Old Mole Variety Hour

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Airs at: Mon, 07/28/2025 at 9:00am - 10:00am

Airs at: Mon, 02/02/2026 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced by: 
KBOO
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Views, Reviews, and Interviews from a socialist-feminist, anti-racist and anti-colonial point of view.

 

Every Monday from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM.

A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist, anti-racist and anti-colonial point of view.

The Old Mole burrows down to the roots of the great issues of our time – the struggles of ordinary people for democratic and sustainable ways of life.  The Mole goes where corporate media fear to tread, supporting grassroots challenges to top-down authority and giving voice to movements that shake the foundations of an unjust society.  The Moles' perspective is democratic, anti-capitalist, feminist, anti-colonial and anti-racist.  We count Karl Marx as a friend but are open to other voices from the left. The show includes analyses of global politics and economics, local grassroots activism, segments on the Left & the Law, and reviews of films, books, music, and theater. 

Contributors include: Julian Ankney, Larry Bowlden, Joe Clement, Norm Diamond, Kevin Foster, Jan Haaken, Desiree Hellegers, Patricia Kullberg, Luisa Martinez, Laurie Mercier, Frann Michel, Denise Morris, Bill Resnick, Victoria Saucedo, Sophie Smith, Mike Snedecker, Roben White, Matt Witt

Here is why we call this show "The Old Mole"

For individual segments and more content: View more Old Mole content

Check out our Program Blog

Subscribe to our podcast (see above; search the show name on iTunes; also available on Googleplay)

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Our theme song is the traditional "Mole in the Ground," sometimes performed by Clayton & Ernie, sometimes by Joe Clement,  and sometimes blended with other versions, like the one by dj/rupture, sung by Sindhu Zagoren on the album Special Gunpowder, or Blind Boy Paxton  

Our graphic lettering is by Charlie Ertola. Host portraits by Clayton Morgareidge.
 

You can leave comments for the Moles by clicking on the comment section for any of our audio pieces.  

Streams: 
KBOO Stream 1
Program status: 
Current

Movie Moles: How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Airs at: Mon, 12/25/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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  The film How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022, by Daniel Goldhaber, Ariela Barer, Jordan Sjol, Daniel Garber) is loosely inspired by Andreas Malm's 2021 book of the same title. The book is not an instruction manual, and does not actually call for blowing up pipelines, but ... Read more

How Portland Metro Chamber and Business Lobbyists Undermine Ballot Initiatives

Airs at: Mon, 12/25/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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  Oregon’s citizen-initiated ballot measure process is a tool of grassroots democracy, allowing collective action by an organized majority of the population. However, time and time again, those with vast resources have impeded attempts to make the city more equitable an... Read more

Is Racism Un-Oregonian?

Airs at: Mon, 12/18/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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That’s what a former governor claimed in addressing the murder of an Ethiopian immigrant by racist skinheads thirty-five years ago. Elinor Langer knew different. This week Norm Diamond talks with Elinor about her 2003 book, One Hundred Little Hitlers, The Death of a Blac... Read more

Abolition or Proliferation—What Will It Be?

Airs at: Mon, 12/18/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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From November 27th to December 1st, the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was held at the United Nations in New York City.  After the sessions, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the proceedings provid... Read more

Old Mole Variety Hour for December 18, 2023

Airs at: Mon, 12/18/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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  Norm Diamond hosts this episode of the Old Mole, which includes the following segments: Is Racism Un-Oregonian? That’s what a former governor claimed in addressing the murder of an Ethiopian immigrant by racist skinheads thirty-five years ago. Elinor Langer knew diff... Read more

Assault on Gaza

Airs at: Mon, 12/11/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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Jan Haaken speaks with Mohammed Nabil, Palestinian rights activist, who hails from Kahn Younis in the south of Gaza. Mohammed speaks of the anguish of those who have loved ones in Gaza, the difficulties of knowing what is happening on the ground, the sometimes desperate ... Read more

The Collected Regrets of Clover

Airs at: Mon, 12/11/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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“The first time I watched someone die, I was five.” So begins the enchanting story of Clover, a death doula. It may seem like a grim tale, but in fact it is full of tenderness and wisdom. The collected regrets are not Clover's, but the regrets of all those she has shephe... Read more

The Woman at the Center

Airs at: Mon, 12/11/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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In their discussion of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Jan Haaken and Cynthia Coleman take up the character of the Osage woman Mollie Burkhart at the center of the story. How much does the film conform to standard tropes in depicting Mollie as a woman, abused wife, and ind... Read more

Old Mole Variety Hour for December 11, 2023

Airs at: Mon, 12/11/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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  Patricia Kullberg hosts this episode of the Old Mole, which includes the following segments: Assault on Gaza: Jan Haaken speaks with Mohammed Nabil, Palestinian rights activist, who hails from Kahn Younis in the south of Gaza. Mohammed speaks of the anguish of those ... Read more

Old Mole Variety Hour for December 4, 2023

Airs at: Mon, 12/04/2023 at 9:00am - 10:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
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  Jon Nelson hosts this episode of the Old Mole, which features a re-broadcast from the radio show Against the Grain. The pandemic highlighted the vital importance of care work—whether childcare, nursing home care, medical care or schooling – and the struggles many peo... Read more