Live Wire Radio

Mission

Live Wire cultivates joy, discovery, and connection by amplifying unexpected and riveting voices to a national audience. 

Bottom Line for Portland

Live Wire Radio is an independently produced radio show hosted by Luke Burbank and announced by Elena Passarello. The show artfully blends unpredictable conversation, live music, and original comedy, and features all kinds of cultural talent
and creative minds, from emerging artists to established acts. 

Over the past two decades, Live Wire Radio has brought hundreds of artists from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to Portland to share their work, stories, and unique perspectives with thousands of audience members.

As the only nationally distributed public radio show in the Pacific Northwest, we take particular pride in the impact we have on the careers of local artists. By sharing the best and brightest talent our city has to offer to over 300,000 listeners across the country, we help them reach new audiences while bolstering Portland’s image as a cultural and artistic hub nationwide. 

Quote

“Live Wire is a Portland institution! And not simply because of how long it’s been around, but because it seeks to be a bridge to our communities and to be a bridge between them, and succeeds in doing this in its own unique fashion, making space for the sacred and the silly. Live Wire acts as a round table, a campfire, a hearth, around which we get to sit and listen and share, inside stories of all types and many forms, getting to be a part of that and bear witness to such in the city I live is why, all these years later, I’m still so grateful for this show.”

- Anis Mojgani

Incentives

All donors under 35 receive BOGO ticket code for upcoming Live Wire show in Portland.

Give $250 and receive two tickets to an upcoming Live Wire show in Portland.
Give $500 and receive two VIP tickets to an upcoming Live Wire show in Portland.
Give $1000 and receive two VIP tickets + a bottle of New Deal Distillery Vodka
Give $2500 and receive a pair of season passes for our Spring 2026 season (5 shows!)
Give $7500 and receive a pair of Season Passes FOR LIFE!

Partner(s)

Alano Club - A leading source of recovery support in Portland.

Literary Arts -  Inspiring the next generation with great literature.

Play it Forward - Providing equal access to the magic of music.

Alberta Rose Theatre - Live Wire's home venue in Portland.

New Deal Distillery - Craft-distilled spirits with a side of public radio!

Fetch Coffee Roasters - Our favorite public-radio supporting coffee shop!