Norm Diamond hosts this episode of the Old Mole, which includes the following segments:
Alternative Institutions in Venezuela: Old Mole Luisa Martinez interviews Sofia Isabel González Ortiz, about a commune that includes a bakery, farm and communal space. Their conversation ranges from the personal – Sofia’s own role in the commune and her own political growth – to the national and international: how the commune was formed and how it functions in the context of US sanctions. This is a level of continuing popular revolutionary initiative in Venezuela about which we hear very little in the U.S. Norm Diamond comments.
Financial Lives of the Poets: As corporate interests make jobs in America more precarious, many households that thought of themselves as middle class are now living paycheck to paycheck and struggling with the cost of housing, health care, and education. Writer and photographer Matt Witt reviews a novel called The Financial Lives of the Poets by Spokane author Jess Walter that follows one couple whose lives are spinning out of control.
Elections and Climate Change: The Democrats fared better in the midterm elections than pollsters predicted and many climate organizations are celebrating the outcome of many races. In Oregon, Tina Kotek narrowly defeated Republican Christine Drazan—an anti-abortion conservative who also promised to gut regulation of fossil fuel industries in the region and roll back climate initiatives. In their Left and the Law segment, Jan Haaken and Mike Snedeker take a sober look at how climate politics fared in the midterm elections and how climate activists in the global South are pushing for new legal strategies, including through the COP27 meetings in Egypt last week.
- KBOO