Think Out Loud

Mar 07 2025 1121 ep. 21 mins 1.5k

Think Out Loud Podcast artwork

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

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Portland painter Arvie Smith on his Guggenheim Fellowship work

Mar 07 2025 22 mins

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

Talk A Mile pairs police officers with students to foster connection and community

Mar 07 2025 22 mins

One of the many training programs the Portland Police Bureau requires before officers go out into communities on their own is a simple exercise called Talk A Mile. Police officers are paired with high school students of color and sent off to walk around the track together with four different topics on a note card for each of the four laps in a mile. Justin and Erika Fogarty started

Washington lawmakers consider bill that would strengthen youth labor laws

Mar 07 2025 8 mins

Lawmakers in Olympia are considering a proposal that would create tougher regulations around youth labor in Washington. HB 1644 would set minimum penalties for youth labor violations and prohibit companies with multiple serious safety violations from hiring minors. In 2023, a Washington teen lost both of his legs working on a construction site through a school program. An inv

A look at the key education bills in the Oregon Legislature

Mar 06 2025 12 mins

Oregon lawmakers are once again debating how best to allocate education funding to improve attendance, graduation rates, test scores and other key metrics of success. Meanwhile, parents and educators are pushing to remove restrictions on the amount of money school districts can receive for students with special needs. Lawmakers are also considering a bill that nearly passed last ye

Gresham adopts new gun violence prevention initiative

Mar 06 2025 17 mins

There were two gun-related homicides in Gresham in January 2025. That's two too many, says Gresham Police Chief Travis Gullberg. Gullberg is one of the people involved in the city’s new Ceasefire initiative, which brings together community-based organizations, city leadership, law enforcement and public health experts to reduce gun violence through focused outreach. Gullberg

A look at Clark County Jail’s opioid treatment program

Mar 06 2025 21 mins

Clark County Jail in Vancouver recently became the first jail in Washington state licensed to provide methadone on-site through a treatment program for opioid use disorder. A team of specialists at the jail also administer naltrexone, another medication approved by the FDA to manage withdrawal symptoms and the cravings associated with drugs like fentanyl. More than half of th

Aurora Chorus in Portland marks International Women’s Day with special concert

Mar 05 2025 20 mins

Portland’s Aurora Chorus is an inclusive, non-audition women’s chorus that formed in 1992 with the goal of elevating women’s voices through the art of choral music. Led for much of its history by renowned composer and conductor Joan Szymko , the chorus also emphasizes female conductors and composers as well. Rebecca Parsons has directed the chorus for the last few

Oregon libraries see growing demand for digital books

Mar 05 2025 21 mins

Libraries worldwide broke digital lending records last year as Overdrive, the company that operates Libby and Sora, recently reported seeing more than 739 million borrows of audiobooks, e-books and digital magazines — a 17% increase from 2023. But while many library card holders may be enjoying the latest bestseller at no cost, the bill public libraries pay to provide this se

How National Weather Service layoffs could affect ship passages in Oregon

Mar 05 2025 11 mins

Federal DOGE layoffs and hiring freezes continue to hit Oregon as local offices of the National Weather Service are down to about 30% to 40% of its workforce, the Statesman Journal reports. The NWS plays a critical role in monitoring, predicting and delivering expected weather conditions, as well as issuing warnings about potential weather-related dangers. The NWS isn’t just

Oregon’s bipartisan arts caucus wants structural changes and more money for public art

Mar 04 2025 13 mins

The bipartisan Arts and Culture Caucus in the Oregon legislatures has a slate of bills it’s pushing for this session. One proposal would merge two major arts funding organizations: The Oregon Arts Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust. Another bill would help owners of historic buildings by lowering their assessed tax, while others would allocate funds for grants to