Audio Journalism
A small sample of my work

The restaurant industry at large is plagued with racial inequality, sexual harassment, poor working conditions and more. And often, BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ food makers struggle to find support. A new Portland restaurant group called Win Win is trying to change that.

For 70 years, Portland’s Blanchet House has served free, hot meals three times a day, to anyone who would like one. The pandemic forced the nonprofit to shutter its doors, but not to stop service, so for the last two years meals have been boxed up “to-go”. On May 2nd, they reopened to indoor dining for the first time in 24 months.

On Feb. 22, 2022—which happened to be a Tuesday—around 200 people, in tutus, showed up in downtown Portland for a photo op... at 2:22pm.The group, clad in colorful tutus, hung out in the park for several hours, at an event hoping to “push positivity.”

An unlikely resurgence of a nostalgic game has helped game store owners and the company producing it come out of 2020 in the black. Once a game on the fringes of pop culture, Dungeons & Dragons now generates more than $800 million for its publisher, Washington-based Wizards of the Coast.

Oregon animation studio LAIKA has announced plans to create the nation's first stop-motion studio at a Historically Black College or University. The collaboration will give a new generation of Black creatives a new venue to tell their stories.

"PRO-BLACK, PRO-BROWN, PRO-TRANS, PRO SCIENCE, PRO-HOE"

There is nothing subtle about the tagline for Meals 4 Heels, a first-of-its-kind, late night food delivery service for sex workers. And now, chef Nikeisah Newton is feeding the larger community with a new walk-up window at The Redd on Salmon Street.  

Authors A. K. Blakemore and Rivka Galchen each have new books out that explore the very real witch trials of the 17th century. The pair joined me to discuss the process of basing fiction on historical events, how individual experiences can be wrapped up in national and global circumstances, and what it really means to be a witch.

Tiquette Bramlett is the first Black woman appointed to oversee a winery in a major U.S. wine region. And this year, she will help usher in a new crop of BIPOC wine industry changemakers with her nonprofit Our Legacy Harvested and their inaugural internship program.

Comic book publisher Oni Press is set to release a new series next week that blends indigenous folklore, magic and monsters, and has a 20-something hipster as its lead protagonist. "Season of the Bruja" is the brainchild of Portland writer Aaron Durán, who joined me to talk about the new Latinx series.

Ken Forkish may be one of the best-known bakers in Oregon. As the mastermind behind Ken’s Artisan Bakery, Trifecta, Checkerboard Pizza and Ken’s Artisan Pizza, he's helped solidify Portland as an epicenter for food. After two decades on the culinary scene, Forkish is retiring from life as a professional baker. 

The antioxidant-rich Midnight Roma was just released by Oregon State University. Created by horticulture professor and plant breeder Jim Myers, the tomato is dark purple with a rich, concentrated flavor.  

Native Americans are more than twice as likely to experience violent crimes compared to all other races in the U.S. A new national program created through the Department of Justice is trying to address the problem with tribal outreach and data research.

Nearly eight months into the coronavirus pandemic, businesses across Oregon continue to struggle. No sector has been harder hit than the state’s bars and restaurants, with revenue down 56%. But for Portland’s LQBTQ+ community, it’s just the latest blow in a string of closures to queer-centered spaces.

For nearly a decade, FEAST Portland has drawn foodies from around the globe to the Pacific Northwest for a 4-day food festival with local chefs and international culinary talent. Last year, the festival went on hiatus, but 2021 brings a new “Summer of FEAST” with smaller, more intimate events with a focus on BIPOC producers.