Voices 2014

Great ideas start as crazy ideas.

Put away the tinfoil—we’re not talking about chemtrails or the Illuminati. Rather, we’re remembering how once-revolutionary theories about the benefits of running barefoot or using moldy bread to treat infection are now widely accepted.

WW often opens the year with our Voices issue, a chance to hear from people who see our community in new and different ways. This year, we went a step further: We found five Portlanders challenging long-accepted notions about how our world works. One believes that wolves filtering into the wilds outside of town will improve our ecosystem. Another is working to make space travel affordable for average people, with an eye toward interplanetary colonization. Two are authors who make compelling cases that Oregon was once a slave state and faulty rivets were a major cause of the Titanic disaster. Another Portlander wants to line the banks of the Willamette River with urban beaches.

Some of these ideas might sound fishy at first. But after hearing from proponents, we think you’ll be newly curious, if not totally convinced.