When life gives you mental breakdowns and dysfunctional justice, use them to make something new. Settle in; we’re spinning tales of artists digging into the toolkit to delve identity and community. Sometimes these things can be found only a few levels up.

Maria Bamford — 00:59
Maria Bamford is headed to Oregon next month to headline the All Jane Comedy Festival. She’s easily one of the most innovative voices in comedy today, mashing wide-eyed midwestern-ness with pure subversion. Bamford’s Netflix series, “Lady Dynamite” has just been approved for a second season. In it she plays a fictionalized version of herself, and tells stories about rebooting her career after a serious mental health crisis.

Loch Lomond — 11:51
Ritchie Young started Loch Lomond 13 years ago. Since then it’s been a revolving roster of musicians, depending on who’s available to tour and record. Now, with “Pens from Spain,” the band's first US album in five years, it’s grown to a whopping 75 musicians. The new album’s lush orchestrations reintroduce some of the electronic sounds that Loch Lomond has played with over the years. Hear highlights from the recent opbmusic session.

Anthony Hudson — 21:13
The multimedia artist Anthony Hudson is best known around Portland for his hilarious drag queen persona, Carla Rossi. But now he’s going to lose the make up — or at least the wig — for a full length one-queen show drawing on song, dance, drag, and video, about how pop-culture shaped his own identity as a half white, half Native American kid growing up in Keizer.

Kahlief Adams at AffectConf — 33:15
Kahlief Adams is one of the headliners at AffectConf, a gathering celebrating how tech powers can be harnessed for social good. He co-hosts the podcast called “Spawn On Me”, spotlighting games, people of color making games, and more. Kahlief will explain how the team harnessed its Twitch audience to raise money to help victims of police shootings.

Alternative Justice For Sexual Assault — 39:33
The grueling conversation continues for Portland’s music scene. Police are investigating rape claims against local musician Joel Magid, and within music circles, there’s been much discussion about making the scene safer. But how do you talk about consent against a backdrop of sex, drugs, and rock and roll?

Corey Arnold & Timothy Egan On National Parks — 47:17
One of our favorite conversations from Think Out Loud last week: The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th anniversary by trying to head off what it sees as an existential threat: the park system believes it needs to attract a greater share of younger and non-white visitors if there’s going to be another celebration 100 years from now. A team of Northwesterners looked into this concern for the cover story of the current issue of “National Geographic.”