Meet our new ‘Weekend Edition’ host

For the past few months, you’ve heard Jack Walters hosting OPB’s “Weekend Edition.” But Jack is actually the producer for the show. He’s been filling in as we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new “Weekend Edition” host. And now she’s here, Lillian Karabaic. Jack Walters sat down with her to introduce our newest OPB host.

Jack Walters: Well, where are you from originally?

Lillian Karabaic: So, I’m originally from the Cincinnati area on the Ohio Kentucky border. And I took a one-way $87 ticket flight to rural Oregon to be a vegetarian kitchen manager at a hippie commune, otherwise known as an intentional community in Dexter, Oregon. And I was supposed to be here for six months and that was about 17 years ago. So, I haven’t gone anywhere. And for the most part, I’ve been here other than some stints abroad in Berlin and Karnataka, India.

Walters: So a longtime Oregonian. What’s your background in radio and podcasting?

Karabaic: So, folks might recognize my voice from the morning show ‘News with Friends’ on XRAY.FM that I co-hosted from 2017 to 2020. And then I’ve also had a radio show that focuses on finances for the past seven years called “Oh My Dollar!” I originally started that because I love radio and I also have an economics degree. And, I’m a former licensed financial advisor and I felt like so much financial advice was not applicable to the kind of people I knew in my life, like gig workers, people without a 401(K). So, I started doing it as just a way to demystify finance for folks.

Walters: And I understand you’re an author.

Karabaic: Yeah, my book is, I’m, I’m very pro inserting whimsy into anything boring when possible. And my book is an illustrated guide to finances. It’s called a ``Cat’s Guide to Money.’' So, it’s purr-sonal finance and cats explain everything from like budgeting to investing for retirement.

Walters: Fantastic. I love it. And you’re also a longtime bicyclist?

Karabaic: Yeah. I think a lot of people might recognize me from around town from different bike fun events like Pedalpalooza. I was the leader of a really large bike ride called “Bowie vs. Prince” for nine years. That, is exactly what it sounds like. You either dress up as Bowie or Prince and then you have a dance battle in the streets of Portland.

I’ve also been a volunteer at ``Breakfast on the Bridges’', which is where we serve free coffee and breakfast to people walking and biking across Portland’s bridges on the last Friday of the month. And I’ve been doing that for, I think, 16 years now.

And now I have a ride series called ``Fancy Mondays,’’ which is exactly what it sounds like: instead of casual Fridays, it’s fancy Mondays. You dress up fancy and we ride to a different place for a picnic slowly. We don’t ride far. And then we have a picnic in our fancy clothes in the summer.

Walters: Speaking of modes of transportation, you’re also a lover of trains.

Karabaic: I’ve ridden trains in 48 countries. My kind of most recent big trip was: I took trains, buses and ferries from Dublin, Ireland to Shanghai China, which involved crossing Siberia on the Trans-Mongolian railway. And I’m currently plotting a trip to go from the Pacific Coast all the way to Idaho using public buses in Oregon.

Walters: In your spare time, apparently you’re also a figure skater?

Karabaic: Yep. I love some knife shoes. You can find me all the time at the, you know, in the middle of the Lloyd Center Mall with my knives on my feet.

Walters: What can listeners expect when they hear you on “Weekend Edition”?

Karabaic: Well, hopefully they will find me to be a delightful part of their morning, but also keep an ear out for economic and finance stories. I’m always passionate about finding a way to break down complicated economics into understandable terms.

Walters: Excellent, Lillian. Thanks so much for taking some time to chat today.

Karabaic: Thank you so much for having me. I’m looking forward to being your host.