Loved the Mischa Webley episode. And I appreciate all your political conversations.

Rational in Portland’s Kristin Olson is one of my favorite interviewers for Portland regional politics!! Her critical and analytical conversations are totally insightful.

Thank you Kristin for adding this voice to the discussion! It is vital that we have rational discourse in a sea of chaos.

I don’t always agree, but I never miss a show. Rational in Portland is asking the right questions, and has an incredible array of guests and discussions. If you are concerned about the state of Portland whatever your politics may be, you need to listen to Rational in Portland.

Or you will be able to see the real underbelly of what makes it so hard to live here! Keep living in Austin or Nashville, or Boston or anywhere that has reasonable civil structures. It didn’t use to be this way and Kristen knows this. She is speaking truth to power. Thank god for this podcast. I hope it gets better.

Love this pod, great perspective on our city!

47 year native Portlander. If you’re disappointed in Portland‘s current leadership and direction and are craving pragmatic, informative dialogue, this is the podcast for you. Keep up the great work.

In a city where the community is experiencing Stockholm syndrome with the loud and radical minority trying to convince you that drugs are a lifestyle choice, that being assaulted by homeless is normal, that spending the public’s first responder resources and billions of tax payer dollars on enabling people to kill themselves in public is compassionate, that owning a home is a crime, Rational in Portland is a breath of sanity in an island of radical madness. Thank you for giving voice to the silent majority and showing us that what we’re experiencing is not normal for a well functioning democratic society and that there are rational voices out there too.

For those in PDX this is in the must listen category, as well as for those that fear your city will become as PDX has.

For the last couple years, I’ve been ashamed to say I’m a democrat. I needed to know I wasn’t alone. Thank you for having the courage to post this podcast. Thank you for speaking the truth.

Great job!

Looking forward to more honest conversations from this show. The limitation of speech in the city of Portland is a real problem toward making progress on the issues.

I am listening to my first episode and am happy with the way host is laying everything out. The issues are relevant. The only problem so far is the sound , I needed to put this in max and still it’s hard to hear . Please fix the sound . Curious about why you would , at this point, not vote republicans? What is it that people are afraid of? Do you still think that all these visits to boards meetings will fix things or is it stopping to vote the same every time , hoping for a different result? The Republican Party in oregon would not be the same Republican Party as in Texas . They will necessarily be more center than right just because of the demographics. People need to open up their minds a bit and start looking at the issues not a party label to get things changed. If you look at a candidates platform and the first line is : I will focus on crime and homelessness vs another whose line is : I will focus on climate change and equity . What candidate do you need to vote for in order to see change in the very issues that are dragging this city future and future down ?

Portland remains in crisis and yet not enough meaningful conversations are going on about the policies, issues, and elections that have profound impacts on the majority in Portlanders. This podcast helps fill this gap! Ms. Olson (Ms. Rational?) has maintained a pipeline of guests highly relevant to critical topics for our City. Ms. Olson is not a journalist and is not afraid to share her views. I welcome this given that other medial outlets in Portland (OPB in particular), fearful of being labeled politically incorrect, are unable to express majority views or at least ask sensible questions.

I don’t think the guests are on trial but Kristin puts them on the stand. Tip! Try to let the guest speak and respond to your question before you ask another one. I felt like I was listening to high school mock trial 😂😭

Th guests and info about local issues is unbeatable but please edit it down to less than 2 hours!!!!

Wow. Just wow. Your ignorance —served loudly and unabashedly on a silver platter during your interview with dear Terrance—was embarrassing. You’re lucky you’ve never experienced poverty to the point of homelessness; your privilege was palpable when you were (and by “were” I’m referring to the terrible inflection in your voice and inane questioning) highly flummoxed by the barriers that Oregon Health Plan presents to its applicants. And don’t get me started on imagining you trying to understand or spout your opinion on those disabled within the houseless community … “like can’t these mentally ill people, ya know, like just get disability and then health care?!” It takes over two years to even be considered for disability so please don’t even think of approaching that branch within the broken system. That’s if (probably is) such a subject on your list of topics to “dissect.” Just a suggestion. Educate yourself if you’re going to advocate for houseless folk. Also, you don’t understand or know the difficulty of garnering continued or even initial mental health treatment under OHP. Your inept grip of the state’s social service umbrella is beyond cringy. Read up. For the love of god. My heart dropped when you gasped, incredulously, “wait what barriers?!” Seriously, I’m literally shaking with irritation that you’re that presumptuous to think YOU have the authority and knowledge to host a podcast on such subject matter. Just unbelievable. And embarrassing. For you. Bye bye Karen. Terrance you did wonderful in that interview. I don’t know how you, sir, remained calm by speaking to a total cretin. Yikes.

The only place I can go to figure out what’s going on around here. Great work being done. I’m so grateful for Kristin. Smart, nuanced, thoughtful, informative, fearless, fresh and entertaining. She provides the analysis and critical thought that goes missing from local media. Sharp and funny. Exposes nonsense at both ends of the political spectrum in a compassionate way. I find myself mentioning what I heard on this podcast when talking about current events, it’s so incisive.

Not sure why the previous reviewer said Karen doesn’t live in Portland. She talks in almost every episode about what it’s like not only to live in the city but to work downtown. Yes she’s white but so are most people in the city of Portland, unfortunately. Love hearing smart analysis from someone who is data driven and unafraid.

I’m so glad I found Karen. This podcast gives me hope that there are other reasonable people in Portland who are fed up with the murders and the trash and the riots. Portland doesn’t care about its citizens. It has abandoned the homeless. It is like a third world country. There are tents and human feces and needles everywhere and this podcast offers common sense and compassionate solutions while boldly shining a light on what is going on. Finally someone said it!

I have been feeling I just don’t fit into what passes as the left here in Portland these days. Getting involved in local politics has opened my mind, and I’m learning there are more people who think like me than I realized, and we are here for this podcast! It gets right to the point, tell the truth and doesn’t care who’s feelings it might hurt.

Ewwww. As if this perspective were needed. No hot take to be found here, just fresh and steaming turds.

A real and unvarnished but compassionate look at a troubled city. So glad to have found this.

I am totally in love with Karen. I am a Portland native who has watched this city sink into ruinous decline. It is refreshing to hear another native who lives and works in the city engage in REAL TALK. If you don't want to hear reality, keep your ears shut and enjoy the continued precipitous decline. If you are an engaged citizen, this is a must listen.

As a person living in Portland I can rely on this podcast for critical thought that goes missing in most conversations in this city.

This podcast is terrible. It’s clearly one annoying white woman capitalizing on the Wall of Mom’s calling it “satire” an uncomfortable amount of times until it holds no irony. She doesn’t live within Portland city limits yet calls out an absurd amount of fear mongering by spreading misinformation about what is going on in PDX. Unclear what her actual purpose is other than her enjoying hearing herself speak.