Think Out Loud

National fellowship connects students with work at farms across the U.S.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of college students across the U.S. began a remote, nationwide project – called Farmlink [https://www.farmlinkproject.org/team] – with the goal of  distributing surplus food to food banks and those in need. The program grew to support a fellowship [https://www.farmlinkproject.org/field-fellowship], which guides students through learning about reforming food systems, provides them with a full-time position at a farm, food bank, or distributor, and finally facilitates the students’ creation of a project that would help to strengthen the infrastructure of food systems in their communities.  Riley Bader is a senior at the University of Oregon, and one of Farmlink’s 6 chosen fellows from colleges and universities across the U.S. Stella Delp is the head of community and student programs at Farmlink, and one of the founders of the organization. They both join us to discuss their work.

War in Iran is affecting Oregon farmers as oil and fertilizer prices rise

The U.S. led war in Iran is not just driving oil prices up. It's doing the same for fertilizer. A third of the world's supply of fertiziler passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran still has largely blocked.  Woodburn farmer Jon Iverson [https://www.iversonfamilyfarms.com/] grows grass seed, wheat, grapes and tulips, among other crops. Molalla nursery owner Jim Gilbert [http://www.northwoodsnursery.com] grows fruiting plants, among others. They join us to share how these price hikes are affecting them. We also hear from Alice Morrison [https://friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/team-member/alice/], the co-executive director of Friends of Family Farms, who tells us what she’s hearing from their small and midsized members.

How the wide adoption of Operation Inflation animal costumes has helped define ICE protests in Portland

Operation Inflation [https://operationinflation.com/] was conceived last fall when protests at Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement building routinely drew counter protesters and a large law enforcement presence. Jordy Lybeck and his wife Lacy wanted to impact the nature of news coverage as Pres. Trump threatened to send National Guard troops [https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/20/trump-focus-portland-timeline/] to Portland. As Trump’s baseless assertions that Portland was “war-ravaged,” [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/opinion/portland-trump-troops.html] a “burning-hellhole,” where the mayor and the governor of Oregon were “petrified for their lives” appeared with increasing frequency, so did their determination to help correct the record. They began providing inflatable animal costumes to those protesting at the ICE facility.    The images of people playfully wearing large, inflatable costumes visually contradicted the narrative of a war torn city. They said they are also creating pure “absurdity” as counter-protestors yelled at larger than life frogs, chickens, unicorns and other creatures. Jordy Lybeck and Lacy join us to tell us about their strategy for supporting protests, how the movement has spread to other cities and how this weekend’s No Kings demonstrations went down.

New biography explores life and LGBTQ+ activism of former University of Portland president

Father Tom Oddo [https://sites.up.edu/museum/in-memory-rev-thomas-c-oddo-csc-1944-1989/] served as president of the University of Portland from 1982 until his death in a car crash in 1989. During his presidency, he helped UP transition to coed housing, oversaw construction of the Chiles Center [https://portlandpilots.com/sports/2008/8/11/MBB_0811084643.aspx] and reversed the university’s declining enrollment.    Before coming to Portland, Oddo was a key member of the gay rights movement in Boston, advocating for the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ Catholics in the church. From 1973 to 1977, Oddo served as the first secretary of DignityUSA [https://www.dignityusa.org/], a nationwide organization that supports LGBTQ+ Catholics. Portland author Tyler Bieber explores Oddo’s life in the new biography “Against the Current: Father Tom Oddo and the New American Catholic.” [https://unencumberedpress.com/nonfiction/against-the-current-biography/] Bieber joins us to talk about Oddo’s activism, his time at UP and the legacy he left.

Eugene Weekly continues to recover after embezzler nearly shut down the alternative pape

Just over two years ago, Eugene Weekly, the city’s longtime alternative-weekly newspaper, came to a shocking halt. EW’s editor announced that their beloved paper was flat broke [https://eugeneweekly.com/2023/12/28/wheres-the-damn-paper/] — not because of mismanagement, but because their business manager had apparently been embezzling for years [https://eugeneweekly.com/2024/04/04/stung/]. The paper was missing $100,000, with an additional $200,000 in bills that hadn't been paid. Editor Camilla Mortenson [https://eugeneweekly.com/author/camilla-mortensen/] said she had no choice but to lay off the entire staff, including herself, just before Christmas in 2023. But with a strong upwelling of community support, the paper resumed printing in February 2024. In the meantime, a veritable saga unfolded as Elisha Young, the former business manager, was brought to  justice. She ultimately pled guilty this week [https://eugeneweekly.com/2026/03/24/former-eugene-weekly-business-manager-pleads-guilty/] to five felony counts of theft, just weeks before she was set to face a jury trial in May. Mortensen said the paper has been thriving, but is still building back to where it was before the embezzlement began. She joins us to share the more details about the impact these unfolding events have had on the paper, its staff and the community it serves.