Alamance is a rapidly rising Eugene-based rock and metal band. Alex, Ivan, Josh and Matt graciously let me join their practice studio in west Eugene. They are frequently releasing new singles, playing shows all around the PNW, and gaining ardent fans both locally and internationally. The discussion is on video at https://youtu.be/NbZy4ampIoM. Check…

Brian Steveson makes an overdue appearance on my show, as we try and fail at keeping our focus on the delightful 10-year HS reunion we are helping to plan for our North Eugene HS class of 2012. We discuss Ted Cruz and shoestring fries (1:30), Social dynamics and how to treat people (13:34), Brian's film love & taking IB Film Studies (17:50), The Cr…

Ben Gleib is among the most accomplished comedians still rising today, and his new special is a must-see! https://youtu.be/zJbQT-ZcPLw Gleib has pioneered the wildly successful virtual "Nowhere Comedy Club" during Covid, hosted 210 episodes of his Emmy-nominated game show "Idiotest" (which trended on Netflix and is now on Pluto TV), continually co-…

Hailey Schug is a piano studio founder, a licensed music educator, a bartender and my romantic/life partner. Brian Schug is her father, a bird rehab expert who creates TikTok content about animals and social issues. We discuss driving privileges (0:40), religion and abortion (9:55), guns (19:02), teaching during school shootings (24:02), Hailey's B…

Only my late father has impacted my creative journey more than Sam. Whether or not you've heard of Sammy Warm Hands (or his band, Dead Fucking Serious), I doubt there has been any Lane County musician more prolific AND genre-diverse in the past two decades. Gradient fans know he's taken me on tour twice, rapped on my first three projects, and engin…

This Juneteenth, we tap in with two giants of the local entertainment game: m5 vibe and Treylon Day. I felt lucky to get on their calendar because of the grind that keeps both of these guys busy, as they get even better at what they do. We discuss Android vs iPhone (0:54), the value of teamwork (6:44), hip-hop in the Eugene market (13:36), merch ga…

Cruzer Urameshi is a talented beatmaking musician who is beloved here in the Eugene/Springfield community. Having produced thousands of beats and made an impact from Georgia to Lane County and beyond, he has accomplished a hell of a catalogue in his mid-20s. Cruzer is also a streamer and YouTuber, always aiming to support other creators. We discuss…

Tim McCloud is running a historic campaign for the Republican nomination for Oregon Governor. Tim has been a father, a businessman, an early childhood educator, and the chair of a City of Albany bike and pedestrian commission. In a crowded field, I was happy to give this thoughtful fella a chance to talk Oregon issues, especially knowing how less-f…

Ayisha Elliott is a mother, non-profit founder of Kids for the Culture, and the host of the multimedia podcast "Black Girl From Eugene." On her show and all over this episode, she dishes relentlessly thoughtful opinions and nuggets of knowledge on various issues of social importance. We discuss the slap heard 'round the white world (0:44), understa…

Jennifer Yeh is a mother, a neighborhood advocate, and one-eighth of Eugene's City Council, representing Ward 4 (Northeast Eugene/Harlow). While I've expressed critical testimony at several meetings, her thoughtful receptiveness and sincere listening skills have always been self-evident. She is also a UO graduate in English, and the co-Executive Di…

Elena Leona Carbajal is the emcee, singer, and bandleader of The Elena Leona Project. I have known for years how much talent and jovial spirit she brings to Eugene's hip-hop scene, but I was especially hype to see her rocket up past 15,000 followers on TikTok recently. There, she brings joy to viewers with silly takes on current trends, and with op…

Benny Cosmic is a musician, indigenous activist, and radio host with KEPW. Since moving to our area in 2015, Benny has been shining bright as both a dynamic performer and as a real-ass human being. On his new album, "Good Vibes Hood Tribes," he strikes an impressive balance between music that pulls you in and lyrics which confront cruelty, exploita…

Plaedo has been planting literal seeds throughout Eugene's communities of hip-hop, community gardening and direct action activism for years. He just came on my radar after releasing his "Celebrate Tha Liberation" video, and his very collaborative new album releases this Monday, October 18th, called "Empires Die...Live Evolves." This conversation re…

Daniel Isaacson is the President of NAMI Lane County. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) works toward "the support, education, and advocacy of persons concerned with mental health." Daniel was brought to this issue through tragedy, and he's using his voice to change the conversation and save lives. We discuss George Lucas (0:46), the need a…

Harry Sanger is a father, a public transit project director, and a candidate for the 4J school board. His critiques of the district come from a different place than those of other candidates, and we tell each other flat-out what offends and concerns us about one another's worldviews. I am not time-stamping any topics, as I'd prefer to present this …

Rose Wilde is a mother and an elected representative of all of Lane County on the Lane ESD Board. She is running for a third term to continue working with all 16 school districts in the county. Rose is particularly interested in career and technical education, thriving post-pandemic, and responding to historical inequities. We discuss addressing hi…

Laural O'Rourke is a mother, a 4J graduate, and a disaster relief manager with Lane County Human Services. While being the "mama bear" advocate for her kids who navigate special education plans, she has cultivated a fire for justice that she's bringing to the 4J school board, along with some inclusion and representation of the Black community in Eu…

Tom Di Liberto taught Spanish in the Eugene School District longer than I have been alive. He remains involved in music education and teacher training in our community, and he is making a splash in this cycle's most competitive race for a seat on the 4J school board. We discuss fact-finding and deliberation (1:31), stepping up as a first-time candi…

Maya Rabasa is about to join Eugene's 4J school board, much to the excitement of the community. A "recovering teacher" herself, Maya is a long-time 4J parent and artist who has volunteered several thousand hours of time and love to our schools. We discuss Harry Potter disinterest (1:29), communitarian values and voices (6:16), money and campaigning…

Rohan Mukherjee is a brilliant (though he won't like me saying that) business analyst working in healthcare. He is my closest friend from Carleton: the liberal arts college we goofed off at. I think you will love this chat about moving forward and finding unity in a tense time. We discuss existence as an illusion (2:08), body positivity and health …

Isiah Wagoner is a Black Lives Matter proponent and a write-in candidate for Eugene Mayor. He is a father and lifelong Eugenean whose actions have been met with both significant admiration and significant criticism this year. We chat about being hit by a car (3:35), picking and choosing amendments (7:24), Blackness, masculinity and media (15:32), r…

Eliza Kashinsky is running for Eugene City Council in Ward 1. In a rare feat against an incumbent seeking re-election, she advanced to the November general election in May. Eliza's deep knowledge and approachable nature demonstrate why 33% of voters chose her, amongst 6 candidates. We chat about homes and property regulations (1:02), Ward 1 politic…

Peter Feliciano took his musical and comedic talents from the Bay Area to the Big Apple in 2019. We thoroughly disagree on some social and political issues, but we love the hell out of each other. If Pete had not invited me on episode 51 of "Conservatish with Peter Feliciano," I doubt I would have started my own podcast at the time that I did. We s…

Julian Outlaw is a hip-hop artist from Houston, Texas' Third Ward. Without Julian's voice, I would never have known about the late George Floyd's contributions to hip-hop, specifically through H-Town's chopped and screwed movement. RIP Big Floyd! We chat about bluegrass and commonalities (1:24), New York culture (4:18), racism in affluent spaces (9…

Candice King is a tenant liaison with Homes for Good, as well as a recent City Council solidarity platform candidate with a background in economics. In the midst of the dual crises of violence against BLM protestors and the ongoing global pandemic, we chat about: Economic growth (2:17), food deserts (11:20), marketing and race (18:11), incrementali…

Brooklyn Wetzel brings wisdom on self-directed education, through her experiences as facilitator, a parent, and an activist. We start the episode talking about racial justice in the context of recent violent events. The discussion is on video at https://youtu.be/9ee5fDyPzFk.By Humanity EUG News

Tyger Gruber (Ep. 158) returns to help me debrief the results of the May 2020 primary election. We talk throughout the show about Eugene's mayoral race (5:15), as well as brief recaps of City Council Ward 1 [Emily Semple, Eliza Kashinsky, Tim Morris, Candice King, Sean Dwyer, Liev Williams (18:13)], Ward 2 [Matt Keating, Kate Davidson (21:00)], War…

For a live audience on Election Day eve, I recorded a town hall about all 64 policies in my Eugene mayoral platform. TRACKLIST: [SONG 1: You Don't Know Me At All (0:33)], [NEWS: First amendment & blocking critics (2:33)], [NEWS: Facebook banning a link to my opponents' website (7:29)], [SONG 2: Eugene Needs A Mayor Who's Competent (11:31)], [64 Pol…

Zondie Zinke is a writer, local government watchdog, and mother who is running for Mayor of Eugene. She has co-created the Solidarity Platform with four other grassroots candidates. We chat about climate policy (2:06), speaking tough truths (6:00), establishment thinking & endorsements (11:41), public breastfeeding in Eugene (23:21), economics & or…

Kitty Piercy served as Mayor of Eugene from 2005 to 2017. She was only the second woman to be elected Mayor, and she served the second-longest of any Mayor. We chat about being teachers (0:53), housing/sheltering (3:44), Oregon’s constitution (8:21), Peace Corps in the ‘60s throughout Africa (10:55), Eugene history between business and environmenta…

Doyle Canning is an organizer, a mother, and a climate law expert who is challenging Congressman DeFazio in the May 19th Democratic primary. She is a thoroughly impressive and capable candidate. We chat about parenting during crisis (2:28), her COVID-19 platform (4:49), foreign policy (7:37), Shaun King's endorsement and OR-4 voters (12:21), polici…

In this brief episode of Less Stupid, I provide evidence that the official campaign of the incumbent mayor of Eugene has violated the United States Constitution, by blocking dissenting views from engaging in a public forum. The video recording is at https://youtu.be/SSg0-n-QSeU. I am particularly energized to share this evidence because of how disa…

Amber "Marvolo" Batey is a YouTuber and model. I guess she doesn't like potatoes. We chat about those potato feelings (2:32), Oregon’s border (4:01), government and education (6:30), her channel (12:00), mania (17:45), Ye, Kids See Ghosts and neurotransmitters (20:57), YouTube history (30:40), cannabis (34:10), sex work (38:10), emotion over talent…

Kate Davidson has spent 18 years in Eugene's second ward, being represented by Betty Taylor. Kate helped Betty win re-election in 2008, and now that the longest-held seat in Eugene history will have a new occupant in 2021, Kate is stepping up to run. We chat about distributed energy (2:06), our three choices during climate chaos (4:26), privilege i…

Matthew Yook has been an activist for various human rights issues in Eugene, and is also running to be our 40th Mayor. We dig into a lot of his extensive and enthusiastic platform. We chat about Asians onscreen (0:41), confrontation and alleging racism (5:20), grassroots strategies for challenging the incumbent (9:04), "the establishment" (11:20), …

Robert Patterson is an activist for unhoused rights around Oregon, and together we comprise 29% of Eugene's Mayoral ballot. Our chat begins at 10:14, after I respectfully lay out some concerns about how Robert treated me afterwards (3am Hitler image details at 4:34). Nonetheless, we have a friendly chat about homelessness (11:32), the limited power…

Dillon Hudson manages apartment properties and practices jiu-jitsu (53:41) in Eugene. Though our perspectives can differ on things like gentrification, social justice, and President #45, I have known Dillon to be a sharper, more disciplined, and more empathetic thinker than many of my "elite" college friends. We talk personal responsibility and opp…

Katey Harvey (DJ Kalien) is an award-winning DJ and burgeoning fashion designer. She's lived in Eugene/Springfield her whole life, where she recently placed #1 in Best DJ Music from Eugene Weekly's Best of Eugene. As fellow North Eugene HS alums, we chat about diversity at our school, Straight Pride, same-sex couples on the street, the many ways to…

Amiia Nectar is a vocalist and a community radio co-host in Eugene. Alongside her peers in The Black Triad, she hosts dope conversations every Friday from 3-5pm on Fire Walker Radio, broadcast live via KEPW 97.3 FM (Eugene PeaceWorks' Homegrown Community Radio) and http://kepw.org. We have a great chat about sexuality, music genre, the "urban" labe…

Tyger Gruber (Talks With Tyger) is a prolific podcast host in Eugene. He labels himself as almost "alt-right" within the first two minutes, visibly worrying me! We discuss his knowledge in kinesiology/health, whether labels and identities are helpful, aphantasia, TikTok, Islam, and much more. Just like in my three appearances on his show, we deeply…

Joey Iaquinto (Justjoey) is a rapper who just moved from Wisconsin to Veneta, Oregon. We have a great chat about music and mental health, the carceral state, whether our friends are alt-right Nazis or not, how math should be taught, his 2019 album "World Is Home," social media anxiety, roofing, and a lot more. The discussion is on video at https://…

Aaron Nash (ThatKidCry) is a beloved member of the Salem, Oregon hip-hop scene. We discuss 43 unique artists by name within the first 10 minutes, because we both love music so much. We also talk a lot about his desire to see accountability against pedophiles in music communities. The discussion is on video at on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwVL…

Crosby Kneale (Croz K, formerly Odar Beats) is a versatile musician who scores the hilarious animated series “Trash Planet.” A long-time member of the hip-hop and punk/hardcore communities in Eug/Spfld and Portland, Croz was the chief beatmaker for my 2014 Gradient album, “Ambition.” We talk about Motown, Beach House, JESUS IS KING, Talib Kweli, an…

Mandey Chappell is a homemaker and a fellow candidate for Mayor of Eugene [Edit: Mandey decided not to file for the race]. We hit it off right away while she made a roast chicken. A self-described Eisenhower Republican, Mandey spoke passionately about homeless veterans, her "Be About It" campaign, and her desire that Eugeneans rally around the most…

Lukas Hanson is a journalism student at the University of Oregon. He reached out to interview me for a class project, so we turned it into a mutual interview podcast. We chat about model leadership, Presidents doing bribery, hip-hop as poetry, moving from Canada to Oregon, and learning history beyond monolithic leaders. The discussion is on video a…

Kyran Johnson is a culinary and musical talent. We chat about his restaurant ambitions, hip-hop's god MCs, bodies as planets, and other stuff. Idk, you know what podcasts are like. Stay tuned next week for another episode thingy. The discussion is on video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2kAZMAQVVY.…

Tyee Williams is an activist with Sunrise Eugene. We chat about a deal that's new and green. Other stuff, too. Idk, you know what podcasts are like. The discussion is on video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxKJXoTxkvk.By Humanity EUG News