Think Out Loud

Earlier this month, the Albina Music Trust launched a digital archive containing thousands of photographs, audio recordings and film and video clips documenting the culture and history of the Albina neighborhood. Black Portlanders built a thriving community in the Albina until redevelopment projects such as the construction of the I-5 freeway more than 60 years ago destroyed the neighborhood, shuttering businesses, demolishing homes and displacing residents. The Albina Community Archive is more than just a repository of sights and sounds from a bygone era. It also helps keep that history alive by allowing users to add their own memories or information about a photograph or recording. Joining us to talk about the archive is Bobby Smith, co-founder and lead archivist of the Albina Music Trust, and Ken Berry, co-founder and emeritus consulting producer of the World Arts Foundation, who donated items from his personal collection to the archive.

Cycling was up 5% last year compared to 2022 numbers, according to the latest bike count from the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The 2022 report showed that from 2019 to 2022, ridership fell almost 35%. Jonathan Maus is the editor and publisher of Bike Portland. He joins us to share more on what these numbers say about the current bike trends in Portland.

A new study by researchers at Oregon State University found that fish embryos that were exposed to tiny amounts of pesticides for four days experienced lasting behavioral changes. It also found that the offspring of those fish also experienced changes in behavior and had altered development and gene expression even though they were not exposed to the commonly used pesticides. Joining us to talk about the findings and their implications on human health is Susanne Brander, an associate professor in the fisheries, wildlife and conservation sciences department at Oregon State University, and the co-author of the study which was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. 

Oregon’s short legislative session is more than halfway over, and Monday marked the first major deadline that legislation needs to clear in order to have a chance to pass this year. A bill that would have bolstered the state’s goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in coming years isn’t moving forward, along with a bill that would have blocked teachers from striking. Legislators are still working on tweaks to Measure 110 and campaign contribution limits. OPB political reporter Dirk VanderHart updates us on the ongoing work in Salem.

Affordable housing options that prioritize people with disabilities are limited and waitlists are long. Community Vision, an advocacy organization for Oregonians with disabilities, develops accessible units for residents in the Portland metro area. We hear more about the effort from Jennifer Knapp, executive director of Community Vision. We'll also hear from Christin and KeJon Carter, recipients of a unit.

Until recently, doctors didn’t think it made a difference which arm patients got their COVID-19 vaccine in. But a new study from Oregon Health & Science University shows that switching arms between doses could lead to as much as a fourfold increase in immune response. Though further studies are necessary, researchers suspect the improvement has to do with how the body learns to protect itself against viruses, meaning the results could be replicated in other multi-dose vaccine regimens.  Marcel Curlin is an associate professor of medicine and the medical director for occupational health at OHSU. He joins us to talk about what these findings could mean for future vaccine protocols.

In Oregon, large commercial dairies follow rules by the Oregon Department of Agriculture that help regulate animal waste. Confined animal feeding operations can house hundreds or thousands of animals. Rules governing large commercial dairies didn’t always apply to small, mom and pop operations. But a reinterpreted regulation from the Oregon agency might affect smaller farms, and now several small dairies in Oregon have filed a lawsuit over the interpretation, as the Statesman Journal reported.   Waneva LaVelle is the owner and operator of Pure Grace Farm. She says the change in rules could put her out of business if she needs to install new infrastructure for her farm that houses a handful of goats. She joins us with more about her concerns and the lawsuit.

Even though the Roman empire came to an end thousands of years ago, we still tell stories about the emperors who ruled during that time. From Caligula, who threatened to make his horse a senator, to Nero, who killed his own mother and set fire to the city to make room for his palace, classicist Mary Beard argues that the stories we tell about the Roman emperors might say more about us than they do about the emperors themselves. Beard joins us to talk about her latest book, “Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World,” which attempts to break down what we can actually know about the lives of the Emperors and how they ruled.

The mission of Portland’s August Wilson Red Door Project is to “use the power of narrative art to bridge divides.” Its show "Evolve" does that by presenting scenes and monologues based on the real life experiences of Black Americans, police officers and others in the justice system. But it’s not just powerful stories on stage. The performances are interspersed with pauses throughout  with opportunities for the audience to participate in guided reflection and sharing, based on their reactions to what they’re seeing and hearing. "Evolve" has been presented to general audiences and police departments, including Lake Oswego, Beaverton and West Linn. The next shows are at Beaverton’s Reser Center, Feb. 23-24. We’re joined by Red Door Project Artistic Director and Co-Founder Kevin Jones and Interim Portland Police Chief Bob Day, who has been integrally involved with this project for many years.

College-bound students in Oregon and around the nation would typically be receiving their financial aid packages from colleges and universities right about now to help them decide where to enroll in the fall. But many students may now have to wait until April because of the U.S. Department of Education’s delay in sharing financial aid information to colleges and universities.  The delay adds to the troubled rollout of the new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid which the education department recently overhauled to make it easier for families and students to apply for federal grants and loans. But the FAFSA update failed to adjust for inflation when calculating financial aid eligibility – a mistake education officials are scrambling to fix, and which has resulted in nearly $2 billion in additional federal aid becoming available to applicants. The many delays and technical problems have added to an already stressful experience of . OPB higher education reporter Tiffany Camhi joins us to share how the new FAFSA application has been impacting Oregon high school students and college and university administrators in the state.