A new nonfiction history, Let My Country Awake, explores the complexity of Indian resistance against the British Empire during World War I.
History
Satyricon: An Oral History
Before Michaela Watkinsโ first shift behind the bar at Satyricon, the manager gave her the tour. โHe said to me: โOkay, hereโs the taps, hereโs the keg, hereโs the bat.โ And I was, like, the bat? And heโs like: โYeah, the bat.โ I was like, am I gonna use a bat? He nodded: โYou might […]
Satyricon: An Oral History
Before Michaela Watkinsโ first shift behind the bar at Satyricon, the manager gave her the tour. โHe said to me: โOkay, hereโs the taps, hereโs the keg, hereโs the bat.โ And I was, like, the bat? And heโs like: โYeah, the bat.โ I was like, am I gonna use a bat? He nodded: โYou might […]
Log Recognize Log: World Forestry Center Celebrates an Iconic Twin Peaks Character
Log recognize log.
Fucking Political: Lessons From the Early AIDS Activists Who Took Matters Into Their Own Hands
[Originally published in the Mercury‘s sister publication The Stranger, as part of its Love & Sex Issue.] On July 3, 1981, the New York Times announced the coming plague with a short news item tucked into Section A, Page 20: โRare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.โย Nobody knew the purple Kaposiโs Sarcoma lesions the article […]
Portlandโs Next Top (Architectural) Model
In the early 1970s, Portland design reviewers used a miniature (yet massive) model of downtown to consider proposed construction projects. City of Possibility gives Portlanders the rare opportunity to see the 18-foot by 22-foot city in all its glory—along with a bunch of other fascinating models, both literal and conceptual.
Commissioning Change
After more than a century, Portland is transitioning away from a commission form of government. Compared to other major cities, itโs been an unusual method of governance, with each member of the Portland City Council running for at-large positions and then taking on roles as the head of different city bureaus. But it wasnโt always […]
Tracing the History of Queer Spaces in Portland
[Find the Mercury‘s Queer Guide in printโavailable in more than 500 spots citywide!โeds.] The Silverado is obviously and stridently a gay bar. Rainbow tassels line the kitchen, attractive men in snug underwear sling drinks, and posters of shirtless guys adorn the walls. Also, after nine at night male strippers perform in the Silveradoโs basement. The […]
Black Drag Artists Tell the History of Black Drag in Portland
In 1977, Lawanda Jackson and Darcelle XV got dressed up and went downtown. “My best girl, she let me borrow her Jefferson High School cheerleading costume. Darcelle had all her white hair, in her glory. We made the news but it wasn’t easy.” Jackson told the Mercury. “They called her all kinds of things, N-word-lover. […]
Little Bits of Paper Everywhere: An Oral History of Snipehunt Magazine and Kathy Molloy
In the Portland of the late โ80s and โ90s, there was one publication that influenced and guided the music and arts community more than any other: a free, wildly designed, oversized newsprint magazine called Snipehunt. Started in 1988 by now-famed poster artist Mike King, the magazine came into its own when contributor Kathy Molloy took […]
So You Are a Star? Okay.
Why hasn’t the Portland music scene embraced its original hitmakers?
Newt Gingrich Compared Trump to Abraham Lincoln and He Wasn’t Even Kidding
Just another day for the GOP!
