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OPB's daily conversation covering news, politics, culture and the arts. Hosted By Dave Miller.
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This week the board of Prosper Portland votes to finalize a settlement for more than 20 people whose homes and businesses were destroyed in the name of urban renewal from the 1950s through the ’70s. The group of Black Portlanders fought for years to get to this point, and eventually filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the city of Portland, Emanuel Legacy Medical Center and Prosper Portland conspired to destroy a previously thriving Black neighborhood. The original financial settlement proposed to the Portland city council was $2 million. After testimony from a dozen community members recently, all 12 Portland city councilors voted to increase the amount to $8.5 million. As part of the settlement, the lawsuit will be dismissed, and the descendants will get financial and land retribution, in addition to other terms. We hear from plaintiffs Donna Marshall and Byrd, who led the research effort that culminated in this settlement, and from their lawyer Ed Johnson.
Last week, the iconic American documentary filmmaker Ken Burns released his latest series: a six part, 12 hour film on the American revolution. The film follows dozens of figures from various backgrounds, allowing viewers to experience the war through the memories of the men and women who lived through it. Earlier this year, Burns was in Portland for a special sneak preview of the film. We listen back to his conversation with Geoff Norcross in front of an audience at Revolution Hall.
Indigenous author, botanist and professor Robin Wall Kimmerer is best known for her book “Braiding Sweetgrass,” which was published in 2013 and is about the reciprocal relationships between humans and the land. Her first book, “Gathering Moss,” was published a decade earlier by Oregon State University Press. We spoke to Kimmerer on May 17, 2024 when she was in Corvallis to accept Oregon State University’s 2024 Stone Award for Literary Achievement and give a lecture on campus.
Some might argue that pie is the quintessential American dessert. Certainly Stacey Mei Yan Fong makes that argument in her cookbook. Fong’s “50 pies, 50 states” is an “immigrant’s love letter” to this country as told through pie. OPB’s Crystal Ligori talked to Fong at the 2023 Portland Book Festival.
The U.S. Constitution likely would not have been ratified in 1788 without Article 5, which allowed for amendment. Many of the original founders championed the idea that the document would need to change as the country changed. As historian Jill Lepore points out in her newest book most of the 27 amendments to the constitution have happened just after times of war or conflict, and after 33 years without an amendment, we may be headed that way again. OPB’s Geoff Norcross speaks to Lepore in front of an audience at the 2025 Portland Book Festival about “We the People: A history of the U.S. Constitution.”
Stacey Abrams has published more than a dozen books over the last 25 years. Those include thrillers, romance novels, children’s books and political memoirs and manifestos. That would be a full career for most people, but Stacey Abrams seems to have more energy than most people.
While she has always been a writer, she has also been a tax attorney, a Georgia state lawmaker, the minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and the first Black woman in U.S. history to become the gubernatorial nominee of a major political party.
Abrams has launched multiple nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies, with a longstanding focus on voter registration and voter’s rights. Her new book is “Coded Justice.” She spoke with “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller in front of an audience at the 2025 Portland Book Festival.
A new report from Central City Concern highlights concerns around the “housing first” model the Homeless Services Department uses for prioritizing who gets housing. The nonprofit notes that affordable housing providers have faced a number of challenges that are unsustainable and is pushing to add another model to the mix: engaged social housing. Andy Mendenhall is the CEO and president of Central City Concern. He joins us to share more on this report. Multnomah County Commissioner Shannon Singleton also joins us to share her response.
Last week, the Vancouver City Council unanimously adopted a new flag for the city. The flag will be hoisted above city hall for the first time during a flag-raising ceremony on Nov. 28.
The new flag is a culmination of a months-long process that launched this spring to replace the city’s old flag that has flown for more than three decades, but one that some residents struggled to identify in a video the city released announcing the flag design competition. Nearly 140 entries were submitted for the competition using guidelines provided by the city that were informed by the North American Vexillological Association’s flag design principles.
For the winning design, the judges on Vancouver’s flag selection committee chose to combine elements from two of the finalists’ entries. The new flag features a white, V-shaped band designed by Nathan Hunter separating fields of green and blue that evoke the city and region’s natural landscape. There’s also an abstract object created by Brooke Nugent that can symbolize Fort Vancouver, other local landmarks or an arrow pointing to the city’s future.
Nugent and Hunter join us, along with city of Vancouver Communications Director Laura Shepard, to discuss the city’s new flag.
Oregon consistently ranks near the bottom of the country in terms of access to treatment for substance use disorders. Portland-based Boulder Care seeks to address that by providing telehealth and medically assisted treatment options. The company launched in 2017 and has been based in Portland since 2019. Its aim is to normalize this kind of treatment and make it available in the first days or hours when a person with substance use disorder decides they want to get help. Dr. Honora Englander, who directs the Improving Addiction Care Team (IMPACT) at Oregon Health and Science University, says access to telehealth and medication for opioid use disorder is an important part of addressing the huge and multifaceted problem of substance use disorder. Englander and Strong both participated in the industry-wide AMERSA conference held in Portland last week, and they join us in studio to discuss more about evidence-based approaches to in-patient and out-patient care for people dealing with addiction.
Since late August, Oregon has been facing a $373 million budget deficit. But now, the state’s latest economic forecast shows Oregon may only be about $63 million in the hole. A brightening picture for the nation’s economy and some higher-than-expected corporate tax revenues for the state helped close the gap. But that doesn’t tell us much about the health of Oregon’s economy, as the recent government shutdown hampered the collection and release of important economic data. Oregon state economist Carl Riccadonna joins us to make sense of the latest forecast.
The very first Voices Rock choir started in Denver in 2014 by a music teacher who heard from her students’ parents and her own friends that they wished they had some kind of musical outlet. Jill Teas obliged with a small group of adults who met for several weeks, rehearsing popular songs and performing them at local bars. But the no-audition “come one, come all” ethos of the choir quickly spread to other Colorado cities. And after a few years, Teas chose to quit her teaching job to run the Voices Rock organization full time. This year, three Northwest cities began their own Voice Rock chapters: Seattle, Tacoma and Portland. We hear from the Voices Rock founder about the idea behind the choir — and from two Portland participants, director Caley Barstow and soloist Courtney Upton, about what they get out of it.
Grandparents for Vaccines is a nationwide nonprofit that aims to educate the current generation of parents about vaccine-preventable diseases. Launched in September, the group has produced videos of grandparents describing what it was like to endure or witness their friends, classmates and relatives battle illnesses such as polio, measles and pertussis before vaccines for them existed.
The group’s launch comes amid rising vaccine skepticism fueled by misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post showed that 1 in 6 parents in the US have delayed or skipped vaccines for their children. Teri Mills is a founding member of Grandparents for Vaccines and a retired public health nurse who was named "Oregon Nurse of the Year" in 2019 by the Oregon Nurse Foundation. She joins us along with Sheri Schouten, a retired public health nurse and former Oregon state lawmaker, to talk about their work with Grandparents for Vaccines.
Over the past decade, the Oregon Department of Justice has tried shifting blame to parents in wrongful death and negligence claims against the Department of Human Services , new reporting from The Oregonian/OregonLive shows. The publication found 10 cases where this was happening. But in half of those, parents were not accused of any crimes yet were still sued by the state . Sami Edge is the assistant breaking news editor for the Oregonian. She joins us to share more on why this is happening and what it means for parents.
It's not the first time that the Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative has performed at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, the state’s only women’s prison. But the November performances of the Greek tragedy “Elektra” does mark the first time that the play has been selected and performed by the women in custody themselves. Patrick Walsh is the executive artistic director of the Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative. He and production manager Lyndsay Hogland co-facilitated the theatre project, which began in March. After the women signed up for the theatre program, they were given four classic plays to consider: “Elektra,” “Three Sisters,” “Our Town” and “Measure for Measure.” After reading and discussing all the plays over many weeks, the women finally chose “Elektra” and began rehearsals in May. The show opened on Friday, Nov. 14, with one other public performance on Nov. 21, as well as two separate shows for the women in custody. We’re joined by Walsh and Hogland to learn more about the impact of the program and performances, along with two of the actors at Coffee Creek: Nistasha Tate plays Elektra, and Fahlynn Nix is the assistant stage manager and also plays the part of Aegisthus.
Every year the Heinz Family Foundation awards $250,000 to six “changemakers” whose work transforms lives and communities. This year Portland artist Marie Watt is one of the winners. Watt is a multidisciplinary artist and a citizen of the Seneca Nation, Turtle Clan, with German-Scot ancestry. We talk to Watt about her work, the award and the project she’s working on now in neon.
The Newport Fishermen’s Wives, a nonprofit organization focusing on building community and improving safety in the local fishing industry, faced a long legal battle in 2013 to ensure Newport’s Coast Guard helicopter would stay in the coastal town. Recently, the helicopter was removed from Newport and relocated to North Bend, with no public warning or preliminary risk assessments.
Its relocation is linked to the rumors of a possible new ICE facility in the coastal town, along with job postings for ICE detention officers in Newport and a federal contractor looking to lease space at the Newport Municipal Airport. At a city council meeting last Wednesday, residents raised concerns about the possible ICE facility and raised alarm about the safety of fishermen prior to crabbing season on the Oregon coast. Taunette Dixon of the Newport Fishermen’s Wives joins us to discuss the helicopter’s removal.
Mental health conditions, including substance use disorder, caused more pregnancy-related deaths in Oregon between 2018 and 2021 than any other factor. That’s according to the state’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, which assesses deaths that occur during pregnancy, childbirth and the first year postpartum. As reported in InvestigateWest, nearly all of the deaths attributed to mental health conditions were deemed potentially preventable by the committee. InvestigateWest reporter Kaylee Tornay joins us with more details.
The Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice began more than 20 years ago as an extension of the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition. Its shorthand is IMIrJ (pronounced “emerge”) with the r standing for refugee. IMIrJ has become an independent nonprofit, drawing “faith communities and people of conscience” into the effort to protect the civil rights and well-being of immigrant families. Members and volunteers provide accompaniment for immigrants to appointments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, financial support and other resources to immigrants. We talk with IMIrJ organizer and Methodist pastor Keren Rodriguez and IMIrJ board member Bob Brown, who is a long time member of Havurah Shalom, about how their work is going now as the Trump administration pursues mass deportation.
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended last Wednesday, but many federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are still waiting to receive full backpay. The government shutdown left roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers without pay for 43 days, leading many to take on second jobs. Many say the shortages during the government shutdown only amplified current issues caused by a long-term staffing shortage. Lyle Clingman, a retired air traffic controller from Eugene, joins us to share more about the long-term staffing shortage as well as the repercussions air traffic controllers faced during the recent government shutdown.
Earlier this month, Liv Rainey-Smith became the first Oregonian to win a World Fantasy Award for “Best Artist.” Rainey-Smith now joins a pantheon of World Fantasy Award-winning writers and visual artists that includes Stephen King, Edward Gorey and fellow Oregonian Ursula K. LeGuin.
Oregon ArtsWatch recently profiled Rainey-Smith, whose achievement is all the more notable for the thousand-year-old artistic craft the Portlander specializes in. Rainey-Smith uses blocks of wood that she carves by hand, coats in ink, covers with paper and then rolls through an etching press to make prints featuring mythological creatures or otherworldly scenes laden with skulls, ravens and other macabre symbolism.
Six of her original woodcut prints and descriptions she wrote for them are included in “The Dagon Collection,” an anthology published last year that was nominated for a 2025 World Fantasy Award and inspired by a short story from pioneering horror and fantasy writer H.P. Lovecraft. Rainey-Smith talks to us about her award-winning art and the childhood health struggles she overcame that inform and inspire her work.
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I was impressed by Ms. Hardesty. She had lots of information and data and really seems to know her stuff. The others seemed light on data and heavy on the kind of phrases that don't contain any specifics about policy or plans, unfortunately. Dave Miller, as usual, is a fantastic interviewer. He never fails to ask what I would want to ask. Great episode.
Dave Miller (Interviewer): Let me make sure that we understand the numbers correctly. What I had understood from reporting- Chuck Bennett (the CITY MAYOR WHO AGREED TO THIS INTERVIEW): Well that may be the mistake right there haha Dave Miller: That's not a fair way to talk about the broad world of journalism.
Is this episode the "extended version"? If not where can I find the extended version?
great story Amelia! I can really tell how much work you put into this story