PODCAST

Think Out Loud

Oregon Public Broadcasting

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

news

All Episodes

12:38

New law to bring climate education to classrooms...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/24

Oregon lawmakers recently passed a bill requiring climate change education to be integrated into classrooms across the state. The legislation directs the state board of education to integrate climate science — including causes, impacts, and strategies for adaptation — in core subjects like science, history, health, and civics. The goal is to equip students with accurate information and age-appropriate tools to understand and respond to the climate crisis. Supporters

en-us

11:08

Mass Intel layoffs will hit Oregon economy hard

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/24

Earlier this month the semiconductor chip maker Intel announced it would layoff nearly 2,400 workers in Washington County - amounting to about 10% of its overall workforce. Nonetheless, the company remains one of Oregon’s largest private employers, and the ripple effects of its contraction will be felt more broadly throughout the state economy. OPB business reporter Kyra Buckley has been following this story, and she joins us to bring us the latest.

en-us

14:08

Clatsop County considers program to convert vacant...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/23

Clatsop County is exploring a pilot program that would convert vacation homes that are often left vacant into long-term rentals for people who work in the county. As reported in the Daily Astorian, the program would offer cash incentives for property owners to lease out their homes for a year or more. The county has applied for a grant to fund the two-year pilot, but has yet to receive those dollars.Clatsop County housing manager Elissa Gertler joins us to talk about the

en-us

18:04

What a housing accountability office means for Oregon

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/23

Gov. Tina Kotek has aimed for a goal of 36,000 homes being built a year. As part of her housing development plans, Kotek’s office announced the launch of the Housing Accountability and Production Office, a joint office between the Department of Land Conservation and Development and the Building Codes Division. The agency will provide technical assistance and enforce state housing production laws. Joel Madsen and Tony Rocco, the office's joint managers, join us with more

en-us

11:40

Gov. Tina Kotek calls for special session, delays...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/23

Earlier this month the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it would need to lay off nearly 500 workers. This came after lawmakers failed to pass a transportation package to help boost the budget of the agency responsible for road maintenance around the state. Now, Gov. Tina Kotek has announced a special session will be held in late August with the hopes of finding the funds for the state’s transportation agency and has also shared she will delay impending

en-us

15:37

How Oregon’s forests are tied to the Roadless Rule

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/22

The Roadless Rule is a U.S. Forest Service regulation that protects inventoried roadless areas from certain timber activities and construction within the national forest system, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The rule has been in effect since 2001, but U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced recently the Trump administration plans to rescind the rule. We learn more about how the regulation affects Oregon and its forests from Travis Joseph, the

en-us

11:02

OSU researchers are working to make wood stoves burn...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/22

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are more than 10 million wood-burning stoves in homes across the U.S., or roughly one for every 35 people. The smoke from those stoves can emit harmful particle pollution, which has been linked to respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease and a host of other health issues. Researchers at Oregon State University recently tested residential wood stove emissions in rural Oregon in an effort to understand how the stoves perform

en-us

17:02

Oregon wildfire season prompts state emergency...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/22

Last week, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency due to “the imminent and ongoing threat of wildfire.” The emergency declaration will last until the end of the year. It directs the Office of Emergency Management to coordinate personnel, equipment and resources in collaboration with the State Fire Marshal and Oregon Department of Forestry to respond to the wildfires that have burned more than 100,000 acres in the state so far. The Oregon National Guard

en-us

9:08

Bend Bulletin newspaper union fights Carpenter Media...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/21

The union that represents reporters at Central Oregon’s 122-year-old newspaper is negotiating its first contract with the corporation that bought the outlet last fall. Carpenter Media Group has already laid off nonunion workers at the Bulletin, like the paper’s copy editor, but the Central Oregon NewsGuild says that a contract - and the worker protections it would include - must be in place before any union layoffs could be made. The company has acquired more than 30

en-us

23:20

Washington County revises DEI policies for new...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/21

Washington County is revising how it implements diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in order to comply with new federal grant requirements tied to executive orders from President Trump. Local officials say the move is necessary to protect access to $135 million in federal funding that supports housing, infrastructure, and critical services for thousands of low-income residents in the county.While the move has drawn criticism from community members who worry it signals a

en-us

11:21

Budget airline to end service at Salem airport next...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/21

Last week, Avelo Airlines announced it would end service out of the Salem-Willamette Valley Airport on Aug. 10. Avelo has been operating out of Salem as the only airline carrier servicing the airport since October 2023 with weekly flights to Burbank and Las Vegas. The budget airline also said it plans to pull out of other West Coast markets, including Eugene in December, when it aims to close its base in Burbank. Avelo’s looming departure from Salem and other markets

en-us

31:59

Portland painter Arvie Smith on his Guggenheim...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/18

Portland artist Arvie Smith is known for colorful, larger-than-life oil paintings that explore oppression and injustice against Black Americans through symbolism and visual tropes. He’s also a professor emeritus at Pacific Northwest College of Art after a 35-year tenure. His murals can be seen on buildings in North Portland and at the Donald E. Long Juvenile Center, where he spent time teaching art to incarcerated youth.Despite being in his mid-80s, Smith is far from

en-us

21:13

Hanford-area native and former Washington Poet...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/18

Seattle poet Kathleen Flenniken grew up in Richland and worked as a civil engineer at Hanford in the 1980s. She served as Washington State Poet Laureate from 2012-2014. In her first year as poet laureate, she published a collection called Plume, which deals directly with how her Hanford area upbringing influenced her. The book explores the history of the site, the death of her best friend's father from a radiation illness, and her childhood in "Atomic City.” Flenniken sits

en-us

14:41

Food Court 5000 brings 1980s aerobic craze to mall...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/17

Krista Catwood, also known by the stage name Vera Mysteria, can be found at the Lloyd Center mall every Sunday leading Portlanders in a group workout. But the exercises aren’t done on machines and do not take place in a retail space — instead, they’re done throughout the entire mall. As first reported in the Oregonian, Catwood, armed with a neon track suit and a Bluetooth speaker, leads a group ranging from ages 8 to 80 on a power walk throughout the mall with

en-us

13:22

MXPDX festival brings together Oregon and Mexico...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/17

This weekend marks the first MXPDX: Mexico/Oregon Collaboration Festival of Culture and Cerveza. The festival brings together 13 brewers from Oregon and 13 brewers from Mexico to collaborate on ciders and beers of their own creation using Mexican ingredients to showcase both regions working together. It is the newest creation from Beer Friends, the nonprofit behind Fuji to Hood. Ezra Johnson-Greenough is one of the organizers for the festival. Ricardo Antunez is the owner of

en-us

24:40

Oregon crime victims services organizations face deep...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/17

About 150 organizations that support Oregon crime victims have lost much of their federal funding. With more than $18 million in cuts and no additional state funds, nonprofits and government programs that serve survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and child abuse are preparing to lay off staff and severely reduce the support they provide to victims — both in and out of court.Melissa Erlbaum is the executive director of Clackamas Women’s

en-us

15:40

Athletes share experience at Special Olympics Oregon

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/16

Over the weekend, Special Olympics Oregon hosted its summer games in Corvallis. Athletes with intellectual disabilities compete in various events for the season, including track & field, golf and softball and bocce, Rachel Parsons is an athlete that competed in bocce. Ben Fields is an athlete who competed in softball. They both join us to share how this weekend went and why they compete.

en-us

16:07

Advocates share concerns about potential small scale...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/16

Amazon has said they want to build small scale nuclear reactors along the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest to power AI data centers. Yesterday we heard from Oregon’s NuScale Power, which has achieved regulatory approval for their small scale nuclear reactor design. Today we hear from Kelly Campbell, policy director for Columbia Riverkeeper, about her organization's concerns about using this kind of energy in the Pacific Northwest.

en-us

20:17

Oregon’s Planned Parenthood clinics anticipate 70...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/16

As soon as President Trump signed his tax-cut and spending package into law on July 4, one of the ways it impacted Oregon was to immediately make all Planned Parenthood clinics ineligible to receive Medicaid reimbursement for one year. In Oregon, those reimbursements make up approximately 70% of budgets. That is, if they continued to perform abortions - even for the approximately 90 percent of health care services that are not abortion related. Planned Parenthood sued the Trump

en-us

21:05

Beaverton’s Spirit of Grace church co-led by newly...

Think Out Loud ·

2025/07/15

At a glance, Spirit of Grace church in Beaverton might appear to be just one of many progressive Protestant churches, not unusual in the Pacific Northwest. Its website and featured introduction video emphasizes that all are welcome, with an emphasis on LGBTQ people of faith who may not have been welcomed in other religious faiths - and even people who may be questioning their beliefs. But read the fine print or attend a service and both the Catholic and Lutheran theology that

en-us

1,602 results

Think Out Loud

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Expres Ráno

Expres FM

PBS News Hour - Full Show

PBS News

CD Voice

China Daily

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report

Noa Levi

Jeffrey Epstein: The Coverup Chronicles

Bobby Capucci