Opb's State Of Wonder

Tanya Barfield grew up in Portland and first caught the theater bug from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. But even though her plays have been performed around the country and got her nominated for a Pulitzer, they have never been staged in Portland.That is, until this year.Profile Theatre is running an entire season of her plays, ending with "Bright Half Life" from Oct. 27–Nov. 13.We’re going to spend this hour getting to know Barfield's work and exploring some ideas she’s turned us onto. So grab your bus pass, it begins on the 77.Full Show: http://www.opb.org/radio/programs/stateofwonder/segment/playwright-tanya-barfield-profile-theatre-portland/

Doing the hard work never sounded so good. We turn to some veteran creatives this week for the antidotes to antic times.Drive-By Truckers' "American Band" Takes On A Mad World - 1:48Ever since coming together in Athens, Georgia, in 1996, The Drive-By Truckers have reinvented southern rock and its assumptions about identity and tradition. While the band has seen plenty of personnel changes over the years, the heart of the Truckers' sound is the musical partnership between Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood. The band played their entire new album, "American Band," for a lucky audience in the OPB studio, and talked about some of the stories and recent events that drove the song-writing. Contest Time: Flash Fiction From Tin House's Master Book Of Plots -14:54Portland/New York publisher Tin House is re-publishing an astonishing writers’ tool from 1928, called “Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots.” Author William Wallace Cook detailed some 1,462 plots to help struggling writers. Tin House held a national contest a few

This week’s show: curveballs and home runs. New developments are on deck in the saga of Oregon’s art glass makers, and for one act trying to get recognition for its entirely ironic band name. Plus we bring back a favorite from last year, to get you primed for Wordstock. Hope you’ve got your helmet on — all the best bombs are dropping! Thanks for helping us make this listener-supported show every week. Give a gift, before you do anything else this weekend. Supreme Court Will Hear The Slants Trademark Case — 1:18The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear a case pitting Portland-based all-Asian electro-rock band The Slants against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The band has been fighting to trademark its name since 2011. The PTO denied the request on the grounds the name is racially disparaging. Bandleader Simon Tam says it’s unconstitutional for government to use offensive speech as a basis for rejecting trademarks. The high court refused to hear a similar case involving the Washington Redskins, but a ruli

When life gives you mental breakdowns and dysfunctional justice, use them to make something new. Settle in; we’re spinning tales of artists digging into the toolkit to delve identity and community. Sometimes these things can be found only a few levels up. Maria Bamford — 00:59Maria Bamford is headed to Oregon next month to headline the All Jane Comedy Festival. She’s easily one of the most innovative voices in comedy today, mashing wide-eyed midwestern-ness with pure subversion. Bamford’s Netflix series, “Lady Dynamite” has just been approved for a second season. In it she plays a fictionalized version of herself, and tells stories about rebooting her career after a serious mental health crisis.Loch Lomond — 11:51Ritchie Young started Loch Lomond 13 years ago. Since then it’s been a revolving roster of musicians, depending on who’s available to tour and record. Now, with “Pens from Spain,” the band's first US album in five years, it’s grown to a whopping 75 musicians. The new album’s lush orchestrations rei

Will Future High-Rises be Made of Wood?Among all the buildings going up in the biggest boom in Portland history, only one of them can be called the first of its kind in the nation. Instead of relying on steel and concrete, the four-story Albina Yard is built entirely of cross-laminated timber, or CLT for short.Randy Gragg, State of Wonder's architecture columnist in residence, stops by to discusses how CLT stands to revolutionize construction, offering a pre-fabricated material that is faster to build, more resistant to earthquakes, and more sustainable than traditional practices, not to mention it stands to jump start rural economies. The technology is used widely in Europe and Japan, and the state of Oregon is positioning itself to be a leader in the US, with the Yard's architect, Lever, planning to break ground soon on an 11-story CLT high-rise in the Pearl District. The Minders Releases First Studio Album in Ten YearsFor fans of the band The Minders, the appearance of a new song by the band on the PDX Po

Oregon Playwright Shoots True With 'The Gun Show' - 1:15“The Gun Show” tells five stories about guns drawn from the life of the award-winning playwright E.M. Lewis. She grew up in rural Oregon, where she was surrounded by guns, and she learned to shoot on a date with her husband-to-be. But then she found herself on the other end of a barrel during a robbery, followed by two other deeply troubling experiences, one of which ended in the death of her husband. Suffice it to say, she knows firsthand the whole range of emotions guns elicit, and her one-man (yes, a man plays her) show is a powerful and provocative ride of humor and emotion. It stars Vin Shambry at Coho Theater through Oct. 1.Portland's Living Room Explodes With Art This Weekend - 11:45This weekend, Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square will transform into a three-day art party. Libby Werbel of the Portland Museum of Modern Art — or P-MOMA — will take over through the Square’s cool new residency series, Houseguest, bringing in visual artists and perfo

Gather ‘round, True Believers. We’re getting all geeked up for the Rose City Comic Con, Sept 10–11. It’s always a hot ticket, given the critical mass of comics creators making their home around these parts now, but we were especially charmed by this year’s crop.Image Comics Moving to Portland - 1:10We start things off with some breaking news. Rumors have been flying that we were the first to confirm: Image Comics is moving to Portland. Image is the third largest publisher in the industry with annual sales around $50 million. Relocating is kind of a no-brainer, given the pool of high-powered Image creators already living here. We explore what sets Image apart (and makes it a prime team-up with Portland), before sitting down for an exclusive interview with the company’s publisher, Eric Stephenson.Bandette Steals Hearts, Jewels, Awards - 10:53The husband and wife creative team of Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover are getting ready to publish “The House of the Green Mask,” the third volume of their effervescent creat

XOXO's Pulls Plug on the Festival, But Plugs in a New Workspace - 1:15Over the last four years, the XOXO Festival has become a premier destination for the intersection of creativity and technology, drawing blog stars, DJ sensations and creators like the folks behind Cards Against Humanity, while regularly turning away hundreds of would-be attendees each year. Yet co-founders Andy Baio and Andy McMillan are hitting the brakes. There will not be a XOXO festival in 2017. That’s not to say they will never bring it back. But the Andys say that, after four years of listening to talk about methods, markets, practice and process, they decided to dedicate themselves instead to their new, pay-what-you-can co-work space called XOXO Outpost.Kelly Pratt to Kick Off TBA with Hundreds of Horns - 7:00After living a nomadic life for 21 years, the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art finally has a new home in northeast Portland. And to celebrate, they're turning over the opening night event to the multi-instrumentalist Kell

It’s set to be a blistering weekend, so we’re going to do our best to cool things down this hour with classical music in the woods, golden harmonies soaring over the Willamette, and a brilliant, new blue pigment.Classical Music Meets Silent Disco At Stunning WPA SitesThe pianist Hunter Noack is harking back to the Works Progress Administration era with a concert series called “In A Landscape.” He has invited such musical luminaries as Pink Martini’s Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes to join him in playing classical music in some of the region’s most famous WPA sites. Think Timberline Lodge, Council Crest, and the Oneonta Tunnel. Noack has a history of bringing music to unlikely places,which is why he agreed to drag a piano out into the West Hills to play a few of the songs for this audio postcard.Sista In The Brotherhood - 7:25The Portland-filmed “Sista in the Brotherhood” follows a day-in-the-life of a black woman working at the Sellwood Bridge construction site. The film is based on the research of produce

This week, on State of Wonder: a multi-city birthday party for Oregon’s milestone in silent film history, Buster Keaton’s "The General," with a brand new live score; moments of reckoning as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival responds to threats against black actors, and opens up about dealing with resistance to its equity work; and Erin McKeown drops in to bend your mind, taking gospel music into the bathroom stall.Love It Or Loath It - Portland Newest High-Rise: The YardThe new chocolate-brown high-rise building at the east end of the Burnside bridge has received a lot of attention from Portlanders, from those who think its a daring modern style to those who call it the Death Star and the Borg and think it represents all that's wrong about Portland growth. Our columnist-in-residence, Randy Gragg, talked with the building's architect Jeff Kovel of Skylab Architecture about the design of the building, factors that went into why it looks the way it does, and what sets it apart.Erin McKeown Takes Prayer into the B

This week on State of Wonder, we take a break from our summer reading to look back at last year's Wordstock book festival. We'll hear from three authors with fascinating backstories lay out the singular works they delivered in 2015. This year's festival is set to begin on November 5.Jesse Eisenberg Made His Name Playing Neurotic Characters. Turns Out He Can Write Like Them Too.Jesse Eisenberg is best known for starring in movies such as “The Social Network,” "Batman V. Superman," and “Zombieland," but he’s quickly gaining attention for his writing as well, in the form of both plays and humor. In 2015 alone, Eisenberg starred in three films, spent two months acting in an off-Broadway play of his own writing, and released his first book, "Bream Gives Me Hiccups: and Other Stories." It takes its name from a series of restaurant reviews he penned for "The New Yorker" from the perspective of a privileged child, but it also includes such absurd gems as a marriage counselor heckling the Knicks and a post-gender norm

This week, the vacation comes to you! We've got excellent road trips to some of the most beautiful and inspiring parts of Oregon and the creators who work there. Pack up, grab a bag of sunflower seeds — we're hitting the road.Veterans Chase Rock 'n' Roll Ceramics And Granite Peaks at the LH ProjectThere are a lot of reasons to visit Joseph, Oregon, beginning with the spectacular Wallowa Mountains. But for ceramic artists, there’s one very specific reason: a residency program that some have called the Shangri-la of ceramics. It was started by Jakob Haßlacher and his wife, the internationally renowned sculptor Chris Antemann, in 2000. Haßlacher named it after his family's cattle brand, the LH Project, and now they invite ceramic artists from around the world to make art there. One group comes back every summer: veterans, who crank the stereo and let the beer flow more freely than the glaze.Wallowa County Writer's First Book Recounts True Love Found Around A Campfire in Hells Canyon - 10:57Pamela Royes debut boo

Portland’s comedy scene is incendiary, and one of the prime movers we have to thank for it is Shelley McLendon. She’s the mastermind behind Bad Reputation Productions, which has staged hilarious adaptations of movies like "Road House" and "The Lost Boys;" she's a member of several of the city’s top sketch groups, including the Aces and the Liberators; and she’s the proprietress of the Siren Theater, a new downtown venue dedicated to sketch comedy, improv and the zanily theatrical.In preview of the Stumptown Improv Festival from Aug. 4–6, we're going to listen back to the episode that Shelley guest curated for State of Wonder, because her group the Liberators is performing, as are a bevvy of the improv stars you hear in the show, including festival co-founders Jed Arkley, Leon Anderson and Erin O'Regan. It's a scrappy little fest that's blowing up with sell-out shows and all-star guests, including wife-and-husband team Orange Tuxedo and the improv hip-hop troupe North Coast.Plus, it's sponsored by Oregon Quinc

This week on State of Wonder, we’re going to spend the hour exploring how the region’s artists are using their work to process the hurricane of emotions that erupted after last week’s deadly shootings of two African American men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and five policemen in Dallas — although as several of our guests point out, it's nothing new. What's Race Got To Do With It?We begin the show at a recent event organized by a group called the Color of Now on Monday night, where more than 150 people crowded into Imago Theatre. The night began with a performance by actor Joseph Gibson from "Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments,” a series of seven monologues by black playwrights. Next, Color of Now artistic director Chantal DeGroat dug into a wide-ranging conversation about race and social justice with the local theater and social justice veteran Kevin Jones, moving from Jones’s stories about seeing Malcolm X as a child and struggling with early affirmative action at IBM to Oregon’s troubled history with rac

Dozens Of Artists Displaced After Sale of Troy Laundry BuildingFor nearly 40 years, dozens of artists have worked out of the historic Troy Laundry Building. It's the oldest cooperative art studio in the city, but now the building has a new owner, and most of the artists who had studios there are searching for new homes. We bring you the latest in the story after talking with artists, real estate developers, and government and city officials.Writer Sherman Alexie On His First Children's Book- 13:10National Book Award-winning writer and Pacific NW icon Sherman Alexie is coming to town on July 9 to read from his first children’s book, “Thunder Boy Junior,” at Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing. Alexie recently talked with NPR’s David Greene about the book, which explores his nuanced relationship with his father and his quest for defining his own identity.Piano-Playing Neuroscientist Explores The Science Of Music - 21:28What happens in your brain when you play your favorite instrument, and how does music affect cog

Hey people! It’s summer! Time to hit some shows. And to help you get your calendar arranged, this week we're cranking up the volume on some of the best bands we met in studio sessions this year who happen to have shows in the area, plus a super fancy, exclusive concert premiere.You can find videos of all these performances at www.opb.org/stateofwonder.Iconic Supergroup case/lang/veirs Teams UpNeko Case, k.d. lang and Laura Veirs finished three years of work on a lush, soulful new record and played their entire album, “case/lang/veirs,” in an exclusive opbmusic session. If you do nothing else today, go enjoy the video. You can also catch the trio live at the Oregon Zoo in Portland on July 2 and at the Les Schwab Ampitheater in Bend on July 5.M. Ward Sings to His Baby (and opbmusic) 
The latest release from M. Ward, "More Rain," might sound like a Portland soundtrack, but it belies its name with sunny sounds of doo-wop and golden era AM radio sensibilities. The artist came by the OPB studios to play a few songs

Portland Pride Stands Up For OrlandoAfter the shooting at the Pulse night club in Orlando, leaders of Portland Pride and community members have organized several candlelight vigils, and many artists, arts groups and pride parties are re-configuring their plans to lend their support to the victims of the tragedy. We talk with Don Horn, the founder of Triangle Productions, a theater well-known for producing LGBT plays. Currently, they're sending a percentage of ticket sales for "American Idiot" (June 9–July 2) to the Orlando's LGBT community Center. Portland Music Distributor Closes Doors, Leaving Hundreds of Bands And Labels In The Lurch - 1:50Several hundred small music labels and recording artists around the world — including Portland's Pink Martini, Cappella Roman, Three Leg Torso, and more — are faced with buying their own music back from Portland distributor, Allegro Media Group. Several labels and artists affected by the liquidation told OPB they were not notified by the company about what was happening

It's been one of those weeks when we almost got lost in the sheer enjoyment of the prep. 1:10 Books With Pictures - Portland has a new comic book shop, officially open for business. Books With Pictures is a cozy storefront in southeast Portland with a mission to be Portland’s most welcoming comic book shop for the people outside the industry’s marketing plan — the LGTBQ community, families, women, people of color — complete with gender neutral restrooms and comics with female protagonists and protagonists of color.7:10 Excalibur Books & Comics: A Personal History - Of course, it’s not an entirely new thing to have women running comic book stores. We also stop in and chat with Debbie Smith, the co-owner of Excalibur Books & Comics (her parents opened it 42 years ago).11:40 Summer Cannibals Barrel Us Into Summer With Addictive Poppy Punk - Summer Cannibals are a hard rocking punk band in an acoustic-loving town, and their lyrics and videos play sardonically on the anger and angst of this modern life.

This week, State of Wonder's all about the journey: we travel the world with starchitect Brad Cloepfil, meditate on environmental disaster with installation artist Vanessa Renwick, tromp through the war memories of Vietnam vet Mark Waszkiewicz, go on a pilgrimage with writer Ellen Waterston, and more. Brad Cloepfil Normally Designs Museums; Now He's Featured in One - 1:01Portland's preeminent living architect, Brad Cloepfil, the founding principal of Allied Works, is not just an architect, but also an artist. A new exhibit at the Portland Art Museum, "Case Work," demonstrates this with over 60 sculptural works that are far from the sterile blueprints or uptight models you might expect. Cloepfil walks us through the exhibit and his globe-trotting buildings, from the Clifford Still Museum in Denver to the Museum of Art and Design in New York to the National Music Center in Calgary to Wieden+Kennedy here in Portland, the building that started it all (thanks to a gig he did designing Saucebox for $2,000 plus a $2

This week on State of Wonder, the city's plans to enforce pot policy puts many marijuana-related events on hold, the comedian Curtis Cook on what it takes to be brave, writer Andi Zeisler on the commodification of feminism & more.Portland Just Says No To Many Marijuana-Related EventsSince the legalization of recreational marijuana in Oregon last year, there’s been an explosion or pot-related events: from big celebrations like Weed the People and the Cultivation Classic, to yoganja classes and house concerts. But now all these events are up in the air due to a confluence of clarifications from state and city authorities, including the city's pot officials saying they will begin to crack down on events that sell tickets and then give away marijuana, meaning a major buzz kill for a number of events already in the works.Tales of the Portland Jazz Scene: Lorna Bracken Baxter - 5:45Our friends at KMHD Jazz Radio have been working on a special series of stories you will want to check out: Tales of the Portland J