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Think Out Loud

Oregon Public Broadcasting

OPB"s daily conversation covering news, politics, culture and the arts. Hosted By Dave Miller.

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All Episodes

43:47

REBROADCAST: What is synesthesia and how does it work?

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/25

Have you ever heard a color, or seen a piece of music? Maybe you’ve tasted a sunset, or felt a particular smell? If so, you might have synesthesia. It’s a phenomenon in which one or more sensory pathways blend in the brain to create a new experience. Researchers aren’t sure how many people have synesthesia, but estimates range from 1 in 200 to 1 in 20 people. Elizabeth Schwartz is a freelance writer and music historian from Portland; Forest Mountain Lion is a

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17:08

Survivors of wildfires face fraudulent contractors...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/24

After someone survives a disaster like a wildfire or hurricane, they often face daunting decisions while trying to rebuild. A growing number of scammers are targeting people seeking contractors, especially as events like flooding, hurricanes and wildfires happen more often. Naveena Sadasivam is a senior staff writer for Grist. She’s covered disaster scams for the outlet and joins us with details of her reporting and how to avoid a scam. Learn more about how to report

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14:12

Fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/24

White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease that grows on hibernating bats, causing them to wake up in the winter. The bats then burn up their fat stores while searching for food and die as a result. The disease was first detected in the northeastern U.S. in 2006 and has since spread to 40 U.S. states. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recently announced that the fungus that causes the disease has been detected in bat excrement, or guano, from a bat roost at Lewis and

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20:40

Portland State University program trains specialists...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/24

Orientation and mobility specialists help people who are blind or low-vision learn to safely navigate their environments. Portland State University is one of a handful of schools nationwide that train these specialists, and the only school in the Northwest. Research suggests that demand for orientation and mobility specialists will increase as more adults experience age-related vision impairments such as cataracts and macular degeneration. Amy Parker is an associate professor

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22:30

Intel has had a big summer. How will it affect Oregon?

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/23

Last month, President Trump announced that the federal government had obtained a 10% stake in Intel, Oregon’s largest private employer. Nvidia, one of Intel’s biggest competitors, announced last week that it would invest $5 billion in Intel. The company also got a $2 billion investment from SoftBank. Mike Wilkerson, director of Economic Research at ECOnorthwest, joins us to talk about what all this means for Intel and for Oregon.

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19:07

What Clark County’s housing hotline says about area’s...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/23

As recently reported in The Columbian, a housing hotline provided by Council for the Homeless in Clark County gets on average 130 to 180 calls a day. A small team with lived experiences that include homelessness and housing insecurity answer callers’ requests for help seven days a week. They share resources such as shelters with available space for the night or the locations of warming or cooling centers activated during extreme weather events. Some callers may also be

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11:26

City councilor wants to make sidewalk food vending...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/23

Portland City Councilor Mitch Green is introducing a proposal that would make it easier for sidewalk food vendors to operate in the city. The ordinance would remove city requirements that prevent vendors from operating outside similar businesses, such as restaurants, and without getting consent from adjacent property owners to operate on the sidewalk. Green says easing the regulations could give small businesses a boost, but restaurant advocates say sidewalk vendors could hurt

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22:42

Courts put an end to Union County ballot initiative...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/22

Nine years ago, Union County voters overwhelmingly voted to pass Measure 31-89, which limited county commissioners to two terms, or eight years, in office. A whopping 68% of voters supported the change, which came from Union County Citizens for Good Government. Now, more than eight years after the measure took effect, Union County Commissioners will no longer be limited by term limits. In January, the county commissioners unanimously voted to have the measure brought to the

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30:13

Many students enrolled in Oregon colleges and...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/22

During the pandemic, schools from elementary to college took classes online by necessity. But 5 years later, a number of college students are still taking at least some of their classes remotely, even when they have an in-person choice. Online learning can take many forms, and include both synchronous and asynchronous formats. Some Oregon universities offer some degrees entirely online. At community colleges around the country, more than 40% of classes are offered online. We

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37:22

Pioneering Northwest punk band touring for 30th...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/19

The Pacific Northwest had a thriving punk rock scene in the 90s with bands like The Wipers, Dead Moon and Bikini Kill. One of the pioneering bands of that time is Team Dresch, which had its roots in the queercore movement. This year the band has been on a 30 year anniversary tour. Band members Donna Dresch, Kaia Wilson, Jody Bleyle and Marcéo Martinez join us to play some songs and talk about their legacy.

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15:54

Federal cuts hit program for deafblind students in...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/19

More than 100 Oregon students with both vision and hearing impairments are anticipating a decline in services in schools, as the federal government has suddenly cut a five-year grant for the Oregon DeafBlind Project. The program serves DeafBlind Oregonians from birth up until the age of 21 at no cost to families or school districts. The goal of the program is to provide training to local teachers and school staff to support students with DeafBlindness. Lisa McConachie is the

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29:30

New education center at Tryon Creek State Natural...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/18

As first reported by Oregon ArtsWatch, a new education pavilion is opening on Sep. 20 at Tryon Creek State Natural Area located in Southwest Portland, near Lake Oswego. The new education center allows the nonprofit Friends of Tryon Creek to hold community events and educational programming year-round for students to gather for classes, day camps and field trips inside the roughly 660-acre day-use area.Friends of Tryon Creek is also leading the fundraising and construction of

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24:04

West Coast states, including Oregon, form alliance to...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/18

Earlier this month, the governors of Oregon, Washington and California announced they are forming a partnership called the West Coast Health Alliance. The goal of this new partnership is aimed at preserving access to vaccines and will also develop its own immunization guidelines. This comes after the the Trump administration fired the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several scientists resigned from the agency. Now the group is sharing its

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21:21

Oregon tribes maintain early learning programs with...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/17

Oregon’s Tribal Early Learning Hub has faced a number of challenges since its creation. But this summer, state lawmakers passed HB 2815, which would invest more in early learning for Oregon's nine federally recognized tribes. As the school year begins, we hear from Jory Spencer, the early childhood service program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. We also hear from Jennifer Reid, education director for Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of

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15:10

How the Oregon film industry is faring

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/17

Movies like “The Goonies,” “Animal House” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” are among the most famous of those filmed in Oregon, and they're points of pride for Oregon film buffs. Television shows like “Grimm” and “Portlandia” and animation studios like Laika and ShadowMachine burnish the state’s production portfolio. While newer projects continue to shoot in Oregon, the industry was disrupted by the

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16:09

OSU-led project aims to reduce whale entanglements in...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/17

Last year, there were 36 whales entangled with commercial fishing gear off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and California, or found entangled with West Coast fishing gear off the coasts of other countries. That’s the highest number of whale entanglements in the West Coast region since 2018, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. More than eight years ago, scientists at Oregon State University began collaborating with the Oregon Department of

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13:52

How researchers are testing climate resilient...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/16

As Western Oregon faces drier and hotter summers, researchers at Oregon State University Extension are investigating crops that can withstand drought and require less irrigation. Shayan Ghajar is an organic pasture and forages specialist at OSU Extension. He has been researching grasses and legumes that can resist Oregon’s drying climate and still feed people and livestock. Ghajar joins us with details of his research and what it could mean for Oregon farmers.

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12:40

UW scientists discover teeth growing on forehead of...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/16

To say spotted ratfish are unusual is an understatement. Related to sharks, they abound in the inky, dark depths of the Puget Sound. Armed with a venomous fin, they swim gracefully along the sea floor trailing a long, pointed tail half the length of their bodies, with green, glowing eyes hunting for mates or prey to crack open with their beak-like mouths. And if all that wasn’t weird enough, they are now the first animal documented to have teeth growing outside of the jaw,

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25:36

Rural Oregon counties face financial uncertainties as...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/16

For decades, rural Oregon counties that contain large swaths of federally owned forest land have depended on a share of timber revenues from federal logging to fund schools, law enforcement and other essential public services. These payments were originally meant to offset the loss of property tax revenue that counties could not collect on federal lands. But when logging on these lands slowed drastically in the 1990s due to new environmental protections — like the

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13:39

PSU researchers simulate earthquake to test...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/09/15

Last week, a plot of land in North Portland felt a shake, but not one caused by an earthquake, but instead by a machine known as T-Rex. Researchers with Portland State University were simulating a minor quake to test a soil treatment that would fortify the ground from liquefaction. Arash Khosravifar and Diane Moug are both associate professors in Civil and Environmental Engineering at PSU. They both join us to share why their research is important and what they learned from the

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