The Evergreen

Portland is the global epicenter of women’s sports. At least, that’s what some people have been saying lately. The phrase pops up in media coverage of our new WNBA team, the Fire, and our beloved women’s soccer team, the Thorns. And those are not our only professional women’s sports teams. We also have a pro softball team, the Cascade and a pro ultimate frisbee team called the Oregon Soar. The Cherry Bombs are our new pre-professional soccer team. We’ve got women’s tackle football, rugby and a badass roller derby league.    So, is Portland the epicenter of women’s sports? It’s hard to know how to measure such a thing, but what we can say for sure is that there are countless opportunities for women, girls, trans and nonbinary people to play sports and cheer for teams across the city. We talk a bit about the history behind the Rose City’s enthusiasm for women’s sports and hear from OPB business reporter Kyra Buckley about how the Portland Fire season is shaping up.    Watch a short video about the history of women’s sports in Portland by OPB’s Emily Hamilton.    Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

The shipwreck of the Brother Jonathan is one of the Pacific Coast's deadliest maritime disasters.   In 1865, the ship crashed into a rock and sank off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing more than 200 people and taking a fortune in gold with it to the ocean floor.    OPB’s Kami Horton takes us on board to understand what happened that day, and learn about the people the ship carried before its demise, from all walks of life and all over the world.    Watch Kami Horton's "Oregon Experience" documentary, The Wreck of the Brother Jonathan.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

Happy Pride from The Evergreen! June is officially Pride month, and of course, queer visibility isn’t limited to one month of the year; it’s important all the time.    Pride is about celebrating queer communities and it’s also a chance to learn about queer history. This week, we’re revisiting two intergenerational conversations about the importance of history, and combating queer erasure with friendship and resilience.     For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

In Eastern Oregon’s John Day, a 160-year-old building holds one of the biggest collections of traditional Chinese medicine in the world. Kam Wah Chung and Company, once part of a thriving Chinatown, was owned and operated by Lung On and Ing Hay for over half a century. It was a home, a general store, a community center and a medical clinic where Ing Hay served as a beloved doctor to residents across the region. His practice included herbal remedies, non-invasive treatments, essential women’s healthcare and more.   Archaeologists and historians are continuing to deepen our understanding of the legacy of Kam Wah Chung and traditional Chinese medicine in Eastern Oregon. We join them to learn more about Ing Hay’s important contributions to rural communities in John Day and beyond, as part of our special series in collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology, and Jefferson Public Radio about unearthing Oregon history.

Lakeview is a small town nicknamed the “Tallest Town in Oregon.” It’s home to hot springs, a round up and about 2,400 people.    But this former timber town is currently millions of dollars in debt it can't pay off, and brown drinking water has become the norm for residents.    OPB reporters Bryce Dole and Joni Auden Land take us inside Lakeview — how it got into such a dire state –  and how residents are trying to save it.    Read Bryce and Joni’s full story here.    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Everyone who was in the Pacific Northwest on May 18, 1980 has some kind of story about the Mount St. Helens eruption. OPB producer Ian McCluskey revisited that fateful day with some people who remember it very well for both personal and professional reasons. For this week’s episode, we’re revisiting a conversation with Ian about unearthing lost stories from Mount St. Helens.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

In 1961, JFK set a goal for the United States: send astronauts to the moon and back before the decade was through. But the moon was much more mysterious then, and no one knew for sure what they’d find when they got there.    Scientists debated the possibilities, and speculated that they’d encounter volcanic rock. To prepare its astronauts, NASA turned to a place here on Earth with plenty of that: Central Oregon. From 1964 to 1971, dozens of Apollo astronauts trained on Oregon lava fields, which scientists thought might be similar to the surface of the moon. The region became known as “Moon Country.”Now that Artemis II has sent humans back to the moon for the first time in over half a century, we’re reflecting on the role Oregon has played in lunar exploration.To learn more, watch OPB’s “Oregon Experience” documentary, “Oregon’s Moon Country,”   —   For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

After 66 years, the Lloyd Center Mall is scheduled to close for good this summer. The current owners plan to tear it down to build a new mixed use development in its place. The mall holds a special place in many Oregonians’ hearts — from the iconic ice rink to its memorable 1990s jingles and its recent indie retailer renaissance. We spend this episode looking back on the Lloyd Center’s storied history and hearing some of your memories of the mall.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

At the peak of his popularity in the 1950s, no one was bigger than Oregon musician Johnnie Ray. A decade later, Portland’s The Kingsmen recorded one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Both groups helped make rock-and-roll what it is today. What was it about Oregon in the middle of the century that made it so musically innovative? And why don’t we get any credit? You can read more and see the Oregon Experience Documentary about Johnnie Ray produced by Kami Horton here. -For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

What does it mean for community members to have access to foods from their culture? What is it like to take care of an urban forest and hit the trail for your day at the office? How can fitness prioritize strength and community building over weight loss?   Once again, we’ve got questions about all the interesting jobs Pacific Northwesterners have, and so do you. So we’re back with the latest installments of our ‘At Work With’ series, where interview people from different lines of work about what it’s like to do what they do. This time, we meet a worker at a market-style food pantry specializing in Latino cultural foods, a park ranger at Oregon’s Tryon Creek State Natural Area, and a coach focused on making fitness more welcoming and inclusive for everyone.   We’re always open to new ideas for jobs — or volunteer positions — that we can learn about next! If you’ve got a suggestion, email us at theevergreen@opb.org.For more audio postcards about what makes us feel at home in the Pacific Northwest like the one included in this week’s show, check out our very first episode.-For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

Renée Watson grew up in Northeast Portland and attended Vernon Elementary. When she was in the second grade, in Ms. Tupper’s class, she wrote a 21-page story.    “I brought it to school, and Ms. Tupper was like, ‘wow, I think you're gonna be a writer one day’.” she said.    Watson is now a New York Times bestselling author and winner of the prestigious 2026 Newbery Medal for her children’s book, “All the Blues in the Sky.” That medal is the nation’s top prize for children’s literature.   She mostly writes for young readers, but she doesn’t hold back for her audience. She’s written books that range from themes of grief, identity, race, to friendship, art and hope.  Watson says sometimes the world we live in is not the world we want, but she can right those wrongs when she’s writing.    “I can change the ending, and ask us to be better,” she said. “I feel very powerful as a writer, to push us to dream and to be better.” In this week’s episode of The Evergreen: how the remarkable writer Renee Watson inspires young Black readers to step into their power.    Watch OPB’s Oregon Art Beat documentary on Renée Watson here.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

The history of logging is full of tales of lumber barons and lumberjacks. Think flannel-clad men with double-bit axes doing manly things in the woods. But in the forests of Eastern Oregon, new research into daily life in a once-bustling mill town tells a more nuanced story about the extractive timber industry that once dominated the Northwest: one that elevates women and families.   Archaeologists and citizen scientists unearthed thousands of artifacts at the site of the former Baker White Pine Mill, which operated from 1910 to 1918 in the Blue Mountains. What they found provided clues about the role of women in the mill community, and an opportunity to recognize their important contributions to the lumber industry, long absent from the documentary record.   Historical archaeologist Chelsea Rose joins us for the next installment in our special series in collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology, and Jefferson Public Radio about unearthing Oregon history — the real stuff. Listen to the first installment of our series, about efforts to reclaim the histories of Chinese cowboys at the historic ranches of Eastern Oregon.And learn more about Oregon’s early logging industry from our episode about the multi-racial community of Maxville   -    For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

In the early hours of November 13, 1988, Mulugeta Seraw was coming home from a going-away party. He had work early the next morning.    Two of his friends, who were also Ethiopian, drove him home. When they arrived at Mulugeta’s apartment complex, they stayed in the car, talking for a bit.    But then a group of racist skinheads pulled up, reportedly chanting racial slurs. It quickly got physical.    One of the skinheads, Ken Mieske, hit Seraw in the head from behind with a bat at least twice. Mulugeta Seraw was pronounced dead at the hospital a few hours later. He was 28 years old.    OPB producers Nora Colie and Dan Evans join us to tell the story of Mulugeta Seraw: a young Ethiopian immigrant who changed Portland. His murder inspired a wave of anti-racist activism and led to a requirement for police to report hate crimes. In the first episode of a two-part series, we learn more about Mulugeta's life from the person who knew him best: his uncle, Engedaw Berhanu.   Watch Nora and Dan’s documentary for OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” “Remembering Mulugeta: Confronting Hate in Portland,” here.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now  Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

In the early hours of November 13, 1988, Mulugeta Seraw was coming home from a going-away party. He had work early the next morning.    Two of his friends, who were also Ethiopian, drove him home. When they arrived at Mulugeta’s apartment complex, they stayed in the car, talking for a bit.    But then a group of racist skinheads pulled up, reportedly chanting racial slurs. It quickly got physical.    One of the skinheads, Ken Mieske, hit Seraw in the head from behind with a bat at least twice. Mulugeta Seraw was pronounced dead at the hospital a few hours later. He was 28 years old.    OPB producers Nora Colie and Dan Evans join us to tell the story of Mulugeta Seraw: a young Ethiopian immigrant who changed Portland. His murder inspired a wave of anti-racist activism and led to a requirement for police to report hate crimes. In the first episode of a two-part series, we learn more about Mulugeta's life from the person who knew him best: his uncle, Engedaw Berhanu.   Watch Nora and Dan’s documentary for OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” "Remember Mulugeta: Confronting Hate in Portland," here.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud  And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Nestled among the old growth trees in Oregon’s Mt. Hood National Forest, a winding trail leads to the historic bathhouses and hand-carved tubs of Bagby Hot Springs. People have been visiting the springs to soak and commune with nature since time immemorial.   But this beloved place also has a complicated history. Over the years, crowds, misuse, vandalism and other problems have caused it to repeatedly fall into disrepair. And teams of volunteers have repeatedly banded together to restore Bagby to its former glory.   This week on the show: how do we love a place without loving it to death? How do we reckon with the impact our presence has on the natural spaces we feel connected to? And can a place like Bagby Hot Springs be saved for good?   We consider these big questions with OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer Ian McCluskey, who first visited and fell in love with the springs as a small child.   Watch Ian’s documentary for Oregon Field Guide, “Bagby Hot Springs: Ruin and Redemption” on March 19th on OPB’s YouTube channel and at opb.org.   -   For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

Oregon state lawmakers packed a lot into the 2026 short session before it adjourned last week. It's also been years since lawmakers, lobbyists, the public and the press have worked together in the State Capitol building. The building has been under construction for the past three years and it has only been partially open during that time. Before the construction project, the COVID-19 pandemic made pretty much everything virtual. The short session that just wrapped up brought everyone back together under one roof to work on a range of policies — from transportation funding to foster care — in just 35 days.    Evergreen producer Julie Sabatier tagged along with OPB politics reporter Lauren Dake just before the session adjourned to hear what it was like in the Capitol building.    To keep up with everything our politics team is doing, be sure to subscribe to the OPB Politics Now podcast.    Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

When Gwen Trice dug into her family history, she learned that her father had come to Oregon from Arkansas in a boxcar to live and work in the logging town of Maxville.    Maxville was once one of the largest towns in the county. It had a post office, hotel, roundhouse and many homes. Nine decades later, a broken down railroad trestle and one building are the only remaining evidence of this company town. The Missouri-based Bowman-Hicks Lumber Company created it in 1923 to house loggers and their families. The company recruited experienced loggers, including immigrants, Native Americans, and Black men from southern states. This was at a time when Oregon’s constitution explicitly banned Black people from the state. Housing and schools were segregated in Maxville, but the workforce was integrated. Even after the town essentially closed down in 1933, some Black families, like Gwen’s, remained in Oregon.   You can watch the Oregon Experience documentary focused on Gwen Trice called “The Logger’s Daughter” here and find recent coverage of the archeology dig at Maxville here.   And there’s a new multimedia exhibit called “Maxville & Vanport: Hidden Histories of Everyday Life” at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis February 27 through April 11, 2026.    Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

A defining feature of the second Trump administration has been its treatment of immigrants. President Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations has been a top priority since his inauguration, and in the year since, it’s been hard to keep up with all the escalating news stories related to the targeting of immigrants: arrests, detentions, surveillance, even shootings. At the same time, mutual aid and community defense efforts have been growing. And like elsewhere in the country, it’s all been happening here in the Pacific Northwest.   So this week, we’re collaborating with the Northwest News Network to bring together three reporters who cover immigration in Oregon and Washington to help us get a sense of how immigrants are being affected across our region. Joining us to share their reporting are Holly Bartholomew, OPB’s suburban communities reporter and a Report for America corps member, Gustavo Sagrero, KUOW’s race, identity and immigration reporter, and Johanna Bejarano, a freelance reporter for the Northwest News Network and former Northwest Public Broadcasting reporter.   For links to stories discussed in this episode, and an extended video version of this conversation, visit our show page. This episode was produced in partnership with the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.   It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.   -For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

National news was focused on Oregon in 2025 as President Donald Trump tried to send National Guard troops to Portland to quell protests at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on the city’s South Waterfront. (Those protests were largely peaceful, despite the president’s statements to the contrary.) After a lot of legal back-and-forth, the Supreme Court weighed in and the president quietly recalled troops from Portland, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Trump Administration recently dropped its appeal of a decision made by a federal judge in Oregon that blocked the president from deploying National Guard Troops to Portland. But the president has made statements implying that he intends to send troops back to Portland and other cities at some point, saying he could still use the Insurrection Act to do so.    Throughout this whole saga, OPB has been reporting and adding context to a story that is both local and national. We learned a lot in the process — about the role of the courts in relation to the executive branch, about the difference between what’s actually happening on the ground, government narratives and public perception, and about the different kinds of protesters and the motivations for dissent. On this episode of “The Evergreen,” we break down some of that work with three smart journalists who’ve been in the thick of it: OPB criminal justice and legal affairs reporter Conrad Wilson, OPB public safety reporter Troy Brynelson and the editor for OPB’s public safety and health team, Michelle Wiley.  Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

Esta es la versión en español de este episodio del podcast. Click here to listen in English. Los años 60s marcaron el comienzo del Movimiento Chicano denominado: El Movimiento. Activistas como César Chávez y Dolores Huerta lideraban demostraciones, demandando derechos civiles y justicia social para la comunidad Mexicana Americana después de haber enfrentado décadas de discriminacion. Y aquí mismo en Oregon, un grupo de Chicanos fundó una institución que cambiaría por genraciones el acceso a la educación para los latinos en la región del Noroeste Pacifico. En el episodio de esta semana, la productora Alicia Avila comparte la história del Colegio César Chávez – la primera universidad Chicana acreditada e independiente de los Estados Unidos. Y como hasta el día de hoy continúa inspirando a la comunidad Latina en Oregon en su lucha contra la posibilidad de ser borrados. Avila también produjo el documental sobre la historia del Colegio César Chávez para nuestro programa de OPB “Oregon Experience.” Para escuchar más episodios de The Evergreen y compartir tu opinión con nosotros visita nuestra pagina.    Siguenos en nuestra página de Instagram y también sigue a nuestra anfitriona Jenn Chavez. Suscribete a nuestro correo informativo para recibir todas las noticias que necesites directamente en tu buzón de correo electrónico.    No olvides explorar nuestros otros programas de podcasts. Los puedes encontrar en tu plataforma de podcasts favorita:    Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud Y muchos mas! Visita nuestra lista completa aquí.   

This is the English version of this podcast episode. Haga clic aquí para escuchar en español. The 1960s was the start of the Chicano movement: El Movimiento. Activists like César Chávez and Dolores Huerta were on the front lines calling for civil rights and social justice for Mexican Americans after facing decades of discrimination. And right here in Oregon, Chicanos founded an institution that would change education for Latinos across the Pacific Northwest for generations. For this week’s episode, we’re revisiting a story from producer Alicia Avila. She shares the story of Colegio César Chávez – the first accredited, independent Chicano university in U.S. history, and how it continues to inspire as the Latino community in Oregon fights against its erasure. Avila also produced a documentary about Colegio César Chávez for OPB’s “Oregon Experience.” Check it out. For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

In the U.S., there are about 100,000 monkeys, baboons, and other primates living in captivity to support scientific research. About 5,000 of them are at OHSU’s Oregon National Primate Research Center. That’s where researchers do experiments on monkeys to try to get clear data about things like cannabis use during pregnancy, and to find cures for diseases like HIV. Animal rights activists have argued for decades that the center should be closed. And they’re gaining momentum with support from Oregon’s governor and some lawmakers. In addition, scientists who oppose using animals in research argue that the practice has become obsolete and is hindering, not helping the effort to find cures.    Today, we’re bringing back our episode about the Oregon National Primate Research Center because just a few weeks ago in January, OHSU’s board of directors had a meeting to hear about what it would take to close the center or significantly reduce the size of its primate population.    OPB health reporter Amelia Templeton shares what she learned from a visit to the Oregon National Primate Research Center and conversations with a lot of smart people on all sides of this complex topic.    Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Populations of the Greater Sage Grouse have dropped by 80 percent over the last 60 years. That’s because the iconic bird depends on high desert sagebrush for food and habitat. And that habitat has been threatened for decades by wildfire, human activity and invasive species. A historic agreement that came together in 2015 to protect these birds and keep them off the endangered species list has helped turn that trend around. But now, a potential lithium mine could blow up the whole deal.  OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer Cassandra Profita fills us in on the details and you can see the video and article she recently produced about sage grouse here. We also hear from journalist Ashley Ahearn, who created an 8-episode podcast series called “Grouse” all about the birds and what they can teach us about compromise and life in rural America. Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

The cowboy is one of the most potent symbols of American Western mythology. But while pop culture might call John Wayne or the Marlboro Man to mind, real history tells a different story than Hollywood or history books. Cowboys in the West were racially diverse, and in Eastern Oregon, Chinese Americans played a big role in ranching and local economies.   As part of work to reclaim histories of the early Chinese diaspora in rural Oregon, archaeologists and community historians are on the trail of Eastern Oregon’s Chinese cowboys. That pursuit takes us to the historic Stewart Ranch in Grant County to learn more about Buckaroo Sam, cook Jim Lee and others who lived and worked there. We're joined by historical archaeologist Chelsea Rose to kick off a special series in collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology and Jefferson Public Radio about unearthing Oregon history — the real stuff. -   For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

On Jan. 2, 2016 a dozen armed men took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon. Today, we bring you a documentary OPB reporters made in the immediate aftermath of the 41-day occupation. And OPB reporter Conrad Wilson gives us an update from Harney County 10 years later.If you’re curious to learn more about the people who took over the wildlife refuge and their philosophy, check out OPB’s Bundyville podcast, produced by Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas. For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, host Jenn Chávez and Oregon Field Guide. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Quiet can be an elusive thing, especially in an urban environment. Going out into nature is a good way to escape the sounds of the city, but trails are often full of people talking, dogs barking and you can still hear road noise from a lot of parks and hiking spots. Some people even feel the need to bring a Bluetooth speaker along with them when they’re out in nature. So how can you find a place that is truly quiet? And what would that be like? Ed Jahn is the executive producer of Oregon Field Guide and he recently went on a quest to find the quietest spot in all of Oregon. In this Evergreen episode, he takes us to that place.    You can see Ed’s video about the quietest place in Oregon here.   And if you want to hear about a spot in the Pacific Northwest that just might be the quietest place on earth, check out this episode of “The Wild” from our friends at the public radio station KUOW.    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, host Jenn Chávez and Oregon Field Guide. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

What’s the philosophy behind enjoying a good roller coaster ride? What should travelers keep in mind as they’re waved through a construction site on the road? What’s it like to care for cattle at 4,200 feet elevation (and what’s the mooood on the range)?

The iconic artist Rick Bartow, a small-town Oregon kid, went on to see his work featured in over 100 museums across the country, including an installation in the White House garden.    His work mirrored real life. It was raw, aggressive, dark and emotional. The beautiful and weird in his work came from, sometimes, a painful story.    He was drafted during the Vietnam War and came back with PTSD. He then struggled with addiction for nearly a decade. Art, he says, saved him.   “I realized the creator had given me something to do,” Bartow said. “And whether people understood that now didn’t matter. I have to do this, this is my job … here’s my gift, and I can use it today.”   In this week’s episode of The Evergreen, OPB Art Beat producer Eric Slade tells us about the life and work of Rick Bartow.  Catch the exhibition Rick Bartow: Storyteller at the Portland Art Museum until May 23, 2026. And you can also watch Slade’s recent documentary on Bartow here.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

What happens when boats are abandoned in the water and start falling apart? Whether it’s a big barge or a small sailboat, abandoned and derelict vessels, or ADVs, have to be dealt with. If an ADV sits too long, it could end up blocking a navigation channel or becoming an environmental hazard, especially if it sinks.  It can be really challenging to figure out how to pay for the removal operation, and if someone is living on board, law enforcement has to balance the boat’s potential hazards with removing shelter from someone who may not have another place to live.    OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer Noah Thomas joins us to talk about the reporting he did on ADVs. We’ll meet people who work on removing these boats from the water, someone who lives on a boat he bought at an auction for $110 and a community organizer who paddles her kayak around the Willamette bringing food and other supplies to liveaboards.    Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

This is the English version of this podcast episode. Haga clic aquí para escuchar en español. Luis Lamas left Oregon out of fear.    “I don't want to find out if they're going to put me in a detention center or if I'm going to live so many more years [here] and be told, you know what, no, you have to go back to your country,” he said in Spanish.    Lamas is among a growing number of people choosing to leave the U.S. out of fear of arrest or detention, as the Trump administration has promised to arrest or deport anyone without lawful status. Immigrants with lawful status have also been detained.   In this week’s episode of The Evergreen, OPB reporter Alejandro Figueroa chronicles the journey of Luis Lamas, a Mexican immigrant who once called Woodburn home.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

Esta es la versión en español de este episodio del podcast. Click here to listen in English.   Luis Lamas salió de Oregon por miedo.   “No quiero averiguar si me van a meter a un centro de detención o si voy a vivir tantos años más y que me digan sabes que, siempre no, te tienes que ir a tu país.” dijo.   Lamas se encuentra entre el creciente número de personas que están abandonando los Estados Unidos por temor a ser arrestadas o detenidas, ya que el gobierno de Trump ha prometido arrestar o deportar a cualquier persona sin estatus legal. Inmigrantes con estatus legal también han sido detenidos.    Este semana en The Evergreen, el reportero de OPB Alejandro Figueroa narra el viaje de Luis Lamas, un inmigrante mexicano que solía vivir en Woodburn.   Para escuchar más episodios de The Evergreen y compartir tu opinión con nosotros, visita nuestra página web.    Síguenos en nuestra página de Instagram y también sigue a nuestra presentadora Jenn Chavez.   Suscríbete a nuestro correo electronico para recibir todas las noticias que necesites directamente en tu buzón.    No olvides explorar nuestros otros programas de podcast. Los puedes encontrar en tu plataforma de podcasts favorita:    Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud Y muchos mas! Visita nuestra lista completa aquí.

By now, you’re probably used to hearing the long list of letters and cities that make up our station IDs. But how does all that actually work? How does OPB radio reach your ears in Bend, Burns and Baker City? Well, it’s thanks to OPB’s team of broadcast engineers, who maintain radio transmitters across the state. And it is not easy to do. Imagine driving to the top of a mountain on a Sno-Cat in the winter to climb an icy tower. We learn more about what makes statewide radio transmission possible.– For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

In 2023 and 2024, four out of six dams on the Klamath River were taken out, in the largest dam removal project in US history. Tribes in the Klamath Basin had been fighting for dam removal for more than a century. This summer, a group of Indigenous youth from multiple tribes made the first descent of the river from its headwaters in Southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California since the dams came out — by kayak. Many of the kayakers had trained for over two years with the program Paddle Tribal Waters.   Jessie Sears, Karuk tribal member and OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer for Indigenous communities, was there for part of the 300-plus mile, 30-day journey to help document this historic moment. She joins us to talk about the First Descent, how the river has changed, and what it all meant to the Indigenous youth carrying on their ancestors’ work.   -   For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Mark Rothko is known for his colorful abstract paintings of stacked rectangles with billowy borders and layered textures. His art has been auctioned for up to $186 million, but he once turned down a commission at a fancy restaurant because he felt his work wouldn’t be appreciated by the wealthy patrons there. He was raised in Portland and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1921. His first ever solo exhibition was at the Portland Art Museum, which is opening its Rothko Pavilion on November 20th. OPB Oregon Art Beat producer Eric Slade made a documentary about Rothko, and he joins us to explore what makes his work so special. Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Every American city — including Portland — is divided by crumbling old highways, and every city is trying to figure out what to do with them. "The Big Dig" podcast from Boston came to town for a conversation with OPB’s Lillian Karabaic, whose “Stop Requested” project looked into public transit across Oregon, about Portland’s own attempts to solve that puzzle and undo the harms of the past.    -   For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

From 1819 through the 1970s, the U.S. government removed Native American children from their homes. Tens of thousands of kids, preschoolers to teenagers, from tribes across the country, grew up in boarding schools, including several in the Pacific Northwest. The institutions were part of a colonialist project of forced assimilation to white culture, where expressions of Indigeneity were forbidden and punished.   The true stories of these schools and what happened there have long been obscured. Klamath tribal member Gabriann “Abby” Hall is working hard to change that. As part of a yearslong research project about Oregon’s Native American boarding school history, she documented how generations of her own relatives, and more than 500 Klamath tribal members, had attended boarding schools. In collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience” writer and producer Kami Horton, Hall uncovered dark histories of boarding school experiences that affected so many Native American families. Within them, she sees stories of strength, resistance and survival that she hopes can empower younger generations working to keep their Indigenous culture alive today.   Watch Kami Horton’s documentary for OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” “Uncovering Boarding Schools: Stories of Resistance and Resilience,” on the PBS app and website.   —-   For episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

Who was the badass woman who became the namesake for Portland’s only lesbian bar? Dr. Marie Equi was born in 1872 and came to Oregon at the age of 20. She became known as a radical and lived an extraordinary life. She was a fierce advocate for women’s rights and reproductive freedom as well as an activist for workers’ rights. She staged a one-woman anti-war protest during World War I. She was also a physician and lived openly as a lesbian.    You can watch the full Oregon Experience episode on Marie Equi on the PBS app.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Love it or hate it, Artificial Intelligence is here and poised to change just about everything about the way we learn, remember, and think. Last year, Oregon became the first state to release guidance on integrating AI in schools. This week, we go inside Oregon classrooms to see how students and teachers are using the technology—for better and worse. How do students resist the urge to cheat on assignments? How do teachers teach something they’re just learning themselves?

In March 2019, in the wooded hills above the rural river town of Rainier, Oregon, 18-year-old Sarah Zuber was found dead 400 feet from her front door. Six years later, her family still has no clue what happened to their daughter. Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

At Fiesta Mexicana in Woodburn, joint Mexican and American flags fly in the air. Colorfully dressed Aztec dancers take the stage. And elote is everywhere.    It’s a celebration, but this year it’s become something more: an act of resistance.    “We have to continue to do this despite everything, despite the harm, despite the oppression, despite the discrimination. We must persevere because that’s la lucha (the fight), that’s what it's about,” said Juan Cervantes Morales, a Fiesta Mexicana Vendor, in Spanish.    Despite several cultural events being cancelled around the state and country, Fiesta Mexicana decided to carry on and provide a space for community members to be together and celebrate their culture.    “It is critical that our new generations learn about these cultural practices, because it is through these same practices that they will inherit so many of the cultural values that will strengthen their lives,” said Eduardo Cruz Torres Amictlan of Huehca Omeyocan in Spanish.    On this week’s episode, OPB’S Jenn Chávez and Alicia Avila share the story of Fiesta Mexicana — its history, how it represents cultura, resilencia y resistencia today, and what it means to Mexicans around Oregon.    A thank you to Alicia Avila, who produced a documentary for OPB Oregon Experience called “Fiesta y Resistencia.”    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

In October 1923, three brothers held up a train headed south from Ashland. Instead of making off with the loot, however, they killed four people and led police on a worldwide manhunt. Newspapers called it “the crime of the century.” It came to be known as “The Last Great American Train Robbery.” But it was actually a total failure. So why do people still talk and write songs about it? What was so great about this heist?   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

On September 5th, 2023, Jesse Johnson walked out of jail a free man. He’d spent a quarter century incarcerated, including 17 years on death row, for a crime he always insisted he didn’t commit: the 1998 murder of Harriet Thompson in Salem, Oregon.Two years after his release, Johnson is suing the state of Oregon and the Salem police detectives who locked him up for much of his life. The lawsuit argues that flagrant racism played a key role in the investigation into Johnson that led to his imprisonment.The case against Johnson was the focus of the first season of OPB’s investigative podcast series “Hush,” reported by Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas. Today, Ryan joins us for an update.