Old Mole Variety Hour

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Airs at: Mon, 07/14/2025 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

Book Mole: "The Help"

Airs at: Mon, 11/02/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 Kathryn Stockett's  new novel The Help is about a white southern writer trying to tell the stories  of black domestic servants in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s.   Our Book Mole Larry Bowlden wrestles with the problems this poses.   For an archive of Larry's reviews,... Read more

The Brink of Extinction

Airs at: Mon, 10/26/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
"Industrial civilization is functionally incompatible with life on this planet and is murdering the planet."  So argues  Chris Hedges in this piece from TruthDig, read here by Tom Becker.    Read more

The 350 Movement & Copenhagen

Airs at: Mon, 10/26/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 Environmental writer and activist Brian Tokar talks with the Old Mole's Bill Resnick about the 350 Movement and its limits.  For stronger measures than will emerge from the upcoming Copenhagen climate conference, go here, here, and here.   Read more

The October 26 Old Mole Variety Hour

Airs at: Mon, 10/26/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 Hosted by Tom Becker, this show deals with US military action in Afghanistan, the challenge to corporate-industrial society from climate change, and with putting people to death for crimes they did not commit.   We hear haunting and apocalyptic music by Laibach from Slo... Read more

The Decision on Afghanistan

Airs at: Mon, 10/26/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 Two journalists with  long experience in Afghanistan talk with Bill Resnick about why US policy there is failing.  Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald are  authors of Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story. Read more

The Law & the Left: Capital Punishment

Airs at: Mon, 10/26/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 In the first of the Old Mole Mole's new feature, The Law and the Left, Jan Haaken and Mike Snedeker  discuss why the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, executed in 2004 in Texas for a crime of which he was almost certainly innocent,  is so central to the fight against cap... Read more

The Upside of Healthcare Reform

Airs at: Mon, 10/19/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 O.k., so we're not going to get a single payer health this year, and maybe not even a public option.  Can anything good still come out of Congress this year?   Kathleen Stoll of Families USA thinks we can expect some real improvements in access to health care from the l... Read more

Movie Moles: "The Informant"

Airs at: Mon, 10/19/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 In The Informant, Matt Damon plays an agri-business executive who cooperates with the FBI to expose corporate malfeasance at Archer-Daniel-Midlands.  Our Movie Moles Jan Haaken and Norm Diamond fill out the context and discuss the issues the film raises.   Read more

Poetic Rant by Ferlinghetti

Airs at: Mon, 10/19/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 Clayton Mogareidge reads a short poem beginning "History is made of the lies of the victors...." by Beat poet  Lawrence Ferlinghetti.  It is published in a volume called Poems for the Nation: A Collection of Contemporary Political Poems, edited by Allen Ginsberg and oth... Read more

The Elegance of the Hedgehog: A Book Mole Review

Airs at: Mon, 10/19/2009 at 12:00am
Produced for Old Mole Variety Hour
 Our Book Mole Larry Bowlden reviews The Elegance of the Hedgehog by French author Muriel Barbery -- "an excellent and charming little book" about two women who hide their intellectual interests. Read more