This week on State of Wonder: Oregonians mourn the death of a legend (including some who shared his stage), a Portland artist helps reboot DC Comics’ Dr. Fate, and a blind but colorful painter in Wallowa County. The Many Lives of Davie Bowie David Bowie’s decades of recording, filmmaking and trendsetting led many to feel he was super-human, immortal, even alien. Of course, he was all too human, dying this week at age 69 after an 18-month struggle with cancer. The outpouring of love and grief onl...
Jan 15, 2016•50 min
Here's the supercut of our talk with Kelly and Taki. They're pals, but had never worked together before Issue 6 of Kelly's Image Comics series, Bitch Planet. It tells the backstory for Meiko Maki, the whip-smart engineer who's the lynchpin of a resistance plan to hit The Protectorate where it hurts. We talk to Kelly and Taki about the look of the series, reaction, and other stuff they're both working on.
Jan 09, 2016•20 min
Uppity Women and Then Some... This week's show features trailblazers, plus a couple of lookbacks at stories from last year, with updates on what happened after the tape stopped rolling. Kelly Sue DeConnick and Taki Soma talk about collaborating on this month's special issue of Bitch Planet Lauren Redniss lets us in on her process for the stunning graphic novel-cum-collage book, "Thunder and Lightening". Oregon Story Board - an incubator for creative tech projects - gets a new lease on life ... a...
Jan 08, 2016•53 min
Shows, records, openings, performances, books, festivals — we've enjoyed an unusual amount of beauty in 2015. So we thought we’d take a look back at some of our favorite moments. The Hollywood Theatre Redefines the Modern Movie Palace You haven’t seen “2001: A Space Odyssey” unless you've seen it the way it was supposed to be seen: on ultrawide, deliciously detailed 70-millimeter celluloid. Local Kubrick buffs were lucky enough to enjoy that experience in March thanks to the Hollywood Theatre, w...
Dec 23, 2015•52 min
What happens when small towns try to jump-start their economies with arts centers and cultural offerings? We find out with road trips to Joseph, Burns, and Mighty Tieton, Washington.
Dec 23, 2015•53 min
We talk with Meyer Memorial Trust CEO Doug Stamm about why the foundation has taken a hiatus from accepting new grant applications. Our guest curator, Dorie Vollum, has thoughts, too...
Dec 19, 2015•13 min
Philanthropist. Instigator. Friend to the arts. Dorie Vollum is all of these, and also, this week’s guest curator on “State of Wonder.” We’re talking about giving and philanthropy, and Dorie is what we’d consider an expert. She’s been instrumental in the growth of the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art and the Portland Japanese Garden, leading a capital campaign for the Garden’s current expansion. Her husband, Larry, has been on the board of the Oregon Symphony for six years, plus several o...
Dec 18, 2015•53 min
The Salem-artist Christopher Marley transforms dead things into art. We’re not talking butterfly boxes or your favorite hipster bar taxidermy here. Marley preserves exotic birds, insects, snakes, and even octopi using state of the art techniques and then composes them in frames. They’re so exquisite, they’ve ended up on the walls of museums, high-end galleries, fancy furniture stores, and Beyonce herself has one! Producer Aaron Scott has this bug tale. Read our full story: http://www.opb.org/art...
Dec 12, 2015•11 min
Grammy nominations are out! We review who's who, what's what, and chat with Lori Henriques, the amazing composer whose witty, brisk songs for kids are up for an award in the Best Children's Record category.
Dec 11, 2015•5 min
Clatsop Community College has renamed its gallery after the dynamic painter and educator Royal Nebeker, who died in 2014. A faculty show now on view also looks back at Nebeker's contributions, through his own works, and those of his colleagues.
Dec 11, 2015•4 min
Pacific Northwest College of Art's President Tom Manley is ending a 12-year run steering Oregon's biggest art school. We talk about the transformational changes he brought about, his response to student and staff concerns, and his advice for his successor.
Dec 11, 2015•19 min
Vibrant Masterpieces From The Bodies Of Exotic Animals The model-turned-Salem artist Christopher Marley transforms dead things into art. We’re not talking butterfly boxes or taxidermy here. Marley preserves exotic birds, insects, snakes, and even octopi using state-of-the-art techniques and then composes them in frames. They’re so exquisite, they’ve ended up on the walls of museums, high-end galleries, fancy furniture stores. And Beyonce herself has one! Marley's new book, "Biophilia," is availa...
Dec 11, 2015•51 min
Visitors to Portland's famous bookstore may never know there's one very rare and VERY expensive volume hidden away beyond the stacks. John Rosman investigates.
Dec 05, 2015•6 min
John Malkovich make a record, a Southern rocker relocates to Portland, kids confront gentrification and sneakers become high fashion. Change is afoot in this week’s State of Wonder. Malkovich On Vinyl Actor and director John Malkovich has powerhouse interpretive skills and a knack for transformation that has carried iconic performances in films such as “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Of Mice and Men,” “In the Line of Fire” and, of course, as a fictional actor-turned-puppeteer in "Being John Malkovich." H...
Dec 04, 2015•50 min
We just could not resist. A dip into the week's best Twitter meme, with a little help from Portland MC Elton Cray.
Dec 04, 2015•2 min
We catch up with Darren Orange, one of Astoria's most dynamic artists. He's got a show on view through the end of December, "Cascadian Slipstream".
Dec 04, 2015•3 min
The actor, his longtime collaborator Sandro, and the composer Eric Alexandrakis talk about working on their new vinyl-only drop, "Like A Puppet Show", released at Portland's Music Millenium for Record Store Day. (photo cred. April Baer, OPB)
Nov 28, 2015•6 min
Poet, performer, & scholar talks about her first book of poems. (photo courtesy of Alicia Jo Rabins)
Nov 26, 2015•12 min
Jesse Eisenberg is best known for starring in movies like “The Social Network,” “Zombieland” and next year's "Batman v. Superman." 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 award-winning off-Broadway play of his own writing, and released his first book. It’s called “Bream Gives Me Hickups & Other Stories," and it takes its name from a series of restaurant revi...
Nov 25, 2015•18 min
Three authors with fascinating and atypical histories talk about works they published in 2015: Actor and activist Wendell Pierce put an indelible mark on the TV landscape with his role as William “Bunk” Moreland on the iconic television series, “The Wire.” He has produced and acted in movies, TV, and theater. This year, he made his debut in the literary world, with his book, "The Wind in the Reeds." It’s a meditation on his return to his hometown of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, where...
Nov 24, 2015•54 min
For our second show recorded live at Wordstock, we sit down with two amazing groups of writers: Portland's Most Infamous Writing Group We begin the hour with a veritable Justice League of Portland writers: Chelsea Cain, Suzy Vitello and Lidia Yuknavitch. Together with other aces like Chuck Palahniuk and Monica Drake, they make up perhaps Portland's most infamous writers’ group. We talk about why poisonous octopi wouldn't cut it in the Willamette, the literary virtues of dolmas and red wine, the ...
Nov 20, 2015•52 min
Today on the show: creativity and geography. Salem Chamber Orchestra Files For Bankruptcy Last month, the Salem Chamber Orchestra board announced the season would be cancelled because of financial difficulties. Now it has informed its musicians it will also file for bankruptcy. Frank Almond’s Famous Stradivarius Violinist and concertmaster Frank Almond, the man behind the best-selling CD “A Violin’s Life,” will perform on Tuesday in Corvallis at Oregon State University and on Friday in Bend as p...
Nov 14, 2015•51 min
Playwright Marc Acito - a longtime Portlander - talks to us about collaborating with a team that included George Takei on the new musical, "Allegiance". (Photo credit: Matthew Murphy)
Nov 13, 2015•10 min
CD release show scheduled for Grant's love letter to Oregon. KMHD's Matt Fleeger talked to Darrell about the latest incarnation.
Nov 13, 2015•16 min
The ensemble ends 31 years of concerts, insolvent. We talk with musicians and former staff. (photo credit: Salem Chamber Orchestra)
Nov 13, 2015•8 min
When Portland-native Paige Powell worked at “Interview Magazine” in New York City in the 1980s, she traveled in rarified circles. There were lunches with Bianca Jagger, dinners with David Bowie, and an endless parade of parties with Andy Warhol. And she documented it all with her camera. Then, when she moved back to Oregon, she put all the photos and videos in boxes and didn’t look at them for years. Now she’s showing them for the first time in an installation at the Portland Art Museum called “...
Nov 13, 2015•9 min
We're broadcasting live today from the Portland Art Museum for the city's biggest book extravaganza, Wordstock. We're going to be talking with a couple of our literary superheroes. Ursula K. Le Guin Think about the pleasure you felt when a favorite teacher showed you something new. That feeling takes on an entirely new dimension in this year’s revival of Ursula K. Le Guin’s "Steering the Craft." Le Guin, one of Oregon’s most decorated living writers, gave us epic novels that set the template for...
Nov 07, 2015•51 min
For the past two years, Portland's biggest literary festival has been on a bit of a hiatus. But next Saturday, another Portland nonprofit for word nerds is resurrecting Wordstock from the grave. On this episode of State of Wonder, we dip into the archives to revisit interviews with some of our favorite Wordstock authors, a surprising number of which are more than fitting for Halloween. Sunshine Girl In 2010, a series of videos appeared on YouTube called "The Haunting of Sunshine Girl." They were...
Oct 30, 2015•52 min
Eugene is a surprising hotbed of video games. "Tribes," "Godzilla: Destroy All Monster's Melee," and "Red Baron" are just a few games to be developed in its local studios. While larger studios like Pipeworks tend to employee the most people, there's also an active indie scene that is nowhere more apparent than at the second annual Indie Game Con. Hundreds of people filled Lane Community College in early October to play new titles, from space shooters like "XO" and "Star Mazer" to fantasy games l...
Oct 23, 2015•51 min
Curator-In-Residence Chiara Giovando walks us through her first full group show at Disjecta.
Oct 17, 2015•6 min
