Speaking Freely

As many in the Pacific Northwest with ties to Ukraine are watching, the battle continues with Russia. President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging the international community to designate Russia as a terrorist state. I talked to Dr. Bridget Moix, an expert on international peace and conflict issues, about what it would take to end the war.

And I talked to another expert this week, about the most recent January 6th hearing, and what it revealed about ties to conflicts and history in Oregon. Here's that discussion, with Ohio State history professor, Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols, who worked at Oregon State University for ten years.

And a celebration in downtown Portland this week honored Mark O. Hatfield, who died in 2011 after a long illness. It came on what would have been the former Oregon Senator and Governor's 100th birthday. In 46 years in elected office, the republican earned a reputation as one of the most respected and influential politicians in Oregon's history. The centennial celebration also coincided with the release of the senator's official oral history which was restricted from public release until Hatfield's 100th birthday. We hear some of Hatfield's colorful comments. Dr. Nichols served on the Oregon Historical Society's board of trustees, and as an interviewer for the Hatfield lecture series which bears the former governor's name. So I asked him for his thoughts about Hatfield's legacy.

Finally, NASA made some very big history last week with the reveal of new pictures from the Webb telescope, and Portland's OMSI, got a starring role.

Another disease. Another pandemic. This time it's HMPXV, also called the human monkeypox virus. Dr. Tim Menza with the Oregon Health Authority points out, it's now a national and international outbreak, with at least half a dozen cases in Oregon. Dr. Menza is the Senior Health Advisor for Oregon's HMPXV response.

Meantime, we've seen a lot of responses to the Supreme Court's recent decisions. Probably the most controversial, was the decision to overturn Roe Versus Wade, which had federally guaranteed the right to abortion in our country for half a century. But leaders of West coast states are still determined to allow the procedure. Washington State's gearing up for an expected flood of patients, seeking abortions. We hear from Washington Deputy Secretary of Health Lacy Fehrenbach, who says limiting abortions, will end up hurting women's health.

For more insight into the recent Supreme Court decisions on Roe, school prayers, and gun rights, and how transformative these decisions are for our country, I talked to former Oregon State and current Ohio State University History Professor Dr. Christopher Nichols. We also discussed the January sixth hearings. A new book he co edited is coming out next month: entitled Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations: New Histories. It looks at how historians of U.S. foreign relations think about the role of ideology across the scope of U.S. history.

Finally, the interest rate for a typical mortgage has soared from 3 to 6% within the last year. According to real estate brokerage Redfin, last year a home buyer with a monthly mortgage budget of $2,500 could afford a home worth more than five hundred thousand. By this month, that same homebuyer could only afford a home worth up to $399,750 — a big drop in purchasing power. But there are new tools available to help renters become homeowners, and for more about that, I talked to Katrina Jones with the Federal National Mortgage Association.

In this episode:

Alex Hoehn Saric, the Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, tells us about a new report showing a 25% increase in fireworks related injuries and deaths, and what needs to be done to stop the trend.

Washington Deputy Secretary of Health Lacy Fehrenbach, explains why she believes limiting abortions, will end up hurting women's health, and what her state is doing in response to the overturning of Roe V. Wade.

History Professor and Author Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols, tells us about the new U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and the January 6th hearings. A new book he co-edited is coming out next month: its title is "Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations: New Histories."

Finally, Katrina Jones, an expert with the Federal National Mortgage Association, talks about new plans and tools to help people get into homes of their own, even as higher interest rates chip away at home buyers' purchasing power.

In this episode we are focusing on something positive. Scientists are coming up with ideas that could solve some of the toughest problems we're facing: the climate crisis and wildfires, and the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. First, Taifo Mahmud with Oregon State University's College of Pharmacy just had his research published in "Nature Communications. He tells me about his discovery of the method that bacteria use, to make a medicine that helps people with diabetes and obesity. This discovery could help lower the medicine's cost so it could help more people.

Then, I talked to M.I.T. Physicist, Engineer, and Author, Peter Fiekowsky about his new book, "Climate Restoration: The Only Future that Will Sustain the Human Race." He details technologies that are already enabling businesses to remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere, as a side effect of very lucrative ventures like limestone production. And that side effect, he argues, could be what saves humanity from climate change.

Research that's now nationally published, from Oregon State University shows a link between COVID-19 and certain psychiatric disorders.

The O.S.U. study found people had a roughly 25 percent increased risk of developing a psychiatric disorder in the four months after a COVID-19 infection, compared to people who had other kinds of respiratory tract infections. The findings support previous research finding mental health issues among post-COVID patients.

The study is published in World Psychiatry, using data to match more than 46,000 COVID-19 patients, and comparing them to others suffering with respiratory ailments.

They found a minor but significant increase in risk for anxiety disorders.

Recently, I had a chance to talk in depth with the study's co-author. She is Lauren Chan. a Ph.D. student in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State.

We are talking about air and water in this episode. First, air.

You can help make your own lungs healthier, while promoting clean air and lung health, with a big climb that's coming up at Portland's "Big Pink" Building, on June 26th. It's called, "The Fight for Air Climb." I checked in with Julian Dillon, the Oregon American Lung Association's Executive Director.

Next, we focus on healthier water. This past week marked World Ocean Day. And with so much of Oregon's beautiful coastline and wildlife at stake, I talked to the grandson of legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau. Phillippe Cousteau and his wife Ashlan have a non profit that educates people about the ocean's impact, on just about everything, including the west coast's wildfires and threatened salmon species.

Juneteenth is coming up soon, on Sunday, June 19th. I had the opportunity for a wide ranging conversation, with Pulitzer prize winning author and Harvard professor, Annette Gordon-Reed, after she visited Portland recently. We talked about her book about Juneteenth, Portland's rally against hate, the recent mass murder in upstate New York, violence in America, what she feels is lacking in education today, and her appearance as a Hatfield series speaker for the Oregon Historical society.

But first, I asked her what she thought about Portland. A great talk, with Professor, Author, Lawyer, and Historian, Annette Gordon-Reed.

Unspeakable. Tragic. Horrifying. Words can barely scratch the emotions of what this week brought. Another school shooting… this one, taking the lives of 19 children, and two adults in Texas. So much has been said. So much more will be said. Will anything be done though? Will anything change? Anything that could prevent… yet another one?

So in this episode, here are some of the notable speeches, and thoughts. Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors basketball coach, who lost his own dad, to gun violence. Connecticut U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy, who's been trying to get something changed, something done, since his own state suffered through Sandy Hook. President Joe Biden. Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. Shaq, and other members of the NBA on TNT team. Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero. And O.S.U. History Professor Dr. Chris Nichols.

Famous presidential historian and Pulitzer prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin returns to our show, this time talking about her upcoming visit to Portland on October 18th at the Oregon Historical Society, and her new project about Teddy Roosevelt for the History Channel. She explains how T.R. set examples in environmental causes, and political expectations from our leaders that linger today.

O.S.U. History Professor Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols talks about the Oregon election, which ended up being a record setter for the most ever ballots cast in a midterm. History was made, especially for the three women who will go on to compete to be Oregon's next Governor.

And Tedx Portland co-founder and curator David Rae talks about the event returning after two years of COVID shutdowns. It's back, this time expecting a record breaking indoor crowd on May 28th at the Moda Center, with speakers and entertainers, all with Oregon or Pacific Northwest ties. Topics include immunotherapy for cancer, miscarriage, and books designed for children.

Christine Drazan, former Oregon State House Republican (minority) leader, answers my questions about why she wants to be Oregon's next governor. I asked for her plans on issues including homelessness, housing insecurity, crime, shootings, drug addiction, the pandemic, climate change, wildfires, drought, and what her top priority would be if voters choose her.