The Old Mole Variety Hour for March 16, 2026

Hosted by: 
Produced by: 
KBOO
Air date: 
Mon, 03/16/2026 - 9:00am to 10:00am
Features tributes to Black history, feminist Eleni Varikas, and the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition

Jon Nelson hosts this show that features tributes to Black history, Eleni Varikas, and the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition.

Left and the Law: Monumental Racism: In their Left & the Law segment, Jan Haaken and Mike Snedeker start with Trump's executive order in early 2025 to rewrite American history. The order directed various departments of the federal government to remove references to slavery and Black history from museums, parks, and military bases across the country.  Jan and Mike discuss earlier waves of white nationalism that followed periods of advancement for Black people and how the Trump regime's white nationalism re-enacts that same history. They also take up projects in the South that are bold and creative in resisting this white-washing of history:

Whitney Plantation Museum

Equal Justice Institute

Remembering Eleni Varikas:  This Women’s History Month, the Old Mole celebrates the life and mourns the January death of Eleni Varikas. Eleni was a leading theoretician exploring the concept of “gender” when it was relatively unfamiliar in European feminist thought and focusing on those excluded from full participation in political life. Eleni taught for a semester in PSU’s Women’s Studies Department.

The Work of PIRC: On this Day Without an Immigrant broadcast, Laurie Mercier speaks with  Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC) coordinator Alyssa Walker Keller about the work of PIRC to support immigrants’ rights through direct assistance, education, legal support and advocacy and the challenges faced by the Trump administration’s aggressive ICE operations.

https://pircoregon.org/about/resource-center

PIRC Hotline  1-888-622-1510

2026 IMMIGRANT JUSTICE BILLS Oregon Immigrant Justice Bills 2026.pdf

PIRC Migra Watch Trainings https://pircoregon.org/get-involved/events

Oregon Sanctuary Promise  https://www.doj.state.or.us/oregon-department-of-justice/civil-rights/sa...

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