Vanessa Finney visits with Portland State Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, author of "Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist."

The JPR news team gathers for a roundtable discussion of the top news stories they've been working on this week.

Chelsea Rose visits with Dr. Chris Merritt to discuss his recent lobbying of Congress

Jessica Jones is General Manager of Waste Management (WM) of Northern California and Nevada, which received a multimillion dollar investment from the state of California.

Vanessa Houk joins the Exchange to discuss her Courage award, her life and her mission.

Amy Lewin, Executive Director of the Oregon Cultural Trust, and Vance Beach, Executive Director of the Black Alliance & Social Empowerment, discuss the award.

Rabbi Avi Zweibel, Director of the Chabad Jewish Center of Southern Oregon, joins the Exchange to discuss the celebrations in Ashland across the Rogue Valley.

Dr. Alex Gonzalez is the Director of Bands for SOU and teaches courses in music pedagogy at Southern Oregon University.

Dr. Devin Roach is an Assistant Professor at Oregon State University and the Director of the VAMOS Lab (Versatile Advanced Manufacturing lab at Oregon State). His team developed a concrete substitute.

JCLS Community Manager Josh Letsinger and Selections Librarians Felishia Jenkins and April Bozada-Armstrong offer insight into their work and recommended readings over the holidays.