Think Out Loud

Sometimes laughter can be the best way to make it through difficult times. And a good joke can go a long way to connecting with another person, no matter how different they are. Those are themes in the two new books “Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One” by Kristen Arnett and “So Far Gone” by Jess Walter. OPB’s Jess Hazel talked to Walter and Arnett about their books at the 2025 Portland Book Festival.  

What does survival look like if it comes at the expense of freedom? How can we build safe places in an increasingly unstable world? These questions are at the heart of two new books by authors Leni Zumas and Cleyvis Natera. Zumas’s book “Wolf Bells” tells the story of an intergenerational group home determined to make a space for people who fall through capitalism’s cracks. Natera’s book “The Grand Paloma Resort” tells the story of staff at an exclusive Caribbean resort as they navigate class, race and colonialism. OPB’s Allison Frost spoke to Leni Zumas and Cleyvis Natera at the 2025 Portland Book Festival.  

Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue is perhaps best known for her novel “Room,” told from the perspective of a 5-year-old boy held captive with his mother. Most of Donoghue’s work, however, is rooted in historical fiction. She frequently writes about characters and perspectives that are often erased from history. Her latest novel, “The Paris Express,” tells the story of a fateful disaster on a French train in 1895. Donoghue spoke to OPB’s Crystal Ligori in front of an audience at the 2025 Portland Book Festival.  

The Owyhee Canyonlands area encompasses millions of acres along the Owyhee River on the borders of Oregon, Idaho and Nevada. The land is rugged and remote and beautiful, and efforts to to protect it in some way have dragged out for years. There were pushes for the last two Democratic presidents to designate the area a national monument and most recently, a bill to protect over 1 million acres of the land as wilderness failed in Congress at the end of last year. We traveled to the area and talked to people about the land and the efforts to protect it.    We stopped in Jordan Valley and talked to Mindy Kershner, a lifelong Jordan Valley resident, rancher, and owner of the Ranch Hand Hardware & Mercantile. Then we travelled down to Birch Creek Historic Ranch on the edge of the river to talk to Tim Davis, executive director of Friends of the Owyhee. We spoke to rancher Elias Eiguren on his family’s land in Arock. And then we talked to Reginald Sope, an elder of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes who lives near the head of the canyon in Nevada.   

Ponderosa pine trees dominate parts of Eastern Oregon and Washington and have long been an icon of the American West, but in the past decade more than two hundred million ponderosa have died. Particularly in the Southwest, scientists estimate that by mid-century less than 5% of the ponderosa trees may remain. Portland author Gary Ferguson explores the history and the future of the ponderosa forests of the Southwest in his newest book, “The Twilight Forest.”

As 2025 comes to a close, the staff of OPB's "Think Out Loud" look back on some of their favorite conversations from the past year. Producers Sage Van Wing, Gemma DiCarlo, Rolie Hernandez, Sheraz Sadiq, Riley Martinez and Malya Fass join host Dave Miller in conversation.  

A new audit from the Secretary of State found that the implementation of Measure 110, the drug discrimination ballot initiative, faced a number of challenges with unclear results. The audit notes that despite the roughly $800 million dedicated to programs aimed at helping in-recovery and substance-use treatment, the outcomes — including the number of people served — are unclear. Beyond that, the audit also says frequent revisions “undermined confidence in the program.” Secretary of State Tobias Read joins us to share more on the audit and M110.

In 2023, Oregon lawmakers passed HB 3198, which created the Early Literacy Success Initiative, an effort to address the state’s dismal reading test scores. The bill aimed to more fully adopt a phonics-based teaching approach — often referred to as "the science of reading" — in schools across the state. Education experts broadly agree this approach is the best way to teach kids to read. But the question became: How will the state hold school systems accountable for implementing it? Earlier this year, Oregon passed another bill aimed at just that, but some experts worry it’s toothless.   Christine Pitts is the president and CEO of Open School and an Oregon-based policy expert. She joins us to unpack the many reasons Oregon's ability to implement the "science of reading" has been stalled. Steve Cook, the superintendent of Bend-La Pine Schools and president elect of the Oregon Association of School Executives, also joins us for a closer look at how districts are tackling Oregon’s literacy problem.  

Last Monday, hundreds of students in Beaverton, Forest Grove and Hillsboro walked out of classes to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in their communities in Washington County. The Beaverton School District has made available resources to assist immigrant and refugee students and their families, including reminders of its online school option and partnerships with nonprofits like the Latino Network that provide “Know Your Rights” workshops at the district’s schools. Shelly Reggiani, associate superintendent for teaching and learning at Beaverton School District, joins us to share more details about the district’s response to concerns from students, parents and staff about immigration enforcement.

 It’s that time of year when many of us are getting ready to celebrate the holidays, whether that’s finalizing travel plans, preparing to host visitors or buying last minute gifts. But the holidays can also stir up stress, from parents struggling to maintain some semblance of routine for kids out of school to intergenerational conflicts over expectations about traditions to uphold. And for some immigrant families, a season that’s supposed to be filled with joy and socializing may instead be another reminder of the fear, anxiety and isolation they’re currently experiencing.   Two licensed psychologists from the University of Oregon join us to share tips for managing stress during the holiday season and what they’re hearing from community members in Eugene and Springfield who receive free or low-cost counseling at UO’s HEDCO Clinic. Anne Marie Mauricio is an associate research professor at the Prevention Science Institute and faculty in counseling psychology and human services at the UO College of Education. Cindy Huang is an associate professor in counseling psychology and human services at the UO College of Education.    

The Coffin Butte Landfill, located about 10 miles north of Corvallis, takes in trash from around two dozen Oregon counties and accepts more than a million tons of waste every year. But its shelf life is expiring, and Republic Services, the company that owns and operates the landfill, is trying to expand it.   Now, it’s one step closer. Last month, Republic won Benton County’s approval for a permit that greenlights the expansion, so long as Republic complies with certain criteria to mitigate the dump’s environmental impact.   Opponents are trying to stall the expansion at the Land Use Board of Appeals before any shovels hit the ground, but it’s unclear whether the expansion will happen safely, or at all. Mason Leavitt is a geographic information systems analyst and programs manager at Beyond Toxics. He joins us to revisit the expansion’s continuing saga, what we know about the site’s environmental impact and what alternatives there might be.  

This fall, the U.S. Department of the Interior cancelled nearly 80 grants to organizations that focus on habitat restoration, species conservation and other ecological work. According to a social media post from the Department of Government Efficiency, the cuts were made because the organizations supported diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.   More than a third of the grants cancelled were awarded to the Institute for Applied Ecology, based in Corvallis. The nonprofit received 30 termination notices on Sept. 23, totaling more than $3.5 million. The Lomakatsi Restoration Project, based in Ashland, also lost $2.4 million across eight grants.   Tom Kaye is the founder and chief scientist at the Institute for Applied Ecology. He joins us to talk about how the funding cuts will hinder conservation efforts in the Pacific Northwest.  

If you’ve always dreamed of singing in a band, a karaoke night might scratch the itch. But on Monday nights in Portland, you can actually sing karaoke with a live band at Dante’s pub. Karaoke from Hell is now a 33-year-old tradition featured in a new documentary of the same name. The documentary will be screened on Wednesday, Dec. 17th at the Star Theater in Portland. We talk to band members Dawn Panttaja and Brian Saunders, along with co-director of the documentary Chip Mabry, about the joys of live karaoke and how Portland’s art scene has changed over the years.

As social media and AI advance, it can be hard to know how to best help kids navigate the ever-changing digital landscape and keep them safe online. Jen Doty, an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services at the University of Oregon, has studied cyberbullying since 2013 and has recently developed a program for middle school students to manage their social media and internet use. She joins us with her guide to conversations about internet use with school-aged kids.

More than 90% of all liquid fuel in Oregon is stored along a 6 mile stretch of the Willamette River just north of downtown Portland known as the Critical Energy Infrastructure hub. Studies have shown that a major earthquake could cause the release of as much toxic liquid as the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with oil reaching all the way to the mouth of the Columbia River. This fall, the city released a draft proposal to reduce the fuel stored at the site and require seismic upgrades. Eric Engstrom, director of the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, joins us to explain the plan.

Sparked by pandemic-era baking trends, interest in small-batch, locally-milled flour is growing among commercial and home bakers. Operations like Camas Country Mill in Oregon and Cairnspring Mills in Washington supply restaurants, bakeries and amateur bakers with high-quality flour sourced from local farmers who use regenerative growing practices.     A new partnership between Cairnspring and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation will bring a flour mill to the reservation in Eastern Oregon. The new facility is expected to expand Cairnspring’s production capacity twelvefold and create 20-25 new jobs.  Kevin Morse is the co-founder and CEO of Cairnspring Mills. Bill Tovey is the director of the CTUIR Department of Economic & Community Development. They both join us to talk about the partnership.

Big changes are in store for the federal student loan program. President Trump’s tax and spending bill, which was signed into law last summer, ends a supplemental loan for graduate students and caps  the amount they can borrow from the government. It also allows students in professional programs, such as law and medicine, to borrow more than students in other graduate programs, such as nursing or social work.   The bill reduces students’ loan repayment options from seven to two. It also phases out the Biden-era SAVE plan, which was the most flexible income-driven repayment option.         Jennifer Bell is the director of financial aid at Portland State University. Susan Bakewell-Sachs is the vice president of nursing affairs and dean of the School of Nursing at Oregon Health & Science University. They join us to discuss what the changes could mean for students who rely on loans, particularly to get advanced degrees.  

 After months of searching, Portland has officially named Raymond Lee as the first long-term city administrator. The position, which was created with the city’s new form of government, oversees thousands of city employees and the day-to-day public services including public safety, public works and city operations to name a few. But Lee isn’t the first city administrator. Michael Jordan has filled the role in the interim since 2024. In this time in the position, he has responded to federal actions, made recommendations for the city’s budget and more. Jordan joins us to share more on what his time was like as Portland’s first city administrator, advice for his successor and what the city’s transition to a new form of government has been like.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit’s Eventual Tenant Ownership program is meant to give people the chance to buy the home they're renting. It works by providing developers with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits for building homes that would qualify for this program in exchange. But new reporting from Underscore Native News and ICT highlights how the Washington program, which mainly serves tribal lands and governments, has failed to convert a single home to ownership. Luna Reyna is the Northwest Bureau Chief for the publication. She joins us to share more.

Staffing shortages and rising labor costs have caused many 24/7 businesses to reduce their hours since the COVID-19 pandemic. But Rose City Coffee Co. is bucking the trend.  The Southeast Portland coffee shop is now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We’ll talk with owner Christie Gryphon about what it takes to run a 24-hour business in today’s economy.

Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties recently launched a regional dashboard that tracks the health impacts of climate change in the metro area. It includes data on heat and cold events, air quality, infectious diseases and the effects climate change can have on mental health. The dashboard is an evolution of the counties’ Regional Climate and Health Monitoring Report, which was previously released every two years as a lengthy PDF.  Sarah Present is the Clackamas County Health Officer, and Kathleen Johnson is a senior program coordinator at Washington County Public Health. They join us to talk about the new dashboard and how climate change is impacting public health in the metro area.

Oregon is the leading producer of Christmas trees in the nation, accounting for about a third of all real Christmas trees sold in the U.S. Christmas tree farmers in Oregon grew more than 3 million Noble fir, Douglas fir and other Christmas tree varieties in 2023, the most recent year for which statistics are available.    Priya Rajarapu is an assistant professor in the college of forestry at OSU and the Christmas tree specialist at OSU Extension Service. In the past year, she has visited 20 Christmas tree farms in Oregon where she has offered advice, diagnosed diseased trees and confirmed infestations of bark beetles and other pests.    But the biggest threat Oregon’s roughly $120 million Christmas tree industry faces is climate change, according to Rajarapu. Extreme heat and drought can imperil the survival of Christmas trees, especially seedlings. Rajarapu has been studying mulch alternatives like compost that has been shown to boost the survival of seedlings during their first year.   Rajarapu joins us for more details about her work and why non-native varieties such as Nordmann and Turkish firs are gaining in popularity among both farmers and consumers.  

 A new investigation by ProPublica and High Country News reveals how wealthy ranchers and corporations are profiting from federal subsidies for fees they pay to graze cattle on public land. The three-part investigation used data from the Bureau of Land Management to analyze grazing fees and identify the largest ranchers on public lands. Joining us for more details is Mark Olalde, an investigative reporter at ProPublica.

Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria is currently undergoing a $300 million expansion. The new facility will include a more secure foundation, a vertical tsunami evacuation staircase and other features meant to make it more resilient during a potential earthquake.   That work was supposed to be covered by a $20 million grant from the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. But the Trump administration cancelled the program this spring, leaving projects across the country and state stranded.  Work on the hospital is proceeding despite the loss of federal funding. Columbia Memorial CEO Erik Thorsen joins us to talk about where the project stands.

According to the AARP, one in four adults in the U.S. provides care to a spouse, relative or friend with a serious health concern. Roughly 18% of those caregivers are between the ages of 18 and 34.    That group includes Emily Quandt, a 23-year-old Beaverton resident who put her post-college plans on hold when her mother, Angie, was diagnosed with ALS in 2022. Emily and Angie Quandt both join us to talk about the dynamics of family caregiving.  

The Secure Rural Schools act has provided crucial federal funding for rural schools and counties for 25 years. But for the past two years, funding has lapsed as efforts to renew the act failed and House Republicans omitted the program’s funding from federal spending in July. Now, that funding could be reinstated. On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, which was approved by the Senate earlier this year. The bill now heads to the president to be signed and made into law. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a democrat representing southwest Washington, co-lead the push for this bill. She joins us to share more.

 A recent report by the Portland City Administrator shows traffic deaths in the city have continued to fall after a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic. Are Portlanders driving differently now than they were when the streets were emptier? Are earlier state and federal investments in traffic safety now just taking shape? Nonprofit leaders and city officials agree there are multiple factors involved in the decline. But as pandemic recovery continues, and the future of Gov. Tina Kotek’s road funding bill remains unclear, it’s an open question whether the city will be able to keep the trendline down.  We’re joined by Dana Dickman, the Vision Zero policy manager for the City of Portland, to unpack the latest data and discuss how the city is working to make roads safer. Also joining us are Sarah Iannarone, executive director of The Street Trust, and Zachary Lauritzen, executive director of Oregon Walks.

Diagnosed in 2024, Portland resident Christy Scattarella has been using her own journey with Alzheimer’s to uplift others and erase stigma surrounding the disease. She began speaking out about Alzheimer's a year after her diagnosis, and champions her “Optimist’s Guide to Alzheimer's" as a way to combat the fear and shame those with Alzheimer’s often face.

For years now, scientists have shown that daily exposure to bright light therapy, which simulates the intensity of outdoor light, can be beneficial for people with insomnia and other sleep disorders, Seasonal Affective Disorder or other forms of depression. But what if bright light therapy can help people recover from concussions or other traumatic brain injuries? And what if it can also lower the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, which people with TBIs are at higher risk for?    Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University were recently awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to explore these questions and possibly unlock more secrets about sleep and its effect on health. The OHSU researchers will recruit nearly 120 military veterans who have suffered a TBI. The participants will be given a light box to use at home for one hour each morning for four weeks. Blood samples will be drawn from participants to look for changes in markers that signal inflammation in the brain and changes in oxygen uptake in brain cells.    MRI scans of participants’ brains will also help reveal if the bright light therapy has improved activity of the glymphatic system - a relatively recent discovery about the role of sleep in reducing toxins that can lead to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Joining us for more details of the study and to share new insights about sleep science is Jonathan Elliott, assistant professor of neurology and co-director of the Sleep & Health Applied Research Program at OHSU.

Last week, President Trump attacked Somali immigrants in the nation during a Cabinet meeting, calling them “garbage” and saying that he didn’t want them in the U.S. Meanwhile, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is ramping up its activity in the Minneapolis metro area in Minnesota. That state is home to nearly 80,000 people of Somali descent, the largest such population in the nation.  In Oregon, there are roughly 12 to 15,000 people of Somali descent, most of whom live in Multnomah County, according to a 2016 county report. Musse Olol emigrated from Somalia to Oregon in 1981 and is the executive director of the Somali American Council of Oregon, which he co-founded in 2011. He says fear has gripped Somalis living in the Portland metro area, even among naturalized U.S. citizens such as himself. He joins us to share his perspective and the heightened tension within the local Somali community.

Five years ago, Joseph-based pianist Seth Kinzie was awarded a Rotary Peace Fellowship to study peace and social change in Uganda. Since then, Kinzie has created the African Peacemaking Database in Ethiopia and Malawi. He has now released a new album, “Bright Violet,” with the Kinzie Steele Octet and will be performing in Portland at Holocene on Dec. 7. We talk to Kinzie and hear a performance of some of the music inspired by his travels.

When we look at the night sky, we can see the moon, stars, planets and sometimes even faraway clouds of gas and dust. All that visible matter — the stuff we can see — has a gravitational force, the same way the moon pulls on our oceans and creates the tides. But for decades, physicists have noticed something weird: There’s more gravity in the universe than we should expect. Why?   Physicists think the answer lies with dark matter, an invisible form of matter that accounts for that extra gravity they're observing. University of Washington physicist Alvaro Chavarria helped build a dark matter detector deep below the French Alps. Chavarria joins us to help demystify dark matter, how the detector works and its potential applications.  

From camping gear to gorpcore, consumers may not realize that the functional, tactical and practical clothing worn today has deep connections to the U.S. military. In the latest season of “Articles of Interest,” host and producer Avery Trufelman takes listeners on a journey to learn more about how civilian and military fashion intersect and the ways in which the uniforms of soldiers have influenced the outdoor apparel industry. Trufelman joins us to share more on the history of military gear, the civilian-veteran divide, Portland’s Functional Fabric Fair and more.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted Friday morning to change its recommendation on hepatitis B vaccines for newborns.    For more than three decades, the agency has recommended that all infants receive a hepatitis B vaccine, regardless of their risk status. Now, the vaccine will only be recommended for infants born to mothers who test positive for the infection or whose status is unknown. The committee’s decision still needs approval from the CDC’s acting director.   A group of researchers conducted a modeling study to assess the impacts of delaying the vaccine. The study has not yet been peer reviewed, but it found that delaying the vaccine by even two months could lead to more than 1,400 preventable hepatitis B infections and more than $222 million in additional health care costs.   Eric Hall is an assistant professor of epidemiology in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. He led the study and joins us with more details.  

Since 1999, there have been more than 430 school shootings across the nation. Oregon alone has had eight incidents since 2008, according to CNN. With school shootings being a concern for parents, teachers and students, a new industry around school safety has emerged. Estimated to be worth $4 billion, school shooting preparedness and security is projected to continue to grow. From panic buttons and bullet-resistant backpacks to drill simulations and AI gun detection software, the amount of products and services being sold to schools and districts varies wildly. A new HBO documentary, “Thoughts and Prayers,” takes a look at this industry and follows students, teachers and community members during a mass-casualty event drill in Medford, Oregon. Directors Zackary Canepari and Jessica Dimmock join us to share more about the school security industry.

Jeanne Maddox Peterson was 13 years old when she began teaching dance lessons out of her family’s living room in Astoria.     That was 75 years ago. Today, at the age of 89, Peterson is still teaching students at Maddox Dance Studio, which is now located in Warrenton and offers classes ranging from ballet to tap, hip-hop to acrobatic dance. As first reported by The Daily Astorian, Clatsop County Commissioners honored Peterson last month when they proclaimed Dec. 6, 2025 “Jeanne Maddox Peterson Day” in recognition of her many contributions to the community. That day marks the 50th anniversary of “The Nutcracker” this Saturday in Astoria, which Peterson has been producing annual winter performances of since 1975.     Peterson joins us to talk about her remarkable career, which also includes having worked as a professional dancer for companies in San Francisco and Montreal and producing the Miss Oregon pageant for more than three decades. We also hear from Michelle Kischner Rogers, an instructor at Maddox Dance Studio and one of Peterson’s former students who first took lessons from her at the age of 5.  

Law enforcement agencies across Oregon and Washington use automated license plate readers to identify vehicles and manage traffic. Many of those cameras are run by a company called Flock Safety, which has been criticized for sharing data with immigration officials. A new study from the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights found that U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have access to Flock license plate data from at least 18 of 31 law enforcement agencies in WA state. Phil Neff, the coordinator for the UW Center for Human Rights, joins us to discuss the research.

The Ashland Sarcasm Festival is a three-day comedy festival that kicks off this Friday in Ashland. Held in various venues across Ashland, from local bars to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Bowmer Theater, the inaugural festival aims to make the Southern Oregon city a destination for comics on the touring circuit in a place more famous for soliloquies than stand-up.    ASF features headliners like nationally renowned comedian, writer and actor Ron Funches, who graduated from high school in Salem and achieved early success in Portland’s stand-up comedy scene before he relocated to Los Angeles in 2012. But it also shines a spotlight on local and regional talent like Carl Lee, a Medford-based comedian and comedy show producer who is hosting two shows at the festival. There’s also live music, improv workshops, drag queen performances and a celebrity roast of William Shakespeare for the final act.   Funches and Lee join us for a discussion, along with Matt Hoffman, the founder and creative director of Storytown, a local arts nonprofit organizing the Ashland Sarcasm Festival.     

Paul Smith, dean of the Linfield University School of Nursing in Portland, was recently appointed chair-elect of the National League for Nursing. Smith is the first male to ever be elected to the post in the organization’s 132 years.    The National League for Nursing is the oldest nursing organization in the U.S., aiming to create a standardized nursing curriculum since 1893. The organization also advocates for healthcare legislation. Smith joins us to talk about his new role and the responsibility of representing nursing education in the Pacific Northwest on a national and international stage.  

A recently published paper led by an Oregon State University researcher suggests that installing floating solar panels on top of existing reservoirs could have a variety of positive results. Those include cooling the solar panels, allowing for greater energy generation from those panels, and preventing the water in shallower reservoirs from warming to temperatures that are challenging for fish and other aquatic life. According to lead researcher Evan Bredeweg, there are relatively few of these kinds of installations in the U.S., but in countries that have embraced solar and non-fossil fuel energy, they are relatively common. Bredeweg joins us to tell us more about the study and the potential floating solar has for wide-scale adoption.

 The 2024 Lonerock Fire burned over 137,000 acres in Gilliam County, much of it rangeland. Ranchers whose lands were destroyed faced a common yet costly hurdle to wildfire recovery: new fencing. According to the Gilliam County Soil and Water Conservation District, to replace about 300 miles of fence that had burned in the fire would have cost over $9 million. With financial support from Gilliam County, two ranchers, Jason and Anthony Campbell, turned to virtual fencing, which they say is a promising wildfire recovery solution. Now, a year after the fire, they join us to talk about their experience with the technology.

Nutrition Inside is a Portland nonprofit that launched last year to improve the quality of food for adults in custody in Oregon prisons. It delivers between 500 and 3,000 pounds of surplus food obtained from farms and hunger-fighting charities to correctional facilities across Oregon each week. The organization is volunteer-based and led by a group of current and former students from Lewis & Clark College. Co-founder Aidan O’Connor joins us for a conversation about the organization’s work. Also joining us is Noelle St John, an advisor to the organization who was formerly incarcerated at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.