Ethical and safety concerns abound as wildfire prediction betting heats up

Vinyl record pressing plant opens in Salem

Amid the many return-to-analog trends in the U.S., vinyl records have held their footing as a popular medium since the early 2000s. In 2025, vinyl sales in the U.S. had its best year since the 1980s, and surpassed $1 billion for the first time ever. However, most vinyl record pressing is done overseas, with just over 40 record pressing plants currently manufacturing in the U.S.   Object Permanence records, based in Salem, is the newest vinyl pressing plant in Oregon.  They’re also now the sole local manufacturer, since Cascade Record pressing in Milwaukie closed its doors just last month.    Object Permanence has been in operation for just over three weeks, and the co-owners Carrie Morrisey and Adam Philips will join us with the details of the vinyl-pressing business, and why they moved from Brooklyn, NY, to Salem to start their small-press record manufacturer.

Ethical and safety concerns abound as wildfire prediction betting heats up

PREDICTION MARKET PLATFORMS ALLOW PEOPLE TO PLACE BETS ON A STAGGERING ARRAY OF OUTCOMES - FROM THE US-IRAN CONFLICT TO THE WINNER OF THE WORLD CUP TO WHO TAYLOR SWIFT’S BRIDESMAIDS WILL BE. ADD TO THAT LIST BETTING ON WILDFIRES.    HIGH COUNTRY NEWS [https://www.hcn.org/articles/people-are-betting-on-wildfires-should-they/]RECENTLY REPORTED THAT POLYMARKET, THE WORLD’S BIGGEST PREDICTION MARKET PLATFORM, ACCEPTED BETS ON THE PALISADES FIRE AS IT BROKE OUT IN JANUARY 2025 IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY. THE FIRE KILLED 31 PEOPLE AND DESTROYED MORE THAN 16,000 STRUCTURES. HIGH COUNTRY NEWS ALSO REPORTED ON THE LAUNCH OF ANOTHER PREDICTION MARKET EARLIER THIS YEAR THAT IS CURRENTLY ACCEPTING ONLY SIMULATED BETS ON WILDFIRES IN CALIFORNIA.    BETTING ON WHERE AND WHEN A WILDFIRE STARTS AND HOW IT GROWS RAISES ETHICAL AND SAFETY CONCERNS. A USER ON THE PREDICTION PLATFORM COULD, FOR EXAMPLE, ENGAGE IN ARSON TO SCORE BIG ON A PLACED BET. FEDERAL AND STATE FIRE OFFICIALS HIGH COUNTRY NEWS SPOKE TO REJECTED CLAIMS THAT BETS PLACED ON WILDFIRES COULD AID THEIR WILDFIRE FORECASTING AND MONITORING EFFORTS.   HIGH COUNTRY NEWS CORRESPONDENT KYLIE MOHR JOINS US TO SHARE MORE DETAILS AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR OREGON AS STATE OFFICIALS PREPARE FOR A POTENTIALLY DESTRUCTIVE WILDFIRE SEASON.

How Portland’s sports bar scene has taken advantage of World Cup momentum

While Portland is not hosting any World Cup matches, residents of "Soccer City, USA" have been showing up at local sports bars in hoards to view games. Away Days and GOL PDX are both located in Southeast Portland, and have been hubs for World Cup viewing since the matches kicked off on June 11. Co-owners of Away Days, Niki Diamond and Pete Hoppins, and co-owner of GOL PDX Peter Ma hr join us to discuss how their business fluxes during the busy soccer season, and the impact they notice the World Cup has on the Portland soccer community.

Portlander musician Marisa Anderson explores folk music from around the world in new album

Marisa Anderson has been dubbed as [https://www.npr.org/2018/06/07/615266956/first-listen-marisa-anderson-cloud-corner] one of “this era’s most powerful players,” for her deep and varied interpretations of American music. Her latest album, “The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music,” takes inspiration from folk music from around the world. From Vietnam and Syria, to Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, the album is shaped by songs from countries that have been in conflict with the U.S. in her lifetime. Andreson join us to share more on her album and performs live in-studio.

’Death of a Drag Queen’ returns for second run in Portland

“Death of a Drag Queen [https://www.deathofadragqueen.com/]” opens on the 60th birthday of fictional queen Cram Brulee. Her water is shut off, an eviction notice is on the door and the friends who are supposed to take her out to celebrate keep pushing back their arrival. Inspired by “Death of a Salesman,” the play follows Cram as she grapples with her own fading relevance and mortality.   The play opened at [https://www.wweek.com/arts/theater/2025/12/16/sean-browns-death-of-a-drag-queen-vamps-up-arthur-millers-existential-classic-at-echo-theater/] Portland’s Echo theater in December 2025 and moved to Triangle Productions before closing this January. It’s back at Triangle for another two-weekend run starting July 11.    Playwright Sean Brown joins us to talk more about the show and its renewed run.