OPB Audio

The Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement has been multi-pronged: detentions and rapid deportation, warrantless arrests, the deployment and attempted deployment of the National Guard, and in some cases lethal force. All of these tactics have been challenged in courts. In Oregon, civil rights groups and immigrant advocates won a significant victory in February, when a federal j...

Host Dave Miller and senior producer Allison Frost read some of your recent feedback on topics we've taken up on our show.

When you hear the term sex education, you might think of classes for kids in public schools. But what Charla Hathaway means by that is far broader. She’s an author with a PhD in human sexuality, and she also became a sex worker for a short time at age 55. She’s now 78, and over the last two decades, Hathaway has given a wide variety of classes and workshops about intimacy, touch, sensuality and se...

Today is the last game and the official end of the season for the Rose City’s WNBA team the Portland Fire. After more than two decades since the team folded, the return of the Fire made it the 15th team to be a part of the WNBA. While the team did not make play-offs, they did better than expected and won the hearts of many fans. Tonight they will face the Golden State Valkyries at the Moda Center....

On average, more than 3 calls a day are made to 911 that report someone who may be trying to end their life at a Portland bridge. That’s according to new reporting from the Oregonian/OregonLive.com. In Goose Hollow, the Vista Bridge saw five suicides in one year, leading to a bridge barrier being built in 2013. These barriers are often fences or netting aiming at preventing suicides. But why can’t...

For decades, most of the US didn’t give much thought to the bitter, purple leaves mixed into their salad greens, but that once obscure vegetable is having a moment. Now a new book about radicchio explores its history, science and culture, and has recipes highlighting the many ways to eat it.

In a close race, both candidates say going to the rodeo is a must.

Frederick Law Olmsted, best known for designing Central Park in New York City and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, is regarded as the pioneer of modern landscape architecture. The Olmsted firm went on to design over 6,000 landscapes in North America under general guiding principles of creating accessible green spaces and preserving nature. A colleague of the Olmsted brothers, Emanuel Mische, went on to...

In Europe, dogs have been used for centuries for their keen sense of smell to locate prized black and white truffles which can fetch hundreds or thousands of dollars a pound depending on their variety. In Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, using dogs to sniff out truffles is relatively new and growing in popularity. There are even training classes and an annual truffle dog contest held at the Orego...

In 2024, two civic organizations began partnering on a yearly survey to gauge how residents in Portland felt about some important elements that contribute to quality of life in a city. North Star Civic Foundation and the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center asked more than 1,200 Portland adults how effective they feel local government is, whether they feel represented and what services they think shou...

What does a typical day in the life of a psychic look like

On Saturday, the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale will celebrate its centennial anniversary with free admission and activities honoring the museum’s unique history and identity. Perched on a bluff overlooking the Columbia Gorge, visitors can explore the museum’s many collections that include Indigenous baskets and beadwork, sculptures by Auguste Rodin and hundreds of chess sets from around the...

Since January 2025, the Trump administration has drastically slashed the size of the federal workforce through layoffs, cuts and buyout offers led initially by the Department of Government Efficiency. The scope of staff losses recently came into focus at one agency – the  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  The Center for Biological Diversity found that the agency lost 36% of its staff between 2024 a...

MusicOregon recently embarked on a statewide listening tour to hear from musicians, venue owners and others in the industry. The nonprofit held sessions online and in Hood River, Tillamook, Salem, Eugene, Jacksonville, Bend and Pendleton to get a sense of how the music industry is faring across the state. Music professionals can also share their thoughts with the organization through an online sur...

In a fast-growing Washington city, pressure for growth clashes with love for a wildlife refuge

A first-of-its-kind report details the footprint of the controversial facilities.

How can older adults with mobility or vision impairments safely evacuate during an emergency? What medications or assistive devices would they need to bring with them to a shelter? How can emergency workers communicate the urgency of a situation to older adults with cognitive impairments? A new training program has been helping first responders in some of Oregon’s rural communities answer those qu...

President Trump has proposed cutting the funding for cleaning up the radioactive waste at Hanford by $400 million, and the House Appropriations Committee proposed even bigger cuts. Washington’s senior U.S. Senator Patty Murray long fought for “a budget that lives up to the federal government’s moral and legal obligation” to clean up decades of highly radioactive waste. Although Hanford got a recor...

During the 2020 Labor Day fires in Oregon, Sierra Lindsey Kos saw first hand the effects of climate change. As she was rushing to take her sick newborn to a hospital in Portland, she had to traverse through burning fires, a red sky and ash all around her, filling her with fear. In response, she would help found and lead Extreme Weather Survivors, a support group and advocacy network that has grown...

Last week, Portland State University hosted its first ever Indigenous Foods Summit. Across two days, presenters taught a host of workshops sharing place-based knowledge focused around food sovereignty. Emma Johnson, Cowlitz, is the program coordinator of the Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge Program at PSU, and Isabel Lacourse is a Colville descendant and on the planning tea...

PassinArt began in 1982 and is the oldest continuously operating Black theatre in Oregon. Based in Portland, its mission is to “entertain, educate, and inspire artists and audiences while addressing critical issues facing our community.” The name is a nod to its vision of passing on art, history and culture from one generation to another. The company doesn’t just mount full scale theatrical produc...

Ralph Bloemers has spent over two decades working in and around wildfire science and technology. He’s used documentary filmmaking as a vehicle for probing and documenting wildfires across the American West and contends that while wildfires are inevitable in Oregon, catastrophic community loss doesn’t have to be. He makes a case for wildfire readiness techniques that homeowners can employ to reduce...

Longtime Camp Crier and his horse prepare for final ride at Pendleton Round-Up

The Sonic Silents film festival opens Thursday at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland. The film composer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Orton recruited over 20 musicians to compose new, original scores for a curated selection of silent films at the inaugural festival that he created. Orton and his fellow musicians will peform the new compositions live in front of audiences inside the 100-year-old th...

Crime Stoppers of Oregon is shutting down at the end of this month after more than four decades of operation. Since its launch in 1983, the organization says it has received tens of thousands of anonymous tips from the public that have helped law enforcement solve hundreds of crimes, ranging from bank robberies to cold case homicides. Chairman Henry Groepper is a retired Portland police officer wh...