Think Out Loud

Jack Reacher may be one of the most iconic action book heroes of all time. Over 100 million copies of author Lee Child’s books have been sold. But the author who has taken over the series is perhaps a little less well known. Andrew Child, who also writes under the name Andrew Grant, is now carrying on the legacy of Jack Reacher for his older brother. He came to Portland for the 2024 Portland Book Festival to talk about the 29th book in the series, “In Too Deep.” 

Amid the flurry of executive orders President Trump signed on his first day in office was one that called for a 90-day pause and review of all foreign assistance programs. Three months later, that has resulted in the cancellation of thousands of contracts and grants distributed through the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the gutting of the agency’s workforce.  Portland-based Mercy Corps is one of the many organizations that USAID had awarded grants to for the delivery of humanitarian assistance around the world. Mercy Corps says 40 of its 62 programs that were funded through those grants have now been terminated, from a project that would have provided clean drinking water to 12,000 villagers in Afghanistan to health centers in Nigeria that provided lifesaving food and nutrition services to tens of thousands of young children and pregnant women at risk of starvation and malnutrition. Mary Stata is the chief development officer of Mercy Corps. She joins us to share the scope and human toll of the terminated programs and the future of international humanitarian aid without U.S. government support.

The number of registered voters who choose not to be members of any political party is growing. In fact, in Oregon, the percentage of these voters is bigger than both registered Democrats and Republicans. But those who vote in the major party primaries are the ones that decide which candidates appear on the general election ballot that is open to all voters. While Oregon’s neighbors, Washington and California, have made changes to their primary systems to allow for more participation, Oregon voters have said "no" in the past to doing the same. Nonetheless, Rep. Mark Gamba, D-Milwaukie, is among the sponsors of HB 3166, which would scrap the closed primary system that only allows party members to vote. Gamba joins us to discuss how to best enfranchise non-affiliated voters (NAVs), along with attorney and political consultant Julie Parrish, who served four terms as Republican representative in the Oregon House.

Multnomah County chair Jessica Vega Pederson released a proposed $4 billion budget plan this week. The budget includes cuts to several programs and over 100 staff to address a $77 million shortfall. Earlier this year the county asked local and state jurisdictions to help fill a shortfall of over $100 million in the county’s homeless services budget. Chair Vega Pederson joins us to explain her budget proposal.

Next month marks the five year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. Across the state and country, protests soon followed as videos and the news spread of his death, sparking wider conversation around race, police violence and more in our daily lives.  But what has and hasn’t changed since then? To answer these questions and more we’ll hear from Candace Avalos, Portland City Councilor representing District 1, Luke Richter, president of the Central Oregon Peacekeepers and Mic Crenshaw, an activist, educator and hip-hop artist. We’ll also hear from Aaron Schmautz, the president of both the Portland Police Association and the Oregon Coalition of Police and Sheriffs. 

On Tuesday, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong shared her new proposed budget of $2 billion for the 2025-26 school year, her first budget proposal as the leader of Oregon’s largest school district.  But with rising costs, limited revenue and declining enrollment are putting pressure on a school that is now facing a financial shortfall of $40 million. Supt. Armstrong joins us to share the details. 

Songs of Power and Protest is a songwriter showcase that’s happening in Portland on April 26 at the Cravin' Gravy Social Club at 8 p.m. Jordan Sings and Ezza Rose are Portland musicians that will perform at the event. They join us to talk about the showcase and the power of music to express dissent.   

Oregon lawmakers are considering HB 3018, which would require thousands of Oregon businesses – from hospitals to restaurants to food producers – to compost their food waste. Nationwide, an estimated 15% of methane gas pollution is created by food and other organic waste decomposing in landfills. The bill would also try to reduce the amount of food being tossed out in the first place by requiring foods sold in Oregon to be more clear about when a product is safe to eat. The state’s Department of Environmental Quality has estimated that 70% of the food thrown away could be safely eaten. We get two perspectives on the proposals: Charlie Fisher is the state director of Oregon State Public Interest Research Group and helped write the bill. Jason Brandt is the president and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant And Lodging Association and has concerns about the bill.

“Hands of the Ancestors” is an exhibit currently taking place at Linfield University’s Miller Fine Arts Center in McMinnville. It showcases the work of Stephanie Craig, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and a seventh-generation basket weaver and artist. Oregon ArtsWatch recently profiled Craig and her exhibit, which is on display until May 2.  Craig spends nine months of the year locating and harvesting traditional materials such as hazel, rushes, bigleaf maple and western red cedar from across the state. She uses them to shape baskets and other woven items with the aid of tools like an antler awl and kupin, a traditional digging stick. But “Hands of the Ancestors” offers visitors more than just a window into Craig’s skills and artistry. It opens up a bridge linking the past to the present and future with an array of family photos and texts honoring the elders who taught Craig the Kalapuya tradition of basket weaving and the new generations Craig teaches today, including her 4-year-old daughter. Craig joins us to talk about the exhibit and the messages of resilience and Native pride embedded in her work.  

Just over 5 years ago, Sarah Baker created an  Instagram account that they hoped would evolve into something more. A couple of months later, they had connected with some other activists and filmmakers and launched a film festival of Earth Day shorts in 2020 - just weeks after the pandemic lockdown. Five years later, the group of volunteer creatives say they are Making Earth Cool with a “collective that creates content and events using science, comedy & creativity to educate & inspire people to be better stewards of our only home, Earth.” Baker joins us to talk about this year’s screening of short films, and the community activities MEC is spearheading, including a parade later in the week and what it calls a kind of spiritual “Earth Ceremony.”