Jordan weirdly proclaims Eugene as his “Oregon White Whale” because, until early 2025, it has felt like an impenetrable city to him. Oregon’s second largest city is home to Jordan’s family’s greatest enemy: The University of Oregon — which he was taught at a very young age to despise with the fiery hot passion of ten thousand beaver pelts, but he thinks would have been a great school for him.
Katie visited her cousin, who attended UofO, and rode bikes around in traffic for the first time ever and also snuck into at least two classes and still feels guilty about it.
Jordan’s first foray into Eugene came during his junior year of high school after he was selected to join the All-State band and right before the performance, a random actual adult man asked the 16-year-old Jordan if he knew where to find some weed. Jordan was scared.
Katie finally experiences Eugene’s Hult Center for the Performing Arts and the two gush about how much they love the theater.
Jordan reveals Eugene’s nickname of Track Town, U.S.A. and Katie reminisces about her time on the high school track and field team.
Have a travel story to share? Send a voice memo or write a cute lil' mini-memoir to exploregonianspodcast@gmail.com and remember to follow us on Instagram and-and and if you'd like to show us some love or send a "thank you" if you enjoyed the episode, you can treat us to a coffee! Thanks for listening!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Male Room with Dr. Jesse Mills
As Director of The Men’s Clinic at UCLA, Dr. Jesse Mills has spent his career helping men understand their bodies, their hormones, and their health. Now he’s bringing that expertise to The Male Room — a podcast where data-driven medicine meets common sense. Each episode separates fact from hype, science from snake oil, and gives men the tools to live longer, stronger, and happier lives. With candor, humor, and real-world experience from the exam room and the operating room, Dr. Mills breaks down the latest health headlines, dissects trends, and explains what actually works — and what doesn’t. Smart, straightforward, and entertaining, The Male Room is the show that helps men take charge of their health without the jargon.