The Evergreen

Ballots will start arriving in mailboxes across Oregon and Washington later this week and we all have some important races to weigh in on. Oregon is choosing a governor and Washington’s 3rd Congressional District could affect the balance of power in the House. A lot of the issues that are playing out at the national level are also top of mind for voters in Portland’s suburbs. 

On this episode, we hear from four OPB reporters to help us learn more about some of the most important races and issues this election season. Lauren Dake and Dirk VanderHart fill us in on the Oregon governor’s race. Elena Neale-Sacks gives us the details about Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. And Holly Bartholomew talks about the ways in which Oregon’s Washington County is a microcosm of the national political landscape.

For even more smart political coverage, check out OPB’s 2026 ballot guide.

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

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Standing at 14,410 feet, Mount Tahoma is the tallest mountain in the Pacific Northwest. It’s also known worldwide as Mount Rainier, and is often a stepping stone for mountaineers with their sights set on climbing peaks like Denali and Kilimanjaro. It’s long held significance to the Indigenous tribes with homelands around its base, which have their own names for the mountain — like Tahoma. Many of these names translate to “mother of all waters.”

Outdoor educator and Muckleshoot tribal member Rachel Heaton began hiking and climbing the mountain during the pandemic, and noticed the lack of Indigenous presence there. In an effort to help bring visibility of Native people back to the mountain, she led a group of Indigenous teens and young adults on a climb in June to Camp Muir, just above 10,000 feet up the mountain.

“Oregon Field Guide” producer Jessie Sears brings us along as the group climbs more than 4,600 feet — through dense fog, breathtaking beauty, and tent-snapping winds — and reflects on their relationships with nature and themselves.

Watch Jessie Sears’ documentary for OPB’s “Oregon Field Guide,” “Climbing Mount Tahoma.”

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.

Imagine a place where the smells of barbacoa and leather from cowboy boots waft through the air, where the sounds of cumbia playing, vendors making aguas frescas and conversations in Spanish carry through the aisles.

M&M Marketplace, a colorful mercado in Hillsboro, gives many of its visitors a sense of community and home. 

At the mercado, podcast producer Mía Estrada was instantly transported to the Texas-Mexico border, where she was born and raised.

In this week’s episode, we explore the meaning of home, how we find it in unexpected places, and how it helps us stay resilient — all within the grounds of an Oregon mercado.

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

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.

Portland may not be known as a hub of hip-hop on par with New York or Los Angeles, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been a hotbed for sonic experimentation and incredible talent for decades. 

We had all the elements: historic Black neighborhoods in Northeast Portland, jazz dripping out of clubs, funk bands, block parties, dances, and plenty of good ol’ fashioned youthful angst. So why isn’t Portland hip-hop bigger?

Marlon “Vursatyl” Irving, a longtime Portland rapper and founding member of the Lifesavas hip-hop group, says local nightclubs and venues discriminated against artists, denying artists access to performance spaces

“It was hard for us to get into clubs,” he says. “I think had there been more racial diversity in Portland, and just more understanding about hip-hop culture at the time that the foundation was being laid, we would've got to hear some of the greatest, we would've had recordings from the greatest, we would've seen their careers blossom.” 

On this week’s episode, we’re revisiting a story about Portland hip-hop, why it isn’t bigger and what keeps it going. 

A special thank you to J Jackson, who produced the documentary “Beyond the Beats” in collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” KMHD Jazz Radio, and Albina Music Trust. 

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

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.

The rekindled Portland Fire are wrapping up their inaugural season and, while they didn’t make the playoffs, they did finish fourth in the league for attendance. The team averaged more 14,500 fans per game, which is not all that surprising given how much Portlanders love to show up for women’s sports. Center Megan DiLeo (formerly Megan Gustafson) described the team as “a bunch of overlooked players,” and said she never felt respected as an athlete until she came to the Rose City. Whether the team won or lost, every home game brought good vibes to the Moda Center, which the team nicknamed “The Fire Pit.” 

We break down the joys and challenges of the new team’s first season with two lifelong women’s basketball fans: OPB business reporter, Kyra Buckly and Rev Shines, host of “Today’s Good News” on KMHD.

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

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.

Data centers are at the heart of heated conversations in communities around the country, and Oregon is no exception. These facilities store and process data that make all kinds of connectivity possible — posting updates to social media, streaming movies and TV shows, online banking, telehealth, and of course, artificial intelligence. There are about 125 data centers in Oregon. The AI boom has rapidly increased the demand for this infrastructure. And with that has come increased awareness about the climate and community impacts of data centers, as well as how they could impact Oregon’s aging power grid. 

We dig into the benefits and drawbacks of data centers in communities across Oregon and hear why some of the largest of these facilities could be a threat to air quality in the eastern part of the state. 

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

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.

The history of tattoos dates back thousands of years. In the Northwest, people have been getting tattooed since long before Oregon even existed. Today, more tattooers are getting licensed to practice the craft in the state each year, and Oregon is a destination for people looking to get inked.

From Indigenous tattoo practices that survived colonization to sailor tattoos and Portland icon Bert Grimm, we learn the stories behind Oregon’s ink.

Learn more by watching OPB’s “Oregon Experience” documentary, “Tattoo People.”

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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.

What does it mean to guide someone through one of the most vulnerable moments of their life? What does it take to plan how bus riders get around? What’s it like to walk into restaurants looking for what others might miss?

We’re back with the latest stories from “At Work With,” our series where we interview people from different lines of work about what it’s like to do what they do. In this episode, we meet a doula supporting families through birth, a transit planner at TriMet, and a county health inspector making sure food is safe to eat. 

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

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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.

In late July, just two days before the first of the month, a line of Oregonians stood waiting for free food. 

At the Dallas food bank in the Willamette Valley countryside, the hunger crisis gripping Oregon was on full display. Alexis Arechiga, 28, struggles to afford snacks for church and sporting events with her two kids. Corrina Campbell, 32, visits the food bank twice a week, and says feeding her two kids means that on some nights she goes to sleep hungry.

The high cost of groceries and the federal government’s cuts to SNAP benefits have left more Oregonians struggling to afford food. Food assistance programs like food banks are stretched thin trying to meet the growing demand for help. 

“Usually it’s pretty full,” said food bank manager Eddie Nelson as she opened a freezer. “But as you can tell our freezers are getting empty.”

In this week’s episode, Evergreen producer Mía Estrada and reporter Bryce Dole spend about 24 hours in Dallas. They bring us along for one day at free, local food programs in rural Oregon. 

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

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.

When people think about the Lewis & Clark expedition, they probably think about Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and maybe Sacagawea. But there’s one member of the Corps of Discovery who isn’t as famous: York. 

York was an enslaved Black man who was just as essential to the success of the expedition as anyone else, but didn’t receive credit for his work afterwards. We dive into York’s story and remember one who may have been overlooked in American history. 

You can learn more by watching the Oregon Experience documentary “Searching for York”

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

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.