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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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52:28

10 years after the armed occupation of Malheur...

Think Out Loud ·

2026/01/02

On Jan. 2, 2016 a dozen armed men took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon. Today we listen back to a documentary OPB reporters made about the 41 days that followed.

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52:12

Searching for slave shipwrecks and healing

Think Out Loud ·

2026/01/01

In 2016, Tara Roberts was living in Washington D.C. and working at a nonprofit when she visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture and a photograph she saw there changed her life. The image was of Black scuba divers from the group Diving with a Purpose which searches for and documents slave shipwrecks around the world. Roberts quit her job, learned to scuba dive and chronicled the work of these scuba divers. Her book about that journey is “Written

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52:57

Poets Reginald Dwayne Betts and Mai Der Vang in...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/31

What can animals teach us about ourselves? That’s part of what poets Reginald Dwayne Betts and Mai Der Vang are both exploring in their new collections. “Doggerel” is Bett’s collection about the relationship between dogs and their humans. “Primordial” by Der Vang tells of a nearly extinct deer-like creature that lives in the jungles of Laos. They spoke to OPB’s Jenn Chavez at the 2025 Portland Book Festival.

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52:14

Summing up the biggest Pacific Northwest news of 2025

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/30

It was a big year in news for the Pacific Northwest. The president attempted to send the National Guard into Portland, plans for a potential ICE facility caused unrest in Newport, and communities across the region saw an uptick in aggressive immigration enforcement activity.Meanwhile, a significant road funding bill died — then was resurrected — in the Oregon Legislature. And the deadline for Mayor Keith Wilson’s pledge to end unsheltered homelessness in

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46:52

Inside ICE Detention in Tacoma

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/29

The immigration detention center in Tacoma, WA is one of the largest detention centers in the country. This prison-like facility has rapidly filled to capacity as a new era of ICE enforcement gains steam and brings profound changes for people locked inside detention — many who are longtime residents of Oregon and Washington. Today we bring you a documentary from our partners at KUOW Public Radio in Seattle called “Inside ICE Detention” which opens a window into

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52:05

Authors Kristen Arnett and Jess Walter at the...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/26

Sometimes laughter can be the best way to make it through difficult times. And a good joke can go a long way to connecting with another person, no matter how different they are. Those are themes in the two new books “Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One” by Kristen Arnett and “So Far Gone” by Jess Walter. OPB’s Jess Hazel talked to Walter and Arnett about their books at the 2025 Portland Book Festival.

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52:29

Leni Zumas and Cleyvis Natera in conversation at the...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/25

What does survival look like if it comes at the expense of freedom? How can we build safe places in an increasingly unstable world? These questions are at the heart of two new books by authors Leni Zumas and Cleyvis Natera. Zumas’s book “Wolf Bells” tells the story of an intergenerational group home determined to make a space for people who fall through capitalism’s cracks. Natera’s book “The Grand Paloma Resort” tells the story of staff

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52:25

Author Emma Donoghue talks about her novel 'The Paris...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/24

Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue is perhaps best known for her novel “Room,” told from the perspective of a 5-year-old boy held captive with his mother. Most of Donoghue’s work, however, is rooted in historical fiction. She frequently writes about characters and perspectives that are often erased from history. Her latest novel, “The Paris Express,” tells the story of a fateful disaster on a French train in 1895. Donoghue spoke to OPB’s

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52:34

Owyhee Canyonlands protection effort remains in limbo

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/23

The Owyhee Canyonlands area encompasses millions of acres along the Owyhee River on the borders of Oregon, Idaho and Nevada. The land is rugged and remote and beautiful, and efforts to to protect it in some way have dragged out for years. There were pushes for the last two Democratic presidents to designate the area a national monument and most recently, a bill to protect over 1 million acres of the land as wilderness failed in Congress at the end of last year. We traveled to

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52:03

Portland author's new book celebrates threatened...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/22

Ponderosa pine trees dominate parts of Eastern Oregon and Washington and have long been an icon of the American West, but in the past decade more than two hundred million ponderosa have died. Particularly in the Southwest, scientists estimate that by mid-century less than 5% of the ponderosa trees may remain. Portland author Gary Ferguson explores the history and the future of the ponderosa forests of the Southwest in his newest book, “The Twilight Forest.”

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52:16

The best ‘Think Out Loud’ stories of 2025

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/19

As 2025 comes to a close, the staff of OPB's "Think Out Loud" look back on some of their favorite conversations from the past year. Producers Sage Van Wing, Gemma DiCarlo, Rolie Hernandez, Sheraz Sadiq, Riley Martinez and Malya Fass join host Dave Miller in conversation.

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13:50

M110 implementation struggled due to lack of...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/18

A new audit from the Secretary of State found that the implementation of Measure 110, the drug discrimination ballot initiative, faced a number of challenges with unclear results. The audit notes that despite the roughly $800 million dedicated to programs aimed at helping in-recovery and substance-use treatment, the outcomes — including the number of people served — are unclear. Beyond that, the audit also says frequent revisions “undermined confidence in the

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19:50

Policy expert, district superintendent weigh in on...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/18

In 2023, Oregon lawmakers passed HB 3198, which created the Early Literacy Success Initiative, an effort to address the state’s dismal reading test scores. The bill aimed to more fully adopt a phonics-based teaching approach — often referred to as "the science of reading" — in schools across the state. Education experts broadly agree this approach is the best way to teach kids to read. But the question became: How will the state hold school systems accountable

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18:33

Beaverton schools official on how district is...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/18

Last Monday, hundreds of students in Beaverton, Forest Grove and Hillsboro walked out of classes to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in their communities in Washington County.The Beaverton School District has made available resources to assist immigrant and refugee students and their families, including reminders of its online school option and partnerships with nonprofits like the Latino Network that provide “Know Your Rights” workshops at

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18:46

University of Oregon psychologists share tips for...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/17

It’s that time of year when many of us are getting ready to celebrate the holidays, whether that’s finalizing travel plans, preparing to host visitors or buying last minute gifts. But the holidays can also stir up stress, from parents struggling to maintain some semblance of routine for kids out of school to intergenerational conflicts over expectations about traditions to uphold. And for some immigrant families, a season that’s supposed to be filled with joy

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18:12

Coffin Butte Landfill in Benton County inches toward...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/17

The Coffin Butte Landfill, located about 10 miles north of Corvallis, takes in trash from around two dozen Oregon counties and accepts more than a million tons of waste every year. But its shelf life is expiring, and Republic Services, the company that owns and operates the landfill, is trying to expand it.Now, it’s one step closer. Last month, Republic won Benton County’s approval for a permit that greenlights the expansion, so long as Republic complies with

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15:21

How federal funding cuts are impacting conservation...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/17

This fall, the U.S. Department of the Interior cancelled nearly 80 grants to organizations that focus on habitat restoration, species conservation and other ecological work. According to a social media post from the Department of Government Efficiency, the cuts were made because the organizations supported diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. More than a third of the grants cancelled were awarded to the Institute for Applied Ecology, based in Corvallis. The nonprofit

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19:41

Portland band Karaoke from Hell has been backing up...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/16

If you’ve always dreamed of singing in a band, a karaoke night might scratch the itch. But on Monday nights in Portland, you can actually sing karaoke with a live band at Dante’s pub. Karaoke from Hell is now a 33-year-old tradition featured in a new documentary of the same name. The documentary will be screened on Wednesday, Dec. 17th at the Star Theater in Portland. We talk to band members Dawn Panttaja and Brian Saunders, along with co-director of the documentary

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21:37

University of Oregon Researcher shares advice on...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/16

As social media and AI advance, it can be hard to know how to best help kids navigate the ever-changing digital landscape and keep them safe online. Jen Doty, an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services at the University of Oregon, has studied cyberbullying since 2013 and has recently developed a program for middle school students to manage their social media and internet use. She joins us with her guide to conversations about internet

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11:14

Portland may limit fuel storage on the Willamette

Think Out Loud ·

2025/12/16

More than 90% of all liquid fuel in Oregon is stored along a 6 mile stretch of the Willamette River just north of downtown Portland known as the Critical Energy Infrastructure hub. Studies have shown that a major earthquake could cause the release of as much toxic liquid as the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with oil reaching all the way to the mouth of the Columbia River. This fall, the city released a draft proposal to reduce the fuel stored at the site and require seismic

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