After 20 years, Oregon's largest anime convention is still volunteer-led and bursting with enthusiastic energy. by Corbin Smith

More than twelve thousand fans descended on Portland last weekend to celebrate 20 years of Kumoricon, Oregon’s largest convention for appreciators of anime and the content world that surrounds it.

From Friday through Sunday attendees competed in video game tournaments, stood in as chess pieces in human-sized games, browsed the works of hundreds of artists and vendors in a massive market, and even waited in line to meet the person who voiced Shamir in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. But primarily, they wore cosplay, looked at cosplay, repaired cosplay, and plotted future cosplays. 

Compared to other conventions, like a big sports trading card convention I attended earlier this year, Kumoricon carries a softer, cheerier vibe. The fest is still proudly volunteer-run, despite its longevity and steady growth. While that trading card event was driven by the thrill of the exchange—the dream of something exploding in value—Kumoricon seems driven by the thrill of giving and receiving cosplay costume compliments.

You see the exchange often: cosplayers stopping others to say, “I love that, amazing job.” The complimented might mention something about the character or the other person's costume. It’s quick; everyone keeps walking on, but with a new little miniature bond sitting in their back pocket—forged from a pop culture connection and some light kindness. It’s all very earnest, and enthusiastic; a gentler world for gentler people. 

We photographed some cosplayers in attendance, and they told us why they attend conventions and a little about what goes into their costuming.

Jay is dressed as an original character, a Chinese moon moth named Uei. photo corbin smith

Jay showed off a cosplay of an original character—a Chinese moon moth named Uei—saying, "moon moths are from Asia and southwest China, so I tried to base her on an ancient Hanfu style. I bought a traditional Hanfu skirt from a reputable source called NewMoonDance. I’ve been cosplaying for fifteen years, and I’ve never been able to make anything that is my own. I made the top, handmade the wings, and painted them myself."

“Being in a con space when I was 13 was very supportive," Jay continued. "Everybody was always hyping each other up; there were silly little dances everywhere. It’s where I met my current fiancee, and all of my long standing friends. Cons were where you found your people."

Wesley as Lelouch from Code Geass. photo by corbin smith

Dressed as Lelouch Lamperouge from anime show Code Geass, Wesley expressed a love for Lamperouge's character arc—"going from a morally gray character, to pure evil, but for the good of good things. He’s just interesting. And also, I love big cape." Asked about the cape, Wesley clarified, "I love how it gets caught on things."

Hannah as Theodore from the rodent-led pop band 'Alvin and the Chipmunks.' Photo by corbin smith

Hannah's choice to dress as Theodore—of the virtual band Alvin and the Chipmunks—was based on the character being "fun and silly… we just munk around.” The costume's large black contacts are from Uniqso. "These are actually the mini-sclera, I’m afraid of the big normal sclera that covers your entire eye... I’ve seen them get stuck, so you can’t get your nail under there to pull them out."

Bonnie dressed as Anya from the indie horror game ‘Mouthwashing.’ photo by corbin smith Niko Suits dressed as Xie lian from 'Heaven’s Official Blessing.' photo by corbin smith

Niko Suits competes at the Master level of cosplay competition because they are actually a professional costumer, working in theater. "Pretty much anything—opera, ballet,” they explained. "If you’ve been [to a local show] in the last three years,  I’ve probably worked on it.”

Suits' mother encouraged them to take up sewing when they were young. “I have ADHD, so my mom was like, 'You need to have a hobby that is cheap and can keep you kind of quiet and sat for a bit," they recalled. "When I was 10, I was looking up Fullmetal Alchemist, and I found the cosplayer Reika—she’s kind of The Cosplayer. I found her, and I was like ‘YOU CAN DRESS UP LIKE THEM?' and it went from there.”

Tyler as Wirt from 'Over the Garden Wall.' photo by corbin smith

Tyler busked, tooting out videos game melodies and other popular tunes on a wireless electronic wind instrument, for all three days of the con. The activity worked well with cosplaying Wirt from Cartoon Network's Over the Garden Wall, who plays clarinet on the show. "I’m pleasantly surprised by how kind people have been," Tyler said. "I’ve been to Kumoricon the last five years, and I always see musicians out here play. So I finally decided to do it, and I’m glad I did. I’ve made over two hundred dollars so far."

April as Pumpkin Gal from 'Over the Garden Wall.' Photo by corbin Smith

The pumpkin head on April's costume—Pumpkin Gal from Over the Garden Wall—was much lighter than it looked, as it was crafted with an expanding foam, instead of papier-mché. April explained: “It's got a hard hat to hold it all together, cardboard on the inside to make the frame, and you just cover all the holes, spray it on, shave it, and boom."

Elee as Gyokuyō from 'The Apothecary Diaries.' Photo by Corbin Smith

“I actually learned to sew before I got into cosplay," Elee recalled. "My friends were like: Hey, you wanna come to this con, you wanna dress like silly little guys? And I was like, heck yes! It’s so fun to plan your outfits, spend all this time making your cosplay, and making everything for your outfit. Everyone is very excited to see what character you chose, and you have a fun time seeing what everyone else dressed up as—it’s just a very fun and positive experience."

Adrian as Isabelle from 'Animal Crossing.' Photo by corbin smith

Goblin as Maomao, also from 'The Apothecary Diaries.' Photo by Corbin Smith

Goblin is part of a cosplay collective called Too Broke for Cosplay, with fellow crafters Elee and Adrian, and credits Elee with teaching them to sew. At first, Goblin just did "tasks [Elee] didn’t like, like seam-ripping." Now they're working with furniture or upholstery fabrics on a heavy-duty Singer sewing machine. "When I hand make stuff, it lasts WAY longer than stuff I would buy online," they said. "There’s stuff I bought online that dies within one use and it cost $50-$70 dollars. This is my fourth time wearing this costume; I’ve only added to it, and it’s stayed as good."

Local brewers describe the secret ingredients that put their beers in the holiday spirit. by Joe Streckert

Every year around November, beer aisles and bottle shops get seasonal. Winter ales appear on the shelves right around the time frost starts appearing on the ground. 

Winter beers aren’t any one thing. Holiday brews are more of a feeling than a prescribed list of ingredients or techniques. The closest thing the beer world has to “official” rules about beer styles is the Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines. The most recent version of the guidelines advises beer judges to “think more about the declared concept than trying to detect each individual ingredient. Balance, drinkability, and execution of the theme are the most important deciding factors” when evaluating winter beers.

In other words, when professional beer judges evaluate a winter beer, they go by vibes.

“For me it’s a cozy beer,” says Jess Hardie, the head brewer and co-founder of TPK Brewing Company. “Something you want to snuggle up with like a blanket.”

“Seasonal beers can range greatly,” says Lee Perry, the event director for the Portland Holiday Brew Fest. “It can be a real mix of whatever brewers are feeling.”

That being said, there are some common features that give a beer that wintertime feeling.

“For me a winter beer is a bigger, maltier, warm-you-up style of ale. They tend to be a little bit darker and a little less hoppy and higher in alcohol,” says Jake Elder, the brewer and co-founder of Lazy Days Brewing. 

For Elder, beers that focus less on hops and more on malt give him an opportunity to break out the spices and get creative with flavors beyond just hops.

Winter is when beers get loaded up with spices, however adding Christmastime spices and flavorings to beer isn’t some kind of craft brew innovation or cute novelty. According to Edler, adding flavor to beer with whatever brewers had available is a long tradition. A tradition that’s even older than adding hops to beer.

“Hops have been a relatively new phenomenon,” says Elder. “Relatively new” here means only a few centuries. Elder estimates that hops only go back about three or four hundred years. Prior to that, spice blends were more popular for adding bitterness or other flavors to brews. Elder specifically names nutmeg, allspice, and mace as common and longstanding flavorings to beer, all of which are popular in holiday brews to this day.

“Pretty much anything that was used in a spice rack was used in a beer,” says Elder. Maltier beers, says Elder, can taste unbalanced or unfinished on their own. Adding additional flavoring agents can round the beer out and make it more palatable. Darker, maltier wintertime beer provide a ready template for brewers who are ready to evoke wintertime feelings with whatever flavoring agents they have on hand.

Kora and Hardie go beyond the spice rack for their wintertime flavors. Kora adds palo santo wood to one of his porters to create a woody, aged flavor that he says “tastes like a thin mint.” He notes that it’s one of his more popular beers and he makes it available year round. Hardie will add ingredients like Belgian candi sugar, cinnamon, and Mexican cocoa to her beers to make them sweeter and more distinctive.

That being said, hops aren’t entirely absent from the holiday parties. Oregon’s favorite (or maybe most divisive) beer style, the IPA, still shows up plenty in the winter, and other hoppy beers make appearances at seasonal brew festivals. 

Hardie made a black rye IPA that she sees as a wintertime brew. “I would still consider that a winter beer because the rye was so forward,” she says. It clocked in at about 68 IBUs and 6.5% ABV, which Hardie puts on the lower end of the alcohol spectrum for holiday ales. But: “It still had that roasty-toasty flavor that I want in a winter beer,” Hardie says.

According to Elder, winter IPAs tend to lean on hops that give the beers what he calls “Christmas tree flavors”: Notes of spruce and pine needles can make a hoppy beer feel like a holiday one, and he calls out Sierra Nevada’s Celebration IPA as a good example of popular beer that gets its holiday flavors from hops rather than spices. It’s pine-forward and is marketed as a seasonal beer while also retaining the ever-salable identity of IPA.

Perry notes that several of the beers at the Portland Holiday Brew Fest are fresh hop IPAs. December is at the very tail end of the fresh hop season in Oregon, but it’s close enough that juicy, fruity IPAs can just barely be in season when snow begins to fall.

Winter beers also aren’t strictly limited to ales.

“Winter ales are a lot quicker to turn over and get into the market,” says Kora. Lagers generally take longer to brew. That means they also take more planning, take up space in a brewery for a longer period of time, and are more of a logistical issue for brewers. But Kora notes that it is possible to brew lagers like bocks and pilsners that include holiday flavors.

Kora also notes that lagers have a reputation for being not as flavorful, interesting, or high in alcohol as ales. But, he says, that’s a misconception. “Lagers can be just as formidable as ales,” he says. According to him, an enterprising brewer can create a lager that evokes holiday feelings just as much as a smoky, barrel-aged porter might.

Winter ales tend to stay drinkable long after the Christmas decorations have been packed up. Alcohol is a preservative and the higher ABV in a lot of seasonal brews means that the flavors can stick around even into the next holiday season and beyond.

“Winter ales age really well,” says Kora. He notes that as long as high ABV beers are kept at fifty degrees or lower they stay drinkable and can develop in interesting ways.

“Winter beers can change over time and age out really well. They can be really different beers in six months or so and become quite tasty.” Long after the holidays are over, a little bit of Christmas can linger on in your beer fridge, ready with holiday cheer any time of year.

Four  Festive Beers To Try

• The Spice is Right from Lazy Days Brewing: A 6.7% spiced chocolate porter with flavor notes that wouldn’t be out of place in a pumpkin pie or spiced eggnog. 

• Nightfall of Diamonds from Zoiglhaus and Ecliptic: This 7.6% imperial porter is a collaboration between two breweries, blending toffee and coffee flavors with orange and chocolate. It’s not marketed as a seasonal beer per se, but it tastes a lot like one of those chocolate oranges sold around the holidays.

• Yippee-KI-PA from Baerlic: A winter IPA based on everyone’s favorite Christmas action movie. This 7.2% seasonal offering is less about overwhelming bitterness and more about a rounded, roasty flavor that goes well with Christmas trees or exploding office buildings.

• Peregrin Palo Santo Porter from Montavilla Brew Works: A dark porter aged in Peruvian Palo Santo wood with hints of minty sweetness.

A roundup of the best holiday sweets and snacks for your festivities. by Martha Daghlian

Throughout centuries of human civilization, people have sought out ways to combat the darkness and cold temperatures of winter: from ancient temples that aligned with the rising solstice sun to the ceremonial burning of symbolic fir trees, we have devised many strategies to brighten up the longest season. But perhaps the best solution to the winter doldrums is to have a little treat? Cultures all around the world have invented their own special cookies, cakes, and sweets to be enjoyed at this time of year, and we’ve rounded up some of our faves that are available right here in Portland!

Fancy Cake Thinks it’s a Tree

Arguably the most iconic of Christmas desserts, the bûche de noël (or yule log) predates current “is it cake” fads by well over a century. Traditionally made with light sponge cake rolled around a rich filling and adorned with cute meringue mushrooms, this whimsical faux tree echoes the ancient Celtic tradition of burning a ceremonial log at Winter Solstice and really amps up the classic holiday aesthetic. Don’t have a spare 57 hours and a background in French pastry? Let the professionals at Pix Patisserie take care of all your bûche needs with one of their glossy high concept stumps, available to order through December. Pix Patisserie, 2225 E Burnside, pixpatisserie.com

Baklava URCU ATALAY TANKUT / GETTY IMAGES

Baklava Just Like
Grandma Used to Make

Within the Armenian-American side of my family, baklava—a buttery, syrupy nut-and-phyllo pastry popular across the Mediterranean, Central/West Asian, and North African regions—is a mandatory holiday treat. I grew up on my grandmother’s recipe, which calls for walnuts only (no pistachios, thank you), an entire pound of clarified butter, NO cinnamon (how dare you even suggest it!), and a sneaky splash of bourbon, presumably a modern twist added by grandma. But TBH, I haven’t met a baklava I didn’t love, and there are a few particularly strong ready-made contenders here in Portland: World Foods Market, with locations in the Pearl and on Barbur Boulevard, makes a few varieties of baklava and similar pastries, all of which are exquisite (even with pistachios). 

Sophisticated Citrus

It’s a serendipitous fact that winter is not only a season for feasting on rich foods, it’s also the time of year when bright, refreshing citrus is at its peak. Who doesn’t love a bowl of oranges at a holiday party? In addition to enjoying fresh citrus fruit straight up (my favorite is the dekopon or sumo mandarin), there are all sorts of fancy things you can make with the help of our zesty friends: fresh grapefruit mimosas, traditional pomander balls (that’s when you poke a ton of little holes in an orange and shove a whole dried clove in each one, creating a spicy little air freshener that also kind of looks like a medieval weapon as it slowly dries up throughout the winter), hot toddies with tons of lemon. If you really want to impress your friends, try making your own candied citrus peel—it’s like a grown up version of those fruit slice gummy candies! 

Candied Citrus Peel

Cut the peel from a bunch of citrus fruits (make sure not to include any of the white part!) into strips. Blanch them three times (that means placing them in a saucepan, covering with water, and boiling for five minutes, then you’ll drain and boil them for five more minutes in fresh water, then do the same thing one more time). Then, cover them with a 1:1 mixture of water and granulated sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 40-60 minutes over low heat. They should become soft and a little translucent at the edges. Drain and place on a drying rack until cool (put some foil or parchment underneath to catch any drips). Once they are dry, you can toss them in sugar for a sparkly and crunchy coating.

Candied citrus peel makes a super classy garnish for fancy desserts, and can also be used in cake and muffin recipes. Or just snack on them in between all the cookies for a “healthy” treat—it’s fruit, isn’t it??

Sticky Sweets for Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year may still be a little ways off, but I’m already planning what I’ll bring to the annual party our friends throw to celebrate this traditional East Asian holiday. A lot of the foods associated with Lunar New Year celebrations symbolize some specific kind of luck that one might hope to attract in the coming months. Noodles, dumplings, fish, and citrus all connect in some way to ideas including longevity, wealth, and unity. But in my humble opinion, treats featuring sticky rice are the star of the show. This time around, I plan to visit Li Min Bakery at 81st and SE Division, and Shop Halo Halo on 50th and SE Woodstock, for traditional nian gao (sticky rice cakes) and moon cakes filled with sweet bean paste. Lin Min’s Bakery & Bistro, 8615 SE Division; Shop Halo Halo, 4981 SE Woodstock, STE 2, shophalohalo.com

Rugelach Nataly Hanin / Getty Images

Rad Rugelach

My first encounter with rugelach was at an elementary-school friend’s house, where her mom taught us to make this classic holiday cookie, originally dreamed up hundreds of years ago by Jewish bakers in Poland. Wait, is it a cookie? Or is it a pastry? You know what, I don’t care… all I know is it comes in lots of different flavors (Apricot! Raspberry! Chocolate!) and its twisty little crescent-moon shape really spices up a cookie plate. Like many delicious wintertime snacks, they do take a bit of effort to make at home, so if you’re short on time you might want to check out Henry Higgins Bagels, which contrary to their name, also serves up rugelach, babka, and challah on the regular. Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels, multiple locations, hhboiledbagels.com

Scandinavian-Style Snacks

If this list of festive treats still isn’t enough for you, mark your calendars for the 40th annual Scan Fair! This massive event, hosted by Nordic Northwest at the Oregon Convention Center December 7 and 8, is inspired by traditional Scandinavian Christmas markets. Think traditional singing and dancing, cozy knitwear, and tons of delicious sweets, snacks, and drinks–basically a massive party to brighten up the dark wintertime with some serious hygge. My most trusted Scandinavian treat advisor suggests loading up on Æbleskiver (little round pancakes, often served with lingonberry jam), pickled herring, and glögg (spiced wine punch). Scan Fair runs Dec. 7-8 at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE MLK Jr, get your tickets and find more info at nordicnorthwest.org/scanfair 

Nothing says “you’re cool” like the gift of vinyl. by Jenni Moore

The holidays are a great time to support your loved one’s passions (read: greatest obsessions) by splurging on vinyl copies of their favorite albums and cult classic soundtracks. Selected from my home record collection, my own Christmas list, and some that I’ve had fun wrapping up as gifts, here are eight vinyl releases that make great gifts for the holidays in 2024.

1. 
Cowboy Carter & Homecoming:
The Live Album, Beyoncé 

For a while, Beyoncé only made special edition cover versions of Cowboy Carter available for purchase—I have one such copy—but today you can buy the classic cover version with that iconic image of Bey as the blonde-haired rodeo queen holding the American flag on horseback at places like Target and Amazon. If the Beyoncé fan in your life isn’t the biggest fan of Cowboy Carter (for whatever stupid reason), consider splurging on Homecoming: The Live Album, so your loved one can enjoy the Queen’s world-stopping Coachella performance that sees her slay nearly two hours of back-to-back hits from her three-decade career—Destiny’s Child reunion included—even when the internet goes out. The Homecoming vinyl includes four LPs that are enclosed in double-sided artwork sleeves, and the box set also comes with a 52-page booklet featuring stunning album artwork, which alone is worth the purchase.

2.
Wicked: The Soundtrack

We have full-body chills from the sneak listen of “Defying Gravity” in the Wicked theatrical trailers. As someone whose musical theater beginnings were shaped by the original cast soundtrack, the fact that the movie roles of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) are being played by two megastar performers in their prime is comforting. Nearing EGOT status and only missing an Oscar, Cynthia Erivo is a stunning talent whether she’s slaying roles like Aretha Franklin, Harriet Tubman, or Celie in a Broadway revival of The Color Purple. And Ariana Grande has more than proven herself as a top tier vocalist—just watch her concert doc Excuse Me, I Love You for the receipts. These are two women who could sing the phonebook (do those still exist?) and make it Grammy worthy. I can’t wait to hear how the two interpret songs like “Popular,” “Defying Gravity,” and how their voices blend on those iconic Wicked harmonies. Sadly, we’ll have to wait for the second film (to be released in November 2025) to hear this cast’s versions of favorite tracks like ”Thank Goodness,” “As Long As You’re Mine,” and of course, the heartfelt duet finale “For Good.” Available exclusively at Target and dropping November 22, the same day the movie hits theaters, we already know the first volume of the Wicked soundtrack is worth buying for the musical theater kid in your life. (For the Wicked purest or skeptics of the new cast, consider acquiring a vinyl copy of the original cast recording featuring Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel.) 

3.
Merry Christmas, Mariah Carey

As far as Christmas albums go, you can’t lose with 1994’s classic Merry Christmas from Mariah Carey, which is basically synonymous with the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. While “All I Want for Christmas Is You” tends to get a lot of the attention, there’s a reason MC’s album is one of the most acclaimed Christmas albums of all time; Mariah’s at her vocal peak on her renditions of songs like “O Holy Night,” “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and gospel tracks “Joy to the World,” and “Jesus (Oh What A Wonderful Child).”

Chappel Roan

4.
The Rise And Fall of a Midwest Princess, Chappell Roan

For the pop-loving progressivist and campy music fan in your life, get your hands on Chappell Roan’s debut, which clearly pulls aesthetic influences from the drag world, and sonic influences from 1980s synth-pop. The cinematic album depicts the artist’s journey of falling in queer love for the first time, and includes highlights like “Red Wine Supernova,” “Hot to Go!,” and “Pink Pony Club.”

5.
Self-Titled, Roman Norfleet and
Be Present Art Group

Driven by Roman Norfleet, improvised jazz and soul collective Be Present Art Group’s self-titled debut emerged from drum gatherings in Washington DC’s Malcolm X Park, which the album’s liner notes describe as “a pocket of freedom built on collective improvisation and shared rhythm.” In Portland, Norfleet assembled a collective of artists including Jacque Hammond and members of Brown Calculus to channel the spirit of those DC sessions. The group’s resulting earthy and spiritual self-titled album was released via Portland-to-Chicago label Mississippi Records in 2023. [Record label Mississippi Records is under the impression it lives in Chicago now, but the store and SPIRIT remain in Portland. -eds.]

6.
Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder

I was handed down a vintage copy of Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life from my family’s record collection accumulated in the ’70s. The Grammy-winning Stevie classic is one of my favorites to bump around the house, especially while doing housework. Widely accepted as one of the best and most influential albums in history, Stevie’s 18th studio album embodies—if not invents—the concept of “no skips” with songs like “Love’s In Need of Love Today,” “Sir Duke,” “Village Ghetto Land,” “I Wish,” “Knocks Me Off My Feet,” “Ordinary Pain,” “Isn’t She Lovely,” “Joy Inside My Tears,” and “Black Man.” The subject matter feels as relevant as ever, with Stevie singing about evergreen topics like his childhood, first love, lost love, and poignantly tackling heavier topics like racial justice, and social justice for the poor and disenfranchised. 

7.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (Soundtrack)

I have a younger brother who was absolutely obsessed with The Nightmare Before Christmas growing up, and by proxy, I too came to love the creepy stop-motion film, especially the music. Whether you consider it a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie—I happen to believe it’s both—The Nightmare Before Christmas is a family-friendly cult classic, and the soundtrack is nostalgic, campy, moody, but most of all fun! The soundtrack can be enjoyed from October all the way to Christmas, bringing joy to its recipient with songs like “This Is Halloween,” “What’s This?,” “Making Christmas,” and “Jack’s Obsession.” 

MF Doom

8.
Mm..Food, MF Doom
(20th Anniversary Edition) 

For the MF Doom superfan in your life (we all have at least one), many a vinyl gift will do—from his studio debut album Operation: Doomsday to his epic collab with Madlib, Madvillainy. But this year is a particularly good time to gift the 2004 concept album Mm..Food, Doom’s fifth studio album with lyrics and song titles that reference different foods, as it celebrates its 20-year anniversary with a special edition vinyl release that comes with super cool new artwork that depicts a new take on the original illustrated cover, which features Doom sitting down to eat breakfast. On the updated cover, Doom is seen through a window, sitting down in the booth of a classic American diner.

I’m permanently estranged from my family.
Here’s what cats and dogs have taught me. by Lindsay Costello

From etymonline.com: estrange (v.) late 15c., from French estrangier “to alienate,” from Vulgar Latin *extraneare “to treat as a stranger,” from Latin extraneus “foreign, from without” (see strange). 

I am strange, I am alien, I am a stranger, I am without. Or maybe my family is. It’s difficult to say. Since 2019, I’ve been estranged from my entire family. I won’t bore (or titillate) you with the details of my decision to distance myself from them, but visualize a constellation of generational traumas—nearly every type represented—and you’ll have a general idea. Estrangement is, as the literature says, a last resort. It’s the truth. I never wanted this, but now I’m freer for it.

On most days, the peace of estrangement is one of the most powerful presences in my life. But during the chaotic final months of the year, it begins to feel like a gargantuan gaping wound that anyone—friends, coworkers, baristas—might spot if I’m not careful. People tend to flip out, or at least stare a little, when they see a gargantuan gaping wound. 

So I don’t discuss it. I listen intently as those around me describe their family’s political beliefs and their dad’s rude comments and their brother’s whatever-what-have-you and I share little in response. I frown. I say, “Ugh, that sucks.” And I do mean it.

My experience always feels different, though. For one thing, my calendar is suspiciously open during the holidays. This serves an interesting and unexpected purpose: As those around me saddle up for travel, family dinners, and gift exchanges, I’m available for pet sitting. The texts roll in.

Yes, I sometimes feel a knee-jerk sting when this happens, in the way that we all have those insidious automatic thoughts that have squished around in our brains for years or decades. You know the ones. Therapists and Instagram graphics attempt to unpack them with counter-thoughts: I am worthy. I am enough. And so on. But those few tenacious thoughts remain. The neurons fire and wire. Mine are:

I don’t have a family. Everyone else does, except me.

When I type that out, there is no resentment, just layers of sadness buried in a cavity that my partner Jeremy and my cat Spaghetti still can’t fill. Intellectually, I know these thoughts aren’t true. Many people are estranged from their families, and I do have a “chosen family”—I have Jeremy! Spaghetti! A small circle of friends! But without any biological family members in my life, there’s still a sharp loneliness, pointed and pronounced, that never goes away. The edges of it become crisper during the holidays. 

Back to the petsitting, though. Over time, I’ve noticed that the animals I form bonds with might also have something to teach me about navigating estrangement. (For the record, I’m not a mental health professional. But stay with me here.)

My first Christmas pet sitting charge was Fiddle, a large and docile orange man whose primordial pouch swayed like a porch swing as he strode aimlessly across the house. From Fiddle, I gleaned the first of many lessons on connection and self-preservation.

1. Don’t google your parents. (Or your sister, or your ex, or whoever it is you’ve made a concerted effort to get away from.) 

a. Animals can’t google, especially sweet, simple-minded angels like Fiddle. This one is a no-brainer. Googling your parents, who will, undoubtedly, still have no internet presence, is the quickest ticket to a night-long spiral. Plus, there are few things on this planet more depressing than searching online for your deadbeat dad’s handyman business. Don’t do it.

Then came Frank, a dapple dachshund with dark eyes and ears that flapped out like soft wings when he flopped over on his back in the living room. Frank is a snuggly dog who asks that one hand be petting him at all times. He also likes to wake with the sunrise.

2. Make your own rituals and stick to them with dogged (ugh) determination.

a. One year, curled up in a pit of sadness, I asked an estrangement-related subreddit for advice on what to do during the holidays. I feel for you, elderberry42289, some kind soul wrote. I recommend finding a routine and sticking to that for your sanity. Also, could you come up with something cool to do every holiday season? Something all your own?

b. This message was reaffirmed by Frank, who sticks to his rituals and appreciates all the sensory pleasures life has to offer. If Frank were a human, I think he would take himself to the movies and a fancy dinner every Christmas day.

Before I met Dorothy, I thought I’d experienced the full spectrum of anger, marinating in all the emotion had to offer. This was not true. Dorothy’s capacity for disdain topped anything I’d ever felt before. She is a one-eared cat who hisses at nothing—the television, my hand in a bag of chips, the sky. She is also dark and slinky, making her contemptuous behavior seem kind of cool.

3. Go outside. 

a. I knew better than to argue with Dorothy, who insisted upon patrolling the outside world despite hostile forces like coyotes and cars in the neighborhood. And so out she went, and came back, still intact (minus the missing ear). 

b. Unfortunately, the news is true. Going for a walk (or even, like, to the mailbox) helps when those insidious automatic thoughts start to conspire against you. Just do it, you’ll be fine.

Here’s a lesson I’ve taken from every pet I’ve cared for:

4. Eat whatever the fuck you want. 

a. You’re (probably) not a licensed nutritionist, you’re someone with family trauma who is attempting to navigate the holiday season. Eating whatever, whenever, is clearly what dogs dream of. You are not a dog. You are an adult with some funds and a ride to Safeway. Act accordingly.

And finally,

5. Make sure that you aren’t alone. Alternate strategy: believe that you’re not alone.

In a season that emphasizes togetherness and companionship, I am one person musing on the tiny universes of cats and dogs. Maybe these reflections seem a little trite, even pathetic. But I don’t think that they are. 

The entire objective of pet sitting is to care for small guys who cannot care for themselves. Central to that relationship is an applicable truth: When I am experiencing something emotionally traumatic, I can treat myself with special attention, too. 

Sometimes that means asking for help or camaraderie. But maybe I am not in the mood to be social. Maybe I’m having a Dorothy day. That’s fine—because even when I’m isolated and furious and sad, I’m not alone. Not really. Embedded in that core belief is every creature that’s trusted me.

Spend time NOT talking to family with our preview
of the holidays’ most-hyped new releases. by Dom Sinacola

Holidays are usually meant for time with family, which is obviously why so many people elect to go to the movies on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanks to theaters being open, you now have a ready-made excuse to avoid talking to loved ones for a solid two hours. 

From St. Johns Twin Cinemas to Regal Division Street, every corner of Portland is thriving with film love, be it a first-run chain or local rep theater. So, to gird thy loins for the upcoming high holy days, I’ve assembled a preview of the movies you can see in theaters on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas day when conversation runs as dry as an overcooked bird. 

Thanksgiving (November 28)

Red One

Following the box office shrug that was 2022’s Black Adam, The Rock optimistically reported from the set of Red One that his new blockbuster, co-starring Chris Evans and JK Simmons (as muscle daddy Santa Claus), is a “big, fun, action packed [sic] and fresh new take on Christmas Lore [sic].” After The Rock’s supposed chronic lateness and “unprofessional” on-set behavior helped push Red One to late 2024, this “new take” on the late-December holiday will finally see the overcast light of mid-November. Apparently, when Santa Claus is kidnapped, the head of North Pole security, Callum Drift (Rock), must join forces with world-class bounty hunter (come on now) Jack O’Malley (Evans, seemingly running on fumes), to save Kris Kringle. Whatever. I have no doubt this movie will be excrement, struck with surprisingly upsetting violence splayed against the most conservative values you can carve from a $250 million budget. This comes out on November 15; will it still be in theaters on Thanksgiving? Let’s hope not.

Gladiator II

If you’ve seen Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, you know that the octogenarian director cannot be bothered by such woke trappings of cinematic culture as “historical accuracy” or “consistent accents.” Instead, Scott trades obsession for the spectacle of history; he’s in thrall more to the bloom of organs erupting from cannonball wounds than allegiance to facts most audiences wouldn’t know anyway. 

That energy will carry into Gladiator II, Scott’s sequel to his 2000 original, which will surely be a stupendously gory feast for IMAX screens. Arms all veined up, Paul Mescal is New Gladiator, the fate of Rome on his shoulders for some reason, with Denzel Washington clearly having a blast playing an ancient weapons dealer. Finally able to put a career’s worth of ideas onto the screen, Scott’s never been more prolific, and never less beholden to anyone than himself. Respect. 

Wicked Part One

The first half of an adaptation of the musical—as well as of the 1995 novel on which the musical’s based and the Wizard of Oz writings of Frank L. Baum—Wicked has a runtime of two hours and 40 minutes. More like Wicked Long Movie [pats self on back]. Growing to the width of the Garfield balloon at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, Ariana Grande’s dinner plate eyes will ultimately occlude all other light. Suddenly, lifetimes will pass in the dark of that theater. You will wake in another epoch, another land, and you will discover there is still a second movie to sit through.

Moana 2

The November of The Rock continues with the last IP he hasn’t stripmined of all goodwill. That’s right, Rockheads, Maui, the beefy demigod from Moana, is back for the sequel. Originally developed as an animated series, Moana 2 went theatrical eight months ago when Bob Iger announced the series had been reconfigured following a revamping of the producing and directing teams—for solely artistic reasons, I’m sure. Rarely are reports like this a good sign, usually accompanied by accounts of animators enduring hellish work conditions or presaging a movie that feels functionally incomplete. Still, I can’t imagine families not defaulting to this Thanksgiving weekend. Will our thumb-headed megastar once again drop a People’s Elbow on the box office? I sincerely do not care.

Christmas (December 25)

The Brutalist 

Brady Corbet’s gushed-over saga about architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) has the accolades (garnering Corbet the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival), distribution deal (A24), and runtime (215 minutes) to make it the year’s biggest small release. Couple this with Corbet and cinematographer Lol Crawley shooting in Vistavision—a process that can make 35mm film look as huge as 70mm in the theater just by running the stock through the camera sideways—and expect to see this engorged on the swollest screens in town. It’s so intentionally and obviously epic, you’d be forgiven for assuming architect László Toth is a real person. The magic of cinema!

Babygirl

I was going to make a joke about Halina Reijn’s Babygirl being the perfect choice for families wanting to watch a horny movie together on Christmas, but looking into the film’s reception at the Toronto International Film Festival, I find critics saying that Nicole Kidman’s performance as a repressed CEO who forms a sub-dom bond with an intern (Harris Dickinson) is a brave and reflexive exploration of her career and aging physicality. So I will be similarly brave and refrain from making that joke.

Nosferatu

A young foil to Ridley Scott and his disregard for the exigencies of time, Robert Eggers is a horror filmmaker who makes macabre period pieces—The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman—that are so thoroughly researched they feel like stolen visions, like sights from the past that we have no right to witness. With Nosferatu, he seems to be pulling from F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film as much as from Werner Herzog’s 1979 remake and Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula novel, filtering his hyper-literate taste through a century of German expressionism. 

A Complete Unknown

James Mangold responds to Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story—a satire responding to the pestilence of Oscar-bait biopics birthed by Mangold’s Walk the Line—by making an even more by-the-numbers take on an iconic musician. This time it’s Bob Dylan, given approximate life by Timothée Chalamet. A Complete Unknown will almost certainly hinge on Dylan going electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, giving him the opportunity to reminisce about what led up to this all-culminating cultural moment. Its financial returns will be optimistic, its award season obligatory. So it is foretold.

Better Man

While we’re on the subject of biopics: Better Man is about the life of UK pop idol Robbie Williams… only he’s a CGI chimpanzee and no one else in the movie acknowledges he’s a CGI chimpanzee. I hesitate to call this conceit so stupid it may be genius, but I won’t hesitate to recommend it, because we both know it will be [my eyes glaze over and soul noticeably disappears from my body] bananas.

In Portland even our airport presents are thoughtful, lovely, and local. by Suzette Smith

At 10 pm on Christmas Eve you could generally find my father at an office supply store; the chains used to stay open late (for corporate reasons) even on holidays. The next morning we’d pull thick squares of Post-it notes out of our holiday socks and know it was from Dad, even if he’d signed it “P. A. Perclip.”

Last minute gift buying is a fine tradition. Some may see the practice as thoughtless; I would argue it can be rooted in sweetness. After all, a last minute present is still a present. And now that flying has made it increasingly difficult to travel with gifts—airline luggage charges, unrelenting TSA clerks—you may as well just grab that stuff when you arrive, if you happen to be flying into Portland. 

Visitors may not know that our airport requires shops to maintain “street pricing,” so you won’t pay more for goods at PDX than you would in town.

If you’re flying out, you’re still sitting pretty—provided they’ll let you on the plane with ten boozy advent calendars sticking precariously out of a Powell’s tote. 

Portland airport has seen to it that even last minute presents from PDX are—by nature of the shops onhand—thoughtful, lovely, and local.

Pre-security

No one is suggesting you make a trip to the airport just to shop—well, other than the Port of Portland; they would probably support the idea—but those arriving at PDX have their pick of both concourse and “the garden” shops. 

In keeping with our love of last minute office supplies, you’ll want to check out Paper Epiphanies, which packs an impressive variety of journals, art books, design periodicals, and a rainbow wall of markers (!) into a cute corner shop. The woman-owned business specializes in femme-empowerment messages, so you’ll find trendy books about feminist philosophy, art, and activism. On a practical level, this shop also has an entire wall of greeting cards. Pro tip: Want to hear more from someone who lives far away? A stationary set is a sweet incentive.

Paper Epiphanies suzette smith

Orox Leather is an epicenter of cool in this area. Not only does it sell handmade leather goods ($250 purse for when you’ve really pissed someone off; $10 leather coasters for the uncle who wants you to put one under your drink), but the people behind Orox also invited their fellow Latinx and Oaxaqueño makers from the Portland area to sell items there as well. So you can get dreamy little half-pints of Nico’s Ice Cream from a freezer in the back, and sampler packs of HAB hot sauce from shelves in the front. It’s about community, but it also appears to be about having amazing taste.

Just next door, you’ll find the delicious and vegan AND gluten-free goodies of Missionary Chocolates. They have a lot on offer, but we’ll vouch for the chocolate-covered sandwich cookies. Further in, the deeply basic, but super crowd-pleasing Hello from Portland store carries THE THING YOU NEED when basically any Portland-y / Oregon-y present will do. A “Keep Portland Weird” mug it is.

Concourses B and C

Post-security shops have an obvious advantage because whatever you pick up after TSA’s disrobe/re-robe challenge doesn’t have to meet its dogmatic restrictions. That means booze! 

The GENIUSES at Straightaway Cocktails have created a craft cocktail advent calendar that has seemingly no attachment to any particular religion or any assigned set of dates. It’s just a nicely designed box with 12 mystery doors, and behind each is an alcoholic drink in a can. This is the present very good adult siblings give one another to weather the hard times of visiting family. If it helps, it’s of a similar size and shape to an oversize Bible (wink). Straightaway already has these little masterpieces available at their kiosk.

Cocktail advent calendar straightaway cocktails

Concourse C has a lot going for it because it’s also where you’ll find the PDX Powell’s Books pop-up. The selection has nothing on City of Books, but there’s always some interesting titles selected by staff, showcases of local authors, whatever nonfiction book everyone is mad about, a variety of card games, and the new Stephen King in stock.

Now, your gate dictates what concourse you’re flying from, so some concourse options simply won’t be available, depending what side you’re on. However, if your mother sternly warned you “not to come home again without a Pendleton wool blanket”—they have booths in both C or on the way to D and E. Similarly, Westward Whiskey also put down roots on either side of security (C & E).

Concourses D and E

Stronghold of cute, local, and punk Tender Loving Empire manifested two locations as well, in both D and E, on the same side of security. TLE has a long history of reliably solid care packages, tailored to foodies, self-care softies, and even people who just like Jacobsen Sea Salt. They’ve got a basket for it, and if they don’t, they can make you one.

While I am in no way related to Smith Tea founder Steven Smith, I do frequently receive his company’s tea as a gag gift, and I love that. Please continue this very funny joke, because the tea is a little on the spendy side. The full-leaf flavors are perfect for splurges and special occasions, though, and the company always has interesting collabs in the works. This fall, they brought back a Westward Whiskey team up, Ode to Whiskey, where black tea is aged in wet whiskey barrels to convey tasting notes/vibes—it’s perfect for your moody, lettered cousin.

That’s your winter gift gauntlet handled! We hope this list helped; it’s not really just for the holidays, because there are plenty more times throughout the year when you’ll want to take along a gift to say, “I’m sorry I didn’t get a hotel,” or “so it turns out we both have the same dad.” Life can be messy, but a last minute present is still a present.

A witch, an artist, and two mental health
professionals on how to face the New Year. by HR Smith

The days are short, the rain is acting like someone put out a casting call for a vertical river, and odds are high that you will soon be eating starchy food with people who will be asking you what it is, exactly, that you’ve been doing with your life.

One way of dealing with this long dark night of the soul is to lean into it. What are you doing, exactly? What’s working? What isn’t working? Once the holiday presents are gotten and the festivities are over, what would you like to start doing, what would you like to stop doing, and how? 

These questions are big enough that entire categories of human philosophy and endeavor have been dedicated to answering them. To keep things simple, the Mercury decided to ask representatives of three of them: the arts, psychology, and witchcraft. 

How to End Something
That Isn’t Working

Being miserable is, by definition, not a fun experience. But it can be a very useful signal that it’s time to try something else. “I’m pathologically incapable of doing a job I don’t like,” says Sarah “Shay” Mirk, graphic novelist, former Mercury reporter, and creator of many projects—most recently Crucial Comix, a small press that publishes narrative nonfiction comics and offers classes on comics-making. ”If a project is filling me with dread and I hate doing it, that’s a sign that I should either get out and have somebody else do it, or just be like, never again.” 

Once you’ve accepted that you need to get out of something, it’s a good strategy to frame it as moving towards something good rather than getting the hell away from something bad, says Marie Soller, a psychiatrist and director of OHSU’s resident and faculty wellness program. In general, you’re more likely to trust a decision and follow through with it if you can, say, visualize yourself taking that time you spent trying to make a relationship work, and dedicating it to putting on ridiculous outfits and going out with friends instead.

Some sadness is going to be part of the deal. Feel free to lean into big rainy season feelings. “Anything that’s new has to start from something that has ended,” says Annette Smith, a licensed professional counselor whose practice focuses on people going through major life transitions. A lot of people can get really stuck in the transition phase following a big change when things stop feeling exciting and start to feel weird. Giving yourself time to grieve, says Smith, can help get through that. 

Therapy is a tool that’s useful for the nuts and bolts of life, says Michelle Tea, writer and author of Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals, and Spells for Contemporary Witches. “I love therapy, and therapy can be so helpful—to be witnessed and validated and get outside eyes on patterns and things that you can’t see.” Tea recommends witchcraft as a therapy supplement. “It’s more esoteric. If you’ve had a rough therapy session, it can feel very grounding to just remind yourself that you’re also a little animal on this earth, connected to the larger forces.” 

The world is full of long, witchy tradition, but Tea recommends a punk, DIY approach instead of trying to be fussy and precise—think of something that feels like an ending and do it. “Rituals that have a lot of tradition can be really powerful, because they have all that compounded energy of so many people taking this action,” says Tea. “But I also feel like those rituals were just started by a regular person like you.”

How to Start Something New

“It’s very easy to be, like, ‘I’m excited about this’,” says Shay Mirk. “One way that I try to actually get stuff done is by making projects collaborative. If I’m responsible to somebody else, I’m way more likely to do something.” 

Annette Smith agrees that trying something new is easier when you aren’t trying to do it in isolation—and recommends you have a variety of people in your life who can support you and who you can be accountable to. This can be tough, she adds. But don’t do it, and you wind up dumping on one or two people.

Marie Soller recommends drawing a classic pro/con quadrant—basically, a big plus sign with the pros and cons of each side of a decision—when you’re making a decision, and then focusing on the “pros” of the decision you choose. Keeping a list of your five most important values can also be a useful tool, Soller says. When you hit a rough patch, you can, for example, return to it so that present-self can see that past-self wrote down “adventure” as a value, and that is definitely what you’re having.

“I like to write down my intentions,” says Tea, sounding very therapist-like. “Whether you’re letting go of something, or whether you’re beginning something.” From there, you can seal it up and leave it somewhere that you’ll see it and be reminded. “Your bedside table is great, because it is a place that you see all the time. I feel like sleep is a really magical time when we’re processing things on a deeper level of subconscious.”

The joke about New Year’s resolutions is that nobody keeps them, says Tea. But there’s something to moments like these. “I feel like you can sort of channel that collective energy of optimism and fresh start and get a little jump on something that you’re wanting to change,” Tea adds. The more “woo” aspects of a whole new year are only an asset under these circumstances. “For me, magic is that we don’t know what we are, we don’t know what this planet is, we don’t know anything,” adds Tea. “Staying in touch with that mystery is actually quite grounding and also liberating.”

PBOT’s maintenance woes aren’t just a problem for people who travel by car. by Taylor Griggs

In the bike-friendly cities of Northern Europe, a phrase is sometimes used to lightly chastise those who are intimidated to cycle in the rain: “You’re not made of sugar.” That is, you can get a little wet—you won’t melt. 

But not all rainy cities are created equal. The “sugar” sentiment is easier applied in places like the Netherlands and Denmark, where people on bikes dominate the streets all year long, even in the cold, wet months. The bike capitals of the world, many of which are hardly tropical paradises, were purposefully designed to treat people traveling outside of cars as worthy of quality amenities. And a lot of that comes down to the state of the pavement. 

Here in Portland, our streets—including the bike lanes—could (surprise!) use some work. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has a roughly $6 billion maintenance backlog, mainly consisting of unmet pavement needs on busy and local streets, which has failed to be adequately tempered by funding sources like the gas tax. And as Portland’s street maintenance needs have become more apparent, gripes about PBOT’s priorities have gotten louder. 

“There are potholes everywhere, and PBOT wants to build a new bike lane?” is the common refrain from armchair urban economists. It’s a talking point that’s parroted by people who should know better, too. One example: A questionnaire to 2024 City Council candidates written by reporters at the Oregonian and OPB asks people to decide whether to prioritize “creation of more protected bike lanes and priority bus lanes or improved surfacing of existing degraded driving lanes.” 

The implication contained in this false dichotomy is that protected bike lanes and priority bus lanes—and the people who use them—are frivolous compared to the potholes car drivers have to deal with. But even stranger is the implication that people who bike, walk, or use public transit aren’t impacted by the city’s street maintenance problems. In fact, those who get around without a car often face the brunt of PBOT’s maintenance backlog woes, especially during the winter. 

Take the ubiquitous bike lane puddles. These puddles proliferate during the late fall and early winter, after most of the autumn leaves are off the trees and clogging up the gutters. Unfortunate topography and storm drain placement has resulted in some puddles that remain landmarks on Portland’s streets all winter, like the notorious “Lake Blumenauer” on the north side of the car-free Blumenauer Bridge across I-84. 

These puddles might not seem like a big deal, but believe me when I tell you that riding through one of them can temporarily make you question your will to live. Fenders and rain pants can only do so much to protect you from six inches of grimy water and whatever might be floating in it. 

Then there’s the gravel. After major winter weather events, like the ice storm early this year, PBOT spreads gravel and road salt on the roadways so vehicle traffic can get by. That’s fine, but after the ice melts, tiny pebbles end up piled in the bike lanes, creating treacherous conditions for riders, and they often stay there for weeks or months. 

I can give the city some grace: PBOT has $6 billion of maintenance work on its hands, so it makes sense that some needs fall to the wayside. This would be a more acceptable situation to me if the proliferating narrative wasn’t that bike riders are preventing the city from getting its basic maintenance work done. 

The truth is that bike advocates are some of the most dedicated street maintenance wonks in the game, often taking the responsibility of keeping the streets clean into their own hands. After January’s ice storm, members of bike advocacy group BikeLoud PDX took to the streets with a bike lane-size sweeper, picking up an impressive amount of gravel in the process.

Bike lane street sweeper. Nic cota

More recently, PBOT has said it will purchase a sweeper for protected bike lanes, as larger street sweepers are too big to do the job. This is a good step, but the sheer novelty of it indicates how far behind we are from some of our international bike city peers. 

So, no—we’re not made of sugar, and Portland’s rainy and cold winter weather is not necessarily prohibitive to mass adoption of biking as transportation. But we have quite a bit of work to do to get to where we need to go. However, though the road ahead is lined with gravel, we are armed with volunteer street sweepers.

The Portland Diamond Project wants tobring pro baseball to Portland—but will it get the love and money needed to survive? by Abe Asher

The Portland Diamond Project has been working to bring a Major League Baseball team to the Rose City for the better part of six years—taking meetings, selling merchandise, and, most importantly, trying to secure a site to build a new stadium. 

Now, however, things may be changing. In September, the group announced it had signed a letter of intent to purchase Zidell Yards—a 33-acre former shipyard that has long sat vacant on the South Waterfront. 

It is, in a number of ways, an ideal site. Zidell Yards is relatively centrally located, has strong transit connections to the rest of the city and beyond, and could become the nexus of a larger redevelopment of the south end of the city center. 

In a press release announcing the letter of intent, Mayor Ted Wheeler said he believes the project is moving in the right direction. 

“This is a big moment for Portland,” Wheeler said. “This is a tremendous opportunity to shape our waterfront, create new economic opportunities, and build a vibrant and sustainable neighborhood.”

It’s not just Wheeler who is optimistic—the outgoing Portland City Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution supporting the Portland Diamond Project’s efforts to land a team. Wheeler said the resolution signaled the city is “ready to make commitments.”

Per its agreement with ZRZ Real Estate, a Zidell family business, Portland Diamond Project now has 42 months to complete its purchase of the property. That likely means it has just three-and-a-half years to convince Major League Baseball that it should expand to Portland—and, in tandem, to convince Portland that it needs an MLB team. 

For baseball fans in Portland, it’s an easy sell. But for Portlanders wondering how the project may affect the city as a whole, it may be more complicated. Part of the reason why is that—Wheeler’s optimistic vision notwithstanding—professional sports teams rarely have the kind of impact we imagine. 

“The basic story here is the economic impact of professional sports—or big events, like the Olympics—tend to be pretty small,” said Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at The College of the Holy Cross. “Which isn’t a problem, unless you’re talking about major public investment.”

In the past, the push to bring baseball to Portland has included significant public investment. In 2002, when the city was attempting to lure the relocating Montreal Expos to the northwest, the state legislature passed a bill to allocate $150 million to stadium construction—which was, at the time, estimated to be nearly half of the total construction cost. 

But that money was never used—the Expos moved to Washington, D.C.—and it’s unclear at this point how much public financing the Portland baseball group might seek. While Portland Diamond Project officials declined a request for an interview for this story, the group’s founder and president Craig Cheek wrote in an email to the Mercury that the group hopes to update the public on the state of the project soon. 

For sports economists like Matheson, the question of whether it’s worth supporting the movement to bring an MLB team to Portland rests almost entirely on how much public money is involved. 

“I’m fully in favor of Major League Baseball coming to Portland, while being simultaneously fully opposed to any sort of significant public funding for the sort of stadium infrastructure you’d need to host a Major League Baseball team,” Matheson said. “That pretty much sums up the basic opinion of any economist who has looked at the economic impact of sports in general.”

There are a number of reasons why sports don’t have the kind of economic impact their boosters and allied politicians often predict they’ll have. 

For one, much of the money spent in and around sports venues comes as part of what economists call the substitution effect: it’s not additional money that is being spent at a stadium, but rather money that would otherwise be spent elsewhere in the city. 

In Portland, that could mean that some of the people currently spending money at Providence Park or the Moda Center, or at concerts or restaurants, might spend that money at a baseball stadium instead. Baseball’s effect on the city’s broader economic landscape, in that scenario, would be negligible. 

“Sports are pretty good at shifting around money, they’re just not great at increasing total economic activity,” Matheson said. 

Another issue with professional sports is that often a significant amount of the money spent on teams doesn’t stay in the city it’s spent in. Money spent on player salaries, for instance, may end up leaving Portland. 

Taken as a whole, the economic data cuts against several elements of the Portland Diamond Project’s vision—including pledges to “create good jobs and new economic opportunities” and “provide a catalyst for workforce housing around the ballpark.”

Of course, the impact of sports on a city cannot be fully measured in terms of their direct economic impact. Sports are also wellsprings of feeling, helping to create bonds between people and contributing to a city’s quality of life. 

Economists, undaunted, have also attempted to measure the affective value of professional sports teams by asking people what dollar value they place on having a team in their town. Those studies have generally found that while the “quality of life” value of teams to residents is worth tens of millions of dollars, it’s still often worth less than the amount those teams are subsidized. 

The question of subsidies for professional sports teams is made even more complicated by the fact that Major League Baseball owners are necessarily incredibly wealthy and that the league is an incredibly lucrative operation—raking in more than $11 billion in revenue last year. 

Now, with the league reportedly considering expansion to 32 teams, Portland could potentially help it extend that record number further. Though the city has popular basketball and soccer teams, it remains one of the largest metro areas in the country with teams in just one of the traditional big four sports leagues—the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.

A team in Portland would also be a natural rival of the Seattle Mariners, who long ago proved the viability of baseball in the Northwest. Matheson said he thinks baseball would succeed in Portland, even if the on-field odds would be stacked against what would be a small market team in a league with effectively no salary cap restrictions. 

Jules Boykoff, a professor of political science at Pacific University, said Portlanders should have an opportunity to weigh in directly on whether they want to see MLB in their city. 

“I think there’d be one surefire way of finding out, which would be to have a public referendum — especially if the owners, who are wealthy… wish to have any public money put towards the project,” Boykoff said. “I think it would be job number one to make sure that it arrives on the ballot.”

Boykoff said he’d be happy to see baseball in the city, but that, unlike social goods like housing, it cannot be construed as something Portland needs.

“Portland needs Major League Baseball much less than Major League Baseball needs Portland,” Boykoff said. “I think Portland’s reputation is doing just fine without a baseball team.”

Christmas came early for these city bureaus and agencies. Let’s see what ‘Taxpayer Santa’ brought them! by Courtney Vaughn

What you do with your money is nobody’s business, but what the government does with your money is everyone’s business. 

At a time of year when parents across the nation get suckered into splurging on pricey, short-lived toys (sorry, but your kid is never gonna learn to play that keyboard and there’s a good chance that Easy-Bake Oven will burn your house down), we set out to see which public agencies and city bureaus received the biggest, coolest, and most expensive toys—thanks to you and your tax dollars. 

While these agencies may have been blessed with many of the toys on their wish lists, we know austerity measures are coming. The Portland mayor’s office recently offered a budget preview that reveals city bureaus will likely need to cut another 5 percent from their budgets in the upcoming fiscal year. If that sounds like a bone dry way of explaining the city’s money sitch, imagine if you already had to cancel all your streaming services and lower your grocery bill last year, and now you have to cut even more expenses, to the point where you’re considering canceling your internet service and just stealing the shoddy WiFi signal from that coffee shop down the street.

And though the government shopping sprees may be coming to an end for now, let’s take stock of some big-ticket toys, tools, and trucks that taxpayers recently bought for our public agencies. Show this to your kids to explain why “Santa” had to scale back this year.

Courtesy PPB Portland Police Bureau

Body cameras

What they are: small video cameras roughly the size of a credit card that clip onto officers’ uniforms. In December 2023, Portland City Council authorized police to spend up to $10 million on body-worn cameras over the next five years. The end-of-year purchase was a bit of an impulse buy. The council approved the expense in an effort to save the bureau $1.5 million by approving a contract with camera manufacturer Axon before the new year. This feels like the equivalent of springing for a new washer and dryer during a Presidents Day sale because the deal is too good to pass up. 

Estimated cost: $10 million

Courtesy PPB Portland Police Bureau

Drones

What they are: small, aerial cameras also known as unmanned aircraft systems, which record video and images from the vantage point of a bird or an insect buzzing above your head. PPB started using drones in 2023 as part of a pilot program. This year, the City Council coughed up nearly $100,000 for the bureau to buy more devices. Police mainly use them to help get images at major crime and crash scenes. 

The bureau says the high-flying cameras allow officers to “monitor critical incidents from a distance, assist with search and rescue, and provide evidence of crimes.” Recently, PPB has deployed drones at crisis scenes involving uncooperative, potentially dangerous subjects, to try to peer into windows or gain a view of other hard-to-reach spaces. Police swear they’re not using drones for any type of facial recognition efforts. 

Estimated cost: $166,000

Portland Police Bureau

Crowd control weapons; armor

What it is: tear gas, riot shields, and impact munitions. Earlier this year, the Portland Police Bureau revived its crowd control specialists, formerly called the Rapid Response Team. Crowd control officers responded to large-scale protests over the spring at Portland State University and now, the bureau is preparing for demonstrations and potentially violent protests following the November election. The city didn’t skimp on PPB’s shopping budget, authorizing $1.1 million for the purchase of 100 shields; 350 tear gas canisters; 350 kinetic impact projectiles; 300 impact munitions with chemical irritants; 100 flash-bang incendiary devices, and munitions training. 

Note: Since they’re spending your tax money, all of these weapons will be used on you, dear readers… which gives new meaning to the phrase, “You get what you ask for.”

Estimated cost: $1.1 million

TriMet

Articulated transit bus,
AKA “bendy bus”

What it is: a long, 60-person public transit bus with an accordion-like middle section, allowing the long bus to maneuver around tight roads while carrying more passengers. The buses are diesel-powered and allow TriMet to expand capacity on select, highly-used routes. Frequent service and more seats = more fentanyl traces, baby!

Estimated cost: $935,000

Courtesy Portland Fire & Rescue Portland Fire & Rescue

Tractor-drawn aerial truck

What it is: a big-ass fire engine with superpowers. Tractor-drawn aerial trucks give firefighters extra maneuverability and include an aerial ladder for reaching tall and tight spaces. They also have independent rear steering, so the trailer attached to the truck can be angled even when the cab isn’t. These behemoths typically range in length from 55 to 65 feet. 

Estimated cost: $1.7 million

Portland Bureau of Transportation

Street sweeper

What it is: A heavy-duty truck that sweeps and vacuums. The latest street sweeper purchase by PBOT was a 2023 Elgin Eagle. The model boasts a conveyor that won’t jam, a variable height lift system and a high-capacity dump feature (paging Sir Mix-a-Lot!) As the manufacturer notes, the Eagle sweeper can maintain highway speeds and ensures “dumping is a breeze.”

Estimated cost: $424,500 

Courtesy PBOT Portland Water Bureau

Snow plow 

What it is: A SnowDogg plow attachment for heavy-duty trucks that can scoop snow and debris off roads. You probably thought PBOT was the only bureau to come to our rescue during a snowstorm. Not so! The Water Bureau is also responsible for keeping roads clear during crummy weather, while responding to water main breaks and other crises. The Water Bureau recently bought two plow attachments and even opted for discontinued 2019 models to save some dough. The latest purchases weren’t meant for general use around the city. Instead they’re mostly meant to secure watersheds, clear access paths to the Water Bureau’s own facilities, and other bureau-specific responses—but still, it never hurts to have more of these puppies available during the next snowpocalypse.

Estimated cost: $5,600

Follow us down memory lane for the best and worst trash of 2024! by Elinor Jones

Happy Holidays, Trash Pandas! ‘Tis I, Elinor Jones, AKA the Ghost of Trash Past, here to guide you through 2024—a year that I could best describe as “a year that happened.”

January 8 

I hate to break it to us, but despite anyone’s resolutions, this is probably not going to be a year when anybody becomes better. You know how in professional sports, when a bunch of the big names have retired or left and then it’s just rookies and no-names, they call it a “Rebuilding Year”? 2024 will be the opposite of that for us. A destroying year. All of us are going to get worse, it’s just a matter of how quickly, and how much. 

February 12

I am all about the monoculture and I love to love things, but I am so tired of football and Taylor Swift! No more brain space; I simply cannot. I mean look: Am I glad she made it to the game in time after her Tokyo shows? Yes. Do I think this was a challenge or hardship for her when she has her own airplane and team of professionals to ensure it happens comfortably and efficiently? No. Am I impressed that her lipstick always looks so damn good? Yes. Did I like her pants? No, I hated them. Do I think it’s hilarious that Republicans hate Taylor Swift so much that they’d rather root for the team out of San Francisco than the corn-fed midwestern one? Yes, a thousand times yes, this is incredible, put it in my veins. Will I listen to her new album? OBVIOUSLY. But that’s it! No more thoughts!!

April 1 

The world has gone country, and by that I mean we have all been listening to Beyoncé’s latest album Cowboy Carter all weekend. I’m a fan! Several years ago I found a pair of those magical thrift store cowboy boots that somehow both fit perfectly and are extremely cool, and I always knew there was a reason to hang on to them. I’m excited to plan an outfit to wear to her next concert that probably won’t come anywhere near Portland anyway. A girl can dream. That’s country. 

April 15 

[Regarding a possible Monopoly movie.] “What’s next, Checkers? Jenga? You wanna make a Jenga movie? What, fuckin’ CONNECT FOUR?” And I will stop you right there, because that one works. Four is the correct number for a collection of people. It’s the best table in a restaurant—no pulling up an extra chair for some poor schmuck to sit at one end. Four is the maximum number of heads that will fit into a photobooth picture. Four is how many adults fit comfortably in a car. So let’s talk about this Connect Four movie: I am seeing three friends realize that something is missing and they desperately seek a fourth, but they keep being blocked by outside forces, until finally, one day, through either meticulous planning or pure dumb luck, the pieces line up just so, and they find their fourth friend, thus creating a powerful block which shall emerge victorious! “But Elinor,” you say. “Is this not the plot of the 1990s supernatural teen thriller THE CRAFT?” To which I say: “DING FUCKING DING.” A Connect Four movie already exists, it stars Fairuza Balk and Neve Campbell, and it’s perfect!

May 13 

First Lady Jill Biden stopped in Portland last week to attend a quick fundraiser in Lake Oswego. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was there, and later told the press “it’s nice to see the First Lady supporting our city and taking an interest in what we do here.” Buddy! She wasn’t even in our city! Was there nowhere decent in Portland proper for her to glad-hand wealthy Democrats? You know, I almost think she was trying to keep away from the riffraff by going to Lake Oswego, and that is especially not “what we do here.” In Portland, riffraff is the name of the game!

May 20 

Rudy Giuliani somehow (and for days) evaded Arizona officials trying to serve him an indictment for his (alleged) 2020 election crimes. I could use a lot of words to describe Rudy Giuliani, but “indiscreet” and “stealthy” are definitely not among them. I feel like one could locate Rudy Giuliani using whatever magic makes a cartoon mouse float towards cheese, but the wafting odor is a mix of cigars, cologne, and farts. Alas, the man was found, and at his own 80th birthday party. Giuliani even shared an absolutely psychotic Amazon wish list of the stuff he wanted, which included “stain blocking ceiling paint.” That Giuliani worries about his ceiling getting dirty really captures the explosive gooeyness of this chapter in his life.

June 10

Sabrina Carpenter released a fun and steamy video for her new single “Please Please Please” which features boyfriend Barry Keoghan. These two are giving the sultry slutty young relaysh vibes they were trying to sell us with Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney last year. I could never fully get behind those two because they look like they were generated by an AI prompt of “hot white heteros.” Barry and Sabrina are hot too, but also interesting, sexy, a little dangerous, and maybe kinda mean? Like Glen and Sydney would break your heart by ghosting you, but they’d never tell anyone else your secrets, whereas Barry and Sabrina would get a tattoo of your name and then try to run over you with their car.

June 17 

The AtmosFEAR ride at Oak’s Park got stuck upside down last week, leaving some 30 people stuck upside down for 25 minutes. Roller coaster-avoiders like me will get YEARS of excuses out of this. It’s not that we’re scared; it’s that we’re smart. (We’re also very scared.)

July 8 

Gwyneth Paltrow held a party at her home in the Hamptons and somebody got diarrhea. I’m sorry, not just diarrhea—"catastrophic” diarrhea, which is a pretty horrifying combination of words! The diarrhea was allegedly caused by Ozempic, which all the stars are taking, so think about this the next time you see a star-studded red carpet: know that the bathrooms at that event are a grade-A paint show, and you’re lucky you’re not there.

July 15

Iconic sex therapist Dr. Ruth passed away last week at the age of 96. There was not a major event she couldn’t make into a reason to get laid, and it’s really a shame she died before this attempted assassination of Donald Trump; she would have made it so horny. 

August 5

I am loving the Olympics! God, the amount of pride I feel for the US Olympics Team is overwhelming; borderline ew, like am I becoming a flag girlie? Seeing tacky bedazzled Republicans at the RNC a couple weeks ago made me want to hurl, but throw some gemstones on a leotard and I am in line. I’ve been especially tickled by the vibes of the shooting competitors despite hating guns with every fiber of my being. The gun lobby might be appealing to the wrong instincts in trying to garner support. I mean, has the NRA ever considered simply serving cunt? 

August 26

Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance is trying to prove he’s not weird and failing spectacularly. He recently stopped by a donut shop where the workers didn’t want to be on camera and ordered “whatever makes sense,” for which he has been mercilessly mocked. And look, I get it: When JD Vance orders “whatever makes sense” it sounds like a robot prepping for his first day of human school. That said, I do think this makes sense! I like the idea of ordering “~items~.” Put “whatever makes sense” on the late-night menu at a bar and I guarantee you it will go gangbusters. Sometimes you’ll get a vat of french fries and a pitcher of beer. Other times you’ll get a Sprite and two ibuprofen. Credit where credit is due—this couch-fucker might be on to something! 

September 16

Actor James Earl Jones passed away last week at the age of 93. He was the last good Jones. Now it’s just me. And my Mufasa voice is shit.

October 14

The widow of Bobby Kennedy and mother of presidential candidate RFK Jr., Ethel Kennedy, passed away last week at the age of 96. I think if the son of a deceased person repeatedly requests that the casket not be locked and sealed, you gotta wonder what he’s got planned for that corpse.

What wonders will these final days of 2024 have in store for us? I have absolutely no idea, but you can guarantee that I’ll be around to make a silly joke about it (hopefully!) I hope your -ber months are safe, warm, and cute.

Santa-ly,

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to "dismantle government bureaucracy," enlisting the help of billionaires to achieve his goals. Federal workers with memories of Trump's first term are scared.

Nuclear energy hasn't been a growing industry in decades. But now, it seems to be making a comeback. This week, the Biden administration announced a goal to triple nuclear energy capacity in the US by 2050. And over the past few months, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have all made deals to use nuclear energy to power their artificial intelligence appetites. Today on the show, could nuclear energy work differently this time?

Related episodes:
The debate at the heart of new electricity transmission (Apple / Spotify)
Wind boom, wind bust (Two windicators) (Apple / Spotify)
How China became solar royalty (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

Ford is idling production of its F-150 Lightning, the latest in a series of announcements signaling a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles. What are other automakers planning?

Republicans made their picks for party leaders in the U.S. Senate and House, as President-elect Trump announced new nominees, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general.

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Republican strategist Scott Jennings about Republican leadership in in the U.S. Senate and House.

States run by Democrats are making preparations to oppose and fend off Trump administration polices — especially on immigration.

President-elect Trump announced he intends to nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general, putting a fierce critic of federal law enforcement in charge of the Justice Department.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Penn State labor and employment relations professor Paul Clark about blue-collar voters and their decision to back President-elect Trump in this election.

NPR's Steve Inskeep asks the Brookings Institution's Jon Valant about President-elect Trump's campaign promise to close the Department of Education.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about his new book "The ABCs of Democracy," and Democrats' outlook following the 2024 election.

Rebroadcast September 26, 2014 It's been almost two months since 18 year old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson, MO police officer Darren Wilson, but the reverberations surrounding his death continue. Brown's death was the fourth last summer in as many weeks in which an African American man was killed by law enforcement. In a special conversation this week, Basic Black goes beyond the headlines to explore the racial, historical, and cultural underpinnings of the relationship of law enforcement to communities of color and the meaning of protest in a post-civil rights movement era.

Panelists:
- Callie Crossley, Host, Under The Radar With Callie Crossley, WGBH News
- Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News
- Frank Rudy Cooper, Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School
- Marcela Garcia, Regular Contributor to The Boston Globe, Editorial and Op-Ed Pages
- Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Tufts University

Photo: A man is moved by a line of police as authorities disperse a protest in Ferguson, Mo. early Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. On Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in the St. Louis suburb. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

October 3, 2014 This week on Basic Black: an editorial cartoon about Secret Service lapses creates a firestorm and we look at Eric Holder's legacy in civil rights law and racial justice. From special programs such as the death of Nelson Mandela and a deep dive into the causes of the racial eruption in Ferguson, MO, to an exploration of the rapid rise of black immigration in Massachusetts or the use of the n-word in major league locker rooms, Basic Black conversations respond in the moment to events in politics, culture, art, and community. Panelists:
- Callie Crossley, Host, Under the Radar with Callie Crossley, WGBH News
- Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH Radio
- Kim McLarin, Assistant Professor of Writing, Literature, and Publishing, Emerson College
- Michael Jeffries, Associate Professor of American Studies, Wellesley College

October 10, 2014 This week on Basic Black: perceptions and realities on two fronts. First, we take a look at Ebola and race. With the death of Thomas Duncan attention has focused even more closely on his initial and subsequent contact with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas; although Mr. Duncan received round-the-clock care once admitted to the hospital, his case has raised questions about the relationship of communities of color, the poor, and the uninsured to the US health care system. Also, the ACLU of Massachusetts released a report charging the Boston Police Department with racial bias, a charge the Department vigorously rejects, pointing to advances made in the last few years under the leadership of Commissioner William Evans. But beyond the report, which only uses data from 2007-2010, how should we look at Boston's policing of communities of color in the context of the national conversation that sprung from events in Ferguson?

Panelists: - Latoyia Edwards, Anchor, New England Cable News - Kim McLarin, Assistant Professor of Writing, Emerson College - Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News - Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Tufts University - Yawu Miller, Senior Editor, Bay State Banner
Photo: Licensed clinician Roseda Marshall, of Liberia, disrobes after a simulated training session on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014, in Anniston, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

October 17, 2014 Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Charlie Baker are in a dead heat in the Massachusetts governor's race. The margin of error in the polls for both candidates is slim, but can voters in communities of color fill the margin with a victory, sending one of them to the governor's office? Are the campaigns of the independent candidates resonating with black, Latino, or Asian voters? This week on Basic Black, we look at how the candidates for governor are delivering their message to communities of color in the race to the finish line on November 4. Panelists:
- Latoyia Edwards, Anchor, New England Cable News
- Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News
- Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Tufts University
- Marcela Garcia, Regular Contributor to the Boston Globe's Editorial and Op-Ed Pages
- Paul Watanabe, Director of the Institute for Asian American Studies, UMass, Boston

October 31, 2014
In remembering the legacy of former Mayor Thomas Menino, State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry remarked, "He didn't just focus on downtown, it was also our neighborhoods." This week on Basic Black, we look back at the city's longest serving Mayor and the huge imprint he left on Boston's neighborhoods and communities of color. Panelists: - Latoyia Edwards, Anchor, NECN - Charles Yancey, Boston City Council, District 4 - Yawu Miller, Senior Editor, Bay State Banner - Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News

January 23, 2015 Boston won the opportunity to represent the United States in a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, erupting a host of opinions, with very few opinions coming down the middle, but all of them mentioning the cost. What will be the impact good or bad, for Boston's neighborhoods? Later in the show, we review Boston Mayor Marty Walsh¹s first State of the City address. What do his plans mean for the future of race relations, economic development, and public safety?

Panelists:
- Latoyia Edwards, anchor, NECN
- Kim McLarin, Assistant Professor of Writing, Literature and Publishing, Emerson College
- Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News
- Shirley Leung, Business Columnist, The Boston Globe
- Marcela Garcia, Regular Contributor, Editorial & OpEd Pages, The Boston Globe

February 6, 2015 This week on Basic Black’s roundtable: • With the rise of television shows like Black-ish and Empire and the newly-released movie Black and White, we ask if Hollywood is on the way to realistic portrayals of families of color.
• A measles outbreak earlier this week at Disneyland in California re-ignited the debate over vaccinations - with oftentimes limited access to healthcare are children of color at particular risk?
Panelists: - Latoyia Edwards, Anchor, NECN - Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News - Kim McLarin, assistant professor of writing, literature and publishing, Emerson College - Donna Patterson, Assistant Professor fo Africana Studies, Wellesley College

February 20, 2015 The African American experience is taught in many forms from songs to films to performance, but one of the latest forms to grow in popularity is the graphic novel. We’ll talk with author Joel Christian Gill about his newest work, Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives From Black History.

Later in the show, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the death of Malcolm X, we look at the last years of his life and the meaning of his movement for contemporary times. Panelists:
- Latoyia Edwards, Anchor, NECN
- Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News
- Kim McLarin, Assistant Professor of Writing, Literature, and Publishing, Emerson College
- Joel Christian Gill, author, Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives From Black History
- Laura Jimenez, Lecturer, School Of Education, Boston University
- Emmett Price, III, Associate Professor of Music, Northeastern University Image: From Bass Reeves, Tales Of The Talented Tenth, Vol 1., by Joel Christian Gill, 2014.

April 3, 2015 It comes down to one dollar versus a few cents. A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston reveals that for every one dollar in a Boston white household, black and brown households have only pennies. While this stark reality may not be new to some, the report details the widening wealth gap, and predicts dire consequences for future generations. Later in the show, intense response still pouring in to a controversial column in Deadline Hollywood questioning whether there's too much diversity on network television. We also get an introduction to Shaun Blugh, Boston's first-ever Chief Diversity Officer.


Panelists:
- Callie Crossley, host, Under the Radar with Callie Crossley, 89.7 WGBH
- Phillip Martin, senior reporter, WGBH News
- Kim McLarin, Associate Professor of Writing, Literature, and Publishing, Emerson College
- Trinh Nguyen, Director, Office of Jobs and Community Services
- L. Duane Jackson, Managing Member, Alinea Capital Partners

April 17, 2015 It was more than just a handshake at the Summit of the Americas last week as President Barack Obama greeted Cuba’s President Raul Castro. It has been widely described as the beginnings of a thaw in US-Latin American relations. It’s been welcomed in some quarters as a mark of progress in American foreign policy while condemned by others as a capitulation to a long-standing communist enemy.

This week, Basic Black looks at the changes in US-Latin American relations and what impact this could have on Latinos living in the United States, immigration reform and economic development for Latin America. Panelists:
- Latoyia Edwards, anchor, NECN
- Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Tufts University
- Devyn Spence Benson, Assistant Professor of History & African American Studies, Louisiana State University, current Fellow at The Hutchins Center, Harvard University
- Marcela Garcia, Contributor to the Editorial and Opinion Pages, The Boston Globe
- Julio Varela, Digital Media Director, Futuro Media Group Photo: US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shake hands at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama, Saturday, April 11, 2015. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

May 22, 2015

Looking forward, looking back -- Twitter abuzz as President Barack Obama signs on and the Guinness Book of World Records confirms he is now THE most followed person to join. And we know the stories about Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice, but what about Rekia Boyd, Shelly Frey, and Darnisha Harris? Later in the show, connecting the dots from this week's events in history, to today's headlines… Panelists: - Callie Crossley, Host, Under The Radar with Callie Crossley, 89.7 WGBH - Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News - Kim McLarin, Associate Professor of Writing, Literature, and Publishing, Emerson College - Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Tufts University Photo: President Obama sends his first tweet (Source: whitehouse.gov).

Palaeontologists have pieced together the brain structure of a bird that lived 80 million years ago named Navaornis hestiae, thanks to a remarkably well-preserved fossil  

Selection for bigger tomatoes has made the fruits less sweet, but now it has been shown that gene editing can make them sweeter without decreasing yields

Rates of near-sightedness are rising all over the world. But solutions to the epidemic are coming into focus and could be simpler than you think

Food production is responsible for more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions. To get everyone the food they need in a warming world, governments worldwide must invest in securing our food systems

Air pollution has been linked to eczema before, and now a study of more than 280,000 people has strengthened the association

In his new book, Power Metal, journalist Vince Beiser provides a balanced briefing on the race for the resources that will shape our technological future

Evidence that animals mourn the death of loved ones is growing, but we should be wary of letting our biases cloud this topic, says philosopher Susana Monsó

Feedback was delighted to learn of the appearance of quantum physicist Garrett Josemans on Netflix's Love is Blind. After all, being comfortable with two opposing realities can surely help in a relationship

Conservatives in Canada have accused the government of banning military chaplains from reciting prayers in accordance with their faith during Remembrance Day ceremonies across Canada, an accusation liberals have denied. 

Christian groups in South Korea are calling on the World Evangelical Alliance to put on hold plans for its next General Assembly in Seoul next year.

Pastor Greg Laurie recently delivered a message claiming President-elect Donald Trump received a "mandate" from the American people and that a Harris administration would have likely led to increased government hostility against Christians.

Exit polling from the 2024 presidential election shows that parents of children younger than 18 swung to former President Donald Trump as the issue of parental rights in education continues to loom large in American politics.

A Democratic member of the U.S. Congress is doubling down as he faces calls to resign after expressing concern about trans-identified male athletes competing in female sports. 

Evangelist Franklin Graham congratulated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on his Tuesday nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Robotic dogs are patrolling President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida days after his election victory as the Republican has faced two assassination attempts and reports of an Iranian murder plot against him.

Months after his successful solo exhibition featuring a compelling selection of his religious paintings billed “The Lord was There” in New York earlier this year, Christian master portrait artist Zimou Tan is now on a mission to make his work more accessible to art lovers of faith and he launched a Kickstarter campaign Tuesday to help him reach it.

A shark fisherman and professional roofer has been arrested after being accused of stealing over $194,000 from a church in Kentucky.