost in East Portland. Also, a photographer goes the extra 4,000 miles for the literary story she believes in.

This episode originally aired on June 8th, 2019. It’s a weird world that obliges you to negotiate for decades to borrow things your great-grandparents made. And where are we if we can’t recover and know our history? This week, classic stories from the L.A. punk scene, queer punk in the ‘90s Portland music scene and a Native museum’s deal to get some time with their own priceless tribal artifacts.

State of Wonder is bringing back some of our best episodes, and today’s was an easy yes. Some years, you get some good books. And then there are years that deliver great ones. We hope you’ve got room on your shelf for some more winter reads, because this week we have three striking writers. They all talk about connection and relationships, between individuals and within a community, but they take us on vastly different journeys in the making. These books will hit you wherever you’re living.

This episode originally aired on Jan. 12, 2018. Embarrassing situations don’t always result in great inspiration — but we wonder if some artists actually benefit from their fiascos. Doesn’t a debacle make us feel a kind of fearlessness for whatever may come next? This week, creative sparks fly from truly cringe-worthy inspiration.

This episode originally aired on April 13, 2018. We’re playing some of our favorite episodes this fall, looking back on all the things we made over six years of State of Wonder. Today’s is something special we did for Design Week Portland. When you start to pay attention to design, you tune in to all kinds of unspoken rules and understandings that are part of how things are made. If you haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about how Native style gets used - and often mis-used in graphic design, fashion, and other disciplines - I guarantee you won’t be able to un-see it after today’s conversation. Thanks for listening.

Writer, illustrator, podcaster and storyteller Nicole Georges relocated to Los Angeles to upscale her prolific career. We’ve loved her work for years, from her zine, “Invincible Summer” to her band, The Sour Grapes. Georges’ award-winning memoir, “Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home,” has been optioned for television, and her other projects are going full-tilt. Georges talks to us about making the transition, and why she still feels like a Portlander.

This episode originally aired on Nov. 3, 2018. If you’ve been feeling like the lines are blurring between the America you imagined and the America we all live with, take a listen. We found some incredible artists and writers addressing the magical thinking and fantasies that shaped our world.

Wash some dishes to Brahms, and for one brief shining moment, you’ll feel like your life is being directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. This week, three stories from the orchestra pit, the rehearsal hall and the studio.

It’s April’s last show before heading off to Michigan … sigh. There WILL be more State of Wonder faves in the weeks to come, but right now we’re delivering some final thoughts on what it means to leave the place you love, and ways for thinking about the work ahead.

This week we are re-visiting a conversation we had in 2018 with author, Tommy Orange. His breakthrough debut novel, titled, “There, There,” unites the stories of twelve Native people, brought together on one momentous day in Oakland. Along with poet, Trevino Brings Plenty, we discuss the depth and breadth of urban Native stories. This conversation was had live at the Portland Book Festival.

As we head toward the end of the year - and a big transition for State of Wonder - we’ve sorted a few key stories about where we’ve been and what we’ve done.

This episode originally aired in April 2019. Who doesn’t love music? You’re not going to believe this, but we actually found someone. JoAnna Wendel experiences musical anhedonia, a condition in which songs read as an over-stimulating pile of melodies and beats — think of the feeling most of us experience when listening to noise. But Wendel notwithstanding, music remains — for most of us — one of the most intuitive tools to work out our feelings. This a music heavy ride but even if you do have anhedonia, we have some pretty great stories for you.

The producer who brought so many classics of queer cinema to life is coming to BendFilm Festival this fall. We talk with Christine Vachon about working with Todd Haynes and other breakout '90s auteurs. Also, Christopher Marley talks about creating astonishing compositions using preserved insect specimens. And we get a PDX Book Fest preview: Mitchell Jackson and Karen Russell on their critically-acclaimed books.

What gets us through those uncertain moments? The speculative story? The daring album concept? The strenuous film shoot? The risky venture? RESOLVE. This week: square-jawed stories from tenacious creators.

This episode is as American as it gets. We got country music, women skateboarding, indigenous youth reconnecting with their land, immigrant and refugee children learning to play music. All we're missing is a recipe for apple pie.

Innovators and icons tend to have something in common, they do things differently. This week we hear stories from a few people changing the game one costume, festival, or ASL gesture at a time.

This week we're going back to a favorite guest curated episode from 2014. Husband and wife Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction have each racked up top awards for their comic books. DeConnick has written a run of Captain Marvel that was the basis for last year's big film adaptation that starred Brie Larson. And Fraction has worked on very popular storylines of X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, Fantastic Four… and, we’ll say it, the best dang Hawkeye ever. They walk us through their creative process and introduce us to some cool folks along the way. We even staged readings of some of their work! Comic books on the radio? You betcha.

As much as we may try, we can never leave our younger selves in the dust. This week, three writers mine from their own childhoods to create some powerful storytelling.

Yearning for voices to steer you through the darkness this week? We’ve found stories from places of devastation and salvation: from an artist whose voice harnesses a wild range of human emotion, to a film project that suggests new perspective on gun violence, to an Oregon writer who brings deep understanding in writing about grief.

This week we lost two giants in the arts community, Pulitzer- and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and poet and musician David Berman. We remember their impact and explore other hard truths, but also look to other artists whose work has us excited for the future.

This week we visit people doing difficult and dangerous work. We talk about threats to domestic security, people fighting for their voices and stories to be told, and an act some may find the most terrifying of all: singing in public.

Happy Moon Week! If you didn’t make it to OMSI or the High Desert Museum to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first crewed space mission to the moon, you can still celebrate our shared celestial history. We’re visiting an exhibition honoring Tomanowos, the Willamette meteorite, getting starry-eyed over Frances Quinlan’s music, and more...

This week we’re handing over the keys for "State of Wonder" to musician and publisher, Fabi Reyna. She's the creator of the guitar magazine She Shreds.

We’re taking a look back at some of our favorite music stories and interviews. We blast out of this galaxy with Afrofuturistic music, come back down to earth to follow one musician’s odyssey, and explore those whimsically designed pianos that have been popping up around Portland.

Bump up your beach reads with three spectacular writers, each grappling with human connection: Kiese Laymon's Southern coming-of-age, science-fiction spectacle from Ted Chiang, and New York Times best-selling author Rosanne Parry imagines life through the eyes of Oregon's most famous wolf.

This week, we’re kicking off our summer playlists. We called in some experts: The people in town actually making the music, writing about it and putting on the shows. Artist and rapper, KayelaJ, is also about to drop a scorcher of a debut, “D.Y.K.E. (Don’t Yield, Keep Enduring)” and we get an exclusive listen to some of the tracks and her creative process.

The continuing search for awesome summer reads led us back to one of our favorite interviews from Portland Book Fest 2018 — and quite possibly one of our favorite book interviews ever! Somaiya Daud’s debut novel lit up the YA world. She is a dazzling conversationalist on sci-fan world-building, the joys of the YA genre, Victorian vs. classical Arabic literary forms, and much more. Also in the show: We meet one of Daud’s early inspirations and  we say goodbye to a truly great literary journal.

Sometimes good stories take a while. This week, long-awaited gems from Astoria’s Fisher Poets and an arts outpost in East Portland. Also, a photographer goes the extra 4,000 miles for the literary story she believes in.

It’s a weird world that obliges you to negotiate for decades to borrow things your great-grandparents made. And where are we if we can’t recover and know our history? This week, classic stories from the L.A. punk scene in the '80s, and Portland queer punk from the ‘90s, and a Native museum’s deal to get some time with priceless tribal artifacts.

Home can be a place you love and a palace of mixed feelings. But at its best, home is the place where you can be seen and feel understood.As we kick back in the folding chair with a frosty glass and some porch music, we’re thinking about all the comforts of home. Writers Jesmyn Ward and Mitchell S. Jackson trade stories about recreating the places they grew up. A dozen nonprofits make a home away from home. And some beloved assets of Portland’s parks system — its arts resources — get ready to transition off the city budget.

As a parent, you’ve buried your ambitions, your social life and your dignity. You’ve put your own health and well-being on the back burner. But hey, once a year you might get brunch. Parent-child relationships are a complicated matter for us all. This week, artists talk about the things parents do. It’s all worth it. (Isn’t it???)

Lest you thought the Blazers were the only action in town, we’ve got some updates. Oregon claims the only Northwest artist selected for this year’s Whitney Biennial. A much-beloved film center makes a dream match with a new incoming director. But the story of the week (and possibly the year) is the end of a 112-year-old institution, close to the heart of Oregon’s creative identity. We mark the occasion with a look into why craft still matters and always will.

We're revisiting one of our favorite shows from last year. The jobs that make art possible, and the ones threatening to take over everything. We’re talking with artists about the work they do for love, for money, or some mix of the two.

It's almost impossible not to view everything around us — whether it’s music, books, movies, or films — in the context of the political turmoil washing over the U.S. right now. Some artists get pushed into tackling the times, and some go there by choice. This week,three kinds of response, in music, words, and more.

Who doesn’t love music? You’re not going to believe this, but we actually found someone. Still, music remains — for most of us — one of the most intuitive tools to work out our feelings. This episode is a music intensive that dives right into those emotions. Music haters, you have been warned.

Maybe things in our lives haven’t actually changed, but we can see them differently. This week, artists hitting the reset buttons for us through their work: composer Raven Chacon, sketch comedians the 1491s, Shy Girls, and more...

As often as Native and Native-influenced imagery turns up in apparel, graphic design, product design, and elsewhere, there’s a chronic dearth of Native designers or influencers involved in the creation. Adia Victoria kicks off the show with a very candid and quote-worthy filled interview about what led to hew emotionally raw — and at times unsettling — new collection of songs.

Don’t trust your textbooks. This week — artists and writers whose work is illuminating the histories that have been pushed to the margins. We might not always get it right, but it’s important we try.

People say, there’s no place like home. But what if “home” is more than one place, or it doesn’t exist anymore, or it hurts to revisit? This week, three incredible writers share how the concept of home influences their work. From migration to gentrification, these stories explore the relationship between identity and location.

This week, we’re trading in the familiar narratives for some new, previously-unheard ones: a plus-sized coming-of-age story, a pair of young poets of color and a lost classic of black female film making. Plus, a tribute to the late Dick Dale and a new weekly segment, replete with ideas for how to spend your weekend.

Sometimes, it’s easy to feel like we’re lacking in heroes. This week, we’ve got a collection of tales to prove valor is anything but dead. Meet the comic book writers investing in the tenacity of teens, an all-female string quartet playing the classics on their own terms, and a London-based musician keeping the demons at bay.

If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that art can be a powerful, trailblazing force. Art is so much more than an oil painting hung on a gallery wall. We use art as a tool for imagining new possibilities, forging better lives. This week, we’re talking with folks who are expanding the boundaries of their field, from comics to radio to civic works.

This episode originally aired on November 3, 2018. If you’ve been feeling like the lines are blurring between the America you imagined and the America we all live with, take a listen. We found some incredible artists and writers addressing the magical thinking and fantasies that shaped our world.

In the age of ephemera, fleeting tastes and snapshots can leave the most indelible experiences. Artists reflect on what endures and what satisfies.

Luz Mendoza of the band Y La Bamba shares the inspiration for her new album, “Mujeres.” Portia Sabin talks to us about the KRS produced Bratmobile podcast series, "Girl Germs." Plus, some of the major players in the podcasting industry weigh in on their rapidly expanding medium.

It’s all about perspective. Does anything ever really change, or do we — the observers — merely shift our thinking? On this week’s show, we examine how Oregon’s artists, historians and public employees are rewriting our collective story. From pioneer history to contemporary arts policy, big changes are underway.

Ever found yourself in a room full of people, feeling totally and overwhelmingly alone? Don’t worry — there’s art for that. This week, we take a look at how local artists are exploring the meaning of longing and connection.

When the going gets tough (and we mean really, really tough) what pulls you back from the edge? For some folks, it’s revisiting a favorite poem; for others, it’s about finding something -- anything -- to laugh at, even when the circumstances are hardly humorous. From historic preservation to nuclear fallout, this week’s show proves there’s no one way to survive.

It may seem like the art world depends on gatekeeping: deciding what art goes in museums, which songs will get played, who gets the grants. But sometimes, the gates swing in ways we might not have expected. What seems like fringe turns out to be fundamental. This week, we take a look at the evolving standards of who and what is included in the world of art.

Don’t turn away. Sometimes even the most awkward situation can be spun into something wonderful. This week: cringe-worthy national events make for brilliant satire, a new play mines liberal guilt surrounding disability, and the story of the most bizarre art festival ever.