Senior editor Rebecca Jacobson steers Portland Monthly’s news and city life coverage and writes about the more-than-human world, history, and arts and culture. She previously served as the magazine’s arts editor and digital editor. A former editor at Willamette Week and The Berliner as well as a contributor to several Wildsam field guides, she has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Montana.

PoMo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Nov 24–27

Comedian Amy Miller celebrates her debut album, Radiation City plays Revolution Hall, the Portland Cello Project turns 10, and Crumpet the Elf returns to the stage. Seize the long weekend, Portland.

11/23/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson and Fiona McCann

PoMo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Nov 17–20

Poetry meets burlesque set to the music of Prince. A new album from Portland prog-rockers Aan. "Post-African/Neo-hoodoo" dance. A sci-fi convention. It's the weekend, everybody.

11/17/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson and Jason Buehrer

Park Life

A Pop-Up Park Encourages Portlanders to Celebrate Hard Feelings

A three-day project at Pioneer Courthouse Square involves bright lights, yoga, life coaching, and puppy playtime.

11/17/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

Nature Calling

Oregon Parks Waive Fees for Friday after Thanksgiving

Too many holiday sweet potatoes? Gather up the clan—or go refreshingly solo—for free outdoor therapy on "Green" Friday.

11/15/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson and Ramona DeNies

Education

Wise Up! A Guide to Portland’s Best, Weirdest, and Most Enlightening Educational Opportunities

Get smart, get crafty, or get cooking with the city’s coolest classes for grown-ups.

11/14/2016 Edited by Rebecca Jacobson

Education

Wise Up! A Guide to Portland’s Best, Weirdest, and Most Enlightening Educational Opportunities

Get smart, get crafty, or get cooking with the city’s coolest classes for grown-ups.

11/14/2016 Edited by Rebecca Jacobson

Wise Up: Learn Something New

Yes, You Can Study That: 29 Portland Classes You Didn’t Know Existed

Tuvan throat singing to hula dance to beekeeping, it’s time to get enlightened.

11/14/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

Wise Up: Get Crafty

Basket Weaving to Spoon Carving, WildCraft Offers Arts & Crafts for Grown-Ups

It’s like summer camp forever.

11/14/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

Wise Up: Do It Yourself

5 Places in Portland to Get Your DIY On

Screen-printing to shoe cobbling, soapmaking to soldering, here are the city’s best places to make something with your hands.

11/14/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

Wise Up: Humanity in Perspective

How a Class Designed for Low-Income Portlanders Changed One Mind—and Life

Mary Thompson grew up in the foster system and didn’t graduate from high school. Now she’s on a course to a writing career.

11/14/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

Wise Up: Get Smart

7 Places in Portland to Exercise Your Brain

From literary seminars to an underground grad school, here are the city’s best places to stretch your mind.

11/14/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

PoMo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Nov 10–13

The Beach Boys get around (round, round, get around), the Oregon Symphony rocks out to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Late Night Action closes up shop, and local filmmakers show off their chops.

11/10/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson and Jason Buehrer

The Long Play

PODCAST: Casey Jarman Talks Death, Grief, and Randy Newman

The Portlander has just published his first book, Death: An Oral History, which includes interviews with a death row warden, a scientist who advocates for "the psychedelic hospice," and his own mom.

11/07/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

PoMo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Nov 3–6

Catch a roller derby smackdown, pack up the covered wagon for some Oregon Trail–inspired theater, heed the call of Siren Nation, cake yourself in glitter for PWR BTTM, and go on a literary frenzy at Wordstock.

11/02/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson, Jason Buehrer, and Fiona McCann

Playlist

November: A Month of Portland Concerts in 20 Songs

From glitter-glam pop-punk to hard-core symphonic play-alongs, November’s music scene gives Portland a lot to be thankful for.

11/02/2016 By Jason Buehrer and Rebecca Jacobson

PoMo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Oct 27–30

It's the Halloweekend. From cemetery tours to an oral history of death—with some vaudeville acrobatics for good measure—here's how to keep it spooky.

10/27/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson, Ko Ricker, Webb Wright, Jason Buehrer, and Fiona McCann

PoMo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Oct 20–23

Pirouetting poltergeists, retro video games, effervescent pop-punk, psychological thrillers, robot gardeners in outer space, razor-sharp standup, and many more ways to fill your weekend.

10/20/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson, Ko Ricker, and Fiona McCann

Comedy

Why W. Kamau Bell Is Luxuriating in Sadness

The comedian tells us the question he'd ask Obama, what his five-year-old daughter thinks of Trump, and why visiting Portland is like going back to an ex-girlfriend’s house.

10/17/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

PoMo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Oct 13–16

Catch Bryan Cranston in Beaverton, dance tango all over town, groove to Sade with comedian Bri Pruett, peek into the studios of local artists, and boogie down at an Explode Into Colors reunion concert.

10/13/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson and Jason Buehrer

Top Nonprofits

Meet Our 2016 Light a Fire Winners

Celebrating the nonprofits that make Portland a better place to live, love, give, and grow.

10/10/2016 Edited by Marty Patail By Kelly Clarke, Claire Colby, Eden Dawn, Ramona DeNies, Lisa Dunn, Rebecca Jacobson, Fiona McCann, Benjamin Tepler, and Regina Winkle-Bryan