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 called the Oregon Soar. The Cherry Bombs are our new pre-professional soccer team. We’ve got women’s tackle football, rugby and a badass roller derby league. 

So, is Portland the epicenter of women’s sports? It’s hard to know how to measure such a thing, but what we can say for sure is that there are countless opportunities for women, girls, trans and nonbinary people to play sports and cheer for teams across the city. We talk a bit about the history behind the Rose City’s enthusiasm for women’s sports and hear from OPB business reporter Kyra Buckley about how the Portland Fire season is shaping up. 

Watch a short video about the history of women’s sports in Portland by OPB’s Emily Hamilton. 

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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 people the ship carried before its demise, from all walks of life and all over the world. 

Watch Kami Horton's "Oregon Experience" documentary, The Wreck of the Brother Jonathan.

For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

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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 combating queer erasure with friendship and resilience.

For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page.

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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars
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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 residents across the region. His practice included herbal remedies, non-invasive treatments, essential women’s healthcare and more.

  Archaeologists and historians are continuing to deepen our understanding of the legacy of Kam Wah Chung and traditional Chinese medicine in Eastern Oregon. We join them to learn more about Ing Hay’s important contributions to rural communities in John Day and beyond, as part of our special series in collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology, and Jefferson Public Radio about unearthing Oregon history.

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 got into such a dire state –  and how residents are trying to save it. 

Read Bryce and Joni’s full story here. 

For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

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Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:

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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

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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.

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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Politics Now

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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 with plenty of that: Central Oregon. From 1964 to 1971, dozens of Apollo astronauts trained on Oregon lava fields, which scientists thought might be similar to the surface of the moon. The region became known as “Moon Country.”

Now that Artemis II has sent humans back to the moon for the first time in over half a century, we’re reflecting on the role Oregon has played in lunar exploration.

To learn more, watch OPB’s “Oregon Experience” documentary, “Oregon’s Moon Country,”

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For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page.

Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too.

You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:
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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars
Politics Now
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And many more! Check out our full show list here.

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’s storied history and hearing some of your memories of the mall.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:

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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Politics Now

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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 and see the Oregon Experience Documentary about Johnnie Ray produced by Kami Horton here.

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For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page.

Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too.

You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:
Hush
Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars
Politics Now
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And many more! Check out our full show list here.

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 the latest installments of our ‘At Work With’ series, where interview people from different lines of work about what it’s like to do what they do. This time, we meet a worker at a market-style food pantry specializing in Latino cultural foods, a park ranger at Oregon’s Tryon Creek State Natural Area, and a coach focused on making fitness more welcoming and inclusive for everyone.

We’re always open to new ideas for jobs — or volunteer positions — that we can learn about next! If you’ve got a suggestion, email us at [email protected].

For more audio postcards about what makes us feel at home in the Pacific Northwest like the one included in this week’s show, check out our very first episode.

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For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our show page.

Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too.

You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:
Hush
Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars
Politics Now
Think Out Loud

And many more! Check out our full show list here.