• With Dr. Jill Biden’s hubby, President Joe Biden, stepping out of the presidential race, everyone is wondering who heir-apparent Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate will be. Political pundits and talking heads alike are asking if America is ready for two women on the same ticket. Well, let me tell you this, no one in America would bat a fucking eye if two men were on the ticket, so what’s the big deal here? Endemic societal sexism and misogyny. Let’s get over ourselves, men. Let’s have the women run things for once. Writer’s Note: This is a man penning this.
• Speaking of veeps, local writer and critic Lorraine Berry penned a column for the L.A. Times on J.D. Vance that’s worth a read. In her July 15 piece, “J.D. Vance’s book Hillbilly Elegy was a con job. Don’t let it slide,” she writes. “The selection of J.D. Vance on Monday as Donald Trump’s running mate is a direct result of the political media’s failure to understand class in America.”
• The United States Census Bureau tells us that Oregon is one of only eight states to have lost population in 2023. Oregon also lost population in 2022. Where is everybody going?
• KWAX radio’s Peter Van de Graaff did his last live program in Eugene on Wednesday, July 17. The silken-voiced Van de Graaff has been music director at the all-classical station since 2016, when he was lured here from WFMT in Chicago. He is known around the country for the Beethoven Satellite Network, his syndicated overnight classical music show that’s aired at some 150 stations. A bass-baritone, Van de Graaff is an opera singer of some repute — he’s performed at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florentine Opera and Milwaukee Opera, among others — and is a stage actor who appeared regularly with Fred Crafts’ Radio Redux theater company. Van de Graaff said in an email to EW that he’s moving to Wisconsin in part to help an ailing father. “There are many other reasons, some of which are not fit for publication, so I’ll have to say ‘no comment’ to anything further,” he wrote. “Sorry!” Asked for comment, KWAX General Manager Greg Raschio simply said the station had been in discussions with Graaff about his departure for some time, and that the date had been moved up due to his father’s failing health. KWAX will continue to air Van de Graaff’s overnight show from midnight to 6 am.
• At noon, Friday, July 26, City Club of Eugene meets at the Maple Room at the Inn at the 5th for a conversation about Parkinson’s disease and community efforts to fight it.