Speaking Freely

As the standoff deepens between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine, people are worried about the two great nuclear powerhouses of the world facing off. The U.S. and Russia control more than 90%, of the world's nuclear weapons. In the next couple weeks, President Joe Biden planned to release his nuclear posture review, which could change our country's nuclear weapons policies. The idea, coming at a very tense time amid the Ukrainian fight, would be to give President Biden a chance to step back from the brink of war, advance arms control, and position the United States as a leader in the effort to create a more peaceful world. So this week I talked to Allen Hester, who knows a lot about the threat of nuclear war. He is a legislative representative for nuclear disarmament and Pentagon spending, with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, which includes interfaith groups and churches. They also count the support of at least 56 members of Congress. And Hester tells me, right now they're worried, about what's at stake in Ukraine.

And a local expert who's been offering her insight into this conflict is Dr. Sarah Henderson, an associate professor of political science at Oregon State University. This week I attended a talk and question and answer session she gave. She said she was among the many experts who hoped that the standoff over Russia and Ukraine would come to a peaceful resolution, and was astonished, saddened, and alarmed, when it didn't.

Finally, we take a look at the "Dad bod" phenomenon. It is sweeping Hollywood… but is it really healthy for the men we love? I talked to Dr. Andrea Klemes at MDVIP, which is a national group of family care physicians.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said President Joe Biden and his counterparts have agreed to send parts of the organization's response force, to help protect allies in the east over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He insists the Kremlin's objectives are not limited to Ukraine. After chairing a NATO meeting, Stoltenberg said the leaders decided to send parts of the NATO response force and elements of a quickly deployed spearhead unit, involving land, sea and air power. This episode features comments from Stoltenberg, plus my exclusive interview with Oregon's senior U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. He is in a unique position with regard to decisions and actions on Ukraine, as a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and as the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which will have a lot of control over sanctions. He describes Vladimir Putin's motives, why he thinks Ukraine is moving away from Russia, and the long time lobbying effort to make Ukraine part of NATO.

Along with KXL's Brett Recap, I also talked to Cyber Security Expert Chris Moschovitis, author and President of the New York based Information Technology Management Group, focusing on the very real threat of cyber warfare and disinformation campaigns emerging from Russia.

And I talked to Oregon State University History Professor Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols, who shares his thoughts about Putin's selective and strategic version of Ukrainian history.

We also hear from Ukraine's embattled President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, insisting he's staying in his country.

And, the U.S. State Department's Ned Price comments, about how Putin is not showing he is willing to de-escalate.

Finally we recap what President Joe Biden said, in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine. He calls this a beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, and he announced new, tougher sanctions. One notable quote from Biden: "Who in the Lord's name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so- called countries, on territory that belongs to his neighbors?"

In honor of President's Day: he's our leader. Our Commander. Our consoler. This week: I'm talking to two very accomplished historians, for their insight, about the American President.

One is right here in Oregon; Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols. He's a history professor at Oregon State University, and the writer and editor of books including "Promise and Peril, America at the Dawn of a Global Age."

And the other one, is Pulitzer prize winner, best selling author and famed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, about her three night documentary event on the History Channel. It focuses on the President who led our country during its bloodiest war and greatest crisis. I asked her about her books referencing Lincoln including "Team of Rivals," and "Leadership in Turbulent Times." We also hear her wonderful stories, about what it was like behind the scenes, working for L.B.J. as a young woman, and then writing his memoirs.

Psychotherapist, and licensed marriage and family counselor Lair Torrent discusses his new book, "The Practice of Love," about how to make marriages and relationships healthier.

This is a very tough time, for our health care workers. Especially nurses. They're on the front lines, of the pandemic. And they are struggling. Just how much, you're about to hear. From a lack of personal protective equipment, to exhaustive schedules, to violent attacks from and on patients, even breaking their bones. Once a week, they gather to talk about it, amongst themselves. Nurses, from Portland, Corvalis, La Grand, Newport, Bend, Medford and throughout Oregon. I'm calling this episode, "Voices of Nurses." We'll hear about their exhausted, stressed workforce, their struggle to recruit and train badly needed new nurses, and to keep them IN the workforce…keep them from quitting, plus the impact of more travel nurses, and education challenges for the next generation in their critical profession. And the toughest struggle of all for them: trying to keep extremely sick people, from dying.

In this episode, we're focusing, on what's become an historic time for housing. The COVID-19 pandemic, labor, trucking, infrastructure and chip shortages and challenges, along with record low mortgage rates, are all combining to fuel record spikes in housing prices in Oregon, Washington, and much of the rest of the country. I talked to an expert about why this is happening. First, Dr. Frank Nothaft is the Chief Economist at CoreLogic, who studies homes for a living. I asked him what's causing the current price hikes, his predictions for next year, and advice for local home owners, sellers and buyers. Also: the higher housing prices: make housing unaffordable for many younger people: Portland State University has found the pandemic's heightened a crisis of homeless and food insecure students, and even some staff. A survey of PSU students found that since the pandemic started, more than sixty percent say they've struggled with meeting basic needs, like housing and food. We discussed that with Stevie, a homeless student who had to live out of his car while working and trying to get an education. And with Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici who met with him and others recently at PSU. And: we'll hear how a program that helps homeless families transition into homes and stay there, has won national recognition and a couple million dollars to go along with it.

It could be a big breakthrough: Oregon researchers have discovered that certain cannabis plant acids, can block the COVID virus from infecting human cells. I talked to Oregon State University's Richard Van Breeman, who is leading this research, about how he and scientists made this discovery: and what comes next, maybe a pill to stop COVID? His study appears in the Journal of Natural Products.

Next: what can we learn about this pandemic: from the lessons of another one: A.I.D.S. As a survivor of almost 18 years, Dr. Tyler TerMeer, like others with compromised immune systems, has to work hard to keep himself as safe as possible from the Omicron variant. He's the C.E.O. of the Cascade A.I.D.S. Project, which has served tens of thousand of people living with H.I.V. and A.I.D.S., and draws a link, between that fight, and the COVID battle.

As Omicron cases spiked, setting pandemic record after record, an Oregon State University history professor's editorial in The Washington Post, sparked dozens of comments and links to other national outlets. In it, Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols pointed out similarities between this pandemic, and another one: the flu surge in 1918. He tells me the takeaway lesson, that submitting to pandemic fatigue, and removing mitigation strategies too early, made things worse in that flu outbreak. And that communities that were more cautious, recovered faster, and suffered fewer deaths.

My guests for this episode are U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon, and Jonathan Pidluzny, Vice President of Academic Affairs, American Council of Trustees and Alumni

Topics: New COVID-19 variant, homelessness, transportation's impact on the environment, and a lack of history and civics education making politics less civil.

Synopsis: With the emergence of cases of a new COVID- 9 variant in our country and many others, what can we do to prepare? I asked Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici for her insight on that. We also talked about how many people are struggling with homelessness, and not having enough food. Also we looked at the challenges to redistricting in Oregon, as the state's population keeps growing, And, an effort underway in Oregon to make trucking go electric, that could impact the future of trucking in America and around the world.

Then, I talk to Jonathan Pidluzny, Vice President of Academic Affairs, American Council of Trustees and Alumni. His group just completed research on universities and colleges throughout the country, including the University of Washington, and found that most are eliminating basic education on American History and civics. We discussed how that is impacting the level of civil discourse in the U.S. The study of top universities in the country found even for history majors, they no longer require American history. We also discussed Oregon's new requirement for civics education that the state legislature approved this year.

(Episode originally aired 12/5/21)

Children's advocacy groups did a deep data dive into exactly how the pandemic child tax credit affected Oregon families, and children in poverty. Specifically they looked at how a sample of 600 families spent the money on necessities like food and shelter. In 2021, 93,000 families in N.W. Oregon received $219 million dollars from the tax credit. It also helped keep schools going according to experts. Guests for this episode are Jenifer Wagley, C.E.O., Our Children Oregon, Nancy Perin, Oregon Head Start, Toya Fick, Stand for Children Oregon Executive Director, Kali Thorne Ladd, The Children's Institute, Tony DeFalco, The Latino Network, Mary Louise McClintock, Oregon Community Foundation, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon, and Jennifer Parrish, Urban League of Portland