Watch Now: Jake Silberman

Jake Silberman has spent the last month living in a post-COVID world.

In early June, the local comic (and occasional WW contributor) jumped into an old, decommissioned catering van and headed across the country with a friend and a video camera to capture the return of comedy as clubs gradually reopen following the pandemic for a future documentary. And what he mostly found, as he left Portland and headed to Boise and then onward to Des Moines, Chicago and elsewhere before ending in New York, is that in most of the United States, the pandemic is already a fading memory.

“I’ve been doing club dates, bar shows, open mics, trying to show the full gamut of comedy—and it is back, as is America,” says Silberman, 34. “I don’t know what it’s like in Portland still, but as soon as we left, the pandemic was not existing at all. I don’t know if Portland is just the last holdover or what.”

In this interview, conducted from a stoop in Brooklyn, Silberman discusses what standup looks like after a year of closed stages, his weirdest interactions along the way, and just how the hell he’s gonna turn all that footage into a documentary.

Jeff Hawthorne | Portland Arts Program Manager
“Some folks at the Regional Arts & Culture Council had a good guess and were able to confirm the identity of the artist.”
Amy Shapiro | Former School Choir Teacher
The resolution cites the Indigenous people whose land the state currently occupies, as well as Oregon’s Black and Chinese exclusion laws.
Sean Highkin | NBA Reporter
On Thursday, the team was eliminated from the NBA playoffs on their home floor.
Eden Ferede | Jewish Agency for Israel Fellow
“Do you see me? Do you see only white people?”
Brad Pugh | National Weather Service
According to Brad Pugh of the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, the coming months will bring “little or no relief.”
Meara McLaughlin | MusicPortland
MusicPortland intends to use half of its proposed budget from the city to start an artist grant.
Matt King | Folk Magik
While most of the business seems to be betting that concerts will return in late summer and early fall, longtime talent buyer Matt King is more hesitant.
Larry O’Niell | Oregon Climate Science
Prolonged drought contributed to last year’s megafires, and the state hasn’t recovered from last year’s dry spell.
Kerry Tymchuk | Oregon Historical Society
That fact emerged while discussing the renewal of a five-year tax levy to fund the work of historical preservation and display.
Jason Brandt | Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association
She raised the caps on the number of outdoor diners a business can host from 50 to 100 people.
Jeff McNamee | Find a COVID Shot Oregon
Jeff McNamee knows a few tricks.
Noah Greenwald | Center for Biological Diversity
The agency plans on nearly tripling the Santiam Forest’s annual logging areas.
Hannah Ahern
She describes a memorable afternoon, courtesy of Detective Erik Kammerer.
Jimi Biron | McMenamins' Music Director
Current state guidelines would allow venues to reopen at half capacity when a county is designated as “low risk.” But the details aren’t totally unclear.
Wlnsvey Campos | State Representative
If passed, the bill would effectively end such sweeps.
Skye Fitzgeralds | Filmmaker
Out of all the tough subjects he’s tackled in his career, “Hunger Ward” was the hardest to bear witness to.
Justin Hintze | Restaurateur
Known as much for its social media presence as its world-beating chicken sandwich, the cart swiftly became one of the most popular in the city.
Jessica Vega Pederson | Multnomah County Commissioner
In other words, she asks that Congress create a guaranteed universal income for every child in America, regardless of what their parents do for a living.
Renee Patrick | Long Distance Hiker
Located in Northeast Oregon, the Blue Mountains Trail connects some of the state’s most jaw-dropping scenery.
Jenn Cairo | City Forester
City Forester Jenn Cairo talks about the biggest tree that the ice storm toppled.
Steve Herring | CEO of Living Room Theaters
The small downtown theater has welcomed back guests for three weeks, albeit at greatly diminished capacity—admittance for each screening room is capped at six.
Chris Nesseth | Photographer
Blistered Feet chronicles the trip through 100 photographs from the (literal) road, including makeshift campsites and abandoned towns.
Susan Landa | Owner, Fossil Cartel
Like many businesses that sell material goods rather than experiences, the Fossil Cartel garnered new interest.
Craig Mitchelldyer | Sports Photographer
Moments after Craig Mitchelldyer walked through the door on Feb. 12, the lights went out.
Kim McGair and Leslie Bienen | ED300
Portland-area parents and child welfare advocates warn that another spring away from classes could do untold harm to students.
Knute Buehler | Physician and Politician
Does this decision mean his career in politics is over?
Tyrone Collins | Comedian
“I actually stopped doing comedy for, like, eight months because I was under the assumption that when you bomb once, that’s your career.”
Samantha Vembu | Beaverton Parent
Samantha Vembu says teachers can't see how children are suffering on the other side of a screen.
Jennifer Hauge and Brian Posewitz | Stand Up to Factory Farms
According to Jennifer Hauge and Brian Posewitz of Stand Up to Factory Farms, Oregon hasn’t learned from the Lost Valley Farms incident.
Jon Major | Cascade Volcano Observatory
An article in Forbes compared Portland to Pompeii. We asked an expert: How literal should we take that?
Candace Avalos | Community Leader
“I want to reassure the community that the U.S. Attorney’s Office takes these threats very seriously.”
Jeremy FiveCrows | Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
The projects is still in the planning phase, but Jeremy Five Crows has high hopes.
Emma Berger | Artist
Over time, the mural grew into a local and national symbol of the protests against the police killings of Black people that occurred across America last summer.
Michelle Zauner | Musician
“Crying in H Mart” links Zauner's grief over the death of her mother with her love of Korean food and the isolation of growing up Korean American in a small, overwhelmingly white Oregon town.
Lex Grant | Chef
Grant talks about her experience in the bubble, what to expect from her pop-up, and her opinions on the Portland food scene. And she answers the most obvious question: What is Carmelo Anthony's favorite thing to eat?
Becky Crane| Teacher
“This was just a virus. That’s what they told us. It’s just a virus.”
Keith Baker and Jenn Ellis | Twogether Studios
The company’s breakthrough game, “Illimat,” a collaboration with the Decemberists, was a huge hit.
Benjamin Clark | University of Oregon
To halt the virus, Oregon will need to vaccinate all but a few adults, even as many hesitate.
Laura Klink | Oregon Humane Society
A few weeks ago, a team drove from Portland to Eugene, armed with vegetable sticks to lure the hundreds of tiny animals into transport cages.
Britt Howard | Founder, Portland Garment Factory
The designs on the holiday masks ranged from 3D felt trees to a fluffy Santa beard with a gingerbread cookie hanging from the mouth.
How 2020 Changed Us | The Leaders Who Emerged
Never before was this city as open to new voices and direction as when the old systems had so publicly failed.
Casey Holdahl | Blazers Beat Reporter
To start his 13th year covering the team, Holdahl accidentally locked himself in a stairwell at Moda Center: “It gives you a sense of how different things are than they were eight months ago.”
Brian Lord | Portland Film Office
During the pandemic, Lord has also become something of a health and safety ambassador for out-of-town productions.
Erin Yanke | Filmmaker and KBOO DJ
Growing up in Northern California, Erin Yanke confronted neo-Nazism in her own scene, and she remembers being deeply shaken by the killing of Mulugeta Seraw in Portland by racist skinheads, even from afar.
Dr. Marcel Curlin | Oregon Health & Science University
One result of the large turnout? More than half the people enrolled in the trial are people of color.
Danaya Hall | Alliance of Black Nurses
This year, she chartered the first Oregon chapter of the Alliance of Black Nurses. “That was in February,” she recalls, “before the world exploded.”
Earl Blumenauer | United States Representative
And the president-elect should return the favor.
Jeff Reuter | Professional Santa
Reuter avoided donning the red-and-white suit until three years ago. “When I put it on myself,” he says, “I honestly felt myself change.”
Vinnie Dewayne | Rapper
Dewayne talked to WW about what delayed the album, and going viral for having the cops called on him while buying cat food at Walgreens.
Chris Willis | Artist
Like everything else, Willis has had to adjust to fit the reality of COVID-19—namely, by manufacturing 400 tiny cloth masks.
Darren Buckner | Workfrom
In March, those “third places” closed—and Workfrom lost 95% of its business.
Paula Hayes | Hue Noir
Hayes was at a loss—until her children reported to her that the school district wasn’t supplying hand sanitizer for their bus ride.
Dr. Louis Picker | Oregon Health & Science University
Dr. Louis Picker will review safety data for any COVID-19 vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Michael Allen Harrison | Musician
After three decades of having his career running essentially on autopilot, he’s relishing having to scramble to make stuff happen again.
Elias Stahl and Gaia Giladi | Founders, Hilos
The result? A product that perfectly fits the shopping moment and Portland environmental ethics.
Mikey Conroy | Rimsky Korsakoffee House
The 40-year-old cafe, built inside an old Craftsman home in the Buckman neighborhood, has long been an attraction beyond its menu of coffee drinks and elaborate desserts.
Jose Campos | Program Development Manager for Street Soccer Portland
For many American families, pay-to-play sports leagues essentially bar kids from joining a team.
Carlos Kalmar | Music Director, Oregon Symphony
The COVID-19 pandemic canceled his farewell season, including his final show.
Megan Hanson and Jon Madrigal | Mox Boarding House
People stuck at home play a lot of board games. Mox Boarding House sells them.
Katy Townsend | Animal Surgeon
Animal surgeon Katy Townsend says operating on a lion isn’t all that different from a house cat.
Ezra Ace Caraeff | Bar Owner
Owner Ezra Ace Caraeff is voluntarily shutting down for winter as COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket. He can’t promise he’ll reopen.
Shannon Wheeler | Cartoonist
He’s following up his graphic novel about the Mueller report with an educational children’s comic about fighting the coronavirus.
David Perry | Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program
It’s exactly what it sounds like: an annual contest for Oregon students to build robots that complete tasks. But of course it’s more than that.
Itzel Chavez Gomez | Adelante Mujeres
Itzel Chavez Gomez explains how you can help—and how you already are.
Ken Kaneko | Owner, Forward Greens
Why farm indoors? To save the planet, owner Ken Kaneko says.
Bee Thornton | Owner, Fat Fancy
“No one is wearing pants anymore because of Zoom, I'm convinced of it.”
Jovani Prince | Founder, The Cracker King
The gluten-free cracker company experienced a boom over the summer.
Jennifer Nolfi | Executive Director, Center for Retail Leadership at PSU
Jennifer Nolfi says the prospects aren’t quite so bleak as they appear.
Kristi Balzer | Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls Executive Director
Kristi Balzer is making sure that no girl or trans youth is ever turned away from camp because they can’t afford it.
Nikki Simmons | Oregon Zoo Events Coordinator
The zoo typically hosts up to 14,000 people a night walking amid the twinkling lights each holiday season.
Matt Davidson | Owner, Botanist House
Botanist hopes that the promised protest will prompt Salem to call a special session to make to-go cocktails legal before Thanksgiving. But if that doesn't happen, the stakes are high.
Darius Northern | Founder, People of Colour Clothing
“I wanted to flip the script from me being uncomfortable in my environment to people having to think about and internalize their racial identity.”
Gabe Paez | Founder, The Wild
The Wild is a technology platform that lets people collaborate in virtual reality.
Marceau Michel and Himalaya Rao | Black Founders Matter
Part of their task is to discourage would-be investors who see funding Black-run companies as philanthropy.
Dr. Sharon Meieran | Multnomah County Commissioner
“It’s such an awful concept,” she says, “but yes—I think, frankly, that’s where we need to be right now.”
John Horvick | DHM Research
Other West Coast cities—Seattle and Los Angeles—persuaded voters to spend on projects with far more eye-popping price tags.
Jim Rice | Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network
When someone reports one of the hundreds of strandings that happen each year in Oregon, it’s Rice who gets the call.
John Horvick | DHM Research
It all makes sense in hindsight.
Lynn Le | Society Nine
Women found ways to keep boxing even when they couldn’t go to gyms, much less spar.
Amanda Oborne | Executive Director, Oregon Entrepreneurs Network
“I think the wave of innovation we’re going to see over the next couple years is going to be completely off the chain."
Phil Keisling | Former Oregon Secretary of State
Plenty of us could use some reassurance this week.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger | State Epidemiologist
That’s an unpalatable prescription. But Sidelinger, the state epidemiologist, points out that COVID is exploiting our love for each other.
Dr. Andy Barnett | Co-Founder, Back to Work Experts
Even with state-mandated reopening requirements in place, making an indoor space truly safe for employees and customers is a case-by-case process.
John Goodell | Elakha Alliance Outreach Director
In Oregon, the adorable sea otter can only be found in captivity.
Toni Tringolo | Executive Director of Willamette Week's GiveGuide!
Nov. 1 marked the launch of Give!Guide, WW’s annual fundraising drive to benefit 174 Portland-area nonprofits.
Tim Scott | Director of Multnomah County Elections
With four days left until Election Day, 6 in 10 Multnomah County registered voters have returned their ballots.
John Ott | Portland State University
No students were cursed in the taking of John Ott's medieval history class—that we know of.
Susan Vaslev | Enchanted Forest
Visiting an amusement park by yourself: That’s the dream. Running one without patrons? It’s a nightmare.
Natchee Blu Barnd | Oregon State University Professor
Precolonization, many Native American tribes mapped the land through stories, ceremonies and song. Now, the United States’ borders, and most of its state lines, bisect the ancestral lands of Indigenous tribes.
Val Hoyle | Oregon Labor Commissioner
The contest will soon become the most expensive congressional race in Oregon history.
Anders Carlson | Co-Founder, Oregon Glacier Institute
The newly formed Oregon Glacier Institute says we only have about a decade to stop the state's year-round slabs of snow from vanishing completely from our mountains—and if we don't, there’ll be dire consequences.
Jeff Miller | CEO of Travel Portland
More than 18,500 news articles have featured Portland’s nightly protests and the resulting police brutality.
Dr. Shimi Sharief | Senior Health Adviser for the OHA
Dr. Shimi Sharief also says adults should reconsider their Halloween parties, too.
Kim Toevs | Multnomah County Communicable Disease Coordinator
House parties, occurring against public health advice and despite the pleas of elected officials, are the most prominent symptom of a phenomenon called “pandemic fatigue.”
Jeff Oliver | Filmmaker
The documentary "Horror Noire" was part of the inspiration for the project.
Kristin Calhoun | Director of Public Art for the Regional Arts & Culture Council
Until this summer, Kristin Calhoun, director of public art for the Regional Arts & Culture Council, never had to remove a statue knocked down by Portland citizens. Now, it’s become an almost regular occurrence.
Eric Bowler | Nightclub Owner
To say Bowler is optimistic about the future of Portland nightlife would be pushing it.
Gregg Hale | Filmmaker
"The Blair Witch Project," the little movie about a documentary film crew lost in the woods he co-produced, both confused and traumatized filmgoers upon release in 1999.
Steve Duin | Journalist
It seems as if Robert Mueller’s investigation into the president's alleged entanglements with the Kremlin happened a century ago. But Duin argues its relevancy has not dulled.
Dr. Esther Choo | Emergency Room Physician
Choo says she started speaking up about Trump’s health because the actions of the president’s doctors didn’t match their words.
Vitaly Paley | Chef and Restaurateur
The acclaimed restaurateur says the economic fallout of the pandemic is hitting downtown Portland differently than other parts of the city.
Phil Keisling | Former Oregon Secretary of State Pt. 2
Could the president sow doubt about the validity of the election results by claiming mass voter fraud?
Phil Keisling | Former Oregon Secretary of State Pt. 1
Keisling is among the architects of Oregon’s vote-by-mail system, which he championed as secretary of state more than two decades ago.
Daniel Mensher | Attorney
Daniel Mensher says the Santiam Canyon fires weren’t just a byproduct of climate change, a result of poor forest management, or an act of God.
John Schlosser | Criminal Defense Lawyer
We asked a criminal defense lawyer.
Mike Reese | Multnomah County Sheriff
Multnomah sheriff Mike Reese has now donated $1,000 to Biden.
Aaron Wessling | Photographer and Pumpkin Grower
Photographer Aaron Wessling has been indulging a hobby he started a year before: growing humongous pumpkins.
Logan Lynn | Top Level Design PR Director
What’s .gay? “It’s a domain, just like .com or .edu or .org, but way more fabulous,” says Logan Lynn.
Katie Nguyen | Comedian & Teacher
Nguyen talks about the challenges of teaching through a screen, and the existential struggle of exercising during a pandemic.
Albert Lee | Lawsuit Plaintiff
Lee is one of four plaintiffs who on Sept. 25 sued Alan Swinney and two other Proud Boy associates.
Amy Herzfeld-Copple | Western States Center
The Proud Boys are rallying in North Portland and vowing revenge on anti-fascist protesters.
Susannah Morgan | Oregon Food Bank CEO
Federal aid doesn’t cover many of the people who need help.
Mike Bennett | Artist
The Portland artist is keeping monster season alive by populating his lawn with a wooden menagerie of cryptids, from Bigfoot to the Jackalope to something called a Squonk.
Kate Schoenhals | Oregon State University Veterinarian
Veterinarians like Kate Schoenhals have been treating horses, llamas, cows, rabbits and even a couple of emus displaced by the Oregon wildfires.
Tom Baldwin | At Clackamette Park
Today’s episode of Distant Voices is up close. 
Hector Dominguez | Open Data Coordinator for City of Portland
The city’s top reason for issuing the ban: The software is racist.
Dr. Brenda McComb | Oregon Department of Forestry
The immense wildfires consuming Oregon’s Cascade Range this September are fueled in part by pristine Douglas fir forests that haven’t been touched by fire in decades.
Erin Boberg and Kristan Kennedy | TBA Organizers
TBA organizers Erin Boberg and Kristan Kennedy discuss the logistics of putting on a festival in a time of multiple crises.
Tom Roick | Air Quality Monitoring Manager for Oregon DEQ
Nearly the entire state is experiencing historically bad air quality. But Tom Roick of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality says it’s part of a pattern.
Tim Ingalsbee | Executive Director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology
“Prescribed burns” are a common practice in other parts of the country. In Oregon, however, they chafe against the interests of the timber industry.
Tom Putnam | Film Director
"The Dark Divide,” the director’s new film, is arriving at an unfortunately timely moment—it could even be called prophetic.
Steve Pedery | Conservation Director at Oregon Wild
Steve Pedery says that raises urgent questions about how Oregon manages the forests around its cities.
Ted Wheeler | Mayor of Portland
He voted to eliminate the bureau’s Gun Violence Reduction Team. Here, he explains why it was the right decision.
Dan Miller | Science and Operations Officer for the National Weather Service, Portland
This state has rarely seen a wind event like the one that occurred Sept. 7.
Jenn Cairo | Urban Forestry Division Manager
By 7 am this morning, the Urban Forestry Division's tree emergency hotline had already received about 45 calls for help. By 2 pm, it had received 218.
Lillian Karabaic | Host of Oh My Dollar!
Karabaic's radio show, "Oh My Dollar!," began with the goal of making personal finance more accessible to the average millennial. The pandemic reinvigorated that aim—and gave her a lot more to think about.
Bobbin Singh | Executive Director of Oregon Justice Resource Center
The executive director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center explains why he wants the mayor to resign, and what he and others mean when they say Portland is under the thumb of a “rogue police force.”
Eric Ward | Executive Director of Western States Center
"Portland has become a proxy for a reelection campaign, and for alt-right and white nationalist paramilitaries and vigilantes who want to live out their fantasy of racial war."
Masyn Wade | Snack Bloc Leader
“Are you tired of white supremacy? Bitch, welcome to the club.”
Chad Kuske | Former Navy SEAL
Kuske makes a convincing spokesperson for legalizing psilocybin therapy—mostly because he doesn’t fit the profile of someone who'd find relief from trauma in hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Mischa Webley | Filmmaker
In 2010, Webley, a native of Northeast Portland, cast Boseman in his debut feature, “The Kill Hole,” about an Iraq war veteran who goes AWOL in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.
Jared Walker | Founder of Dollar For
His nonprofit, Dollar For, does two things.
Sam Chapman | Campaign Manager for Yes on Measure 109
If Measure 109 passes, it would make Oregon the first state to sanction psilocybin therapy.
Steve Herring | CEO of Living Room Theaters
This week, Steve Herring joined 10 other independent theater owners across Oregon in signing a petition arguing for Gov. Kate Brown to allow cinemas to open in counties still in Phase 1 of the state’s reopening plan.
Daniel Cortez | Legislative Director for the Portland local of the American Postal Workers Union
Daniel Cortez is legislative director for the Portland local of the American Postal Workers Union. That’s a branch of organized labor that’s gotten plenty of attention lately.
Daniyel | Rapper
Working with a director like Cole Bennett is a career-defining moment for an artist who’s just getting his start. But for the 18-year-old rapper, the achievement is mostly personal.
Ben Landsverk | Musician
So many people donate to the Low Bar Chorale they can pay the backing musicians the fee they would make playing live.
Ebenezer Galluzzo | Photographer
With galleries closed or only open in a limited sense, Galluzzo has been dealing with Instagram censorship and the lack of real-time, artist-to-audience interaction.
Xander Almeida | Protester
Xander Almeida is a Republican, but he arrived in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Josh Lehner | Economist
The lack of spending options in an antisocial era led to a rise in people paying off personal debt and a drop in bankruptcy filings.
Joseph Boquiren | Unicyclist
When Boquiren takes his ride out, he's not huffing on flaming bagpipes, or otherwise performing for the amusement of others. He's training.
David Walker | Comic Book Writer
The success of “Bitter Root”—an indie comic about a family of monster hunters set during the Harlem Renaissance—has been something of a surprise, especially since Walker never intended for the series to win everyone over.
Jason Quick | Sportswriter
Of course, many questions remain about the Blazers as a whole. But ask Quick, and there’s not much left to say about Lillard.
Aanen Trelstad | Laundromat Owner
Aanen Trelstad owns two coin-operated laundromats and he struggles to find enough quarters to keep them running.
Tim Duy | Economist
Consumer spending, which flatlined in March, has rebounded, but in new and unexpected shapes.
Dr. Lisa Reynolds | Pediatrician
The pediatrician and Democratic nominee for House District 36 on Portland’s westside wants bars closed and schools open.
Larry McCool | Owner of Mystic Llama Farm
Dubbed “the No Drama Llama," the camelid was meant to act as a calming presence for demonstrators in the midst of a tense situation.
Analise Cleopatra | Director
The director talks crashing, the challenges of directing and biking at the same time, and what she listened to in order to make it up the ride’s biggest climb.
Dr. Rebecca Hicks | Pediatrician
Oregon doctors seek a full-court press against the virus. They want Gov. Kate Brown to follow the same strategy she’s used to control COVID’s spread but intensify it.
Andrea Valderrama | Advocacy Director for the Coalition of Communities of Color
“I think in American Western culture, the separation from your parents is an achievement,” Valderrama says. “In our culture, it's almost the exact opposite.”
Bruce Poinsette | Volunteer with Respond to Racism
The affluent Portland suburb has a long history of racist incidents, which prompted Poinsette’s mother to co-found the community action group Respond to Racism in 2017.
David Kennerly | Photojournalist
"All I know is one hell of a boom," he recalls.
Randall Wyatt | Founder of Taking Ownership
So far, the projects range from rebuilding a porch for a recently unemployed grandmother to overhauling the interior of a house in Lents and providing the family with a new fridge.
Matt Bors | Cartoonist
For fans of his work, it might sound like Bors is living out the ultimate liberal fantasy of fleeing America’s death spiral for the land of maple trees and single-payer health care up north. But his reasons for leaving are much more practical.
Peter Walters | Co-founder of Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Teens
Peter Walters says residents of Pendleton think the outbreak is more of a Hermiston thing.
Bird O’Flaerty | Artist and Street Medic
Though much of his work vibrates with rage, he’s found equal inspiration in the community that’s formed around the demonstrations.
Holly Martinez and Rian Peck | Attorneys
The lawyers discuss whether they get discouraged by how little regard federal agents pay to court rulings while defending the courthouse.
Creme Brulee | Comedian and Musician
Last week's Frontline Drumline was hardly the first time Christian Burke has danced between clouds of tear gas.
Rev. E.D. Mondainé | President of the Portland Chapter of the NAACP
We asked him: Is there a place for white Portlanders in the streets? He answered, with one precise example.
Nat West | Founder of Rev. Nat's Hard Cider
The founder and namesake of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider was hit with federal crowd control munitions at point-blank range. He promises they’ll both be back.
Aziz Inan | Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of Portland
He’s become the national media’s go-to contact for palindromic content.
Andrew Jankowski | Journalist
He doubts a restraining order is actually restraining anybody.
Mac Smiff | Hip-Hop Journalist and Promoter
"You don't actually help anyone. You just stand there and enable the system to go around you.”
Jim Brunberg | Owner, Mississippi Studios
Brunberg considers the funding from the CARES Act a life-saver. But for many arts venues, the future remains uncertain.
Brian Jillson and Sara Derrickson | Owners of Unsettling Toys
Unsettling Toys mostly started as a goof. But it didn’t take long for the public to take it seriously.
Kerry Tymchuk | Head of the Oregon Historical Society
The head of the Oregon Historical Society weighs in on the renaming of schools, the removal of monuments, and the Oregon historical figure who has an entire county named after him, and probably shouldn't.
Nancy Arteaga | Language Arts Teacher at Lane Middle School
An uprising in the streets demands deep change to many institutions—and Arteaga believes that must include schools.
Dr. Helmi Lutsep | Professor of Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University
The results can be catastrophic, leaving patients with limited speech and motor function.
Amy Miller | Comedian
While many comics are just now waking up to social justice issues, it’s been part of Miller's act since she started—sometimes to the detriment of her career.
Peter Graven | Data Scientist
“To be honest, we’re right back where we started,” he says.
Chanti Darling | Musician and Food Blogger
For the past few months, much of the Chanti Darling frontperson's public-facing creative output has come in the form of recipes for zesty pesto pasta salad, pear and mandarin chutney, and cactus and chickpea tacos.
Dr. Dawn Nolt | Medical Director for Infection Prevention and Control at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital
She’s been studying the effects of COVID-19 on children’s health—and its effects on others more vulnerable to the disease.
Mic Crenshaw | Rapper
“When you have masses of people who are enraged due to historic brutality, oppression, hate, terror, you’re going to see things breaking, you’re going to see things burning.”
Samantha Hess | Professional Cuddler
She’s just started doing outbound sessions again—clients must fill out a waiver and submit to no-touch temperature checks, and certain “cuddle poses” are now off limits.
Jones Hollister | Graduate Student
It isn’t every day the Oregon Court of Appeals affirms your right to identify as who you are.
Kheoshi Owens and Dyvisha Gordon | Founding Members Equitable Giving Circle
When it launched in January, the organization’s focus was on entrepreneurship. With the onset of COVID-19, feeding those in need jumped to the top of its priority list.
Gary Geist | Lucky Lab Brewing Co-Owner
He had a bad feeling four months ago. He’s got the same feeling now.
Kasey Anderson | Singer-Songwriter
A few weeks ago, a left-leaning film company asked if it could use a 2-year-old song by him in an anti-Trump ad. Now his inbox is flooding with offers from agents and bookers.
Winta Yohannes, Managing Director of Albina Vision Trust, and Cupid Alexander, Mayor Ted Wheeler's Director of Strategic Initiatives
They want to restore the largest Black neighborhood in Portland, a neighborhood that was displaced by civic urban renewal policies of the latter half of the last century.
Intisar Abioto | Photographer
On her blog, The Black Portlanders, Abioto often photographs people in their own element, whatever that may be. But that has become increasingly difficult during the pandemic.
Corina Lucas | Comedian
Two weeks ago, a friend asked her if she wanted to move to Oaxaca. She said, “Why not?”
Markisha Smith | Director of Portland’s Office of Equity and Human Rights
The director of Portland’s Office of Equity and Human Rights explains her guiding philosophy.
Ezra Ace Caraeff | Bar Owner
The Old Gold’s reopening was a logistical feat.
Michelle J. DePass | President and CEO of Meyer Memorial Trust
She now finds herself running Meyer at a pivotal and complicated moment.
Ndubisi Anyanwu | Nigerian director for Mercy Corps
Ndubisi Anyanwu has Portland connections and a firsthand view of how a developing nation is grappling with a merciless virus.
Maarquii | Rapper
“History is rife with instances where things that were owed to us were taken.”
Warren Pash | Songwriter
Do you feel like you live in “New Portland,” a place that’s long on artisanal doughnut shops and short on parking? Well, Warren Pash wrote a song you might like—and another you might recognize.
Tori Williams Douglass | Anti-Racist Educator
Essentially an introduction to the concept of anti-racism, "White Homework" is both a podcast and a literal set of online coursework.
Juan C. Chavez| Lawyer with the Oregon Justice Resource Center
Many Portlanders find themselves with protest-induced insomnia, kept awake by the distant rumble of stun grenades. What sets Chavez apart is that he can do something about it.
Anis Mojgani | Oregon Poet Laureate
Anis Mojgani understands why kids these days might not find poetry relevant to their lives. He’s now in a position to change that.
David Terry | Lung Transplant Recipient
And with every breath, he thinks of his donor, a man about whom he knows nothing, except that he was from Oregon and that his lungs happened to fit perfectly into Terry’s chest.
Cool Nutz | Rapper
In his three decades putting on hip-hop shows in Portland, the artist and promoter has sought to maintain an open dialogue with law enforcement. He’s not ready to end the conversation.
Andrew Tolman | Sign Language Interpreter
The founder of Fingers Crossed Interpreting has spent many nights assisting Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing protesters navigate a situation that can turn chaotic at any moment.
Joni Whitworth | Communications Director for Portland Promenades
The pressures that generated the idea have only increased.
Channing Frye | Ex-NBA Player and Portland Trail Blazer
The former Blazer is concerned that bringing basketball back now might distract the public from what’s happening in America's streets.
Ron Herndon | Director of Albina Head Start
This city’s veteran civil rights leader sees little progress for black citizens.
Jelani Memory | Author
Even though he’s literally written a book about broaching complex issues with children, that doesn't mean it’s been easy for Memory to explain to his own kids the realities of police brutality.
Beth deHamel | Mercy Corps Interim CEO
Interim CEO Beth deHamel is concerned about the impact of the virus in places like Central America, Afghanistan and refugee camps.
Todd Davidson | Travel Oregon CEO
The local restaurants that make Portland a foodie destination? Likely to close by the thousands.
Gabriel Rucker | Chef
When his own restaurants closed, Rucker started hosting live cooking demonstrations from home to stay connected with would-be diners.
Mitchell S. Jackson | Author
He’s been particularly heartened by the images he’s seen coming out of Portland—both the peaceful demonstrations and the more destructive kind.
Sergio Olmos | Journalist
For five consecutive nights, he’s been at the front lines. If he’s lucky, he gets four hours of sleep a night.
Jason Rouse | Actor
“It was like being under surveillance in my apartment for five hours.”
Muriel Lucas | Church of Film Curator
Each movie is full of strange, striking images and strays far from Hollywood's readymade narrative structures and tidy resolutions—and none of them are on major streaming services.
Jeff Anderson | Union Organizer
His ranks are growing during the pandemic.
KayelaJ | Musician
“Y’all backwards, scavengers/Buying up all the tissue going batshit/Diarrhea ain't even one of the symptoms/Why the fuck you buying that shit?”
Joe McFerrin | President & CEO of Rosemary Anderson High School
They were as precious to him as personal protective equipment was for nurses.
Ron Wyden | U.S. Senator
He was more troubled by the sluggish pace at which the Oregon Employment Department is delivering federal benefits to jobless citizens.
Carrie Brownstein | Musician & Actress
What does a creative polymath do when stuck with a bunch of extra time on her hands? Pick up on old habits—namely, observing Portlanders in their natural habitat.
Andrew Hoan | Portland Business Alliance CEO
In this interview, Andrew Hoan talks about Portland’s economic future, why his organization supported a tax hike, and how Portland is not Brooklyn.
Josh Lehner | Economist
Josh Lehner's forecast went out 10 years, predicting there would be 34,000 fewer Oregonians because of the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic.
Andy Baio |XOXO Festival Founder
In mid-March, it was hard to imagine the coronavirus could disrupt an event six months down the line. But Baio couldn’t afford to wait and see.
John Horvick | Pollster
He underestimated the appeal of Mingus Mapps, the political newcomer who sped past former Mayor Sam Adams to make a runoff against Commissioner Chloe Eudaly.
Anna Johnson| Senior Economic Analyst
She authored an historically bleak jobs report.
Lance Bangs| Cinematographer
You know a crisis is getting serious when guys who’ve gone bungee-jumping while locked inside overflowing Porta-Potties start worrying about their health.
Dr. Steve Kassakian| OHSU
The technology and tools to diagnose and monitor clinical health remotely have been around for some time. What’s been missing are a couple of things.
Emily Menges| Portland Thorns Defender
She also found a wall where she can practice her shot.
Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer | Oregon State Rep
It was a bombshell in the typically go-along, get-along world of party politics in Oregon.
David and Christine Vernier| Co-Founders of Vernier Software and Technology
“I think back and say, ‘Why did we not do something?’—for one thing, sell all our stock,” David Vernier jokes.
Elle Stanger| Portland Sex Worker
Stanger has no problem telling her 8-year-old daughter what she does for a living: "When she was little, I would drive by the strip club and say, 'This is the building where mommy dances for money.'"
Don Moore| Director of Oregon Zoo
When the pandemic shut the zoo down in mid-March, it didn’t just close a Portland institution—it shuttered Oregon’s biggest paid tourist attraction.
Kurt Huffman | Portland Dining Impresario
“That’s just going to be the death knell for sit-down restaurants,” Huffman says.
Julia Niiro| Founder of MilkRun
Julia Niiro is on a mission to save family farms.
Dan Halsted| Head Programmer at Hollywood Theatre
"Everyone’s just gotten a slap of reality. Our overprivileged society is suddenly, vastly going to change. I think our art is going to reflect that.”
Kate Sokoloff | Founder of Live Wire
Kate Sokoloff knows she has it good, while others have it very bad.
McKenna Dempsey | CEO and Co-Founder of Kamber
Most of her life, McKenna Dempsey has battled depression, anxiety and severe mood instability. A single conversation changed her understanding of herself—and she wants to use tech to impart that idea to teenagers.
Peter Graven| Data Scientist
Peter Graven built a model to see what would happen if the state took no social distancing precautions.
John Tapogna| Economist’s
His analysis flies in the face of high-profile protests demanding a quick return to normal.
Curtis Cook | Comedian
His biggest mistake of quarantine, though? Joining TikTok.
Katherine McGuiness | Hotline Lead
“I can’t think of what can be more essential and timely than accessing an abortion.”
Dr. Laurel Berge | Emergency Room Physician
Berge co-founded Help Make [Better] 50, a nonprofit dedicated to producing medical isolation gowns—a significantly more involved process than facial coverings.
Jake Silberman| Comic
Jake Silberman quit his job to go on a comedy tour. Joke’s on him.
Marchelle Watson | Portlander
“I struggled to walk from my bathroom to my kitchen, and that is probably 15 feet,” says Marchelle Watson.
Andrew Barton | Preschool Teacher
Of course, we couldn’t interview him and not have him read us a story.
Curtis Robinhold | Executive Director, Port of Portland
“I’m not sure I want to give blood to get on an airplane.”
Bill Walton | Sportscaster
And who’s that calling in as a special guest halfway though? Why, it’s Brian Grant!
Bill Oakley | Fast-Food Critic
One area of his life that the coronavirus has disrupted, though, is his burgeoning side gig as a fast food critic.
Rick Turoczy | Co-Founder & GM, Portland Incubator Experiment
As the godfather of Portland’s startup scene, Rick Turoczy says many of the companies at his incubator are still figuring out what COVID-19 means for them.
Leather Storrs | Co-Host, Netflix's "Cooked With Cannabis"
The point isn’t to watch famous guests like Michael Rapaport and Ricki Lake get stoned out of their gourds—not the whole point, anyway.
Samantha Gladu | Executive Director, Next Up
When you toss your ballot in the mailbox next month without hunting for a postage stamp, thank Samantha Gladu.
Andrew Proctor | Director, Literary Arts
The way Andrew Proctor sees it, the nonprofit has a significant role to play in a post-pandemic arts landscape.
Tim Duy | Economist, University of Oregon
Tim Duy doesn’t see any scenario in which the effects of COVID-19 aren’t worse than the Great Recession.
Storm Large | Singer & Actress
The Portland singer and actress has spent the better part of the past two decades away from home. Now that she's forced to stay away from the stage, she’s confronting some harsh truths about herself.
Shain Brenden | Comedian
In Kandahar, he remembers hiding next to a concrete wall in the middle of the night, waiting for enemy rockets to land and kill everyone. That’s where his comedy was born.
Dan Weber | Comedian
“In the Bible, Yahweh didn’t deal in just a couple thousand people dying,” Weber says. “He would light 50,000 people on fire.”
Gretchen Leigh | Education Coordinator, SheBop
It’s an awkward time to make a living talking about sex when physical contact is practically against the law. But for that reason, Gretchen Leigh’s job could be considered essential.
Rukaiyah Adams | Chief Investment Officer, Meyer Memorial Trust
In the short term? It doesn’t look great. But eventually, she says, Oregonians could benefit from upheaval.
Monahad Elshieky | Comedian & Writer, Samantha Bee
The formerly Portland-based comic is spending quarantine watching “Law & Order,” doing standup for his cats and writing jokes about the coronavirus for Samantha Bee.
Emily Suvada | Author
Suvada wrote the first Mortal Coil book in 2017, when few people outside of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention knew what a coronavirus was.
Dr. Dana Anthony Yip | Pediatric Dentist
Quarantine gave him time to ponder what common household items could be converted into facial protection without any cutting or sewing.
Do you have a story to share?
Email newstips@wweek.com