Max Steele: On Portland's Journey from DIY to DSA

Max Steele: On Portland's Journey from DIY to DSA

From Make More Pie by Make More Pie

June 8, 2026 · 17 min

About this episode

Max Steele discusses Portland's transformation from a DIY culture to a more organized political landscape, touching on various social issues.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nancyrommelmann.substack.com Arkansas-native Max Steele came to Portland in 2005, responding to the city’s siren song of cheap rent and progressive politics and art you could make on the fly. “All the really DIY stuff was going on in Portland,” says Steele. Until it wasn’t, until certain portions of the population, many of them newbies, felt they were being denied their piece of the Portland pie, dissatisfaction expressed most strongly during 2020’s summer of rage, the downstream effects of which hobble the city to this day. Video I shot two days after Biden was elected I’ve found it hard to get clear-eyed reporting out of Portland—Steele and I each mention here how one of the city’s alt-weeklies (oh, okay, the Portland Mercury ) likes to dox reporters whose reporting they disagree with. I’ve found Steele to be a straight shooter, with several of my readers shooting me the posts he writes on Recalibrate Portland. Discussed in this episode: * Portland media: trustworthy or nah? * Rose City Antifa mission creep * Antisemitism in Portland public schools * Commies ‘R Us * Lloyd Center, RIP * “If you join the DSA, you get a…

People in this episode

Guest: Max Steele

Topics covered

  • Portland media
  • DIY culture
  • DSA
  • Antisemitism
  • social dynamics
  • cancellations

Keywords

  • Portland
  • Max Steele
  • DIY
  • DSA
  • Antifa
  • cancellations
  • media trust
  • social dynamics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Portland Mercury, Recalibrate Portland

Places: Portland, Arkansas

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