The New York Times just discovered what Oregonians have known for years: writing letters connects us. Join Dear Stranger this month—send a letter, receive one, and make a new connection. Learn more at oregonhumanities.org/programs/dear-stranger/

You’ve Got Mail — and a New Friend

Pen pals — ones you’ve never met in person — are part of the revival of all things analog. There are even matchmakers prepared to find you one.

nytimes.com

Want to help Oregonians hear one another's stories? My team at Oregon Humanities is hiring for a full-time position to support our audio and video storytelling. The focus is project management and audience development, not necessarily technical production. oregonhumanities.org/who/jobs-and...

Looking for a grounded conversation on the state of our democracy? On Oct 15, our friends at SAGE are hosting a free event in Portland that explores the responsibilities of citizenship and the work of strengthening democracy in our communities. wearesage.org/event/250/

A Nation at 250 & Our Shared Future — A Conversation with Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols | SAGE

Join us October 15 in Portland for a conversation with historian Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols on citizenship and democracy. Drawing on pivotal moments in American history, we’ll examine how Americ...

wearesage.org

Tonight kicks off the new season of Consider This! Bestselling author Stephanie Land joins Adam Davis for a conversation on trust, work, poverty & parenthood. 📍 In person in Portland, or our watch party in La Grande 💻 Livestream available ⏰ Tonight at 7 p.m. oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...

Consider This with Stephanie Land

Join us September 22 for a conversation about trust, work, and poverty with Stephanie Land, author of the books "Maid" and "Class."

oregonhumanities.org

Portland, are you ready for more Tough Shit? Join us next Friday, September 25, for a conversation about faith and the city, with local leaders Rabbi Ariel Stone, Pastor Naseem Khalili, Jacobsen Valentine, and Father James Antonio. Tickets here: tomorrowtheater.org/movies/tough...

Coming up! We're excited to host Stephanie Land—author of the bestselling memoirs MAID and CLASS—at next week's Consider This! We'll be talking about work, trust, and poverty, as part of our 2026-27 series, "What Do We Trust?". Get tickets: oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...

Consider This with Stephanie Land

Join us September 22 for a conversation about trust, work, and poverty with Stephanie Land, author of the books "Maid" and "Class."

oregonhumanities.org

Kicking off our Consider This season later this month with author Stephanie Land, at Portland's Alberta Rose Theatre! We'll be talking about trust, work, poverty, and parenthood with the bestselling author of the memoirs Maid and Class. Get tickets: oregonhumanities.org/events/consi...

TOMORROW: We're throwing a vinyl night to celebrate our Revolution issue! Bring some friends and your favorite records about protest, resistance, or revolution to Sonder Listening Bar. oregonhumanities.org/events/revol...

Applications are open for our 2027 Community Storytelling Fellowships. Open to nonfiction storytellers working in any medium—written journalism, audio, video, comics, photography, and more—in sharing stories from their communities. Apply by October 1: oregonhumanities.org/programs/fel...

Are humans called to acknowledge new moral and legal responsibilities toward the Earth? Kathleen Dean Moore explores the global rights-of-nature movement and a recent ballot initiative in Lane County that would have granted rights to local watersheds. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...

Declaration of the Rights of Nature

Kathleen Dean Moore on a Lane County initiative that fundamentally reimagines humanity’s relationship with nature.

oregonhumanities.org

"Elections favor those candidates with charisma, money, and connections—regardless of their governing ability.” In our Revolution issue, Jake Thomas explores ways groups in Oregon and beyond are working to involve more people in democratic decision-making. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...

Democracy by Lot

Jake Thomas writes about efforts to expand democratic decision-making in Oregon beyond elected representatives.

oregonhumanities.org

Can't wait to join Think Out Loud @opb.org today to chat about trust in AI & media and my Trust Control pod which blends cold war history, weird science, tech criticism & satire. I'll share my @oregonstate.edu @oregonhumanities.bsky.social research on the fascinating world of trust measurement.

Trust Control

Technology Podcast · Series · Trust Control is a documentary podcast series about the weird yet surprisingly expansive world of trust measurement from investigative journalist and researcher Kate Kaye...

podcasts.apple.com

For the Revolution issue, poet Derek DeForest writes about an archival discovery that sheds light on the broader history of political repression in Southern Oregon. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...

The Secret History of Ashland’s Red Scare

Derek DeForest writes about the history of radical politics and repression in Southern Oregon.

oregonhumanities.org

Oregonians have a lot to say about who we are, and who we aren't, but we have no document to guide us. So I figured I would write one. Here is my manifesto for Oregon. I'm proud to have written it for @oregonhumanities.bsky.social "Revolution" issue. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...

Together Is All We've Got

A manifesto for Oregon by Leah Sottile

oregonhumanities.org

Leah Sottile @leahsottile.bsky.social opens our Revolution issue, considering the meaning of manifestos—and asking what a manifesto for Oregon would include. Read it in our summer issue, now in print and online. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...

Together Is All We've Got

A manifesto for Oregon by Leah Sottile

oregonhumanities.org

In a recent Beyond the Margins, Aleksandr Chernousov writes about the bottomless appetite of nostalgia—and hungering for a home that's distant in both geography and memory. oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t... #CommunityStorytelling

In Search of Zucchini Caviar

Aleksandr Chernousov on the hunger for home

oregonhumanities.org

What does trust look like in 2026? Consider This is back to explore trust as it relates to tech, faith, civic life, the economy, and family. Featuring Stephanie Land, Leontina Hormel, Rukaiyah Adams, Christian Wiman + more guests TBA. More info + tickets: oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...

As climate change reshapes the Pacific Northwest, farmers are learning a new vocabulary of extremes. Community Storytelling Fellow Maud Powell writes about the changes in Beyond the Margins. oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...

Warning Shot

Maud Powell reflects on how climate change is reshaping the Pacific Northwest, and how farmers are learning a new vocabulary of extremes.

oregonhumanities.org

Mohsin Jamal writes about how Afghan refugees in Salem are using tea parties and volleyball games to build community in their new home. This week, we're sharing stories from our 2026 Community Storytelling Fellows. Read Mohsin's full story: oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...

From Teacups to Volleyball Courts

Mohsin Jamal writes about how Afghan refugees in Salem are building community in their new home.

oregonhumanities.org

With wildfires across Oregon and Washington impacting Native nations in each state, communities have rallied together to support families impacted by the fires through supplies and monetary donations. Below is information on what and where to donate. www.underscore.news/land/wildfir...

Community Rallies for Wildfire Relief: How to Help - Underscore Native News

As wildfires burn through Native nations in Oregon and Washington, communities across both states have banded together to set up sites to donate and support families impacted by the fires.

underscore.news

Oregon writers: we're accepting submissions for our Winter 2027 issue! The theme is PASSAGE—send us stories about transitions, journeys, and motion. All forms of nonfiction writing are accepted: journalism, essays, criticism, and book excerpts. More info: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...

Let's get into it... The next installment of our Tough Shit conversation series is on for July 8! Join us at the Tomorrow Theatre with cultural and civic leaders JT Flowers, Kayla Kennett, and Sankar Raman—plus a fourth guest to be announced. Tickets and info: tomorrowtheater.org/movies/tough...

The Portland Indie Book & Art Fair is this Saturday—and we'll be there slinging (free) issues of our magazine from 11-6! We'd love to see you there!

Can reading about class struggle help us build a better world? Join us June 24 to read and discuss short pieces by working-class writers, facilitated by contributor Nicholas Hengen Fox. 🕒 6:00 p.m. 📍 Bold Coffee & Books Portland Free/No registration oregonhumanities.org/events/readi...

Reading and Discussion Group: Working Class Literature

<p>Can reading about class struggle help us build a better world? On June 24, join us at 6:00 p.m. at <a href="https://boldcoffeeandbooks.com/">Bold Coffee and Books</a> in Portland for a facilitated ...

oregonhumanities.org

We always love seeing how our partners across the country describe the work of the public humanities. This piece from our friends at Humanities New York gets right to the heart of what we do and why. www.humanitiesny.org/news-stories...

The Public Work of the Humanities: Why Civic Life Requires More than Institutions — Humanities New York

Democratic societies require roads, bridges, transit systems, and electrical grids. But they also require rooms where people can gather to reflect on what kind of society they are becoming.

humanitiesny.org

We're so excited to announce the recipients of our first Humanities Action Fellowship! This fellowship supports young adults in developing or facilitating public humanities programs in their communities. Learn more: oregonhumanities.org/programs/fel...

Meet the 2026 Humanities Action Fellows

Oregon Humanities is excited to announce the recipients of the 2026 Humanities Action Fellowship

oregonhumanities.org

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye joins us for the final Consider This conversation of the season this Thursday. The event is sold out, but you can watch live on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/cc7NzEEnrug

Congratulations to Sarah Fox, whose Watershed Rock Opera recently won an Oregon Heritage Award of Excellence. Fox was an OH Community Storytelling Fellow in 2025. Read about the project: https://www.oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine/currents-winter-2025/channeling-the-stories-of-the-local-watershed/

Is there any idea, any value, or any vision for the future we care about enough to commit ourselves to one another in its pursuit? To What Do We Pledge? is a Beyond 250 conversation facilitated by Wendy Willis. Learn how you can request it in your community: https://ow.ly/KNvy50YLpGk

Congratulations—and thank you!—to the team at Tonkon Torp LLP who were honored by the Multnomah Bar for their work holding the federal government to its commitment to fund humanities councils. https://tonkon.com/news/oregon-humanities-team-at-tonkon-torp-honored-with-mba-pro-bono-award-of-merit/

Oregon Humanities Team at Tonkon Torp Honored with MBA Pro Bono Award of Merit

Tonkon Torp attorneys Anna Sortun, Steven Wilker, Paul Balmer, and Gracey Nagle have been honored by the Multnomah Bar Association (MBA) with a 2026 Pro Bono Award of Merit. The award is in recognition of their work representing Oregon Humanities and the Federation of State Humanities Councils in Oregon Humanities v. DOGE et. al, a case challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to mass terminate grant funding for state and jurisdictional humanities councils in April 2025.

tonkon.com