Think Out Loud

University of Oregon center studies the business, branding and evolution of the Olympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/your-2026-winter-olympics-guide-everything-to-know-about-the-milan-cortina-games] kick off next Friday in northern Italy, with nearly 3,000 athletes from more than 90 countries vying for a medal in events ranging from figure skating to curling. Twelve athletes from Oregon and Washington have qualified for Team USA’s roster [https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/news/vonn-shiffrin-kim-malinin-among-team-usa-official-roster-milano-cortina-2026] competing in Milan, Cortina D’Ampezzo and a handful of other sites where skiing and snowboarding events will be held.     Yoav Dubinsky, an associate teaching professor of marketing at University of Oregon, will also be there to attend matches, do research and help organize an Olympic studies symposium in Naples. Dubinsky is also the operational director of the Olympic Studies Hub [https://business.uoregon.edu/faculty/centers/warsaw/olympic-studies-hub#pillars], which he helped launch within the UO’s business college in December 2024. It’s part of a network of more than 80 Olympic Studies and Research Centers recognized by the International Olympic Committee.    Although this is the sixth Olympics Dubinsky will attend, which he first did as a former sports journalist, it will be his first Winter Olympics. We’ll talk to him about what events he plans to attend and his research interests, including the marketing and branding opportunities host nations seize on to promote their culture and polish their image with visitors and viewers worldwide.

The challenges of keeping Oregon seafood local

A 2022 study [https://industry.visittheoregoncoast.com/industry-news/planes-passing-in-the-night-oregon-exports-seafood-then-imports-more-for-local-restaurants/] from the Oregon Coast Visitors Association found that 90% of seafood sold on the Oregon coast wasn’t locally caught. In fact, much of the seafood caught in Oregon is exported to other countries. The OCVA estimates that Oregon's coastal communities lose roughly $252 million a year because of seafood exportation. There are many challenges with trying to keep Oregon seafood in Oregon, including a lack of workforce and existing infrastructure. The OCVA and the Oregon Ocean Cluster are working to address this. This weekend, the group will be hosting its 2nd annual Blue Food Forum where consumers, researchers and industry professionals can get a taste of local products and learn more on the latest challenges facing the industry today. Marcus Hinz, director of the OCVA, joins us to share more.

Portland-based child advocacy group says state must address chronic absenteeism

Education research shows a strong connection between spending time in school and academic achievement. Oregon has the third highest rate of chronic absenteeism in the nation, and it has fewer days of instruction than most other states. Student achievement in reading and math have dropped dramatically in the last decade. We talk with Sarah Pope, the executive director of Stand for Children, which commissioned a new report that points to paths for improvement.

Washington lawmakers introduce bill to document and preserve state’s heritage apple orchards

Of the thousands of apple varieties grown in the U.S., only a small handful are actually bought and sold on a large scale. They have familiar names, like Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith and Red Delicious. But these hugely commercially, successful apple varieties tend to overshadow older, more unique varieties known as heirloom, or heritage, apples. Some of these apples are almost literally hidden, found in small orchards and sometimes growing in backyards or on roadsides. While less commercially viable, heritage apples have unique flavors, colors and textures, and their genetic information can be studied to make apples more resistant to disease and even to breed new varieties.   The Washington state legislature recently introduced a bill that would task Washington State University with establishing a heritage apple orchard program. If passed, the university would create a registry of heritage apple orchards, documenting rare or lost apples throughout the state and providing resources to orchards that grow them. We’re joined by Matthew Whiting, a tree fruit scientist at WSU, to hear more about the significance of heritage apples and what a heritage orchard program could mean for the country’s leading apple producer.

Centralia, WA coal-burning power plant remains shut down despite federal orders

In 2010, environmental advocates, elected officials and executives from TransAlta, a Canada-based electricity supplier, assembled a plan [https://ecology.wa.gov/regulations-permits/compliance-enforcement/transalta] to close down Washington’s last remaining coal-burning power plant by the end of 2025. The 15-year long project was a sort of benchmark for transitions of this kind – it included comprehensive financial support [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/climate/trump-coal-plant-centralia-washington.html] and educational opportunities for employees and their families. It eventually lent itself to Washington’s clean energy goals [https://www.commerce.wa.gov/energy-policy/electricity-policy/ceta/] passed in 2019, one of which declared that all state utilities must cease purchasing and using coal-powered energy by the end of 2025. But late last month, when the plant was on track to shut down its operations, the Department of Energy issued an emergency order, [https://www.energy.gov/documents/order-number-202-25-11] ruling that the plant must remain operational for another 90 days. This posed many questions for the future of the plant [https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/fight-over-centralia-coal-plant-heats-up-as-wa-challenges-feds/], due to the long-term effort to close its doors and the lack of customers for coal-powered energy because of the Clean Energy Transformation Act. The plant remains shut down despite the emergency order [https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/17/washington-transalta-centralia-plant-shutdown/], but its future hangs in limbo. Joining us to discuss the details is Amanda Zhou [https://www.seattletimes.com/author/amanda-zhou/], a climate and environment reporter at the Seattle Times.