Think Out Loud

In some parts of rural, agricultural Oregon, volunteer farmer firefighters are on the front lines during fire season. We talk with state senator Bill Hansell, R-Athena, who grew up on a farm and experienced this first hand. He successfully sponsored a bill to provide liability protection to those volunteers.

We talk with Angus Duncan, chair of the Oregon Global Warming Commission, about the state’s climate goals and ask what the failure of the cap and trade bill means for Oregon’s ability to meet those goals.

The small Morrow County town of Lexington is shut down until further notice. The town council didn’t have a quorum to pass a budget at the end of June. So, the city can’t officially operate. We talk with David Sykes, publisher and reporter for the Heppner Gazette-Times about how Lexington is trying to move forward now.

Tech journalist and University of Oregon graduate James Vlahos joins us to discuss his new book "Talk To Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform The Way We Live, Work, And Think." It's all about the quest to teach computers how to talk and listen — and what that means for the humans that interact with them.

The Eastern Oregon Media Group is set to buy two Eastern Oregon newspapers — the La Grande Observer and the Baker City Herald. The company already owns 11 other newspapers, including the East Oregonian and the Daily Astorian. We speak to EO Media Group owner Kathryn Brown about the acquisitions and the future of rural journalism in Oregon.

We listen back to a conversation about August Wilson Red Door Project’s series of monologues based on the experiences of police officers. The “Cop Out” monologues are based on playwrights’ interviews with police officers. The project is a companion piece to an earlier series of monologues called “Hands Up” based on black Americans’ experience with police. We sat down with the Red Door Project’s executive director Kevin Jones and former Portland police Deputy Chief Bob Day.

We hear opinions and analysis on this week’s news from Camilla Mortensen, Erious Johnson and Julie Parrish.

Thirty years ago, Oregon Department of Corrections director Michael Francke was murdered. Frank Gable — the man convicted of Francke's murder — was just released from prison. Michael Francke's surviving brothers have been some of the strongest advocates for Gable's release, saying he was wrongly convicted. We'll talk with Kevin and Patrick Francke about what this dramatic turn of events means to them.

Oregon prisons had one of the highest percentages of inmates older than 55 in 2016. Now, state officials are preparing to care for inmates as they age. We talk with UC San Francisco professor of medicine Brie Williams about the unique needs of older inmates, and what care prisons need to provide.

We discuss the latest regional business news with Suzanne Stevens, editor of the Portland Business Journal.

Sparkle Lynn More is the stage name of an 11-year-old drag queen from Portland. More has been performing in drag shows for the past two years. We talk to More's mother Michelle Porter, the performer's brother, Charlie and Sparkle Lynn More. They all say they’ve found a second family in Portland’s drag community.

We sit down with Oregon Governor Kate Brown to break down a tumultuous legislative session that included both big failures and major successes for the Democratic supermajority.

Seventeen years ago, Cornelius Swart released a documentary depicting the early stages of gentrification in the Albina community. Long-time residents of the community Bri Williams and her mother Nikki Williams were subjects in the film. Swart’s documentary “Priced Out” revisits Bri Williams and the community to see how gentrification has grown and evolved. “Priced Out” is showing Tuesday night on OPB TV. Today we listen back to a conversation with Williams and Swart.

Computer scientists at Oregon State University say they have a solution for something most people don’t even know is a problem: gender bias in software. They say most software is more tailored for men. They are trying to change that with “GenderMag.” We talk to one of the developers, a distinguished professor in the department of computer science at OSU, Mar

Republican state senators returned to the Oregon Capitol to wrap up the legislative session over the weekend. Lawmakers worked at breakneck speed to pass dozens of bills, including many priorities for Democrats. The cap-and-trade bill that spurred Republican senators to walk out never made it to the floor, but lawmakers approved paid family medical leave, increased density in single-family neighborhoods and new restrictions on diesel trucks. They also referred a tobacco tax hike and campaign finance cap to voters. OPB political reporter Dirk VanderHart fills us in on the dramatic end of the 2019 legislative

Oregon writer Debra Gwartney’s new book, “I Am a Stranger Here Myself” is one part memoir, one part pioneer history. She tells her own story interspersed with the story of the first white woman to cross the Rocky Mountains and give birth on the frontier. Her book explores the ideas of womanhood, place and belonging — in the context of white settlers who seized Native American lands and claimed them as their own.

We hear opinions and analysis on some of the big news stories this week from Christopher McKnight Nichols, Doug Badger and Sarah Mirk.

The state’s longest serving Senate president has had a rough legislative session. He faced scrutiny because of the way he addressed allegations of sexual harassment at the state Capitol. His dear friend and longtime colleague Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem, died. And two walkouts by Republican legislators have impeded the goals of a Democratic supermajority. OPB Political reporter Lauren Dake has a profile of Peter Courtney and gives us an update on the state of things in Salem.

Moda hHealth, an Oregon-based health insurance company, says the federal government owes it a quarter of a billion dollars. An appeals court disagreed. But this week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would take up the case. John McConnell is the director of the Center for Health Systems Effectiveness at Oregon Health and Science University. He tells us what’s at stake for Moda, the Affordable Care Act, and other heath insurance companies around the country.

The InventOR Collegiate Challenge allows groups of Oregon college students to showcase inventive solutions to important social and economic challenges across the state, both in urban and rural regions. Competitors are vying for $25,000 in prizes. We speak to three finalists about their inventions.