The Evergreen

Becky Lange became enamored with all the goodies you could find in a dumpster.    “You never know what you're going to get,” she said on a 2025 podcast called American Wastepickers .   Lange lived unsheltered on the streets of Portland. Things she found in dumpsters, like nail polish, art supplies and hair dye, were treasures to her. She saw the value in what most people...

The Deschutes River is a lifeline for Central Oregon. About 90 percent of the river’s water is diverted to irrigation canals during the agricultural growing season. OPB’s Central Oregon Bureau Chief Emily Cureton Cook wanted to know where all that water went, and what it was used to grow.    Emily teamed up with journalists at ProPublica to zoom in on the Central Oregon Irrig...

Portland is the global epicenter of women’s sports. At least, that’s what some people have been saying lately. The phrase pops up in media coverage of our new WNBA team, the Fire , and our beloved women’s soccer team, the Thorns . And those are not our only professional women’s sports teams. We also have a pro softball team, the Cascade and a pro ultimate frisbee team calle...

The shipwreck of the Brother Jonathan is one of the Pacific Coast's deadliest maritime disasters.   In 1865, the ship crashed into a rock and sank off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing more than 200 people and taking a fortune in gold with it to the ocean floor.    OPB’s Kami Horton takes us on board to understand what happened that day, and learn about the peopl...

Happy Pride from The Evergreen! June is officially Pride month, and of course, queer visibility isn’t limited to one month of the year; it’s important all the time.    Pride is about celebrating queer communities and it’s also a chance to learn about queer history. This week, we’re revisiting two intergenerational conversations about the importance of history, and...

In Eastern Oregon’s John Day, a 160-year-old building holds one of the biggest collections of traditional Chinese medicine in the world. Kam Wah Chung and Company , once part of a thriving Chinatown, was owned and operated by Lung On and Ing Hay for over half a century. It was a home, a general store, a community center and a medical clinic where Ing Hay served as a beloved doctor to residen...

Lakeview is a small town nicknamed the “Tallest Town in Oregon.” It’s home to hot springs, a round up and about 2,400 people.    But this former timber town is currently millions of dollars in debt it can't pay off, and brown drinking water has become the norm for residents.    OPB reporters Bryce Dole and Joni Auden Land take us inside Lakeview — how it...

Everyone who was in the Pacific Northwest on May 18, 1980 has some kind of story about the Mount St. Helens eruption. OPB producer  Ian McCluskey revisited that fateful day with some people who remember it very well for both personal and professional reasons. For this week’s episode, we’re revisiting a conversation with Ian about unearthing lost stories from Mount St. Helens . &nb...

In 1961, JFK set a goal for the United States: send astronauts to the moon and back before the decade was through. But the moon was much more mysterious then, and no one knew for sure what they’d find when they got there.    Scientists debated the possibilities, and speculated that they’d encounter volcanic rock. To prepare its astronauts, NASA turned to a place here on Earth...

After 66 years, the Lloyd Center Mall is scheduled to close for good this summer. The current owners plan to tear it down to build a new mixed use development in its place. The mall holds a special place in many Oregonians’ hearts — from the iconic ice rink to its memorable 1990s jingles and its recent indie retailer renaissance . We spend this episode looking back on the Lloyd Center&...

At the peak of his popularity in the 1950s, no one was bigger than Oregon musician Johnnie Ray . A decade later, Portland’s The Kingsmen recorded one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Both groups helped make rock-and-roll what it is today. What was it about Oregon in the middle of the century that made it so musically innovative? And why don’t we get any credit? You can read more...

What does it mean for community members to have access to foods from their culture? What is it like to take care of an urban forest and hit the trail for your day at the office? How can fitness prioritize strength and community building over weight loss?   Once again, we’ve got questions about all the interesting jobs Pacific Northwesterners have, and so do you. So we’re back with...

Renée Watson grew up in Northeast Portland and attended Vernon Elementary. When she was in the second grade, in Ms. Tupper’s class, she wrote a 21-page story.    “I brought it to school, and Ms. Tupper was like, ‘wow, I think you're gonna be a writer one day’.” she said.    Watson is now a New York Times bestselling author and winner of the...

The history of logging is full of tales of lumber barons and lumberjacks. Think flannel-clad men with double-bit axes doing manly things in the woods. But in the forests of Eastern Oregon, new research into daily life in a once-bustling mill town tells a more nuanced story about the extractive timber industry that once dominated the Northwest: one that elevates women and families.   Archaeolo...

In the early hours of November 13, 1988, Mulugeta Seraw was coming home from a going-away party. He had work early the next morning.    Two of his friends, who were also Ethiopian, drove him home. When they arrived at Mulugeta’s apartment complex, they stayed in the car, talking for a bit.    But then a group of racist skinheads pulled up, reportedly chanting racial slurs...

In the early hours of November 13, 1988, Mulugeta Seraw was coming home from a going-away party. He had work early the next morning.    Two of his friends, who were also Ethiopian, drove him home. When they arrived at Mulugeta’s apartment complex, they stayed in the car, talking for a bit.    But then a group of racist skinheads pulled up, reportedly chanting racial slurs...

Nestled among the old growth trees in Oregon’s Mt. Hood National Forest, a winding trail leads to the historic bathhouses and hand-carved tubs of Bagby Hot Springs . People have been visiting the springs to soak and commune with nature since time immemorial.   But this beloved place also has a complicated history. Over the years, crowds, misuse, vandalism and other problems have caused...

Oregon state lawmakers packed a lot into the 2026 short session before it adjourned last week. It's also been years since lawmakers, lobbyists, the public and the press have worked together in the State Capitol building. The building has been under construction for the past three years and it has only been partially open during that time. Before the construction project, the COVID-19 pandemic made...

When Gwen Trice dug into her family history, she learned that her father had come to Oregon from Arkansas in a boxcar to live and work in the logging town of Maxville .    Maxville was once one of the largest towns in the county. It had a post office, hotel, roundhouse and many homes. Nine decades later, a broken down railroad trestle and one building are the only remaining evidence of t...

A defining feature of the second Trump administration has been its treatment of immigrants. President Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations has been a top priority since his inauguration, and in the year since, it’s been hard to keep up with all the escalating news stories related to the targeting of immigrants: arrests, detentions, surveillance, even shootings. At the same tim...

National news was focused on Oregon in 2025 as President Donald Trump tried to send National Guard troops to Portland to quell protests at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on the city’s South Waterfront . (Those protests were largely peaceful , despite the president’s statements to the contrary.) After a lot of legal back-and-forth, the Supreme Court weighed in and the...

Esta es la versión en español de este episodio del podcast. Click here to listen in English . Los años 60s marcaron el comienzo del Movimiento Chicano denominado: El Movimiento. Activistas como César Chávez y Dolores Huerta lideraban demostraciones, demandando derechos civiles y justicia social para la comunidad Mexicana Americana después de haber enfrenta...

This is the English version of this podcast episode. Haga clic aquí para escuchar en español . The 1960s was the start of the Chicano movement: El Movimiento. Activists like César Chávez and Dolores Huerta were on the front lines calling for civil rights and social justice for Mexican Americans after facing decades of discrimination. And right here in Oregon, Chicanos f...

In the U.S., there are about 100,000 monkeys, baboons, and other primates living in captivity to support scientific research. About 5,000 of them are at OHSU’s Oregon National Primate Research Center . That’s where researchers do experiments on monkeys to try to get clear data about things like cannabis use during pregnancy, and to find cures for diseases like HIV. Animal rights activi...

Populations of the Greater Sage Grouse have dropped by 80 percent over the last 60 years. That’s because the iconic bird depends on high desert sagebrush for food and habitat. And that habitat has been threatened for decades by wildfire, human activity and invasive species. A historic agreement that came together in 2015 to protect these birds and keep them off the endangered species list ha...