Does  the political repression of the 1950s (McCarthyism) live on today in FISA and the Patriot Act?  Ellen Schrecker, who has written widely on the politics of the '50s, will talk with host  Laurie Mercier.   Can grassroots communities govern themselves?  What is “participatory budgeting?”  Radical economist Robin Hahnel and the Old  Mole's Bill Resnick discuss.  That's all on The Old Mole Variety Hour today, along with commentary by Thabiti Lewis and a film review from Denise Morris.  

Host Pat McGuire speaks with Seneca the Librarian about tons of good books.  

The New Orientalist Narrative - a critical view of literature that offers a limited view of women and society in Iran and elsewhere in the so-called Middle East. Fatemeh Keshavarz' book "Jasmine and the Stars - Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran" (2007) focuses on Azar Nafisi's book "Reading Lolita in Tehran" to exemplify what is problematic about these narratives. She also introduces some of the absent voices of more complex and comprehensive Iranian feminist literature.

Hosted by Gabriele Ross

Bruce Silverman presents another installment in his Answers Series, a series of features focusing on solutions to problems. The topic is "Dark Skies."

Also Jay Thiemeyer reviews the new novel by Northwest author David Guterson. 

Jennifer Gately, Northwest Curator for the Portland Art Museum discusses the Contemporary Northwest Art Awards, which replaced the museum’s Oregon Biennial this year.