In just a few weeks, our nation will commemorate the 250th anniversary of its independence.

As we approach this historic milestone, “Think Out Loud” hears from guests whose life experiences and personal histories illuminate different aspects of what it means to be an American. 

Jill Gentry is the recently installed State Regent of the Oregon State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Gentry is an army veteran and worked for the National Security Agency for over 30 years before retiring to Bend and becoming involved in the DAR. Her mother and grandmother were also active DAR members. We talk to Gentry about her life of service and how she thinks about this country on its 250th anniversary.

The punk organization Volume Bomb has been around in one form or another for the last 10 years. It’s been organizing and promoting local punk bands ever since it began — with one neighborhood block party. Volume Bomb’s mission has gradually evolved since then, says co-founder Jason Rocksmore. Last year, they incorporated as a 501(c)(3) to better fulfill their goals of supporting local punk bands. The nonprofit aims to not only organize shows, but also to pay the musicians.

This weekend, Volume Bomb is launching its newest program called UnMuted, highlighting queer and female-led punk bands. Some of those Unmuted bands will be performing this weekend at the first annual Pride at Full Volume show in downtown Portland. Rocksmore joins us, along with UnMuted program director Jamie Lynne Powell-Herbold, to share more about how the organization has grown and what they hope the next 10 years bring.

The National Civic League has announced the 10 recipients of its prestigious All-American City award. Woodburn was the smallest of the 10 cities from around the country to receive this honor, and the only one on the west coast. The winning cities were chosen by a panel of judges based on how they demonstrated “innovation, civic engagement, and inclusive collaboration.” Woodburn Mayor Frank Lonergan joins us to share details of the award and what it means to the community.

 Centrally Oregon is a co-working space for artists, writers and other professionals which opened earlier this month in Sunriver. The Bulletin previously reported on its opening and owner Stephanie Gregory’s vision for it. Located inside a 1,400-square-foot warehouse, members have access to dedicated desks, an art studio space and workshops Gregory currently teaches on writing, printmaking, watercolor and more. 

Gregory says she created the business because of her own experiences with working remotely and as a writer and artist in southern Deschutes County who often struggled to find local venues to teach her writing workshops. She joins us to share why she thinks her new space is needed in the region and her future plans for it. Kristine Thomas, the executive director of the Sunriver Area Chamber of Commerce and an aspiring mystery writer who has taken writing workshops taught by Gregory, also joins us for this discussion.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, “Think Out Loud” has been hearing from guests whose life experiences and personal histories illuminate different aspects of what it means to be an American.

We’ll continue that conversation with Tony Johnson, the chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation. The nation represents five tribes whose ancestral homelands surround the mouth of the Columbia River in present-day Oregon and Southwest Washington.

The nation received federal recognition in 2001, only to have it rescinded 18 months later. Johnson joins us to talk about the ongoing fight for recognition and the nuances of being Indigenous in the U.S.

Since 1971, the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) program at the University of Washington School of Medicine has been working to bolster the rural physician workforce, both by recruiting medical students from these communities and providing them financial support to return to their communities as family physicians. The program also provides specialized education that prepares graduates to practice medicine in non-metropolitan areas of the northwestern U.S.

A recent donation to the UW School of Medicine will help to bolster this program, and fund students who want to practice family medicine in rural and indigenous communities.

Dr. Tim Dellit is the CEO of UW medicine, and Kenya Morales is a second year medical student who is currently taking part in the WWAMI program at the UW School of Medicine. We’ll hear from them about this education model, the shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas, and about what this funding could mean for students who aspire to pursue family care in these areas.

A Washington State University study found that rates of food insecurity in the U.S. vary among members of different racial and ethnic groups. It found, for example, that only 10% of Asian American adults who live in severe poverty are food insecure, compared to 40% of American Indian and Alaska Native adults living in severe poverty. It also found that low-income white adults had similar levels of food insecurity as low-income Hispanic adults while low-income Black adults faced more food insecurity than both those other groups. 

A household whose income is below 50% of the federal poverty level is considered to be living in severe poverty, whereas a household whose income is 100% to 200% above the federal poverty level is considered to be living in near poverty.

Justin Denney, a professor of sociology at Washington State University, joins us to share more details about the study and how its findings could inform outreach efforts to communities with the greatest food assistance needs.

Gina Jacobsen and Leslie Warren are both financial advisors based in Portland who specialize in helping women navigate financial confidence and life changes such as divorce or death of a partner. They say they notice patterns in the women they work with — oftentimes, they have their first interactions with money management later in life, and Jacobsen and Warren often take on the role of building up self-reliance in those who are managing these responsibilities for the first time.

They join us to talk about what it means to build financial confidence and competency out of uncertainty when navigating financial systems.

Last week, the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration to end protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants. The Temporary Protected Status program was signed into law by George H. W. Bush in 1990 and allows citizens of other countries to stay in the U.S. when it is deemed unsafe for them to return to their home countries. 

The 6-3 vote only ends protections for people from Haiti and Syria, but will have broader implications for the nearly million other immigrants who also received TPS. Kelsey Provo is the associate legal director of the Innovation Law Lab in Portland. She joins us to share more on what this decision means and the impact it will have.

For the first time in nearly 50 years, Portland is hosting the USA Fencing National Championships. The ten-day tournament kicks off this Sunday, with thousands of fencing athletes from around the world competing for national titles.

Michael McTigue served as the executive director of the non-profit Northwest Fencing for 5 years and now volunteers as a coach. He’s been fencing, competing and coaching for the last 48 years. Sandra Marchant is a national fencing champion who’s coming to town to compete. She frequently travels to Portland to host a women’s-only fencing summer camp called The Athena Project. We’ll hear from McTigue and Marchant ahead of the tournament