Podcasts about opb

The history of tattoos dates back thousands of years. In the Northwest, people have been getting tattooed since long before Oregon even existed. Today, more tattooers are getting licensed to practice the craft in the state each year, and Oregon is a destination for people looking to get inked.   From Indigenous tattoo practices that survived colonization to sailor tattoos and Portland icon Bert Grimm, we learn the stories behind Oregon’s ink.Learn more by watching OPB’s “Oregon Experience” documentary, “Tattoo People.”-   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 to guide someone through one of the most vulnerable moments of their life? What does it take to plan how bus riders get around? What’s it like to walk into restaurants looking for what others might miss?   We’re back with the latest stories from “At Work With,” our series where we interview people from different lines of work about what it’s like to do what they do. In this episode, we meet a doula supporting families through birth, a transit planner at TriMet, and a county health inspector making sure food is safe to eat.    We’re always open to new ideas for jobs that we can learn about next! If you’ve got a suggestion, email us at theevergreen@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.

Oregonians are facing food insecurity just as federal cuts to the food assistance programs known as SNAP play put in realtime. On the latest episode of OPB Politics Now, we hand the podcast keys to our friends at The Evergreen. OPB politics reporter Bryce Dole went on a reporting trip with producer Mia Estrada and visual journalist Eli Imaldi. Here’s their dispatch.

For three decades, many residents in Eastern Oregon's Umatilla basin have been drinking nitrate-polluted drinking water. Some residents blame nearby food-processors and farms that use nitrogen-rich fertilizers for the issue.   Last week, a $6.2 million settlement was reached between Madison Ranches and the people living in Morrow and Umatilla Counties who filed the suit. Kaleb Lay, director of policy and research at Oregon Rural Action, took OPB’s Think Out Loud on a tour of affected areas, along with Jim Doherty, a rancher and former Morrow County Commissioner. We’ll also hear from Paulo Lopez whose well is polluted.  

In late July, just two days before the first of the month, a line of Oregonians stood waiting for free food.    At the Dallas food bank in the Willamette Valley countryside, the hunger crisis gripping Oregon was on full display. Alexis Arechiga, 28, struggles to afford snacks for church and sporting events with her two kids. Corrina Campbell, 32, visits the food bank twice a week, and says feeding her two kids means that on some nights she goes to sleep hungry.   The high cost of groceries and the federal government’s cuts to SNAP benefits have left more Oregonians struggling to afford food. Food assistance programs like food banks are stretched thin trying to meet the growing demand for help.    “Usually it’s pretty full,” said food bank manager Eddie Nelson as she opened a freezer. “But as you can tell our freezers are getting empty.”   In this week’s episode, Evergreen producer Mía Estrada and reporter Bryce Dole spend about 24 hours in Dallas. They bring us along for one day at free, local food programs in rural Oregon.    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.

OPB's Jenn Chavez joins with Chelsea Rose, host of JPR's Underground History and director of the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology, to dig into the little-known stories of eastern Oregon's Chinese cowboys.

When people think about the Lewis & Clark expedition, they probably think about Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and maybe Sacagawea. But there’s one member of the Corps of Discovery who isn’t as famous: York.    York was an enslaved Black man who was just as essential to the success of the expedition as anyone else, but didn’t receive credit for his work afterwards. We dive into York’s story and remember one who may have been overlooked in American history.    You can learn more by watching the Oregon Experience documentary “Searching for York” –   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:HushTimber Wars Season 2: Salmon WarsPolitics NowThink Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

One of the most watched congressional races in the country is in Southwest Washington, and yesterday’s primary yielded few surprises. Washington’s 3rd Congressional District will be critical for both Democrats and Republicans hoping to control the U.S. House. Out of 435 House seats on the ballot this year, it’s one of only a handful of races political experts say will be a toss-up. Republican state Sen. John Braun and Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez will face each other in the November election. We get an update on that race from OPB reporter Erik Neumann, and also hear about the Washington Supreme Court, Clark County Council and several sheriff elections from OPB reporter Elena Neale-Sacks. Washington’s primary election results

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.

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 Figueroachronicles 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.

A deadly earthquake in Japan, record-breaking fires across Europe and Oregon, and major developments involving Iran, Russia, and Lindsey Graham's funeral.Earthquake in Japan-via ReutersFires Around the World-via NY Times, OPB, ABC News, and Oregon LiveUpdate: Iran & Russia-via AP News, The Independent, and ABC News-Project Hope-GoFundMe: I Love Venezuela FoundationTake the pledge to be a voter at raisingvoters.org/beavoterDecember.on AmazonSubscribe to the Substack: kimmoffat.substack.comAll episodes can be found at:kimmoffat.com/thenewsAs always, you can find me onInstagram/Twitter/Bluesky @kimmoffat andTikTok @kimmoffatishere

OPB has teams of people working tirelessly behind the scenes to support the journalism we do. We are actually the only media organization in the state with an in-house legal team. A big part of their job is defending the public’s right to access information from government agencies by pushing back when reporters are facing denials for public records requests. And our media archivist helps us mine for audio gold so that we can bring you stories from Oregon’s past and present.    For this episode, you’ll hear from some of the unsung heroes whose hard work helps us make this podcast, and helps all of our colleagues do what they do. First, we’ll visit the OPB archives with archivist Mia Cooper Ferm. Then, we talk with two members of our legal team, public policy counsel Nora Broker and deputy general counsel Jon Bial.

Last fall and winter, after President Trump claimed Portland was “war ravaged” and threatened to send in the National Guard, immigration detentions in Oregon skyrocketed and became more aggressive. We learn what happened next to two families whose loved ones were among more than a thousand Oregonians caught up in what the government called “Operation Black Rose.”    When part of a family is missing, what gets left behind?   Learn more by watching the latest episode of OPB’s documentary series, “The Crackdown.” –   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.

A surge in enforcement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has led to two fatal shootings by ICE agents in recent weeks. Those occurred in Texas and Maine, but Oregon continues to grapple with immigration enforcement as well.   The Portland ICE building that was a focal point of protests much of last year is back in the news, as lawsuits and land-use cases surrounding the property come to a head. On the latest episode of OPB Politics Now, reporters Dirk VanderHart, Alex Zielinski and Conrad Wilson discuss the latest on this lingering fight here in South Portland just up the road from OPB headquarters. Find the show anywhere you get your podcasts.

 In 2022, the Multnomah county auditor looked into the jails run by the county sheriff’s office. The audit found that adults in custody who were Black or had mental health conditions were disciplined and put in isolation or solitary confinement more often. That audit made several recommendations, but a new report says the sheriff’s office has not implemented the recommendations related to the use of solitary confinement. While the sheriff’s office did not include a response to this report, a public information officer told OPB that their operations were grounded in best practices, and that the auditor’s office refused their request to meet before the report was released. The sheriff’s office also said that “a decision to not adopt a specific recommendation does not diminish our commitment to providing exemplary public safety services.”  

A Moda Center deal is in the works, and the Portland City Council will vote in just a few weeks to decide if it will spend public money on a renovation. But details are hazy about where exactly the funding would come from.   Mayor Keith Wilson and city councilors have suggested they’ll draw upon city revenue streams such as the Portland Clean Energy Fund and a fund within Prosper Portland, the city’s urban development agency. But the boards that govern those sets of funding would first have to determine if their revenue can be spent on the arena.   It’s just the latest in a long saga that has involved negotiations between the Trail Blazers and city officials to keep the team in Portland and meet demands for renovations.   Alex Zielinski covers Portland politics for OPB. She joins us to break down the latest  updates.  

The CEO of a fast-growing company in Battle Ground is buying and developing properties at a rapid pace. His investments in the Southwest Washington town have raised hopes for some who live there. But others are questioning whether the executive, Camden Spiller, has a specific Christian vision for the city. He has connections to a local pastor who has described his approach as “an experiment in Christian localism.” Spiller recently purchased the local newspaper, and the church he’s involved with has been venturing into local politics.    OPB’s Southwest Washington Bureau Chief Erik Neumann joins us to talk about what’s happening in Battle Ground.    You can read Erik’s reporting on Camden Spiller’s growing influence in Battle Ground here.    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 this episode, we feature the beloved Irish novelist Emma Donoghue, in conversation with OPB’s Crystal Ligori, from the 2025 Portland Book Festival.  Emma Donoghue has extraordinary range, writing for the screen, and the stage, as well as authoring many acclaimed novels. Her international bestseller Room was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes, and it is what brought her fame and readers all over the world.   She joined us on stage to discuss The Paris Express, a novel based on an 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs.  It’s a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train's crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more.   Emma Donoghue is the author of sixteen novels, including the award-winning national bestseller Room, the basis for the acclaimed film of the same name. Her latest novel is The Paris Express. She has also written the screenplays for Room and The Wonder and nine stage plays. Her next film (adapted with Philippa Lowthorpe from Helen Macdonald's memoir) is H Is for Hawk. Born in Dublin, she lives in Ontario with her family.  As one of the local hosts of OPB's “All Things Considered”, Crystal Ligori seeks out unique stories from diverse communities, often focusing on food systems, pop culture, and LGBTQ+ communities. She also narrates OPB's Emmy-award winning documentary food series “Superabundant” and was the longtime producer/editor for Literary Arts' weekly radio program and podcast “Literary Arts: The Archive Project”. Before joining OPB, Crystal was a host at KUFO in Portland, OR, KZZU in Spokane, WA and KBGA in Missoula, MT. Her work has been heard nationally on NPR Newscasts, APM's “Marketplace”, PRX's “Living on Earth,” and NPR's “All Things Considered”.  An alumna of the School of Journalism at the University of Montana, she has three SPJ awards for television feature reporting and LGBTQ+ Equity Reporting in audio, a Hearst Journalism Award for broadcast news radio features, and shares three regional Emmy awards for her work on Superabundant. 

We're talking about an incoming ballot measure aimed at giving the public more say in city budget matters, City Hall's newest efforts to increase affordable housing ownership. And the surprising championship a Portlander just won. Joining host Claudia Meza are OPB city politics reporter Alex Zielinski and Bryan M. Vance, the founder of Stumptown Savings, your friendly food economy newsletter. Discussed in today's episode: Portlander spins to national Yo-Yo championship [Oregonian] Portland ballot measure for more public say in city budget clears hurdle [OPB] Portland councilors to consider lifting income limits for some affordable homes [OPB] Become a member of City Cast Portland today! Get all the details and sign up ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.⁠ ⁠ Who would you like to hear on City Cast Portland? Shoot us an email at ⁠⁠portland@citycast.fm⁠⁠, or leave us a voicemail at ⁠⁠503-208-5448⁠⁠. Want more Portland news? Then make sure to sign up for our ⁠⁠morning newsletter⁠⁠ and be sure to follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠. Looking to advertise on City Cast Portland? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at ⁠⁠citycast.fm/advertise⁠⁠. Learn more about the sponsors of this July 10th episode: D'Amore Law Grand Central Bakery

Jill Lepore is a Harvard professor and contributing writer to the New Yorker. Her books include The Secret History of Wonder Woman, New York Burning, These Truths: A History of the United States, and her latest, We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution – and instant New York Times bestseller.   This year is the semi-quincentennial of the United States of America and, as Lepore points out, also the anniversary of constitutionalism.  There's no better guide through American history than Jill Lepore, and it is a delight to spend an hour in civics class led by someone who readily references Mel Brooks and AI in a discussion about the Constitution. Lepore is interviewed by OPB's Geoff Norcross, host of All Things Considered. They discuss Lepore's Amendments Project, which catalogues all the amendments that have been proposed throughout history, and explore why it is so difficult to amend the Constitution and the story of how some of the amendments we do have (there are 27, including the 10 in the Bill of Rights) came to be. They talk about originalism and the pessimism of the framers, who believed that any man would be a tyrant if given power, and set up the checks and balances in our Constitution to give the legislature, the court, and the people – with the vote – the power to oust a tyrant.    A few notes to listeners just for clarity:   It's mentioned “what is Congress doing right now,” this was during the November 2025 government shut down.  Jill is not in the room with the audience; Jill was unable to join us in Portland due to a last-minute travel issue (related to the shut down, frankly), but very gamely came in on video while Geoff Norcross and the audience were in the theater.   Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. As a wide-ranging and prolific essayist, and winner of the PEN prize for the Art of the Essay, Lepore writes about American history, law, literature, and politics. She is the author of many award-winning books, including the international bestseller, These Truths: A History of the United States (2018). Her newest book is We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution, which was published this September.  As one of the local hosts of OPB's “All Things Considered,” Geoff Norcross shares local and regional stories to audiences of NPR's flagship newsmagazine. Previously, Geoff was the host of OPB's “Morning Edition” for 15 years. He was part of the team that built the program into one of the most listened-to presentations of “Morning Edition” in the country. 

Nearly 5 million acres of forest and grasslands in Oregon could be seeing drastic changes under the federal government's new draft plan for the Blue Mountain Forests. The draft, which was recently released to the public, proposes tripling the logging happening across three national forests in the state’s Blue Mountain region. While some are hopeful this could boost timber jobs that have declined in the region, others worry about the wider implications it could have on recreation and hunting. April Ehrlich covers lands and environment for OPB. She joins us to share more on plan.

Last Thursday, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announced she had accepted the resignation of the director of the Oregon Health Authority, Dr. Sejal Hathi. As OPB reported, Hathi wrote to OHA employees that she was leaving to focus on her family, health and “personal priorities” without mentioning what she plans to do next. In May, the New York Times published an op-ed Hathi wrote about the lack of postpartum care in the U.S. new mothers such as herself receive, even after complications from childbirth.    Kotek appointed Hathi in November 2023, making her the first person from outside of Oregon to lead the agency. Hathi is also a part-time assistant clinical professor at Stanford University’s medical school, a position she has held while leading OHA.   Hathi is leaving OHA at the end of this month amid a series of challenges facing the agency, including a nearly 5% cut to the Oregon Health Plan, the state Medicaid  program that covers 1 in 3 Oregonians. OPB health reporter Amelia Templeton joins us for more details.  

Oregon students missed classes, left school and struggled to learn as the fear of ICE undermined the school year. Washington County saw Oregon’s highest number of recorded immigration arrests from July to December. In all, Operation Black Rose led to the detention of more than 1,400 people statewide. That number includes some of the 39 kids who were arrested in Oregon between January 2025 and this February, according to the Deportation Data Project. OPB reporters Holly Bartholomew and Elizabeth Miller join us to talk about what they’ve learned in terms of how immigration enforcement has impacted Oregon students.

Becky Lange became enamored with all the goodies you could find in a dumpster.    “You never know what you're going to get,” she said on a 2025 podcast called American Wastepickers.   Lange lived unsheltered on the streets of Portland. Things she found in dumpsters, like nail polish, art supplies and hair dye, were treasures to her. She saw the value in what most people consider garbage.    “I would like people to reassess the value of the items that they're throwing away, just like I would like society to reassess the value of the people that we tend to throw away because we don't see the value that they have,” Lange said.    On May 22 2026, an acquaintance allegedly hit Lange in the head with a metal rod and left her crumpled on the sidewalk in Portland’s Old Town. She died 12 days later. Lange was 44-years-old.    On today’s episode of The Evergreen, OPB reporter Alex Zielinski remembers Becky Lange and the way she fought for the rights of unsheltered people amid a housing shortage and homelessness crisis that have gripped the city for more than a decade.    Read Alex’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.  

The U.S. Constitution likely would not have been ratified in 1788 without Article 5, which allowed for amendment. Many of the original founders championed the idea that the document would need to change as the country changed. As historian Jill Lepore points out in her newest book most of the 27 amendments to the constitution have happened just after times of war or conflict, and after 33 years without an amendment, we may be headed that way again. OPB’s Geoff Norcross speaks to Lepore in front of an audience at the 2025 Portland Book Festival about “We the People: A history of the U.S. Constitution.”

The Deschutes River is a lifeline for Central Oregon. About 90 percent of the river’s water is diverted to irrigation canals during the agricultural growing season. OPB’s Central Oregon Bureau Chief Emily Cureton Cook wanted to know where all that water went, and what it was used to grow.    Emily teamed up with journalists at ProPublica to zoom in on the Central Oregon Irrigation District, or COID. They did some deep data analysis to find some answers. But this is not a story about numbers. This is a story about people, specifically the people growing the food we eat from Oregon.    As we’ve talked about before, Oregon water rights rely on a system called “prior appropriation” or “first in time, first in right.” Basically, in a drought, the people who hold the oldest or “senior” water rights get top priority and junior water rights holders have to make do with less. In this episode, Emily shares her reporting to show us what that looks like on the ground during a time when climate change is making drought conditions more severe.    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.

Today, we’re bringing you the best from newsrooms throughout the Northwest. Bosnia and Herzegovina fans celebrated as their national soccer team made history in Seattle this week. The country made it the furthest they’ve been in the World Cup. Northwest News Network contributor Grace Madigan has more about what it means to the Bosnian community in the Northwest. Tiny, pocket forests are sprouting up all around Washington state. On old, abandoned fields and in people’s backyards. These forests are meant to mimic nature and to grow quickly. It also helps increase biodiversity. NWPB’s Courtney Flatt takes us to one of the Yakama Nation’s mini-forests. American pikas are an ’indicator species.’ If they’re doing OK, there’s a good chance the local ecosystem is doing OK. That’s one reason why the Oregon Zoo and other groups are looking for people this summer to go out and count pikas. OPB’s Kristian Foden-Vencil has the story. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Portland Art Museum’s rental gallery has been operating on the same business model since its inception in 1959. In the 1950s, the Portland Art Museum was the city’s art school as well as a gallery. They opened the rental gallery to showcase local artists’ works, and they’ve been offering rentals and sales ever since. Mark Tindle has been the head of the rental sales gallery since 2021, and he joins us to share more about the gallery and its unique model.    The current showcase on display at the rental gallery is a collaboration with OPB’s Oregon Art Beat, featuring local artists that have been featured on the program. The exhibit is up in the rental gallery until July 11th.  

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.  

We're talking about big leadership changes coming to our major health providers, Gov. Tina Kotek declaring a wildfire emergency, and the Portland winners at this year's James Beard Awards. Joining City Cast Portland host Claudia Meza are local food reporter Alex Frane and Willamette Week reporter and author Brianna Wheeler. Discussed in today's episode: Portland pools open Thursday with same adult supervision rule after OHA abandons stricter proposal [KGW] Two Major Portland Health Systems Are Getting New Chiefs [Willamette Week] OHSU sues OPB, seeking to withhold records about fired executive [OPB] Portlanders take home three James Beard Awards [OPB] Become a member of City Cast Portland today! Get all the details and sign up here. Who would you like to hear on City Cast Portland? Shoot us an email at portland@citycast.fm, or leave us a voicemail at 503-208-5448. Want more Portland news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter and be sure to follow us on Instagram. Looking to advertise on City Cast Portland? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about the sponsors of this June 18th episode: McMenamins PaintCare ByWater Health

The multi-talented 90's music group RIFF from Paterson, NJ talks about their storied history from the The Playboys to appearing on The Arsenio Hall Show, Tonight Show, Soul Train, and their connection to “Lean on Me”, plus a number of top 10 hits and their recent release  “Hold You Down” from Them Lean on Me Boys featuring ZNUFF STARR, and hear the stories from Nitty Green, Anthony “Chill” Fuller, Andre Jackson, and Snoop B! Check out the amazing RIFF on all major platforms today! #RIFF #opb #paterson #newjersey #leanonme #holdyoudown #znuffstarr #arseniohall #tonightshow #nittygreen #anthonychillfuller #andrejackson #snoopb #spreaker #spotify #iheartradio #spotify #apple #youtube #anchorfm #podbean #bitchute #rumble #mikewagner #themikewagnershow #mikewagnerriff #themikewagnershowriff   Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-mike-wagner-show--3140147/support.

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.  

Stacey Abrams is probably best-known as a politician and political organizer; she the first Black woman in U.S. history to become the gubernatorial nominee of a major political party. Abrams has launched multiple nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies, with a longstanding focus on voter registration and voters' rights.      What you might not know is that Abrams has published 17 books in the last 25 years, including thrillers, romance novels, children's books, memoir, and more. She started writing novels while in law school, and her new book is the thriller “Coded Justice,” which is about a topic on everyone's minds these days: AI.   Abrams was interviewed by the host of OPB's Think Out Loud, Dave Miller, at the book festival. They discuss her early choice to use a pen name (Selena Montgomery) and the importance of community and having a team. Their warm, wide-ranging conversation reveals Abrams's deep curiosity and immense intellect. One thing that really struck me is when Abrams talks about the relationship between her author life and her political life; she says, “Good policy is storytelling.”  Stacey Abrams is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, and political leader. She served as Minority Leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, and she was the first black woman to become gubernatorial nominee for a major party in United States history. Abrams has launched multiple nonprofit organizations devoted to democracy protection, voting rights, and effective public policy. She has also cofounded successful companies, including a financial services firm, an energy and infrastructure consulting firm, and the media company, Sage Works Productions, Inc. Abrams's latest novel is titled Coded Justice.  Dave Miller is the host of Oregon Public Broadcasting's daily talk show, “Think Out Loud.” Before coming to OPB, Dave was the senior producer of “Open Source,” a nationally syndicated radio show based at the NPR affiliate station WGBH in Boston. He began his radio career as a documentary producer at Sound Portraits Productions and StoryCorps. From 2008 to 2011, he worked as the online host of the show. His stories have aired on NPR's “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition” and “Weekend Edition Saturday.” Dave graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English.  

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.

OPB reporters recently spent months looking into Lakeview, a tiny southern Oregon town with huge financial problems. They were interested in what went wrong in Lakeview, and what lessons the town could offer other places facing similar dynamics. OPB’s podcast The Evergreen just dropped an entire episode looking at this, and it’s so good, we’re putting it in your Politics Now feed this week.

OPB's Jenn Chavez joins with Chelsea Rose, host of JPR's Underground History and director of the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology, to dig into the little-known stories of eastern Oregon's Chinese cowboys.

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.

 Oregon voters resoundingly rejected a statewide ballot measure that would have raised the state gas tax from 40 to 46 cents and  doubled car title and registration fees to help fund road maintenance and other transportation projects. Measure 120 was widely expected to fail, especially as gas prices continue to soar in Oregon and across the nation.   Last year, Gov. Tina Kotek and Democrats in the Legislature approved a bill that included the gas tax and fee hikes, but Republican lawmakers succeeded in raising enough signatures to put the issue before voters. Democrats, however, countered by ensuring the measure appeared on the May ballot instead of in November, when Gov. Kotek is up for reelection.    Gov. Kotek will now face Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan in a rematch of the 2022 gubernatorial race. On Tuesday, Republican voters selected Drazan to be their gubernatorial nominee over former Portland Trail Blazer Chris Dudley, state Rep. Ed Diehl and other candidates.    OPB political reporter Lauren Dake joins us for more details about Drazan’s victory and the failed gas tax measure.

Children in the foster care system are among the most vulnerable in Oregon. Their mistreatment was one of the key reasons a class action lawsuit was brought against the state. The 2024 settlement included a number of required actions to decrease the rate of abuse and improve the lives of children in the state’s custody. The state recently submitted its first settlement-mandated report of its progress, including increasing the number of kids placed with a member of their family. But the increase in abuse cases is noteworthy, says OPB reporter Lauren Dake, given the policy priorities of the child welfare system after the class action settlement. Dake joins us to share more about the latest numbers and what state officials say they’re going to do about it.  

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.

A series of cascading problems, including financial mismanagement, industry failures and questionable city contracts have pushed Lakeview, Oregon into millions of dollars of debt it can’t pay off. Like many former timber towns, Lakeview has struggled to rebound from the collapse of the logging mills that once powered its economy and helped the community survive in an isolated corner of Southern Oregon. OPB reporter Bryce Dole joins us to explain how Lakeview got into this predicament, and what residents are trying to do to get out of it.

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.

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.  

Jill Lepore is a Harvard professor and contributing writer to the New Yorker. Her books include The Secret History of Wonder Woman, New York Burning, These Truths: A History of the United States, and her latest, We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution – and instant New York Times bestseller.   This year is the semi-quincentennial of the United States of America and, as Lepore points out, also the anniversary of constitutionalism.  There's no better guide through American history than Jill Lepore, and it is a delight to spend an hour in civics class led by someone who readily references Mel Brooks and AI in a discussion about the Constitution. Lepore is interviewed by OPB's Geoff Norcross, host of All Things Considered. They discuss Lepore's Amendments Project, which catalogues all the amendments that have been proposed throughout history, and explore why it is so difficult to amend the Constitution and the story of how some of the amendments we do have (there are 27, including the 10 in the Bill of Rights) came to be. They talk about originalism and the pessimism of the framers, who believed that any man would be a tyrant if given power, and set up the checks and balances in our Constitution to give the legislature, the court, and the people – with the vote – the power to oust a tyrant.    A few notes to listeners just for clarity:   It's mentioned “what is Congress doing right now,” this was during the November 2025 government shut down.  Jill is not in the room with the audience; Jill was unable to join us in Portland due to a last-minute travel issue (related to the shut down, frankly), but very gamely came in on video while Geoff Norcross and the audience were in the theater.   Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. As a wide-ranging and prolific essayist, and winner of the PEN prize for the Art of the Essay, Lepore writes about American history, law, literature, and politics. She is the author of many award-winning books, including the international bestseller, These Truths: A History of the United States (2018). Her newest book is We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution, which was published this September.  As one of the local hosts of OPB's “All Things Considered,” Geoff Norcross shares local and regional stories to audiences of NPR's flagship newsmagazine. Previously, Geoff was the host of OPB's “Morning Edition” for 15 years. He was part of the team that built the program into one of the most listened-to presentations of “Morning Edition” in the country. 

 Over the last year, prediction markets have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. Prediction markets, such as sites like Polymarket, Kalshi and Robinhood, allow bettors to put down money on the likelihood of an event happening — including for political races in Oregon. Market sites show users are placing their bets on who the Republican candidate will be for Oregon’s governor. OPB politics reporter Dirk Vanderhart covered this story. He joins us to share more.

 By 2045, Vancouver’s population is expected to grow by more than 80,000 new residents – a roughly 40% increase. According to Vancouver’s 2025 Housing Report, the city will need to develop 2,500 new units a year to meet housing demand. But the city is falling well short of that goal for both market-rate and affordable housing projects, as OPB recently reported.     City officials point to a range of factors for the slowdown. That includes rising construction costs, high interest rates, the ongoing effects of tariffs and the difficulty of accessing state funds to develop multifamily, affordable housing units.    Meanwhile, Vancouver is close to finalizing a new comprehensive plan to guide the city’s growth over the next 20 years. The draft calls for updating zoning codes to ease higher-density housing development in neighborhoods, for example, which would align with new state requirements to boost housing development.    OPB’s Southwest Washington Bureau Chief Erik Neumann joins us for more details.   

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson entered office last year, promising to end unsheltered homelessness in the city. He opened several overnight shelters. And on most nights, the shelters are full. Wilson sees this as evidence that homelessness is decreasing.    But the actual evidence -- the numbers we have -- say there are thousands more people sleeping on the streets each night compared to when Wilson entered the scene   We are going to explain why once again officials from city of Portland and Multnomah County disagree and why the effort to quantify who is without housing is so fraught. Plus we’ll discuss the Portland arts tax and some recent OPB reporting as well. Find the show anywhere you get your podcasts.   

According to Multnomah County, nearly 3,000 more people are living unsheltered in the county than there were when Wilson took office. The Mayor says that data doesn’t match what he’s seeing, and that disconnect doesn’t help when the city and the county share responsibility for the region’s homeless response. OPB’s Alex Zielinski joins us to talk about her latest story.