State of Wonder

Margaret Atwood & Ursula K. Le Guin | Nilufer Yanya | OK Theater’s 100th Anniversary

By April Baer (OPB) and Claudia Meza (OPB)
Sept. 21, 2019 12:27 a.m.

This week we embrace the moxie that gets us outside on increasingly brisk fall days. Is it kin to what spurred this week's guests to create classics of speculative fiction, bootstrapped student films and a refuge for music in an underserved corner of the Northwest?

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A community dinner celebrating the 100th anniversary of the OK Theater in Enterprise, Oregon.

A community dinner celebrating the 100th anniversary of the OK Theater in Enterprise, Oregon.

Stella White / OPB

OK Theater Turns 100 - 01:43

When Darrell Brann bought the OK Theater, the town of Enterprise didn’t have many places to see touring bands or hold community events. Now the OK has hosted everyone from Del McCoury to the band Joseph, and the OK has a growing roster of artists who've recorded or mixed music at this beautiful historic hall. We visited Enterprise on the eve of the OK’s 100th anniversary party to hear the story of the family that transformed the OK.

While you're listening, be sure to check out the new record by an OK audience favorite, the band Joseph. Sisters Allison and Meegan Closner and Natalie Closner Schepman have family roots in Wallowa County. We love them, too — go listen to our 2015 studio session and the soaring 2016 video opbmusic made with them on the banks of the Willamette.


Selections from the 2019 PPS Film Fest screened at Portland's Hollywood Theater.

Selections from the 2019 PPS Film Fest screened at Portland's Hollywood Theater.

Elizabeth Miller / OPB

Students on the Red Carpet at PPS Film Fest - 14:39

Portland's Franklin High School is home to a fantastic film production program. But students all over the district make films, from documentaries to narrative short features. This year, we sent OPB's Elizabeth Miller to the first-ever PPS Film Festival to see 11 winners selected among dozens submitted from all over town. From a visually imaginative tale of life behind the clown nose, to a hilarious short-take spoof of "The Fast and the Furious," this year's winners will charm you.


Nilufer Yanya plays an opbmusic Live Session at Type Foundry Studios

Nilufer Yanya plays an opbmusic Live Session at Type Foundry Studios

opbmusic

Nilüfer Yanya at Type Foundry Studio - 22:09

When you're 23, all you want is to sound tough and smart. But not many 23-year-olds actually pull it off like Nilüfer Yanya. Drawing on a mix of indie pop, blues and soul, the London-based debut album "Miss Universe" is a fully-realized suite of musical ideas. The tracks reflect a range of modern anxieties, under the cool control of a songwriter unrestrained by genre. We caught her for an opbmusic session at Type Foundry Studio, in the middle of her first U.S. national tour. You can catch her on the rebound, Sunday, Sept. 29 at Mississippi Studios.


Margaret Atwood in Conversation with Ursula K. Le Guin - 28:45

When Margaret Atwood published "The Testaments" this month, a sequel to her 1985 classic, "The Handmaid's Tale," she electrified generations of readers, as well as fans of the Hulu series based on the original novel. Atwood is coming to Portland next week for a Literary Arts lecture. In honor of her arrival, we bring you this excerpt of Atwood's epic 2010 conversation with her good friend Ursula K. Le Guin, courtesy of Literary Arts' Archive Project. (Spoiler alert: Atwood peeks!) Enjoy these two literary giants enjoying each other's company.


Music Heard On 'State Of Wonder'

A Spotify playlist to share all the music we feature on our show and anything else that inspires us while we’re making it.


THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR: