Photo of Wall Art in Cypress: Image licensed for public use: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/809719
Patricia Kullberg hosts this episode of the Old Mole, which includes the following segments:
Finding Home: Sisters of the Road and the Welcome Home Coalition conducted research from 2023 until 2025 to learn from people who are currently homeless, or have been homeless in the past five years, what they want and need to stay housed. The study applied participatory action research methods, including 429 surveys, as well as focus groups, community analysis groups and data walks, and was advised by researchers from Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University. Over the course of survey collection, data analysis, and policy recommendation drafting, Finding Home engaged over 650 people with lived experience with homelessness in the Portland metro area for the report, Finding Home: Lasting Housing Solutions Rooted in Community Expertise. Frann Michel talks with Sisters of the Road Executive Director Nicki Dardinger and Systemic Change Organizer Katie Sponagle about the surprising and unsurprising results of the research, why this report was needed, and how listeners can contribute to addressing the problems of housing in Portland and environs.
Jeffrey Epstein and the Power of Global Elites: Our Well Read Red reads excerpts from an article by Middle East scholar Soumaya Ghannoushi, who argues that the Jeffrey Epstein story provides a behind the scenes look at global elites and their machinations. The article, “Epstein Saga Exposes Israel’s Iron Grip on US Power,” was originally published in Middle East Eye on November 20. The full article can be accessed here: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/epstein-saga-exposes-israels-iron-grip-us-power
Poetry for Our Times: Our guest Poetry Mole, Catherine Bax, shares the poem by Joy Harjo, “For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet.” Joy Harjo was the United States poet laureate in 2019. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1951, Harjo is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The complete text of the poem is available at: https://poets.org/poem/calling-spirit-back-wandering-earth-its-human-feet
Music for Our Times: In honor of the holidays, our music for this episode is drawn from a long and rich tradition of using the season to remind us of the struggles of the oppressed, past and present. Our songs will include the “Rock Ballad of Harry T Moore” by Sweet Honey in the Rock about the murdered civil rights activists, Harry and Harriet Moore in 1951. We’ll also play Peter, Paul and Mary singing “Light One Candle” about the Maccabees and their fight for religious freedom. Their victory is celebrated each year with the Festival of Lights or Hanukkah.