Think Out Loud

If you're not well-versed in the natural fiber economy, Kristen Buchanan wants to help with that. Buchanan manages a small family farm in Southwest Washington, and she’s the co-founder of PNW Fiber Connect, an organization that wants to create a support network of different players in the regional fiber industry.

The organization aims to educate consumers and share resources from shepherds to mill owners to yarn stores. Buchanan wants consumers to make intentional choices about where their wool and textiles come from and hopes that the Pacific Northwest can one day sustain a more robust fiber economy.

Kirsten Holbo is a shepherd at Iron Water Ranch in Albany, Oregon. She’s been in the fiber industry since 1984 when her family took over Iron Water Ranch. She and Buchanan join us to share more about the current state of the wool industry in Oregon

Juan Carlos González was elected president of Metro in May, and then appointed to serve out the remainder of the previous president’s term. He made history in 2018 becoming the youngest member and first Latino to serve on the Metro council. His priorities for the council are creating more affordable housing and jobs in the region. Metro has begun what it calls Future 50, a planning process designed to shape the metro area through 2077. We sit down with González to hear more about his priorities and vision for the next 50 years.

Vu Pham, an independent filmmaker based in Portland, is working on a documentary film about his mother’s murder, which took place when he was a young child.

Pham and his mother fled Vietnam by boat in 1981. The film, Sea Rose Ashes, explores Pham’s journey learning more about his mother’s past and making efforts to take restorative justice pathways with her murderer. Pham joins us to discuss his journey and his current film.

The U.S. healthcare system is notoriously complex — something as simple as a doctor’s visit has the potential to generate mysterious bills and endless calls to insurance companies. An Oregon couple is attempting to give voice to those frustrations through comedy sketches on social media.

Dr. and Lady Glaucomflecken — otherwise known as Will and Kristin Flanary —  began making TikTok videos during the COVID-19 pandemic. Will is an ophthalmologist and two-time cancer survivor. Kristin supported Will through those diagnoses and, more recently, provided 10 minutes of CPR after he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in his sleep.

The couple has used their personal and professional experience to tackle topics such as private equity in healthcare, unrealistic expectations placed on medical students, and providers’ struggles to balance the needs of their patients with the requirements of insurance companies.

In addition to social media, the two host a podcast and create educational resources for clinicians and “co-survivors,” or people who support a loved one through a traumatic illness or medical crisis.

Will and Kristin Flanary join us to talk about healthcare advocacy and the role that humor can play in it.

The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers in Vancouver, Wash. is the union that represents the nearly 400 workers who were working at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. when a chemical tank ruptured at the paper mill last month. Eleven employees died, all of whom were union members. 

AWPPW has been coordinating relief efforts, including donations, to support and assess the needs of victims and their families. Last week, the union announced it had reached an agreement with Nippon Dynawave to secure full pay until at least Aug. 8 for workers who are unable to or were instructed not to work. Those who are scheduled to work will receive an additional three hours of pay for each shift they work. 

A federal investigation into the cause of the rupture is currently underway and being led by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Josh Estes, a spokesperson and former local union president at AWPPW, says the union supports the demands for answers and accountability from victims and their families to ensure that a tragedy like this doesn’t happen again. Estes joins us to share the union’s focus on supporting workers and their families and the importance of this industry on the local economy.

As artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous, artists and writers are creating their own guiding principles for where and how they use the technology in their creative practices and their work. Tracy Hoagland is the chair of the Portland chapter of Willamette Writers, and by day, she works in the tech industry with AI. She says she doesn’t use AI in her writing practice, but has to consciously separate the two areas of her life. Jessie Kwak is an author and ghost writer based in Portland, who uses AI to supplement her writing work. They both join us to discuss their own ethos around AI in the world of creative writing.