Podcasts about wordstock

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a world-renowned Finance PhD, author, and founder of The Black Business School. Featured in major media outlets such as CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, Dr. Watkins has dedicated his career to empowering Black families through financial literacy and wealth-building strategies. His book,The 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power, has transformed the way people think about money, ownership, and generational wealth.Through The Black Business School, he has helped millions learn how to invest, start businesses, and create financial independence without relying on traditional institutions. If you're ready to elevate your financial game, visitBoyceWatkins.com. To get a free list of his favorite AI stocks, text the wordStock to87948.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance PhD, author, and founder of The Black Business School, where he has helped millions learn to invest and build family wealth. A former Syracuse University professor, he now focuses on financial literacy, Black economic empowerment, and closing the racial wealth gap. He is the author ofThe 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power and has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, and The Breakfast Club.To get a free list of his favorite AI stocks, text the wordStock to87948. Learn more atBoyceWatkins.com.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a world-renowned Finance PhD, investor, and founder of The Black Business School, where he has helped millions build wealth and achieve financial freedom. As a former finance professor, he is dedicated to teaching Black economic empowerment through intelligent, practical strategies.He is the author ofThe 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power and has been featured in major media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. His teachings focus on investing, stock options, and creating generational wealth.To learn more about Dr. Watkins and get his free list of top AI stocks, visitBoyceWatkins.com or text the wordStock to 87948.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a world-renowned Finance PhD, author, and founder ofThe Black Business School, where he has helped millions learn to invest and build generational wealth. As a former Syracuse University professor, he left academia to focus on empowering Black families through financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and economic self-sufficiency.Dr. Watkins has been featured inForbes, CNN, USA Today, andThe New York Times for his expertise in finance and Black economic empowerment. His book,The 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power, is a blueprint for wealth-building in the Black community.To learn how to build wealth and gain financial independence, visitBoyceWatkins.com. For a free list of his favorite AI stocks, text the wordStock to87948.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a world-renowned Finance PhD, investor, and founder of The Black Business School, where he has helped millions build wealth and achieve financial freedom. As a former finance professor, he is dedicated to teaching Black economic empowerment through intelligent, practical strategies.He is the author ofThe 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power and has been featured in major media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. His teachings focus on investing, stock options, and creating generational wealth.To learn more about Dr. Watkins and get his free list of top AI stocks, visitBoyceWatkins.com or text the wordStock to 87948.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a world-renowned Finance PhD, author, and wealth-building expert dedicated to Black economic empowerment. As the founder of The Black Business School, he has helped millions learn to invest and build generational wealth. Featured on major media platforms like CNN, The New York Times, and The Breakfast Club, Dr. Watkins teaches practical financial strategies that uplift families and communities. His best-selling book,The 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power, serves as a blueprint for financial independence.To learn from Dr. Watkins and receive a free list of his favorite AI stocks, visitBoyceWatkins.com or text the wordStock to87948 on your phone.

-Doug Ganz from Pinnacle Bank stops in to tell us about Wordstock tomorrow for Linked2Literacy…Show sponsored by MIDWEST BANKOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: betterhelp.com/EARLYBREAKAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Heja Framtiden fick möjlighet att hålla ett scensamtal under Stockholms Bokhelg i maj 2023. Hos SN7 på Stora Nygatan 7 i Gamla Stan anordnades ett gäng evenemang under paraplyet Wordstock, och det här samtalet ägde rum med anledning av att förlaget Volante nu ger ut Will MacAskills bok What we owe the future - på svenska Vad framtiden förtjänar. Christian von Essen leder samtalet med Beatrice Erkers, COO på Foresight Institute och Vilhelm Skoglund, tidigare generalsekreterare för Effektiv Altruism Sverige samt medgrundare av Impact Academy. Hur ska vi tänka kring longtermism? Vilka insatser i dag kan ha effekt tusentals eller miljontals år längre fram i tiden? Hur påskyndar AI-utvecklingen resonemanget kring hur vi ser på existentiell risk? // Om du vill ha mer fördjupning av Beatrice och Vilhelm, hittar du deras tidigare respektive avsnitt här. // Och prenumerera gärna på nyhetsbrevet! // PS. Bortse gärna från programledarens flåsande i micken, det gick inte att tvätta bort tyvärr...

This is the three hundred and eighty-fifth episode of Coffeeshop Conversations. That's a lot of talking and not all of it by me. Next week KMHD's head honcho Matt Fleeger will be here and the following week Nicole Lane, ace publicist will visit the Café. Today writer Larry Colton is sitting across from me. He has authored six books, was the founder of Wordstock, now known as the Portland Book Festival. He was also a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and the beloved Portland Mavericks. What? No music? What me worry? By the time we're finished that will not be an issue. Welcome back Larry Colton.

 Interdisciplinary artist avery r. young is a 3Arts Award winning teaching artist, composer and producer with work that spans the genres of music, performance, visual arts and literature.  Examining and celebrating Black American history and culture, his work also focuses in the areas of social justice, equity, queer identity, misogyny, and body consciousness. As a writer, this Cave Canem alum has work featured in The Breakbeat Poets, Coon Bidness, to be left with the body, and Make Magazine. He has also written curriculum and essays on arts education that appear in the Teaching Artist Journal and A.I.M. Print. Dubbed “sunday mornin jook joint,” his performance and work in sound design merges spiritual and secular aesthetics with dramatic and comedic sensibilities. He has performed at the Hip Hop Theater Festival, Wordstock, and Lollapalooza. He has recorded with house producers Anthony Nicholson and Charlie Dark, and is featured on recordings such as New World Reveal-A-Solution, Audio Truism, Catfish Haven’s Devastator, and New Skool Poetiks. His new full-length release, booker t. soltreyne: a race rekkid, features songs and other sound designed created during his artist residency with the University of Chicago's Arts + Public Life initiative.  It was during this residency that he worked on sound design and poems called "cullud sign(s)." Through voice, sound, visual art, and performance, young is constantly exploring the forms and spaces in which poetry can exist. Most recently, he is the vocalist on flutist Nicole Mitchell’s Mandorla Awakening (FPE Records) and his poetry is featured in photographer and fellow 3Arts awardee Cecil McDonald Jr.’s debut book, In the Company of Black (Candor Arts). Young’s first book neckbone (Northwestern University Press) is out on the shelves now. He is currently one of four directors for the Floating Museum and touring with his band, avery r. young & de deacon board. New album Tubman. is available via all major musical outlets.

Nancy Mitchell is a Pushcart Prize recipient and the author of The Near Surround, Grief Hut, and The Out-of-Body Shop, and co-editor of Plume Interviews 1. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Agni, Green Mountains Review, Poetry Daily, Washington Square Review and have been anthologized in Last Call (Sarabande Books) The Working Poet (Autumn House Press) and Plume 3, 4, 5 & 7.She has been awarded artist in residence fellowships at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in San Angelo, Virginia and Auvillar, France, and at Spring Creek, Oregon State University. She taught Creative Writing for Maryland Summer Center for Arts, 2012-2014, and in the Environmental Studies Program and English Department at Salisbury University where she produced the annual Fulton School of the Arts festival WORDSTOCK. Mitchell currently teaches for CELL at Salisbury University in Maryland, and serves as Associate Editor of Special Features and Interviews for Plume Poetry. She is the Poet Laureate of Salisbury, Maryland.

Welcome back to Catfish Lou’s at 2460 NW 24th for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation. As you may have noticed we talk to more than music industry people. Like today, for instance. I re-watched the documentary, “The Battling Bastards of Baseball” the other night. Larry Colton popped up in it. He was a member of the Portland Mavericks. I thought, “Oh yeah, he would make a great guest.” Larry is also a Pulitzer Prize nominated author for his book “Counting Coup.” He’s written a lot of great books and is working on more. I did a TV story on him in the past and we had a lot of fun. That’s why he’s here. He also founded Wordstock and a lot of other things. We could have gone on a lot longer but he’s always welcome back. Meet Larry Colton.

Do we sound a little verklempt this week? Our show is full of fond farewells, from Paul Simon's goodbye tour to our own producer Aaron Scott's departure for green Field Guide pastures. But it's not all tears. Before Aaron goes, he'll tell what he’s learned reporting on arts for the better part of a decade. We also chirp with the writer who followed Paul Simon’s life story, and mix it up with one of the top practitioners of pop criticism working today.Reconsidered: Johnny Cash's "At Folsom Prison" Album at 50 - 1:08In May 1968, Johnny Cash made a record that opened America’s eyes to life behind bars. But are those songs still relevant today? A group of Oregon musicians and artists, under the name Luther’s Boots, are re-staging the concert at prisons around the state to find out.To help fund their Folsom50 tour, they’re putting on a concert for those on the outside at Portland’s Polaris Hall May 20.Pop Culture Talk with Chuck Klosterman - 8:33If the first eighteen years of the century have left you gasping for breath, take heart. The post-Avengers, post-Kapernick, post-#MeToo, post-Beyonce era is not just an amazing time for pop culture; it's also a golden age of pop culture critics. Chuck Klosterman is one of the best. His bracing essays on music and sports in the "New York Times," the "Washington Post," "Esquire," and "Grantland."Klosterman will read from his latest book, “Chuck Klosterman X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century,” at Powell's in Portland next week.Paul Simon’s Farewell Tour - 19:17This summer concert season is rife with acts doing farewell tours — Joan Baez, Elton John, Yassiin Bey (Mos Def) — but one of the most significant is legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon. His "Homeward Bound Tour" hits the Moda Center May 19. To send him off, we listen back to our interview with Peter Ames Carlin, author of the biography “Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon,” at Wordstock 2016.Aaron Scott’s Greatest Hits - 30:32It’s our bittersweet duty to inform you that this is State of Wonder producer Aaron Scott’s last week on the show. He is moving on to report and produce stories for "Oregon Field Guide." We're totally excited for him and couldn't resist the chance to pull him in front of the mic one more time to talk about some of his favorite moments, and trends he's observed in the regional arts ecosystem as he's reported on it for the better part of a decade.

This week on "State of Wonder," we remember the life and legacy of the ground-breaking writer Ursula K. Le Guin, and then we talk with Oregon's three Grammy nominees: Portugal. The Man, The Decemberists' side project Offa Rex, and Randy Porter and Nancy King.Remembering Ursula K Le GuinPortland lost a living legend this week. Ursula K. Le Guin passed away on Monday at the age of 88 in her Northwest home. Her writing not only spanned genres, it tore down the barriers that separated them, helping to elevate science fiction and fantasy into "literature" — to say nothing of opening up fiction to women writers and women protagonists. The worlds Le Guin created were places of refuge for those who felt like outsiders and places that challenged readers to think differently and expand their imaginations.In this segment, we listen to: 2:04 - A remembrance from April Baer 5:50 - A conversation with Le Guin at Wordstock in 2015, shortly after the release of a new version of her guide to writing, “Steering the Craft,” in which she spoke about her writing process and what it means to “push back” as a woman writer. 13:57 - A conversation with Le Guin's eldest child, Elisabeth Le Guin, a professor of musicology at UCLA, about the inspiration that is her mother, and what it was like to sit around the dinner table with such a fierce woman. You can listen to the full interview here. 22:38 - A conversation with Molly Gloss, the author of numerous books including "The Hearts of Horses" and "Wild Life," who met Le Guin in 1981 and has been a close friend and writing peer since. You can find the full conversation on Think Out Loud.Portugal. The Man's "Feel It Still" Is Up for Best Pop Group Performance - 29:17“Feel It Still,” the first single from Portugal. The Man’s newest album, “Woodstock,” set new records at the top of multiple charts, becoming the biggest crossover hit since Gotye’s “Somebody that I Used to Know.” Now the song has snagged Portugal. The Man a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Last summer, the band played an exclusive live set at the OPB studio and sat down to talk about the album. You can watch videos of their opbmusic session here.The Decemberists' Collaboration with Olivia Chaney Gets Nominated for Best Folk Album - 35:57The Decemberists may have finally met their match. The band teamed up with British singer Olivia Chaney under the name Offa Rex — a reference to an Anglo-Saxon king. The album, produced by local whiz Tucker Martine, is called “The Queen of Hearts,” and it's up for the Grammy for Best Folk Album. We invited Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy into the studio, and got Chaney on the line from England, to talk about how this dream team came to be. Randy Porter and Nancy King Contend for Best Jazz Vocal Album with "Porter Plays Porter" - 44:32Last but not least in the trio of Oregon Grammy contenders is the jazz pianist Randy Porter. Porter was first exposed to the music of his namesake, Cole Porter, at age 20, when he worked on a revue of the great American composer’s work. Randy Porter has since become a successful pianist known for his impeccable technique, and now his trio has teamed up with one of the region’s jazz treasures, vocalist Nancy King, on the record “Porter Plays Porter with Nancy King.” It’s up for the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

This week on "State of Wonder," the comedian Maria Bamford on her hit Netflix series, author Daniel Handler on his best-selling "Series of Unfortunate Events" books, and the man who pretty much invented the photography book, Robert Frank.Hard Times For Artists Repertory TheatreThe year got off to a hard start for Portland’s oldest theater, Artists Repertory. Founded in 1982, the mid-sized company performs high-octane work by hot playwrights, tackling subjects like racism, the Great Recession, and climate change. As OPB’s April Baer reports, the company announced plans to sell half its building to retire its debt and set it on a sustainable path, as well as the departure of its managing director.Comedian Maria Bamford - 6:38Comedian Maria Bamford is cruising back through Oregon next week for shows at Eugene’s McDonald Hall Jan. 12 and at Portland's Revolution Hall Jan. 13. She’s been cranking out the work lately. Last year she released a Netflix special, "Old Baby," where she's performing in front of all different kinds of crowds: clubs, neighborhood streets, a bowling alley with a bunch of complete strangers. She also kicked out a new web series, "Ave Maria Bamford" — sort of a self-help for the holidays missal — and her series on Netflix, “Lady Dynamite,” has wrapped a second season. In it, she plays a fictionalized version of herself, and tells stories about rebooting her career after a serious mental health crises breakdown in 2010.Nick Delffs Live at opbmusic - 18:20Nick Delffs was a longtime part of the Portland music scene, fronting the shaggy indie rock band The Shaky Hands and collaborating with Luz Elena Mendoza and Ali Clarys in the group Tiburones, before moving to Boise, Idaho, several years ago. Delffs went back on the road to promote the release of his first solo album, “Redesign,” and, no surprise, it’s a collection of songs about reinventing yourself.A Conversation With Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket - 22:40Beginning in 1999, a writer under the pen name Lemony Snicket began “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” a thirteen volume collection of blockbuster children’s books that have been turned into a movie and a Netflix series. They told the story of the Baudelaire children, who lost their parents in a fire and became the wards of their evil Count Olaf. The books struck a chord with kids because they didn’t moralize or try to make the world seem better than it was; instead, they confronted the fact that bad things happen, often for no reason at all.Lemony Snicket was later revealed to be the author Daniel Handler. He has since written many works under his own name, ranging from poetry to plays. Last fall, he released both the novel “All the Dirty Parts” and the children’s book “The Bad Mood and the Stick.” He spoke at Wordstock in November with "New York Times" TV critic Gilbert Cruz.Remembering Violinist Robert Mann - 32:36This week, a giant in the classical world — with Portland roots — passed away. Robert Mann, a founding member of the Juilliard String Quartet, died Monday at age 97. We take a moment to remember Mann, and the contributions he made to classical music, including the symphony where he got his start: the Portland Youth Philharmonic.Art Publisher Gerhard Steidl on Photographer Robert Frank - 35:11Robert Frank has been called the father of street photography because he was the first person to shoot everyday life with a raw, shoot-from-the-hip aesthetic, but "street photography" is an understatement. His photos of people around the world are really documentary works that tell complex stories, and his book "The Americans" (with an introduction by Jack Kerouac) basically invented the photography book as we understand it.Now the world’s preeminent publisher of photography books, Gerhard Steidl, is in town for an exhibition of Frank's work at Portland’s Blue Sky Gallery, titled “Robert Frank: Books and Films: 1947 to 2017.” Frank’s films are shown on a wall at the same size as the photos, all the photos are printed on newsprint, and, as Steidl tells us, they'll all be destroyed at the end of the run.Pepe Moscoso Passes the Torch at Fusionarte Radio - 45:28If you listen to the KBOO arts radio show Fusionarte, part of the Spanish language block, you know it’s a free-rolling conversation about everything that’s current. Host Pepe Moscoso talks to guests about books, theater, film, and music - lots and lots of good music. Now Moscoso is ending his run — a working artist, he’s going to spend more time on his photography and mixed media projects — and handing the show off to Luna Flores, a poet who also works with KBOO radio’s Youth Collective. We invited them in to talk about the show.

This week on 'State of Wonder,' we bring you the second show we recorded live at Wordstock, this time with the culture writer Chuck Klosterman, who pulls back the curtain on his celebrity profiles, and two ace authors, who discuss their thrilling new novels.Want more books? Check out the first show we recorded at Wordstock this year, with the creators of the hit podcast and novels "Welcome to Night Vale" and the seriously hilarious poets Morgan Parker and Tommy Pico.Chuck Klosterman Explains the 21st Century of Pop Culture - 1:26What do Taylor Swift, Tim Tebow, and the search for free will in “Breaking Bad” have in common? They are all pop culture casualties of Chuck Closterman, one the keenest critical minds writing today. Growing up in North Dakota, Klosterman cut his teeth in the Midwest before heading to New York to write for the “New York Times,” “GQ,” “Grantland,” and practically everyone else. His 2003 essay collection “Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low-Culture Manifesto” launched him into the culture writing stratosphere, and he’s published several collections and two novels since. Now he’s out with his tenth book: “Chuck Closterman Ten: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century.” He takes us behind the scenes on his essays, plus talks about his recent move to Portland.Katie Kitamura's Psychodrama About a Wife's Search for Her Husband - 19:27In a landscape scorched by wildfire and summer sun, a woman, frozen with grief, comes searching for her estranged husband. Death of their marriage muffles her like a thick veil; she can barely see what’s going on around her. So begins Katie Kitamura’s elegant, suspenseful novel, “A Separation.” It’s a great read for the dank winter days, full with burned landscapes and arid Mediterranean atmosphere.Hannah Tinti's Coming of Age Mystery - 33:52Every parent is a mystery to their child. But few bear the secrets of Samuel Hawley. His scarred body maps out a life of theft, guns and murder, but for his daughter Loo, they’re just scars. That is, until they settle into the New England hometown of her deceased mother and she begins to question her father’s past and what truly happened to her mom. Such is the central mystery for Hannah Tinti’s second novel, “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Holly.” Ann Patchett called it “one part Quentin Tarantino, one part Scheherazade, and twelve parts wild innovation.”Tinti is one of those gloriously creative writers, whose plots sparkle with suspense and emotion. Her best-selling debut novel, “The Good Thief,” was an American Tall Tale of sorts, starring an orphan and a con man at odds with a mouse trap magnate. Tinti also co-founded and edits the the award-winning magazine “One Story.”

Wordstock — Portland's book festival — is that most wonderful of days, when Oregonians’ book lust reaches a fever pitch, culminating in increased secret police presence at book signings, reader mobs storming the gates of Powell’s, and more mayhem.We talked to a slew of fantastic authors at this year's event: Tom Perrotta, Katie Kitamura, Chuck Klosterman, and more. We'll serve these up on our podcast in the coming weeks, but for now, feast on this live show, recorded at noon with four writers on the vanguard."Welcome to Night Vale" with Creators Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph FinkFor the past five years, the creators of the runaway hit podcast, "Welcome to Night Vale" have spun tales of a fictional Southwestern desert town, where people live side by side with the supernatural. Hooded figures, shadowy government agencies, and ravenous ghosts abound— but also girl scouts, coffeehouses, and a community radio station. “Night Vale” is about finding humanity, seated right there next to unspeakable horror at the local diner, enjoying pie and coffee. Its creators have taken Night Vale to the page with a a second novel, "It Devours." It's the story of a young scientist trying to unravel the town's mysteries, and decipher her own outsider status. We talked to Fink and Cranor about the novel, the podcast series, and the Night Vale live shows. Just how popular are those staged events? The next Nightvale live show in Portland is scheduled at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, which seats 2700 people.Poets Tommy Pico and Morgan Parker - 27:11The authors of two of the most anticipated poetry books of the year just so happen to be dear friends. Morgan Parker’s poems have appeared in the “Paris Review,” the “New York Times,” and “Best American Poetry,” and have won her Pushcart and Gatewood prizes. Her new book is “There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce.”Tommy Pico is the author of “IRL” and the zine series “Hey, Teebs,” a Lambda Literary Fellow, and co-host of the podcast “Food 4 Thot.” His new book is “Nature Poem." Together, they curate the reading series Poets with Attitude in New York City.“We were tired of being the only person on a bill who cared that the audience was there.” - Tommy Pico on State of WonderBoth their books were published by Tin House, the bi-coastal publisher split between Portland and Brooklyn.

Maria Semple on "Today Will Be Different" - 1:23The world of Maria Semple's imagination is a glowing place. Her characters rocket off on madcap adventures; they collide at high speed; they teeter on the edge of emotional cliffhangers. Some passages crackle with the comedic snap she honed writing for TV shows like “Arrested Development” and "Mad About You," but at the center of her stories are quiet emotional truths. Semple’s last novel was the "New York Times" best-seller “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” — a merry chase on the trail of a formidable heroine that's currently being adapted into a movie starring Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig and Billy Crudup. This year she’s back with another kind of caper, "Today Will Be Different," which in turn will be made into an HBO limited series starring Julia Roberts and written by Semple.Rabih Alameddine on "The Angel of History" - 17:05Rabih Alameddine possesses the kind of multifaceted mind we all aspire to. His career has spanned engineering, painting and writing, and his six books keenly bridge the Middle East and the West, religion and sexuality, history and pop culture. In "The Angel of History," Alameddine mixes many different currents to tell the story of a young Yemeni-born, gay man who weathers San Francisco’s AIDS epidemic through an unusual relationship with Satan and a gaggle of saints. Alameddine talks about the gray areas between good and evil, Satan as a protagonist, and the importance of remembering the past, particularly the hardest moments, in order to move into the future."The Angel of History" recently won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction.Alexander Chee on "The Queen of the Night" - 35:47Alexander Chee’s new book, “The Queen of the Night,” is a waltz through a kaleidoscopic 19th-century world of opera, romance and intrigue that the "New York Times" called a "post modern bodice ripper." It follow the journey of a 19th-century American girl from a circus to a brothel to the service of France's empress to the glamorous life of a star soprano. Chee tells us how he interwove his own characters with historic giants of France’s Second Empire, like Verdi, famous courtesans and the Emperor Napoleon the Third, as well as his own journey from boy soprano to novelist.

In anticipation for Wordstock 2017, which announced its return on Nov. 11, we take a step into the time machine and revisit last year's wordsmiths. The big news is that the subject of one of their books, a musician you might know from the soles of his shows, is coming to Oregon.Peter Ames Carlin on Paul SimonPeter Ames Carlin has written about some of the most iconic musicians of the 20th century — Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson — and his new book is no exception.Paul Simon soundtracked the 1960s, together with his soul mate, frenemy and long-time musical partner, Art Garfunkel. But as Carlin’s book “Homeward Bound” shows, the road to Graceland was strewn with contradictions, and the man who gave us some of the sweetest harmonies of the 20th century was not the guy you would want to cross over song royalties. But if he's someone you want to see, you can catch Paul Simon in all his glory at the Les Schwab Ampitheater in Bend on June 24.Lindy WestHow exactly is it Lindy West ended up at the center of so many white-hot flash points in pop culture? She has thought through difficult subjects with rigor, creativity and brio: misogyny in comedy, fat acceptance, trolling on Twitter and more. The celebrated columnist for "The Guardian" talks to us about her memoir, “Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman,” her roots at Seattle’s alt-weekly "The Stranger," and how her parents contributed to the fireproofing that lets her fight her battles.Rivka GalchenThe exquisite essays and stories of Rivka Galchen delight readers of the "New Yorker," the "New York Times" and other hot spots. All great writers meet their match, and Galchen nearly hit her own wall four years ago. Her elegantly constructed idea for a book comparing two medieval Japanese women writers was neatly derailed by the birth of her daughter. Onstage at Wordstock, Galchen tells us how she learned to embrace the kind of thoughts she was having in the throes of baby inebriation.The resulting book, “Little Labors,” is a series of short, splendid essays that perfectly describe the altered state of maternity.

We love talking to authors about their books, but do you know what’s almost more fun? Talking to them about other people's books. This year, at the book festival Wordstock, we rounded up some amazing writers and illustrators on the OPB Pop-Up Stage to ask them: was there a book that changed your life?Richard Russo - 1:24The books of Richard Russo are practically synonymous with small town American life. They tell stories of working-class folks in falling-down mill towns in upstate New York, but they could take place practically anywhere in the U.S. Russo’s 2001 novel, “Empire Falls,” won the Pulitzer prize and was made into a mini-series on HBO. His 1993 novel, “Nobody’s Fool,” was made into a movie starring Paul Newman and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and this year, Russo is back with the a sequel, “Everybody’s Fool.”Russo picked two volumes of short stories by Richard Yates: “Eleven Kinds of Loneliness” and “Liars in Love.” Best known for the novel "Revolutionary Road," Yates wrote about everyday people with small dreams who nonetheless failed to attain them."Looking back on it now, these stories amounted to almost permission to write," said Russo. "It was the fact that, in some ways, Yates's subject matter was so modest, and yet he had turned it into literature of the highest order, something about that spoke to me as a not terribly confident young writer."Nikki McClure - 15:31Nikki McClure's trademark paper art is now iconic in the Northwest. She makes images of children and families engaging in work, experiencing the wild, and making the world better in small ways. She has an illustrator's eye for animal and plant life, and an exquisite touch for the details of a child's face. Her latest book is "Waiting For High Tide." She chats with April Baer about books that deeply resonate with her: "Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey and the collective works of Tove Jansson.Karen Russell - 25:56Karen Russell’s writing takes your imagination hostage, whisking you into worlds where the children of werewolves get schooled by nuns, vampires pucker their fangs on lemons as a temporary fix, and girls elope with ghosts, only to be left at the alter. Her book “Swamplandia” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and she’s a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant. Her most recent works include the e-book “Sleep Donation: A Novella” and the short story collection “Vampires in the Lemon Grove.”Russell tells Aaron Scott how Carson McCullum's 1940 novel, "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," electrified her when she was a teenager. "To be able to be so articulate about unspeakable experiences is something that books can do that other forms can’t represent that same way," she says.Jonathan Lethem - 37:44Jonathan Lethem’s novels take us to fabulous places. His writing style interweaves humor, charm, mystery, and stylish prose to create delightful page-turning epics. The recipient of a MacArthur grant and a National Book Critics Circle Award, Lethem also writes great essays and short stories. His latest novel, "A Gambler’s Anatomy," has garnered praise for its mysterious Bond-like hero and it's magical spin on reality.Lethem discusses how "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was the first book he read where he felt like he could actually hear the voice of the author — a voice full of puns and secret references that inspired his own voices in books like "Motherless Brooklyn."

Mark Rothko is one of the 20th century's most famous painters, and his formative years were spent in Portland: He immigrated here at age 10 from Latvia and took classes at the Museum School at the Portland Art Museum before graduating from Lincoln High School. In October, the museum announced plans for the Rothko Pavilion (see pictures), a new multi-story glass structure that will link the museum's two free-standing buildings and include a number of new galleries and education and programming spaces.The Rothko Pavilion is not just paying homage to this under-sung hometown hero in its name. The art museum also announced a partnership with Rothko's children to cycle his works through the museum on a rotating basis. Christopher Rothko sat down with Aaron Scott at last month's Wordstock.And we talk with the museum's brand new Curator of Northwest Art, Grace Kook-Anderson.

When we’re preparing for a big event, we make a plan. But what if things don’t go as planned? What happens next? Kate Ristau, a folklorist and author, has a plan. She’ll tell you all about it. Her middle grade book, Clockbreakers, is also featured at Wordstock this year. You can find out more about her work at Kateristau.com. Urban Tellers NOVEMBER 4, 2016 EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED Kate Ristau live at The Fremont Theater in Portland, OR Portland Story Theater, hosted by Lawrence Howard and Lynne Duddy pdxstorytheater.org MAY THE NARRATIVE BE WITH YOU.

This week, we bring you the second of two shows we'd recorded live at Wordstock, Portland's book festival. It's sparkling hour with three witty truth-tellers. But first, we wanted to check in: how're you feeling after the election. Artists Respond to TrumpPortland hip-hop sensation Aminé hit the stage of "The Tonight Show" Tuesday, adding some politics to his viral song “Caroline”: "You can never make American great again / All you did is make this country hate again." His voice joined the chorus of artists protesting in the streets, making visual art about the election, and other kinds of work. In fact, many Oregon artists are rethinking what their work has to say in a divisive political season. We check in with a few of them.Maria Semple - 6:40The world of Maria Semple's imagination is a glowing place. Her characters rocket off on madcap adventures; they collide at high speed; they teeter on the edge of emotional cliffhangers. Some passages crackle with the comedic snap she honed writing for TV shows like “Arrested Development” and "Mad About You," but at the center of her stories are quiet emotional truths. Semple’s last novel was the New York Times best-seller “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” — a merry chase on the trail of a formidable heroine. This year she’s back with another kind of caper, "Today Will Be Different.”Alexander Chee - 21:28Alexander Chee’s new book, “The Queen of the Night,” is a waltz through a kaleidoscopic 19th-century world of opera, romance and intrigue that the New York Times called a "post modern bodice ripper." It follow the journey of a 19th-century American girl from a circus to a brothel to the service of France's empress to the glamorous life of a star soprano. Chee tells us how he interwove his own characters with historic giants of France’s Second Empire, like Verdi, famous courtesans and the Emperor Napoleon the Third, as well as his own journey from boy soprano to novelist.Rabih Alameddine - 34:48Rabih Alameddine possesses the kind of multifaceted mind we all aspire to. His career has spanned engineering, painting, and writing, and his six books keenly bridge the Middle East and the West, religion and sexuality, history and pop culture. In "The Angel of History," Alameddine mixes many different currents to tell the story of a young Yemini-born gay man who weathers San Francisco’s AIDS epidemic through an unusual relationship with Satan and a gaggle of saints. Alameddine talks about the gray areas between good and evil, Satan as a protagonist, and the importance of remembering the past, particularly the hardest moments, in order to move into the future.

The toast of the literary season is Portland’s book festival, Wordstock. This week we bring you the first of several shows we taped: a bang-up time with three exceptional authors, and one song that left us starry-eyed, recorded in front of a packed audience at the Winningstad Theater. Peter Ames Carlin on Paul Simon - 1:00Peter Ames Carlin has written about some of the most iconic musicians of the 20th century: Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. His new book taps into one of the most complex characters in pop history. Paul Simon soundtracked the 1960s, together with his soul mate, frenemy, and long-time musical partner, Art Garfunkel. But as Carlin’s book, “Homeward Bound” shows, Simon’s path is piled with contradictions. The road to Graceland was strewn with misunderstandings, and the man who gave us some of the sweetest harmonies of the 20th century was not the guy you would want to cross over song royalties.We also invited Portland singer-songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza, the incredible voice behind the bands Y La Bamba and Tiburones, to interpret Simon's iconic hits "The Sound of Silence" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water," with bandmate Philip Rogers, as well as play an original of her own.Lindy West - 22:38How exactly is it Lindy West ended up at the center of so many white-hot flash points in pop culture? She has thought through difficult subjects with rigor, creativity and brio: misogyny in comedy, fat acceptance, trolling on Twitter, and more. The celebrated columnist for The Guardian talks to us about her memoir, “Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman,” her roots at Seattle’s alt-weekly, The Stranger, and how her parents contributed to the fireproofing that lets her fight her battles.Rivka Galchen - 36:12The exquisite essays and stories of Rivka Galchen delight readers of the New Yorker magazine, the New York Times, and other hot spots. All great writers meet their match, and Galchen nearly hit her own wall four years ago. Her elegantly constructed idea for a book comparing two medieval Japanese women writers was neatly derailed by the birth of her daughter. Onstage at Wordstock, Galchen tells us how she learned to embrace the kind of thoughts she was having in the throes of baby inebriation. The resulting book, “Little Labors,” is a series of short, splendid essays that both speak to and perfectly describe the altered state of maternity.

This week’s show: curveballs and home runs. New developments are on deck in the saga of Oregon’s art glass makers, and for one act trying to get recognition for its entirely ironic band name. Plus we bring back a favorite from last year, to get you primed for Wordstock. Hope you’ve got your helmet on — all the best bombs are dropping! Thanks for helping us make this listener-supported show every week. Give a gift, before you do anything else this weekend. Supreme Court Will Hear The Slants Trademark Case — 1:18The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear a case pitting Portland-based all-Asian electro-rock band The Slants against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The band has been fighting to trademark its name since 2011. The PTO denied the request on the grounds the name is racially disparaging. Bandleader Simon Tam says it’s unconstitutional for government to use offensive speech as a basis for rejecting trademarks. The high court refused to hear a similar case involving the Washington Redskins, but a ruling in the Slants’ favor could help the team.  Listen Back: Ursula LeGuin at Wordstock 2015 — 3:15The Library of America has just published some key early work by literary great Ursula K. Le Guin. “The Complete Orsinia” is a fascinating early lab in which Le Guin explored life under oppressive regimes. We thought it was a good time to listen back to our conversation with Le Guin at Wordstock 2015. Le Guin discusses her process, her guide to writing, “Steering the Craft”, and more. (You can find a longer version of our interview here.)Uroboros To Close In Early 2017 — 13:52Portland art glass manufacturer Uroboros just announced this week the company plans to close its plant on North Kerby Ave. early in 2017. Glass has been made there for more than 43 years. The company’s president Eric Lovell cited market conditions, the real estate value of the central location, and the cost of new environmental regulations. Lovell also said that his own impending retirement as a factor. Glass artists including San Diego’s Cathy Coverley called the loss of Uroboros “terrifying.” Portland-born Writer Fighting To Save Harlem Landmark — 17:04Portland native Renee Watson, now with the I, Too Collective in New York, was in town this week for some fundraising. Langston Hughes was the heart and soul of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and ‘30s. His brownstone on East 127th street in Harlem is a national landmark but it’s been mostly empty for decades. As Harlem’s real estate scene goes upscale, Watson is leading the effort to preserve the building. We listen back to an August conversation she had with NPR - Weekend Edition’s Scott Simon.In Other Words, Portlandia No Longer Welcome — 22:14The feminist bookstore In Other Words servers its ties with the IFC series, Portlandia. Looks like Candace and Toni will be looking for new digs. Any suggestions?Pete Krebs’ Autumn Trifecta — 23:41A huge month for singer, songwriter, and rock & roll survivor Pete Krebs: he’ll be inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame on October 8th, and is launching two new records at the same time — a career retrospective, called “Hey Pete Krebs” and a new Hazel live album, excavated from 1993 recordings. Krebs earned his chops in Portland’s 80’s punk rock scene, and has been a mainstay on country, jazz, and indie stages around town ever since.(photo cred. Jeremy Balderson)

This week on State of Wonder, we take a break from our summer reading to look back at last year's Wordstock book festival. We'll hear from three authors with fascinating backstories lay out the singular works they delivered in 2015. This year's festival is set to begin on November 5.Jesse Eisenberg Made His Name Playing Neurotic Characters. Turns Out He Can Write Like Them Too.Jesse Eisenberg is best known for starring in movies such as “The Social Network,” "Batman V. Superman," and “Zombieland," but he’s quickly gaining attention for his writing as well, in the form of both plays and humor. In 2015 alone, Eisenberg starred in three films, spent two months acting in an off-Broadway play of his own writing, and released his first book, "Bream Gives Me Hiccups: and Other Stories." It takes its name from a series of restaurant reviews he penned for "The New Yorker" from the perspective of a privileged child, but it also includes such absurd gems as a marriage counselor heckling the Knicks and a post-gender normative man trying to pick a woman up at a bar.This summer, you can find Eisenber on the big screen right in “Now You See Me 2” and Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society.”Alicia Jo Rabins: Mystic Ideas and a Modern Sensibility - 19:15Portland’s Alicia Jo Rabins is a renaissance woman — she writes mystical poetry, she’s a gifted storyteller, she composes and performs beautiful song cycles about Biblical women for her rock band project, called Girls in Trouble, and she’s a Jewish scholar. At Wordstock, Rabins read for us from her award-winning new book, “Divinity School,” and performed a song.Wendell Pierce Remembers Post-Katrina New Orleans - 31:13Actor and activist Wendell Pierce put an indelible mark on the TV landscape with his role as William “Bunk” Moreland on the iconic television series, “The Wire.” He has produced and acted in movies, TV, and theater, and last year, he made his debut in the literary world with "The Wind in the Reeds." It’s a meditation on his return to his hometown of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, where he performed in a staging of the play “Waiting for Godot” in the Lower Ninth Ward.

We’re laughing on the outside and crying on the inside this week.The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Brings Copyright Law Into the 21st Century - 00:59The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation announced this week it will no longer charge copyright fees except for commercial uses (did you know artists can sue you for posting a photo of their work online?). Producer Aaron Scott explains why this is a big deal and speaks with Rauschenberg's son, who just so happens to be Portlander Christopher Rauschenberg, a photographer and co-founder of Blue Sky Gallery.Bullseye Glass Update - 5:05The air emissions story that began at two Portland art-glass makers has boiled over into state government and soon into the court room. Oregon’s top environmental administrator and an air quality regulator stepped down this week. Earthfix's Tony Schick stopped by to give us an update.The Electric Poetry of Robin Coste Lewis - 11:05Robin Coste Lewis won the National Book Award last year for her debut poetry collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus. The structure of the book's titular poem was guided by one simple rule: it is made up entirely of the titles, catalog entries and exhibit descriptions of artistic depictions of black female figures. Coste Lewis spoke with Think Out Loud's Dave Miller and read several poems. M. Ward Sings to His Baby (and opbmusic) - 22:44The latest release from M. Ward, More Rain, might sound like a Portland soundtrack, but it belies its name with sunny sounds of doo-wop and golden era AM radio sensibilities. The artist came by the OPB studios to play a few songs with a power backing band (REM's Scott McCoy, Mike Coykendall, and Alialujah Choir's Adam Selzer and Alia Farah), who he insists he did not find on Craigslist. The Book of Unknown Americans at Milagro Theater - 29:55The Multnomah County Library's Everybody Reads this year focuses on Cristina Henríquez's lauded novel, The Book of Unknown Americans. Henríquez will be in town on Tuesday (we'll have excerpts for you next week), but in preparation, Milagro Theatre brought in a group of actors to read her work. We share one of our favorites.Sandra Cisneros at Wordstock - 34:48One of Henríquez's influences was Sandra Cisneros' 1984 novel, The House on Mango Street. The story revolves around a girl trying to escape her poor Chicago neighborhood and is one of the few novels from a Latina perspective to be embraced by the literary establishment. We interviewed Cisneros at Wordstock last November shortly after the release of her latest work, A House of My Own: Stories From My Life.Farewell, Sweet Comedy: Amy Miller and Sean Jordan - 41:15Stand-up veterans Sean Jordan and Amy Miller are leaving for Los Angeles this month but not before one final farewell at Aladdin Theater on Mar. 13. The comedians talk with April Baer about what they love about Portland and why they have to leave.Visit our website for videos and full interviews: http://www.opb.org/radio/article/m-ward-robin-coste-lewis-robert-rauschenberg-sandra-cisneros-amy-miller-sean-jordan

We are all feeling positively giddy because of everyone sending their nickles and dimes during pledge week. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.Portland's Brittle Glass HouseOne of the world’s top makers of art glass is reeling after revelations that its plant in Southeast Portland has been emitting vastly more cadmium and arsenic than previously known. Bullseye Glass suspended production of some products this week, and a second Portland-based glass-maker, Uroboros, followed suit. Earthfix's Cassandra Profita fills us in, and we talk with some of the artists who use Bullseye.Master of the Stone Mosaic - 11:50Jeffrey Bale is a designer and stone artist whose mosaics will keep you gazing at the ground for hours. His dizzying and intricate spirals and organic patterns have attracted high-end clientele and rave reviews from the New York Times and reams of landscape design publications. Bale lives in Portland and is the subject of an Oregon Art Beat profile this week.How Do You Make a Grammy-Nominated Remix? 15:55Portlander Andre Allen Anjos, who works under the name RAC, is up for a Grammy for Best Remixed Recording for his work on "Say My Name" by Odesza. He has become the go-to guy for remixing indie bands, from The Shins to Foster the People, as well as mega artists like U2, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, and he hopscotches the globe performing his own music and DJ massive parties. But what exactly does it take to make a Grammy-winning remix? Anjos takes us into the studio to show us how he takes songs apart and puts them back together again.Pussy Riot Ruffles Portland's Feathers - 25:40The Russian art-punk outfit Pussy Riot have become international activists after staging demonstrations against Russia's totalitarian government under President Vladimir Putin. This week, they visited Portland for a talk moderated by Storm Large and OPB's John Sepulvado. Sepulvado tells us how it went.The Eugene Symphony Turns 50 with Three World Premieres - 33:05The Eugene Symphony has a reputation for programming challenging works, but the symphony is pushing itself to a new level for its 50th anniversary with three new commissions by world class composers, including the University of Oregon's composition department chair, Robert Kyr.Diana Nyad & Cheryl Strayed - 39:54A few minutes with two of the fiercest ladies you’ll ever meet: Diana Nyad and Cheryl Strayed. They shared a stage at Wordstock last November. Nyad had just released her memoir, "Find A Way," about swimming from Cuba to Florida. She was the first person to do it without a shark cage, and she pulled this off at the ripe and wonderful age of 64. And Strayed, of course, is the local author who became a household name with the release of her book "Wild," about her solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. Bringing these two together on stage produced combustion of the highest order, not to mention some harmonies on a Neil Young classic.

Vibrant Masterpieces From The Bodies Of Exotic Animals The model-turned-Salem artist Christopher Marley transforms dead things into art. We’re not talking butterfly boxes or taxidermy here. Marley preserves exotic birds, insects, snakes, and even octopi using state-of-the-art techniques and then composes them in frames. They’re so exquisite, they’ve ended up on the walls of museums, high-end galleries, fancy furniture stores. And Beyonce herself has one! Marley's new book, "Biophilia," is available in stores.The Santa Photos Nobody WantedEvery year this time, families bundle up their children and take them to meet Santa and have a picture taken. The shoots are always memorable, for better or worse - either they’re adorable, or the child is crying, or the person sitting in poor Santa’s lap is no child. Now, a batch of vintage Santa photos too awkward to be taken home is the focus of installation at Newspace Center for Photography. Don't miss this slide show of the photos.Outgoing PNCA President Reflects on His Legacy Pacific Northwest College of Art's longtime president, Tom Manley, has taken a job leading Ohio's Antioch College. In his 12 years at Oregon’s top school for fine arts, Manley oversaw tremendous growth, including six new MFA programs and the expansion of PNCA’s footprint. Here, Manley opens up about what drove his decision-making.Portlanders Go GrammyingPortland rocked the 2016 Grammy nominations. Hometown heroes include the Oregon Symphony, Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers, The Decemberists, and remix artist R.A.C. And the toast of the kindie set, Lori Henriques, is nominated for Best Children’s Album for her snappy, Frischberg-esque release, “How Great Can This Day Be.” We invited her into the studio as soon as we heard. Family, Unexpectedly Dissected Three women, three new novels: Kathleen Alcott’s “Infinite Home” concerns the tenants of a Brooklyn brownstone, Mary Gaitskill’s “The Mare” is about a Dominican girl who learns to ride, Claire Vaye Watkins’ “Gold Fame Citrus” is set in a drought-scarred California of the near future. Think Out Loud’s Allison Frost brought the authors together at Wordstock for a panel called “Unexpected Family,” and the result was unexpectedly intense. Heartless, But SoulfulWhile the Austin band Heartless Bastards was in town for a sold out Wonder Ballroom show recently, they stopped by opbmusic to play acoustic versions of songs from their newest release, “Restless Ones.” Two of the Bastards - lead vocal and guitarist Erika Wennerstrom and bassist Jesse Ebaugh - took a trip down memory lane with opbmusic’s Matt Drenik. A Tribute to the Godfather of Astoria ArtRoyal Nebeker spent 40 years living and teaching on the Oregon Coast, and he left an indelible imprint on the Northwest art world. In his honor, Clatsop Community College faculty have mounted a tribute art show at the newly renamed Royal Nebeker Art Gallery. Hear Nebeker's family and colleagues talk about why he was so important to the region’s creative scene.

John Malkovich make a record, a Southern rocker relocates to Portland, kids confront gentrification and sneakers become high fashion. Change is afoot in this week’s State of Wonder.Malkovich On VinylActor and director John Malkovich has powerhouse interpretive skills and a knack for transformation that has carried iconic performances in films such as “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Of Mice and Men,” “In the Line of Fire” and, of course, as a fictional actor-turned-puppeteer in "Being John Malkovich." His greatest asset might be his voice, which is front and center in a new avant-garde record, “Like a Puppet Show.” We talked with him during the album's national release at Music Millennium.Portland filmmaker Todd Haynes’ "Carol"One of Portland’s most famous directors, Todd Haynes, captured our attention with experimental classics “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” and “Poison” and held it with "Far From Heaven” and the HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce.” His latest film, "Carol," about the love that dare not speak its name, stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It’s racking up raves, including a best actress award for Mara at Cannes, and one of the most insightful reviews comes from critic David Edelstein for Fresh Air. It opens in Portland on Dec. 25.Dreamscapes in AstoriaDarren Orange of Astoria paints large, bold, abstract landscapes that are collected inside and outside Oregon. His moody treatments and strong color communicate coastal land and water with force and energy. He tells us about his latest exhibition, “Cascadian Slipstream,” which opens in downtown Astoria at 1198 Commercial St. on Dec. 12 and runs through Jan. 3. Drive-By Trucker Rolls Into PortlandOver the past couple of decades, Patterson Hood and his band, the Drive-By Truckers, have become standard-bearers for a unique strain of Southern rock – scorching and also super-thoughtful. Now, as the band releases a sprawling live album, Hood is spreading his wings. He turned heads with a recent essay in The New York Times Magazine about the Confederate flag and he recently relocated to Portland. Jerad Walker of opbmusic caught up with Patterson at Wordstock. Hood plays solo shows at the Doug Fir Lounge Dec. 9 and 16.A YA Sensation About Portland GentrificationAs a teenager in the 1990s, Renee Watson watched her friends and neighbors get priced out of Northeast Portland. Although she has since moved to New York, Watson’s new young adult novel, “This Side of Home,” is set in Portland and explores gentrification through the eyes of teenaged twins who come down on different sides of the issue. What’s The Most Expensive Book At Powell’s?Thousands wander through Powell’s City of Books in downtown Portland everyday, browsing through more than one million titles. As OPB’s John Rosman learned, there is one book that almost no one — including staff — is able to see. It’s locked away in a secret location and only taken out for serious buyers.Portland: The Center Of The Sneaker Universe? Portland has been called the Paris or Milan of sneakers, and that’s a big deal. “Sneakerheads,” who collect the shoes, have helped U.S. sales for Nike, Adidas and Under Armour sneakers soar 47 percent since 2009, and all three companies have major presences in Portland. OPB’s John Sepulvado hit the pavement to find out more about how sneaker fashion transforms Portland’s streets.Rapping Like The PopeThis week, Pope Francis set the Twitterverse on fire with a photo taken during his historic tour of Africa that looks like his Holiness is … well, rapping. Wags have been posting papal rhymes to Twitter with the hashtag #popebars. We asked Portland’s own Elton Cray, of Elton Cray and the Pariahs, to read some of the best ones for us. For example:“I murder these bars like Cain did to Abel /Better call me Charlie cause I'm surrounded by angels"

A couple weeks ago, Chad and Tom recorded a podcast about a slew of recent events, including ALTA 38, the Albertine Festival, the "New Literature from Europe Festival, Wordstock, and the Texas Book Festival. Unfortunately, that podcast--one of the best ever recorded--had to be tossed because of technical difficulties. So, this week they talked about some of the same stuff and some new stuff (like Jessica Jones).   As a bit of a tease, here's a list of all the books and stuff they discussed in the "lost epidose":   Knausgaard's review of Submission My Struggle in You're the Worst. The Pushkin Vertigo series David Goodis The Fata Morgana Books by Jonathan Littell The Large Glass Home Radiant Terminus by Antoine Volodine Gesell Dome by Guillermo Saccomanno All the books from Chad's spring class And this short film about Mario Bellatin   This week's music is "Seventeen" by Sjowgren.   Also, just a reminder that because of some difficulties with iTunes, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the "correct feed" in iTunes at that link, or right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686   Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss   Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts list . . . And it's also amazingly helpful in getting the podcast seen by more eyes if you can take just a moment to stop by iTunes to give us a quick rating (and a little review, too, if you're an amazing overachiever!).   And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Jesse Eisenberg is best known for starring in movies like “The Social Network,” “Zombieland” and next year's "Batman v. Superman." But he's quickly gaining attention for his writing as well, in the form of both plays and humor.In 2015 alone, Eisenberg starred in three films, spent two months acting in an award-winning off-Broadway play of his own writing, and released his first book. It's called “Bream Gives Me Hickups & Other Stories," and it takes its name from a series of restaurant reviews he penned for the “New Yorker” from the perspective of a privileged child.Eisenberg spoke with OPB and and two selections from "Bream Gives Me Hiccups" on a pop-up stage at the book festival Wordstock. You can read an edited version here: http://www.opb.org/artsandlife/article/actor-jesse-eisenberg-gives-us-hiccups

Three authors with fascinating and atypical histories talk about works they published in 2015:Actor and activist Wendell Pierce put an indelible mark on the TV landscape with his role as William “Bunk” Moreland on the iconic television series, “The Wire.” He has produced and acted in movies, TV, and theater. This year, he made his debut in the literary world, with his book, "The Wind in the Reeds." It’s a meditation on his return to his hometown of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, where he performed in a staging of the play “Waiting for Godot” in the Lower Ninth Ward. At Wordstock this year, Wendell Pierce spoke with Think Out Loud’s Dave Miller.Alicia Jo Rabins: Mystic Ideas and a Modern SensibilityPortland’s Alicia Jo Rabins is a renaissance woman - she writes mystical poetry, she’s a gifted storyteller, she composes and performs beautiful song cycles about Biblical women for her rock band project, called Girls in Trouble, and she’s a Jewish scholar. At Wordstock this year, Rabins talked with OPB’s reporter Conrad Wilson and read the title poem of her award-winning new book, “Divinity School,” about the emotional pitfalls of a contemplative life. You can see her reprise her critically lauded song cycle about the economy, called “A Kadish for Bernie Madoff,” on December 4 and 5 at Disjecta.[image: 20151107_wordstock_jesse-eisenberg_ru_img_9591_ps,left,300x390,5654e93624e477000e9cc31c]Jesse Eisenberg Emerges as a HumoristJesse Eisenberg is best known for starring in movies such as “The Social Network” and “Zombieland.” But he’s quickly gaining attention for his writing as well, in the form of both plays and humor. In 2015 alone, Eisenberg starred in three films, spent two months acting in an off-Broadway play of his own writing, and released his first book, "Bream Gives Me Hiccups: and Other Stories." It takes its name from a series of restaurant reviews he penned for The New Yorker from the perspective of a privileged child. Eisenberg spoke with OPB’s Aaron Scott at Wordstock.

For our second show recorded live at Wordstock, we sit down with two amazing groups of writers: Portland's Most Infamous Writing GroupWe begin the hour with a veritable Justice League of Portland writers: Chelsea Cain, Suzy Vitello and Lidia Yuknavitch. Together with other aces like Chuck Palahniuk and Monica Drake, they make up perhaps Portland's most infamous writers’ group. We talk about why poisonous octopi wouldn't cut it in the Willamette, the literary virtues of dolmas and red wine, the role of tension, and how they stoke each other's creativity.The Meloy Family HourFor the second half of the show, we turn to a family that packs more talent into a single generation than most of us can manage in an entire family tree: brother and sister Colin and Maile Meloy and Colin's wife, Carson Ellis. They discuss their creative histories, why Colin used to steal Maile's Depeche Mode tapes, what they're working on next (hint: pickpockets in Marseilles!), whether LAIKA is going to make a "Wildwood" animated movie, and more.See the whole rundown here: http://www.opb.org/radio/article/state-of-wonder-nov-21-2015

Today on the show: creativity and geography. Salem Chamber Orchestra Files For BankruptcyLast month, the Salem Chamber Orchestra board announced the season would be cancelled because of financial difficulties. Now it has informed its musicians it will also file for bankruptcy.Frank Almond’s Famous StradivariusViolinist and concertmaster Frank Almond, the man behind the best-selling CD “A Violin’s Life,” will perform on Tuesday in Corvallis at Oregon State University and on Friday in Bend as part of the High Desert Chamber Music’s Spotlight Series.The real star of the show, though, is Almond’s famous, 300-year-old Lipinski Stradivarius. That Almond is playing it at all is a small miracle: a couple of winters ago, thieves tased him and ran off with the instrument, which is valued at $5 million to $6 million.Paige Powell’s Magnificent Ride Through New York CityWhen Portland native Paige Powell worked at “Interview” magazine in New York City in the 80s, she traveled in rarified circles. There were lunches with Bianca Jagger, dinners with David Bowie, late nights with Madonna, and an endless parade of parties with Andy Warhol. And she documented it all with her camera.When Powell moved back to Oregon, she put all the photos and videos in boxes and didn’t look at them for years. Now she’s showing them for the first time in a multimedia installation at the Portland Art Museum called “The Ride.” She gave producer Aaron Scott a tour.Marc Acito’s Broadway Breakthrough, Starring George TakeiThe life of the “Star Trek” actor-turned-civil rights activist is inspiring a new musical on Broadway. “Allegiance” tells the story of George Takei and his family, who were sent to internment camps by the U.S. government during World War II. The New York “Observer” called “Allegiance” “fresh,” “original,” and “passionate.” And the play’s co-writer happens to be someone who worked in Portland for 20 years before returning to New York and Broadway: Marc Acito. We caught up with Acito between the play’s rehearsals.Liminal Wants To Offend You
Liminal Performance Group has a reputation for brassy, experimental, tech-rich theater productions, so we were intrigued when they announced that they were going to re-vamp a seminal anti-theatre work called “Offending the Audience” for “a modern age of pan-surveillance and fractured media self-reflections.”What happens when you slap a pandemonium of surveillance and interactive technology, plus nude interpretive dances, onto the 50 year-old play by Peter Handke? For our ongoing series “What Are You Looking At,” we invited James Engberg and Eric Kilgore to see the show. You might know them from a theater podcast and XRAY-FM show they hosted called “5 Useless Degrees & A Bottle of Scotch.”“Offending the Audience" runs through Nov. 22 at Action/Adventure Theater.Amazon Goes Old School With Brick And MortarLast week, while we were whooping it up at Wordstock, book lovers in Seattle were treated to the latest high-tech, new-fangled idea in e-commerce, cooked up by Amazon: the opening of a store. With books.From Seattle’s KUOW, Kate Walters reports on the retail giant's first permanent brick and mortar retail shop in Seattle. Then we call up Knute Berger, a writer for the blog “Crosscut” and “Seattle Magazine,” who wrote about the opening.Jazz Composer Darrell Grant's Oregon Sojourn
In 2012, pianist, composer and Portland State University professor Darrell Grant started work on a song cycle called “The Territory,” about his relationship with Oregon, its history, and its geography. “The Territory” premiered last January in New York, and it’s now being released on PJCE Records. Grant stopped by KMHD Jazz Radio this week to talk with Matt Fleeger about the genesis of the project in advance of a record release concert on Nov. 14 at the First Unitarian Church.

We're broadcasting live today from the Portland Art Museum for the city's biggest book extravaganza, Wordstock. We're going to be talking with a couple of our literary superheroes.Ursula K. Le GuinThink about the pleasure you felt when a favorite teacher showed you something new. That feeling takes on an entirely new dimension in this year’s revival of Ursula K. Le Guin’s "Steering the Craft." Le Guin, one of Oregon’s most decorated living writers, gave us epic novels that set the template for so much in science fiction and fantasy, plus poetry and nonfiction that changed the way we think. We’ll hear about how she pulls off her best literary tricks, along with her reflections after almost a half century in the industry.Patrick DeWitt and Michael HurleyPatrick DeWitt has a gift for laying out a very complete situation with very few well-chosen words. The Booker Prize Foundation, when awarding him a prize for his 2011 western, "The Sisters Brothers," called DeWitt’s writing “stark, unsettling and with a keen eye for the perversity of human motivation.” Those words also apply to his latest novel, "Undermajordomo Minor." But it’s a completely different story — less "Deadwood," more Magic Mountain. Patrick DeWitt is going to read for us today, accompanied by one of the most singular performers you will meet, today, or ever: Michael Hurley.Patterson Hood and Willy VlautinPatterson Hood and Willy Vlautin are both the voices behind two breakthrough country rock bands — The Drive-by Truckers and Richmond Fontaine. Aside from their Southern-tinged vocals, they also turn to literature as a creative outlet. Hood has published stories for The New Yorker and Vlautin’s new novel “The Free” is his fourth title to date. They join April Baer to talk about the relationship between music and writing along with a look at what’s on their bookshelves.We'll be rolling out more Wordstock interviews in the coming weeks with myriad authors, including Jesse Eisenberg, John Irving, Diana Nyad, Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis, Sandra Cisneros and more. Sign up for the "State of Wonder" podcast to make sure you don't miss them.

For the past two years, Portland's biggest literary festival has been on a bit of a hiatus. But next Saturday, another Portland nonprofit for word nerds is resurrecting Wordstock from the grave.On this episode of State of Wonder, we dip into the archives to revisit interviews with some of our favorite Wordstock authors, a surprising number of which are more than fitting for Halloween. Sunshine GirlIn 2010, a series of videos appeared on YouTube called "The Haunting of Sunshine Girl." They were DIY, Blair Witch-style episodes that followed a charismatic 16-year-old who wanted to prove the existence of ghosts to her mom. With over 180 million views, it became one of the most successful YouTube series in the Northwest. This year, the actor behind it all, Paige McKenzie, released a young adult book and inked a TV deal with the Weinstein Company. Benjamin PercyAuthor Benjamin Percy's writing has racked up a stack of awards — two Pushcart Prizes, an NEA fellowship. Percy has written for GQ, The Paris Review, Tin House and Esquire, where he's a contributing editor. He also has several TV and movie projects in development.Percy's most recent novel, "The Dead Lands" is set in a post-apocalyptic St. Louis where water is rapidly disappearing. A bookish scholar named Lewis Meriwether and a free-spirited alcoholic soldier named Mina Clark form an uneasy partnership to lead a small group west toward Oregon, searching for a new home.Sound familiar?Lidia YuknavitchLidia Yuknavitch found a wide audience with her 2011 memoir, "The Chronology of Water." It's an inventive and harrowing account of her youth, her parent's abuses, her career as a champion swimmer, and her later drug abuse and recovery.Her newest book, “The Small Backs of Children,” imagines a young girl whose life was destroyed by a Balkan war. A photographer snaps an award-winning photo of the girl at the pinnacle of tragedy, and the rest of the story explores lives spiraling outward in the grip of grief and guilt.Carson EllisIf you don’t recognize Carson Ellis’s name, chances are you do know her detailed, fanciful drawings of Victorian soldiers, talking badgers, and storybook towns. You see them on the album covers and posters of the iconic local band The Decemberists, and they lace through the best-selling young adult fantasy series, "Wildwood."In February, she wrote and illustrated her first children’s book, "Home," which is exactly where we visited her for this story. Now, Ellis is wrapping up a new book, and she and her husband, Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, are about to get to work on another illustrated novel.Zach DundasZach Dundas is a longtime Portland journalist and co-editor of "Portland Monthly."He also happens to be a lifelong Sherlock Holmes fan. In his book “The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes,” he set out to ask: what is it about this brainy, unlikely hero that continues to capture our imagination?

Nahshon Rae born Ramon Nahshon Swanston graduated from Nassau Community College in 2013 and is currently enrolled at NYU studying Information Systems Management. 1996-1997 Member of performance poetry group Concrete A.T.U.M. (At The Universal Most). House poet for African poetry theater 1996-1998. Performed in the annual literary spoken word showcase Wordstock 6 and Wordstock 7. Self published book in 1999 titled "In The Black Hole of the Sun". Coproduced WordRock Soulfest the two day music and poetry event. Currently working on a poetry book called "(T.A.O.W.)The Art of Words & Appetizers". Started out as a musician playing saxophone from age 8 later picking up the piano and always deriving joy from singing and making up songs and writing poetry as a defined talent was clear by age 16. Activist, computer technician, father, son, uncle, friend who always has peace and blessings to share.

The low-down on Literary Arts' acquisition of Portland's festival of books.

There may be no author more integral to the Portland literary scene than Kevin Sampsell. Kevin is not only the small press curator and events coordinator at Powell’s books, but he’s also the editor of the Portland Noir fiction anthology, curated this year’s Wordstock literary festival, was in charge of LitHopPDX, Portland’s inaugural literary bar […] The post Kevin Sampsell : This Is Between Us appeared first on Tin House.

Wordstock is a veritable Tour de Strayed this year. One of Portland's most celebrated writers, Cheryl Strayed, will share the stage with fellow book club rock star Ayana Mathis Thursday night for the festival opener, and she'll chair a noon Saturday panel about lyrics and literature. We dug into the Think Out Loud Archive for Dave Miller's conversations with Strayed. Here's a taste of what we're cooking up for this week's show. Watch for the full show Saturday.

Join Wordstock and the Multnomah County Library for a festival “sneak-peek” event at the Central Library.  Portland-based festival authors will read climactic scenes from their newest books; featuring Evan P. Schneider, Jerry McGill and Alexis Smith. Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me by Jerry McGill A Simple Machine, Like the Lever: A Novel by Evan P. Schneider Glaciers: A Novel by Alexis Smith Recorded live at Central Library: October 10, 2012

Join Wordstock founder Larry Colton and friends for new nonfiction readings by Portland's finest writers of the craft. Larry Colton, No Ordinary Joes: The Extraordinary True Story of Four Submariners in War and Love and Life (Crown, 2010) Wendy Burden, Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir (Gotham, 2010) Kevin Sampsell, A Common Pornography: A Memoir (Harper Perennial, 2010) Recorded October 6, 2010