Podcasts about think out loud

World-class cheese is all around us in Oregon.    From our largest cheese producers like Tillamook and Rogue, who won the world’s best cheese in 2019, to some of our smallest producers like Helvetia Creamery and Don Froylan, who won the best string cheese in the country for two years in a row.    And while Oregon doesn’t produce the quantity of cheese like Wisconsin, Idaho, or other leading states do today – Oregon punches above its weight class in terms of quality. And the production of cheese has also shaped the history of the state.   Katy Osuna from the Copper & Heat podcast joins us to share the history of cheese in the region and how it became so special. Osuna also produced a documentary about cheese for OPB’s Superabundant. 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.

For our latest “At Work With” episode, where we talk to Pacific Northwesterners with interesting jobs and ask them your questions about what it’s like to do what they do, we bring you along as we visit a queseria where Mexican cheese is made, hit the streets at dawn with a garbage collector and meet a biologist whose job it is to protect birds at the airport.    For our “At Work With” series, let us know who you want to hear from next! You can also send us questions you have for our next “At Work With” interview. Email us at theevergreen@opb.org or visit our web page to submit questions.   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.  

This month marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. It’s also the anniversary of many Vietnamese families arriving to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest. Thousands of people fled the country and became refugees in 1975, and many of those people ended up on the west coast of the United States. According to the census data, there are now more than 37,000 Vietnamese Oregonians. We’ll hear from a few of them.    Van Le and Allen Luong are organizing a series of art exhibits featuring paintings by Le’s late father to mark the anniversary and look towards the future. OPB arts and culture producer Steven Tonthat, whose parents emigrated from Vietnam, shares his perspective. And we hear from Thuy Huyen, whose harrowing story of escaping her home country was featured in OPB’s documentary “The Vietnam War Oregon Remembers.”   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 this episode, Pastor Walt thinks out loud on the subject of Post-Tribulation. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is coming back. But, there is room for disagreement on the subject of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Pastor Walt shares his personal views on this subject, and that his study of the Book of Daniel convinced him that the Post-Tribulation view is his personal view. Jesus talked about His Return all the time. Why doesn't the Church talk about His Return?Thinking Out Loud with Walt McFaddenWalt McFadden, Pastor of Cityview Church in Minneapolis, is a no-nonsense kind of guy who takes no prisoners when it comes to the Truth. Pastor Walt likes to ‘Think Out Loud' about the Bible and how it can impact a community through the proper application of Spiritual Principles. You will find an honest response to some of the most difficult questions facing Christians today. Visit Cityview Church

The United States’ entry into World War II presented a challenge to American farmers. On the one hand, demand for agricultural products skyrocketed. On the other hand, a dire labor shortage emerged, as tens of thousands of American farm workers joined the military and others headed from rural areas to bigger cities in search of wartime industry jobs.   So, the governments of the United States and Mexico made an agreement: the creation of a program to bring Mexican workers to the U.S. on temporary labor contracts to help farms, as well as railroad companies, across the country.   Officially called the “Emergency Farm Labor Supply Program,” it became known as the Bracero Program. Around 15,000 Mexican workers came to Oregon as braceros while the program lasted here, from 1943 to 1947.   Braceros often endured labor abuses, workplace injuries, and anti-Mexican racism. They also saved American agriculture during the war and built Mexican American communities in the Northwest for years to come. This week, we learn about the history of the Bracero Program in Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest.   To learn more, watch OPB’s 2007 “Oregon Experience” documentary, “The Braceros.” 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.

On “The Evergreen,” we’ve talked about the history behind the largest dam removal project in the United States: the long fight over water in the Klamath basin between Tribes and farmers, the process of getting the dams out, and what dam removal means to the Tribes along the river.    Today, we’re bringing you up to date. What’s on folks’ minds now that all the dams are out a year later — and what still needs to be done to piece this basin together again?    Cassandra Profita is an editor and reporter at OPB. She’s been covering the Klamath Dam removal for years and joins us to talk about the challenges that remain to repair salmon habitat.    Profita also produced a documentary about the Klamath Dams for OPB's "Oregon Field Guide." 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.

Food is obviously part of our lives every day. We literally need it to survive. But it can also be an art form and serve as creative inspiration. From fifteenth century still life paintings to pop art, food and art have gone hand in hand for a long time. In this episode, we’ll introduce you to three Pacific Northwest artists whose creativity is inseparable from food.    Julie Beeler is an artist and designer based in Trout Lake, Washington. She makes inks, dyes and watercolor paints from the mushrooms she collects in the forest, and she’s the author of the Mushroom Color Atlas.    Portland photographer Isabella Cassini captures food in a number of different ways – from carefully arranged kaleidoscope images to her dynamic “splashes, crashes and smashes” series. That series is all about capturing messy food in motion – raw eggs, bowls of cereal and milk and plates of spaghetti get thrown in front of the camera as Cassini captures the midair collisions and spectacular spills.    Gena Renaud’s exquisite artwork is actually meant to be eaten. She makes wagashi, or Japanese sweets, meant to be enjoyed as part of a traditional tea ceremony. For most of her career, she was a graphic and industrial designer and worked at companies like Nike and Adidas. Now, she spends time on her meticulous, seasonally-inspired wagashi – delicate, pickled cherry blossoms suspended in wobbly agar, a jelly candy made to look like pieces of sea glass and a confection called manju made with sweet lima bean paste.     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.

It’s hard to keep up with the dizzying pace of changes being made by the Trump Administration. This episode, we take a tour of OPB’s newsroom and hear from reporters covering politics, climate, health, business and more about what those changes mean for people in the Northwest, and what it’s like to be covering them as a journalist right now.    You can find even more coverage of federal policies and how they are playing out in the Pacific Northwest 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 Governor Tina Kotek stopped by the OPB studio this week for an extended interview with Think Out Loud. She talked about her housing policy, what she views as her role in responding to the Trump administration and much more. It was a meaty conversation. Here’s governor Kotek with OPB’s Dave Miller  

In the fruit orchards of the Hood River Valley, spring means rolling fields blanketed with blossoms and a view of Mount Hood that looks so close you could reach out and touch it. And at the Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale, the apples are beginning to grow. The family-owned farm was once called the best apple orchard in America, and is known for its wide selection of 125 apple varieties. The family also has an incredible local history dating back three generations, to when a vibrant community of Japanese American orchardists established itself in the Hood River Valley in the early 20th century. The Kiyokawas have worked as fruit orchardists in the area since 1911. They’re also one of the few Japanese American families from the valley that was able to return and work the land after surviving forced relocation and incarceration during World War II.   Video producer and cinematographer Jeff Kastner and his family have been eating the Kiyokawas’ apples for years, and followed the family last year for a full growing season. He recently shared their story for OPB’s “Oregon Experience” and “Superabundant” series. This week, we head out onto the farm with owner and third-generation orchardist Randy Kiyokawa, meet the family’s 101-year-old matriarch Mich, and learn all about how the Kiyokawas created an apple paradise in the shadow of Mount Hood.   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.

Before John Kitzhaber became Oregon governor for the first time, he practiced emergency medicine as an ER doctor. He brought that knowledge of the health care system to bear in the late 80s and early 90s, with the enacting of the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program. In 2012, he oversaw the expansion of the program and the creation of Coordinated Care Organizations. Today, about 1.4 million Oregonians get their health care from OHP.  Kitzhaber says Oregon’s unique model delivers high quality but efficient care to more Oregonians - and that could be a national model as Congressional Republicans look to make federal spending cuts widely expected to affect Medicaid. The former governor is among those advising Republican Rep. Cliff Bentz, who told “Think Out Loud” Feb. 26 he wants to “make the system still deliver the type of benefits that people need, while at the same time doing it better and in a way that saves money.” Kitzhaber joins us to tell us more about his ideas for bipartisan solutions to prevent people from losing Medicaid coverage.

Scientists at Oregon State University and Oregon Health and Science University have teamed up to find new ways to treat endometriosis, ovarian cancer and other health conditions using nanoparticles and magnetic fields. Joining us to tell us more about this fascinating research are OPB science reporter Jes Burns, who is also the host and producer behind the “All Science. No Fiction.” video series, and OPB cinematographer and editor Brooke Herbert. This episode was recorded with a live audience at the Tomorrow Theater in Portland.   You can see the video about the medical applications of magnetic nanoparticles here.   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.

You might encounter an ice sculpture of a swan at a fancy banquet, or an ice luge on a night out. But have you ever seen an 18-foot-tall punk baby with a mohawk made of ice? That’s one of the massive ice sculptures dreamt up by world-class ice carver Chris Foltz. Every winter, master sculptors from across the globe converge for the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, where the temps are sub-zero, the ice blocks are sawed out of frozen ponds and the sculptures can weigh up to 20 tons. Foltz, a longtime chef who teaches ice sculpting to culinary students on the Oregon coast, has led teams to multiple world championships in Alaska.   “Oregon Field Guide” producer Noah Thomas followed Foltz and his team from Oregon to Fairbanks and joins us to share the thrills and chills of their quest for icy glory.   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.  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.   In this week’s episode, producer Alicia Avila 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.

Photographer Esther Godoy identifies as butch or masculine-of-center. She grew up in Australia and came to Portland more than a decade ago. She says she saw a distinct difference in how her masculine way of presenting herself was received in Portland compared to her hometown in a suburb of Melbourne. She credits the queer community she found in Portland with helping her embrace her butch identity and serving as the inspiration for her multimedia project called “Butch Is Not A Dirty Word.”    OPB video producer Emily Hamilton went along on a recent photoshoot and joins us to talk about Godoy’s multifaceted embrace of the word “butch.”    You can see Emily’s video about Esther Godoy and her project 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 Point-in-Time count is a federally required snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness in a given area. Last week, the Council for the Homeless in Vancouver, WA went out on a cold Thursday morning to start the count. It was conducted by outreach staff, volunteers and other social service providers. OPB’s “Think Out Loud” joined surveyors Daniel Rivera, Gemma Somol and Brian Starbuck as they conducted their work. We were also joined by Charlene Welch, chief advancement officer for Council for the Homeless. They all shared the importance of the count, what homelessness looks like in Vancouver and why they go out and do this work.

For our latest “At Work With” episode, where we talk to Pacific Northwesterners with interesting jobs and ask them your questions about what it’s like to do what they do, we bring you along as we go to work with a haunted house actor, a Zamboni driver and an outreach worker who helps homeless families access stable housing.    For our “At Work With” series, let us know who you want to hear from next! You can also send us questions you have for our next “At Work With” interview. Email us at theevergreen@opb.org or visit our web page to submit questions.   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.

If you listen to OPB on the radio, you’ve heard hosts and announcers say a long list of letters and places at the end of every hour. We’re required to do this by the Federal Communications Commission - but it also gave OPB Weekend Edition host Lillian Karabaic, who’s read this roll call of Oregon cities where OPB can be heard hundreds of times, a creative idea. She and OPB video producer Prakruti Bhatt decided to go on a madcap road trip to visit every single one… all by public transit.This week, Lillian joins us to share what it was like making the 14-day journey on 38 buses to some of Oregon’s most remote places for OPB’s “Stop Requested” series. We’ll learn about the joys and challenges of rural public transit, and meet some of the friendly folks who ride it.   And if today’s episode leaves you wanting to learn more about rural transit in Oregon, great news: Lillian will be hosting a Stop Requested Live event at Portland State University in May. Registration opens soon. Find more details on OPB’s “Stop Requested” page or on OPB’s events page.   — 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. Find tickets for The Evergreen’s upcoming live podcast taping event at the Tomorrow Theater.   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.

Looking at the history of psychological operations, “Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind” is the latest book by author and journalist Annalee Newitz. It explores misinformation, propaganda and how the stories we hear can manipulate us. The book also features a chapter on the work the Coquille Indian Tribe has done to undo damage these operations did to some Oregon tribes in the past. Newitz spoke in front of an audience with “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller at a Powell’s Books event on June 4.

It’s pretty common to see people including their dogs in outdoor recreation activities, but a cat? That’s a different story. Oregon Field Guide producer Noah Thomas recently met some cats who go with their people on all kinds of adventures in the great outdoors. He joins us to share their stories, and we hear from some Evergreen listeners with adventurous cats.    You can see the Oregon Field Guide video of adventure cats here and explore more of Oregon and Washington through Oregon Field Guide’s full episodes 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.  

Almost every day, new articles are being posted to the website of the Southern Oregon newspaper Ashland Daily Tidings, founded in 1876. At least… that’s what it looks like. But here’s the thing: the newspaper closed down two years ago.   So what’s the deal with dailytidings.com? Why do all the articles posted there seem vaguely… familiar? And who are the reporters the website claims is writing them?   OPB managing news editor Ryan Haas has been trying to find out, and stumbled upon something unexpected. At the center of it all is artificial intelligence, and the hope that Ashland readers who once trusted the newspaper won’t notice the difference. 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.

You’ve probably heard of famous Northwest volcanoes like Mt. St. Helens or Mt. Hood. But did you know the region’s most active volcano is at the bottom of the ocean, three hundred miles off the Oregon coast?    Scientists have been studying the Axial Seamount for decades. They predict it’ll erupt again in 2025.    OPB’s science and environment reporter Jes Burns joins us to share her at-sea adventures with scientists studying the volcano.   For more cool PNW science from Jes Burns, check out OPB’s “All Science. No Fiction.”   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.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you’ve probably heard a lot about salmon — how important they are to this region, and how much trouble they’re in now. But the history lessons many of us have learned are not the whole story. Tony Schick is an investigative reporter for OPB and ProPublica. He’s done a lot of work to uncover and understand a far more sinister version of events. Along the way, he connected with Indigenous local Randy Settler and his family.   We’re sharing an episode from another OPB podcast: “Salmon Wars.” It tells the story of salmon in the Northwest  in a way you haven’t heard before – through the voices of one Yakama Nation family who have been fighting for salmon for generations.   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.

We’ve come a long way since launching The Evergreen in February 2024, when we set out to make a weekly podcast for OPB about the beautiful and complex place we call home: the Pacific Northwest.   As the year comes to a close, we’re listening back to our very first episode! It’s a reflection on the idea of home itself. What makes where you live your home? What is it that makes us feel at home here? Is it a place, a person, a memory, a sound, even a smell? And what does “at home” even mean? We explore answers to these questions with our friends at OPB and in our audience. 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.

As 2024 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, Elizabeth Castillo, Gemma DiCarlo, Rolie Hernandez and Sheraz Sadiq join host Dave Miller in conversation.

During an interview on “Think Out Loud” last month, Portland Mayor-elect Keith Wilson said that he was “an admirer” of Interim City Administrator Michael Jordan when describing whom he would want to hire to oversee the day-to-day operations of city bureaus. Outgoing Mayor Ted Wheeler announced Jordan’s appointment in May as part of the voter-approved changes to Portland’s new form of governance and elections using ranked choice voting.  Jordan’s contract was set to expire on June 30, 2025 to ease the transition from one administration to the next. But Jordan will now stay on through at least the end of next year, according to reporting by The Oregonian. Jordan joins us to talk about the transition and his priorities amid a grim financial outlook for the city’s finances and its departments.

OPB’s partner station, KMHD Jazz Radio, has been celebrating its 40th birthday this year. So we’re using the milestone of this anniversary to look back at Portland’s birth and evolution as a jazz town.   When you think of jazz, perhaps its birthplace, New Orleans, or New York City first come to mind. But Portland’s been attracting jazz stars and fostering local jazz talent for practically a century, and is home today to a vibrant local scene that’s expanded beyond the boundaries of traditional jazz. We explore the history of the genre’s golden era in Portland, when the jazz scene thrived on North Williams Avenue in the city’s Albina neighborhood. Albina’s music scene later evolved to include soul, funk and R&B in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Many Black-owned jazz and soul clubs in Albina didn’t outlast destructive “urban renewal” projects that hit the historically Black neighborhood hard. But continued investment in the jazz scene by local musicians like Mel Brown has helped rebuild it to what it is now.   We also hear from beloved longtime KMHD DJ and host, Ted Smith, also known to listeners as “The Baby Boomer,” about the station’s ethos of “jazz without boundaries,” what he hopes to provide to listeners of his show, “The Soulful Strut,” and what he sees in Portland’s jazz scene today.   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 law allows psilocybin therapy in licensed service centers. But what if you’re too sick to go to one? Could a licensed psilocybin facilitator come to your home and provide therapeutic services for you there? Oregon law says no. But a group of facilitators are now fighting to change that. Science journalist Jane C. Hu has been following an effort by four licensed facilitators to expand access to psilocybin therapy in Oregon and she brings us more details about this fascinating story.   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 town of Enterprise, nestled in the northeastern corner of Oregon, has a population of about 2000 people and it’s pretty isolated. (You have to go 60 miles to get to the nearest traffic light.) Ten years ago, Darrell and Christi Brann bought the 100-year-old OK Theatre in Enterprise and began reimagining it as a live music venue. Now, they’re able to attract world-class talent as well as local up-and-comers to this historic theater. OPB’s Oregon Art Beat producer Kate McMahon fills us in on her trip to Enterprise and how she built trust with the Branns and their community.    You can read more and see the Oregon Art Beat video about the OK Theatre 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: Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Central Oregon’s High Desert Museum’s exhibit called “Sensing Sasquatch” is interactive and multidimensional. It includes larger-than-life installations, a soundscape that evokes both the natural world and supernatural elements, and artwork that visitors are encouraged to touch and smell. The exhibit showcases Native American interpretations of the being known as Sasquatch, Bigfoot or “the big guy.” We hear from three of the artists: Charlene Moody, Frank Buffalo Hyde and Philip Cash Cash, who also co-curated the exhibit.     You can see the Oregon Art Beat video of Charlene Moody working on her installation for “Sensing Sasquatch” here and listen to an interview with Philip Cash Cash and Frank Buffalo Hyde about their work for the exhibit 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’s old forests keep getting cut down, despite Biden’s promise to protect them    Episode description:    On Earth Day in 2022, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to protect mature and old growth forests on federal lands.    But over two years later, these forests were still being cut under the Biden administration's watch. Nearly the same amount as they were under Trump — who will take office again next year and could undo some of his predecessor's climate policies.    Today, we’re talking about how logging has continued in western Oregon — the heart of the nation’s remaining old-growth forests. OPB’s April Ehrlich and ProPublica’s McKenzie Funk investigated and followed the course of one controversial timber sale in Southern 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.

Earlier this week, Think out Loud and the Politics Now team joined forces for an election roundtable. And we tried something new. The episode was aired live – On camera – On OPB dot org and our YouTube page. It was fun! So fun we are sharing the audio for you here as well.

“Think Out Loud” is joined by the “Politics Now” podcast team on the air and on video livestream. Dirk VanderHart, Lauren Dake, Bryce Dole and Alex Zielinski join us to discuss the outcomes of key races and ballot measures across Oregon and Southwest Washington, what implications they may have and how they might affect the lives of Pacific Northwest residents in the year to come. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And that’s never been more true than in our fractured-attention-span, doom-scrolling age. People can process an image in as little as 13 milliseconds — and that often means deciding whether to read the story below that image - or not - exactly that quickly.    So the choices journalists make about what image to put with a story really matter. But they can also be super complicated.    OPB’s Photo Editor Kristyna Wentz-Graff sat down with us to talk about the decisions she makes when making photographs and choosing which images will accompany stories. We talked about covering elections, protests, homelessness and more … all while remaining centered on the fundamental humanity of her subjects.   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.  

This election season, we’re looking back at the fight for women’s suffrage. When Oregon became a state, only white men could vote. Women worked for more than four decades to get men to vote for their rights. Racism hampered the movement, as many white women didn’t want to work with women of color in their activism. Black women formed their own groups and pushed hard for ballot access. Only then did the movement have enough momentum to succeed. Oregon women won the right to vote in 1912, eight years before women’s suffrage became a national law. Many barriers kept women of color from voting until the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.    Nearly 80 years after women won the right to vote in Oregon, the state finally elected its first female governor, Barbara Roberts. In 2022, the three major candidates for Oregon governor were all women.   You can see the Oregon Experience documentary about women’s suffrage in Oregon 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 2022, Portland residents voted to overhaul the city’s form of government. That includes using ranked choice voting to expand the number of seats on city council from five to 12. Another major change is the creation of four geographic districts in the city. Voters within each district will now elect three candidates to represent them on the new council. Thirty registered candidates are competing in District 4, which includes all of Portland west of the Willamette River, including Downtown, the Pearl District, Multnomah and Hillsdale neighborhoods. It also contains the inner southeast neighborhoods of Sellwood-Moreland, Eastmoreland, Reed and Ardenwald.  On Oct. 24, “Think Out Loud” convened a D4 candidates forum at John’s Marketplace in Multnomah Village. We invited the 13 candidates with the largest number of individual donors who contributed to their campaigns. They include: Eli Arnold, Olivia Clark, Lisa Freeman, Mitch Green, Chris Henry, Ben Hufford, Chad Lykins, Tony Morse, Stanley Penkin, Moses Ross, Sarah Silkie,  Bob Weinstein and Eric Zimmerman. 

It’s been a little over a month since Oregon officially ended its experiment with drug decriminalization. Now, there’s a new set of experiments going on around the state. When people are caught with small amounts of illegal drugs, the consequences depend on a variety of factors, including what county they happen to be in. Some counties have gone back to charging people who are caught with small amounts of illegal drugs, while others are trying to connect people with treatment in lieu of an arrest. OPB criminal justice and legal affairs reporter Conrad Wilson and OPB public safety reporter Troy Brynelson each visited different counties to see what drug recriminalization looks like on the ground. They share some of their findings with us.     You can read and listen to OPB’s ongoing coverage of drug recriminalization 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 2022, Portland residents voted to drastically change the city’s form of government. That includes using ranked choice voting to expand the city council from five seats to 12. Another change is the creation of four geographic districts, with voters in each district electing three candidates to represent them on the new council. District 2 covers most of North and Northeast Portland, including neighborhoods such as Irvington, St. John’s, Kenton and Cully. On Oct. 17, “Think Out Loud” convened a District 2 candidates forum at Oakshire Beer Hall. Candidates were invited to participate based on the number of individual donors that contributed to their campaign. They include: Marnie Glickman, Mariah Hudson, Sameer Kanal, Debbie Kitchin, Mike Marshall, Tiffani Penson, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Dan Ryan, Jonathan Tasini, Nat West and Nabil Zaghloul. 

This week, we’re talking all about Oregon’s award-winning animation scene. Just think of Coraline, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Will Vinton Studio’s California Raisins ad from 1986.   OPB’s Oregon Art Beat producer Eric Slade helped make a documentary about that state’s animation industry, and he’s here to break down how creators have established the state as a reigning animation powerhouse that’s influencing the art form’s legacy and future.    Watch more episodes of Oregon Art Beat at their show page.   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 2022, Portland residents voted to drastically change their form of government. This included using ranked choice voting and a 12-person city council. With the change in government, the mayor will work closely with the new city administrator to oversee the everyday functions of the city and help craft the budget, but will no longer have a vote on the city council, unless it’s to break a tie. There are 19 people running to be the city’s new mayor. “Think Out Loud” invited the four candidates with the largest number of individual donations and funds raised. Rene Gonzalez, Mingus Mapps and Carmen Rubio are current city council commissioners and Keith Wilson is the president and CEO of TITAN Freight Systems. They all join us for a debate.

In 2022, Portland residents voted to drastically change the city’s form of government. That includes using ranked-choice voting to expand the city council from five seats to 12.  Another change is the creation of four geographic districts, with voters in each district electing three candidates to represent them on the new council. “Think Out Loud” is hosting a series of events throughout Portland to help voters meet the district candidates. They were invited based on the number of individual donors who contributed to their campaigns. On Oct. 9, we held a District 3 candidates forum at Gigantic Brewing Hawthorne Pub. We partnered with the Urban League of Portland for the event which they live streamed on Facebook.  District 3 covers most of Southeast Portland, west of I-205. It includes the neighborhoods of Mt. Tabor, Sunnyside, Montavilla and Woodstock. It also includes some neighborhoods in Northeast which cross Sandy Boulevard such as Rose City Park and Roseway. The D3 candidates we spoke to include: Rex Burkholder, Jesse Cornett, Daniel DeMelo, Chris Flanary, Theo Hathaway Saner, Harrison Kass, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo, Steve Novick, Jon Walker and Luke Zak.  

When President Jimmy Carter traveled, he sometimes stayed in people’s homes. This started as a way to save money when he was running for Georgia governor, but he continued these home visits even after being elected to America’s highest office. He stayed with at least eight different families around the country, one of which was in Oregon. Producer Nora Colie was six years old when President Carter came to stay with her neighbors, the Olson family. She recently revisited their memories, and her own, in honor of Carter’s 100th birthday.   You can read more and see the Oregon Experience video Nora Colie produced 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 2022, Portland residents voted to drastically change the city’s form of government. That includes using ranked choice voting to expand the city council from five seats to 12. Another change is the creation of four geographic districts, with voters in each district electing three candidates to represent them on the new council. District 1 is in the far east side of Portland, including neighborhoods such as Hazelwood, Mill Park, Centennial and Parkrose to name a few. On Sep. 30, “Think Out Loud” convened a District 1 candidates forum at Von Ebert Brewing. Candidates were invited to participate based on the number of individual donors that contributed to their campaign. They include: Candace Avalos, Doug Clove, Jamie Dunphy, Timur Ender, Noah Ernst, Terrence Hayes, David Linn, Steph Routh, Thomas Shervey, Loretta Smith and Cayle Tern.

For our latest “At Work With” episode, where we talk to Pacific Northwesterners with cool jobs and ask them your questions about what it’s like to do what they do, we bring you along as we go to work with a burlesque performer, private investigator and Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA).    For our “At Work With” series, let us know who you want to hear from next! You can also send us questions you have for our next “At Work With” interview. Email us at theevergreen@opb.org or visit our web page to submit questions.   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.  

For some 30 years in the early 20th century, Oregonian Jean Birnie led a trailblazing group of horsewomen called the Hen Party on annual horse packing trips in northeastern Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains. Inspired by their legacy, a group of Hen Party descendents retraced the steps of their foremothers on an adventure into the Wallowas of their own, almost a century later.   OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer Jule Gilfillan went along to document their journey. She joins us to share the family story of the Hen Party, and how, in the Oregon wilderness, its members found friendship, empowerment, solace and more.Find more “Oregon Field Guide” stories about the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest 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: Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

It’s that time of year when many Oregonians are enjoying an abundance of garden produce. Evergreen host Jenn Chávez learned about making blackberry jam and got some advice on what to do with her own garden peppers from Heather Arndt Anderson, the food writer and culinary historian behind OPB’s Superabundant newsletter. OPB’s Crystal Ligori offers us a window into the history of Oregon’s fish canning industry as well as its future. And we get to visit ōkta farm, where food preservation is key to one restaurant’s farm-to-table model.    You can read more about Pacific Northwest foods and sign up for the Superabundant newsletter 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: Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

On today’s episode, we’re preparing for disasters. Whether it’s extreme heat, wildfires or a looming earthquake –  we know how unpredictable disasters in the Pacific Northwest can be. What are some things we can have prepared in an emergency like this?    OPB’s lands and environmental policies reporter April Ehrlich, who’s reported on and experienced wildfires, gives us tips on what to include in your emergency kit, what to do if you have to evacuate and more.    For up-to-date information on wildfires and air quality across the region, you can visit opb.org/wildfires at any time.   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.

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.