Think Out Loud

By Oregon Public BroadcastingSociety & Culture News Arts

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Think Out Loud episodes

May 15 Portland-based nonprofit aims to support underrepresented independent filmmakers
Last December, Kareem Alston-Rosales launched the nonprofit “Film 4 Good Fund.” Alston-Rosales noticed gaps in access to funding for independent filmmakers after years of work in philanthropy. The nonprofit, which aims to make it easier for independent filmmakers to receive direct grant funding for projects that are nearing the finish line, just gave out its first grant last week to Portland-based filmmaker Ime N. Etuk.
Alston-Rosales and Etuk join us to discuss the Film 4 Good Fund’s work, and what these pathways to grant funding can mean for independent filmmakers.
18 min
May 15 Providers of medication abortion for Oregon patients say access to this care remains unchanged
Medication abortions now comprise up to an estimated two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S., and about a quarter of the mifepristone-misoprostol combination are prescribed via telehealth. Medication abortions are safe and effective when used within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Forty percent of all abortions occur at 6 weeks or less, another 38% between 7 - 9 weeks, and 14% between 10 - 13 weeks, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Not having to visit a doctor in person to get the medication can make all the difference for access, particularly for those who are low-income or live in rural areas. Telehealth access to mifepristone was briefly paused after the state of Louisiana sued the FDA, saying its rules violated its total abortion ban. On May 1, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Louisiana's request for a stay, which meant doctors could not prescribe the drugs via telehealth. But the U.S. Supreme Court blocked that stay, restoring the FDA’s rules while the Louisiana lawsuit continues.

Sara Kennedy the CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willadrmette and an OBGYN, and Amy Handler is the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon. They join us to discuss the implications of this case—and the impact of the law signed this week by Gov. Tina Kotek to restore Planned Parenthood’s medicaid funding.
21 min
May 14 First Schnitzer Prize of the West awarded to Native American leader of restoration project on Idaho, Utah border
This Saturday, the inaugural Schnitzer Prize of the West will be awarded to Brad Parry, vice chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, at a ceremony at the Portland Art Museum. Parry was one of nearly 100 people from 12 states nominated for the new award, which includes $50,000 and will be given annually by the High Desert Museum in Bend in partnership with the Jordan D. Schnitzer and the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation.

Parry is receiving the award because of his leadership of the Wuda Ogwa Cultural and Land Restoration Project, located on the site of the worst massacre of Native Americans by the U.S. military. In 1863, a U.S. Army colonel led an attack on a campsite near the Bear River on the Idaho and Utah border where the ancestors of the Northwestern Shoshone would gather in the winter. An estimated 400 people were murdered, including dozens of women, children and infants.

In 2018, the Northwestern Shoshone purchased the 350-acre property from private owners and began the painstaking process of restoring the site to what it looked like before the massacre. That includes replacing roughly 400,000 invasive Russian olive trees with willows and native plants; creating 15 acres of wetlands; bringing back beavers, trout and other native wildlife; and restoring a tributary of the Bear River to send an expected 10,000 acre-feet of water annually to the Great Salt Lake.

Parry joins us to share the significance of winning this award and the lessons he’s learned that could apply to other conservation efforts in the West.

25 min
May 14 Mining operation could be coming to Baker County
A mining operation that will create close to 100 jobs and cost upwards of $60 million to build could be coming to Baker County. As first reporter in the Baker City Herald, Sumpter Development LLC is planning to reopen four historic mines near Bourne. The company is currently meeting with the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries to see if it can get permission and permits from the state agency to use the mines. Jayson Jacoby is the editor of the publication and reported on this story. He joins us to share more.
16 min
May 14 Evaluating wildfire risk in Oregon and Washington
Wildfire managers and policy makers in Oregon and Washington often evaluate a community’s wildfire risk based on environmental factors such as the probability of wildfire exposure or the number of threatened homes and buildings. They can also take into account a community’s social vulnerability, or a set of demographic characteristics that includes household income, educational attainment and racial and ethnic minority status.

For the first time, researchers at Oregon State University have created a tool that integrates both social vulnerability and wildfire hazard measurements to help inform the distribution of resources needed to reduce wildfire risk. The study found, for example, that more than 450 communities in Oregon and Washington face increased wildfire risk when their social vulnerability was included in risk assessments. Communities such as Warm Springs in Central Oregon and Mosier in the Columbia Gorge with high levels of social vulnerability, for example, could be prioritized for educational outreach, home hardening or fuels reduction programs.

Joining us for more details are Andy McEvoy, a faculty research assistant in the College of Forestry at OSU.

14 min
May 13 DA races in Oregon go uncontested for the first time in decades
Election day in Oregon is next week. Oregonians must submit their ballots by Tuesday, May 19th. There are a number of measures and candidates running in local and statewide elections, but as reported in Bolts, not a single district attorney race is being contested. Oregonians will only have one option in determining who will play a critical role in how criminal justice is handled in the state.

Daniel Nichanian is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bolts. He joins us to share more on why many incumbents around the state aren’t being challenged and what we lose as voters when races go uncontested.
17 min
May 13 Former timber town in rural Oregon faces extreme debt
A series of cascading problems, including financial mismanagement, industry failures and questionable city contracts have pushed Lakeview, Oregon into millions of dollars of debt it can’t pay off. Like many former timber towns, Lakeview has struggled to rebound from the collapse of the logging mills that once powered its economy and helped the community survive in an isolated corner of Southern Oregon. OPB reporter Bryce Dole joins us to explain how Lakeview got into this predicament, and what residents are trying to do to get out of it.
15 min
May 13 Two perspectives on Southern Oregon University’s latest financial crisis
As Jefferson Public Radio reported, the Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees voted unanimously last Friday to create its own plan for long-term financial stability rather than adopt entirely the steep cuts and revenue-raising measures the consulting firm Deloitte has recommended. SOU is facing a deficit of more than $12 million which is expected to grow to nearly $17 million by 2030.

SOU has until next month to adopt a financial stability plan in order to receive $15 million in emergency funding approved by Oregon lawmakers in March. Deloitte’s plan calls for cutting four academic programs, including music and creative writing, and reconfiguring or consolidating nine other programs in subjects like Native American studies and philosophy.

This is the latest financial emergency the university has faced in recent years it’s attempted to address through workforce and academic cuts. Last September, for example, the SOU Board of Trustees approved a plan to slash more than $10 million over four years by eliminating more than 20 academic majors and minors. SOU President Rick Bailey joins us for a perspective, along with Sage TeBeest, a creative arts program assistant at SOU and the president of SEIU 503 Sublocal 84, which represents classified staff at the university.
22 min
May 12 OHSU researchers connect tinnitus with elevated serotonin activity in the brain
It’s estimated that 1 in 10 adults experience tinnitus, often described as a phantom ringing noise in the ears. The condition can develop due to head trauma, hearing loss, exposure to loud noise or as a side effect of certain medications.

There’s no cure for tinnitus and its origins have long been a mystery. But new research from Oregon Health & Science University has linked tinnitus with elevated serotonin levels in certain regions of the brain. While far from a cure, the discovery could one day help scientists understand how to reverse the condition through brain chemistry.

Larry Trussell is a professor of otolaryngology at OHSU and interim director of the Oregon Hearing Research Center. Angie Garinis is an associate professor of otolaryngology at OHSU and a member of the Oregon Hearing Research Center. She’s also a principal investigator at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research at the Portland VA.

They both join us to talk about what this new information could mean for patients who suffer from tinnitus.

29 min
May 12 Three of Oregon’s minor parties weigh in on the state of democracy under two-party system
The near total dominance of the two major political parties is nothing new. Democrats and Republicans have distinct ideological and political differences, but for some, it’s their similarities that drive them away from both. Many voters are not affiliated with any party. In fact, those unaffiliated voters number more than either of the major parties by a substantial margin. Most of the remaining registered voters are members of the other minor parties: The Independent Party, the Constitution party, the Libertarian Party, No Labels, the Pacific Green Party, the Progressive Party, We the People Party and the Working Families Party.

In next week’s Oregon Primary, all voters will be sent ballots that include local and state candidates for nonpartisan offices and measures. But for those who are unaffiliated or a member of a minor party, no partisan candidates will appear, and they cannot vote for any of the major party candidates. Minor parties do not have their primary process funded by taxpayers, as the two major parties do.

A public opinion survey from January 2026 by DHM Research showed significant frustration with both major parties. And a recent national survey of voter opinions of Congress indicated contempt for both Democrats and Republicans. But what does all this mean for minor parties, if anything?

We ask representatives from three of those minor parties to share how they think two-party rule is working for the electorate at large and what changes they’d like to see to include more voters more often. Our guests are Annie Naranjo-Rivera with the Oregon Working Families Party, Sonja Feintech with the Libertarian Party of Oregon and Sal Peralta with the Independent Party of Oregon.

25 min