PODCAST

Portland Mercury

News. Entertainment. Trouble.

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Them Portrays the Everyday in the Midst of War

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/21

Palestinian playwright Samah Sabawi sets her scene in a location both undefined and surreal. by Suzette Smith People in war zones hang out. They smoke; they gossip. They make up funny dances. To forget this is to deny the real people in these dire situations their humanity and to risk seeing them only through the eyes of charity—helpless, desperate, and without pride. Them, the 2019 play by Samah Sabawi, opens

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FREE TICKETS THURSDAY: Enter to Win Free Tix to See...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/21

by Mercury Promotions Who's ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland's best concerts and events—our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst... if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making a small monthly contribution to keep us alive and kickin'!) And oh boy, do we have some fun events

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POP QUIZ PDX: The Beatles in Portland, the Blazers'...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/21

See how well YOU score on this week's super fun trivia quiz! by Wm. Steven Humphrey HEY THERE, SMARTY BUTT! It's time once again to put your brainy-brain to the test with this week's edition of POP QUIZ PDX—our weekly, local, sassy-ass trivia quiz. And this week we'll be testing your knowledge on the Beatles in Portland, the Blazers' potential new owner, and DONALD TRUMP (the blithering idiot who happens to be

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Good Morning, News: Controversial County Employee...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/21

by Wm. Steven Humphrey If you’re reading this, you probably know the value of the Mercury’s news reporting, arts and culture coverage, event calendar, and the bevy of events we host throughout the year. The work we do helps our city shine, but we can’t do it without your support. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there

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I Hate New York (Times)

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/21

by Anonymous They're so stupid. The number one salad of all time is the damn salad you get with Mexican food. Sliced iceberg lettuce, seven small cubes of tomato, and Ranch dressing. Granted, I did not read the "Best Salad of All Time" article, as I am cheap. But I doubt they got it right.

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Goals

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/21

by Anonymous I’d like to go a few days without feeling like I’m just burying more depression on top of piles of depression. I feel weak and unimportant. Like I’m only here to work and be taken for granted. I’m tired of being told I need to communicate just so I can be shut told and punished for trying to speak up.

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County Commissioner’s Staffer Fired After Scrutiny...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/20

Communications manager Vikki Payne left Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards' office in early August, after taking heat for actions involving a PAC she oversaw. by Courtney Vaughn Updated: 10:52 am August 21 A staffer in Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards’ office who ran a controversial political action committee that often skewered county leadership has been fired. Vikki Payne, a communications and

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PHOTO ESSAY: The Need for Speed (and Artistic...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/20

The Portland Adult Soapbox Derby just celebrated its 26th year—and was weirder and wilder than ever. by Corbin Smith For a second, imagine you don’t live here. Deep in the southeastern part of Portland, there's a dormant volcano. Around this volcano, there's a massive forested public park (191 acres), with hiking trails, several reservoirs, a dog park, and a disc golf course. Every summer Portlanders huddle

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Album Review: Zipper’s Turning 50. Have You Heard It?

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/20

Fred Cole’s hard-rocking ’70s slab deserves fresh ears. by Ned Lannamann Even the most dyed-in-the-wool Portland music historian can be forgiven for letting Zipper slip through the cracks. After all, there’s so much of Fred Cole’s music to keep track of (and thank goodness for that!)—from the 1960s psychedelia of the Weeds and the Lollipop Shoppe, to the glorious, shambling rock he made with wife Toody

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Good Morning, News: Radioactive Shrimp, DC Under...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/20

by Taylor Griggs The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good morning, Portland! The weather is going to be nice today, with temperatures projected to top out at around 80 degrees. But don't get too

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With a New Media Conglomerate on the Scene, Oregon’s...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/20

Carpenter Media’s purchase of Pamplin and EO Media Groups has been marked by labor fights, layoffs, and the discontinuation of a Portland print edition in a series of cost-cutting efforts. by Abe Asher When Carpenter Media Group purchased Pamplin Media Group, Austin White, then the Portland Tribune’s managing sports editor, said many newsroom employees had never heard of the company. “We still didn’t really

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Updated: The Willamette River is Swimmable Again,...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/20

The Oregon Health Authority has lifted its advisory against recreating on the river, issued last week due to a toxic algae bloom. by Taylor Griggs Update August 19, 2025: The Oregon Health Authority lifted its advisory warning of a harmful algal bloom on the Willamette River, stating "water monitoring has confirmed that the level of cyanotoxins in Ross Island Lagoon and the Willamette River...are below recreational

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SAVAGE LOVE: Four Options

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/19

Ambiguous desires, nudist camp etiquette, and a new word for straight dudes who like dick. by Dan Savage I’m a 31-year-old heterosexual woman who has been married for nine years. The math: my husband and I got married right after university. Like you, I grew up Catholic, and as a girl/woman, all of the purity culture bullshit was foisted on me. Over the years, I’ve come to reject everything I was brought up to

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Good Morning, News: Portland’s Hefty Festival Fees,...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/19

by Courtney Vaughn The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good morning, Portland! Things are heating up this week. Today, we’re in for a high of 80 degrees, but by this weekend, temps are expected to reach

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Album Review: Holy Sons’ Fourth Entry in the Lost...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/18

Memory-making, music to be nostalgic for in the future. by Jonathan Ludwig "What it means to be [an] amorphous teenager and not know what you're becoming, and that kind of moment of potential magic that I think everybody has." So says Emil Amos, the prolific artist behind Holy Sons, opening the first episode of his podcast, “Drifter's Sympathy.” "I wanted to delve into [the] atmosphere and romance of those times,

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How to Conquer Pickathon (And Still Love It in the End)!

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/18

A guide to seeing every band—plus some—at Portland’s best festival. by Holly Hazelwood To love anything is to be challenged by it. Love shouldn’t hurt you, and at its best, it has the power to push you to your limits in pursuit of growing, changing, and learning something new about yourself. After all, as the late Andrea Gibson once said, “It hurts to become.” Depending on what it is you love,

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The Mercury’s Do This, Do That: August 18–24

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/18

This week: Ethereal indie, cinema with snacks, and more art at Lloyd Center. by Lindsay Costello In the words of contemplative poet Mary Oliver, "August of another summer, and once again/I am drinking the sun." Are you drinking the sun yet? There are a number of methods with which to achieve this, but all of them require going outside. Luckily for you, there are many reasons to leave home this week, from the

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THE TRASH REPORT: This Just In... Paris Isn't Just a...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/18

Let's go, Trash Pandas! It's time to root around in this week's hottest gossip. by Elinor Jones [EDITOR'S NOTE: America's favorite gossip columnist, Elinor Jones, is taking a well-deserved vacation and will return soon with the latest in shit-talking celebrity shenanigans. Until then, please enjoy this classic edition of The Trash Report from December 4, 2023.] Hello, Trash Pandas! I'm Elinor Jones, and this

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Good Morning, News: Trump Threatens Our Sanctuary...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/18

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It's not unreasonable to not text you back

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/17

by Anonymous Why are we expected to constantly be connected? twenty years ago we'd probably talk on the phone every few days and see each other once a week. A hundred and twenty years ago we'd write each other letters and sit in my aunt's foyer while she decides if you can afford my dowry. Today we've seen each other three times, and I think you're cute, I think you're funny, I want to see you again, but you texting me every twenty

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2,288 results