Blake Nelson

Even when you're deep in enemy territory, moral conviction can go a long way. Recently, I stopped to grab a pizza slice in the Hawthorne district of Portland.

Josiah Hesse doesn't hate his evangelical parents — but don't tell that to the liberals lining up for his new book.

I was having lunch in a local tavern the other day, when Randy Travis' 1987 country hit “Forever and Ever, Amen” came on the jukebox.

In 2016, I got a call from my editor at Simon & Schuster in New York. The company was putting out a new edition of my first novel, "Girl" (1994), and redoing the cover and interior design, in preparation for its re-release.

Recently, someone on X.com said that Japan was the last “first world country" left on earth. I felt an instinctual agreement when I read this statement. America no longer feels very “first world” to me. Not lately.

Here in Portland, we've had a bad week of wildfire smoke. It's been at DON'T GO OUTSIDE levels. You literally feel the ache in your chest. Your eyes begin to burn.

I was recently treated to a free screening of a new documentary called "Thank You for Sharing" (2026). This funny and engaging film is a much-needed investigation into the dubious intentions of the mental health industry.

I used to tiptoe through the tulips on my way to the produce section. Portland's decline put an end to that.

I got in an argument once with a guy who was dismissing white, Anglo-Saxon culture, saying it was overrated and overrepresented. He thought Americans needed to learn about other cultures, and other artists, who were just as good, if not better.

Even as the mainstream media violently rejected the president, a new generation of brave and talented pro-Trump voices developed a new medium to circumvent the biased media: the podcast.