Culture
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The Poetry Express: On the Road with Oregon’s Poet Laureate

A Day for the Books: Writing the day into existence
Avatar photo by Ellen Waterston

—Ellen Waterston’s “The Third Act,” columns ran from 2021 to 2026 in the Source and are now collected in her book, “We Could Die Doing This, Dispatches on Ageing from Oregon’s Outback.” Recently reappointed to a second two-year term as Oregon’s 11th poet laureate, Waterston now turns her attention and pen to her experiences traveling […]

Posted inCulture Features

The Menopause Conversation

Books & events to know you’re not alone
by Sara Rishforth, author and bookseller at Roundabout Books and Cafe

According to Marie Sophocle’s book, “The Bedroom Gap,” there are 80 million women experiencing menopause right now, a combination of baby boomers and Generation X. An additional 6,000 women hit menopause every day. Staggering numbers! That’s a lot of hot flashes, emotional moments during the day and waking up at 2 am. At Roundabout Books, […]

Posted inColumns

The Psychedelic Frontier

Who wins when Big Pharma enters?
by Mary Casanave Sheridan

Q: Eli Lilly just spent $3.8 billion buying into psychedelics. Is Big Pharma’s involvement actually good for the public, and who benefits most from it? A: A pharmaceutical company doesn’t put $3.8 billion behind something unless it believes it will be profitable. For-profit health care hardly ever benefits the public, but this question goes deeper […]

Posted inCulture

Free Will Astrology, Week of August 20, 2026

We’re on the cusp of a Leo-Virgo transition
by Rob Brezsny

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In traditional textile making, the selvage is the strong edge that holds the fabric together and keeps it from unraveling. It’s braided more tightly than the rest so it can do its guarding work. I think that’s a helpful metaphor for your life in the coming weeks, Leo. Your main weave […]

Posted inFilm

Sex, Drugs and Dinosaurs

An August movie roundup
Avatar photo by Jared Rasic

With the release of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on July 31, we have officially left behind the Summer Blockbuster season and are now entering that nebulous August/September space where studios and streamers throw everything at the multiplex wall just to see what sticks. It’s not quite prestige, Oscar-bait season yet, so whatever movies you end […]

Posted inColumns

The Medicine Cabinet Within: The Season of Smoke and Fire

Supporting health and vitality and making the wildfire season more tolerable
by Joshua Phillips

The smell of smoke, thick haze in the sky, and the knowledge of nearby fires can elicit a very real and ancient instinct in our minds and nervous systems — to flee and get away.  This instinct has served humankind well, as those that developed this sensibility were generally those that survived, eluding otherwise catastrophic […]

Posted inCulture

Sewing Patterns? Fabric? Lace Trim? This Nonprofit Has It All.

Fashion Workshop opens new storefront in downtown Bend, helping connect crafty people with low-cost goods
by Abby Francis

Fashion Workshop is on mission to help the crafty people out there in Central Oregon. As a bit of a crafty gal myself, I was surprised when I walked in that most items were under $10. Fashion Workshop, a nonprofit, opened its brand-new storefront Aug. 8, just outside of downtown Bend.  The storefront features a space […]

Posted inCulture

Free Will Astrology, Week of August 13, 2026

Leos, this is your moment of feeling vibrant and refreshed
by Rob Brezsny

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Given how extra vibrant and refreshed you have been feeling, I would understand if you had zero interest in confronting The Dilemma That Refuses to Fade. Why deliberately tangle with that stale, long‑term energy drain when your spirits are so high? Here’s why: At this moment, you possess a new and […]

Posted inColumns

When Trying Too Hard Backfires: A Gentler Path Through Erectile Difficulty

Men have been given some misleading information about their sexuality
by Dr. Jane Guyn

Dear Dr. Jane, I was married for over 20 years to my former wife. We had a sexless marriage for the last couple of years, but I never had any stamina issues when we were still intimate. Since the divorce, I’ve been dating, and I finally found a really nice woman — we’re exclusive now. […]

Posted inCulture Features

Chasing Dark Skies

Learning to photograph the moon, meteors and Milky Way in Central Oregon
by Wally Hofmann

When Christian Heeb first turned his lens to the night sky, it wasn’t a dramatic career pivot so much as a natural next chapter. A longtime travel and nature photographer, Heeb says night work simply completes the story of a place. “If you travel in nature for photography, you capture all aspects — sunrise, canyon […]

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