This episode is hosted by Frann Michel and includes these segments:
The Afro-Atlantic Origins of the Banjo
Joe Clement presents a collection of traditional banjo music and
documentaries shining light on the Afro-Atlantic origins of the banjo, and
some of its enduring...
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On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court released its Roe v. Wade decision
legalizing abortion, now overturned by the 2022 Dobbs decision. This
episode of the Old Mole looks at the history of abortion access in Portland
and at the broader context of reproductive j...
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During the century that preceded Roe v Wade in 1973, abortion was illegal in
Oregon. Even so, women consistently sought and obtained abortions, including
from licensed physicians. But whether the practice was officially tolerated
or suppressed fluctuated significantly ov...
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A few months ago, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a challenge to a federal law
designed to keep indigenous children from being taken from their families and
put up for adoption outside of their tribes. Oregon writer and photographer
Matt Witt tells us about a riveting TV se...
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At the annual meetings of the American Historical Association in early
January, Dr. Carol Anderson joined a panel of scholars tasked with responding
to the question, “Is the United States Turning Toward Fascism”? Jan
Haaken talks with Anderson about her comments on the p...
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This episode is hosted by Frann Michel and includes these segments:
Campus Free Speech Controversies
On December 5th a US Congressional committee grilled three prominent
university presidents—Elizabeth Magill of the University of Pennsylvania
(who has since resigned)...
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On December 5th a US Congressional committee grilled three prominent
university presidents—Elizabeth Magill of the University of Pennsylvania
(who has since resigned), Sally Kornbluth of MIT, and Claudine Gay of Harvard
in a hearing on “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable...
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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 doe...
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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 and s...
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Jan Haaken talks with Cynthia-Lou Coleman, Professor Emerita of communication
at Portland State University, about her recent book, Environmental Clashes
on Native American Lands (2020, Palgrave Macmillan). One of the clashes taken
up in the book centers on the discovery ...
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