Behind the Scenes of Portland Monthly’s Best Restaurants Issue

Lee van der Voo Unravels the Mysteries of America's Seafood Industry

Portland journalist Lee van der Voo grew up on the East Coast fishing with her family for fun. Years later, a friendly wager convinced her that America’s seafood industry merited a more serious investigation. From catch shares to the controversies swirling within today’s “sustainable seafood" movement, she goes deep with her new book, The Fish Market: Inside the Big Money Battle for the Ocean and Your Dinner Plate. On this episode of The Long Play, we chat with van der Voo about what it’s like to be a small fisherman in an era of mega tankers, who really owns our coastal riches, and how you can make better choices at the grocery store.

Casey Jarman Talks Death, Grief, and Randy Newman

Casey Jarman has spent a lot of time talking about death. The local writer (and Portland Monthly contributor) has just published his first book, 'Death: An Oral History.' It’s an expansive set of interviews—with a death row warden, a funeral industry watchdog, cartoonist Art Spiegelman, Jarman’s own mother, and many others—about the end of life. On this episode of the podcast, Jarman discusses the euphemistic language of death, whether he would want his body to be composted, how psychedelics could assist us at the end of life, and the tunes on his death-themed playlist.

Behind the Scenes of Portland Monthly’s Best Restaurants Issue

Every year, we devote an issue to the city’s best new restaurants. How does the madness and magic happen? On this episode of The Long Play, editor in chief Zach Dundas sits down with restaurant critic Karen Brooks, senior editor Kelly Clarke, and associate editor Benjamin Tepler to discuss the wild calculus, gut feelings, and flukiness of timing behind the making of our Best Restaurants issue.

Chloe Eudaly and Steve Novick on the Battle for Portland City Council

It’s a race that could only happen in Portland: a city councillor who emphasizes climate change and public transportation, challenged from the left. After a tumultuous first term, incumbent Steve Novick faces political novice Chloe Eudaly in November’s only contested city hall race. Eudaly, the longtime owner of the indie bookstore Reading Frenzy, forced a runoff after May’s primary with a focus on gentrification and housing issues—and she argues she’d bring diversity and a fresh progressive prospective to the five-member council. Novick presents himself as the candidate who knows how to get things done. Who will prevail? On this episode of The Long Play, Eudaly and Novick lay out their visions of what an urban leader should do in a city that’s changing rapidly.

Portland Entrepreneur Chaunci King on Building a Liquor Empire

With pear-flavored vodka Miru, native Portlander Chaunci King takes on the white, male-centric booze industry. She talks about being one of the few African-American women in a white and male-dominated industry, her goals for an all-women distillery, and her favorite bars in Portland.