The Evergreen

What if a spider could play the harp? 

OK, sure, there aren’t spider virtuosos in little tuxedos out there performing harp concerts. But there IS a harp-like musical instrument inspired by a spider’s web, complete with a mechanical spider perched in the middle, and it was dreamt up in Oregon. It’s meant to simulate how spiders use vibrations in their webs to understand the world around them. Scientists at Oregon State University wanted to explore how these spidey-senses work, so an engineer who studies spiders and an engineer who designs musical instruments came together to create: the SpiderHarp.

OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer Jule Gilfillan met the team of scientists behind the SpiderHarp and brings us this story of how art, science, humans and spiders meet to make harp music.

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You may be familiar with ferris wheels, funnel cakes, quilting competitions, and demolition derbies. But the Tillamook County Fair has a unique event you’ve probably never heard of: Pig-N Ford races. Racers hold piglets while driving around a dirt track on stripped down Ford Model T cars (sounds cute, right?) The tradition has endured for close to 100 years and some families have been racing for generations. OPB Oregon Field Guide producer Ian McCluskey takes us to Tillamook County to find out what keeps this event going. 

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Honey may be one of the weirder things you’ll see in a science lab. But researchers at Washington State University Vancouver say honey is key to what they’re working on: faster, cleaner computers. 

OPB’s science reporter Jes Burns learned about their research - including the effort to make computer chips work more like human brains - and gives us an inside look. You can check out Jes’s full coverage of this story in her recent episode of “All Science. No Fiction.” 

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Carolyn Arntson and Denise Hatch have spent the past few years sorting through thousands of old cardboard boxes abandoned at Oregon funeral homes with one goal in mind: to find the remains of veterans, and get them interred at Willamette National Cemetery. OPB general assignment reporter Joni Auden Land has been following these women on their journey and tells us how the two sifted through boxes of ashes to finally give Oregon veterans a proper burial.

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June is officially Pride month, but queer celebrations spill over into July – Portland Pride is this weekend. And of course, queer visibility shouldn’t be 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. We bring you two intergenerational conversations about the importance of history, and combating queer erasure with friendship and resilience. You can find more coverage of Pride in the Pacific Northwest here.

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

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Oregon has a unique history with cults — remember Rajneeshpuram, the inspiration for the docuseries Wild Wild Country? A spiritual group known as TwinRay is based in Ashland, Oregon. The leaders dress in all white and charge thousands of dollars for online classes. Are they a cult? OPB reporter Leah Sottile fills us in on the details. You can read her recent article on TwinRay here.

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

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Hi! It’s Jenn Chávez, host of The Evergreen. When I’m walking around, I often wonder about the lives of people I see at work, in different professions. What made them want to have that job in the first place? Is it hard? Do they see themselves doing that forever?

Lucky for me, I have the perfect job to ask people those questions. For our latest “At Work With” episode, where we talk to a Pacific Northwesterners with cool jobs and ask them your questions about what it’s like to do what they do, we bring you along as we go to work with a poet, a rural mail carrier and a family of taffy makers. 

For our “At Work With” series, let us know who you want to hear from next! You can also send us questions you have for our next “At Work With” interview. Email us at [email protected] or visit our web page to submit questions.

At Work With poet Anis Mojgani social media reel.

At Work With rural mail carrier Connie Gunn social media reel. 

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

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Water rights are super confusing. In the face of ongoing drought, farms, homes, wildlife and commercial users like golf courses and resorts are all competing for this precious resource. OPB’s Central Oregon Bureau Chief Emily Cureton Cook joins us to help shed some light on the situation and what changes could be on the horizon.

For more coverage on Oregon’s struggle with drought and water usage, check out Emily’s deep dive 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:

Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

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Last week, we introduced you to OPB’s Class of 2025 project, where we are following a class of kindergarteners on their journey all the way through high school. The idea stems from a goal Oregon set more than a decade ago – a 100% high school graduation rate by 2025. 

As the Class of 2025 has grown, so has Oregon. That once tall order of a 100% high school graduation rate is no longer the goal. Oregon’s new governor Tina Kotek has another goal in mind: 90% high school graduation rate by 2027. 

This week, we want to ask some of the tough questions raised by the reporting OPB has done over the last decade with this project. The biggest ones: Why is Oregon's graduation rate still lower than other states, even after focusing on improving it all these years? And maybe more broadly - is trying to get to 100 percent even the right goal? If it's not, what is? Education reporter Elizabeth Miller is back with us this week to help answer these questions.

Check out OPB’s Class of 2025 podcast.

Check out OPB’s Class of 2025 reporting.

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:

Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Politics Now

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

Over a decade ago, former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber announced an aspirational goal to improve the state’s low-ranking high school graduation rate. His mission: a 100% graduation by 2025.

If successful, Oregon would catapult its rock-bottom national ranking to the top. It was a very ambitious goal. And so back in 2012 - when ‘Call Me Maybe’ was the song you heard everywhere - OPB set out on a very ambitious goal too. We decided to document the stories of a kindergarten class on their journey all the way through high school.    

Now, the twenty-seven students we met when they were six years old are all on different paths – one student is even graduating early. But most are about to enter their senior year of high school in the fall. Education reporter Elizabeth Miller has been following the class of 2025 for years, and she gives us a window into their lives. 

OPB Class of 2025 podcast: https://www.opb.org/article/2020/11/30/listen-now-class-of-2025/

OPB Class of 2025 reporting: https://www.opb.org/specialreport/class-of-2025/

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:

Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Politics Now

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