Think Out Loud

Author Imani Perry at Woodburn High School

In books like “Breathe” and “South to America,” National Book Award and MacArthur “genius” grant winner Imani Perry writes about Blackness in America with clarity, elegance, rage, and joy. Perry is a Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Her latest book is “Black in Blues,” a meditation on the color blue and its role in Black history and culture. Perry talks to us in front of an audience of students at Woodburn High School.

Former National Park Service Director Chuck Sams on loss of institutional knowledge within the agency

When Chuck Sams was sworn in [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/director-chuck-sams.htm] as director of the National Park Service in 2021, he became the first Native American to lead the agency. Sams previously served as a member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and as executive director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.   Not long after Sams returned to Oregon after leaving the agency last year, the Trump administration fired nearly 1,000 [https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/27/chuck-sams-first-native-national-parks-director-trump-cuts/] park service employees without warning. The agency lost nearly a quarter [https://www.npca.org/articles/9551-staffing-crisis-at-national-parks-reaches-breaking-point-new-data-shows-24] of its permanent staff in the following months.  Sams has denounced the loss [https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27012026/the-biggest-tragedy-of-trumps-gutting-of-the-national-park-service/] of institutional knowledge within the National Park Service. He joins us to share his thoughts.

Two perspectives on bipartisan bill that would hike Oregon’s lodging tax to help wildlife

Lawmakers are meeting in Salem to discuss and decide the fate of a flurry of bills during Oregon’s short legislative session this year. One of those is a bipartisan bill [https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Measures/Overview/HB4134] that would hike the state’s lodging tax at places like campgrounds, hotels and Airbnbs from 1.5% to 2.75%.    The tax increase is expected to raise tens of millions of dollars [https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/16/oregon-lodging-tax-wildlife-habitat-conservation/] for wildlife protection, habitat conservation, anti-poaching efforts, combating invasive species and mitigating wildfires. It would also compensate ranchers for cattle killed by wolves.    The bill’s sponsors – Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane) and Rep. Ken Helm (D-Beaverton)  – join us to share why they support it and why they revived it this year after it died in the final days of last year’s session. Jason Brandt, President and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, also joins us to share his opposition to the bill.

End-of-life care often missing in curriculum of U.S. medical schools, Washington State University study reveals

Logan Patterson graduated in May 2025 from Washington State University’s College of Medicine and is currently a resident at the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. During his four years of medical school, he says that he got almost no formal training in end-of-life care, including how to talk with patients and their families about death and dying.       It turns out that his experience is hardly unique, according to a new study [https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2026/01/14/death-and-doctors-study-looks-at-medical-student-education-on-end-of-life-care/] Patterson co-authored and recently published with his former colleagues at Washington State University.   The researchers reviewed the two largest medical journal databases to look for papers published between January 2010 and April 2025 about death and dying instruction  in U.S. medical schools. They found only 43 articles on this topic and wide variability on how death and dying is being taught, from a single seminar on advanced care planning to required rotations in hospice and palliative care settings. The researchers argue that U.S. medical schools lack a consistent and evidence-based curriculum for end-of-life care.    Dr. Patterson joins us for more details, including the social and academic challenges of effectively teaching death and dying to students to help prepare them for some of the toughest conversations they may soon be forced to have with their patients.

Oregon State University professor says toxic masculinity can be measured

In 2024, Oregon State University assistant professor of psychology Steven Sanders created a scale [https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/11/1096] to measure toxic masculinity. Researchers say for masculine behavior to be deemed as “toxic,” it  must be damaging to the person or people around them. But why should we study this? What impacts does it have in our society? Sanders joins us to answer these questions and more.