Old Mole Variety Hour

 

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, broadly socialist, and feminist.  (We count Karl Marx as a friend).

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

Old Mole on Facebook

 Our theme "Mole in the Ground" is by Bascom Lamar Lunsford  (1924), somtimes blended with a newer versions, like the one  by dj/rupture, sung by Sindhu Zagoren.  It's on the album Special Gunpowder. 

Our graphic lettering is  by Charlie Ertola.

You can leave comments for the Moles at  oldmolevarietyhour@gmail.com or by clicking on the comment section for any of our audio pieces.  

 

Hosted by

Bill Resnick
Clayton Morgareidge
Denise Morris
Frann Michel
Laurie Mercier
Tom Becker
Joe Clement
Larry Bowlden
haakenj
Old Mole

Episode Archive

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:00am - 10:00am
Short Description: 
A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.

Well-known writer and activist Holly Sklar talks with Bill Resnick about the deep changes in the economy needed to solve the problem of poverty.  The Moles  also cover the war in Gaza, and the Movie Moles tell us why the original version of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) is better than the new one now playing. 

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 01/05/2009 - 9:00am - 10:00am
Short Description: 
A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.

The housing crisis continues as more people become homeless  because of foreclosures.  On this program, Bill Resnick talks with Chester Hartman, Director of Research for the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, about  the problem and how it could be solved. The Movie Moles will  review Slumdog Millionaire, and Tom Becker will read from the Guardian on the Palestinian-Israeli struggle. 

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 12/29/2008 - 9:00am - 10:00am
Short Description: 
A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.

This program revolves  around the prospects for universal health care in the Obama years and beyond.   Can we have real universal coverage in a profit-driven insurance system?   Why are other nations better at this than the US?   And we hear a review of  Kaye Gibbons' novel Sights Unseen in which issues of mental health are raised.  

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 12/22/2008 - 9:00am - 10:00am
Short Description: 
A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.

Topics on this edition of the Old Mole include:
•    How Obama’s foreign policy might affect the poorer nations of the world
•    the role of remorse in granting parole, with reference to Diane Downs
•    the dying death penalty; and
•    why Eric Holder is the only cabinet pick the  Republicans fear.
 

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 9:00am - 10:00am
Short Description: 
A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.

Topics on the Old Mole Variety Hour for December 8 include
•    the music of John Lennon,
•    Gus Van Sant’s movie Milk,
•    the hearts and minds of anti-gay marriage voters, and
•    the auto industry bailout. 
 

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 12/01/2008 - 9:00am - 10:00am

Today's topics include creating an economy that works for peace, sustainable production, and compassionate human caring in the current crisis and a look at the roots of the Mumbai massacre.

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 11/24/2008 - 9:00am - 10:00am
Short Description: 
A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.

On the Old Mole Variety Hour, film theorist Robert Samuels talks with Jan Haaken about the politics of comedy and irony in entertainment, as for example in Madagascar 2, Tropic Thunder, Religulous, and W.  Bill Resnick and Economist Arthur McEwan discuss the spiraling economic crisis.  And Clayton Morgareidge looks at the situation in Afghanistan in light of President-elect Obama’s policy to ramp up the war there.  

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 11/17/2008 - 9:00am - 10:00am
Short Description: 
A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.

The Movie Moles discuss “Queen of Hearts,” a documentary about Darcelle’s – the nation’s oldest suriving Drag club right here in Portland.  We also hear from David Oaks who challenges the dominance of drugs and the medicalizing of madness in psychiatry.  He urges organizing psychiatric survivors around patients’ rights.  

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 11/10/2008 - 9:00am - 10:00am
Short Description: 
A program of social and political commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.

Today the Moles  reflect  on the Obama victory: its impact on black folks and the left’s response: euphoria, high hopes, and the advice he’s  getting on health care,  unions, the environment, as well as worries about his first appointments.   We’ll also hear  a  tribute to the late Studs Terkel.

Old Mole Variety Hour

Categories:
Program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
Air date: 
Mon, 11/03/2008 - 9:00am - 10:00am

 

Bill Resnick looks at the entrenched forces in the US policy making apparatus that will challenge the new President -- like the Federal Reserve,  the army, and the dominant role in Congress of conservative Democrats.  Denise Morris interviews an activist from Dicentra, a Portland  area collective that creates radical communities of care, networks of support, and  movements based on relationship building and collective narratives  from our lives. 


Audio

Socialism for the Rich

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Mon, 07/21/2008

Bill Resnick reads  William Greider's piece "Wall Street's Great Deflation" from Greider's blog on the Nation's  website. 

No votes yet

Diagnosing the Crisis with Dr. Dollar

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/20/2008

Dr. Dollar, aka economist Arthur McEwan, talks with Bill Resnick about the current economic crisis, how bad it might be, and how it should be resolved in the interests of working people.  McKewan writes for  Dollars & Sense, and his latest  book is  Neoliberalism or Democracy?

No votes yet

Theater Review: "Man to Man"

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/20/2008

Theater Moles Denise Morris and Tamara  Wallace describe "Man to Man," a play by German playwright Manfred Karge:

An old man retells his life: from carefree girl to crane operator, from young bride to soldier, from femme fatale to farm lad; Man to Man is an epic story of identity-switching in the fight for survival. Inanimate objects from the sparse set take on purpose as chairs become the bones of a finished meal or body of a dean man and lamps transform into other characters. This one-woman show that spans 50 years and includes a cast of more than 20, aged 8 to 80, is an adventure in the power of story and personal transformation.

The play runs through August 31 at Hipbone Studio.  

No votes yet

Life & Music of Utah Philips

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/20/2008

Bill Resnick and musicologist Brad Duncan remember the life, personality, politics, and music of the great folk singer and  labor activist.

No votes yet

The Art of Resistance: Just Seeds

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/20/2008

Justseeds/Visual Resistance Artists' Cooperative is a decentralized community of artists who have banded together to both sell their work online in a central location and to collaborate with and support each other and social movements.   Just Seeds member Pete Yahnke talks with the Old Mole's Sudarat Musikawong about the collective and the history of political print-making.  Check out their informative website for many examples of their posters. 

No votes yet

Old Mole Variety Hour for July 21, 2008

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/20/2008

Hosted by Bill Resnick, this program deals with the economic meltdown and what should be done about it, a theater piece about women who survive Naziism and War by changing their sex and identities, and the life and music of Utah Philips.  NEW!  Due to a technical problem, an interview with Pete Yahnke of the Just Seeds art collective was not aired, but you can hear by clicking on its link below.

To hear the whole show, click on the arrow above.  To hear individual segments, follow their links below:

1.  Arthur McEwan (Dr. Dollar) discusses the economic crisis -- causes and cures.

2.  Theater Moles review "Man to Man," now being performed in Portland. 

3.  William Greider on Socialism for the Rich--read by Bill Resnick.

4.  Life and  Music of Utah Philips with Brad Duncan.

5.   The Art of Resistance: the Just Seeds Print-Making Collective

No votes yet

Movie Moles: "Wall-E"

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/13/2008

Jan Haaken and Frann Michel review "Wall-E". For more about their review, go to http://kboo.fm/node/8277

No votes yet

Latinos in US Pop Music

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/13/2008

Laurie Mercier talks with Michelle Habell-Pallan about how Latina and Chicana music has influenced Rock 'n Roll and other popular music, not only in the US but in Europe. Habell-Pallan is the author of "Loca Motion: The Travels of Latina Popular Culture." We hear a segment on "Women with Attitude", part of American Sabor, a series produced by KEXP in Seattle and narrated by Michelle.

No votes yet

Old Mole Variety Hour for July 14, 2008

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/13/2008

Hosted by Laurie Mercier, this program plays and discusses music demonstrating the influence of chicana and latina music on popular music. We also hear about the very expensive "drill and kill" corporate-developed reading program pushed by the Bush Administration and purchased by Portland; and a review of Wall-E.

No votes yet

Learning to Read (or not) in Portland

Categories:
program: 
Old Mole Variety Hour
program date: 
Sun, 07/13/2008

To comply with the "No Child Left Behind" program, Portland Schools have adopted a corporate produced one-size-fits-all, lockstep reading program called "Reading Street." Education professor Maika Yeigh talks with the Old Mole's Bill Resnick about what's wrong with it and what kids need to make them life-long readers.

No votes yet

Comments

podcast

Submitted by troutdaleindependent on Thu, 08/16/2012 - 8:17am.

Hi, when will the August 13th podcast be posted? 

Avatar's Jake Sully is ---- Tarzan - - -

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 12:43am.

 

A great review I've seen on Avatar (and how the soldier will save the people):

http://www.progressive.org/mp/danto010510.html

There is a link from there that exposes Cameron's plot as a mirror of Pocahontas, amazing parallel!      http://failblog.org/2010/01/10/avatar-plot-fail/

 

Since watching Avatar, I have viewed older videos on DVD and would rate that ahead of Avatar.

 

mel

 

 

 

commentary transcripts

Submitted by KBOO (not verified) on Mon, 08/04/2008 - 10:57am.

It's convenient to have the Old Mole audio files available.
Even more useful for some of us would be transcripts of the commentaries (Clayton Morgareidge). Written material allows a person a chance to review, consider, digest and refer to mentioned references & thinkers. The "Well Read Red" commentary from 4 Aug 08 is a good example of a piece I'd like to read at my own pace.

transcripts

Submitted by Clayton Morgareidge on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 6:41pm.
We will see to it that this happens whenever there is a prepared text. Thanks for the suggestion. Clayton Morgareidge The Old Mole Variety Hour

These folks are so profound

Submitted by Joe (not verified) on Sat, 07/26/2008 - 2:23pm.

These folks are so profound and fascinating, especially the Resnick guy. Wow!

good post

Submitted by arnimadesign on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 12:58am.

 You produced some excellent details right now there. I did searching around the topic and discovered most people today will recognize in your blog. Visit <a href="http://www.arnima.com/Search-Engine-Optimization.aspx">SEO Florida</a>

Syndicate content

 

Copyright © 2012 KBOO Community Radio | Community Guidelines | Website Illustration & Design by: KMF ILLUSTRATION