Think Out Loud

Kate Beaton gained an international following for “Hark, a Vagrant,” a quirky, satirical, historically informed comic strip. Beaton’s newest book takes a very different turn. It is a deeply personal graphic memoir called “Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands" about the time she spent working in the oil industry in Alberta, Canada in the mid-2000s. The book is a brutally honest exploration of class, migration, misogyny, and the culture of her homeland: the island of Cape Breton, in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia. We listen back to a conversation with Beaton at the 2022 Portland Book Festival.

On Monday, a coalition that includes Max Williams, a former director of the Oregon Department of Corrections and former state lawmaker, announced it had filed paperwork for a ballot measure to  “fix and improve” Measure 110. A key provision includes re-criminalizing the possession of hard drugs, like fentanyl and heroin, which were decriminalized with the passage of Measure 110 in 2020. That decriminalization, according to The Coalition to Fix and Improve Ballot Measure 110, has fueled open drug use on city streets and a spike in overdose deaths in Oregon, while failing to expand access to drug treatment and recovery services. Max Williams joins us to explain why he thinks Measure 110 isn’t working and why his coalition is seeking a remedy at the ballot box or through the state Legislature.  

Western gray squirrels are getting harder and harder to find in Washington state. They are the largest species of tree squirrels, and traditionally make their homes in low to mid-elevation forests, where historically they could find plenty of oaks, pines and Douglas firs. That habitat is disappearing and changing due to timber harvests, wildfires, land conversion and climate change.Mary Linders is a wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. She tells us more about this large tree squirrel and what it will mean for them if Washington changes their status from “threatened” to “endangered.” 

One of Portland’s most established and storied professional theatres, Artists Repertory Theatre, announced a series of financial setbacks this summer. First, ART suspended its 2023-2024 season as it was getting ready to start rehearsing its first show. That was followed by major staff layoffs: the already lean organization laid off four of its 10 administrative and support positions. Aiyana Cunningham began her position as managing director shortly before these announcements. The renovations continue on the organization's downtown building that will ultimately serve as a space for ART’s own productions and as a regional arts space for smaller organizations without their own venues. Cunningham joins us to talk about the economic challenges ART and other established arts organizations are facing and more about how it’s approaching its mission of creating a regional arts hub.

Hikikomori is an extreme form of social isolation first recognized in Japan in the 1990s. It’s distinct from similar conditions like anxiety or agoraphobia and is characterized by sustained physical isolation, often at home. The condition is still gaining traction in mental health spaces, but a research team led by Oregon Health & Science University has developed a new evaluation tool to help providers diagnose hikikomori. Alan Teo, associate professor of psychiatry at OHSU, joins us with more details on the first-of-its-kind tool, and how the pandemic exacerbated conditions related to social isolation. 

The University of Oregon is leading a collaborative effort to study earthquakes and conduct research focused on the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Participating institutions include the University of Washington, Stanford University and Virginia Tech. We hear more about the new Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center from Diego Melgar, an associate professor of earth sciences at the university and a director of the center. 

Talking to people we disagree with can be difficult, but it’s also unavoidable. A group of students at Willamette University is learning to facilitate and engage in those conversations to foster understanding and connection. The Conversation Project is a two-semester course that aims to teach students listening, grounding and compassion skills. Students then partner with community organizations in Salem and Portland to help them engage in dialogue work. The professors that run the Conversation Project are: David Gutterman, a politics, policy, law and ethics professor; and Wendy Petersen-Boring, an associate history professor. Senior Mira Karthik completed the program and now serves as its research associate. They all join us to talk more about the project and why it’s important for students to learn these facilitation skills.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission has voted to ban hunting contests for coyotes and other mammals on public lands in the state.  This new ban however does not prohibit these contests on private land and doesn’t restrict hunters and ranchers from killing predatory animals like coyotes. Collette Adkins is the carnivore conservation program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. She joins us to share the impact of this decision and the role coyotes play in Oregon environments. 

This month, Oregon became the latest state to start paying out benefits under its new paid leave program. Workers can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for family, medical or safe leave, which is available to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment. Workers applying to take paid leave for pregnancy may be eligible for an additional two weeks of benefits. Although self-employed people or independent contractors are not automatically covered under the program, they can make quarterly contributions to participate, depending on eligibility. We’ll hear from Karen Humelbaugh, director of Paid Leave Oregon about how the program is going, its impact so far and the online application process, which is available for English and Spanish speakers. 

The United Auto Workers are the latest group to join what’s been called the “summer of strikes.” Members of the Writer’s Guild of America continue their monthslong strike, along with the actor’s union SAG-AFTRA. Several Pacific Northwest organizations have gone on strike this summer as well, from teachers to nurses to bookstore employees. Meanwhile, Oregon’s unemployment rate is as low as it’s ever been at 3.4%. Joining us to talk about the myriad factors affecting Oregon’s labor force is Mark Brenner, co-director of the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon.