Think Out Loud

Feb 03 2025 1057 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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Oregon band BendreTheGiant releases new EP

Feb 03 2025 31 mins

The MusicOregon Echo Fund provides funding to musicians to support career development, allowing artists to fund non-performance projects like recording in a studio or filming a music video. BendretheGiant, a Portland-based ensemble, has been working on recording music with help from the fund. The group’s new EP, "Wading In The Deep End" will be released on March 7. Bend

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson on ending unsheltered homelessness and protecting residents from federal overreach

Feb 03 2025 23 mins

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson campaigned on ending unsheltered homelessness in the city. He recently released a detailed “blueprint” for achieving that goal, adding thousands of shelter beds in the coming year. The city is also facing a $100 million budget shortfall. Wilson joins us to share his thoughts on the budget crunch, the details of the expanded shelter capacity,

Vancouver nonprofit plans to open new transitional housing for formerly incarcerated people

Jan 31 2025 26 mins

Lester Griffin launched The Foundation nearly two years ago in response to his own experiences with the criminal justice system and the support he wished he had as a youth growing up in Vancouver. The nonprofit provides resources for at-risk teens and young adults such as job development skills, mentorship and community service opportunities. It also helps adults recently released

Oregon residents face home insurance challenges

Jan 31 2025 26 mins

Insurers across the country are leaving high-risk areas that are affected by disasters like wildfires. Some Oregonians are experiencing insurance rate increases and are struggling with a shifting insurance market. In Deschutes County, homeowners in fire-prone areas are facing higher insurance premiums, according to The Source Weekly. And residents in Southern Oregon are

REBROADCAST: Author Amy Tan finds drama in her backyard

Jan 30 2025 51 mins

Amy Tan might be best known for her fiction, including "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Kitchen God’s Wife," but her latest book takes its drama from her backyard bird feeder. In 2019, Tan began drawing birds she saw in nature, particularly the ones who visited her tree-filled backyard in Northern California. The result is a book of reflections, observations, detailed drawings an

Oregon labor bureau faces massive backlog of wage claims

Jan 29 2025 21 mins

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries is facing a massive backlog of wage theft complaints. According to its annual report, the agency saw a 208% increase in wage claims from 2020 to 2024. In response, the agency implemented an income threshold for investigations, meaning investigators are not following up on any claims from workers who make more than $25.34 an hour. BOLI offic

Oregon residents are getting older. How can the state prepare?

Jan 29 2025 17 mins

By 2040 about 78 million Americans will be 65 or older, according to the Administration on Aging. In Oregon, lower birth rates combined with longer life expectancies means that Oregon’s population is rapidly growing older. The shift in population affects sectors like healthcare and affordable housing. AGE+ is a nonprofit that advocates for older Oregonians. It’s pushing

Advocates push to expand Oregon program that pays parent caregivers of children with severe disabilities

Jan 29 2025 14 mins

Oregon launched a program last summer to pay parents who care for their children with severe disabilities or medical needs. Advocates pushed for the Children’s Extraordinary Needs waiver after a similar COVID-era program ended in 2023. But parents say the state program is underfunded and falling short of its promise. It can only serve a tenth of the families that qualif

OHSU Alzheimer's researcher on best practices for preventing dementia

Jan 28 2025 26 mins

A new study made national headlines, estimating that in the next three decades, around 42% of adults over the age of 55 will develop dementia. Allison Lindauer is an associate professor of neurology at the Oregon Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at OHSU. She joins us to share what we know about dementia and what people can do to prevent it.

Local newspaper in Clackamas County espouses anti-LGBTQ+ views

Jan 28 2025 10 mins

Around 14,000 subscribers read the locally-owned community newspaper Hoodview News every month. Along with community events, feel-good stories about the East County area and advertisements, readers find columns that espouse and encourage a transphobic worldview. Hoodview News is published by longtime Oregon political operative Mike Wiley — perhaps best known for his work as c