Making Contact: Recent Episodes

"Making Contact" By National Radio Project

Media that helps build a movement: Making Contact is an award-winning, 29-minute weekly magazine/documentary-style public affairs program heard on 140 radio stations.

We sit down with Kev Choice, a classically trained pianist, rapper, composer, and educator, who has reshaped the Bay Area music scene. Raised in Oakland with San Francisco roots, Kev blends hip-hop, jazz, soul, and classical music into a unique sound. His latest EP, _All My Love_, explores themes of love, vulnerability, and human connection, with soulful melodies and reflective lyrics capturing the complexities of relationships. This episode first aired in November 2024.

Featuring:

Kev Choice

Credits:

Episode host: Anita Johnson
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Kev Choice "All This Love"
Kev Choice "Congratulations"
Kev Choice "Searching for a Feeling
Kev Choice "Fresh Fade"
Kev Choice "International Blvd"
Kev Choice "God"
Kev Choice "Feel What I Feel"

Learn More:

https://kevchoice.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kevchoice/?hl=en
https://westcoaststyles.com/interviews/2024/04/kev-choice-love-liberation/
https://www.oaklandsymphony.org/artist/kev-choice/

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

As we head into an ever warming world, some experts and politicians are embracing a possible solution to climate change called geoengineering. Theoretically geoengineering could slow down climate change, stop it, and maybe even remove carbon from the air. It sounds like the perfect answer for a global political system that just can't stop burning fossil fuels even if it kills us all. But it might not be the easy fix we're hoping for.

We talk to scientists and activists about what geoengineering is and why it could actually be a dangerous way to tackle climate change. We also dive into the moral and ethical questions of testing geoengineering technology on Indigenous lands. This episode first aired in 2023.

Featuring:

Basav Sen, Climate Justice Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies
Dr. Steven Zornetzer, Vice-Chair, Governing Board of Arctic Ice Project
Panganga Pungowiyi, organizer for the nonprofit Indigenous Environmental Network in Alaska

Making Contact Team

Episode hosts: Salima Hamirani and Jessica Partnow
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits

Chris Zabriskie – Air Hockey Salon
Bio Unit – Industrial Zone
Chris Zabriskie – Take Off and Shoot a Zero
Doctor Turtle – Leap Second
Monplaisir – Ridiculous
Monplaisir – Juan Garcia Madero

Learn More:

Indigenous Environmental Network
Arctic Ice Project
Institute for Policy Studies

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On this week's Making Contact, we feature an extended interview with Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, a queer Diné filmmaker and director of the award-winning documentary Powerlands.

Powerlands traces how multinational energy corporations extract resources and profits while displacing and harming Indigenous communities around the world. The film follows Indigenous activists in Navajo Nation, Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines who are fighting back against corporations like Peabody Energy, Glencore and BHP.

This show first aired in June 2023.

Featuring:

Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, an award-winning queer Diné filmmaker and director of Powerlands

Music:

Documentary by Music\_Unlimited

Credits

Host: Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

This episode includes excerpts from the documentary film Powerlands.

Learn More:

Powerlands Documentary website:

www.powerlands.org

Dive into the history of Point Reyes National Seashore, one of the most iconic parks in northern California, with us. Known for rugged sweeping beaches and the famous tule elk, we'll recount the waves of colonization that violently upended the lives of the Coast Miwok peoples who lived there – and one Indigenous woman's struggle to preserve her family history.

The story of Point Reyes is a story about how the forces of colonialism continue to shape the fate of public lands in the United States, and the campaigns waged to fight back and protect Indigenous land.

Featuring:

Theresa Harlan (Kewa Pueblo/Jemez Pueblo), adopted daughter of Elizabeth Campigli Harlan (Coast Miwok), founder and executive director of The Alliance for Felix Cove

Credits:

Host: Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
"Whose Point Reyes?: A Battle for the Future of Public Lands" Parts 1 and 2 Credits:
Reporter and producer: Sam Anderson
Editor: Lucy Kang
First aired on KPFA

Learn More:

Whose Point Reyes on Apple Podcasts
Alliance for Felix Cove
Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

There's an idea in Mexico that racism doesn't exist, that all Mexicans are "mestizo" – a homogenous blend of Spanish and indigenous. But cultural worker José Antonio Aguilar says racism is lived by Black and brown Mexicans in many ways. He founded Racismo MX, an organization which seeks to dismantle racism, after coming to terms with his own racial reality as a "prieto" – a brown man. We also hear from anthropologist Ismael Rivera and Aztec expert Camilla Townsend as they unravel lies the Spanish colonizers told about ancient Aztecs that still feed racist tropes today. This episode first aired in 2023.

Featuring

José Antonio Aguilar – Racismo MX, Founder and Director
Ismael Rivera – Anthropologist, Historian, Cultural Guide
Dr. Camilla Townsend, P.h.D. – Rutgers University, Professor

Making Contact

Host: Amy Gastelum
Freelance Producer: Anthony Wallace
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music

Nahuales Negros – Chinampa, Cempasúchil, Barcos A Lo Lejos, Mixquic, Teponaztli, Danza A Pakal

Learn More

Racismo MX
- FB: https://www.facebook.com/raciclasismomx
- IG: racismomx
- X: @Racismo_MX
Ismael Rivera Tours
- FB: https://www.facebook.com/riveratrips
Rutgers University
- FB: https://www.facebook.com/RutgersU
- X: @RutgersU
- IG: rutgersu
Anthony Wallace
- X: @anthonyjwallace

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into Indigenous resistance against extractivism and the forces behind climate change. We'll look at an underreported story in California about the Amah Mutsun Ohlone's fight to save their most sacred site — a place called Juristac. Contributors Robert Raymond and Della Duncan explore the horrific injustices wrought upon California Indians since the time of the Spanish Missions up to the present and focus on how the Amah Mutsun are working to regenerate their culture, language, and land.

_Special thanks to The Satterberg Foundation & Upstream Podcast._

Featuring:

Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
Eleanor Castro, Amah Mutsun Elder

Credits:

Episode Producers: Della Duncan and Robert Raymond

The Making Contact Team

Host: Monica Lopez
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music Credits:

Chris Zabriski, BRONCHO, Xlyo Ziko, Inaequalis, Meydan

Learn More:

Protect Juristac Campaign
County Of Santa Clara, Dept. of Planning and Development
Sargent Quarry
Ahmah Mutsun Land Trust

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Last week, we visited a community in California's Central Valley called East Orosi, which has been fighting for clean water for over 20 years. This week we turn our attention to their sewage system, which is also falling apart. Why has it been so difficult for East Orosi to get clean drinking water and fix its sewage problems? To answer that question, we take a look at the community utility districts that run sewage and water in unincorporated towns all across California. We'll discuss their problems as well as ways to save them. This show first aired in August 2024.

Featuring:

Credits:

Episode Credits:

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Voiceovers

Ana Portnoy Brimmer
Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

Music Credits

Komiko – Blue
PC III – Ocean Tapping
Alpha Hydrae – Friends and Apples
Hicham Chahidi – Gouttes
Ben von Wildenhaus – Week Twenty-five
Ketsa – No Light Without Darkness
The Custodian of Records – Thunderstorm

Learn More:

Making Contact: https://focmedia.org/
Community Water Center: https://www.communitywatercenter.org/
Self-Help Enterprises: https://www.selfhelpenterprises.org/

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 2012, the state of California declared water a human right. Yet nearly 400 water systems don't meet the state's drinking water standards. In the Central Valley, the community of East Orosi hasn't had safe tap water in over 20 years. The water is full of harmful nitrates and other runoff from industrial agriculture. We visit East Orosi and talk to Berta Diaz Ochoa and others about what it's like living without access to clean drinking water and how the community has taken action to find a solution. This episode originally aired in July 2024.

Credits:

Making Contact Credits

Episode host and producer: Salima Hamirani

Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang

Executive Director: Jina Chung

Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Voiceovers

Amy Gastelum
Bobbi James
Ana Portnoy Brimmer
Alex Corey

Music Credits:

Komiku – Blue
Monet's Water Lilies
Dark Rainy Day
Water Drops, Sad Slow Piano Background
Mother Womb piano
Guracha Sonidera Cumbia Loops De Bateria Series II

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org

Community Water Center

Self Help Enterprises

State Water Resources Control Board

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Today we head back to Indianapolis with the podcast Urban Roots.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Jean Spears was a young mother and burgeoning preservationist. She saved antiques from houses about to be demolished; she bought a home in a white slum and renovated it; later on, she did the same with a historic home in the black neighborhood near Indiana Avenue. In the eighties, she and some neighbors started digging into this black neighborhood's history, uncovering the names of Black doctors, civic leaders, and other professionals who had lived there, many of whom had worked for Madam C.J. Walker. She helped rename the neighborhood to Ransom Place, in honor of Freeman Ransom, Madam Walker's prodigious lawyer. And in 1991, they succeeded in getting the Ransom Place Historic District included in the National Register of Historic Places.

Thanks in no small part to the connection to Madam C.J. Walker, Jean Spears was able to save this pocket of Black history, in an area that — as we explained last episode — the city of Indianapolis had almost erased from memory. But black Indy history is about more than Madam Walker, and other stories and places in the city need protection, too. In this episode, we'll introduce you to three Black women who are carrying on what Ms. Jean Spears started — safeguarding these little-known stories of the past and guiding Indianapolis toward a brighter future.

Featuring:

Claudia Polley, Urban Legacy Lands Initiative | Kaila Austin, artist and historian | Judith Thomas, Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement for the City of Indianapolis | Paula Brooks, the Environmental Justice Program Manager at the Hoosier Environment Council

Credits:

Urban Roots Podcast:

Urban Roots unearths little-known stories from urban history, especially histories of women and people of color that are in danger of being forgotten. Our mission is to elevate underrepresented voices and help preserve the places significant to them.

Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk

Editor and Executive Producer: Connor Lynch

Mixer: Andrew Callaway.

Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Making Contact Credits

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani

Executive Director: Jina Chung

Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits

Roman- Galaxy (inspired up melody)

Will Bangs - I'm so glad you exist

Learn More:

Part 1: Madam Walker & the Rise and Fall of Indiana Avenue | Urbanist Media

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

To celebrate Pride Month, we have a special show featuring stories from the Making Contact archives. We'll revisit the Stonewall Uprising with the 1989 audio documentary _Remembering Stonewall_, and then head to the gay rodeo with producer Vanessa Rancaño in a story from 2014.

Credits:

Making Contact Credits

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang

Executive Director: Jina Chung

Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credit: "Minimal Documentary" by penguinmusic via Pixabay

Bleep sound effect by freesound_community from Pixabay

Remembering Stonewall: The birth of a movement (1989)

Narrated by Michael Schirker

Produced by David Isay

Distributed by Pacifica Radio Archives

"All Around Cowboy: Inside the world of queer rodeo" Credits

Story producer and host: Vanessa Rancaño

This show was part of a partnership with the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

Special thanks to Claire Schoen

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: http://ww.focmedia.org

Remembering Stonewall on Pacifica Radio Archives: https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/pz0146

Making Contact episode "All Around Cowboy: Inside the world of queer rodeo"

https://focmedia.org/2014/06/all-around-cowboy-inside-the-world-of-queer-rodeo/

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In this special guest episode from the podcast In the Meanwhile, co-hosts Marcus Harrison Green and Nora Kenworthy sit down with author and activist Ijeoma Oluo (So You Want to Talk About Race; Mediocre: the Dangerous Legacy of White Male America; Be a Revolution) for a searching conversation about movement work, harm, belonging, and the radical choice to stay. Together, they explore the personal cost of speaking truth, the wounds movements can inflict on their own, and what it means to build the world we long for now—not after revolution, but through the way we live, love, and struggle every day. It's a deeply honest conversation about survival, accountability, joy, and choosing community even when it hurts.

Featuring:

Ijeoma Oluo

Credits:

Making Contact Team

Episode host and producer: Jessica Partnow

Executive Director: Jina Chung

Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

In the Meanwhile

Co-hosts: Marcus Harrison Green, Nora Kenworthy

Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé.

Logo by Nikki Barron.

Producer: Jessica Partnow

Learn More:

If You Decide To Stay | Behind the Book | Be a Revolution | So You Want to Talk About Race | Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America | In the Meanwhile Podcast |

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

For AAPI Heritage Month, we bring you an encore of our 2023 episode "Seeing Signs." With help from the Queens Memory Podcast, we'll learn about "Little Manila," a Filipino neighborhood dating back to the 1970s that still struggles to find its political footing. We also hear from Filipino care workers about their experiences battling COVID 19. This episode first aired on Making Contact in May 2023.

Featuring:

Potri Ranka Manis: Nurse, Activist and Artist
Joey Golja: Community Member
Mary Jane de Leon: Community Member
John Bahia: Community Member
Steven Raga: Assemblymember for District 30, Queens, NY
Jaclyn Reyes: Artist, Designer, and Cultural Organizer
Gemma Balagtas: Community Member, Nurse
Zenaida (Ida) Castillo: Community Member and Owner of PhilAm Food Mart

Credits:

Making Contact

Episode host and producer: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Queens Memory Podcast Team

Producers: Rosalind Tordesillas, Melody Cao, Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt
Mixing and editing by Cory Choy
Music composed by Elias Ravin
Voiceover work by Arianne Arreglado

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: https://focmedia.org/

Listen to Season 3 of the Queens Memory Podcast:

https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826
https://open.spotify.com/show/2cnAhpl3RDOQTC0HXOQnPd
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/queens-memory-our-major-minor-voices/id1617641711

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Activists in the Latinx immigrant community of Los Angeles share what they do to take care of their mental health. The issues these activists work on often impact their personal lives, and people who work in the service of others are particularly at risk of burnout and compassion fatigue. Self-care becomes a "selfless act" when it allows activists to stay healthy and do their work in a sustainable way. This show first aired in August 2020.

Featuring:

Paulina Velasco's reporting on Self Care as Selfless Act: Mental Health at the Root of Activism was undertaken as a USC Center for Health Journalism 2020 California Fellow.

Credits:

Writer, Producer, Host: Paulina Velasco
Editor: Monica Lopez
Voice Over Actor: Mariana Carstens
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
Transcription Volunteer: Mickey Ellinger
Special thanks to USC Senior Fellow, Catherine Stifter.

Music

" Elmore Heights", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle
" Kid Kodi", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle
" The Yards", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle
" Copley Beat", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle
" Greylock", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle
" Boston Landing", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle
" Pedalrider", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle

Learn More:

AltaMed Behavioral Health Services
Plascencia Consulting
Power California – Organize, Vote, Lead
Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California
Central American Resource Center Los Angeles

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we bring you a story at the intersection of therapy, healing and social justice. We'll hear about one therapist's work to bring the lens of radical therapy and community care into her practice. This piece was produced by the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center.

Featuring:

Claudia Morales, therapist at Social Justice Healing

Credits:

Making Contact

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
Music credit: "Documentary" by Coma-Media via Pixabay

Re:Work Episode "Radical Therapy" Credits:

Hosted and produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed
Sound design and editing by Veena Hampapur
Mixing by Aaron Dalton

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: https://focmedia.org
Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center: https://reworkradio.labor.ucla.edu

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In some parts of the world, traditional herbal remedies are the norm. When we think of natural remedies we tend to think of older generations living in remote areas, in far away countries, with little access to modern healthcare. We rarely think about the ancient medicinal plants that might exist in our very own cities. On today's episode we look at plant and herb medicines through the lens of Michele Elizabeth Lee the author of Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African-American Healing.

Featuring:

Michele Elizabeth Lee, Traditional Healing Practitioner, Educator, Visual Artist and the Author of Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing
Brandi Mack, Holistic Health Educator, Therapeutic Massage Therapist, Trauma-Informed Youth developer, Powerful Presenter, and Permaculture Designer
Estrella Davina, Holistic Practitioner

Making Contact Team:

Executive Director: Jina Chung
Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum and Lucy Kang
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music Credits:

Blue Dot Session - Bedroll
Blue Dot Session - 3rd Chair
Lobo Loco - Alright in Louisiana
Lobo Loco - Inside Your Body
Audiobinger - The Garden State

Learn More:

Working The Roots Instagram
Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing
Brandi Mack
LA Times: Black Herbalist
Black Women Herbalists
Black Healers
NY Times: Some Lessons from Herbalists
Mojo Workin'
African American Slave Medicine
Sticks Stones Roots Bones

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Almost half of Puerto Rico's doctors have fled the island over the past decade, leading to a lack of specialists and treatment and incredibly long wait times. And this isn't just an inconvenience. People are dying from lack of care. Why is Puerto Rico's health care system collapsing, and why are doctors fleeing the island?

We take a look at its deeply dysfunctional private medical system and why attempts to fix it, and create a universal health care plan on the island, are being hindered by Puerto Rico's status as a US colony. Its massive unpayable debt, held by investors in the US, means that it cannot make its own economic decisions, even when it affects the livelihood of poor Puerto Ricans living there. But there might be a fix, getting rid of Puerto Rico's debt and rethinking its colonial relationship to the US. This episode first aired in October 2024.

Credits:

Making Contact:

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits:

Daniel Birch – Indigo Strokes
Axletree – Goldfinch- Flight to the North
Mindseye – Spores
Soft and Furious – So What

Learn More:

Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora
The Nation Magazine
Puerto Rico's Unnatural Disaster

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Federal food programs, like WIC, face big changes coming out of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Meanwhile, a single moms collective in Ohio holds it down for the single pregnant and parenting people in their community. Motherful's resource pantry serves their 325-strong membership out of a garage three times a week. We talk to members and founders to learn what's it's like to participate, how it all started and where food justice is headed for them now and in their wildest dreams.

Featuring:

Kay Riley- college student and Mom to baby Wisdom, Motherful Member
Rugi Ngaide - Ohio supreme court translator, Mom, Motherful member
Lisa Woodrow - Co-Founder and Co-Director of Motherful, Mom
Heidi Howes - Co-Founder and Co-Director of Motherful, Mom
Rebecca Piazza: Senior Advisor for Delivery, Food and Nutrition Service, Mom

Making Contact Team

Host: Amy Gastelum
Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music

HoliznaCC0, Sky Scraper

Learn More:

Motherful
Changes to WIC

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

For Black Maternal Health Week, we celebrate the important work that Black midwives do in their communities. In this week's show, we'll hear a conversation about how one woman followed her calling to midwifery in a story brought to us by the podcast _Re:Work_ from the UCLA Labor Center.

Featuring:

Kimberly Durdin, licensed midwife and co-founder of Kindred Space LA and the Birthing People Foundation

Credits:

Making Contact

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang

Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang

Executive Director: Jina Chung

Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credit: "Documentary" by The_Mountain via Pixabay

Re:Work Episode "The Calling" Credits:

Hosted and produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org

Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center: https://reworkradio.labor.ucla.edu

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In the late 1990s, psychologist Dr. Joseph Gone, a professor and member of the Aaniiih Gros Ventre tribe, returned home during his doctoral training to the Fort Belknap Reservation in north central Montana. There, he set aside Eurocentric concepts of psychology he was learning in school and instead asked tribal members how mental illness is addressed using traditional Indigenous practices. What he learned changed the trajectory of his career. Listen to find out how he helped bring precolonial cultural and spiritual practices into substance use disorder treatment in contemporary Indigenous settings. This show first aired in July 2024.

Featuring:

Dr. Joseph Gone, psychologist and interdisciplinary social scientist at Harvard University and member of the Aaniiih-Gros Ventre Tribal Nation of Montana

Credits:

Making Contact:

Episode Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

Songs: The Horses are Coming, The Gift, Song of Honor
Album: The Return of the Buffalo Horses
Artists: Darrell Norman and Ramon Kramer https://www.blackfeetculturecamp.com/d-norman/

Learn More:

Dr. Joseph Gone
American Indian Health and Family Services, Detroit, MI

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On today's program we honor the life and legacy of civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs (27 June 1915-5 October 2015).

Through the lens of the documentary film _American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs_ we present a close and personal view of Boggs' activism. The film plunges us into Boggs' lifetime of vital thinking and action, traversing the major U.S. social movements of the last century; from labor to civil rights, to Black Power, feminism, the Asian American and environmental justice movements and beyond.

Boggs' constantly evolving strategy—her willingness to re-evaluate and change tactics in relation to the world shifting around her—drives the story forward. Angela Davis, Bill Moyers, Bill Ayers, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Danny Glover, Boggs' late husband James and a host of Detroit comrades across three generations help shape this uniquely American story. As she wrestles with a Detroit in ongoing transition, contradictions of violence and non-violence, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, the 1967 rebellions, and nonlinear notions of time and history, Boggs emerges with an approach that is radical in its simplicity and clarity: revolution is not an act of aggression or merely a protest. Revolution, Boggs says, is about something deeper within the human experience — the ability to transform oneself to transform the world.

Special thanks to Grace Lee (no relation), producer and director of _American Revolutionary_, and to raptivist Invincible_. _

Featuring:

Grace Lee Boggs
Grace Lee, Contributing Producer and Filmmaker

Credits:

Host: Anita Johnson
Contributing Producer: Grace Lee
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Bontex, Creeping
Blue Dot Sessions, Grand Caravan
Invincible + Waajeed, Detroit Summer
Audio Banger, the Garden State

Learn More:

American Revolutionary Film
Americans Who Tell The Truth
Grace Lee Boggs Detroit Activist Dies At 100
Invincible
Emergence Media

Dr. Flemmie Kittrell was a Black home economist whose research in the field of early childhood education shaped the way we think about child development today. She became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition and contributed immensely to programs like Head Start – even though her name is often left out of the history. We'll hear more about her life and work in a story from the podcast _Lost Women of Science_,_ _hosted by Carol Sutton Lewis and Danya AbdelHameid.

Featuring:

Dolores Caffey-Fleming, Program director of Project STRIDE, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Allison Horrocks, Public historian
Lauren Bauer, fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution

Credits:

Making Contact

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
Music Credit: "Science Documentary" by Aleksey Chistilin (Lexin_Music) via Pixabay

Lost Women of Science: "Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment" Credits

Hosted by Danya AbdelHameid and Carol Sutton Lewis
Written and produced by Danya AbdelHameid with senior producer Elah Feder
Music composed by Lizzie Younan
Episode sound designed and mastered by Alex Sugiura
Executive producers: Amy Scharf and Katie Hafner
Chief multimedia editor at our publishing partner, Scientific American: Jeff Delviscio

Listen to the full episode from Lost Women of Science: https://www.lostwomenofscience.org/podcast-episodes/flemmie-kittrell-and-the-preschool-experiment

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company when a scientist gave her a tour of the lab. Looking at the long rows of pregnancy tests she thought, well anyone could do that test at home! So she set about designing a prototype for America's first home pregnancy test. While the design of the prototype was simple, convincing the company, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary was an uphill climb for Crane, who is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry. This show first aired in February 2024.

Featuring:

Margaret Crane - Graphic designer and inventor of the first home pregnancy test
Wendy Kline - Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, History Faculty Purdue University
Jesse Olszynko-Gryn - Head of the Laboratory for Oral History and Experimental Media at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Arthur Kover - Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University
Alexandra Lord - Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History

Making Contact Staff:

Host: Amy Gastelum
Guest Producer: Anne Noyes Saini
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

Podington Bear, Rhythm and Strings

Learn More:

National Museum of American History https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1803285
A Woman's Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain - https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544399/a-womans-right-to-know/
Predictor, by Jennifer Blackmer https://newplayexchange.org/plays/348156/predictor

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Dr. Rebecca Crumpler was the first Black woman to become a physician in the United States. Working in the aftermath of the Civil War, she made immense contributions to public health, despite the racism and sexism she faced. We'll trace the course of her remarkable life and work with in a story brought to us by the podcast Lost Women of Science, hosted by Katie Hafner and producer Dominique Janee.

Featuring:

Dr. Melody McCloud, Physician and author of _Black Women's Wellness_
Dr. Joan Reede, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership at Harvard Medical School
Jim Downs, Historian and author of _Sick from Freedom_
Victoria Gall, with Hyde Park Historical Society and Friends of the Hyde Park Branch Library

Making Contact Credits

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
Music Credit: "The Road From Home" by Sergii Pavkin from Pixabay

Lost Women of Science: "Dr. Rebecca Crumpler, America's First Black Female Public Health Pioneer" Credits

Producer and host: Dominique Janee
Host: Katie Hafner
Managing senior producer: Barbara Howard
Audio engineer and sound designer: Samia Bouzid
Published in partnership with Scientific American

Listen to the full episode from Lost Women of Science: https://www.lostwomenofscience.org/podcast-episodes/dr-rebecca-crumpler-americas-first-black-female-public-health-pioneer

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, Remember This House. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin's original words and flood of rich archival material. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for.

Featuring:

Film Participants: James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Dick Cavett, Marlon Brando, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and many more

Credits:

Host: Anita Johnson
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Learn More:

http://www.iamnotyournegrofilm.com/
http://www.magnoliapictures.com/
https://studios.amazon.com/
James Baldwin: The Last Interview: and other Conversations (The Last Interview Series)
Interview with James Baldwin on Sexuality - Richard Goldstein

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Our radio adaptation of the film, The Murder of Fred Hampton, produced by filmmakers Mike Gray and Howard Alk, provides a glimpse into the life of Hampton and the Illinois Black Panther Party.

On December 4th, 1969, exactly 50 years ago, Black Panthers Fred Hampton, age 21, and Mark Clark, age 22, were shot to death by Chicago police.

In an infamous moment in Chicago's history and politics, over a dozen policemen burst into Hampton's apartment while its occupants were sleeping, killing Hampton and fellow Panther Mark Clark, and brutalizing the other occupants.

As Deputy Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, Hampton built a solid reputation as a community organizer and brilliant speaker. The FBI, threatened by the activities of the BPP and its dynamic youth leaders, set on a course to neutralize the organization and anyone they deemed a threat to the agenda of white supremacy.

"You can jail the revolutionary, but you can't jail the revolution…You might murder a freedom fighter like Bobby Hutton, but you can't murder freedom fighting." – Fred Hampton.

Featuring:

Fred Hampton
Bobby Rush
Rennie Davis
Edward Hanrahan

Credits:

Special thanks to Facets DVD and Filmmakers Mike Gray and Howard Alk
Host: Anita Johnson
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

"Grand Caravan", Blue Dot Sessions elling Easements Viola Trio Long", Barbara Bernstein
"Long Cory", Cory

Learn More:

The Murder of Fred Hampton
A Facets Cine-Notes Booklet
The Assassination of Fred Hampton
Freedom Archives: Fred Hampton Audio Samples
Freedom Archives: Honoring Fred Hampton on the 50th Anniversary of his Murder

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther

On today's show, we take a look at the life and legacy of a central organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, Bayard Rustin. Rustin was an openly gay civil rights leader and a trusted advisor to labor leader A. Phillip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This show first aired in June 2021.

Special Thank You to Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer the producers/directors of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin and Sam Pollard, the executive director. And to the Pacifica Radio Archives for use of the Bayard Rustin archival materials.

Featuring:

Bayard Rustin – the architect of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Ashon Crawley – University of Virginia Associate Professor of Religious Studies and African-American and African Studies
Nancy Kates – filmmaker and producer of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Bill Sutherland – Fellowship of Reconciliation
Reverend A.J. Muste – pacifist and mentor of Rustin
George Houser – Fellowship of Reconciliation
Louis John – nephew of Bayard Rustin
Devi Prasad – pacifist

Making Contact Team

Episode host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits

Cory Gray – "Medieval Tension"
Ketsa – "This Way Joyous"
Blue Dot Sessions – "Rally"
Blue Dot Sessions – "Rayling"
Dee Yan-Key – "Hold On"
Dee Yan-Key – "Go Down Moses"
Blue Dot Sessions – "3rd Chair"
Andy G. Cohen – "Our Young Guts"

Learn More

Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio
Bayard Rustin Fund
Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington by Jacqueline Houtman, Michael G. Long, Walter Naegle
I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin's Life in Letters by Bayard Rustin, edited by Michael G. Long
Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen
Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers
PBS
History
AFL-CIO
Washington Post
NYTimes

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

None

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th 1963, at the March on Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered one of the most famous speeches of all time. But it nearly didn't happen. On this special edition of Making Contact, Gary Younge, author of The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream, talks about Martin Luther King Junior's "Dream" and the story behind it. Special thanks to the New School for the recording.

Featuring:

Gary Younge, author and journalist

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: George Lavender
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

From its birthplace in an Oakland cafe in 1994 to the Battle in Seattle, international reporting projects, and a deep commitment to social justice journalism, Making Contact has been an important part of the media landscape for more than thirty years. Guest host Jessica Partnow guides us through some of the key moments in Making Contact's history in conversation with founders Peggy Law and Norman Solomon.

This episode is part of the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries takes us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It explores a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tells the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

Peggy Law
Norman Solomon
Jeff Emtman

Credits:

Making Contact Team

Guest Host: Jessica Partnow
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah Brempong
Interviews: Salima Hamirani
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

"Bullethead," Charlie Hunter Trio

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

About two million Guatemalans live in the US. But, half of those here lack legal status, and tens of thousands of Guatemalans are deported back to their country each year. Are the countries these migrants left prepared for an influx of returnees?

This episode, originally released in 2018, is part of the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries takes us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It explores a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tells the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

Carlos Lopez, Casa del Migrante Guatemala
Martin, Juan Sebastian, Rodolfo, and Hicer – Guatemalans who have migrated and been deported, or who have attempted to migrate to the US
Lisbeth Gramajo, Anthropologist at Rafael Landivar University
Willie Barreno, Chef and Founder of Cafe Red Kat
Fredy Lopez, San Pedro Credit Cooperative
Don Julio, Q'anjobal Maya Elder
Don Sebastian Gaspar, Business Owner
Father Mauro Verzeletti, Director Casa del Migrante Guatemala and El Salvador
Father Dionisio, Pastor of San Pedro Catholic Church
Marvin Otzcoy, Guatemalan Fraternity of Northern Nevada

Credits:

Reporting made possible by a grant from FIJ— the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Voice Overs by Miguel Estrada, Claude Marks, Jesús Hermosillo, Joel Ulloa, Max Ferrin, Glenn Ontiveros, Ruxandra Guidi, Jonathan Lawson, and Chris Stehlik.

Making Contact Team

Host: Monica Lopez
Episode Producer & Reporter: Maria Martin
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

"Assobio", Z Trigueiros
"Saez", Z Trigueiros
"Phased", Z Trigueiros
"Fater Lee", Black Ant (open)
"Rise", Meydan (credits)

Learn More:

Casa del Migrante – Guatemala
La Cafe Red Kat
La Cafe Red Kat II
'Nothing for us here': Deported Guatemalans plan to return to U.S.
U.S. embassy cables warned against expelling 300,000 immigrants. Trump officials did it anyway.
'Claudia was a good girl. Why did they kill her?' From a Guatemalan village to death in Texas
San Juan Ostuncalco llora a Claudia Patricia Gómez

In dozens of countries around the world, millions of people live beside border walls. These heavily militarized and closely watched areas can be dangerous places to be. On this edition, from Palestinian farmers struggling to make a living next to the Israeli wall, to shootings at the fence that divides the US and Mexico.

This episode, originally produced in 2013, is presented as part of the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries takes us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It explores a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tells the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

Alex Soto, MC Shining Soul, Hannah Hafter, No More Deaths, Isabel Garcia, Derechos Humanos co-chair, Majed Wahdan, Gazan farmer; Mohammed Qudaih, drone strike victim; Dr Nabil Abu Sahammalla, Gazan Agricultural Ministry Director General for Planning; Zahra Abu Daqqa, Gazan farmer; Saber Za'aneen, non-violent activist

Making Contact Credits:

Host: George Lavender
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Learn More:

No More Deaths

Coalición de Derechos Humanos

International Solidarity Movement

Palestinian Solidarity Project

Electronic Intifada

Oodham Solidarity

Gila River Against Loop 202

Stop CanaMex

No South Mountain Freeway

Shining Soul

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On November 30th, 1999, tens of thousands of people shook the streets of Seattle, Washington, in protest of the World Trade Organization. The WTO symbolized the corporate takeover of human needs and the environment. On this edition, we revisit the voices from that week.

This episode, originally released in 2009, is part of the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries takes us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It explores a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tells the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

Gopal Dayaneni, organizer with Movement Generation; Mohau Pheko, representative of the Africa Trade Network at the 1999 Seattle WTO meeting; Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute; Chuck Collins, co-founder of United for a Fair Economy and Wealth for the Common Good.

Making Contact Team:

Producer: Andrew Stelzer
Episode Host: Tena Rubio
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

Infernal Noise Brigade
The Platform

Learn More:

Focus on the Global South Bangkok, Thailand | Inequality and the Common Good Boston, MA | Institute for Policy Studies Washington, DC | International Forum on Globalization San Francisco, CA | Jubilee USA Network Washington, DC | Movement Generation Oakland, CA | Oakland Institute Oakland, CA | Ruckus Society Oakland, CA | United for a Fair Economy Boston, MA | Wealth for the Common Good Boston, MA

Books and Films: Five Days That Shook the World: The Battle for Seattle and Beyond

By Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair and Allan Sekula

The Battle in Seattle - The Story Behind and Beyond the WTO Demonstrations

By Janet Thomas

This is What Democracy Looks Like (film)

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 2019 a well known romance writer began tweeting about other writers in her community and concerns about racism. It led to a huge reckoning within an organization called the Romance Writers of America. And although the online debate seemed to be isolated to a specific community of romance writers and their fans, it was really a microcosm of what's been happening all over the US. In this episode we learn all about romance novels and how newer writers are changing the norms of the genre, and giving it a political power it's never had before. And, we talk about what it means for organizations to change as they grapple with questions of race.

This episode, originally released in June 2022, is part of the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries takes us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It explores a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tells the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

Jayashree Kamble; professor of English Literature at La Guardia Community College
Reagan Jackson; co-executive director, Young Women Empowered, also a romance reader and fan
Contance Grady; Senior Culture Reporter for Vox
Elise Staples, member of a romance reading book club through meetup.com

Credits:

Making Contact Team

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Salima Hamirani, Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Amy Gastelum
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

Johnny Ripper - Overout
Johnny Ripper - Sfhk (mental breakdown)
Johnny Ripper - Untitled (waking up)
Johnny Ripper - In a Dream
Dance of the Seahorse - Gideon Freudman
Pictures of the Floating World - Waves
Bio Unit - Subterannean
Ketsa - you asked

Learn More:

Constance Grady's Article for Vox
The Romance Writers of America
International Association for the Study of Popular Romance
Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction: An Epistemología
Recommended Reading list

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 2023, Kirin Clawson's endocrinologist placed a puberty-blocking implant in her arm, a medical intervention that is associated with improved mental health for many trans kids with gender dysphoria. In February 2024, Indiana joined several other conservative states banning this treatment for minors. In this episode we hear from the Clawsons how the ban has impacted their family. And, we hear from psychologist, Dr. Myeshia Price about how all adults in the lives of children can support gender diverse youth, despite increasing discriminatory anti-trans laws aimed at kids.

This episode, originally released in June 2024, kicks off the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries will take us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It will explore a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tell the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

This episode features the Clawson family including Beth, mother and Child Health Worker; Nathaniel, father and Project Manager; and children Kirin, Max, and Izzy Clawson. The episode also features Dr. Myeshia Price, an Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Human Development program within the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology and Associate Research Scientist with the Kinsey Institute; and Bradford Barrett, Indiana State House Representative.

Credits:

This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum with Production Assistant Emily Miles. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. Jeff Emtman is our engineer and LIssa Deonorain does digital media marketing.

Learn More:

Gender Nexus | Gender Expansive Kids and Company | Trans Solutions | Protect Our People | LGBTQ services and support map from Family Acceptance Project and the Innovations Institute | Family Acceptance Project |The Kinsey Institute

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company when a scientist gave her a tour of the lab. Looking at the long rows of pregnancy tests she thought, well anyone could do that test at home! So she set about designing a prototype for America's first home pregnancy test. While the design of the prototype was simple, convincing the company, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary was an uphill climb for Crane, who is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry. This show first aired in February 2024.

Featuring:

Margaret Crane - Graphic designer and inventor of the first home pregnancy test
Wendy Kline - Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, History Faculty Purdue University
Jesse Olszynko-Gryn - Head of the Laboratory for Oral History and Experimental Media at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Arthur Kover - Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University
Alexandra Lord - Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History

Making Contact Staff:

Host: Amy Gastelum
Guest Producer: Anne Noyes Saini
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

Podington Bear, Rhythm and Strings

Learn More:

National Museum of American History https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1803285
A Woman's Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain - https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544399/a-womans-right-to-know/
Predictor, by Jennifer Blackmer https://newplayexchange.org/plays/348156/predictor

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Dr. Flemmie Kittrell was a Black home economist whose research in the field of early childhood education shaped the way we think about child development today. She became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition and contributed immensely to programs like Head Start – even though her name is often left out of the history. We'll hear more about her life and work in a story from the podcast Lost Women of Science, hosted by Carol Sutton Lewis and Danya AbdelHameid. This episode first aired on Making Contact in March 2025.

Featuring:

Dolores Caffey-Fleming, Program director of Project STRIDE, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Allison Horrocks, Public historian
Lauren Bauer, fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution

Credits:

Making Contact

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music

"Science Documentary" by Aleksey Chistilin (Lexin_Music) via Pixabay

Lost Women of Science: "Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment" Credits

Hosted by Danya AbdelHameid and Carol Sutton Lewis
Written and produced by Danya AbdelHameid with senior producer Elah Feder
Music composed by Lizzie Younan
Episode sound designed and mastered by Alex Sugiura
Executive producers: Amy Scharf and Katie Hafner
Chief multimedia editor at our publishing partner, Scientific American: Jeff Delviscio

Listen to the full episode from Lost Women of Science: https://www.lostwomenofscience.org/podcast-episodes/flemmie-kittrell-and-the-preschool-experiment

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

This episode honors the life and legacy of Alice Wong (Mar 27, 1974-Nov 14, 2025). We start the show with the Making Contact segment she produced in 2015, exploring the complex relationships between caregivers and care receivers: the vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care. Whether you're a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. The segment includes a conversation with Patty Berne, co-founder of Sins Invalid, who passed away in May 2025.

The show continues with an excerpt from Wong's powerful essay, Diversifying Radio with Disabled Voices, which is a powerful call for better inclusion and representation of disabled voices in audio journalism. The episode closes with Alice's reading of Laura Hershey's 1991 poem You Get Proud by Practicing.

Featuring:

Camille Christian, home care provider and SEIU member
Brenda Jackson, home care provider and SEIU member
Patty Berne, co-founder and director, Sins Invalid
Jessica Lehman, executive director, San Francisco Senior and Disability Action
Kenzi Robi, president, San Francisco IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) Public Authority Governing Body
Rachel Stewart, queer disabled woman passionate about disability and employment issues
Alana Theriault, disability benefits counselor in Berkeley, California
Ingrid Tischer, director of development, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)

Episode Credits:

Host: Jessica Partnow and Laura Flynn
Segment Producer: Alice Wong
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Dexter Britain: The Time To Run (Finale),
Gillicuddy: Adventure, Darling,
Steve Combs: March,
Jason Shaw: Running Waters,
Jared C. Balogh: BRICK BY BRICK DAY BY DAY,
Jared C. Balogh: INCREMENTS TOWARDS SERENITY,
Nheap: Crossings,
Cherly KaCherly: The Hungry Garden,
Trio Metrik: Vogelperspektive,
Kevin MacLeod: Faster Does It

Learn More:

Diversifying Radio with Disabled Voices, by Alice Wong | You Get Proud by Practicing, by Laura Hershey | Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life, by Alice Wong | UCSF: UCSF Study Projects Need for 2.5M More Long-Term Care Workers by 2030 | SEIU: Longterm Care Workers | Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund | Disability Visibility Project | Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network | National Disability Leadership Alliance | Senior and Disability Action | Sins Invalid | San Francisco In Home Supportive Services Public Authority | Family Caregiver Alliance

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In Episode 2 of "Exposed" from our friends at San Francisco Public Press, we explore a little-known chapter in San Francisco's nuclear era: human experiments carried out to assess the health effects of radiation. Scientists from the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, located at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, designed and executed at least 24 experiments that involved gathering data from humans — in some cases, injecting test subjects with radioisotopes or having them ingest fluids laced with trace amounts of radioactive materials. Even football players from the San Francisco 49ers were enrolled as test subjects in these so-called tracer studies.

We hear from military veterans who were sent on a mysterious mission to spread radioactive substances onto rooftops at an Army base near Pittsburg, Calif., for an experiment the radiation lab played a role in designing. Some recount experiences of witnessing nuclear bomb blasts in the Nevada desert. We also examine a national pattern of human radiation experiments revealed by Eileen Welsome, the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, who shined a light on similar practices conducted by government facilities, hospitals and other institutions. This miniseries first aired on Making Contact in February 2025.

Featuring:

Eldridge Jones, served in the military and was part of Operation Stoneman | Merle Votaw, a Navy veteran who participated in Operation Stoneman II | Eileen Welsome, author of "Plutonium Files" | Holly Barker, Anthropologist and professor at the University of Washington who studied the Marshall Islands.

Credits:

San Francisco Public Press:

Reporting: Chris Roberts and Rebecca Bowe
Editing: Michael Stoll and Liz Enochs
Research Editing: Ambika Kandasamy
Web Design: John Angelico
Copy Editing: Kurt Aguilar, Michele Anderson and Richard Knee
Archival Research and Illustration: Stacey Carter
Audio Editing: Liana Wilcox, Mel Baker and Megan Maurer
Sound Gathering: Justin Benttinen
Photography: Sharon Wickham, Yesica Prado and Guillermo Hernandez
Graphic Design: Reid Brown
Fact Checking: Dani Solakian and Ali Hanks
Proofreading: Lila LaHood, Noah Arroyo, Zhe Wu and Sylvie Sturm
Special thanks to Alastair Gee and Danielle Renwick at The Guardian and Ben Trefny at KALW Public Radio, and to Laura Wenus and Amy Pyle

Making Contact:

Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music Credits:

Midday, by the Blue Dot Sessions | Sweet Leilani, by Bing Crosby

Learn More:

[Exposed full investigation | Exposed Part 2

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Today we present the first half of a two-part radio documentary from our friends at SF Public Press, "Exposed," opening a window into the little-known history of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The sprawling abandoned naval base, in San Francisco's southeast waterfront Bayview neighborhood, is currently the site of the city's largest real estate development project. The base played a key role in the Cold War nuclear era, when it housed a research institution known as the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, which studied the human health effects of radiation.

In Episode 1 of the podcast, we trace the radioactive contamination found in the shipyard soil today back to its origins, with nuclear bomb testing in the Marshall Islands. We also hear from environmental justice advocates, including one who led a health biomonitoring survey revealing that nearby residents have toxic elements stored in body tissues that match the hazardous chemicals of concern identified at the shipyard. It first aired on Making Contact in February 2025.

Featuring:

Ahimsa Porter Sumchai, community advocate and medical doctor | Michelle Pierce:, Executive director of Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates | Leaotis Martin, resident of Bayview | Raymond Tompkins, community advocate, chemist and former member of the Hunters Point Shipyard Restoration Advisory Board | Daniel Hirsch, president of Committee to Bridge the Gap | Derek Robinson; Navy representative.

Credits:

San Francisco Public Press:

Reporting: Chris Roberts and Rebecca Bowe
Editing: Michael Stoll and Liz Enochs
Research Editing: Ambika Kandasamy
Web Design: John Angelico
Copy Editing: Kurt Aguilar, Michele Anderson and Richard Knee
Archival Research and Illustration: Stacey Carter
Audio Editing: Liana Wilcox, Mel Baker and Megan Maurer
Sound Gathering: Justin Benttinen
Photography: Sharon Wickham, Yesica Prado and Guillermo Hernandez
Graphic Design: Reid Brown
Fact Checking: Dani Solakian and Ali Hanks
Proofreading: Lila LaHood, Noah Arroyo, Zhe Wu and Sylvie Sturm
Special thanks to Alastair Gee and Danielle Renwick at The Guardian and Ben Trefny at KALW Public Radio, and to Laura Wenus and Amy Pyle

Making Contact:

Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music Credits:

Midday, by the Blue Dot Sessions
Sweet Leilani, by Bing Crosby

Learn More:

Exposed full investigation

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

We sit down with Kev Choice, a classically trained pianist, rapper, composer, and educator, who has reshaped the Bay Area music scene. Raised in Oakland with San Francisco roots, Kev blends hip-hop, jazz, soul, and classical music into a unique sound. His latest EP, _All My Love_, explores themes of love, vulnerability, and human connection, with soulful melodies and reflective lyrics capturing the complexities of relationships. This episode first aired in November 2024.

Featuring Kev Choice

Making Contact Team

Episode host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Learn More

Kev Choice | on Instagram | interview in West Coast Styles | Oakland Symphony

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

To mark Indigenous People's Day, we'll hear two stories about communities working with food to revitalize identity and ancestry. First, we speak to Mariah Gladstone and Kenneth Cook in Blackfeet Nation in Montana about their online cooking show Indigikitchen and follow them into the field as they harvest a bison. Then, we talk to Dr. Keitlyn Alcantara about the Tlaxcala, an indigenous tribe living in central Mexico who were able to survive the expansive Aztec empire in the period just before colonization, and visit the Healing Garden at Hilltop in Bloomington, Indiana, where diaspora members connect with familiar plants, the earth and each other. This show first aired in August 2022.

Featuring:

Kenneth Cook, helps operate Indigikitchen
Mariah Gladstone, founder of Indigikitchen
Boyd Evans, rancher on Blackfeet Nation
Dr Keitlyn Alcantara, assistant professor of archeology at Indiana University
Margarita Martinez Osorio, PhD student of history at Indiana University
Andre Bispo de Jesus, gardener at Indiana University

Making Contact Team:

Guest Reporter: Kathleen Shannon
Episode hosts: Salima Hamirani and Amy Gastelum
Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Amy Gastelum, Salima Hamirani and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits:

Caslo – Freedom
Jonny Ripper – Opening Credits
Danny Bale – Grevillia Music

Learn More:

Indigikitchen
The Healing Garden

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so we are revisiting a show from our archives about criminalized survival, the criminal justice system's long practice of imprisoning survivors of intimate partner violence when they fight back against their abusers. We'll hear from journalist Natalie Pattillo and filmmaker Daniel A. Nelson, who followed the stories of imprisoned women Kim Dadou Brown, Tanisha Davis and Nikki Addimando for their documentary film And So I Stayed. This show first aired in July 2023.

Featuring:

Natalie Pattillo, journalist, mother and co-director of the film And So I Stayed
Daniel A. Nelson, filmmaker, cinematographer and co-director of the film And So I Stayed

Credits:

Making Contact Team

Episode Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music via WFMU free music archive

Poddington Bear, Alsace
HoliznaCC0, Whatever

Learn More:

The Survivor's Justice Project | And So I Stayed Film | The National Domestic Violence Hotline

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Almost half of Puerto Rico's doctors have fled the island over the past decade, leading to a lack of specialists and treatment and incredibly long wait times. And this isn't just an inconvenience. People are dying from lack of care. Why is Puerto Rico's health care system collapsing, and why are doctors fleeing the island?

We take a look at its deeply dysfunctional private medical system and why attempts to fix it, and create a universal health care plan on the island, are being hindered by Puerto Rico's status as a US colony. Its massive unpayable debt, held by investors in the US, means that it cannot make its own economic decisions, even when it affects the livelihood of poor Puerto Ricans living there. But there might be a fix, getting rid of Puerto Rico's debt and rethinking its colonial relationship to the US. This episode first aired in October 2024.

Credits:

Making Contact Team

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits

Daniel Birch – Indigo Strokes
Axletree – Goldfinch- Flight to the North
Mindseye – Spores
Soft and Furious – So What

Learn More:

Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora | The Nation Magazine: Puerto Rico's Unnatural Disaster

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

We return to Norfolk, Virginia, where flooding and rising sea levels threaten residents, and the climate plan for the city could perpetuate harmful patterns of segregation and environmental racism. With the help of the podcast Wading Between Two Titans, we'll take a look at how urban redevelopment is pushing out low-income and Black residents and what happens when communities are displaced due to climate gentrification.

Featuring:

Mr. Vernell, resident
Vincent Hodges, social worker and organizer
Monét Johnson, lead housing and environmental organizer for New Virginia Majority
Paul Riddick, former Norfolk City Council member

Credits:

Making Contact Team

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credit: "A Documentary" by AKTASOK via Pixabay

Wading Between Two Titans Team

Written, recorded, produced, edited, mixed, mastered and hosted by Adrian Wood
Show art by Adrian Wood
Story editing by Kelly Jones
Consultation and visioning with the Repair Lab 2022 Practitioner-in-Residence, Kim Sudderth
Music by Sugarlift
A project featuring original research by the Repair Lab

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Wading Between Two Titans

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In this episode, we'll head to Norfolk, Virginia, where flooding and rising sea levels are disproportionately threatening Black residents, while the city is also also weathering a housing crisis. We’ll hear about how sea-level rise, racism and housing are intertwined in this coastal city in a story from episode one of the podcast Wading Between Two Titans, brought to us by the University of Virginia's Repair Lab and producer Adrian Wood.

Featuring:

Dr. Tommy L. Bogger, professor of history at Norfolk State University | Cassandra Newby-Alexander, endowed professor of Virginia Black History and Culture at Norfolk State University

Credits:

Making Contact Team

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain
Music Credit: "A Documentary" by AKTASOK via Pixabay

Wading Between Two Titans Credits

Written, recorded, produced, edited, mixed, mastered and hosted by Adrian Wood
Show art by Adrian Wood
Story editing by Kelly Jones
Visioned by the Repair Lab 2022 Practitioner-in-Residence, Kim Sudderth
Music by Sugarlift
A project featuring original research by the Repair Lab

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Wading Between Two Titans

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Today on Making Contact we present “Saltwater Soundwalk,” an Indigenous audio tour of Seattle featuring a watery audio experience, with streams of stories that ebb and flow that intermixes English and Coast Salish languages. Indigenous Coast Salish peoples continue to steward this land and preserve its language, despite settler colonialism, industrialization and gentrification. Part story, part sound collage, this piece is scored entirely with the sounds of the waters and animals who live in and around the Salish Sea. This episode first aired in April 2023.

Saltwater Soundwalk Credits

Rachel Lam (Anigiduwagi enrolled Cherokee Nation) and Jenny Asarnow produced this work as part of FLOW: Art Along the Ship Canal, a commission from Seattle Public Utilities in partnership with the Office of Arts & Culture

Special Thanks

Commissioned with SPU 1% for Art Funds. Administered by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. City of Seattle, Bruce Harrell, Mayor. This episode of Making Contact was supported in part by a Moral Courage grant from the Satterberg Foundation.

Making Contact Team

Episode host: Anita Johnson
Segment Editor: Jessica Partnow
Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Lucy Kang, Amy Gastelum
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Audio Engineering: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits

Last Kiss – Magnus Moone | Audiobinger – Enchanted Forest

Learn More

Saltwater Soundwalk | Seattle Times | Art Beat Blog

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On this week's Making Contact, we talk about baseball with the help of some Venezuelan players living in Peru. In a story brought to us by the podcast In Confianza, with Pulso, we hear about how their hopes and dreams of making it big can fuel community when they’re living far from home. The story featured in this show first aired in July 2024.

Featuring:

Raian Baute, Venezuelan baseball aficionado | Rodrigo Baute, Los Astros player | Manny Padron, Major League Baseball scout for the Miami Marlins | Franklin Lopez, Los Astros coach | Wilmer Flores, baseball player for the San Francisco Giants

Making Contact Team:

Episode host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credit:

"Drums" by Andrewfai via Pixabay

Guest Episode Credits - In Confianza from Pulso

Show hosted by Liz Rebecca Alarcón
Story produced and narrated by Anthony Wallace
Editing by Mark Pagán and Charlie Garcia
Audio engineering and scoring by Anthony Wallace
Additional audio engineering and mixing by Charlie Garcia

Listen to the full episode from In Confianza, with Pulso

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Sixty-two years ago, a quarter of a million people gathered for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. On today's show, we take a look at the life and legacy of a central organizer of the march, Bayard Rustin. Rustin was an openly gay civil rights leader and a trusted advisor to labor leader A. Phillip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This show first aired in June 2021.

Featuring:

Bayard Rustin, architect of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Ashon Crawley, University of Virginia Associate Professor of Religious Studies and African-American and African Studies
Nancy Kates, filmmaker and producer of _Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin_
Bill Sutherland, Fellowship of Reconciliation
Reverend A.J. Muste, pacifist and mentor of Rustin
George Houser. Fellowship of Reconciliation
Louis John, nephew of Bayard Rustin
Devi Prasad, pacifist

Credits:

Making Contact Team

Episode host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music

Cory Gray – “Medieval Tension”
Ketsa – “This Way Joyous”
Blue Dot Sessions – “Rally”
Blue Dot Sessions – “Rayling”
Dee Yan-Key – “Hold On”
Dee Yan-Key – “Go Down Moses”
Blue Dot Sessions – “3rd Chair”
Andy G. Cohen – “Our Young Guts”

Learn More:

Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin, by John D’Emilio | Bayard Rustin Fund | Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington, by Jacqueline Houtman, Michael G. Long, Walter Naegle | I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters by Bayard Rustin, edited by Michael G. Long | Bayard Rustin: Troubles I’ve Seen | Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers | PBS on the March on Washington | History.com on the March on Washington | AFL-CIO and Bayard Rustin | Washington Post | NY Times

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

This week, we're sharing a guest episode from our friends at Project Pulso: Miami's Battle Over Bilingualism. The path for Miami to get as bilingual as it is today has been hard. Deep discrimination and mass resistance were what it took to get here. Today’s episode is about a decades-long power struggle between those who embraced diversity and those who fought to repress it. Produced in July 2024.

Featuring:

Dr. Paul George, Eduardo Padron, Gregory Samms

Making Contact Team

Episode Host: Jessica Partnow
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Pulso/In Confianza Podcast Team

Host: Liz Rebecca Alarcón
Producer, engineering, scoring, mixing: Charlie Garcia
Editor: Mark Pagán

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

This story is brought to us by the podcast Kerning Cultures. “Black Panthers in Algeria" tells the story of Elaine Mokhtefi as she landed in newly independent Algeria in the early 1960s and found herself at the center of a special period in the country’s history when it was known as the “Mecca of revolution.” Elaine encountered world famous radicals, ragtag political parties, spies and military leaders – and became an unlikely sidekick to one of the most iconic liberation groups of our time. This episode first aired on Making Contact in September 2024 and Kerning Cultures in April 2023.

Featuring

Elaine Mokhtefi
Natalia Bin Khaled Vince
Justin Gifford
Eldridge Cleaver

Making Contact Credits

Episode host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Kerning Cultures Credits

Produced by Deena Sabry and Alex Atack
Edited by Dana Ballout
Fact checking by Eman Alsharif
Sound design by Mohamad Khreizat, Paul Alouf and Alex Atack
Our team also includes Zeina Dowidar, Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson

Learn More

Algiers: Third World Capital | Revolution or Death: The Life of Eldridge Cleaver | Kerning Cultures

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was created in the aftermath of 9/11. To contextualize what's happening with immigration today under Trump 2.0, we bring you one person’s story of being caught in the anti-Muslim fervor post-9/11 and how she became an organizer advocating for the immigrants’ rights. We'll also hear what her story teaches us about avoiding burnout in doing social justice work. This story comes to us by way of Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center.

Featuring:

Ainee Athar, immigrant rights and climate justice

Making Contact Team

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

"Documentary Piano Ambient" by BoDleasons via Pixabay

Re:Work Episode "Beyond the Glass Wall" Credits:

Hosted by Veena Hampapur and George Chacon
Produced by Veena Hampapur, George Chacon, and Saba Waheed Sound design and editing by Veena Hampapur
Mixing by Aaron Dalton

Learn More:

Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center | FOC Media

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In the late 1990s, psychologist Dr. Joseph Gone, a professor and member of the Aaniiih Gros Ventre tribe, returned home during his doctoral training to the Fort Belknap Reservation in north central Montana. There, he set aside Eurocentric concepts of psychology he was learning in school and instead asked tribal members how mental illness is addressed using traditional Indigenous practices. What he learned changed the trajectory of his career. Listen to find out how he helped bring precolonial cultural and spiritual practices into substance use disorder treatment in contemporary Indigenous settings. This show first aired in July 2024.

Featuring:

Dr. Joseph Gone, psychologist and interdisciplinary social scientist at Harvard University and member of the Aaniiih-Gros Ventre Tribal Nation of Montana

Credits:

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

Songs: The Horses are Coming, The Gift, Song of Honor
Album: The Return of the Buffalo Horses
Artists: Darrell Norman and Ramon Kramer

Learn More:

Learn More:

Dr. Joseph Gone
American Indian Health and Family Services, Detroit, MI

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On this week’s show, we’ll continue with the podcast mini-series Crosswinds from the University of Virginia’s Repair Lab and producer Adrian Wood. The show looks at the impact of coal dust pollution on Black neighborhoods in Virginia through the lens of environmental racism. In this episode, we'll listen to how the looming gentrification of one community might impact the pollution.

Featuring:

Lathaniel Kirts, practitioner-in-residence at University of Virginia's Repair Lab
Mark'eta Kirts, resident
Lawrence Turner, resident
Donquitta Clements, founder and executive director of Break the Cycle
Sheila McAllister, Director of City Planning for the City of Newport News
Yugonda Sample-Jones, founder and president of EmPower All
Millie Taylor, resident

Making Contact Team:

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credit: "That Documentaries" by The\_Mountain via Pixabay

Crosswinds Episode 2: Change Credits

Hosted, written, produced, mixed and mastered by Adrian Wood
Editing by Oluwakemi Aladesuyi of Rough Cut Collective
Scoring by Torrin Purkett and Adrian Wood
Produced through the Repair Lab at the University of Virginia

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Coal Dust Kills | The Repair Lab

Listen to the entire _Crosswinds_ series: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

We take a deep dive into coal dust air pollution in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, where trains transporting coal expose residents of predominantly Black communities to harmful dust. We look at this issue of environmental racism with the help of the podcast Crosswinds, featuring producer Adrian Wood.

Featuring:

Lathaniel Kirts, practitioner-in-residence at University of Virginia's Repair Lab
Malcolm Jones, practitioner-in-residence at University of Virginia's Repair Lab
Grace Holmes, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Dr. Kim Fields, environmental policy expert at the University of Virginia and assistant professor in African American Studies
Michael Mines, community leader in Newport News with Flow Church and Peninsula Baptist Association
Carl Poole, advocate with New Virginia Majority

Making Contact Team:

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credit: "That Documentaries" by The\_Mountain Pixabay

Credits - Crosswinds Ep. 1: Friendship:

Hosted, written, produced, mixed and mastered by Adrian Wood
Editing by Oluwakemi Aladesuyi of Rough Cut Collective
Scoring by Torrin Purkett and Adrian Wood
Produced through the Repair Lab at the University of Virginia

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Coal Dust Kills | The Repair Lab

Listen to the entire Crosswinds series:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Black students with dyslexia all too often carry a heavy burden in our public schools. This documentary centers around a grandmother who fought for years to get her grandkids — particularly her grandson — properly assessed for dyslexia. Like too many African American boys, Geraldine Robinson’s grandson had been erroneously labeled with an “intellectual disability” and deprived of proper reading remediation. Monica Lopez hosts this episode, which first aired in 2021.

Featuring:

Geraldine Robinson, Oakland matriarch raising her grandkids
Cheryl Theis, Education Advocate, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Megan Potente, Educational Therapist and Co-State Director, Decoding Dyslexia CA
Kareem Weaver, Oakland NAACP Education Committee

Episode Credits:

Reporter/Producer: Lee Romney
Editor: Monica Lopez and Lisa Morehouse
Engineer: James Rowlands

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: Monica Lopez
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Learn More:

International Dyslexia Association
Decoding Dyslexia
California Dyslexia Guidelines

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

School resource officers are often called upon in middle and high schools to help with routine discipline. But for many children, especially those with disabilities, a law enforcement response to their behavior can lead to the school-to-prison pipeline. This week on Making Contact, we hear a story from our podcast partner 70 Million about the relationship between students with special needs and school resource officers and the changes some would like to see in an edited version of “Why Policing Our Schools Backfires.”

70 Million Team

Episode Reporter: Claire McInerney
Editor: Monica Lopez and Juleyka Lantigua
Host: Mitzi Miller
Sound Designer: Erica Huang
Photo Editor: Michelle Baker
Staff Writer and Designer: Kori Doran
Lead Fact Checker: Kate Gallagher
Lead Producer: Pamela Kirkland
Episode Photographer: Zerb Mellish & Michael Minasi
Creator/Executive Producer: Juleyka Lantigua

Making Contact Team:

Host: Anita Johnson
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In this episode we discuss disability, culture and identity from the perspective of disability communities themselves.

Seattle based activist Dorian Taylor talks about the specific challenges disabled people face while accessing public transportation and Professor Sara Acevedo discusses the powerful ways that common language and terminology can shape our perceptions of disability, and why even today we are seeing further exclusion of disabled people. This program originally aired in 2019.

Featuring: Dorian Taylor, Sara Acevedo.

Episode Credits

Special thanks to CIIS, the California Institute of Integral Studies and the CIIS Public Programs Podcast for use of the Sara Acevedo talk. To learn more about the CIIS Public Programs Podcast log onto https://www.ciispod.com/.

The story of Dorian Taylor was produced by Yuko Kodama and Mona Yeh in partnership with KBCS and Finding America, a national initiative produced by AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio Incorporated. Financial support was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Wincote Foundation, The John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Making Contact Team

Host: Anita Johnson
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Learn More:

CIISPod | Sara Acevedo | Hampshire-Dorian Taylor | Krip Hop Nation | Fixed The Movie

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

The vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care.

Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. In honor of Disability Pride Month, we’ll revisit the dynamic and complex relationship of care receiving and giving.

Camille Christian, home care provider and SEIU member
Brenda Jackson, home care provider and SEIU member
Patty Berne, co-founder and director, Sins Invalid
Jessica Lehman, executive director, San Francisco Senior and Disability Action
Kenzi Robi, president, San Francisco IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) Public Authority Governing Body
Rachel Stewart, queer disabled woman passionate about disability and employment issues
Alana Theriault, disability benefits counselor in Berkeley, California
Ingrid Tischer, director of development, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
Alta Mae Stevens, in-home caregiver

Episode Credits:

Host: Laura Flynn and Anita Johnson
Contributing Producers: Alice Wong and Stephanie Guyer-Stevens
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Dexter Britain: The Time To Run (Finale)
Gillicuddy: Adventure, Darling
Steve Combs: March
Jason Shaw: Running Waters
Jared C. Balogh: BRICK BY BRICK DAY BY DAY | INCREMENTS TOWARDS SERENITY
Nheap: Crossings
Cherly KaCherly: The Hungry Garden
Trio Metrik: Vogelperspektive
Kevin MacLeod: Faster Does It

Learn More:

UCSF: UCSF Study Projects Need for 2.5M More Long-Term Care Workers by 2030
SEIU: Longterm Care Worker
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Disability Visibility Project
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
National Disability Leadership Alliance
Senior and Disability Action
Sins Invalid
San Francisco In Home Supportive Services Public Authority
Family Caregiver Alliance

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On this week’s episode, we dive into the hidden biases of the digital age with Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble, author of the groundbreaking book, Algorithms of Oppression. Dr. Noble unpacks how search engines, often seen as neutral tools, can reinforce harmful stereotypes and limit access to critical knowledge. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our digital experiences and discuss the urgent need for accountability in technology. This show first aired in December 2024.

Featuring:

Dr. Safiya U. Noble, David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and professor of gender studies, African American studies and information studies at UCLA

Making Contact Team:

Episode host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Learn More:

Dr. Safiya Noble | Dr. Noble @ UCLA | Algorithms of Oppression | Purdue CDS Inaugural Lecture | Dr. Noble discusses the themes of her book

On this week's show, we explore Latino food and culture in Chicago’s historic Pilsen neighborhood and hear about how food can bring communities together. We tag along with the podcast In Confianza with Pulso as they try to answer the question: what does a Latino version of the tv show "The Bear" taste like? We'll head to two restaurants, Cafe Jumping Bean and Pochos, to find out.

Featuring:

Eleazar Delgado, owner of Cafe Jumping Bean | Miguel Hernandez and Irene Acosta, owners of Pochos

Making Contact Credits

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credit: "Drums" by Andrewfai via Pixabay

In Confianza with Pulso: "What does a Latino version of "The Bear" Taste Like?" Credits

Hosted by Liz Rebecca Alarcón
Produced and edited by Mark Agan
Audio engineering scoring and mixing by Charlie Garcia

Learn More

Making Contact homepage | In Confianza with Pulso

In this week’s episode, we take a look at how over six decades after the Korean War, South Korea processed the most international adoptions in history and how the demand for a “domestic supply of (adoptable) infants” may be playing a role in increasing threats to autonomy over pregnancy in the US. This show first aired in November 2024.

Featuring

Alex Lewis, independent producer and founder of Rowhome Productions | Schuyler Swenson, producer | Lydia Doublestein, registered midwife

Making Contact Team

Episode Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Guest Producers

Producer/Reporter: Anne Noyes Saini
Producer: Schuyler Swenson

Music Credits

Andy G. Cohen, “Bumbler”
Zé Trigueiros, “Big Road of Burravoe”, “Ponto”
Hogan Grip, “Stance Gives You Balance”

Music was changed only in length and volume levels and can be found here: http://www.freemusicarchive.org/

To celebrate Pride Month, we have a special show featuring stories from the Making Contact archives. We'll revisit the Stonewall Uprising with the 1989 audio documentary Remembering Stonewall, and then head to the gay rodeo with producer Vanessa Rancaño in a story from 2014.

Making Contact Credits

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music

"Minimal Documentary" by penguinmusic via Pixabay
Bleep sound effect by freesound\_community from Pixabay

Remembering Stonewall: The birth of a movement (1989)

Narrated by Michael Schirker
Produced by David Isay
Distributed by Pacifica Radio Archives

All Around Cowboy: Inside the world of queer rodeo" (2014)

Story producer and host: Vanessa Rancaño
This show was part of a partnership with the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Special thanks to Claire Schoen

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Remembering Stonewall on Pacifica Radio Archives |

Making Contact episode "All Around Cowboy: Inside the world of queer rodeo"

A year ago, the world said goodbye to Reverend James Lawson Jr. On today's show, we look back at the work and legacy this leading figure in the Civil Rights Movement and advocate of nonviolence, with the help of the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center.

Reverend James Lawson Jr., nonviolence advocate and civil rights leader

Making Contact

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credit:

"For Documentary" by The\_Mountain via Pixabay

"Soul Force 2" from Re:Work by the UCLA Labor Center Credits:

Produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed
Sound design and editing by Veena Hampapur
Mixing by Aaron Dalton

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center | Show on FoC Media

Last week, we visited a community in California's Central Valley called East Orosi, which has been fighting for clean water for over 20 years. This week we turn our attention to their sewage system, which is also falling apart. Why has it been so difficult for East Orosi to get clean drinking water and fix its sewage problems? To answer that question, we take a look at the community utility districts that run sewage and water in unincorporated towns all across California. We'll discuss their problems as well as ways to save them. This show first aired in August 2024.

Episode Credits

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Voiceovers

Ana Portnoy Brimmer
Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

Music Credits

Komiko – Blue
PC III – Ocean Tapping
Alpha Hydrae – Friends and Apples
Hicham Chahidi – Gouttes
Ben von Wildenhaus – Week Twenty-five
Ketsa – No Light Without Darkness
The Custodian of Records – Thunderstorm

Learn More

Making Contact | Community Water Center | Self-Help Enterprises

In 2012, the state of California declared water a human right. Yet nearly 400 water systems don't meet the state's drinking water standards. In the Central Valley, the community of East Orosi hasn’t had safe tap water in over 20 years. The water is full of harmful nitrates and other runoff from industrial agriculture. We visit East Orosi and talk to Berta Diaz Ochoa and others about what it’s like living without access to clean drinking water and how the community has taken action to find a solution. This episode originally aired in July 2023.

Making Contact Credits

Episode host and producer: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Voiceovers

Amy Gastelum
Bobbi James
Ana Portnoy Brimmer
Alex Corey

Music Credits

Komiku – Blue
Monet’s Water Lilies
Dark Rainy Day
Water Drops, Sad Slow Piano Background
Mother Womb piano
Guracha Sonidera Cumbia Loops De Bateria Series II

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Community Water Center | Self Help Enterprises | State Water Resources Control Board

Dr. Rebecca Crumpler was the first Black woman to become a physician in the United States. Working in the aftermath of the Civil War, she made immense contributions to public health, despite the racism and sexism she faced. We'll trace the course of her remarkable life and work with in a story brought to us by the podcast Lost Women of Science, hosted by Katie Hafner and producer Dominique Janee.

Featuring:

Dr. Melody McCloud, Physician and author of Black Women’s Wellness Dr. Joan Reede, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership at Harvard Medical School Jim Downs, Historian and author of Sick from Freedom * Victoria Gall, with Hyde Park Historical Society and Friends of the Hyde Park Branch Library

Making Contact Credits

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credit: "The Road From Home" by Sergii Pavkin from Pixabay

Lost Women of Science: "Dr. Rebecca Crumpler, America's First Black Female Public Health Pioneer" Credits

Producer and host: Dominique Janee
Host: Katie Hafner
Managing senior producer: Barbara Howard
Audio engineer and sound designer: Samia Bouzid

Published in partnership with Scientific American

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Listen to the full episode from Lost Women of Science

For AAPI Heritage Month, we bring you an encore of our 2023 episode "Seeing Signs." With help from the Queens Memory Podcast, we'll learn about “Little Manila,” a Filipino neighborhood dating back to the 1970s that still struggles to find its political footing. We also hear from Filipino care workers about their experiences battling COVID 19. This episode first aired on Making Contact in May 2023.

Featuring:

Potri Ranka Manis: Nurse, Activist and Artist
Joey Golja: Community Member
Mary Jane de Leon: Community Member
John Bahia: Community Member
Steven Raga: Assemblymember for District 30, Queens, NY
Jaclyn Reyes: Artist, Designer, and Cultural Organizer
Gemma Balagtas: Community Member, Nurse
Zenaida (Ida) Castillo: Community Member and Owner of PhilAm Food Mart

Making Contact Team:

Episode host and producer: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Queens Memory Podcast Team:

Producers: Rosalind Tordesillas, Melody Cao, Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt
Mixing and editing by Cory Choy
Music composed by Elias Ravin
Voiceover work by Arianne Arreglado

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage | Listen to Season 3 of the Queens Memory Podcast: NYC Libraries | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Composer, pianist, and vocalist Samora Pinderhughes tells us about The Healing Project. The Healing Project, a fundamentally abolitionist project, explores the structures of systemic racism and the prison industrial complex.

The Healing Project takes action towards abolition with forms such as musical songs, films, an exhibition, community gatherings, live performances, and a digital library of audio interviews. At the center of the project are the intergenerational voices of people across the country, including folks incarcerated in prisons and detention centers. Their stories, experiences, and ideas serve as the foundation for The Healing Project’s vision for societal transformation. This story first aired in February 2023.

Featuring: Samora Pinderhughes, composer, pianist/vocalist, and interdisciplinary artist

Making Contact Credits:

Episode Host: Anita Johnson
Segment Editors: Jessica Partnow, Lucy Kang, Jacinda Abcarian
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits:

Borrtex – “Creeping”
Samora Pinderhughes – “Process”
Samora Pinderhughes – “Hope”

Learn More:

Samora Pinderhughes | The Healing Project | Exhibition site | Tiny Desk Concert filmed live inside the exhibition | Exhibition films, “Masculinity” & “Hold that Weight” | Exhibition album

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we bring you a story at the intersection of therapy, healing and social justice. We'll hear about one therapist’s work to bring the lens of radical therapy and community care into her practice. This piece was produced by the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center.

Featuring: Claudia Morales, therapist at Social Justice Healing

Making Contact Team

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credit: "Documentary" by Coma-Media via Pixabay

Re:Work Episode "Radical Therapy" Credits

Hosted and produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed
Sound design and editing by Veena Hampapur
Mixing by Aaron Dalton

Learn More:

Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

For Earth Day, we bring back a special environmental episode from our archives!

As we head into an ever warming world, some experts and politicians are embracing a possible solution to climate change called geoengineering. Theoretically geoengineering could slow down climate change, stop it, and maybe even remove carbon from the air. It sounds like the perfect answer for a global political system that just can’t stop burning fossil fuels even if it kills us all. But it might not be the easy fix we’re hoping for.

We talk to scientists and activists about what geoengineering is and why it could actually be a dangerous way to tackle climate change. We also dive into the moral and ethical questions of testing geoengineering technology on Indigenous lands. This episode first aired in 2023.

Featuring:

Basav Sen, Climate Justice Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies | Dr. Steven Zornetzer, Vice-Chair, Governing Board of Arctic Ice Project | Panganga Pungowiyi, organizer for the nonprofit Indigenous Environmental Network in Alaska

Making Contact Team:

Episode hosts: Salima Hamirani and Jessica Partnow | Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang | Executive Director: Jina Chung | Engineer: Jeff Emtman | Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong | Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits:

Chris Zabriskie – Air Hockey Salon | Bio Unit – Industrial Zone | Chris Zabriskie – Take Off and Shoot a Zero | Doctor Turtle – Leap Second | Monplaisir – Ridiculous | Monplaisir – Juan Garcia Madero

Learn More:

Indigenous Environmental Network | Arctic Ice Project | Institute for Policy Studies

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

For Black Maternal Health Week, we celebrate the important work that Black midwives do in their communities. In this week's show, we'll hear a conversation about how one woman followed her calling to midwifery in a story brought to us by the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center. Featuring Kimberly Durdin, licensed midwife and co-founder of Kindred Space LA and the Birthing People Foundation

Making Contact Team

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credit: "Documentary" by The Mountain via Pixabay

Re:Work Episode Credits

Hosted and produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed

Learn More

Making Contact homepage | Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

What is caste? According to author Thenmozhi Soundararajan, “caste is suffering. That one’s worth and fate are determined at the moment of birth. Forced to exist in a caste apartheid of segregated ghettos." On this week's episode, we talk to Thenmozhi Soundararajan the author of The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition. Examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspective , Thenmozhi lays bare the grief, trauma, rage, and stolen futures enacted by Brahminical social structures on the caste-oppressed. This is an encore presentation of a show that first aired June 12, 2024.

Featuring: Thenmozhi Soundararajan the author of The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolitio

Making Contact Team

Host: Anita Johnson

Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang

Executive Director: Jina Chung

Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Blue Dot Sessions - "3rd Chair"

Blue Dot Sessions - "Paving Stones"

Learn More:

The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition
Thenmozhi Soundararajan / Dalit Diva
Google’s plan to talk about caste bias led to ‘division and rancor’
Hindu Sect Accused of Using Forced Labor
Dismantling the Caste System

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On this week's episode, we speak with Bay Area based comedian Karinda Dobbins about the release of her debut comedy album, Black & Blue. In Black & Blue, Karinda shares personal stories - finding humor in the most ordinary moments of her daily life - including her girlfriend’s arbitrary policy on household pests, the changes hipsters have brought to Oakland, and a Black woman’s unique packing list for hiking. This is an encore presentation of a show that first aired August 14, 2024.

Featuring:

Karinda Dobbins, standup comedian, writer, and actor

Making Contact Staff:

Host: Anita Johnson

Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang

Executive Director: Jina Chung

Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits:

Dee Yan-Key "Hold on"

Audiobinger "The Garden State"

Learn More:

Karinda Dobbins

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

During his first term, Trump stacked the Supreme Court with hard right judges creating a 6-3 split that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a stunning ruling in which a human right which was previously granted by law was taken away from the public. This time Trump faces even less resistance and could remake the Supreme Court once again.

Ellie Mystal, justice correspondent and columnist for The Nation magazine, joins us to talk about the Supreme Court: what the democrats could have done under Biden to fix the third branch of government so that we wouldn't now be in such a politically vulnerable position; but also what we can expect in terms of possible new Supreme Court nominations and what they could mean for our remaining rights.

Featuring:

Ellie Mystal: The justice correspondent and columnist for The Nation magazine and host of their legal podcast, “Contempt of Court.” Author of “Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution”

Music:

Nihilore - More Scared of You
Anemoia - Tephra
Ben Von Wildenhaus - Week Twenty-Five
Axletree - Flight to the North
Mindseye - Spores (instrumental)
Crowander - Opening Lines.

Making Contact Team

Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Find Out More

How Trump Could Remake the Supreme Court:
The Courts Can’t Stop the Trump-Musk Coup:
Contempt of Court podcast:
Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Dr. Flemmie Kittrell was a Black home economist whose research in the field of early childhood education shaped the way we think about child development today. She became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition and contributed immensely to programs like Head Start – even though her name is often left out of the history. We'll hear more about her life and work in a story from the podcast _Lost Women of Science_,_ _hosted by Carol Sutton Lewis and Danya AbdelHameid.

Featuring:

Dolores Caffey-Fleming, Program director of Project STRIDE, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Allison Horrocks, Public historian
Lauren Bauer, fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution

Credits

Making Contact

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credit:

"Science Documentary" by [Aleksey Chistilin]

Lost Women of Science: "Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment"

Hosted by Danya AbdelHameid and Carol Sutton Lewis
Written and produced by Danya AbdelHameid with senior producer Elah Feder
Music composed by Lizzie Younan
Episode sound designed and mastered by Alex Sugiura
Executive producers: Amy Scharf and Katie Hafner
Chief multimedia editor at our publishing partner, _Scientific American_: Jeff Delviscio

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org

Listen to the full episode from _Lost Women of Science: https://www.lostwomenofscience.org/podcast-episodes/flemmie-kittrell-and-the-preschool-experiment

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to know about and take control of their own lives and bodies.

But while the design of the prototype was simple, Crane faced the issues we continue to fight when it comes to reproductive rights and the health and autonomy of people who give birth: an uphill battle to convince the pharmaceutical companies, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary. After all this, Crane is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry.

Featuring:

Margaret Crane – Graphic designer and inventor of the first home pregnancy test
Wendy Kline – Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, History Faculty Purdue University
Jesse Olszynko-Gryn – Head of the Laboratory for Oral History and Experimental Media at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Arthur Kover – Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University
Alexandra Lord – Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History

Credits:

Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Anubhuti Kumar

Music Credits:

Podington Bear, Rhythm and Strings

Learn More:

National Museum of American History: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1803285
A Woman’s Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544399/a-womans-right-to-know/
Predictor by Jennifer Blackmer: https://newplayexchange.org/plays/348156/predictor

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

A new philosophy steeped in the ideas of Artificial Intelligence, space colonization, and the long-term survival of the human species is gaining ground among the wealthy. However, there are reasons to question its goals and its ethics. Longtermists believe that not only could we colonize space and create simulated humans in giant servers around stars, but that we must. Anything short of a trillion-year multi-planetary existence for our species would be a moral failing. They also believe that all of our ethical actions should focus on the countless lives that may exist in that dim future, instead of on the people alive today. Is this the kind of ethics we should all accept, however? Philosopher and historian Émile P. Torres joins us to discuss Longtermism and its dangerous pitfalls.

Featuring: Émile P. Torres, Philosopher and Historian

Credits: Host: Salima Hamirani Co-host: Amy Gastelum Executive Director: Jina Chung Segment Editor + Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Lucy Kang, Amy Gastelum Audio Engineering: Jeff Emtman

Music Credits:

Rocky Marsiano – Whatshappenin Blear Moon – Ongoing Cases Alex Productions – Born Dilating TImes – Faded Flowers Danny Bale – Fern Music (Extended)

Learn More:

Emile P. Torres Article on Longtermism

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

This week on Making Contact, we bring you a story of urban planning and how race has shaped American cities. In his book, Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption, Mitchell Schwarzer explores the origins and the lasting impacts of transportation improvements, systemic racism, and regional competition on Oakland’s built environment. Schwarzer, an architectural and urban historian, pulls from his experience as a city planner, and educator to tell the story of a city divided.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Mitchell Schwarzer; Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Visual Culture at California College of the Arts. He has written books on architectural theory, visual perception, and the buildings of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Credits

Host: Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music:

Blue Dot Sessions “Bedroll” Blue Dot Sessions “Messy Inkwell” Andy G. Cohen “Our Young Guts”

Learn More:

Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption Most Segregated Cities

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In episode two of “Exposed” from our friends at the San Francisco Public Press, we explore a little-known chapter in San Francisco’s nuclear era: human experiments carried out to assess the health effects of radiation. Scientists from the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, located at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, designed and executed at least 24 experiments that involved gathering data from humans — in some cases, injecting test subjects with radioisotopes or having them ingest fluids laced with trace amounts of radioactive materials. Even football players from the San Francisco 49ers were enrolled as test subjects in these so-called tracer studies.

We hear from military veterans who were sent on a mysterious mission to spread radioactive substances onto rooftops at an Army base near Pittsburg, Calif., for an experiment the radiation lab played a role in designing. Some recount experiences of witnessing nuclear bomb blasts in the Nevada desert. We also examine a national pattern of human radiation experiments revealed by Eileen Welsome, the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, who shined a light on similar practices conducted by government facilities, hospitals and other institutions.

Featuring:

Eldridge Jones, who served in the military and was part of Operation Stoneman
Merle Votaw, a Navy veteran who participated in Operation Stoneman II
Eileen Welsome, author of "Plutonium Files"
Holly Barker, Anthropologist and professor at the University of Washington who studied the Marshall Islands

Credits:

San Francisco Public Press: Reporting: Rebecca Bowe and Chris Roberts Editing: Michael Stoll and Liz Enochs Research Editing: Ambika Kandasamy Web Design: John Angelico Copy Editing: Kurt Aguilar, Michele Anderson and Richard Knee Archival Research and Illustration: Stacey Carter Audio Editing: Liana Wilcox, Mel Baker and Megan Maurer Sound Gathering: Justin Benttinen Photography: Sharon Wickham, Yesica Prado and Guillermo Hernandez Graphic Design: Reid Brown Fact Checking: Dani Solakian and Ali Hanks Proofreading: Lila LaHood, Noah Arroyo, Zhe Wu and Sylvie Sturm Special thanks to Alastair Gee and Danielle Renwick at The Guardian and Ben Trefny at KALW Public Radio, and to Laura Wenus and Amy Pyle Making Contact: Host: Salima Hamirani Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Anubhuti Kumar Music Credits: Midday, by the Blue Dot Sessions Sweet Leilani, by Bing Crosby

Learn More:

Exposed on the San Francisco Public Press

Exposed Part 1

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Today we present the first half of a two-part radio documentary from our friends at the San Francisco Public Press, “Exposed,” opening a window into the little-known history of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The sprawling abandoned naval base, in San Francisco’s southeast waterfront Bayview neighborhood, is currently the site of the city’s largest real estate development project. The base played a key role in the Cold War nuclear era, when it housed a research institution known as the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, which studied the human health effects of radiation.

In episode one of the podcast, we trace the radioactive contamination found in the shipyard soil today back to its origins, with nuclear bomb testing in the Marshall Islands. We also hear from environmental justice advocates, including one who led a health biomonitoring survey revealing that nearby residents have toxic elements stored in body tissues that match the hazardous chemicals of concern identified at the shipyard.

Featuring:

Ahimsa Porter Sumchai, community advocate and medical doctor
Michelle Pierce, Executive director of Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates
Leaotis Martin, resident of Bayview
Raymond Tompkins, community advocate, chemist and former member of the Hunters Point Shipyard Restoration Advisory Board
Daniel Hirsch, president of Committee to Bridge the Gap; Derek Robinson; Navy representative.

Credits:

San Francisco Public Press:

Reporting: Rebecca Bowe and Chris Roberts Editing: Michael Stoll and Liz Enochs Research Editing: Ambika Kandasamy Web Design: John Angelico Copy Editing: Kurt Aguilar, Michele Anderson and Richard Knee Archival Research and Illustration: Stacey Carter Audio Editing: Liana Wilcox, Mel Baker and Megan Maurer Sound Gathering: Justin Benttinen Photography: Sharon Wickham, Yesica Prado and Guillermo Hernandez Graphic Design: Reid Brown Fact Checking: Dani Solakian and Ali Hanks Proofreading: Lila LaHood, Noah Arroyo, Zhe Wu and Sylvie Sturm Special thanks to Alastair Gee and Danielle Renwick at The Guardian and Ben Trefny at KALW Public Radio, and to Laura Wenus and Amy Pyle

Making Contact:

Host: Salima Hamirani Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Anubhuti Kumar

Music Credits:

Midday, by the Blue Dot Sessions Sweet Leilani, by Bing Crosby

Learn more:

Exposed on the San Francsisco Public Press

Exposed Part Two

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Today we head back to Indianapolis with the podcast Urban Roots.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Jean Spears was a young mother and burgeoning preservationist. She saved antiques from houses about to be demolished; she bought a home in a white slum and renovated it; later on, she did the same with a historic home in the black neighborhood near Indiana Avenue. In the eighties, she and some neighbors started digging into this black neighborhood’s history, uncovering the names of Black doctors, civic leaders, and other professionals who had lived there, many of whom had worked for Madam C.J. Walker. She helped rename the neighborhood to Ransom Place, in honor of Freeman Ransom, Madam Walker’s prodigious lawyer. And in 1991, they succeeded in getting the Ransom Place Historic District included in the National Register of Historic Places.

Thanks in no small part to the connection to Madam C.J. Walker, Jean Spears was able to save this pocket of Black history, in an area that — as we explained last episode — the city of Indianapolis had almost erased from memory. But black Indy history is about more than Madam Walker, and other stories and places in the city need protection, too. In this episode, we’ll introduce you to three Black women who are carrying on what Ms. Jean Spears started — safeguarding these little-known stories of the past and guiding Indianapolis toward a brighter future.

Featuring:

Claudia Polley, Urban Legacy Lands Initiative; Kaila Austin, artist and historian; Judith Thomas, Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement for the City of Indianapolis; Paula Brooks, the Environmental Justice Program Manager at the Hoosier Environment Council.

Credits:

Urban Roots:

Urban Roots unearths little-known stories from urban history, especially histories of women and people of color that are in danger of being forgotten. Our mission is to elevate underrepresented voices and help preserve the places significant to them.

Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk Editor and Executive Producer: Connor Lynch Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Making Contact Credits

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Roman- Galaxy (inspired up melody)

Will Bangs – I’m so glad you exist

Learn More:

Urbanist Media

Madam C.J. Walker was a brilliant entrepreneur who built a haircare empire and became the first African American woman millionaire. You might have heard about her, but not many people know that her headquarters used to be located in Indianapolis, along a once vibrant Black corridor called Indiana Avenue, a place that today is known for parking lots, high-speed traffic, and uninspiring university buildings.

Why do so few people know this story? Because, over decades, government planners and private developers slowly and systematically erased Indiana Avenue's history. Luckily, however, some Black Hoosiers are working to uncover, and reclaim, what almost disappeared without a trace. In this episode, we tell their, and the Avenue’s, story.

Featuring:

A’Lelia Bundles: Journalist and Madam C.J. Walker biographer; Susan Hall Dotson of the Indiana Historical Society; Claudia Polley of the Urban Legacy Lands Initiative; Wildstyle Paschall, artist and community advocate; Devon Ginn of the Walker Legacy Center; and centenarian/Indiana Avenue author, Mr. Thomas Hart Ridley.

Credits:

Urban Roots Credits:

Urban Roots dives deep into little known stories from urban history, unearthing histories of women and people of color that are in danger of being forgotten.

Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk.
Editor and Executive Producer: Connor Lynch
Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music
Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Making Contact Credits

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer:Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits

Tephra- anemoia
Ben von Wildenhaus - Week Twenty-five

Learn More:

Urbanist Media

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On today's show, we look at how art can highlight the struggles of incarcerated women, build solidarity with them across prison walls, and fight against the erasure and censorship inherent to incarceration.

First, we'll hear about a dance performance called "If I Give You My Sorrows" that's built around the complex ways that incarcerated women relate to their beds. Then, we'll learn about an art exhibition, "The Only Door I Can Open," that's curated and created by incarcerated artists, writers and poets inside Central California Women's Facility.

Featuring

Jo Kreiter, artistic director of Flyaway Productions and creative director of If I Give You My Sorrows Betty McKay, formerly incarcerated advocate and organizer Tomiekia Johnson, incarcerated writer and co-curator of The Only Door I Can Open Chantell-Jeannette Black, incarcerated artist and co-curator of The Only Door I Can Open Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, executive director of Empowerment Avenue

Credits

Making Contact Team

Episode Host: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Special thanks to Christine Lashaw from Empowerment Avenue for recording interviews with Tomiekia and Chantell that were part of this show.

Music

The music in this episode was excerpted from compositions for If You Give Me Your Sorrows.

“Skewed”

Carla Kihlstedt – voice, music box, field recordings Elijah Oberman – voice, synths Music/sound design – Carla Kihlstedt & Eli Oberman “Where Betty Can Go Find Betty”

Pamela Z – voice, processing, MIDI instruments Vocal samples excerpted from an interview with Betty McKay Music by Pamela Z “Closure”

Cole Kamen-Greene – trumpet Carla Kihlstedt – voice, violin Devin Ray Hoff – bass Matthias Bossi – percussion Music by Carla Kihlstedt (with structural advice from Elijah Oberman) “Prayer”

Carla Kihlstedt – voice Music by Carla Kihlstedt “Salve”

Kalyn Harewood – spoken voice (excerpted from an interview with Tomiekia Johnson) Carla Kihlstedt – violin, nyckelharpa, marxophone, voice Elijah Oberman – violin, sound design Jeremy Flower – synth programming Jon Evans – bass, guitar Matthias Bossi – percussion Music by Carla Kihlstedt

The Only Door I Can Open and If I Give You My Sorrows presented by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2025: www.ybca.org/event/the-only-door-i-can-open and www.ybca.org/event/if-i-give-you-my-sorrows The Only Door I Can Open virtual exhibition hosted by MoAD: www.moadsf.org/virtual-exhibition Empowerment Avenue website: www.empowermentave.org Flyaway Productions: www.flyawayproductions.com Museum of the African Diaspora: www.moadsf.org The music featured in If I Give You My Sorrows is available for purchase: http://ifigiveyoumysorrows.bandcamp.com Petition for Tomiekia Johnson’s request for commutation https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-grant-commutation-for-incarcerated-survivor-tomiekia-johnson

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

What are borders, and why do we have them? And how is violent border enforcement at the US-Mexico border connected to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza? And what happens when borders cross living land and communities?

We'll dig into these questions on this week's episode with the help of Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center. And then we'll hear a story brought to us by In Confianza, with Pulso about one time when the natural boundary between two countries changed – and what happened to the people caught on the other side.

Featuring:

Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center and author of "Refuge: How the State Shapes Human Potential" and the forthcoming "The Cost of Border"

Credits:

"The Border is Alive!" from In Confianza, with Pulso**

Written and produced by Charlie Garcia
Edited by Liz Alarcón
Original Music by Julian Blackmore
Audio engineering and mixing by Charlie Garcia and Julian Blackmore
Special thanks to Gina Hernandez at Chamizal National Memorial

Making Contact Staff:

Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Anubhuti Kumar

Music Credits:

"Documentary" by AlisiaBeats via Pixabay

Learn More:

Making Contact website: www.radioproject.org

Heba Gowayed: www.hebagowayed.com

In Confianza, with Pulso: www.projectpulso.org/tag/podcast

URL:

https://focmedia.org/2024/05/borders-what-are-they-good-for/

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On this week's episode, we speak with Jenny Odell, acclaimed author of _Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock_ and _How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy._

We'll dig into the ideas behind _Saving Time, _which gives a sweeping panoramic overview of how the ways we think about time actually shapes our lives. We begin with a critical look at productivity culture and the idea that time is money. Then we'll hear how to begin to disentangle our daily concept of time from its capitalistic and colonialist roots in order to liberate and expand our relationship to time.

Featuring:

Jenny Odell, artist and author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

Credits:

Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Anubhuti Kumar

Music Credits:

"Simonero" by Keyframe Audio via Pixabay
"Documentary Ambient Guitar" by William\_King via Pixabay
Clock sound effects by Pixabay and Semen Surin via Pixabay

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage:

Jenny Odell:

Jenny Odell on Making Contact

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On this week's episode, we dive into the hidden biases of the digital age with Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble, author of the groundbreaking book, _Algorithms of Oppression._ Dr. Noble unpacks how search engines, often seen as neutral tools, can reinforce harmful stereotypes and limit access to critical knowledge. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our digital experiences and discuss the urgent need for accountability in technology.

Featuring:

Dr. Safiya U. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of Gender Studies, African American Studies, and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is the Director of the Center on Race & Digital Justice and Co-Director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power at the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2). She currently serves as Interim Director of the UCLA DataX Initiative, leading work in critical data studies for the campus.

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

Xylo-Ziko - Phase 2
Audiobinger - The Garden State

Learn More:

Dr. Safiya Noble

Dr. Safiya Noble

Algorithms of Oppression

Watch Dr. Noble discuss the themes of her book in this lecture.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On today's show, we look at how art can highlight the struggles of incarcerated women, build solidarity with them across prison walls, and fight against the erasure and censorship inherent to incarceration.

First, we'll hear about a dance performance called _If I Give You My Sorrows _that's built around the complex ways that incarcerated women relate to their beds. Then, we'll learn about an art exhibition, _The Only Door I Can Open, _that's_ _curated and created by incarcerated artists, writers and poets inside Central California Women's Facility.

Featuring:

Jo Kreiter, artistic director of Flyaway Productions and creative director of _If I Give You My Sorrows_
Betty McKay, formerly incarcerated advocate and organizer
Tomiekia Johnson, incarcerated writer and co-curator of _The Only Door I Can Open_
Chantell-Jeannette Black, incarcerated artist and co-curator of _The Only Door I Can Open_
Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, executive director of Empowerment Avenue

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

The music in this episode was excerpted from compositions for _If You Give Me Your Sorrows._

"Skewed"

Carla Kihlstedt – voice, music box, field recordings
Elijah Oberman – voice, synths
Music/sound design – Carla Kihlstedt & Eli Oberman

"Where Betty Can Go Find Betty"

Pamela Z – voice, processing, MIDI instruments
Vocal samples excerpted from an interview with Betty McKay
Music by Pamela Z

"Closure"

Cole Kamen-Greene – trumpet
Carla Kihlstedt – voice, violin
Devin Ray Hoff – bass
Matthias Bossi – percussion
Music by Carla Kihlstedt (with structural advice from Elijah Oberman)

"Prayer"

Carla Kihlstedt – voice
Music by Carla Kihlstedt

"Salve"

Kalyn Harewood – spoken voice (excerpted from an interview with Tomiekia Johnson)
Carla Kihlstedt – violin, nyckelharpa, marxophone, voice
Elijah Oberman – violin, sound design
Jeremy Flower – synth programming
Jon Evans – bass, guitar
Matthias Bossi – percussion
Music by Carla Kihlstedt

Learn More:

Making Contact:
The Only Door I Can Open and, If I Give You My Sorrows_ presented by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2025
The Only Door I Can Open_ virtual exhibition hosted by MoAD:
Empowerment Avenue website
Flyaway Productions:
Museum of the African Diaspora: www.moadsf.org
The music featured in _If I Give You My Sorrows_ is available for purchase here:
Petition for Tomiekia Johnson's request for commutation:

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

There’s an idea in Mexico that racism doesn’t exist, that all Mexicans are “mestizo” – a homogenous blend of Spanish and indigenous. But cultural worker José Antonio Aguilar says racism is lived by Black and brown Mexicans in many ways. He founded Racismo MX, an organization which seeks to dismantle racism, after coming to terms with his own racial reality as a “prieto” – a brown man. We also hear from anthropologist Ismael Rivera and Aztec expert Camilla Townsend as they unravel lies the Spanish colonizers told about ancient Aztecs that still feed racist tropes today.

Featuring:

José Antonio Aguilar – Racismo MX, Founder and Director
Ismael Rivera – Anthropologist, Historian, Cultural Guide
Dr. Camilla Townsend, P.h.D. – Rutgers University, Professor

Making Contact

Host: Amy Gastelum
Freelance Producer: Anthony Wallace
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music

Nahuales Negros – Chinampa, Cempasúchil, Barcos A Lo Lejos, Mixquic, Teponaztli, Danza A Pakal

Learn More:

Ismael Rivera Tours
Racismo MX
Camilla Townsend

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the web at www.focmedia.org.

The attacks on Imane Khelif's gender at this year's 2024 Paris Olympics is not new. In fact, the focus on women's appearance and gender expression goes back to the founding of the Olympics, the minute women entered elite sports. We talk to Rose Eveleth, host and producer of the podcast Tested about the history of sex testing in the Olympics and why it existed in the first place, why there's no easy way to classify the natural, biological variation that exists in human beings and why we might want to consider new ways of organizing athletes that is less sexist, racist and more accepting of genders outside of a simple binary.

Featuring:

Rose Eveleth, host and producer of the podcast Tested

Episode Credits:

Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Alpha Hydrae - Friends
Soft and Furious - So What
Axletree- The Silent Grove
Blear Moon - Further Discovery
Crowander - Opening Lines.

Learn More:

Tested on NPR
Tested on CBC

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In this week's episode, we take a look at how over six decades after the Korean War, South Korea processed the most international adoptions in history and how the demand for a "domestic supply of (adoptable) infants" may be playing a role in increasing threats to autonomy over pregnancy in the US.

Featuring:

Independent Producer and Founder of Rowhome Productions, Alex Lewis
Producer, Schuyler Swenson
Registered Midwife, Lydia Doublestein

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Guest Producers:

Producer/Reporter, Anne Noyes Saini
Producer, Schuyler Swenson

Music:

*Andy G. Cohen, "Bumbler"
*Zé Trigueiros, "Big Road of Burravoe", "Ponto"
*Hogan Grip, "Stance Gives You Balance"

Music was changed only in length and volume levels and can be found here: http://www.freemusicarchive.org/.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

We need affordable housing now! On today's episode, we dive into stories that underscore the importance of affordable housing.

We'll examine what the recent Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson means for unhoused people who are living on the streets and how historical disinvestment in affordable and public housing has created our current homelessness wave.

Then, we'll hear about the fight to legalize and preserve one important type of affordable housing units in New York City – basement apartments – and how the escalating impacts of climate change are making that campaign more urgent than ever.

Featuring:

Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project
Annetta Seecharran, executive director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music credit:

Pending (Relaxing Acoustic Ballad Nylon Guitar) by William\_King via Pixabay

Credits for "Invisible Homeless" by the Queens Memory Podcast

Episode produced by Stella Gu in conjunction with Melody Cao, Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt
Podcast hosted by J. Faye Yuan
Mixing and editing by Cory Choy
Music composed by Elias Ravin
Voiceover work by Xia Liangjie and Chen Xiaojun

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org
Western Regional Advocacy Project: https://wraphome.org/
Queens Memory Podcast: www.queensmemory.org
Chhaya CDC: BASE Campaign

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In this episode of Making Contact, we sit down with Kev Choice, a classically trained pianist, rapper, composer, and educator, who has reshaped the Bay Area music scene. Raised in Oakland with San Francisco roots, Kev blends hip-hop, jazz, soul, and classical music into a unique sound. His latest EP, All My Love, explores themes of love, vulnerability, and human connection, with soulful melodies and reflective lyrics capturing the complexities of relationships. Through music and mentorship, Kev uses his platform to inspire change and elevate consciousness.

Kev Choice is a pianist, rapper, composer, and educator from Oakland, California, known for blending hip-hop with classical, jazz, and funk influences. His music is celebrated for its thought-provoking lyrics, intricate musical arrangements, and powerful live performances. Kev’s versatility as both a trained musician (with a degree in Piano Performance) and a hip-hop artist allows him to create a unique sound that transcends genre boundaries.

Episode Credits:

Host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Kev Choice "All This Love"
Kev Choice "Congratulations"
Kev Choice "Searching for a Feeling
Kev Choice "Fresh Fade"
Kev Choice "International Blvd"
Kev Choice "God"
Kev Choice "Feel What I Feel

Learn More:

https://kevchoice.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kevchoice/?hl=en
https://westcoaststyles.com/interviews/2024/04/kev-choice-love-liberation/
https://www.oaklandsymphony.org/artist/kev-choice/

Because of the fall of Roe v. Wade, we're hearing a lot more about adoption as an alternative for women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy. And even before, media portrayals of adoption have always painted it as an easy ethical conclusion to a difficult circumstance. But the real, lived experiences of birth parents who give up their children for adoption have never been part of the conversation. Do birth parents really see adoption as an alternative to abortion? Are they happy with their decision to relinquish their children? It turns out that for the most part, they're not.

We talk to Samantha Gonzalez, a birth mother, and Gretchen Sisson, author of the book "Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood."

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

Axletree - The Silent Grove
Axletree - Goldfinch- Flight to the North
Blear Moon - Learning from Kids
Doctor Turtle - Leap Second
Hinterheim - Prior Restraint

Learn More:

Reproductive Justice in Adoption
Considering Adoption Planned Parenthood
Relinquished Book Page
Gretchen Sisson

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

We're in the homestretch to Election Day 2024, and you know what that means: 24/7 coverage of the political horse race through tv, radio and social media. But voters are also getting exposed to false information. In today's show, we'll dig into election mis- and disinformation and why so much of it is targeting immigrants this year.

Amber Boydstun, professor and co-chair of the political science department at University of California, Davis

Jaime Longoria, manager of research and training for the Disinfo Defense League

Shiu-Ming Cheer, deputy director of immigrant and racial justice at the California Immigrant Policy Center

Making Contact Team:

Episode Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

"Road to Sunset" by Sergii Pavkin from Pixabay
"Clear Ideas (This Comedy Funny) by AlexGrohl from Pixabay
"Drums" by Andrew Faid from Pixabay
"Radio.wav" sound effect by davidou from Pixabay

Learn More:

Making Contact: www.focmedia.org
Disinfo Defense League: https://www.disinfodefenseleague.org
California Immigrant Policy Center: https://caimmigrant.org/

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the web at www.focmedia.org.

On the eve of a Presidential election being decided by a handful of swing states, we sat down with two women in Indiana to talk about what it takes to make progress in a place that is largely neglected by the national Democratic Party Machine. Dayna Colbert, Executive Director of the Hoosier Democratic Party, talks about their growing foothold, led by women. And, political podcaster Dana Black talks about how to maintain an authentic voice while working alongside the official Democratic Party.

Featuring:

Dayna Colbert, Executive Director of Indiana Democratic Party
Dana Black, Political podcaster and public speaker

Making Contact Staff:

Episode Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Jahzzar, Flutter
HoliznaCC0 - Whatever

Learn More:

Indiana Democratic Party
Indiana's Own Dana Black
Hoosier Women Forward

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Almost half of Puerto Rico's doctors have fled the island over the past decade, leading to a lack of specialists and treatment and incredibly long wait times. And this isn't just an inconvenience. People are dying from lack of care. Why is Puerto Rico's health care system collapsing, and why are doctors fleeing the island?

We take a look at its deeply dysfunctional private medical system and why attempts to fix it, and create a universal health care plan on the island, are being hindered by Puerto Rico's status as a US colony. Its massive unpayable debt, held by investors in the US, means that it cannot make its own economic decisions, even when it affects the livelihood of poor Puerto Ricans living there. But there might be a fix, getting rid of Puerto Rico's debt and rethinking its colonial relationship to the US.

Featuring:

Carolina (pseudonym for privacy)
Coral del Mar Murphy Marcos- journalist. Author of an article on PR's health care crisis.
Paola (pseudonym for privacy)
Alberto Medina- Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora

Making Contact Staff:

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

Daniel Birch - Indigo Strokes
Axletree - Goldfinch- Flight to the North
Mindseye - Spores
Soft and Furious - So What

Learn More:

Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora
The Nation Magazine
Puerto Rico’s Unnatural Disaster

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On this week's episode, we speak with Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar about his latest book, America's Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy. America’s Black Capital chronicles how a center of Black excellence emerged amid virulent expressions of white nationalism, as African Americans pushed back against Confederate ideology to create an extraordinary locus of achievement. We examine the methods in which Black Atlanteans pushed for social, economic, and political upliftment through the development of Black collegiate systems, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement.

Dr. Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar the author of America's Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy.

Episode Credits:

Host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

Andy G. Cohen - Our Young Guts
Blue Dot Sessions– Paving Stones

Learn More:

Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar -

Atlanta Race Massacre -

Atlanta Race Massacre -

Hoke Smith -

Clarke Howell -

Tom Watson -

America's Black Capital -

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

It's been one year since October 7th, 2023 and the start of Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. On today's show, we hear from journalist Rami Almeghari and other Palestinians about their experiences living through the war. Then, we dive into a conversation with Norman Solomon, author of War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine, about what mainstream coverage of the war is leaving out.

Featuring:

Rami Almeghari, Palestinian journalist in Gaza
Norman Solomon, activist and author of War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine
Tarneem, Ahmad and Hamza Jaber, Palestinian siblings from Gaza

Special thanks to Mohammed Naeem Imad, for reporting and fact-checking support

Audio excerpts featuring Tarneem, Ahmad and Hamza Jaber are from the series Great Love: The Gaza Monologues from ASHTAR Theatre Revisited on The Heart podcast, created and hosted by Kaitlin Prest

Making Contact Staff:

Episode Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

"Documentary Piano Ambient" by Bohdan Kuzmin (BoDleasons) via Pixabay

Learn More:

The Jaber siblings featured in this episode are fundraising for their living costs and to continue their education in Cairo. You can find their campaign here:

Journalist Rami Almeghari is currently in Gaza, and he is fundraising to support his family during this time. You can find his campaign here:

ASHTAR Theatre, which created The Gaza Monologues:

Great Love: The Gaza Monologues from ASHTAR Theatre Revisited _on _The Heart_ podcast

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. On the web at www.focmedia.org.

We catch up with journalist and IPV survivor Natalie Pattillo to talk about the folks fighting for justice for criminalized survivors of intimate partner violence. Listen to find out the story behind Oklahoma activists that led the state to adopt a new law based on NY's Domestic Violence Survivor's Justice Act, and how you can get involved. And finally, Standford's Regilla Project just published a groundbreaking study revealing the scope of the IPV to prison pipeline.

Natalie Pattillo, journalist and co-producer of the film And So I Stayed

Alexandra Bailey, Senior Campaign Strategist for The Sentencing Project

Amanda Ross, activist and niece of April Wilkens, the first person to use the Oklahoma Survivors' Act to apply for a retroactive sentence reduction

Debbie Mukamal, Executive Director of Stanford Criminal Justice Center

Andrea Cimino, Director of Research for the Regilla Project

Making Contact Staff:

Episode Host: Amy Gastelum

Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang

Executive Director: Jina Chung

Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits:

_Podington Bear_

Tracks: _Arboles, Delphi, Poise _

From the album _Encouraging_

Licensed under CC BY-NC

and available online here:

Learn More:

The Sentencing Project

Free April Wilkens

We Stand With Nikki

The Regilla Project

And So I Stayed Film

Survivor's Justice Project

Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice

In this week's show, we take a look at the health, environmental and financial costs of coal that fall to people living nearby. With the help of our partner podcast Crosswinds, we meet three impacted communities along a railroad connecting coal mines in West Virginia to ports on the East Coast. And we'll hear how that rail infrastructure was built on the forced labor of incarcerated African Americans.

Featuring:

Adrian Wood, multimedia producer with the Repair Lab at the University of Virginia and producer of Crosswinds

Making Contact Staff:

Episode Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

Music credits:

"A Documentary" by AKTASOK (Valentin Iakovlev) via Pixabay

Credits for Crosswinds Episode 3: "Cost"

Written, produced mixed and mastered by Adrian Wood
Editing by Oluwakemi Aladesuyi of Rough Cut Collective
Scoring by Torrin Purkett and Adrian Wood
Produced through the Repair Lab at the University of Virginia

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org
Listen to the entire Crosswinds series:
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ey0DQiOzuvJehEyCjGJYv
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-repair-lab/id1633699454
Coal Dust Kills: www.coaldustkills.com
The Repair Lab: repairlab.virginia.edu

On today’s Making Contact, our friends from the podcast, Kerning Cultures, bring us “Black Panthers in Algeria.” It’s the story of when Elaine Mokhtefi landed in newly independent Algeria in the early 1960s and quickly found herself at the center of a special period in the country’s history, at a time when Algiers welcomed liberation groups from across the world – earning a reputation as the “Mecca of revolution." In this unlikely setting, Elaine moved in the same circles as world famous radicals, ragtag political parties, spies and military leaders. And she became an unlikely sidekick to one of the most iconic liberation groups of our time, just as it was beginning to fall apart.

Credits - Kerning Cultures: This episode was produced by Deena Sabry and Alex Atack, and edited by Dana Ballout. Fact checking by Eman Alsharif, sound design by Mohamad Khreizat, Paul Alouf and Alex Atack. Our team also includes Zeina Dowidar, Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson. Making Contact Team:

Host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonrain

Learn More:

Algiers: Third World Capital [https://bookshop.org/a/84225/9781788730006]
Revolution or Death: The Life of Eldridge Cleaver [https://bookshop.org/a/84225/9781613739112]
Kerning Cultures [https://kerningcultures.com/]

The attacks on Imane Khelif's gender at this year's 2024 Paris Olympics is not new. In fact, the focus on women's appearance and gender expression goes back to the founding of the Olympics, the minute women entered elite sports. We talk to Rose Eveleth, host and producer of the podcast Tested about the history of sex testing in the Olympics and why it existed in the first place, why there's no easy way to classify the natural, biological variation that exists in human beings and why we might want to consider new ways of organizing athletes that is less sexist, racist and more accepting of genders outside of a simple binary.

Featuring:

Rose Eveleth, host and producer of the podcast Tested

Episode Credits: Host: Salima Hamirani Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Music: Alpha Hydrae - Friends Soft and Furious - So What Axletree- The Silent Grove Blear Moon - Further Discovery Crowander - Opening Lines.

Learn More:

Tested on NPR Tested on CBC

The last few years have seen a wave of labor organizing as it becomes more and more clear to workers that what they do is not expendable, but actually the heart of every business. From walkouts to unionization, workers from Starbucks to Amazon to your local coffee shop have come together to build and exercise their power. In this episode we explore the issues that led people to organize their workplaces, the ins and outs and ups and downs of the process, and the backlash. On the forefront of the next labor revolution, we visit a coffee shop in Maine called Little Dog whose staff starts a union. Then we talk to Robert Chlala from the UCLA Labor Center about the rise in unionization efforts among service workers and the social and cultural ethos in a post lockdown country that have led to this new wave of the labor movement.

Featuring:

Robert Chlala – Assistant Professor, CSU Long Beach & Visiting Researcher at UCLA Labor Center
Jessica Czarnecki, Sydney, Sophie, Kira – Workers at Little Dog Cafe

Making Contact Team:

Host: Salima Hamirani
Reporter: Jules Bradley
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

Music:

“Industrial Zone” by Bio Unit
“Stay Quiet” by Monplaisir
“Bleu” by Komiku
“Leap Second” by Doctor Turtle
“Which Side Are You On” by Pete Seeger

Learn More:

UCLA Labor Center
Little Dog Employees Lawsuit
Brunswick coffee shop strike ends with potential change in ownership

We need affordable housing now! On today's episode, we look more closely at two stories that underscore the importance of affordable housing. First, we'll examine what the recent Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson means for unhoused people who are living on the streets and how historical disinvestment in affordable and public housing has created our current homelessness wave. Then, we'll hear about the fight to legalize and preserve one important type of affordable housing units in New York City – basement apartments – and how the escalating impacts of climate change are making that campaign more urgent than ever.

Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project Annetta Seecharran, executive director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation

Making Contact Staff: Episode Host: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Music credit: Pending (Relaxing Acoustic Ballad Nylon Guitar) by William_King via Pixabay Credits for "Invisible Homeless" by the Queens Memory Podcast Episode produced by Stella Gu in conjunction with Melody Cao, Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt Podcast hosted by J. Faye Yuan Mixing and editing by Cory Choy Music composed by Elias Ravin Voiceover work by Xia Liangjie and Chen Xiaojun

Learn More:

Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org Western Regional Advocacy Project: https://wraphome.org/ Queens Memory Podcast: www.queensmemory.org Chhaya CDC: BASE Campaign: https://chhayacdc.org/campaigns/base-campaign/

On this week's episode, we speak with Bay Area based comedian Karinda Dobbins about the release of her debut comedy album, Black & Blue. In Black & Blue, Karinda shares personal stories, finding humor in the most ordinary moments of her daily life, including her girlfriend’s arbitrary policy on household pests, the changes hipsters have brought to Oakland, and a Black woman’s unique packing list for hiking.

Featuring: Karinda Dobbins, standup comedian, writer, and actor

Episode Credits:

Host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Music Credits: Dee Yan-Key "Hold on"; Audiobinger "The Garden State"

Learn More:

Karinda Dobbins - https://karindadobbins.com/

In Part 1 of our series on water in the Central Valley of California we visited a town called East Orosi, which has been fighting for clean water for over 20 years. This week we turn our attention to their sewage system, which is also falling apart. Why has it been so difficult for East Orosi to get clean drinking water and fix its sewage problems?

To answer that question we take a look at the entities that run things like sewage and water in unincorporated towns all across California. They're called Community Utility Districts. Community Utility Districts are often one of the only forms of self governance in unincorporated towns. But they're staffed by volunteers, they're underfunded, and they're trying to share a vital resource, water, which is also slowly disappearing in the San Joaquin Valley.

We talk about the problems with Community Utility Districts and ways to save them.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Berta Diaz Ochoa- community member of East Orosi; Janaki Anagha- Director of Advocacy, Community Water Center; Kayla Vander Schuur- Community Development Specialist, Self Help Enterprises; Carlos Sanchez- board member of the East Orosi Community Utilities District; Maricela Mares-Alatorre- Community Solutions Advocate, Community Water Center.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes “Blue” by Komiku; Ocean Tapping by PC III; Friends and Apples by Alpha Hydrae; Gouttes by Hicham Chahidi; Week Twenty-five by Ben von Wildenhaus; No Light Without Darkness by Ketsa; and Thunderstorm by The Custodian of Records.

Learn More:

Community Water Center: https://www.communitywatercenter.org/
Self Help Enterprises: https://www.selfhelpenterprises.org/

In the late 1990s, psychologist Dr. Joseph Gone, a professor and member of the Aaniiih Gros Ventre tribe, returned home during his doctoral training to the Fort Belknap Reservation in north central Montana. There, he set aside eurocentric concepts of psychology he was learning in school and instead asked tribal members how mental illness is addressed using traditional Indigenous practices. What he learned changed the trajectory of his career. Listen to find out how he helped bring precolonial cultural and spiritual practices into substance use disorder treatment in contemporary Indigenous settings.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Dr. Joseph Gone, psychologist and interdisciplinary social scientist at Harvard University and member of the Aaniiih-Gros Ventre tribal Nation of Montana.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC:

Songs: The Horses are Coming, The Gift, Song of Honor
Album: The Return of the Buffalo Horses
Artists: Darrell Norman and Ramon Kramer https://www.blackfeetculturecamp.com/d-norman/

For More Information:

Dr. Joseph Gone
American Indian Health and Family Services, Detroit, MI

East Orosi hasn't had safe drinking water in over 20 years. The water is full of nitrates, runoff from industrial agriculture, which is harmful to human health. The community has taken action to find a solution, from lobbying at the state capital to working with neighboring towns.

And they may finally have one. New California laws, passed in the last five years, have opened up funding to build water infrastructure in small towns like East Orosi. But even as laws and funding develop, implementation has been challenging.

We visit East Orosi and talk to Berta Diaz Ochoa about what it's like living without clean drinking water and the solutions on the horizon. This is part one of a two part series.

Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Susana De Anda -Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Community Water Center; Berta Diaz Ochoa -East Orosi community member and organizer; Cristobal Chavez - member of Community Water Center; Janaki Anagha - Director of Advocacy, Community Water Center; Jessi Synder - Director of Community Development, Self Help Enterprises; Andrew Altevogt, Assistant Deputy Director of the State Water Resources Control Board.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes “Blue” by Komiku; Monet's Water Lilies; Dark Rainy Day; Water Drops, Sad Slow Piano Background; Mother Womb piano; Guracha Sonidera Cumbia Loops De Bateria Series II

Learn More:

Community Water Center: https://www.communitywatercenter.org/
Self Help Enterprises: https://www.selfhelpenterprises.org/
State Water Resources Control Board: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/

Composer, pianist, and vocalist Samora Pinderhughes tells us about The Healing Project. The Healing Project, a fundamentally abolitionist project, explores the structures of systemic racism and the prison industrial complex. This story first aired February 2023.

Pinderhughes and The Healing Project takes action towards abolition with forms such as musical songs, films, an exhibition, community gatherings, live performances, and a digital library of audio interviews. At the center of the project are the intergenerational voices of people across the country, including folks incarcerated in prisons and detention centers. Their stories, experiences, and ideas serve as the foundation for The Healing Project’s vision for societal transformation.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Samora Pinderhughes, composer, pianist/vocalist, and interdisciplinary artist.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. Segment Editors are Jessica Partnow, Lucy Kang, and Jacinda Abcarian. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes "Creeping" by Borrtex; "Process" and "Hope" by Samora Pinderhughes.

Learn More:

Samora Pinderhughes
The Healing Project
Exhibition site
Tiny Desk Concert filmed live inside the exhibition
Exhibition films, “Masculinity” & “Hold that Weight”
Exhibition album

The vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care.

Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. During this week’s anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we’ll revisit the dynamic and complex relationship of care receiving and giving.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Camille Christian, home care provider and SEIU member Camille Christian & Brenda Jackson, home care providers & SEIU members; Patty Berne, co-founder and director, Sins Invalid; Jessica Lehman, executive director, San Francisco Senior and Disability Action; Kenzi Robi, president, San Francisco IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) Public Authority Governing Body; Rachel Stewart, queer disabled woman passionate about disability and employment issues; Alana Theriault, disability benefits counselor in Berkeley, California; Ingrid Tischer, director of development, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF); and Alta Mae Stevens, in-home caregiver.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Laura Flynn & Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum, and Contributing Producers, Alice Wong and Stephanie Guyer-Stevens. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes Dexter Britain: The Time To Run (Finale), Gillicuddy: Adventure, Darling, Steve Combs: March, Jason Shaw: Running Waters, Jared C. Balogh: BRICK BY BRICK DAY BY DAY, Jared C. Balogh: INCREMENTS TOWARDS SERENITY, Nheap: Crossings, Cherly KaCherly: The Hungry Garden, Trio Metrik: Vogelperspektive, & Kevin MacLeod: Faster Does It.

Learn More:

UCSF: UCSF Study Projects Need for 2.5M More Long-Term Care Workers by 2030
SEIU: Longterm Care Workers
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Disability Visibility Project
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
National Disability Leadership Alliance
Senior and Disability Action
Sins Invalid
San Francisco In Home Supportive Services Public Authority
Family Caregiver Alliance

Inflammatory diseases are on the rise around the world, and when left unaddressed can turn chronic. Now, doctors are finally starting to pay more attention. But why & when does a beneficial part of our immune system turn against us? Raj Patel & Rupa Marya think it has a lot to do with the world we live in. They talk about climate change, ecological devastation, & the collapse of our planet & what that has to do with inflammation. Their thesis: our bodies are a mirror of a deeper disease in society & the environment. But there’s still hope. They point a way back to health via Deep Medicine, which is the quest to reignite our commitment to the web of life and our place in it.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Tré Vasquez, Co-director/collective member at Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project; Raj Patel, author, academic, journalist, activist; & Rupa Marya, author, Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a co-founder of the Do No Harm Coalition.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music “Cenote” & “Lithosphere” from Frequency Decree; “Anto” by Blear Moon, & “Juniper” by Broke For Free.

Learn More:

Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice
Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project

Kids are coming out as LGBTQ+ younger than ever before, making their identities more politicized than ever before. Hateful political rhetoric and discriminatory laws are likely contributing to the poor mental health documented among LGBTQ+ kids.

In an effort to combat these struggles, researchers are studying what works to keep kids healthy, happy, and alive. In this episode, we discuss data around what might be working to prevent suicidality among Black trans youth, and we hear about a program helping parents learn how to support their LGBTQ+ kids through their own behavior changes.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Dr. Myeshia Price, an Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Human Development program within the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology and Associate Research Scientist with the Kinsey Institute; Flomichelle Battles, Interim Executive Director of Trans Solutions Research and Resource Center; and Dr. Caitlin Ryan, Director of the Family Acceptance Project.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music from Jason Shaw, including “Bird in Hand,” “River Meditation,” and “Solo Acoustic Guitar.” Available via WFMU Free Music Archive at https://freemusicarchive.org.

Learn More:

Gender Nexus
Gender Expansive Kids and Company
Trans Solutions
Protect Our People
LGBTQ services and support map from Family Acceptance Project and the Innovations Institute
Family Acceptance Project
The Kinsey Institute

Kids are coming out as LGBTQ+ younger than ever before, making their identities more politicized than ever before. Hateful political rhetoric and discriminatory laws are likely contributing to the poor mental health documented among LGBTQ+ kids.In an effort to combat these struggles, researchers are studying what works to keep kids healthy, happy, and alive. In this episode, we discuss data around what might be working to prevent suicidality among Black trans youth, and we hear about a program helping parents learn how to support their LGBTQ+ kids through their own behavior changes.Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/06/family-matters-what-helps-black-trans-kids-thrive]Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Dr. Myeshia Price, an Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Human Development program within the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology and Associate Research Scientist with the Kinsey Institute; Flomichelle Battles, Interim Executive Director of Trans Solutions Research and Resource Center; and Dr. Caitlin Ryan, Director of the Family Acceptance Project.MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. MUSIC: This episode includes music from Jason Shaw, including “Bird in Hand,” “River Meditation,” and “Solo Acoustic Guitar.” Available via WFMU Free Music Archive at https://freemusicarchive.org.

In 2011, Kirin Clawson’s endocrinologist placed a puberty-blocking implant in her arm, a medical intervention that is associated with improved mental health for many trans kids with gender dysphoria. In February, Indiana joined several other conservative states banning this treatment for minors. In the first of a 2-part series, we hear from the Clawsons how the ban has impacted their family. And, we hear from psychologist, Dr. Myeshia Price about how all adults in the lives of children can support gender diverse youth, despite increasing discriminatory anti-trans laws aimed at kids.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features the Clawson family including Beth, mother and Child Health Worker; Nathaniel, father and Project Manager at Boston Scientific; and children Kirin, Max, and Izzy Clawson. The episode also features Dr. Myeshia Price, an Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Human Development program within the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology and Associate Research Scientist with the Kinsey Institute; and Bradford Barrett, Indiana State House Representative.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum with Production Assistant Emily Miles. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music Jahzzar- Vanlig available via WFMU Free Music Archive.

Learn More:

Gender Nexus
Gender Expansive Kids and Company
Trans Solutions
Protect Our People
LGBTQ services and support map from Family Acceptance Project and the Innovations Institute
Family Acceptance Project
The Kinsey Institute

In 2011, Kirin Clawson’s endocrinologist placed a puberty-blocking implant in her arm, a medical intervention that is associated with improved mental health for many trans kids with gender dysphoria. In February, Indiana joined several other conservative states banning this treatment for minors. In the first of a 2-part series, we hear from the Clawsons how the ban has impacted their family. And, we hear from psychologist, Dr. Myeshia Price about how all adults in the lives of children can support gender diverse youth, despite increasing discriminatory anti-trans laws aimed at kids.Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/06/family-matters-how-communities-support-trans-kids-in-conservative-states]Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features the Clawson family including Beth, mother and Child Health Worker; Nathaniel, father and Project Manager at Boston Scientific; and children Kirin, Max, and Izzy Clawson. The episode also features Dr. Myeshia Price, an Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Human Development program within the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology and Associate Research Scientist with the Kinsey Institute; and Bradford Barrett, Indiana State House Representative.MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum with Production Assistant Emily Miles. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. MUSIC: This episode includes music Jahzzar- Vanlig available via WFMU Free Music Archive.Learn More:Gender Nexus - https://www.gendernexus.org/Gender Expansive Kids and Company - https://www.ingekco.com/Trans Solutions - https://www.transsolutionsrrc.org/Protect Our People - https://www.protectourpeople.info/LGBTQ services and support map from Family Acceptance Project and the Innovations Institute - https://trainings-theinstitutecf.umaryland.edu/lgbtqfamily/map.cfmFamily Acceptance Project - https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/The Kinsey Institute -https://kinseyinstitute.org/

Caste—one of the oldest systems of exclusion in the world—is thriving. Despite the ban on Untouchability 70 years ago, caste impacts 1.9 billion people in the world. Every 15 minutes, a crime is perpetrated against a Dalit person. The average age of death for Dalit women is just 39. And the wreckages of caste are replicated here in the U.S., too—erupting online with rape and death threats, showing up at work, and forcing countless Dalits to live in fear of being outed.

Dalit American activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan puts forth a call to awaken and act, not just for readers in South Asia, but all around the world. She ties Dalit oppression to fights for liberation among Black, Indigenous, Latinx, femme, and Queer communities, examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspective--and laying bare the grief, trauma, rage, and stolen futures enacted by Brahminical social structures on the caste-oppressed. Incisive and urgent, “The Trauma of Caste” is an activating beacon of healing and liberation, written by one of the world’s most needed voices in the fight to end caste apartheid.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Thenmozhi Soundararajan, the author of “The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition” and a Dalit American artist, organizer, technologist, and theorist. Currently, Thenmozhi is the Executive Director of Equality Labs.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music from Blue Dot Sessions, including “3rd Chair" and "Paving Stones."

Learn More:

The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition
Thenmozhi Soundararajan / Dalit Diva
Google’s plan to talk about caste bias led to ‘division and rancor’
Hindu Sect Accused of Using Forced Labor
Dismantling the Caste System

None

As graduation approached this year, students around the country began protests after calls for divestment from Israel were initially ignored by university leadership. The campus encampments were met with physical violence and the mainstream press dismissed the students' demands as naive and immature. But, it turns out that there's a lot we should be asking about college endowments.

We take a look at what an endowment is and how they’re invested. Then we learn why transparency around the endowment (and divestment!) might actually benefit the entire college community.

We talk to Kelly Grotke, a financial researcher from Pattern Recognition, a research collective focused on financialized higher education. And, with Andrea Pritchett, we look at the links between the encampments today, and those from the 80s, when students protested South African Apartheid.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Kelly Grotke, co-founder of Pattern Recognition, a research collective and Andrea Pritchett, former student organizer against South African Apartheid. Currently a middle school teacher and co-founder of Berkeley Cop Watch.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode features “Slinky” by Robert John, “Take Off and Shoot a Zero” by Chris Zabinske, “Leap Second” by Doctor Turtle, and “Blue” by Komiku.

Learn More:

https://patternrecognitionresearch.substack.com/
https://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/

As graduation approached this year, students around the country began protests after calls for divestment from Israel were initially ignored by university leadership. The campus encampments were met with physical violence and the mainstream press dismissed the students' demands as naive and immature. But, it turns out that there's a lot we should be asking about college endowments. We take a look at what an endowment is and how they’re invested. Then we learn why transparency around the endowment (and divestment!) might actually benefit the entire college community. We talk to Kelly Grotke, a financial researcher from Pattern Recognition, a research collective focused on financialized higher education. And, with Andrea Pritchett, we look at the links between the encampments today, and those from the 80s, when students protested South African Apartheid. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/06/disclose-divest-behind-the-fight-over-college-endowments]Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Kelly Grotke, co-founder of Pattern Recognition, a research collective and Andrea Pritchett, former student organizer against South African Apartheid. Currently a middle school teacher and co-founder of Berkeley Cop Watch.MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. MUSIC: This episode features “Slinky” by Robert John, “Take Off and Shoot a Zero” by Chris Zabinske, “Leap Second” by Doctor Turtle, and “Blue” by Komiku.Learn More:https://patternrecognitionresearch.substack.com/https://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/

What are borders, and why do we have them? And how is violent border enforcement at the US-Mexico border connected to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza? And what happens when borders cross living land and communities?

We'll dig into these questions in this week's episode with the help of Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center. And then we'll hear a story brought to us by In Confianza, with Pulso about one time when the natural boundary between two countries changed – and what happened to the people caught on the other side.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center and author of Refuge: How the State Shapes Human Potential and the forthcoming The Cost of Border; Charlie Garcia, writer and producer of the story “The Border is Alive!” from In Confianza, with Pulso.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode features "Documentary" by AlisiaBeats via Pixabay.

Learn More:

Heba Gowayed
In Confianza, with Pulso
“The Border is Alive!” full episode

This week on Making Contact we take a look at one of the most prolific Mexican artists, Frida Kahlo, and how she inspired the Latina artist collective, “The Phoenix Fridas.” “In Confianza, with Pulso” producer Anthony Wallace brings us the story of Thania Betancourt Alcazar. A member of “The Phoenix Fridas,” Alcazar discovered a lifeline in the art of Frida Kahlo and her artistic message of resilience and empowerment.

Alcazar shares her experience being a Mexican immigrant, her feeling of being an outcast, and finally feeling seen as she saw herself and her culture reflected in the rising popularity of Frida Kahlo and her art in the U.S.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Anthony Wallace, the host of this episode; Thania Betancourt Alcazar, a member of The Phoenix Fridas and artist; Celia Stahr, an art historian at the University of San Francisco and the author of Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

In Confianza, with Pulso Credits:

This episode was produced/hosted by Anthony Wallace
Editor: Charlie Garcia
Audio Engineer and Mixing: Anthony Wallace and Charlie Garcia
Executive Director: Liz Alarcon

MUSIC: This episode features Original Music Composed by Julian Blackmore and Anthony Wallace.

Learn More:

In Confianza, with Pulso
Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist
The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
The Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City

This week on Making Contact we take a look at one of the most prolific Mexican artists, Frida Kahlo, and how she inspired the Latina artist collective, “The Phoenix Fridas.”“In Confianza, with Pulso” producer Anthony Wallace brings us the story of Thania Betancourt Alcazar. A member of “The Phoenix Fridas,” Alcazar discovered a lifeline in the art of Frida Kahlo and her artistic message of resilience and empowerment.Alcazar shares her experience being a Mexican immigrant, her feeling of being an outcast, and finally feeling seen as she saw herself and her culture reflected in the rising popularity of Frida Kahlo and her art in the U.S.Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/05/the-art-of-healing-finding-strength-through-frida-kahlo]Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Anthony Wallace, the host of this episode; Thania Betancourt Alcazar, a member of The Phoenix Fridas and artist; Celia Stahr, an art historian at the University of San Francisco and the author of Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist.MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. In Confianza, with Pulso Credits:This episode was produced/hosted by Anthony Wallace Editor: Charlie GarciaAudio Engineer and Mixing: Anthony Wallace and Charlie GarciaExecutive Director: Liz AlarconMUSIC: This episode features Original Music Composed by Julian Blackmore and Anthony Wallace.LEARN MORE: -In Confianza, with Pulso - https://projectpulso.org/podcast/-Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist - https://www.abebooks.com/9781250113382/Frida-America-Creative-Awakening-Great-1250113385/plp?ref_=ps_ms_267691761&cm_mmc=msn-_-comus_dsa-_-naa-_-naa&msclkid=64f95bca797114e4c1893d8c1c965b24-The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait - https://www.fridakahlodiario.com/thediary-The Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City - https://www.museofridakahlo.org.mx/visit/?lang=en

Have you ever really considered how we view time as a society? From work to leisure to appointments, we schedule every minute of our days, but how often do we think about why we treat time the way we do, our relationship to it, and why we value productivity over all else?

This week, we talk to Jenny Odell about the ideas behind her book Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. We talk about how time shapes all our lives, question the idea that time is money, and look to understand the capitalistic and colonialist roots of the way we view time every day.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Jenny Odell, artist and author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode features music "Simonero" by Keyframe Audio via Pixabay, "Documentary Ambient Guitar" by William_King via Pixabay, and Clock sound effects by Pixabay and Semen Surin via Pixabay.

Learn More:

Jenny Odell

Have you ever really considered how we view time as a society? From work to leisure to appointments, we schedule every minute of our days, but how often do you think about why we treat time the way we do, our relationship to it, and why we value productivity over all else?This week, we talk to Jenny Odell, about the ideas behind her book Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. We talk about how time shapes all our lives, question the idea that time is money, and look to understand the capitalistic and colonialist roots of the way we view time every day. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/05/jenny-odell-and-discovering-life-beyond-the-clock-encore]Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Jenny Odell, artist and author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.MUSIC: This episode features music "Simonero" by Keyframe Audio via Pixabay, "Documentary Ambient Guitar" by William_King via Pixabay, and Clock sound effects by Pixabay and Semen Surin via Pixabay.Learn More:Jenny Odell: https://jennyodell.com/

This week's Making Contact episode is about two strong women who survived historic trauma, and the stories they later told their families. We start with the story of Katie Wilson. Born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Kiev, Ukraine, she grew up safe and comfortable - until the Russian Revolution. After holding it close for years to protect the next generation, she tells the story of the family she lost to her granddaughter.

Then we hear about Helen Zia's experience as a Chinese-American and her mother's story fleeing Mao's Chinese Revolution. After years of silence in response to questions on the subject, Zia's mother finally shares her story and the burden of her trauma with her daughter.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Helen Zia, a Chinese-American journalist and activist for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. She is the former Executive Editor of Ms. Magazine, and author of several books. Katie Wilson, a Ukrainian refugee. Chana Wilson, a radio/audio producer and host at Pacifica’s KPFA in Berkeley, CA and the award-winning author of the memoir, Riding Fury Home.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

LEARN MORE:

Helen Zia
Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People
Chana Wilson
Riding Fury Home: A Memoir
Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution

At the beginning of the pandemic, we reported on the extreme inequality of the vaccine rollout to low income countries. Their access was hindered because of a western patent system imposed globally through the World Trade Organization. At the time, activists tried to pass some activists tried to pass something called the TRIPS waiver, which would have suspended all patents related to COVID-19, not just for vaccines, but for all therapeutics and protective equipment. But as the world moved on from COVID-19, so did the efforts for equity.

The TRIPS Waiver failed to provide access to medicines, and poor countries never received the vaccines they were promised.

But the global south is fighting back. On today's show we look back at the failures of the early pandemic and we look forward, at new initiatives led by scientists and activists to circumvent patents and create broader access to medicines.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Fatima Hassan, Human rights lawyer and founder of Health Justice Initiative; Piotr Kolczynski, EU Health Policy & Advocacy Advisor for The People's Vaccine Alliance; Achal Prabhala, Researcher and coordinator of the AccessIBSA project; Petro Terblanche, Managing Director of Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music from Blue Dot Sessions, “Sweetly;” Deef, “Nostalgia of an Ex Gangsta Rapper;” Doctor Turtle, “Leap Second;” frankum, “Reward MusicTrack - Ambiance guitar;” Monplaisir, “Juan Garcia Madero,” “Ridiculous,” and “Stay Quiet;” Robert John, “Slinky.”

LEARN MORE:

Access IBSA
The People's Vaccine Alliance
Afrigen Biologics Vaccines – An Avacare IDC Health Company
The Health Justice Initiative
Pandemic Lessons Compendium
Difference Between Biologics and Small Molecules

How does anyone make sense of abortion access these days? We sat down with All Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington, Indiana to talk about what’s changed since Indiana’s full abortion ban went into effect last August. Local abortion funds like All Options do a lot, but they can't talk to clients about self-managed abortion, even though the World Health Organization says it's safe and effective.

We learn about the ways folks are getting access to abortion pills, what to expect from a self-managed abortion and about the case in the Supreme Court now - whether the pill Mifepristone will still be legal to use for abortions, even in states where abortion care is protected.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Dr. Melissa Madera, Founder of Abortion Diary Podcast, Choix Telehealth team member, Researcher on Project SANA team & Special Projects Consultant for Plan C Pills; Jessica Marchbank, State Programs Manager at All Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington, Indiana.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music from "Cinematic Documentary" & "Inspiring Cinematic Ambient" by Lexin Music; and "Whatever" & "Something in the Air" by HoliznaCC0.

Learn More:

Plan C Pills
All Options Pregnancy Resource Center
Midwest Action Coalition
Indiana Task FORCE
Abortion Finder
Abortion on Our Own Terms
ReproLegalHelpline
International Planned Parenthood Federation Medical Abortion Explainer

Dive into the history of Point Reyes National Seashore, one of the most iconic parks in northern California, with us. Known for rugged sweeping beaches and the famous tule elk, we'll recount the waves of colonization that violently upended the lives of the Coast Miwok peoples who lived there – and one Indigenous woman's struggle to preserve her family history.

The story of Point Reyes is a story about how the forces of colonialism continue to shape the fate of public lands in the United States, and the campaigns waged to fight back and protect Indigenous land.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Theresa Harlan (Kewa Pueblo/Jemez Pueblo), adopted daughter of Elizabeth Campigli Harlan (Coast Miwok), founder and executive director of The Alliance for Felix Cove.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang, reported and produced by Sam Anderson, and was first aired on KPFA. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music from "Chill Ambient" by Yrii Semchyshyn (Coma-Media) and "Cinematic Documentary" by Aleksey Chistilin (Lexin_Music).

Learn More:

Whose Point Reyes on Apple Podcasts
Alliance for Felix Cove
Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin

America's Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy” chronicles how a center of Black excellence emerged amid virulent expressions of white nationalism as African Americans pushed back against Confederate ideology to create an extraordinary locus of achievement.

Alongside author Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, in this episode we examine the methods in which Black Atlanteans pushed for social, economic, and political upliftment through the development of Black collegiate systems, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Dr. Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar the author of America's Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music from Blue Dot Session, “Bedroll;” Audiobinger, “The Garden State;” and Quiet Orchestra, “My Friends.”

LEARN MORE:

Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar
Atlanta Race Massacre
Atlanta Race Massacre
Hoke Smith
Clarke Howell
Tom Watson
America's Black Capital

For the last 6 months, the world has been witness to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Outsized, and unprecedented attacks on the people of Gaza, and support from western countries for these Israeli attacks have led to a situation where Gaza is being referred to as the world’s largest open-air prison.

In this episode with Gaza-based reporter Rami Almeghari, we talk to Rashid Khalidi about his book "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine" in order to learn more about the very early history of the zionist movement in Palestine and his argument that it was, from the start, a settler-colonial endeavor.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Rami Almeghari, a Palestinian reporter from Gaza, and Rashid Khalidi, an historian and Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani with reporting by Rami Almeghari. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music from Komiku, “Blue;” Doctor Turtle, “Leap Second;” Chris Zabriskie, “Take Off and Shoot a Zero;” DAM, “Resale in Zenzana;” رسالة من زنزانة - دام, “A Letter From a Prison Cell;” and Montplaisir, “Ridiculous.”

Learn More:

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine

March marks four years since the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health failures and government inaction have forced communities to take matters into their own hands. On today's show, we look at two groups steeped in the values of community care.

First, we'll hear about the Auntie Sewing Squad, which distributed over 350,000 hand-sewn masks to communities in 2020-2021. Then, we'll speak with organizers from Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future, which is working today towards a safer future for everyone.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Kristina Wong, founder of the Auntie Sewing Squad; J Mase III, organizer with Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future; and Gata, organizer with Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes "Background Documentary Piano" by SigmaMusicArt via Pixabay.

Learn More:

Kristina Wong
"Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord" at ACT in San Francisco
Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future
Home Test to Treat offers free tests and free treatment for COVID-19 and flu at home

Today we share excerpts from “She's Beautiful When She's Angry,” a documentary filled with stories that still resonate today as women face new challenges around reproductive rights and sexual violence.

The documentary tells the stories of the activists of the Women’s Liberation Movement that gained traction in the late 1960s and led to social and policy changes that set women on a path towards equality and reproductive justice. It also addresses the intersections of race and gender and the experiences of the Black women who were integral to this movement.

The film is about activists, those who inspire, organize, and revolutionize the world by changing the standards and broadening what we think is possible.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Alta, Chude Pamela Allen, Judith Arcana, Nona Willis Aronowitz, Fran Beal, Heather Booth, Rita Mae Brown, Susan Brownmiller, Linda Burnham, Jacqui Ceballos, Mary Jean Collins, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Muriel Fox, Jo Freeman, Carol Giardina, Susan Griffin, Karla Jay, Kate Millett, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Denise Oliver-Velez, OBOS, Trina Robbins, Ruth Rosen, Vivian Rothstein, Marlene Sanders, Alix Kates Shulman, Ellen Shumsky, Marilyn Webb, Virginia Whitehill, Ellen Willis, Alice Wolfson.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

DOCUMENTARY CREDITS:

Director: Mary Dore
Producers: Mary Dore & Nancy Kennedy, Geralyn Dreyfous
Executive Producers: Pamela Tanner Boll and Elizabeth Driehaus
Films Composer: Mark degli Antoni
Melancholy Guitar by Scott Anderson, courtesy of For The Bible Tells Me So Ltd
Wake up- Instrumental by Arian Saleh. Courtesy of Audio Socket

MUSIC: This episode includes Grand Caravan by Blue Dot Session & Build a View by Corey Gray.

LEARN MORE:

She's Beautiful When She's Angry

“There was not a moment that I came into the workplace and thought that I would belong or be treated properly or equally.” Ruchika Tulshyan, a workplace inclusion expert, paraphrases an interview with Ijeoma Oluo, a thought leader on race in America, for Tulshyan’s book, Inclusion on Purpose.

In the conversation featured in this episode, these two women talk about Ruchika’s misassumptions about race and gender in the workplace in her first book, and the intersection of race and gender as it differently and more severely impacts women of color. They discuss the immigrant experience, the subtle and overt ways immigrants and non-Black people of color are encouraged to hold up white supremacy and propagate anti-Blackness, and how we work to dismantle these and build workplaces where women of color feel safe, respected, and supported.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Ruchika Tulshyan, inclusion strategist, speaker and author of the bestseller Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work and Ijeoma Oluo, speaker and writer, author of the New York Times bestseller, So You Want to Talk About Race.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes Joyful Ride via Descript stock music and Trap Future Base, Royalty Free Music.

Learn More:

Town Hall Seattle
Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work

Geoengineering is defined as some emerging technologies that could manipulate the environment and partially offset some of the impacts of climate change. Seems like the perfect solution for a consumerist society that lives on instant gratification and can’t stop polluting even at the risk of our futures, right?

Well, let’s slow down. Today we’ll discuss the dangers of geoengineering and the ethics of the fact that these new technologies are being tested on Indigenous lands.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: Basav Sen, Climate Justice Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies; Dr. Steven Zornetzer; Vice-Chair, Governing Board of Arctic Ice Project; and Panganga Pungowiyi, organizer for the nonprofit Indigenous Environmental Network in Alaska.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani and Jessica Partnow. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: “Air Hockey Salon” and “Take Off and Shoot a Zero” by Chris Zabriskie; “Industrial Zone” by Bio Unit; “Leap Second” by Doctor Turtle; and “Ridiculous” and “Juan Garcia Madero” by Monplaisir.

Learn More:

Indigenous Environmental Network
Arctic Ice Project
Institute for Policy Studies

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to know about and take control of their own lives and bodies.

But while the design of the prototype was simple, Crane faced the issues we continue to fight when it comes to reproductive rights and the health and autonomy of people who give birth: an uphill battle to convince the pharmaceutical companies, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary. After all this, Crane is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Margaret Crane, graphic designer and inventor of the first home pregnancy test; Wendy Kline, Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, History Faculty Purdue University; Jesse Olszynko-Gryn, Head of the Laboratory for Oral History and Experimental Media at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science; Arthur Kover, Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University; and Alexandra Lord, Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. MUSIC: This episode includes “Podington Bear,” by Rhythm and Strings.

Learn More:

National Museum of American History
A Woman's Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain
"Predictor" by Jennifer Blackmer

On this week's episode, we take a critical look at productivity culture and the idea that time is money by speaking with Jenny Odell, acclaimed author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.

We dig into the ideas behind Saving Time, which gives a panoramic overview of how the ways we think about time actually shapes our lives. Then we begin to disentangle our daily concept of time from its capitalistic and colonialist roots in order to liberate and expand our relationship to it. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Jenny Odell, artist and author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

Learn More:

Jenny Odell

In some parts of the world, traditional herbal remedies are the norm. When we think of natural remedies we tend to think of older generations living in remote areas, in far away countries, with little access to modern healthcare. We rarely think about the ancient medicinal plants that might exist in our very own cities. On today's episode we look at plant and herb medicines through the lens of Michele Elizabeth. Lee the author of Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African-American Healing.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Michele Elizabeth Lee is a traditional healing practitioner, educator, visual artist and the author of Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing.
Brandi Mack, a Holistic Health Educator, Therapeutic Massage Therapist, Trauma-Informed Youth developer, Powerful Presenter, and Permaculture Designer.
Estrella Davina is a holistic practitioner.

Making Contact Staff

Executive Director: Jina Chung
Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum and Lucy Kang
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music Credits:

Blue Dot Session - Bedroll
Blue Dot Session - 3rd Chair
Lobo Loco - Alright in Louisiana
Lobo Loco - Inside Your Body
Audiobinger - The Garden State

Learn More:

Working The Roots Instagram
Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing
Brandi Mack
LA Times: Black Herbalist
Black Women Herbalists
Black Healers
NY Times: Some Lessons from Herbalists
Mojo Workin'
African American Slave Medicine
Sticks Stones Roots Bones

On today's show, we'll hear an encore of a show from our archives that first aired in April. We'll be looking at the environmental impact of the rail industry and hear from people in two communities currently impacted by rail-related contamination.

In February, a Suffolk Northern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and residents are still recovering from the disaster over two months later. Residents like Jami Wallace and community organizations are fighting for relief.

In Houston's Fifth Ward, residents have been living with the dire health effects of carcinogenic creosote used to treat railroad ties decades ago. Health officials have found cancer clusters in the neighborhood, where many have been devastated by the loss of friends, neighbors and loved ones. We'll hear a story from Living Downstream about the impacts to this close-knit community, where residents and organizers like Sandra Edwards continue to advocate for accountability and justice.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Jami Wallace, community organizer and East Palestine resident Sandra Edwards, community organizer, member of Impact Fifth Ward and Impact Justice, and Fifth Ward resident

Making Contact Staff:

Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Living Downstream Staff:

Story: Generations in Houston's 5th Ward Contend With Contamination, Cancer Clusters
Story producer: Laura Isensee
Story editor: Steve Mencher
Living Downstream founding producer: Steve Mencher
President and CEO of Northern California Public Media: Darren LaShelle

Story music:

Minimal Documentary by penguinmusic via Pixabay
Documentary by The Mountain via Pixabay
Lobo Loco and Nine Inch Nails, under Creative Commons licenses

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings for the use of music by the late Texas blues artist, Lightnin’ Hopkins

Learn More:

Making Contact Homepage:
www.radioproject.org

Unity Council for EP Train Derailment petition urging President Biden to issue a Major Disaster Declaration for the Norfolk Southern train derailment:
https://only.one/act/east-palestine

Impact Fifth Ward:
https://www.facebook.com/cleanupthecreosote

Texas Standard's story and interview with reporter Laura Isensee: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/houstonians-living-in-neighborhoods-with-high-rates-of-cancer-say-rail-yards-cleanup-plans-fall-short/

Spotify link to Living Downstream series, including the story heard on this episode: https://open.spotify.com/show/1tPKsb6vtQkuJjNrn5MEij

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the web at www.radioproject.org.

This week on Making Contact, we bring you a story from our podcast partners, 70 Million titled Highway Robbery: How a Small-Town Traffic Trap Became A Legal Black Hole. About 20 minutes north of Birmingham, Alabama, on Interstate 22, is the working-class town of Brookside. Its almost 1300 residents make it about the size of a large high school. According to the 2020 census, Brookside's population is mostly White and 21% are Black. On paper, it's a lot like other small towns in this part of Alabama. That is, until 2022, when Brookside became infamous for, of all things, a traffic trap.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist - Sandra Harris - Town Hall Speaker 1 - Ashley - Leah Nelson, research director for the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice - Bill Dawson, a criminal, and civil rights lawyer from Birmingham - Adam Danneman, the head of the Public Defender's office in Jefferson County - Joanna Weiss

70 Million Staff:

Episode Reporter: Rhana Natour
Editor: Monica Lopez and Juleyka Lantigua
Host: Mitzi Miller
Sound Designer: Erica Huang
Photo Editor: Michelle Baker
Staff Writer and Designer: Kori Doran
Lead Fact Checker: Haylee Millikan
Lead Producer: Pamela Kirkland
Episode Photographer: Amarr Croskey
Creator/Executive Producer: Juleyka Lantigua

Making Contact Staff:

Hosts: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Learn More:

70 Million
Sandra Harris - Grandmother accounts unjust arrest
AL.com
Brookside Police Chief Resigns
Target Speed Traps
Class Action Complaint

There’s an idea in Mexico that racism doesn’t exist, that all Mexicans are “mestizo” - a homogenous blend of Spanish and indigenous. But cultural worker José Antonio Aguilar says racism is lived by Black and brown Mexicans in many ways. He founded Racismo MX, an organization which seeks to dismantle racism, after coming to terms with his own racial reality as a “prieto” - a brown man. We also hear from anthropologist Ismael Rivera and Aztec expert Camilla Townsend as they unravel lies the Spanish colonizers told about ancient Aztecs that still feed racist tropes today.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: José Antonio Aguilar - Racismo MX, Founder and Director, Ismael Rivera - Anthropologist, Historian, Cultural Guide, Dr. Camilla Townsend, P.h.D. - Rutgers University, Professor

Host: Amy Gastelum
Freelance Producer: Anthony Wallace
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Learn More:

Ismael Rivera Tours https://riveratrips.wordpress.com/
Racismo MX https://racismo.mx/
Camilla Townsend https://history.rutgers.edu/people/faculty/details/188-townsend-camilla

On today's show, we'll revisit the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic by looking at two alternative supply chains for masks during the fallout from the Trump administration's failure to prepare.

We'll be speaking with the ProPublica reporter David McSwane about his book Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick. The book details the shadowy supply chain of brokers looking to profit from the pandemic – to the tune of millions of dollars.

We'll also hear from Mai-Linh Hong, co-editor and co-author of The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice, about a mutual aid organization that created a different supply chain for homemade masks based on community, care and connection over profit.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

J. David McSwane, award-winning ProPublica investigative reporter and author of Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick
Mai-Ling Hong, UC Merced assistant professor of literature, co-editor and co-author of The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice

Making Contact Staff:

Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music Credit:

Blue Dot Session - Order of Entrance

Learn More:

Making Contact
Dr. Mai-Linh Hong
J. David McSwane
Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick
The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice

In 2019, a well known romance writer began tweeting about other writers in her community and concerns about racism. It led to a huge reckoning within an organization called the Romance Writers of America, which is still unfolding. And although the online debate seemed to be isolated to a specific community of romance writers and their fans, it was really a microcosm of what's been happening all over the US. We learn all about romance novels and how newer writers are changing the norms of the genre, and giving it a political power it's never had before. And, we talk about what it means for organizations to change as they grapple with questions of race, including organizations such as ours, at Making Contact. This is an encore presentation of part two of a two-part series.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Contance Grady
Shana McDavis-Conway
CJ Broderick
Jayashree Kamble
Jessica Partnow

Making Contact Team:

Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Salima Hamirani, Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang and Amy Gastelum
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music:

Frequency Decree - Cenote
Broke for Free- Washout
Frequency Decree - Lithosphere
Blue Dot Sessions - Boston Landing

Learn More:

Constance Grady's Article for Vox
The Romance Writers of America
International Association for the Study of Popular Romance
Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction: An Epistemología
The Equity Project
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Recommended Reading list

In 2019 a well known romance writer began tweeting about other writers in her community and concerns about racism. It led to a huge reckoning within an organization called the Romance Writers of America, which is still unfolding. And although the online debate seemed to be isolated to a specific community of romance writers and their fans, it was really a microcosm of what's been happening all over the US. In this episode we learn all about romance novels and how newer writers are changing the norms of the genre, and giving it a political power it's never had before. And, we talk about what it means for organizations to change as they grapple with questions of race.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring

Jayashree Kamble; professor of English Literature at La Guardia Community College
Reagan Jackson; co-executive director, Young Women Empowered, also a romance reader and fan
Contance Grady; Senior Culture Reporter for Vox
Elise Staples, member of a romance reading book club through meetup.com

Making Contact Team

Episode Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Salima Hamirani, Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Amy Gastelum
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music:

Johnny Ripper - Overout
Johnny Ripper - Sfhk (mental breakdown)
Johnny Ripper - Untitled (waking up)
Johnny Ripper - In a Dream
Dance of the Seahorse - Gideon Freudman
Pictures of the Floating World - Waves
Bio Unit - Subterannean
Ketsa - you asked

Learn More:

Constance Grady's Article for Vox
The Romance Writers of America
International Association for the Study of Popular Romance
Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction: An Epistemología
Recommended Reading list

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the web at www.radioproject.org.

Journalist Natalie Pattillo and filmmaker Daniel A. Nelson created the documentary film And So I Stayed to raise awareness about criminalized survival. This is the criminal justice system’s long practice of imprisoning survivors of intimate partner violence when they fight back against their abusers. Pattillo, herself a survivor, followed the stories of Kim Dadou Brown, Tanisha Davis and Nikki Addimando, women imprisoned for killing their abusers in a struggle to survive.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Natalie Pattillo, journalist and mother
Daniel A. Nelson, filmmaker and cinematographer

Making Contact Team:

Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music Credits: via WFMU free music archive

Poddington Bear, Alsace
HoliznaCC0, Whatever

Photo by David A. Nelson, © Grit Pictures LLC.

Learn More:

The Survivor's Justice Project: https://www.sjpny.org
And So I Stayed Film: https://andsoistayedfilm.com/
The National Domestic Violence Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org/

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the web at www.radioproject.org.

Hundreds of bills targeting the trans and queer community have been introduced across state legislatures this year – a new record. Louisiana, like many other states, has seen a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ bills this session. But the state is somewhat of an outlier in the South, and activists have been successful in pushing back against these types of bills in the past. Sophie Ziegler joins today's episode to show us what legislative organizing looks like in the state – and what it can teach us about the fight for trans rights.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Sophie Ziegler, oral historian and legislative organizer in Louisiana, founder and director of the Solidarity History Initiative
Pearl Ricks, reproductive rights organizer and executive director of the Reproductive Justice Action Collective
Peyton Rose Michelle, executive director of Louisiana Trans Advocates and co-founder of locALL
Benjamin Franklin High School students

Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music credits - via Pixabay

"Documentary" by The Mountain
"Shooting stars" by PianoAmor
"Chill Ambient" by Coma-Media
"Documentary" by Coma-Media
"Prank" by Music_For_Videos

Learn More:

Solidarity History Initiative
https://solidarityhistory.org/

Mapping Trans Joy
https://www.mappingtransjoy.org/

Louisiana Trans Advocates Legislation Tracker
https://www.latransadvocates.org/lege-tracker

Reproductive Justice Action Collective
https://www.rejacnola.org/

In this week's encore episode we hear from artist Samora Abayomi Pinderhughes about The Healing Project, an abolitionist art exhibition. The work explores the structures of systemic racism, particularly the prison industrial complex in the U.S. and takes multiple forms including music, films, community gatherings, and live performances. A digital library of audio interviews centers the project. The stories, experiences, and ideas from intergenerational individuals across the country, including folks who are incarcerated form the foundation for The Healing Project’s vision for societal transformation.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: Samora Pinderhughes, Keith Lamar, Sam, Cyril, Michelle, Pitt Panther

Making Contact Staff:

Host: Anita Johnson
Segment Editors: Jessica Partnow, Lucy Kang, Jacinda Abcarian
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music:

Borrtex - Creeping
Samora Pinderhughes - Process
Samora Pinderhughes - Hope

Learn More:

The Healing Project Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/healingprojectsound/?hl=en
Exhibition site: https://ybca.org/event/the-healing-project/
Tiny Desk Concert filmed live inside the exhibition: https://youtu.be/ICUoG54pIW0
Exhibition films, “Masculinity” & “Hold that Weight”: https://youtu.be/agCTXovPYp8https://youtu.be/w237dUE1PlQ
Exhibition album: https://music.apple.com/us/album/grief/1608045199

The Silicon Valley Bank collapse brings with it memories of the wider 2008 economic crisis. Jeet Heer and John Nichols from The Nation join us to discuss the 2018 bank deregulations that set the stage for this moment and the risky investment strategy at the bank itself. They argue that bailout and FDIC's role in the collapse could set the stage for a dangerous economic future.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation; Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent for The Nation

Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music Credits:
Blue Dot Sessions - Boston Landing
Rocky Marciano - Chamem Me D
Dieter van der Westen - Heading for Bamako
Frequency Decree - Lithosphere

Learn More:

The Nation: Democrats Face a Terrible Reckoning on Bank Bailouts: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democrats-bank-bailouts/

The Nation: Silicon Valley Learns to Love Socialism for the Rich: https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/svb-failure-socialism-rich/

The Nation: Bankers Lobbied for Deregulation, Congress Capitulated, and Now Banks Are Collapsing: https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/silicon-valley-bank-congress-deregulation/

In the mid 1990s, the Reproductive Justice movement was formed by Black and indigenous women as a response to the limitations of the "reproductive rights" movement. Movement leaders argue, "rarely do we find ourselves fighting for just one aspect of reproductive justice such as abortion rights" - SisterSong.

Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, scholar and writer, joined us to talk about her book Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Frontlines, her experience being a teenager during the formation of the Reproductive Justice Movement and what she's reading now to inform this moment.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Making Contact Staff:

Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, Lucy Kang
Host: Amy Gastelum
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music Credits: Catching Feelings by Audiobinger

Image Credit: Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Learn More:

Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Loretta Ross
BYLLYE Y. AVERY
SisterSong
SisterLove
Alice Walker
June Jordan
Listen to June Jordan
Angela Davis
Adrienne Maree Brown
Audre Lorde
Feminist Studies Journal

On this week's Making Contact, we feature an extended interview with Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, a queer Diné filmmaker and director of the award-winning documentary Powerlands.

Powerlands traces how multinational energy corporations extract resources and profits while displacing and harming Indigenous communities around the world. The film follows Indigenous activists in Navajo Nation, Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines who are fighting back against corporations like Peabody Energy, Glencore and BHP.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, an award-winning queer Diné filmmaker and director of Powerlands

Host: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

This episode includes excerpts from the documentary film Powerlands.

Music:

Documentary by Music_Unlimited

Learn More:

Powerlands

This week on Making Contact, we bring you a story of urban planning and how race has shaped American cities. In a new book, Hella Town: Oakland's History of Development and Disruption, Author Mitchell Schwarzer explores the origins and the lasting impacts of transportation improvements, systemic racism, and regional competition on Oakland's built environment. Schwarzer, an architectural and urban historian, pulls from his experience as a city planner, and educator to tell the story of a city divided.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: Mitchell Schwarzer is Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Visual Culture at California College of the Arts. He has written books on architectural theory, visual perception, and the buildings of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Making Contact:

Host: Anita Johnson
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music:

Blue Dot Sessions "Bedroll"
Blue Dot Sessions "Messy Inkwell"
Andy G. Cohen "Our Young Guts"

Learn More:

Hella Town: Oakland's History of Development and Disruption - https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520391536/hella-town
Most Segregated Cities - https://belonging.berkeley.edu/most-least-segregated-cities
Making Contact - https://www.radioproject.org/

Haaland v. Brackeen is a lesser-known case in the docket for the Supreme Court, but it could overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). This would create massive implications for the laws that govern Indigenous sovereignty in the United States. We talk with author and activist Rebecca Nagle about the case of "Baby O" and the Librettis and how their story led to this case. We also investigate the money and interests behind the lawsuit. There's a lot at stake, maybe even the very nature of tribal laws, which were enshrined in the Constitution. The overturning of the ICWA is not just another custody battle.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Rebecca Nagle, Cherokee writer and advocate, reporter at The Nation, host of This Land

Making Contact Team:

Host: Salima Hamirani
Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music:

Johnny Ripper - Sundown
Johnny Ripper - sfhk (mental breakdown)
Metre- Construct
Dieter van der Westen - Heading for Bamako
Rocky Marsiano - Whatshappenin
Pictures of the Floating World - Waves

Learn More:

Transcript of Supreme Court Arguments: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2022/21-376_k536.pdf
This Land podcast: https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/#all-episodes
The Nation: "The Story of Baby O – and the Case That Could Gut Native Sovereignty": https://www.thenation.com/article/society/icwa-supreme-court-libretti-custody-case/

Federal food programs, like WIC, face big changes coming out of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Meanwhile, a single moms collective in Ohio holds it down for the single pregnant and parenting people in their community. Motherful's resource pantry serves their 325-strong membership out of a garage three times a week. We talk to members and founders to learn what's it's like to participate, how it all started and where food justice is headed for them now and in their wildest dreams.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Kay Riley, college student and Mom to baby Wisdom, Motherful Member
Rugi Ngaide, Ohio supreme court translator, Mom, Motherful member
Lisa Woodrow, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Motherful, Mom
Heidi Howes - Co-Founder and Co-Director of Motherful, Mom
Rebecca Piazza: Senior Advisor for Delivery, Food and Nutrition Service, Mom

Making Contact Team:

Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music:

HoliznaCC0, Sky Scrapers

Learn More:

Motherful: www.motherful.org Changes to WIC: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/10/19/usda-makes-major-investments-wic-improve-maternal-and-child-health

Today's episode debuts our partnership with the Queens Memory Podcast, a project archiving stories from the most diverse community in the U.S., Queens, New York. “Little Manila” is a Filipino neighborhood dating back to the 1970s, but it still struggles to find its political footing. The community's presence is strengthened through grassroots coalitions and community art, like the mural of the greeting "Mabuhay," a word that encompasses feelings of welcome and good wishes and at its most literal "LIVE!" We also hear from Filipino care workers about their experiences battling COVID 19, and the stereotype Filipina women face of being "natural nurturers" which doesn't translate into care for them in return.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: Potri Ranka Manis: Nurse, Activist and Artist; Joey Golja: Community Member; Mary Jane de Leon: Community Member; John Bahia: Community Member; Steven Raga: Assemblymember for District 30, Queens, NY; Jaclyn Reyes: Artist, Designer, and Cultural Organizer; Gemma Balagtas: Community Member, Nurse; Zenaida (Ida) Castillo: Community Member and Owner of PhilAm Food Mart

Queens Memory Podcast:

Producers: Rosalind Tordesillas, Melody Cao, Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt.
Mixing and editing by Cory Choy
Music composed by Elias Ravin
Voiceover work by Arianne Arreglado.

Making Contact:

Host: Amy Gastelum
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Learn More:

https://queensmemory.org

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, or the "catastrophe" in Arabic. It refers both to the events starting in late 1947, when Zionist militias expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, and the ongoing destruction and occupation of their lands. Today, Palestinians continue to commemorate the Nakba by reclaiming their history, resisting the occupation, and calling for their right to return. We start today's show with a story about how the desperation of life in Gaza under the Israeli blockade is forcing Palestinians to leave by sea. Then, we'll learn more about the history of the Nakba and the role that foreign powers like Britain and the United States have played.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: Rami Almeghari, Gaza-based journalist and poet; Marie Choi, former Making Contact producer and host; Rabab Abdulhadi, founding director and Senior Scholar of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Studies at San Francisco State University; Hasan Hammami, Nakba survivor from Jaffa, Palestine; Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and author of The Hundred Years' War on Palestine

Host: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow Engineer: Jeff Emtman Audio from Rashid Khalidi is drawn from a 2021 KPFA book event where he was in conversation with Nora Barrows-Friedman. Hasan Hammami's firsthand account is drawn from "The Nakba and its Generational Impact on Palestinian lives: Memory, Identity, and a Future rooted in Justice," organized by the Foundation for Middle East Peace and Project48 in 2021. Music Credits: Minimal Documentary by penguinmusic via Pixabay Qnoun instrumental with out mix from HOPE SPOKEN/BROKEN

Learn More:

Making Contact: The Nakba, the Naksa, and the Future of Palestine (2016) "The Nakba and its Generational Impact on Palestinian lives: Memory, Identity, and a Future rooted in Justice," organized by the Foundation for Middle East Peace and Project48 in 2021 Rashid Khalidi & Nora Barrows-Friedman: The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, organized by KPFA in 2021

Grand juries are supposed to safeguard against the government charging people with a crime when it lacks sufficient evidence. But because prosecutors control what happens in grand jury proceedings, they almost always get an indictment. That is, unless the accused is a police officer. This week on Making Contact, we hear a story from our podcast partner 70 Million about a case of police brutality in Dallas that evaporated after going before a grand jury in an edited version of “Grand Juries, The Black Box of Justice Reform?"

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring:

Parker Nevilles, Jantzen Verastique, Dondi Morse - protestors targeted by police
Ric Simmons, Professor, The Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law
Roger Rudloff, police officer
Unidentified Police Officer
David Henderson, civil rights attorney

70 Million Team:

Episode Reporter: Mark Betancourt
Editor: Monica Lopez and Juleyka Lantigua
Host: Mitzi Miller
Sound Designer: Erica Huang
Photo Editor: Michelle Baker
Staff Writer and Designer: Kori Doran
Lead Fact Checker: Catherine Nouhan
Lead Producer: Pamela Kirkland
Episode Photographer: Miles Moffeit & Eli Hiller
Creator/Executive Producer: Juleyka Lantigua

Making Contact Staff:

Anita Johnson, Episode Host
Amy Gastelum; Lucy Kang; and Salima Hamirani, Staff Producers
Jina Chung, Executive Director
Jessica Partnow, Interim Senior Producer

Learn More:

70 Million: https://70millionpod.com/season-5

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the web at www.radioproject.org.

The Silicon Valley Bank collapse brings with it memories of the wider 2008 economic crisis. Jeet Heer and John Nichols from The Nation join us to discuss the 2018 bank deregulations that set the stage for this moment and the risky investment strategy at the bank itself. They argue that bailout and FDIC's role in the collapse could set the stage for a dangerous economic future.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Featuring: John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation; Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent for The Nation

Host: Salima Hamirani Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow Engineer: Jeff Emtman Music Credits: Blue Dot Sessions - Boston Landing Rocky Marciano - Chamem Me D Dieter van der Westen - Heading for Bamako Frequency Decree - Lithosphere Learn More:

The Nation: Democrats Face a Terrible Reckoning on Bank Bailouts: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democrats-bank-bailouts/ The Nation: Silicon Valley Learns to Love Socialism for the Rich: https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/svb-failure-socialism-rich/ The Nation: Bankers Lobbied for Deregulation, Congress Capitulated, and Now Banks Are Collapsing: https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/silicon-valley-bank-congress-deregulation/

Abortion access is piecemeal and complex in the US. And while access to abortion volleys among the court system, the organization PlanCPills.org helps people access pills to manage their own abortions, despite confusing, mercurial laws.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here tinyurl.com/y7u8xeqf and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!Since Roe V. Wade was overturned last summer, it's harder than ever to access abortion services. But it's never been easy in the rural midwest and southern states, even when Roe was the law of the land. We sat down with staff at All Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington, Indiana to talk about how they handle an increase in need for funding the rising cost of abortion.They do a lot, but there's one thing they can't do. They can't talk to clients about self-managed abortion, even though experts at the World Health Organization say it's safe and effective.While abortion is debated in the American court system, we talk with researcher Dr. Melissa Madera to learn about the ways folks are getting access to abortion pills, what to expect from a self-managed abortion and what people should know about the risk of criminalization.

On today's show, we'll be looking at the environmental impact of the rail industry and hear from people in two communities currently impacted by rail-related contamination. In February, a Suffolk Northern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and residents are still recovering from the disaster over two months later. In Houston's Fifth Ward, residents have been living with the dire health effects of creosote used to treat railroad ties decades ago.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here tinyurl.com/y7u8xeqf and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!On today's show, we'll be looking at the environmental impact of the rail industry and hear from people in two communities currently impacted by rail-related contamination.In February, a Suffolk Northern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and residents are still recovering from the disaster over two months later. Residents like Jami Wallace and community organizations are fighting for relief.In Houston's Fifth Ward, residents have been living with the dire health effects of carcinogenic creosote used to treat railroad ties decades ago. Health officials have found cancer clusters in the neighborhood, where many have been devastated by the loss of friends, neighbors and loved ones. We'll hear a story from Living Downstream about the impacts to this close-knit community, where residents and organizers like Sandra Edwards continue to advocate for accountability and justice.

On today's show, we'll travel to Seattle to hear indigenous voices and Coast Salish languages, and to reflect on the importance of the Salish Sea and connecting waters, by immersing ourselves in an audio experience called “Saltwater Soundwalk.”

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here tinyurl.com/y7u8xeqf and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!Today on Making Contact we present “Saltwater Soundwalk”: Indigenous Audio Tour of the Seattle Coast. Produced by Jenny Asarnow and Rachel Lam, this rhythmic, watery audio experience, streams of stories that ebb and flow, intermixing English with Coast Salish languages. Indigenous Coast Salish peoples continue to steward this land and preserve its language, despite settler colonialism, industrialization and gentrification. Part story, part sound collage, this piece is scored entirely with the sounds of the waters and animals who live in and around the Salish Sea.

A new philosophy steeped in the ideas of Artificial Intelligence, space colonization, and the long-term survival of the human species is gaining ground among the wealthy. However, there are reasons to question its goals and its ethics. Longtermists believe that not only could we colonize space and create simulated humans in giant servers around stars, but that we must. Anything short of a trillion-year multi-planetary existence for our species would be a moral failing. They also believe that all of our ethical actions should focus on the countless lives that may exist in that dim future, instead of on the people alive today. Is this the kind of ethics we should all accept, however? Philosopher and historian Emile P Torres joins us to discuss Longtermism and its dangerous pitfalls.

While wages have flatlined for most working class people, rents have reached new highs, leaving most people struggling. But it’s not just in the US. The rising cost of living is affected the entire world. Samuel Stein’s new book, Capital City and the Real Estate State, highlights the growing influence of investment capital into land as the driving force behind gentrification and the power developers have over city and local governments. We talk to Samuel about the rise of the global real estate market and we look at how radical city planning, rent control and socialized land projects can help fight gentrification.

On this episode, we turn our focus to how journalists and historians today are covering the Tulsa Race Massacre. KalaLea, producer and host of the podcast series Blindspot: Tulsa Burning, talks about how she led coverage of the brutal 1921 attack on a prosperous Black Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma known as Black Wall Street. And, we'll hear from members of Tulsa's Tri-City Collective who continue to investigate the history there.

To mark the three year anniversary of the official start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we'll be looking at two alternative supply chains for masks that emerged in the fallout of the Trump administration's failure to prepare.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here tinyurl.com/y7u8xeqf and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!To mark the three year anniversary of the official start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we'll be looking at two alternative supply chains for masks that emerged in the fallout of the Trump administration's failure to prepare.We'll be speaking with the ProPublica reporter David McSwane about his book Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick. The book details the shadowy supply chain of brokers looking to profit from the pandemic – to the tune of millions of dollars.We'll also hear from Mai-Linh Hong, co-editor and co-author of The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice, about a mutual aid organization that created a different supply chain for homemade masks based on community, care and connection over profit.

On today's show, we hear a story from our podcast partner 70 Million about the relationship between students with special needs and school resource officers and the changes some would like to see in an edited version of “Why Policing Our Schools Backfires."

We talk to Raj Patel and Rupa Marya about their book "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice."

In this episode, long-time producers Anita Johnson and Salima Hamirani introduce the newest members of the Making Contact team, recap highlights from the past year, and preview what to expect from the show in 2023.

On today's show, we bring you a special encore episode from our archives to honor Black history and heritage. We take a look at the life and legacy of Bayard Rustin, one of the most central figures in the African American struggle for civil rights and freedom. Rustin was a pacifist, a gay man, and a practitioner of nonviolence who dedicated his life to racial equality, economic justice and ending warfare. This program first aired on Making Contact in 2021.

This week on Making Contact we bring you to "The Healing Project," a multimedia installation that shares stories from incarcerated people about how the trauma of imprisonment has impacted their lives and families.

This week on Making Contact we bring you to "The Healing Project," a multimedia installation that shares stories from incarcerated people about how the trauma of imprisonment has impacted their lives and families.

On the face of it, the legal arguments at the Supreme Court over the Indian Child Welfare Act seem to be a custody battle over Native children and the right to adopt them by white parents. But, the funding behind the court case hints at something deeper and could dismantle indigenous sovereignty as we know it.

Joshua Potash, a New York City-based anti-capitalist abolitionist discusses the history and theory behind mutual aid with our partners at The Response Podcast.

On today's show we learn about worker cooperatives: what are they and can they offer an alternative to the dominant capitalist mindset? Our partner podcast Upstream brings us to a bike and skate shop in Richmond, CA that's providing a much-needed service to its community, while also empowering its own workers, in this story that first aired in 2018.

This week on Making Contact we continue with our look at a community of unhoused people in Echo Park in Los Angeles, California and how they were forcibly evicted by police despite an enormous show of support from protesters. Thanks to our podcast partners at 70 Million we bring you part two of “Punished and Persecuted for Being Unhoused.”

Thousands of social justice leaders in communities all over the world passed away this year.

We're closing out the year, as we usually do, with inspiring words from some of the Fallen Heroes of 2022.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here tinyurl.com/y7u8xeqf and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!Thousands of social justice leaders in communities all over the world passed away this year.We're closing out the year, as we usually do, with inspiring words from some of the Fallen Heroes of 2022.

In the midst of our stress and trauma dealing with the sometimes harsh realities of life, its hard to imagine what stories we will ultimately tell our children and grandchildren. This week's Making Contact is about two strong women who survived historic trauma, and the stories they later told their families.

This week, we explore an often-overlooked issue in the Arab world; racism towards Black Arabs. In this episode, Kerning Culture reporter Ahmed Twaij looks at racism in his own community, taking us from his Iraqi roots, through to modern day slurs still commonly used in many Arab communities around the world.

In this special mini-episode, producer Amy Gastelum sits down with Rebecca Piazza to learn more about WIC, and what the program is doing to try and increase its low participation rates.

Federal food programs, like WIC, face big changes coming out of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Meanwhile, a single moms collective in Ohio holds it down for the single pregnant and parenting people in their community. Motherful's resource pantry serves their 325-strong membership out of a garage three times a week. We talk to members and founders to learn what's it's like to participate, how it all started and where food justice is headed for them now and in their wildest dreams.

What does food mean to identities struggling against colonialism and displacement? First, we visit the Blackfeet Nation in Montana as members of Indigikitchen harvest bison and talk about Native food systems. Then, we head to Bloomington, Indiana where a young archeology professor has brought methods of growing and sharing food from the deeper past to a modern Latino diaspora.

Mutual aid efforts to provide pregnancy prevention and medical abortion in post-Roe southern United States.

Our friends from the podcast The Response bring us their piece Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice in a Post-Roe Landscape, plus a quick update on how the issue of abortion access impacted the 2022 midterms.

Our friends from the podcast The Response bring us their piece Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice in a Post-Roe Landscape, plus a quick update on how the issue of abortion access impacted the 2022 midterms.

Groups all over Latin America turn to the age-old practice of communal cooking to feed citizens during pandemic lockdowns. A Buenos Aires arts organization solidifies their community, and a Peruvian architect brings new ways of building to the hillsides of Lima.

Groups all over Latin America turn to the age-old practice of communal cooking to feed citizens during pandemic lockdowns. A Buenos Aires arts organization solidifies their community, and a Peruvian architect brings new ways of building to the hillsides of Lima.

This week on Making Contact - with assistance from our podcast partners, 70 million - we head to the state of Alaska, where rising violent crime and substance abuse have increased incarceration rates among Native Americans. Making use of their legal sovereignty, some Alaskan Native leaders issue “blue tickets,” documents that sentence offenders to legal expulsion. Journalist Emily Schwing looked into these banishment practices and their impacts on those affected by both tribal and state criminal justice systems.

This week on Making Contact - with assistance from our podcast partners, 70 million - we head to the state of Alaska, where rising violent crime and substance abuse have increased incarceration rates among Native Americans. Making use of their legal sovereignty, some Alaskan Native leaders issue “blue tickets,” documents that sentence offenders to legal expulsion. Journalist Emily Schwing looked into these banishment practices and their impacts on those affected by both tribal and state criminal justice systems.

We revisit a major race debate within the Romance Writers of America that began in 2019 and talk about why questions of race in art and in institutions are so relevant in today's America. This is a two part series.

We revisit a major race debate within the Romance Writers of America that began in 2019 and talk about why questions of race in art and in institutions are so relevant in today's America. This is a two part series.

We revisit a major race debate within the Romance Writers of America that began in 2019 and talk about why questions of race in art and in institutions are so relevant in today's America. This is a two part series.

We revisit a major race debate within the Romance Writers of America that began in 2019 and talk about why questions of race in art and in institutions are so relevant in today's America. This is a two part series.

One child’s experience in a neighborhood with high asthma rates and other health challenges.

One child’s experience in a neighborhood with high asthma rates and other health challenges.

We talk to Raj Patel and Rupa Marya about their new book "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice."

We talk to Raj Patel and Rupa Marya about their new book "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice."

In today's episode, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs tells the birth story of the book she co-edited with China Martens and Mai'a Williams, Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines and gives context to the book with stories of the Reproductive Justice Movement.

In today's episode, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs tells the birth story of the book she co-edited with China Martens and Mai'a Williams, Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines and gives context to the book with stories of the Reproductive Justice Movement.

Nagi Daifallah was a young farm worker from Yemen who participated in the 1973 Grape Strike along with the UFW until he was murdered by a Sheriff. We visit his story via our friends at Kerning Cultures.

Nagi Daifallah was a young farm worker from Yemen who participated in the 1973 Grape Strike along with the UFW until he was murdered by a Sheriff. We visit his story via our friends at Kerning Cultures.

In some parts of the world, traditional herbal remedies are the norm. When we think of natural remedies we tend to think of older generations living in remote areas, in far away countries, with little access to modern healthcare. We rarely think about the ancient medicinal plants that might exist in our very own cities. On today's episode we look at plant and herb medicines through the lens of Michele E. Lee the author of Working The Roots.

In some parts of the world, traditional herbal remedies are the norm. When we think of natural remedies we tend to think of older generations living in remote areas, in far away countries, with little access to modern healthcare. We rarely think about the ancient medicinal plants that might exist in our very own cities. On today's episode we look at plant and herb medicines through the lens of Michele E. Lee the author of Working The Roots.

In today’s episode, we’re going to focus on energy poverty. When temperatures rise to the point where they become dangerous, what happens to people who can’t escape the heat? As temperatures continue to soar and extreme heatwaves become the norm, a lack of resources to stay cool — so, having access to things like air conditioning, for example, — is a huge issue across the world. To find out how people are fighting energy poverty, we visit southern Europe, a region that experienced a series of record-breaking, climate-fueled heatwaves this past summer. Today’s episode comes to us from our friends at The Response podcast.

In today’s episode, we’re going to focus on energy poverty. When temperatures rise to the point where they become dangerous, what happens to people who can’t escape the heat? As temperatures continue to soar and extreme heatwaves become the norm, a lack of resources to stay cool — so, having access to things like air conditioning, for example, — is a huge issue across the world. To find out how people are fighting energy poverty, we visit southern Europe, a region that experienced a series of record-breaking, climate-fueled heatwaves this past summer. Today’s episode comes to us from our friends at The Response podcast.

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the web at www.radioproject.org.

What does food mean to identities struggling against colonialism and displacement? First, we visit the Blackfeet Nation in Montana as members of Indigikitchen harvest bison and talk about native food systems. Then, we head to Bloomington, Indiana where a young archeology professor has brought methods of growing and sharing food from the deeper past to a modern Latino diaspora.

While wages have flatlined for most working-class people, rents have reached new highs, leaving most people struggling. But it’s not just in the US. The rising cost of living has affected the entire world. Samuel Stein’s new book, Capital City and the Real Estate State, highlights the growing influence of investment capital into land as the driving force behind gentrification and the power developers have over city and local governments. We talk to Samuel about the rise of the global real estate market and we look at how radical city planning, rent control and socialized land projects can help fight gentrification.

New York City taxi drivers were drowning in debt because they had to buy their licenses from the city. We join our friends at the podcast Self-Evident to take a look at the hunger strike they used to renegotiate the terms of their debt.

This week, we bring you a story from our podcast partner Kerning Cultures about Patrice Lumumba’s children, and their escape to Cairo.

More and more coastal communities want to build sea walls to prevent catastrophic flooding because of rising sea levels. But do they work? We talk about the risks of the planned seagates in New York and we visit Sapelo Island Georgia to learn about how to Gullah Geechee community plans to defend their ancestral lands by using a natural shoreline, built of oysters.

This week on Making Contact, we look at Bail Reform in the state of Texas with the help of our podcast partners 70 Million. For conservative lawmakers and bail reform advocates have long debated what bail reform can look like for those who cannot afford to bail themselves out of jail.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors are much more likely than their straight counterparts to be alone and isolated as they age. Housing and support for these elders is a growing need--and the issue is not confined to the United States. In this edition, we'll visit Jakarta Indonesia, and Los Angeles, California, to hear stories of building housing and community for LGBTQ seniors.

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the Web at www.radioproject.org.

We revisit a major race debate within the Romance Writers of America that began in 2019 and talk about why questions of race in art and in institutions are so relevant in today's America. This is a two part series.

The Palestine Broadcasting Service started airing in 1936, from a brand new transmitter tower in Ramallah. It was a British station in three languages, aimed at promoting the message of the mandate government throughout the region. But over the following decades, as Palestine saw political upheavals, bloody conflicts and power shifts, the radio station found itself in the middle of it all, and became a unique capsule of the events that lead up to the Nakba. This story originally aired on Kerning Cultures, a podcast telling stories from across the Middle East and North Africa and the spaces in between.

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the web at www.radioproject.org.

On today's program we honor Bayard Rustin, one of the most central figures in the African American struggle for Civil Rights and Freedom. Rustin was a pacifist, homosexual and practitioner of nonviolence who dedicated his life to racial equality, economic justice and ending warfare.

This episode explores the story of Billy Taing, a Cambodian refugee who got caught up in the US criminal justice system at a young age.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here tinyurl.com/y7u8xeqf and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

In today’s political climate, immigration is often discussed within the context of who "deserves" to be here versus who does not. Many politicians have strayed away from addressing immigration as a humanitarian issue altogether. Stereotyping of immigrants isn’t new — it’s a part of a much longer history of criminalizing immigrants and refugees in the United States. This episode explores the experiences of a Cambodian refugee who got caught up in the criminal justice system at a young age. Billy Taing shares his story of fleeing the Khmer Rouge and resettling in America with his family, only to continue facing hardship.

Nearly two thirds of all children in the U.S. juvenile justice system are kids of color. That’s according to a report by the Children’s Defense Fund. In this episode of Making Contact, we’ll hear from Dr. Kris Henning on the disparities faced by Black youth in the juvenile justice system.

A year ago, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize drug possession. The goal is to reverse some of the negative impacts of the War on Drugs by approaching drug use from a health-centered basis. Reporter Cecilia Brown visits an addiction and recovery center in Portland that’s gearing up for what they hope will be an influx of people seeking treatment.

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the Web at www.radioproject.org.

This week, Making Contact’s Jessica Partnow offers a look at the state of Russian youth activism from 2012 to today. She revisits her reporting from Ukraine and Russia and speaks with the people in those stories against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine today. In the first part of the show she shares the story of re-connecting with her childhood pen pal Sasha, a Ukrainian boy who witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union and is now fighting to protect his country from the Russian invasion, through the eyes of his younger sister Anna who is now living in the US and desperately trying to stay connected with her Ukrainian family and friends under siege. After the break, we meet Vassili, a Muscovite who has always been proud of his country but is now grappling with a grim view of its future.

Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On the Web at www.radioproject.org.

Jeremy Menchik volunteered for Moderna’s vaccine trials, wanting to help end the COVID pandemic. However, as Moderna continues to hold patent rights and refuses to openly share their vaccine technology, Jeremy began to feel conflicted. He has since publicly quit as a volunteer and urges others to do the same, until everyone can freely access the vaccine. Listen to our interview with Jeremy on this special edition of Making Contact, an extra to our larger show on vaccine equality.

On Dec. 11, 2021, the UCLA Labor Center’s historic MacArthur Park building was officially named the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center, in honor of a civil and worker rights icon who has been teaching at UCLA for the last 2 decades. In this episode of Re:Work, 93-year-old Rev. Lawson shares stories from his youth, and how he came to discover soul force and the path of nonviolence.

Through the work and birth stories of midwife Allegra Hill, the producers of Re:Work Radio explain how Black midwives in Los Angeles are helping women to experience empowered births.

Police encounters during a mental health crisis have a greater chance of turning deadly if you're Black. New response mechanisms bypass law enforcement and result in helpful interventions. Reporter Jenee Darden looks at how folks in Northern California are trying to reimagine crisis response services.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here tinyurl.com/y7u8xeqf and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Police encounters during a mental health crisis have a greater chance of turning deadly if you're Black. New response mechanisms bypass law enforcement and result in helpful interventions. Reporter Jenee Darden looks at how folks in Northern California are trying to reimagine crisis response services.

While Black women have played a critical role in the development of the nation, their stories have been mostly overlooked. In the new book, A Black Women’s History of the United States, historians Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross honor the many significant contributions of Black women who have worked tirelessly to build this country and fight for social justice in the face of racism and sexism.

In this encore episode, we look at how COVID-19 has torn through prisons and how organizers are trying to push state and local governments to release inmates in order to contain the spread of the pandemic. In part one, we focus on California. We take a look at why a prison, like San Quentin, is such a perfect environment for infectious diseases, especially an airborne one like COVID-19, how we might safely release large amounts of inmates across the prison system, and what we’ve learned from past release programs like realignment.

A legal matrix that incentivizes criminal convictions can motivate unethical prosecutors to bend or break the rules. In New York, a group of law professors is trying to curb that by pushing the system to discipline its own. Reported by Nina Sparling.

When India went into lockdown in 2020, millions of jobs disappeared and tens of millions of migrant workers struggled to get home, often on foot. Many died attempting the journey. This week, we bring you the story of one man who left his village as a child to earn money to support his family.

In our annual Fallen Heroes episode, we share words of inspiration from, and about some lesser-known grassroots activists who passed away in 2021.

In this special year-end episode, Making Contact producers and staff turn the spotlight on some the best shows they aired in 2021.

The world is struggling to contain COVID-19, as variants continue to emerge in countries where the virus is spreading unchecked, killing thousands. Not only could widespread vaccination campaigns help slow the virus, they would save countless lives. So why can’t countries in the global south access the novel COVID-19 vaccines? We take a deep dive into the world of international patents and talk about what needs to change in order to create a more just, global, medical system.

When communities face the aftermath of catastrophes, what does it take to ensure that the next time will be different? In Houston, it takes a city council member who bicycles in her neighborhood to hear from constituents about what they need most. It takes 12 moms who organize to take legal action against the landlords that have kept their families in moldy, substandard apartments. In this fourth episode of the podcast But Next Time hosts Chrishelle Palay and Rose Arrieta head back to Houston to meet organizers making a difference.

In cities around the globe community organizers and direct service agencies are often the first line of response when a climate fueled natural disaster strikes. In this third episode of the podcast But Next Time we meet organizers in Houston and Puerto Rico whose shared experiences of hurricane response bind them together in the effort to assure next time things will be different.

We’re popping into your feed today with a quick announcement for fans of Making Contact. We know you love the show, and right now we’ve got an extra special opportunity for your support to go twice as far.

Every donation you send to Making Contact through the end of the year will be doubled by NewsMatch! And if you sign up as a new monthly sustainer, your donation will be matched all year long.

You can visit our donation page to make your gift right away, or click to listen to this special year-end message from our board of directors.

https://makingcontact.networkforgood.com/projects/39193-making-contact-year-round

Our radio adaptation of the film Beyond Recognition by Underexposed films, "After decades struggling to protect her ancestors’ burial places, a Native woman from a non-federally recognized Ohlone tribe and her allies occupy a sacred site to prevent its desecration. They then vow to follow a new path- to establish the first women-led urban Indigenous land trust.

There’s a place in rural St. Johns, Arizona, where teens who have encounters with officers of the law can play pool, make music, and get mentored instead of going to jail. It’s called The Loft, and it’s the brainchild of a judge who wanted to save the county hundreds of millions of dollars and divert young people towards the support many were not getting at home.

In some parts of the world, traditional herbal remedies are the norm. When we think of natural remedies we tend to think of older generations living in remote areas, in far away countries, with little access to modern healthcare. We rarely think about the ancient medicinal plants that might exist in our very own cities. On today's episode we look at plant and herb medicines through the lens of Michele E. Lee the author of Working The Roots.

One of the most common forms of trafficking is labor trafficking. In this episode, Re:Work Radio brings you the story of Lester Ramos and his journey from the Philippines. Later in the broadcast, we hear from Filipino migration expert, Dr. Robyn Magalit Rodriguez, on the circumstances in the Philippines and the US that drive Filipinos to work abroad.

In today’s program, sociology professor Lisa Hajjar traces the rise and fall of torture after 9/11. She examines the ways in which torture and the fight against it have altered the legal terrain on torture in the United States, and potentially on a global scale.

Nearly one in two Black women in the US have a loved one who has been impacted by our prison system. Many become de facto civilian experts as a result. Some rise to lead as catalysts for change. And now, scores of Black women are joining the ranks—as officers of the court, police, and judges—to manage and advance a system that has had such an outsized impact on their lives. On today's episode we look at the many ways Black women are leading the conversation around policy and reform within the criminal justice system.

As fires ravaged California's world-famous wine country in 2017, a community radio station, emergency dispatcher, and tenant organizers helped the most vulnerable in their community survive and recover. Community organizers and hosts of the podcasts But Next Time Chrishelle Palay and Rose Arrieta bring us the first of four stories of hard-won lessons learned from people on the frontlines of California’s wildfires and Texas’ storms as they work to answer the question, how can next time be different?

As fires ravaged California's world-famous wine country in 2017,a community radio station, emergency dispatcher, and tenant organizers helped the most vulnerable in their community survive and recover. Community organizers and hosts of the podcasts But Next Time Chrishelle Palay and Rose Arrieta bring us the first of four stories of hard-won lessons learned from people on the frontlines of California’s wildfires and Texas’ storms as they work to answer the question, how can next time be different?

How will demographic shifts affect redistricting in 2021?

Latinos are the second largest ethnic group in the U.S. In California, the Latinos grew to 39% of the population, surpassing whites as the largest ethnic group. Meanwhile, the white population decreased nationwide for the first time.

While Black women have played a critical role in the development of the nation, their stories have been mostly overlooked. In the new book, A Black Women’s History of the United States,historians Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross honor the many significant contributions of Black women who have worked tirelessly to build this country and fight for social justice in the face of racism and sexism.

Through the work and birth stories of midwife, Allegra Hill, the producers of Re:Work Radio explain how Black midwives in Los Angeles are helping women to experience empowered births.

September 11th, 2021 marks 20 years since the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. Today, we turn our attention not to the tragedy of 9/11 itself, but to 9/11 as an inflection point in U.S. culture and policy in two areas: domestic surveillance in the form of fusion centers, and the rise and fall of the use of torture in the War on Terror.

The COVID 19 pandemic has transformed all of our lives in some way. But some are feeling the impacts more than others. Take healthcare workers, for example: As the United States surpasses 38 million COVID-19 cases and 637,000 deaths as of August 28th, 2021, many healthcare workers continue to be overloaded by caring for COVID-19 patients. Globally, COVID-19 has presented unique challenges, leading to increased mental health issues among healthcare workers.

Others are feeling the impacts while struggling to find or maintain housing, and balance parenting during the pandemic.

Fifty-one years ago, 30,000 people peacefully protested the disproportionate number of Latinos dying on the frontlines in Vietnam. The August 29th Chicano Moratorium ended with an attack by police, 400 arrests, and the deaths of four people, one of whom was Los Angeles Times journalist Rubén Salazar.

On June 14, 2017, a fire started in a 24-story public housing apartment in West London called Grenfell Tower. The fire raged all night and reduced the building to a shell. Seventy-two people lost their lives, making the Grenfell Tower fire the United Kingdom’s deadliest disaster since World War II. In this episode, we examine the events that led up to the Grenfell Tower fire and learn how the community has responded through the voices of survivors, their families, and others who were impacted.

Kirsten made her way out of jail and addiction with the help of a special court on the Penobscot Nation reservation in Maine. There, culture and justice work together to bypass traditional punitive measures for more restorative ones. Reporter Lisa Bartfai visits the Healing to Wellness Court to see how it all works.

Barbara Bernstein’s story of several communities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States who are fighting mammoth fracked gas projects that would turn this green region into a fracked-gas export hub. For years, Bernstein has reported for Making Contact on David versus Goliath battles against oil and gas corporations, and the fight for a clean environment. Today you’ll hear part one of Bernstein’s project, Holding The Thin Green Line as we bring you, The World’s Largest Methanol Refinery.

Regardless of race, gender, or political affiliation, Americans in 2020 bought guns; many, for the first time. In this show, we hear from gun and mental health communities on last year’s panic buying, and what they are doing to prevent gun violence and suicides in the wake of surging national gun sales.

As reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act awaits a vote in the U.S. Senate, missing and murdered indigenous women and girls continue to face an unequal system of justice. In this show we’ll hear from indigenous women scholars and activists on what justice means for MMIWG2.

Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chicano Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression.

Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chicano Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chicano Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression.

Minneapolis, MN - May 25 marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd's death - captured on video that showed Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes - sparked a global uprising in defense of Black lives and against police brutality. But amid the coverage of protests in the wake of Floyd's death, media attention rarely focused on the ways communities impacted by police violence were organizing to keep each other safe, in Minneapolis and beyond.

On today's program we honor the life and legacy of civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs through the lens of the documentary film, American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs. Produced and directed by Grace Lee.

We bring you one little girl’s experience in a neighborhood with high asthma rates and other health challenges. We also look at one part of Southern California that is bombarded with pollutants from oil refineries, a trucking thoroughfare, and one of the world’s largest ocean ports.

On today's program we honor Bayard Rustin, one of the most central figures in the African American struggle for Civil Rights and Freedom. Rustin was a pacifist, homosexual and practitioner of nonviolence who dedicated his life to racial equality, economic justice and ending warfare.

It's been a year since the call to "Defund the Police" rang out through the George Floyd Protests. The idea isn't new - redistributing police funds into community projects that better support healthy communities -but, it's never been as popular and forceful. We take a look at some of the gains organizers have made over the past year and, we talk about the challenges

2020 and the first few months of 2021 are shaping up to be some of the biggest periods ever for U.S. firearms sales. In California, however, gun sales last year decreased slightly. In this episode we hear from members of the gun and mental health communities on what they are doing to help prevent gun violence in the wake of surging national gun sales.

Three years after Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Ricans are still reeling from its effects and aftereffects. We bring you a Haymarket Books talk by Marisol LeBrón, Yarimar Bonilla, and Molly Crabapple, on a collection of essays called “Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm” which discusses the legacy of Maria, and also community organizing in the face of government abandonment. This piece includes clips from the Short Film : "Aftershocks of Disaster," directed by Juan C. Dávila, and produced by Yarimar Bonilla.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here tinyurl.com/y7u8xeqf and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

On this episode of Making Contact, MOVE members and supporters of the Black radical liberation group demand that the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University return the remains of two children killed in the 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia. Both Universities claim to not know where the remains of the two children, Tree Africa, age 14, and Delisha Africa, age 12 are being housed.

Domestic abuse affects everyone it touches—intimate partners, children, and elders. COVID-19 created new problems for victims of domestic violence and made some worse. This show looks at the challenges to survivors and their advocates posed by the pandemic and examines a landmark piece of legislation in the UK that could change the way countries there handle domestic abuse cases.

This week on Making Contact, we look at so-called quality of life laws that criminalize unhoused individuals and entangles them in a cycle of poverty and incarceration—and how advocacy groups are breaking the cycle.

Water is critical to maintaining the balance of life. Some corporations claim ownership of fresh water sources to bottle and sell for profit. Others use water as a tool to extract oil and gas. In this encore edition, we'll hear from communities fighting to keep water bottling companies out of rural Oregon, and to protect water from oil and gas contamination in New Mexico.

Amid national outrage over the police killing of George Floyd in May of 2020, and other police-shootings of Black people, the movement to "defund the police" became a rallying cry to reimagine our approach to public safety. In this show, we'll hear from scholars about how we can build a global movement for abolition.

We take a look at the ongoing rise in hate incidents against Asians in the U.S., a long-running history of anti-Asian racism, and a new push by Asian Americans — especially in underserved communities — to expose and overcome this ugly side of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode (the first of a three-part series by Self Evident), we hear the stories of these two Asian Americans on the frontlines of anti-Asian hate. Then, with a little help from researcher and activist Melissa Borja, we unpack the impact of these hate incidents and how Asian Americans are responding to them across the country.

As reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act awaits a vote in the U.S. Senate, missing and murdered indigenous women and girls continue to face an unequal system of justice. In this show we’ll hear from indigenous women scholars and activists on what justice means for MMIWG2.

Women Rising Radio re-visits the 2020 election year, to assess the outcomes and talk with those who made those outcomes happen, the grassroots election protection and GOTV activists. This is Part 2 of Women Rising Radio’s two part programming on “Election Protection Advocates”. (Part Two - #39 is Part One)

In a two-part series, we look at how COVID-19 has torn through prisons and how organizers are trying to push state and local governments to release inmates in order to contain the spread of the pandemic. For Part 2, we talk about why vaccines aren’t an effective solution to ending COVID in prisons, and we also look at how re-entry has become harder during the pandemic. Then we head to a South Florida jail to learn why activists want to end pre-trial detention.

In a two-part series, we look at how COVID-19 has torn through prisons and how organizers are trying to push state and local governments to release inmates in order to contain the spread of the pandemic. In part one, we focus on California. We take a look at why a prison, like San Quentin, is such a perfect environment for infectious diseases, especially an airborne one like COVID-19, how we might safely release large amounts of inmates across the prison system, and what we’ve learned from past release programs like realignment.

This story has been supported by the Omnia Foundation and the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.

This week we look at transgender activism and the call for inclusion in the movement for Black lives. We'll also meet Trans activists in Louisiana who have been organizing against a state law that has been used to target trans women.

This week, filmmaker Stephanie Welch explores the role that racist, unscientific propaganda has played in promoting white supremacy in the U.S. She traces the history of the Pioneer Fund, the primary funding source for research that claims to demonstrate that people of color are genetically and intellectually inferior.

Black students with dyslexia carry a heavy burden in public schools. This program centers around a grandmother who fought for years to get her grandkids properly assessed for dyslexia. Like too many African American boys, Geraldine Robinson’s grandson was erroneously labeled with an “intellectual disability.”

This week we take a look at Canada and its history of Black enslavement. Canada, our northern neighbor, is rarely mentioned when we talk about the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In fact, we often equate Canada with being the safe space where Blacks escaped US slavery - the final stop on the underground railroad, so to speak.

Today on Making Contact, we present the film Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible. The film takes us on the transformational journey of white men and women who overcome issues of unconscious bias and entitlement. Producer, Dr. Shakti Butler explores what is required to move through stages of denial, to awareness, to making a solid commitment to end racial injustice.

"Honorable people can do terrible things" says Andrea Pitzer in her book "One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps." We talk to Andrea Pitzer about her research as she traces the evolution of the camp, from its earliest incarnation in Cuba to its modern day forms in China, Burma and Guantanamo. What is a concentration camp? Why are they so deadly? And most importantly, what do we do to fight them?

Today, a divided nation experiences one of the most tumultuous presidential transitions in US history. Leaders from marginalized communities across the nation are watching, with cautious optimism, as Biden and Harris seek to tackle several serious crises amid a raging pandemic.

This year on making contact, instead of our normal end of year show commemorating movement leaders we've lost, and highlighting their work, we remember victims of police murders who didn't receive as much coverage, and activists who succumbed to COVID-19.

The Trump administration has issued numerous policies to systematically dismantle asylum as a legal right. They're also locking up asylum seekers for months or years, until they either win their case, are returned to their home countries, or self deport. Reporters Valeria Fernández and Jude Joffe-Block follow two asylum seekers as they endure detention, legal cases, and family separation in the US, where they sought refuge.

2020 was a tumultuous year rocked by two twin plagues: police violence which led to the George Floyd protests and continued discussions about police brutality and of course the novel disease COVID-19. Normally here at Making Contact, we look back on movement leaders we've lost over the year in order to pay them tribute and honor their lifetime of work. But this year, we're commemorating those we've lost to police killings who might not have received as much media coverage in part one of our show, and in part two, we remember organizers and activists who died because of COVID.

According to the CDC, Blacks and Latinos are 3 times as likely to die from COVID as their white counterparts. This disproportionate harm has sparked a response from community organizers and researchers alike. Up next on Making Contact we turn our attention to those Americans who are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus fallout.

On this episode of Making Contact, we look at the privatization of our earth’s most precious resource – water. People around the world have been organizing against this privatization in the face of climate change and rising sea levels that threaten to contaminate our limited drinking water supplies.

Three years after Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Ricans are still reeling from its effects and aftereffects. We bring you a Haymarket Books talk by Marisol LeBrón, Yarimar Bonilla, and Molly Crabapple, on a collection of essays called “Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm” which discusses the legacy of Maria, and also community organizing in the face of government abandonment. This piece includes clips from the Short Film : "Aftershocks of Disaster," directed by Juan C. Dávila, and produced by Yarimar Bonilla.

Most of us have a home to shelter in place during COVID -19. But what about the homeless? We take a look at life on the street before COVID-19, following two women as they undergo several evictions from encampments. And then we talk about the specific challenges the homeless face during COVID-19 and what we can do to fix the housing crisis.

Making Contact's Community Storytelling Fellows Vincent Medina and Isabella Zizi share deep and personal stories on Native American organizing and activism on Ohlone lands in the Bay area.

Why is that the deaths of Black women at the hands of police don’t seem to generate as much outrage as the deaths of Black men? Is it because Black women are valued less? Is it a combination of reasons? Or is it just a figment of some people’s imagination?

Given the election, and the difference between popular votes and electoral votes, we revisit our show on the Electoral College. It’s history in the era of slavery, and how it works today.

Voting in one of the most momentous presidential elections in the nation’s history is over. The morning after polls closed nearly 136 million ballots had been counted. But as has been reported for weeks ahead of the election, there is no clear winner, and the tally of absentee ballots continues. In this election special, we go to Arizona, Florida, and Oregon to hear from voters there. And later in the program we’ll hear about election power grabs, and some of the legal fights that have been taking place to protect the rights of voters.

Voter suppression and its target’s aren’t new phenomena. People of color and the poor have always been dissuaded from voting. We take a look at how race and voter suppression might play a role in the 2020 election, and we talk to organizers from the South who are fighting it, and ensuring that everyone has the right to vote not just in this election, but in every single election.

Activists in the Latinx immigrant community of Los Angeles share what they do to take care of their mental health. The issues these activists work on often impact their personal lives, and people who work in the service of others are particularly at risk of burnout and compassion fatigue. Self-care becomes a “selfless act” when it allows activists to stay healthy and do their work in a sustainable way.

On this episode, we'll explore felon disenfranchisement and the battle to restore the voting rights of people on parole. We will also turn our attention to the Native American vote and examine the ways in which their votes are being suppressed.

A year ago, Illinois passed a law requiring all jails to ensure that pre-trial detainees have an opportunity to vote. Chicago’s Cook County Jail was turned into a polling place during the 2019 primaries. Sheriff Tom Dart is an enthusiastic supporter of the program. And advocates like Amani Sawari are working to ensure voters in custody are informed and prepared to vote in the upcoming election. Pamela Kirkland reports.

Women are challenging male-dominated power structures, and creating alternatives to the profit-driven economic model of capitalism. Women Rising Radio features Jinwar, a women-led village in Northern Syria. And we meet worker-owners of Up & Go, a cleaning cooperative in New York city. To place this global movement in historical perspective, we speak with feminist scholar Silvia Federici. Her books chronicle centuries of persecution and violence against women, including witch hunts carried out to steal womens lands, knowledge and practicesby capitalist nation-states.

Domestic abuse affects everyone it touches—intimate partners, children, and elders. COVID-19 created new problems for victims of domestic violence and made some worse. This show looks at the challenges posed by the pandemic and examines a landmark domestic abuse bill in the UK.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Election protection is increasingly seen as a critical issue in the US. Since the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court, there have been problems with voter purging, voter ID laws, what some call modern-day ‘poll taxes’, precinct closures, and difficulties with voting machines. Congress has noted serious attempts to hack into voting systems in the US based in partisan politics. Women Rising Radio joins two election protection activists to talk about threats to the US electoral process.

Election protection is increasingly seen as a critical issue in the US. From gerrymandering and voter purges, to precinct closures and problems with voting machine technology, Women Rising Radio explores threats to the US electoral process with two election protection activists.

Water is critical to maintaining the balance of life. Some corporations claim ownership of fresh water sources to bottle and sell for profit. Others use water as a tool to extract oil and gas. We'll hear from communities fighting to keep water bottling companies out of rural Oregon, and to protect water from oil and gas contamination in New Mexico.

Gig Workers, driver's for app companies such as Lyft and Uber, are struggling during COVID-19. They're considered essential workers, so they can still work but many of them aren't making enough to cover rent. Many have chosen to stay home, facing economic insecurity. Those who work, however, are continuing to drive without much protection in the way of personal protective equipment, and very little help from the app companies themselves. We take a look at the future of the gig economy and how to protect "essential workers".

Fifty years ago, 30,000 people peacefully protested the disproportionate number of Latinos dying on the frontlines in Vietnam. The August 29th Chicano Moratorium ended with an attack by police, 400 arrests, and the deaths of four people, one of whom was Los Angeles Times journalist Rubén Salazar.

This week look at transgender activism and the call for inclusion in the movement for Black lives. We'll also meet Trans activists in Louisiana who have been organizing against a state law that has been used to target trans women.

We often see children as innocents who need love, support, and stability. But not all young people are nurtured this way. Too often youth from marginalized communities of color are not seen as needing protection -- they are treated as the ones we need protection from. We see this in this episode, brought to us from Re:Work Radio, with Phal Sok, who was once a kid in Long Beach forced to grow up too soon.

Activists in the Latinx immigrant community of Los Angeles share what they do to take care of their mental health. Self-care becomes a “selfless act” when it allows activists to stay healthy and do their work in a sustainable way.

Journalists have been violently targeted by police and arrested alongside demonstrators at Black Lives Matter protests across the country. In this episode we’ll look at the struggle for press freedoms during a time of repression and surveillance.

On this episode of Making Contact, we will look at the privatization of our earth’s most precious resource – water. We will look at the ways people around the world have been organizing against this privatization in the face of climate change and rising sea levels that threaten to contaminate our limited drinking water supplies.

Our radio adaptation of the film, Let the Fire Burn. Directed by Jason Osder, examines the controversial, 1985 clash between police in Philadelphia and MOVE, a radical, non-violent group. On May 13, police dropped a bomb on MOVE's home, killing 11 people and destroying 61 homes.

Producer Robert Raymond interviews Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing--a critical examination on the history of the police, and the police’s evolution as a tool for social control that exacerbates race and class divisions.

44 million Americans hold over 1.6 trillion dollars of student debt and the cost of higher education continues to skyrocket. This unpayable debt causes long term financial damage, especially, for students of color and women. What can we do to fix the debt crisis? We look at two solutions: Free schools like Berea College in Kentucky and the possibility of a student debt strike.

Law Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw defined the concept of intersectionality 30 years ago. She developed that framework to understand how identities such as race, gender and class intersect in overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination -- resulting in compounded damage.

Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. In this show, we'll explore the history of Juneteenth and we’ll expand our conversation of Juneteenth to include a case for reparations.The topic of reparations for African Americans has recently resurfaced with Democratic presidential candidates taking positions on the issue, elevating the discussion to the mainstream.

The movement to uplift Black lives and to defund and dismantle police departments has grown to a point where it cannot be ignored. We’ll hear from activists in Minneapolis, mourners in Houston, and our archives for an interview with the brother of Yuvette Henderson.

Civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, spoke words that are all too relevant today. Today on Making Contact, you’ll hear archival recordings, and excerpts from a powerful new film featuring Fannie Lou Hamer. You’ll hear about the context of her life, and the lives of other sharecroppers in Mississippi.

The biggest tech companies generate enormous wealth and power by harvesting information about people. It’s called surveillance capitalism. This episode features journalist Rana Foroohar, author of Don’t Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles—and All of Us.

Covid-19 has transformed jails and prisons into death traps. How are some communities jailing less people in the first place. After someone is arrested, there are multiple court-ordered actions after they make bail. Often, missing any of these--especially court appearances--winds them up in jail. 70 Million's reporter Jenny Casas goes to Palm Beach, Florida, where something as simple as texting has made a significant difference in people’s lives

Gig Workers, driver's for app companies such as Lyft and Uber, are struggling during COVID-19. They're considered essential workers, so they can still work but many of them aren't making enough to cover rent. Many have chosen to stay home, facing economic insecurity. Those who work, however, are continuing to drive without much protection in the way of personal protective equipment, and very little help from the app companies themselves. We take a look at the future of the gig economy and how to protect "essential workers."

Our radio adaptation of the film, Let the Fire Burn. Directed by Jason Osder, examines the controversial, 1985 clash between police in Philadelphia and MOVE, a radical, non-violent group. On May 13, police dropped a bomb on MOVE's home, killing 11 people and destroying 61 homes.

In the midst of our dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s hard to imagine what stories we will ultimately tell our children and grandchildren. This week's episode is about two strong women who survived historic trauma, and the stories they later told their families.

The world as we knew it seemingly turned upside down overnight. With stay at home orders in place, we are no longer rushing to work each day, getting stuck in traffic, hustling to get the kids to school, and scrambling for time to take care of chores. This strange and abrupt stop to “business as usual” has shined a light on the capitalist systems that are now crumbling down, and offers us the chance to pause and ask what’s next?

Most of us have a home to shelter in place during COVID -19. But what about the homeless? We take a look at life on the street before COVID-19, following two women as they undergo several evictions from encampments. And then we talk about the specific challenges the homeless face during COVID-19 and what we can do to fix the housing crisis.

How are witch hunts and Capitalist economies linked? Silvia Federici, wrote the ground breaking book, Caliban and the Witch, in 2004. In the book she argues that the witch hunts of the fifteenth century were a necessary pre-condition for Capitalism to flourish.

Today, witch hunts are still happening, in places like East Timor, India and Cambodia. Federici, who never really left the subject of witch hunts, returns to the topic with her book, Women Witches and Witch Hunts. She looks back to the witch hunts of the middle ages and sees them replaying today, in countries that are newly adopting capitalism as their economic model.

In 1918, humanity faced a deadly global pandemic-- the Spanish Flu. How did those who lived a century before us respond to the crisis, and what we can learn from their response and the aftermath?

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many Americans are worried about their health insurance. The cost of treating the illness, if a patient ends up in the ICU, can run into the tens of thousands of dollars without coverage. Which most people just can’t afford. Today we bring you a piece we produced last year about a related topic -the rising cost of insulin, and the effectiveness of medicare for all. First, we visit a group of community scientists called the Open Insulin Project, an organization trying to create its own insulin outside the lengthy FDA process and whether it's worth the associated risks. And we talk about the benefits of Medicare for All, a policy which would get rid of private insurance and make all medicine and medical care accessible and affordable.

On this edition of Making Contact, acclaimed author Ian Haney López talks about his new book - Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America. This book explores the links between current day wealth and race inequality, elections, and how coded racism has evolved in the Trump era. The book also looks at ways we can proactively build cross-racial solidarity to diminish barriers between us. Author Ian Haney López holds an endowed chair as the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Election protection is increasingly seen as a critical issue in the US. From gerrymandering and voter purges, to precinct closures and problems with voting machine technology, Women Rising Radio explores threats to the US electoral process with two election protection activists.

Our radio adaptation of the film, Who Bombed Judi Bari?, explores Judi Bari’s bold activism to save the Redwood Forest in the face of corporate greed, and the violent measures taken to silence the environmental movement. Produced by Darryl Cherney, Elyse Katz, Sheila Laffey, Bill and Laurie Benenson and directed by Mary Liz Thomson, the film delves into the bombing and her fight against the F.B.I.'s attempted frame-up.

We think of Artificial Intelligence as being the stuff of science fiction movies, set far in the future. But it's already having an impact on our lives. We look at a kind of decision made by artificial intelligence called a risk assessment and how it impacts the poor and people of color and we talk about ways to fight back.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

This week on Making Contact, we bring you a story about resilience and rebuilding after a megafire decimated parts of Northern California. This is episode six of The Response: Reimagining Paradise in an Age of Disruption.

Image Credit: Kayne Lynch

I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond.

Five years after Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a police officer galvanized criminal justice reform activists in St. Louis, they're gaining serious momentum to shut down the city's notorious Workhouse jail. Reporter Carolina Hidalgo spent time with the Close the Workhouse campaign and Arch City Defenders, their supporters, and detractors.

You'll hear about ongoing food insecurity issues from food scholar Raj Patel, and hopeful solutions from families in the Black Creek community garden in Toronto, Canada.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

You'll hear about ongoing food insecurity issues from food scholar Raj Patel, and hopeful solutions from families in the Black Creek community garden in Toronto, Canada.

This program originally aired on CBC’s Ideas: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas

Photo courtesy of blackcreekfarm.ca

Meeting family needs in a city of widening wealth gaps is a big lift. Studies show that when parents are engaged in their kids’ education, it has a huge impact. Reporter Lee Romney spent a year following the work of one family liaison at a high-poverty school.

Spies of Mississippi is a journey into the world of informants, infiltrators, and agent provocateurs in the heart of Dixie. Directed and produced by Dawn Porter and executive produced by LOOKS TV and Martina Haubrich. The film tells the story of a secret spy agency formed by the state of Mississippi to preserve segregation and maintain “the Mississippi way of life,” white supremacy, during the 1950s and ‘60s.

On today's program, John Carlos Frey, author of Sand and Blood: America's Stealth War on the Mexico Border, explores increased militarization at the border, US deterrent strategy, and the profitable business of fear.

We look at our favorite shows from 2019. From Artificial Intelligence, to the stigma around women's periods, from guns and restraining orders to the cost of Insulin, these are the stories that inspired us, taught us something or just made us think differently.

We look at our favorite shows from 2019. From Artificial Intelligence, to the stigma around women's periods, from guns and restraining orders to the cost of Insulin, these are the stories that inspired us, taught us something or just made us think differently.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Megafarms and oil & gas producers in California’s Central Valley are some of the worst polluters of local air, soil, and water. We’ll hear how Central Valley residents are pushing back. Later, author Naomi Klein talks about her book, On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal. But first, we go to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, where reporter we learn how six Native American tribes are harnessing wind power to bring economic development to their members.

"Honorable people can do terrible things" says Andrea Pitzer in her book "One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps." We talk to Andrea Pitzer about her research as she traces the evolution of the camp, from its earliest incarnation in Cuba to its modern day forms in China, Burma and Guantanamo. What is a concentration camp? Why are they so deadly? And most importantly, what do we do to fight them?

In the aftermath of a disaster, information can mean the difference between life and death. After the earthquake hit in Mexico City, it wasn’t just buildings that collapsed, the normal lines of communication that connect the city did as well. It was in this dangerous state of confusion and chaos that a group of friends using WhatsApp to share information ended up creating what later became known as Verificado19s, a spontaneous, grassroots initiative that consisted of a vast network of volunteers that traveled throughout the city to gather and verify information. Special thanks to the podcast "The Response."

Our radio adaptation of the film, The Murder of Fred Hampton, produced by filmmakers Mike Gray and Howard Alk, provides a glimpse into the life of Hampton and the Illinois Black Panther Party. On December 4th, 1969, exactly 50 years ago, Black Panthers Fred Hampton, age 21, and Mark Clark, age 22, were shot to death by Chicago police.

As the fossil fuel industry works to turn the Pacific Northwest into a fossil fuel hub, a Thin Green Line stands in its way. Producer Barbara Bernstein’s latest project, "Holding the Thin Green Line," explores how local communities are fighting the fossil fuel industry's push for massive fracked gas projects in Washington and Oregon. In part 1, we heard about plans to build the world’s largest methanol refineries in Tacoma and Kalama, Washington. This week we hear part 2, "A View from the Blast Zone,” on the struggle to stop a massive LNG facility that is being built at the Port of Tacoma.

What happens when a health insurance PublicRelations executive confronts the consequences of his spin? Dive into one man's odyssey from health insurance spin doctor to activist truth teller.

This show examines the feminist movement through the lens of period activism. We will look at aspects of women’s health and social justice that are often overlooked - From period stigma to the unfair tax on feminine hygiene products and the fight to regulate and disclose ingredients in tampons and maxi pads.

Megafarms and oil & gas producers are some of the worst polluters in California’s Central Valley. We’ll hear how Valley residents are pushing back. But first, we go to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, where six Native American tribes are harnessing wind power to bring economic development to their members. And, author Naomi Klein talks about her latest book, On Fire.

Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chicano Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chicano Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression.

Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chicano Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chicano Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chicano Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression.

Tamiki Banks’ life was turned upside down when her husband was arrested, leaving her the sole breadwinner and caregiver to their twins. More than two years later, she’s still struggling, and he’s still in custody, even though he hasn’t been convicted of any crime. From Atlanta, Pamela Kirkland reports on the heavy burden women of color like Tamiki bear when a loved one is jailed.

Our radio adaptation of the film Beyond Recognition by Underexposed films, "After decades struggling to protect her ancestors’ burial places, a Native woman from a non-federally recognized Ohlone tribe and her allies occupy a sacred site to prevent its desecration. They then vow to follow a new path- to establish the first women-led urban Indigenous land trust.

Women Rising Radio chronicles the rise of three different movements to advocate for immigrant rights in the USA, and to support immigrants and refugees over the border in Mexico. These movements are spearheaded by women. Dr. Satsuki Ina co-founded Tsuru for Solidarity; Serena Adlerstein co-created Never Again Action; and Devi Machete co-created the Hecate Society, helping migrants stuck at the Mexican border with the USA.

Despite the recent increase in mass shootings, the majority of gun injuries and deaths are in fact a result of suicides, homicides, and domestic violence. This documentary tells the story of one woman’s DV experience, and how some Californians are working to prevent deadly shootings.

Special for Climate Week: Barbara Bernstein’s story of communities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States who are fighting mammoth fracked gas projects that would turn this green region into a fracked-gas export hub.

As the cost of insulin continues to skyrocket patients are dying from trying to ration their medication. It's an extreme example, but not unusual - the cost of insulin mirrors the broader health crisis in the United States. Medicine is too expensive and inaccessible. Today, we look at ways to combat health costs associated with diabetes. First, we visit a group of community scientists called the Open Insulin Project, an organization trying to create its own insulin outside the lengthy FDA process and whether it's worth the associated risks. And we talk about the benefits of Medicare for All, a policy which would get rid of private insurance and make all medicine and medical care accessible and affordable.

Courtesy of the Decarcerated Podcast, host Marlon Peterson hosts a live conversation with Common Justice founder Danielle Sered. Sered’s New Book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair explores the difficult transformations we need to make — both as individuals and as a society — before we can displace and replace the prison industrial complex.

The interview took place at The Brooklyn Public Library’s Dweck Center on April 10, 2019.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Courtesy of the Decarcerated Podcast, host Marlon Peterson hosts a live conversation with Common Justice founder Danielle Sered. Sered’s New Book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair explores the difficult transformations we need to make — both as individuals and as a society — before we can displace and replace the prison industrial complex.

The interview took place at The Brooklyn Public Library’s Dweck Center on April 10, 2019.

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools is an examination of the experiences of black girls across the country whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged "by teachers, administrators, and the justice system "and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. In her new book, Morris shows how, despite obstacles, stigmas, stereotypes, and despair, black girls still find ways to breathe remarkable dignity into their lives in classrooms, juvenile facilities, and beyond.

On this edition of Making Contact we present, The Struggle Inside: The Murder of George Jackson, a program about the modern anti-prison movement. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Black August, first originated in the California prisons to honor fallen Freedom Fighters, George and Jonathan Jackson, Khatari Gaulden, James McClain, and William Christmas.

Some call it “Paradise”, but Hawaii isn’t just a tourist getaway. Look beyond the resorts, and you’ll find a history of opposition to US occupation. From sacred sites, to indigenous language, Hawaiians are fighting hard to protect their traditions, and their future. On this edition we hear excerpts from the 2012 film by Catherine Bauknight “Hawaii: A Voice for Sovereignty,” which explores the history of Hawaii - from the beginning of the US occupation up to statehood and the present day.

The US dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Three days later, the small fishing city of Nagasaki also fell victim. On this edition, we hear the voices of the most deadly attacks the world had ever seen. We commemorate the anniversary of the bombings with excerpts from two documentaries: “Hiroshima Countdown” and “Nagasaki Journey.”

In this episode, we explore new safe at-home abortion options and the growing movement for "self-managed abortions." Amidst changes to the Supreme Court of the United States, and after decades of restrictions to abortion access across the country, people continue to find ways to make this vital procedure safer, more affordable, and more accessible. Advances in medicine and discoveries made by women themselves have changed the kind of options available outside of clinics.

According to Ytasha Womack, use of the imagination for self-development and social change is one of the greatest tenets of Afrofuturism. This show features Womack’s presentation at the 2017 Sonic Acts Festival,Afrofuturism: Imagination and Humanity.

A handful of companies are making millions off of ankle monitors strapped to undocumented immigrants in ICE custody. The makers pitch the monitors as an alternative to being jailed, but are they simply another form of bondage? Reporter Ryan Katz looks at what life is life while wearing one of these monitors. He untangles the complicated web of ICE, immigration bail agent companies, and the attorneys fighting them.

70 Million is made possible by a grant from the Safety and Justice Challenge at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The 70 Million podcast is a production of Lantigua Williams & Co.

Photo Credit: 70 Million;Caption: Floricel Liborio Ramos in Northern California.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

A handful of companies are making millions off of ankle monitors strapped to undocumented immigrants in ICE custody. The makers pitch the monitors as an alternative to being jailed, but are they simply another form of bondage? Our colleagues at 70 Million podcast's Reporter Ryan Katz looks at what life is life while wearing one of these monitors. He untangles the complicated web of ICE, immigration bail agent companies, and the attorneys fighting them.

Lewis Wallace was a reporter at Marketplace. You may have heard his voice on the Marketplace Morning Report with David Brancaccio.

That was until he publicly questioned the role of objectivity in a Medium post. This line of questioning ultimately got him fired from Marketplace. Dive into one journalist's reckoning with truth.

Wartime. Disaster. Trauma. Charges of mutiny for 50 Black sailors in a Jim Crow courtroom. Discrimination and a battle for civil rights. Listen to this World War II story via oral histories from five of the Black sailors who survived the Port Chicago explosion, court-marshal and imprisonment.

We go back to the night in June 1969 at the New York City Stonewall Inn that sparked the LGBT rights movement. On today’s show we’ll hear about the day that galvanized a generation and the continued fight for LGBT civil rights.

The first Pride parades took place in June 1970 marking the 1st anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Michael Schirker and David Isay bring us an oral history Remembering Stonewall: The Birth of a Movement.

Editor at large of the Huffington Posts’ Gay Voices Michelangelo Signorile says while there have been a series of recent wins for the LGBT rights movement, bigotry remains a daily reality for many.

At a New America NYC forum Signorile spoke with June Thomas, Culture Critic and Editor of Outward, Slate’s LGBTQ Section about what he calls “victory blindness”. It’s a central theme in his new book, “It’s Not Over, Getting to Beyond Tolerance Defeating Homophobia and Winning True Equality.”

Special thanks toPacifica Radio Archives for “Remembering Stonewall: The Birth of a Movement” produced by David Isay for Pacifica Radio, New America NYC for “It’s Not Over: Winning True Equality.”

Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

In this show, we'll explore the history of Juneteenth and we’ll expand our conversation of Juneteenth to include a case for reparations.

The topic of reparations for African Americans has recently resurfaced with Democratic presidential candidates taking positions on the issue, elevating the discussion to the mainstream.

June 2019 marks ten years since then President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted in a military coup.

In this program, Dr. Dana Frank, author of the Long Honduran Night, examines the long term impact of the coup in Honduras, and the evolution of resistance movements in its aftermath.

I Am Because I Am, explores the expansion of gender identity and presumed roles in our society. A look beyond the socially constructed ideas of what is male, female, masculine or feminine. Especially considering Trump’s administration attempts to redefine gender to be solely based on a person’s genitalia at birth. Thus potentially threatening Transgender, Intersex and Non-Binary Identity.

We think of enhanced interrogation as being a new invention - a kind of torture in use only since 9/11. But Rebecca Gordon disagrees. In this episode she joins us to talk about the United State's long history of using torture domestically and abroad, and its connection to power and race.

In this episode, we honor the life and legacy of civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs through the lens of the documentary film, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS. Produced and directed by Grace Lee.

People with disabilities or disabled people?

“Disability: Our Culture Ourselves”— in this episode we discuss disability, culture and identity from the perspective of disability communities themselves.

In this episode we explore racial disparities in end-of-life care: How mistrust keeps many African Americans away from hospice. And later we examine particular challenges and cultural barriers faced by Asians and Latinos at the end of life.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

One of the most common forms of trafficking is labor trafficking: compelling people to work through fraud, force, or coercion. The International Labor Organization estimates 20.1 million people are trapped in forced labor globally, in industries including agriculture, construction, domestic work, and manufacturing.

Who does this happen to? And how does it happen?

In this episode, Re:Work Radio brings you the story of Lester Ramos and his journey from the Philippines. Later in the broadcast, we hear from Filipino migration expert, Dr. Robyn Magalit Rodriguez, on the circumstances in the Philippines and the US that drive Filipinos to work abroad.

We think of Artificial Intelligence as being the stuff of science fiction movies, set far in the future. But it's already having an impact on our lives. We look at a kind of decision made by artificial intelligence called a risk assessment and how it impacts the poor and people of color and we talk about ways to fight back.

When we think of Artificial Intelligence we often think of intelligent robots who act and think like humans -the walking, thinking, feeling machines that we see in the movies. The advent of that kind of intelligent robot is so far off in the future, that we often don't recognize the kind of AI already all around us. Or the effects its having on our lives. Courts, search engines, stores and advertisers all use Artificial Intelligence to make decisions about our behavior: to sell us products, but also to send us to prison or set bail. We look at one kind of decision made by AI, called a risk assessment, and why it's had such an impact on the poor and people of color. We also hear how community organizers on skid row fought back against the use of artificial intelligence by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Much like the rest of the country, jails in Miami-Dade County double as de facto mental health facilities for people with mental health issues cycling through the criminal justice system. But Miami-Dade’s Criminal Mental Health Project has taken the lead in addressing the needs of this population. Now it is a national model for how to tackle the interplay between mental illness and criminal justice, while driving down recidivism and jailing rates in the process. This episode is a collaboration between 70 Million and radio station WLRN and reporters Nadege Green and Daniel Rivero.

Jails in Miami-Dade County double as de facto mental health facilities. But Miami-Dade’s Criminal Mental Health Project has become a national model for negotiating the interplay between mental illness and criminal justice.

President Donald Trump’s tax plan may exacerbate wealth inequity in the US. Chuck Collins, Director of the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies addresses the complex history of the wealth gap. Also, producers from the Upstream podcast ask: is it time for Universal Basic Income?

Lewis Wallace was a reporter at Marketplace. You may have heard his voice on the Marketplace Morning Report with David Brancaccio.

That was until he publicly questioned the role of objectivity in a Medium post. We need to let go of idea that objectivity is dying. A more useful framework is that objectivity is a mythology that we're urgently debunking to figure out what can stand in its place. That doesn't lessen our pursuit of truth, it just reveals the complexity that was always there, which is that subjectivity that informs that pursuit.

This line of questioning ultimately got him fired from Marketplace. Dive into one journalist's reckoning with truth.

Cesar Chavez has made it to the big screen. Millions of people are now learning about the legendary farmworker organizer. But where did Chavez get his organizing philosophies?

This week, Paul Ingles and Carol Boss of Peacetalks radio take us down The Non-Violent path of Cesar Chavez , through conversations with Chavez colleague and friend Dolores Huerta, and Jose Antonio Orozco, author of the book, Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence.

Abortion and reproductive rights for women are being fought over across the globe. Women Rising Radio visits with key organizers of the Polish Women’s Strike and the Irish Together for Yes campaign, both successful efforts to give women more control over our bodies, our health and our family planning. Women Rising Radio also profiles Catholics for Choice and the Latina Institute for Reproductive Health in the USA.

Fresh water is one of our most precious natural resources. This week contributor Maria Doerr looks at what's being done to protect the watersheds of Mexico City-- natural water systems that provide water to one of the largest metropolises in the world.

African American students across the country are much more likely than any other student group to be placed in special education. This week, we hear what is and isn’t working for black students with special needs today.

New Orleans could become the battleground for bail reform. The city has one of the highest per capita incarceration rates in the world. And most people are there because they can’t pay their bail. The current arrangement with the local bail industry gives the impression that judges there could have a financial conflict of interest when setting bail. In this episode, Sonia Paul digs into how an ongoing lawsuit, pretrial consequences of bail, and poverty, bias, and algorithms come into play.

Master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, Remember This House. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for.

According to Ytasha Womack, use of the imagination for self-development and social change is one of the greatest tenets of Afrofuturism. This show features Womack’s presentation at the 2017 Sonic Acts Festival, Afrofuturism: Imagination and Humanity.

We speak with author Dr. Stacey Patton about her book, Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Won't Save Black America. The book examines the unique cultural and historical specificity of corporal punishment in Black communities. Given the prevalence and acceptance of spanking in American culture, the discussions will be useful to a wide and diverse audience.

Michelle Alexander, Mark Lamont Hill and Vonya Quarles discuss the modern prison abolition movement, what's changed in the past ten years, and the rise of the 'open air prison.'

This episode explores the past and present of the far right and anti-fascism. We begin with the murder investigation of anti-fascist rapper, Pavlos Fyssas. In the second half, author Mark Bray describes antifa responses to Hitler and Mussolini.

In a special 2 part program by Making Contact we explore new safe at-home abortion options and the growing movement for "self-managed abortions.”

A handful of companies are making millions off of ankle monitors strapped to undocumented immigrants in ICE custody. The makers pitch the monitors as an alternative to being jailed, but are they simply another form of bondage?

On this edition of Making Contact, we speak with author Paul Kivel about his book, Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. This book offers a framework for understanding institutional racism. It provides practical suggestions, tools, examples, and advice on how white people can intervene in interpersonal and organizational situations to work as allies for racial justice.

There were thousands of organizers, activists and local social justice leaders around the world who died in 2018. As we do every December, we bring you some of the voices and stories of our Fallen Heroes.

Thousands of Guatemalans are recovering from the eruption of a volcano called Fuego - Spanish for "fire" - which took place in the summer of 2018. In this report, our correspondent Maria Martin looks back at the disaster - which some people are calling the worst natural disaster to ever strike Guatemala.

America’s unwillingness to assess the ugly truth about systemic inequality has created a perpetual sinkhole of denial. A reality that existed long before Trump’s presidency. It’s AMERICA’s Legacy.

On this edition, we hear from Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. Dr. Dyson recently penned, “What Truth Sounds Like: RFK, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation About Race in America.” Today’s conversation with Professor Dyson explores race and truth in the age of Trump.

70 Million reporter, Ruxandra Guidi, chronicles how activists and reformers are succeeding in cutting the jail population, diverting drug arrests, and increasing accountability for local police in Harris County, Texas.

I Am Because I Am, explores the expansion of gender identity and presumed roles in our society. A look beyond the socially constructed ideas of what is male, female, masculine or feminine. Especially considering Trump’s administration attempts to redefine gender to be solely based on a person’s genitalia at birth. Thus potentially threatening Transgender, Intersex and Non-Binary Identity.

On this episode, we look at the 2017 Tubbs Fire in California, and how it impacted the undocumented community. In the face of ICE raids, labor violations, a housing crisis, and wildfires, the broader community is standing in solidarity with those who are forced into the shadows.

California’s drought has led to an unprecedented number of wildfires that burn hotter, faster, and ever more acreage. Governor Jerry Brown says, “Since civilization emerged 10,000 years ago, we haven’t had this kind of heat condition, and it’s going to continue getting worse.”

What does the growing threat of climate-fueled disasters mean for the most vulnerable among us?

Indigenous Women made their voices heard during California Governor Jerry Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit. They rejected Brown’s support for market driven schemes and shared their vision for climate solutions at protests and at a special Women’s Assembly, organized by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, we'll hear how one community kitchen grew into an island-wide network of mutual aid centers with the aim of restoring power — electric and civic — to the Puerto Rican people.

While some Americans are mentally focused on the 2020 presidential election, all eyes seem to be on the rapidly approaching midterm election. With both Democrats and Republicans vying for control of the House and Senate, the majority party will have the advantage to pass their legislative agendas – producing outcomes that could hugely impact the future of Trump’s presidency.

Despite the difficult picture painted by the news, there is hope for our planet. We cover several fights against refineries and market based solutions to global warming. And, we look at one promising solution – the combination of community owned energy and microgrids.

Displaced from their land after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Palestinian people have been struggling for autonomy. Some are calling for an independent state. Disputes over land and resource allocations, and periodic flare-ups of violence, however, have complicated negotiations involving Palestinians and Israelis. Meanwhile, the Israeli government continues to develop new housing tracts on disputed territory. Over the past few years, some Palestinians and Jews -- both in the United States and in Israel -- have been circumventing official negotiation channels and developing dialogue among themselves.

The stage is set for a battle between two worldviews. Is housing a human right, or a commodity? And where on that continuum is California’s common ground? This week, we look at the fight over rent control, and police policies that affect the homeless.

This week, we hear from a woman who went to prison under El Salvador’s current abortion laws— some of the strictest in the world. And, one reproductive justice organization considers the future of reproductive health access under the US Supreme Court.

This week, we explore the remarkable communities that arise in the aftermath of natural disasters; namely, Hurricane Sandy, and its impact on the Rockaway Peninsula.

This month is the ten year anniversary of the stock market crash of 2018. Nomi Prins talks about her new book, “Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World.” And, Julianne Malveaux explains how the crash has continued to devastate people of color, especially black people.

On this encore edition of Making Contact, we present the first in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

Criminal justice reform can be complicated. Formerly incarcerated people and officials in Pima County are teaming up to send fewer people to jail. Meanwhile a federal program at the border is sending people to jail over traffic violations and minor drug offenses.

DishonorRoll

Students at several prominent historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), have demanded that school administrators address sexual assault more vigorously. Last year, student protests at Morehouse College, Spelman College, Hampton University, and Howard University focused on inadequacies in the way sexual assault and rape cases are handled.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

Students at several prominent historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), have demanded that school administrators address sexual assault more vigorously. Last year, student protests at Morehouse College, Spelman College, Hampton University, and Howard University focused on inadequacies in the way sexual assault and rape cases are handled.

Two current students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and two alums join our roundtable discussion to explore what is particular about reporting and preventing dating violence and sexual assault at HBCUs. Campus rape is an issue across all colleges, and today we're hearing some students at HBCU's take on it.

Photo Credit: Eryn Mathewson, Amos Jackson, Kyla Wright, Evette Dionne

Darnell Moore the author of No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America. A story of beauty and hope-and an honest reckoning with family, with place and with what is it means to be free. His talk focuses on his memoir, No Ashes in the Fire.

On this edition of Making Contact we present, The Struggle Inside: The Murder of George Jackson, a program about the modern anti-prison movement.

When one or both parents are incarcerated the family is also incarcerated and are adversely affected in profound ways that exacerbate existing structural inequalities and struggles. Programs for inmates and families like FamilyWorks and the Storybook Program, encourage rebuilding and maintaining relationships despite being separated by prison.

Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here ow.ly/oSpU30hHCXp and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!

When one or both parents are incarcerated the family is also incarcerated and are adversely affected in profound ways that exacerbate existing structural inequalities and struggles. Programs for inmates and families like FamilyWorks and the Storybook Program, encourage rebuilding and maintaining relationships despite being separated by prison.

The Osborne’s FamilyWorks program, the first comprehensive parenting program in a men’s state prison founded in 1986. FamilyWorks operates as a counterbalance to the numerous challenges in keeping a family together, such as the high cost of collect calls to inmates, long distances to prisons.

The Storybook program in at the State Prison for Men in Concord, New Hampshire is a little different than at other prisons across the country. This is run by the Department of Corrections (DOC) instead of a nonprofit or grassroots organization that can function as a link between the men inside and their communities outside. This non-narrated piece shares some of the experiences and changes that these fathers experience, but also some of the stories and messages they read to their children.

On this edition of Making Contact, we speak with author Paul Kivel about his book, Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. This book offers a framework for understanding institutional racism. It provides practical suggestions, tools, examples, and advice on how white people can intervene in interpersonal and organizational situations to work as allies for racial justice.

Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. During this week’s anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we’ll revisit the dynamic and complex relationship of care receiving and giving.

On this edition of Making Contact, after the US Supreme Court's ruling on Trump’s travel ban, we’ll discuss how the new order impacts people from affected, Muslim-majority countries. We also talk about what's different about the new ban and how to fight it. We begin with the story of a woman who was in flight to the US when President Trump signed his first travel ban.

This week is the five year anniversary of Black lives matter. Patrisse Khan-Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter shares her reflections on humanity, the end of policing and her new book, WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.

Afrofuturism is a growing genre-movement that spans literature, art, music, and film. It provides radical alternatives to dominant Western narratives by drawing on traditions from Africa and the diaspora.

We go back to the night in June 1969 at the New York City Stonewall Inn that sparked the LGBTQ rights movement. On this episode, we’ll hear about the day that galvanized a generation and the continued fight for LGBTQ civil rights.

The stage is set for a battle between two world-views. Is housing a human right, or a commodity? And where on that continuum is California’s common ground? This week, we look at the fight over rent control, and police policies that affect the homeless.

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools is an examination of the experiences of black girls across the country whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged "by teachers, administrators, and the justice system" and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish.

This week, Making Contact looks at The Cost of Deportations through the lens of one Central American nation that sends migrants north— Guatemala. Will Guatemala and the other countries these migrants left be prepared for an influx of returnees?

On this edition of Making Contact we go from Cape Town, South Africa to Los Angeles and Oakland, California— three cities grappling with evictions, displacement, and homelessness.

On May 18, 1980, the people of Gwangju, South Korea rose up for reunification and an end to U.S.-backed military dictatorships.Their actions changed the course of Korean history.

We hear from survivors of the Gwangju Uprising about how they took on the tasks of history and the lesson they carry.

For this edition of Making Contact, we’ll present the documentary, “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry,” a reflection on the rise of the women’s liberation movement in the United States, between 1966 and 1971. She’s Beautiful explores the emergence of political thought that challenged systems of patriarchy.

For Mother's Day: we bring you a discussion by women of color writers and poets who contributed to the anthology, Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines. You'll also hear about a recent investigation into Black maternal and infant mortality.

Fresh water is one of our most precious natural resources. This week contributor Maria Doerr looks at what's being done to protect the watersheds of Mexico City-- natural water systems that provide water to one of the largest metropolises in the world.

On the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, hundreds imprisoned inside Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility refused to report to work or lock down in their barracks. Instead, they joined the largest prisoner labor strike in U.S. history.

Daze of Justice is the story of trailblazing Cambodian-American women who break decades of silence, abandoning the security of their American homes on a journey back into Cambodia's killing fields, as witnesses determined to resurrect the memory of their loved ones before the UN Special Tribunal prosecuting the Khmer Rouge.

In 1948, Zionist militias expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their villages and towns. The event, and the ongoing destruction and occupation of Palestine are referred to as the Nakba " the catastrophe. How did the events of 1948 shape Palestine and its diaspora? And generations later, how are Palestinians fighting to return home?

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago, and is widely remembered for his speech, ‘I Have a Dream.’ Journalist Gary Younge analyzes the King’s speech, highlighting the importance of remembering the entirety of King’s message and evolution as a critical activist.

The Seekers, is the first in a two-part documentary series that examines the experiences of Central American migrants seeking asylum in the US. In this episode, we look at women fleeing violence from Guatemala.

Patrisse Khan-Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter reflections on humanity, the end of policing and her new book, WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.

Fifty years ago, the Vietnamese Liberation Front inspired people of color around the world who were building movements for self-determination.

Today, we hear from people who were organizing in the Spirit of Viet Nam fifty years ago, and those who are building on that work today.

Gloria Ushigua and Aura Tegria, two legendary indigenous heroines of the Amazon rainforest, tell us about their activism to keep big oil and other exploitative industries off their ancestral territories, and out of the Amazon. They describe their struggles to guard and conserve their own cultures, which depend on the health and safety of the Amazon.

Civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, spoke words that are all too relevant today. In this episode, we hear archival recordings and excerpts from a new film featuring Fannie Lou Hamer. You’ll hear about the context of her life, and the lives of other sharecroppers in Mississippi.

I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond.

Producer Robert Raymond interviews Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing--a critical examination on the history of the police, and the police’s evolution as a tool for social control that exacerbates race and class divisions.

We head to Soseongri, a small village nestled in the mountains of Seongju County. There, grandmas and grandpas in the 70s, 80s, and 90s are organizing daily protests and blockades to stop THAAD. THAAD is part of a missile defense system that gives the U.S. the ability to carry out a nuclear first strike.

On this edition of Making Contact, we present Dr. Ibram X. Kendi discussing his latest book, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Stamped offers a deeply researched, provocative narrative that is a comprehensive history of anti-Black racist ideas—their origins, and how they became founding principles in our nation’s institutions.

Cash is increasingly being replaced with cashless systems including cryptocurrencies. This week, we hear about the political economy of blockchain. And we hear from Greeks who've been using cryptocurrencies since the capital controls of 2015.

President Donald Trump’s tax plan may exacerbate wealth inequity in the US. Chuck Collins, Director of the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies addresses the complex history of the wealth gap. Also, producers from the Upstream podcast ask: is it time for Universal Basic Income?

On this episode of Making Contact, journalist Juan González discusses his new book, Reclaiming Gotham. He chronicles the evolution of the growth machine in America’s cities – from redlining and racial covenants in the early 20th century, to land grabs and privatization in the 21st – and the rise of progressive alliances to reclaim them.

Special thanks to Pegasus Books for organizing the event and allowing us to broadcast excerpts of Juan González’s discussion of Reclaiming Gotham. The event took place in Berkeley, CA in October 2017.

On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll explore how the Brave New VoicesInternational Youth Poetry Slam Festival, particularly queer POC youth,has challenged mainstream culture and created spaces that welcome and encourage marginalized communities to speak up about their life experiences – all through poetry.

Thousands of local social justice organizers, activists and other leaders passed away this year. People doing crucial work in their communities, whose deaths didn’t make the headlines. On this edition of Making Contact, as we do every December, we’ll hear about some of the fallen heroes of 2017.

When one or both parents are in prison the whole family is, in a way, also imprisoned. Family members are negatively affected in ways that worsen existing struggles and inequities. Today we'll go to New York and New Hampshire to hear about programs for inmates and families that encourage relationships -- despite being separated by prison.

This episode explores the past and present of the far right and anti-fascism. We begin with the murder investigation of anti-fascist rapper, Pavlos Fyssas. In the second half, author Mark Bray describes Antifa responses to Hitler and Mussolini.

We head to Soseongri, a small village nestled in the mountains of Seongju County. There, grandmas and grandpas in the 70s, 80s, and 90s are organizing daily protests and blockades to stop THAAD. THAAD is part of a missile defense system that gives the U.S. the ability to carry out a nuclear first strike.

Two neighborhoods -- Boyle Heights in Los Angeles and Crown Heights, Brooklyn New York -- are experiencing the gamut of changes associated with gentrification. And some are pushing back against those who would cash in on the eviction and displacement of longtime residents.

In the last three years, Fantastic Negrito, an Oakland-based black roots revivalist has gone from busking at bus stops to winning a Grammy and touring internationally.

This week, we learn about Fantastic Negrito’s journey, his creative process, and how he’s utilizing his artistic platform to advocate for social justice.

What if faith could fuel a movement that supports women and families in having real choices over their lives and their bodies?

On this week’s Making Contact, we head to the crossroads of faith and reproductive justice. We’ll hear from Dr. Willie Parker, Toni Bond Leonard, and Katie Zeh, who are making these visions a reality.

I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond.

The Poetic Address to the Nation, brought together poets to speak powerfully against the current administration. Featuring Cam Awkward, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Michelle ‘Mush’ Lee, and many others.

On this encore edition of Making Contact, we present the final installment in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

On this encore edition of Making Contact, we present the first in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

“From almost every kind of responsibility and tie from engagement and from faith. So the artist--our task is to move ourselves and the rest of us in the opposite direction. Toward more engagement, towards stronger ethics, toward a social that's open and inclusive to all toward seeing each other in full, to challenge us to recognize the debts, and yes, the reparations that we owe to each other.” Jeff Chang offers ideas to reinforce the importance of art and artists in today’s sociopolitical climate.

Fannie Lou Hamer's 100th birthday is Oct 6. She's no longer alive, and may not be as widely known as others in the civil rights movement --- but her words have a relevant ring today.

Making Contact's Community Storytelling Fellows Vincent Medina and Isabella Zizi share deep and personal stories on Native American Organizing and Activism on Ohlone lands.

This week, we begin with the story of a woman who was in flight to the US when President Trump signed his first travel ban. We later hear how immigrant and refugee support groups are responding.

On May 18, 1980, the people of Gwangju, South Korea came together for reunification and an end to an era of martial law imposed by U.S.-backed military dictators. Over the course of ten days, they staged mass protests, battled riot police and soldiers, and were met with brutal repression. Together, they successfully drove the military out Gwangju and governed the city together. Their actions changed the course of Korean history.

On Part 1 of this episode of Making Contact, we hear from survivors of the Gwangju Uprising about how they took on the tasks of history and the lessons they carry.

Image Credit: HONG SUNG-DAM http://ow.ly/3tC130f7ule

Women Rising Radio features amazing stories of women from Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres. MSF's teams head to difficult, dangerous, and medically deprived places on Earth to treat and rescue survivors of violence and climate change.

This segment on DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was originally broadcast on Making Contact on Feb. 8, 2017.

Intro: Immigrants of all backgrounds have historically been vulnerable to mistreatment by an unaccepting US culture, but undocumented immigrants are even more vulnerable. Without papers they’re an easy political target, and constantly at risk of exploitation and deportation. Children and young people are especially impacted. Dreamers in the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals helped change the game for undocumented youth. Now, some are engaged adults who are working to raise awareness about education and immigrant rights. Making Contact producer Anita Johnson has more.

Collective housing, cultural co-ops, land trusts, community banks are community-rooted enterprises that empower those that have been excluded from traditional economic institutions. Solidarity economy models exercised throughout the country are becoming viable solutions towards sustainable and economically just living.

“Mirrors of Privilege” is a film and conversation guide designed to help bridge the gap between good intentions and meaningful change. From Shakti Butler, director of “Cracking the Codes: The System of Inequity” and “The Way Home: Women Talk About Race in America,” “Mirrors of Privilege” features stories from white men and women on overcoming issues of unconscious racism and entitlement.

As people respond in the wake of actions in Charlottesville,VA, perpetrated by white supremacists and Nazi's emboldened by President Trump, we interview Alicia Garza, one of the founding leaders of Black Lives Matter. You'll hear Garza's specific definitions of power and white supremacy, as she contextualizes this moment, and you'll learn about concrete actions that people, especially white people can take to move forward and organize.

Special thanks to Kate Raphael & Women's Magazine on KPFA.

On this edition of Making Contact we present, The Struggle Inside: The Murder of George Jackson, a program about the modern anti-prison movement.

In this edition of Making Contact, we look at two major changes to statewide curriculum in California, and where schools nationwide may be headed under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Environmental and indigenous leader Isabella Zizi talks about how the 2012 Chevron refinery fire in Richmond, California sparked her involvement in indigenous-led environmental movements. Zizi walks us from one refinery town to the next, showing us what it’s like living next door to an oil refinery and how these towns have come together to protect the sacred systems of the planet.

www.radioproject.org/2017/07/walk-talk-stories-indigenous-led-resistance-oil-waste

On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll meet people challenging polluters in their own backyard. Not to push hazardous industries into another neighborhood. Instead they’re developing visionary solutions for a better life for all and for the future of the planet. From urban to rural communities, we'll learn about indigenous-led efforts to protect public health and the environment for future generations.

On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll explore the aftermath of the Ghost Ship fire and the battle to preserve live/work spaces, and then we look at the San Pablo fire in Oakland California that displaced at least a hundred residents…many of whom are now living on the streets in tent encampments. Special Thanks to KALW and Jeremy Dalmas.

On this edition of Making Contact we go from Cape Town, South Africa to Los Angeles and Oakland, California— three cities grappling with evictions, displacement, and homelessness.

On this edition, we hear from Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Associate Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. Taylor most recently wrote, From Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation. We’ll be sharing a talk with Dr. Taylor’s insights on Black Liberation as framed through this most recent election.

It was the 1960s – and throughout the United States, opposition to the War in Vietnam was growing. The Draft forced young men to make a choice about their own participation in the war. And many chose to resist.

On today’s Making Contact we look back at the resistance to the Draft to the War in Vietnam. What form did that resistance take? And what lessons are people bringing to building resistance to war and empire among soldiers today, in the absence of an official draft?

On this edition of Making Contact, we present Dr. Ibram X. Kendi discussing his latest book, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Stamped offers a deeply researched, provocative narrative that is a comprehensive history of anti-Black racist ideas—their origins, and how they became founding principles in our nation’s institutions.

On this edition of Making Contact, we present the final installment in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

On this edition of Making Contact, we present the first in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

Two of the longest running armed rebellions on opposites sides of the world, the FARC in Colombia and the NDFP in the Philippines are vying for peace but several elements-government, paramilitary, and drugs, make it all but impossible.

On this edition of Making Contact we look at some of the struggles and victories in the fight for transgender access to gender-specific spaces and programs.

Liberation Theology: A March to Freedom explores the conceptual framework of liberation theology.

We will examine why Liberation Theology, with its focus on political activism, is resonating with communities hungry for social justice.

The Get on the Bus program provides support and free transportation for children and families throughout California to visit their mothers and fathers in prison.

The Get On The Bus program coordinated by the Center for Restorative Justice Works that offers support and free transportation services to families affected by the criminal justice system by bringing children and their guardians/caregivers from throughout California to visit their mothers and fathers in prison. These ride happen for several weekends, from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day, hundreds of families are reunited for the holidays.

Segment: http://www.radioproject.org/2017/02/11-million-undocumented-a-look-at-sanctuary-and-immigration-policy-in-the-trump-era/

The Poetic Address to the Nation, brought together poets to speak powerfully against the current administration. Featuring Cam Awkward, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Michelle ‘Mush’ Lee,Chinaka Hodge, and many others.

In this edition of Making Contact, we look at how workers are organizing outside of labor unions and where traditional labor could be headed.

Spies of Mississippi is a journey into the world of informants, infiltrators, and agent provocateurs in the heart of Dixie. Directed and produced by Dawn Porter and executive produced by LOOKS TV and Martina Haubrich. The film tells the story of a secret spy agency formed by the state of Mississippi to preserve segregation and maintain “the Mississippi way of life,” white supremacy, during the 1950s and ‘60s. The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (MSSC) evolved from a predominantly public relations agency to a full-fledged spy operation, spying on over 87,000 Americans over the course of a decade.

What would it take to have real choices about our bodies? Loretta Ross, co-founder of SisterSong breaks down the reproductive justice framework; and Tina Reynolds, co-founder and Chair of Women on the Rise Telling HerStory, shares how a group of formerly incarcerated women came together to fight for the right to give birth to and raise children in healthy and safe environments.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. On today’s show we’re exploring how some women have been dehumanized to the point of indifference. We’ll learn how one community is undoing the silence around the violence women of color face. We’ll also hear about how serial killers were able to hunt down mostly Black women for three decades in South Los Angeles. Then we’ll take you to the Yucatan where pregnant indigenous women struggle under a health care system failing to provide proper medical care.

Panelists at the Media Consortium conference discuss the role independent media plays in today’s contentious media landscape.

Given Trump's massive military budget proposal and the 14th Anniversary of the United States war in Iraq, we bring you this program from our archives with the voices of U.S. Soldiers and Iraqis reflecting on the costs of war.

In this edition of Making Contact, we look at two major changes to statewide curriculum in California, and where schools nationwide may be headed under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Women Rising Radio profiles three healer activists, two M.D.'s and an indigenous healer/psychologist, caregivers for the Water Protectors at Standing Rock, and witnesses to the violence of police, sheriffs and private security forces hired by Energy Transfer Partners - the fossil fuel giant building the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Paris is in flux. How are Parisians-native and immigrant, still dealing with terrorist attacks? If mixite, or social mixing, provides an answer, what does that look like, especially when immigrant, capitalist, and the hip are housed together?

“Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal” a film chronicles the life and revolutionary times of the former death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.

As President Trump moves to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., we look at two moments where we found ourselves at a similar crossroads. First, the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans 75 years ago. Then, how people fought to stop the Muslim registry after 9/11.

11 million. That's the estimated number of people living in the US who are undocumented. In this show we'll look to previous administrations to see how former Presidents treated people who were undocumented, and how immigrant movements of the past responded.

Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll explore the dynamic and complex relationship of care receiving and giving.

On this edition, we hear from Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. Dr. Taylor most recently wrote, “From Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation.” We’ll be sharing a talk with Dr. Taylor’s insights on Black Liberation as framed through this most recent election.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most famous speeches of all time. But it nearly didn’t happen. On this special edition of Making Contact for MLK Day, Gary Younge, author of “The Speech” talks about Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and the story behind it. Special thanks to The New School for the recording.

“Mirrors of Privilege” is a film and conversation guide designed to help bridge the gap between good intentions and meaningful change. From Shakti Butler, director of “Cracking the Codes: The System of Inequity” and “The Way Home: Women Talk About Race in America,” “Mirrors of Privilege” features stories from white men and women on overcoming issues of unconscious racism and entitlement.

After a mass shooting, two common responses are to examine gun laws and mental health services. In this show, we revisit the tragedy in Isla Vista where a survivor is using his experience to talk about toxic masculinity, mass shootings, and violence.

Thousands of local social justice organizers passed away this year. People doing crucial work in their communities, whose deaths didn’t make the headlines. On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll hear about some of the fallen heroes of 2016.

The Get on the Bus program provides support and free transportation for children and families throughout California to visit their mothers and fathers in prison.

On this edition of Making Contact we look at some of the struggles and victories in the fight for transgender access to gender-specific spaces and programs.

The Black Panther Party combined Black Power’s militancy with socialist ideology, and infused funk music with Franz Fanon’s writings. Their impact on American culture, from music to style to community organizing, continues to resonate today.

Fifty years after the birth of Black Panther Party, we take a look at the lasting cultural legacy of the Black Panther Party through the eyes of the generations that followed.

The Murder of Fred Hampton began as a film on Hampton and Illinois Black Panthers, but midway through the shoot, Chicago police murdered Hampton. Filmmakers arrived to shoot crime scene footage later used to counter news reports and police testimony.

The actions at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline continue. We share interviews from the Voices of Standing Rock. Vincent Medina is a Chochenyo Ohlone Native working to revitalize the Chochenyo language for future generations.

Given Trump’s winning the election, and the difference between his popular votes and electoral votes, we revisit our show on the Electoral College. It’s history in the era of slavery, and how it works today.

As relations between the United States and Russian governments continue to deteriorate, people are growing concerned that we’re on the brink of another nuclear arms race. Both the U.S. and Russia are modernizing their nuclear arsenals. According to Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, “it’s frighteningly easy to imagine how something could go wrong in that situation.”

Women Rising Radio takes us inside the movement for nuclear disarmament, to meet the women on the frontlines of the fight for a future free of nuclear weapons. From the US to Russia, the UK, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Japan, these dedicated advocates make the case for returning to the Nonproliferation Treaty and fulfilling its mandate.

Featuring:

Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation, Mayors for Peace, and Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons.

Abacca Anjain-Maddison, Marshall Islands Senator, member of Marshall Islands delegation arguing the case against 9 nuclear nations at the International Court of Justice.

Kate Hudson, General Secretary of Britain’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and National Secretary for the Left Unity party in the UK.

Nadezda Kutepova, born and raised in a secret city, in Ozyorsk, Russia, survivor of the explosion of the Mayak nuclear weapons plant.

Sharon Dolev, Israeli Disarmament Movement.

Fujiko Yoshikawa, writer, Rafu Shimpo newspaper in Los Angeles, Japanese language magazine TV Fan. She and her family lived in a village near Hiroshima in Japan, when the atom bomb fell August 6, 1945.

Greg Palast, is an investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker. His new film, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: a Tale of Billionaires and Ballot Bandits," unmasks the continuing and unrelenting Jim-Crow attempts by America's "Billionaire Bandits" to prevent minority communities from exercising their constitutional right to vote.

Featuring:

Greg Palast, Investigative reporter, documentary filmmaker

In the US, the right to vote is one of the country’s most cherished and hard-fought rights. But it doesn't mean that everyone has equal access to the polls. In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down a key civil rights provision of the Voting Rights Act. This November will be the first presidential election in 50 years where voters will not have the full protection of the original law.

In this second installment of Making Contact’s Immigrants and Elections series, we explore some of the barriers immigrants and other historically disenfranchised voters face in gaining access to the polls.

Since the 2013 Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, many states have pushed changes to voter laws that raise disturbing connections to the past. Before the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act on August 6th, we revisit the hard fought battles for voting rights and the implications of new laws.

Featuring:

Reverend Tyrone Edwards,civil rights historian in Plaquemines Parish Louisiana
Tyrone Brooks, Georgia State Representative
Clifford Kuhn, Professor of History at Georgia State University
JT Johnson, civil rights organizer
Allen Secher, rabbi
Jerel James, Tamia Adkinson, docents at Civil Rights Museum of St. Augustine
August Tinson, testified in U.S. vs Fox (1962)
Gary May,professor of history at the University of Delaware and the author of Bending Towards Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy.

As relations between the United States and Russian governments continue to deteriorate, people are growing concerned that we’re on the brink of another nuclear arms race. Both the U.S. and Russia are modernizing their nuclear arsenals. According to Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, “it’s frighteningly easy to imagine how something could go wrong in that situation.”

Women Rising Radio takes us inside the movement for nuclear disarmament, to meet the women on the front lines of the fight for a future free of nuclear weapons. From the US to Russia, the UK, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Japan, these dedicated advocates make the case for returning to the Nonproliferation Treaty and fulfilling its mandate.

Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem was founded on a promise to serve all patients with the same, excellent care. This week, against the backdrop of military occupation, we go inside Hadassah’s Mount Scopus maternity ward. There, the separation of Jewish and Arab mothers resulted in conflict between midwives at the hospital.

In a world that increasingly seems to strive for uniformity, afro-descendant Creole people on the eastern coast of Nicaragua seek to hold on to their unique culture through their food. Incoming palm plantations are fragmenting traditional Creole farmland and making it difficult for local coconut oil businesses. Overfishing and pesticides from the palm fields are reducing stocks of fish in the lagoons, making it more difficult to access traditional protein sources. In the towns and cities along the coast, an influx of foreign products is setting a new standard for how you should look, talk and eat.

Rondon is one of the most celebrated traditional Creole dishes. Similar to a curry, it has a base of coconut milk in which you cook cassava, dasheen, breadfruit, baby corn and fried fish with fresh herbs and spices. It's a dish with strong connections to Africa. For a people descended from freed blacks, escaped slaves and indigenous Americans, holding on to Rondon is holding on to heritage.

September marks the 5 year anniversary of Occupy. We go to Zuccotti Park, and Oakland to talk to individuals that were part of Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Oakland to gain insight and reflection on the movement that swept the nation.

Featuring: * Samara Ward, Occupy Oakland participant * Joyous DeAsis, Young Oakland organizer, Occupy Oakland participant * Marisa Holmes, Filmmaker, Occupy Wall Street facilitator * Needa Bee, Occupy Oakland participant * Krystof Lapour, Occupy Oakland participant * Samsarah Morgan, doula and birth worker, Founder of Occupy Oakland Children’s Village and Parents and Allies Caucus of Occupy Oakland, Occupy Decolonize Birth Parenting and Pregnancy Caucus * Rebecca Ruiz Sunwoo, Organizer Idriss Stelley Foundation, Occupy Oakland participant * Ashoka Finley, Black radical, Occupy the Farm participant

The US military didn’t shrink much under President Obama, and our perpetual state of war has barely waned since 9-11. Author Rosa Brooks says the consequences of this ‘new normal’ reach deep into our society; far beyond the body count of those killed overseas.

On this edition, Rosa Brooks speaks about her new book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything.

Special thanks to Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington DC

Featuring

Rosa Brooks,author ofHow Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything.

Host: Andrew Stelzer

September 11, 2001 ushered in an era marked by the unending War on Terror, dragnet government surveillance programs, and escalating attacks on people perceived to be Muslim. Just last month, Khalid Jabara, a 37-year old Lebanese American man was shot and killed on his front porch in Tulsa Oklahoma by a neighbor who had harassed his family for years, calling them ‘dirty Arabs’ and ‘Mooslems’.

This is just one of the many reported attacks on people perceived as Muslims in the United States. Last year, there were 174 incidents of anti-Muslim violence, and that’s only if you count the attacks that made headlines.

This backlash is just tip of the iceberg. Below the surface is a growing Islamophobia with deep roots in history and empire. Where does the idea of the ‘Muslim enemy’ come from? And how has it evolved into what we see today?

Fifteen years after 9/11, Deepa Kumar, author of Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, takes us back nearly 15 centuries to find out.

Millions of people around the world work in jobs that aren’t formally recognized or afforded legal protections typical of wage earning jobs. They’re often not even thought of as legitimate work.

On this edition of Making Contact, we’re going to meet people making work where there is no work for them. From recyclers, to border couriers, to waste pickers, we’re exploring the informal labor sector and what some are doing to gain greater recognition, protections, and rights.

Featuring

Landon Goodwin, recycler and pastor and also featured in documentary Dogtown Redemption
Aicha al Azzouzi border courier
Salma al Azzouzi, Aicha’s oldest daughter
Charles Gachanga Gichonge, creator of the Mustard Seed Courtyard clean-up campaign
Antony Makau, Dandora resident
Richard Munene, Dandora restaurant owner
Sally Roever, Urban Policy Director for Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO)
Malati Gadgil, KKPKP

It’s the second most-traded commodity in the world after oil but how much do you think about your cup of coffee?

From coffee farmers in Colombia to the trash produced by your single-cup coffee machine, Making Contact andGreen Grid Radio team up to count the costs of your morning cup o’joe.

Featuring: * Jairo Martinez, Mariana Cruz, Suzana Angarita,coffee farmers * Jeff Goldman, former executive director FairtradeResource Network * Jeff Chean, Principal and Chief Coffee GuyGroundworks Roasters * John Hazen, single-cup coffee machine owner * Rebecca Jewell, recycling program manager for Davis Street Transfer Station

The alternatives to prison are few and far between. And after serving time, the options for getting back on your feet are even worse. Finding food, a job and a place to live with a criminal record can become an almost impossible task. On this edition, Women building their own support network after being released from prison. We’ll hear “A New Way of Life and the New Underground Railroad” a documentary by Chris-Moore Backman.

Featuring: Susan Burton, A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project executive director and founder; Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness author; Alika Savage, Yolanda Brown, Renee Levi, Maisha Bailey, Sabrayiah DeMoss, Samantha Jenkins, A New Way of Life residents.

For More Information:A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project
The Sentencing Project
Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted Peoples Movement
Critical Resistance
Michelle Alexander-The New Jim Crow
Bringing Down the New Jim Crow

Ivan Rodriguez was born and raised in Los Angeles to parents who immigrated from Mexico to make a better life for their family. He is the first generation in his family to seek a higher education in this country. When he was young, a mentor told him he had the responsibility to speak for those who didn’t have a voice. He became active in community issues after watching his parents and other community use their voices to demand better education opportunities for local youth. Ivan wants to be the driving force of change in his community and his Making Contact story will focus on the institutional environmental racism plaguing the neighborhood where he grew up.

Women Rising radio profiles food sovereignty activists from India, Mexico, and Native American communities.

If you are interested in GMOs, TTP, seed saving, herbal medicine, food, trade & activism –then tune in!

Featuring:

Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya
Adelita San Vicente Tello, founder of Semillas de Vida
Sage La Pena, Native American, ethno- botanist and food sovereignty activist
Kanyon Sayers-Roods, Native American youth educator

In the midst of police shooting community members and gunmen shooting police, and as the republican and democratic conventions wrap up, we look back at the history of secret surveillance and disruption of organizations dissenting and struggling against all odds.

COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be “subversive,” targeted many African-American, Native-American, and other movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S.. Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operations. This week we broadcast the second half of the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101," produced by The Freedom Archives.

Special thanks to The Freedom Archives.

In the midst of police shooting community members and gunmen shooting police, and as the republican and democratic conventions wrap up, we look back at the history of secret surveillance and disruption of organizations dissenting and struggling against all odds.

COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be “subversive,” targeted many African-American, Native-American, and other movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S.. Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operations. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be broadcasting the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101.” Today we hear the first half of the film, produced by the Freedom Archives.

Special thanks to The Freedom Archives.

Featuring: * Liz Derias, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement * Bob Boyle, attorney * Jose Lopez, Puerto Rican Cultural Center executive director * Lucy Rodriguez, Puerto Rico Independence movement leader and former political prisoner * Ward Churchill, Native American activist and author * Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Native American activist and author * Leonard Peltier, political prisoner * Ricardo Romero, Al Frente de Lucha co-founder * Priscilla Falcon, University of Northern Colorado Hispanic Studies professor * Francisco Martinez, Chicano/Mejicano activist and attorney.

CORRECTION: Making Contact staff inadvertently misstated attorney Bob Boyle’s name as Bob Doyle in the audioversion of the COINTELPRO 101 documentary (Part 1). We apologize for the mistake.

Ross McKenzie was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but after 15 years on Lithium, he wasn’t getting any better. He decided to take matters into his own hands, get off the drug, and find out why so many people are being told they have mental illnesses.

This week on Making Contact, we bring you an abridged version of the film Bipolarized; Rethinking Mental Illness, chronicling McKenzie’s journey.

Featuring:

Ross McKenzie, diagnosed with Bipolar disorder
Ross McKenzie’s mother and sister
Gwen Olsen, former pharmaceutical rep
Laura Delano, psychiatry survivor
Robert Whitaker,author of Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
Dr. Charles Whitfield, trauma recovery specialist
Dr. Peter Levine,founder of Somatic Experiencing

Fredy Villanueva was playing dice in a park in Montreal North when police officers arrived. In less than a minute, the 18-year-old was fatally shot by police. Eight years later, what happened in those sixty seconds remains unclear. The documentary play Fredy tries to untangle what happened before and after the shooting, as it asks questions about racial profiling, systemic discrimination, and the promise of art for social change.

In cities across the country, black women – many of whom have been on the front lines of the Movement for Black Lives – are lifting up the names of their sisters killed by police.

This March, Manolia Charlotin, a multimedia journalist with the The Media Consortium, and Cat Brooks, artist and organizer with Oakland’s Anti Police-Terror Project sat down at a community event in San Francisco to talk about Say Her Name and what it looks like to build a movement that centers black women.

Jamison Robinson, Yuvette Henderson’s brother, talks about the difference it makes when a community comes together to demand justice after the police kill someone.

Featuring: * Jamison Robinson, brother of Yuvette Henderson * Manolia Charlotin, journalist with The Media Consortium * Cat Brooks, artist and organizer with the Anti Police-Terror Project

Existing in two worlds can complicate your identity and complete it–whether it’s understanding your medicine man grandfather, to deepening the concept of love through a different tongue, these storytellers takes us around the world from Colombia to Papua New Guinea, seeking definition and connections with presumably different cultures.

Featuring: * Francis Rojas * Jeremiah Barber * William Guillermo Ortiz, Curandero / Medicine Man * Florentina Mocanu-Schendel, Doctoral Candidate at Stanford University * Warama Kurupel, Limol Village Leader * Grace Maher * Robai Reend * Donai Kurupel * Pingam Uziag * Jenny Dobola * Loni Garaiyi * Sandra Dikai * Merol Kwe * Manaleato Kolea

Who is Charles Koch–really? Who are the members of “the Network”?—a semi-secret group assembled by the Koch brothers? How are the superrich’s priorities transforming American society? Journalist Jane Mayer spent several years searching for some of those answers, and her new book is titled Dark Money, the Hidden History of the Billionaires.

Mayer is interviewed by Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief James Bennet.

Featuring: * Jane Meyer, author of Dark Money, the Hidden History of the Billionaires * James Bennet, Atlantic Magazine editor-in-chief

Parenting has never been easy. Merging your politics with your parenting decisions can be even more challenging.

On this edition, fathers…and mothers…on fatherhood and how it’s changing. Traditional ideas about what a dad is supposed to be are slowly disappearing, but what will take their place?

Featuring:

Tomas Moniz, Rad Dad creator
Airial Clark, Sex Positive Parent blogger
Janine Macbeth, Oh Oh Baby Boy author
Brent Ramos, Danny Gutierrez, Craig Elliot, Jeremy Smith, Jeremy John, Jason Oppy, fathers

Penny Rosenwasser is an activist and author of “Hope Into Practice: Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite our Fears.”

On this edition of Making Contact she reflects on her personal journey to embrace her identity as a Jewish woman while fighting for human rights for all. Listen to stories, history and poetry that explore internalized anti-Semitism and racism, victimization and privilege, and Jewish politics around Israel and Palestine.

In 1948, Zionist militias expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their villages and towns. The event, and the ongoing destruction and occupation of Palestine are referred to as the Nakba – the catastrophe. How did the events of 1948 shape Palestine and its diaspora? And generations later, how are Palestinians fighting to return home?

On this edition of Making Contact we reflect on the Nakba, the Naksa, and the future of Palestine.

Featuring: * Rami Almeghari, FSRN reporter * Ghazi Misleh, author of I Am from There and I Have Memories * Rabab Abdulhadi, Professor of Ethnic Studies and Senior Scholar of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative at San Francisco State University * Dina from Rammun * Mohannad from Ramle * Remi Kanazi, poet and author of Before the Next Bomb Drops.

The root causes of migration vary widely. Some people migrate and return to their homes depending on the season. While others migrate and never return. Often, people are forced to leave or flee their homes indefinitely because of poverty, extreme environmental events, armed conflict, social strife, political turmoil, and economic hardships.

On this edition of Making Contact, we hear stories from Central American migrants that take on oppressive debts or face challenges in schools in the U.S. We also hear from Cuban migrants stuck in limbo on the route to the U.S.

We often hear from the upper middle class, educated youth of Iran complaining about the dictatorship. But what about the majority of youth, the working class young people who live in South Tehran and similar neighborhoods?

Reese Erlich explores how young people compare President Rouhani’s government with the populist rule of Ahmadinejad. We’ll also hear about how they are responding to conservative hardliners who are tapping into frustrations with high unemployment, and threatening to cancel the nuclear deal.

Thank you to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for granting Reese Erlich funding to produce this piece.

In 1973 the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade established the legal right to abortion in the United States. Since then, state legislative and executive bodies have battled to restrict access to abortions. Federal law banned the use of federal funds for most abortions in 1977, and public funding for abortion remains a contested issue.

One recent study in Texas found that more than 200,000 women performed abortions on themselves because they weren’t able to find clinical services. From restrictive laws to a lack of information to violent attacks, the blocking of abortion access is eroding the reproductive rights of women.

On this edition, we hear from women at the New Orleans Abortion Fund and Ibis Reproductive Health, as well as experiences from a doctor who provides abortions and a woman that sought abortion access in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Featuring: * Jessie Nieblas, New Orleans Abortion Fund * Liza Fuentes, Ibis Reproductive Health * Natalie, teacher in New Orleans * Diary excerpt from Dr. Susan Wicklund, an abortion provider under attack, as performed for Making Contact by Words of Choicewith Actor Claudia Scheider,Directed by Francesca Mantani Arkus,Created and Produced by Cindy Cooper

Among the effects of climate change are more extreme weather events, such as Typhoon Haiyan, Superstorm Sandy, and a severe drought stretching across much of the Western United States. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll take a deeper look at the social and psychological impacts of climate change, and the weight of inaction.

Featuring: * Niki Stanley and Derice Klass, Far Rockaway residents * Zardos V. Abela, firefighter for the Bureau of Fire Protection in Tacloban, Philippines * Abigail Gewirtz, psychologist at the University of Minnesota * Stephan Wasik, Valley Fire survivor * Jeff Keenan, Valley Fire survivor * Erica Petersen, Valley Fire survivor * Manuel Orozco, Behavioral Health Fiscal Manager, Lake County Behavioral Health.

Hollywood has had a long history of whitewashing and stereotyping different groups –from brownface to blackface and yellowface. For Arabs and Muslims, persistent clichés throughout Hollywood’s history range from desert scenes with camels and palm trees, and characters cast as barbaric villains, belly dancers, or terrorists among others.

On this edition of Making Contact we’ll meet people confronting racist depictions of Muslims and Arabs in pop culture and politics; and two young women evaluating societal expectations placed on them.

Featuring: * Diana Kalaji, student at University of San Francisco * Moustafa Bayoumi, author of “This Muslim American Life, Dispatches from the War on Terror.”

Immigration comes up in every U.S. presidential election cycle. It’s been that way pretty much since the dawning of the country. In keeping with that national tradition, immigrants throughout history have also been the target of racist rhetoric and efforts to exclude them from voting and political influence.

And the 2016 elections have proven no different.

This edition of Making Contact is Part I of our special series examining how immigrants are responding and participating in elections and politics today.

From Dreamers in Arizona to Muslims in Michigan, we’ll meet immigrant communities upholding democracy. We’ll also have a conversation with the Brennan Center for Justice President and author of the Fight to Vote, Michael Waldman about how immigrants throughout history have expanded the right to vote.

The vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care.

Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll explore the dynamic and complex relationship of care receiving and giving.

Featuring:

Camille Christian, home care provider and SEIU member
Brenda Jackson, home care provider and SEIU member
Patty Berne, co-founder and director, Sins Invalid
Jessica Lehman, executive director, San Francisco Senior and Disability Action
Kenzi Robi, president, San Francisco IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) Public Authority Governing Body
Rachel Stewart, queer disabled woman passionate about disability and employment issues
Alana Theriault, disability benefits counselor in Berkeley, California
Ingrid Tischer, director of development, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
Alta Mae Stevens, in-home caregiver

It’s something many of us take for granted: access to clean drinking water. But for many Americans it’s not something they can rely on. From chemical spills in West Virginia to ecoli in the water on the Texas-Mexico border, to contamination from farming in California. On this edition, we hear what happens when there’s not a drop to drink.

Featuring: * Angela Walker, Charleston resident * Neena Satija, environment reporter Texas Tribune * Daisy Gonzalez and Vicente Lara, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water * Horacio Amezquita, resident San Jerado

Los Angeles’ garment district is notorious for sweatshop conditions, abuse, and the outright theft of earned wages. Yet the name-brand clothes that some of us are wearing right now, may have been produced in factories like these. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll take you on a trip through LA’s garment district.

version of Song Did you see how they crucified the Lord? to reflect the killing of Black people... @AdamDyer photo.

In 2012, fast food workers in NYC kicked off a movement that has exceeded all expectations, and changed the conversation about the minimum wage.

On this edition, low paid workers tell the story of the fight for 15, the exploding nationwide movement for fair wages.

Featuring:

Alvin Major, KFC employee and original NYC striker
Richard Wilson, Walmart employee
Bernardo Monteo, Chanda Roberts, Jayla Mosley; fast food workers
Mary Kay Henry, SEIU President
Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education
Thomas Geoghegan, author of “Only One Thing Can Save Us: Why America Needs A New Kind of Labor Movement“

From Norco, Louisiana to Flint, Michigan to Los Angeles, California – environmental racism is real. On this edition of Making Contact, we look at polluting industries in Northeast and South L.A.

We begin with a story by Making Contact’s Community Storytelling Fellow Ivan Rodriguez, followed by an interview with journalist Aura Bogado and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

Women Rising Radio #30 profiles women fighting slavery, trafficking and forced labor globally.

Featuring: * Ima Matul, with CAST LA, was trafficked to Los Angeles, was rescued by the Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking in Los Angeles, and now heads CAST’s leadership program. * Joanna Ewart-James is the executive director of WALK FREE, an online and on-the-ground network battling trafficking, forced labor, and servitude worldwide. WALK FREE is based in London. * Elena Uraleva is an independent human rights monitor in her home country of Uzbekistan. She works with WALK FREE to document forced labor and human rights abuses there. * Supriya Awasthi works on children’s rights and on freeing bonded slaves in India. She is a staff member of FREE THE SLAVES.

Slavery, and human trafficking are making comebacks across the world. This week's show looks at activists and organizations fighting against this forced labor.

January 2016 marked the end of China’s one child policy—a regime of family planning policies and enforcement that scarred generations of parents and children. On this edition of Making Contact, China correspondent Gady Epstein speaks with Mei Fong, author of One Child:The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment, and Barbara Demick, journalist and former Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times.

Stanley Nelson's "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution" has sparked a renewed interest in the famed revolutionary organization. In November journalist Eric Arnold interviews Nelson for our show. Now listen to the full unedited interview.

2016 marks 50 years since the founding of the Black Panther Party-a group that’s took the world by the storm, but is still widely misunderstood. There’s a new documentary film that’s trying to set the record straight. On this edition of Making Contact, journalist Eric Arnold talks with Stanley Nelson, director of The Black Panthers, Vanguard of the Revolution.

Featuring:

Stanley Nelson, Director of The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Eric Arnold, journalist

Among the effects of climate change are more extreme weather events, such as Typhoon Haiyan, Superstorm Sandy, and a severe drought stretching across much of the Western United States. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll take a deeper look at the social and psychological impacts of climate change, and the weight of inaction.

Featuring:

Niki Stanley and Derice Klass, Far Rockaway residents
Zardos V. Abela, firefighter for the Bureau of Fire Protection in Tacloban, Philippines
Abigail Gewirtz, psychologist at the University of Minnesota
Stephan Wasik, Valley Fire survivor
Jeff Keenan, Valley Fire survivor
Erica Petersen, Valley Fire survivor
Manuel Orozco, Behavioral Health Fiscal Manager, Lake County Behavioral Health.

Rapper and grassroots organizer Boots Riley’s recent book is titled “Tell Homeland Security: We Are the Bomb”. Riley appeared at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington DC, where he was interviewed by author and Edge of Sports blogger Dave Zirin.

Special thanks to Politics and Prose Bookstore & Coffeehouse

Featuring:

Boots Riley, “Tell Homeland Security: We Are the Bomb” author
Dave Zirin, “Edge of Sports” blogger

This show takes a look at issues within the foster care system in the U.S. from the high rate of teen pregnancy to the alarming use of psychiatric medications in California’s foster care system.

Featuring:

Nicole Rocke, former foster youth
Kyle Lafferty, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
Linda Bryant, Clinical Professor at New York University’s School of Social Work
Benita Miller, Deputy Commissioner of Family Permanency Services at the Administration of Children’s Services
Lorraine Jacobs, caseworker
Yolanda Vasquez, former foster youth
Adriane Fugh-Berman, Pharmacology Professor at Georgetown University’s Medical Center
Bill Grimm, Attorney at National Center for Youth Law
Susan Bullard
David Arrendondo, Child psychiatrist
Dr. Edmund Levin, at the Lincoln Child Center
Nancy Forster, Therapist at the Lincoln Child Center
April Rene Sanders, former foster youth and recipient of AB12
Kyle Sporleader, Statewide Legislative Coordinator for California Youth Connection (CYC)

Tent cities have popped up across the country, from New Jersey to Texas to New Mexico. Many are starting to build more permanent living structures. So what are the benefits of living in a cluster of tents? And is this part of a real solution to homelessness?

As income inequality persists and rents continue to rise, tent cities are popping up all over the country. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s better than living on the streets. Check out the preview and look for the show this Wednesday.

Special edition of Making Contact with guest Host, Rose Aguilar discussing reproductive health and abortion rights 43 years after Roe v. Wade.

Featuring:

Corrine Rivera-Fowler, deputy director of COLOR, the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights
Carol Joffe, professor at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco and author of “Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Cost of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients, and the Rest of Us.”

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th 1963, Martin Luther King Jr delivered one of the most famous speeches of all time.

But it nearly didn’t happen.

On this special edition of Making Contact for MLK Day, Gary Younge, author of “The Speech” talks about Martin Luther King Junior’s “Dream” and the story behind it.

Women Rising radio profiles food sovereignty activists from India, Mexico, and Native American communities.

Featuring:

Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya
Adelita San Vicente Tello, founder of Semillas de Vida
Sage La Pena, Native American, ethno- botanist and food sovereignty activist
Kanyon Sayers-Roods, Native American youth educator

Robert Neuwirth, author of “Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World”, estimates that more than a billion people–thats 1 in 7–are squatters. This week, we visit squats in Venezuela and the Philippines, and find out why squatters aren’t just tolerated…they are crucial to the growth of major cities and national economies.

Featuring:

Robert Neuwirth, author of “Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World”
Filomena Cinco, Barangay captain of Estero de San Miguel
Luz Sudueste, Urban Poor Associates organizer
William Gonzalez, Gladys Flores, Jacqueline Calderon and Yolimar Noriega, Toree David residents
Andres Antillano, Universidad Central de Venezuela professor & activist for squatters’ rights.

From the Fight for 15 campaign to the Syrian refugee crisis, the past year was full of news headlines that were tough to keep up with. Making Contact is committed to in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On this edition of Making Contact we take a look at shows we produced in 2015, and we ll find out what’s happened since.

Featuring: * Alicia Garza, Black Lives Matter co-founder * Cat Brooks, Anti Police Terror Project * Antonia Juhasz, Investigative Journalist * Thomas DarDar, United Houma Nation Chief * Mark Miller, Southern Utah University History professor * Sylvia Rivera, Remembering Stonewall oral history project * Michael Schirker, Remembering Stonewall oral history project * Aesha Rasheed, Southerners on New Ground.

From the Fight for 15 campaign to the Syrian refugee crisis, the past year was full of news headlines that were tough to keep up with. Making Contact is committed to in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. On this edition of Making Contact we take a look at shows we produced in 2015, and we ll find out what’s happened since.

Thousands of local social justice organizers passed away this year. People doing crucial work in their communities, whose deaths didn’t make the headlines. On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll hear about some of the fallen heroes of 2015.

Featured Fallen Heroes

Grace Lee Boggs, activist, philosopher and movement builder
Danny Schechter, author and media critic
John Warshow, anti-nuclear campaigner and hydro power developer
Emiliano Amor Mataka, Environmental Justice activist, co-founder Valley Improvement Projects
Hashem Al-Azzeh, Palestinian peace activist
Juan Evans, trans activist
Hank Williams, Platform Summit founder
Shannon Williams, Sex Workers Outreach Project board co-chair
Dori Maynard, president of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education

Diary excerpt from Dr. Susan Wicklund, an abortion provider under attack, as performed for Making Contact by Words of Choice with Actor Claudia Scheider, Directed by Francesca Mantani Arkus, Created and Produced by Cindy Cooper http://wordsofchoice.org/ For the full edition of Making Contact tyhat ends with this piece listen at http://www.radioproject.org/2015/12/abortion-access-and-eroded-rights/

In 1973 the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade established the legal right to abortion in the United States. Since then, state legislative and executive bodies have battled to restrict access to abortions. Federal law banned the use of federal funds for most abortions in 1977, and public funding for abortion remains a contested issue.

One recent study in Texas found that more than 200,000 women performed abortions on themselves because they weren’t able to find clinical services. From restrictive laws to a lack of information to violent attacks, the blocking of abortion access is eroding the reproductive rights of women.

On this edition, we hear from the New Orleans Abortion Fund and Ibis Reproductive Health, as well as experiences from an abortion provider and a woman that sought abortion access in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Who remembers the local beat cop, who lives in and really knows the community? Increasingly, police don’t live in the neighborhoods, or even the cities they patrol. But is that a problem?

On this edition, should police be required to live in the cities they patrol? Law enforcement agencies around the country are struggling for answers to a question that’s about race, class and geography.

In this radio adaptation of the documentary film, Walking in Two Worlds, we bring you to Alaska’s Tongass Forest, where the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act turned tribes into corporations and sparked a lengthy logging frenzy.

We meet a Tlingit brother and sister, who are trying to heal both the forest and their native community.

Special thanks to Specialty Studios.

Featuring:

Wanda Culp & Bob Loescher, Tlinget brother & Sister
Peter Coyote, narrator
Mike Jackson, Tlingit tribal historian
Ernestine Hanlon-Abel, Weaver & Activist
Byron Mallott, Former Seaalaska CEO
Israel Shotridge, Tlingit carver
Tom Thorton, anthropologist
Lydia George, Tlingit Clan Mother
Joe Sebastian, Alaska Fisherman & guide
Deny Bschor, former US Forest Service Regional Forester
John Rowan, Tlingit carver
Richard Nixon, President of the United States
Rick Harris, Former Seaalaska Executive VP
Rosita Worl, Seaalaska Board member

We hear about systems of mutual support; where peers coping with similar struggles like HIV, mental health issues and surviving prison step into the roles typically filled by licensed specialists.

Mutual support can be controversial, especially when it tries to replace professional help. But it can also be immensely rewarding for all parties involved, and can save a ton of money.

This show features a special segment by Making Contact Storytelling Fellow Al Sasser. Find out more about the fellowship here.

In order to reduce prison over-crowding the Justice Department is releasing about 6,000 non-violent inmates early. Darris Young is working to make sure upon release individuals can successfully transition after incarceration.

On this edition of Making Contact we’ll meet more individuals like Darris who also went to prison, came out and dedicated their life to making a positive difference.

Featuring:

Frankie V. Guzman, Attorney at the National Center for Youth Law
Frederick Hutson, Founder/CEO Pigeonly
Clemmie Greenlee, founder of the Nashville Peacemakers
Darris Young, Local Organizer at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

2016 marks 50 years since the founding of the Black Panther Party-a group that’s took the world by the storm, but is still widely misunderstood. There’s a new documentary film that’s trying to set the record straight. On this edition of Making Contact, journalist Eric Arnold talks with Stanley Nelson, director of The Black Panthers, Vanguard of the Revolution.

Featuring:

Stanley Nelson, Director of Black Panthers: vanguard of the Revolution
Eric Arnold, journalist

They say a smart athlete will use their head. But what if using your head cost you everything? That’s a question being asked in locker rooms the world over. Whether it’s boxing, hockey, or soccer, it seems that head injuries are finally being taken seriously.

In the United States, lawsuits brought by players, as well as a body of scientific evidence, has lead to growing awareness about the impact American football has on players’ brains.

And now a similar debate has kicked off across the Atlantic among players and fans of the sport that American football evolved from: rugby. On this special edition of Making Contact, producer Luke Eldridge brings us to the UK to hear how rugby is dealing with the issue of head injuries.

Millions of people around the world work in jobs that aren’t formally recognized or afforded legal protections typical of wage earning jobs. They’re often not even thought of as legitimate work.

On this edition of Making Contact, we’re going to meet people making work where there is no work for them. From recyclers, to border couriers, to waste pickers, we’re exploring the informal labor sector and what some are doing to gain greater recognition, protections, and rights.

Featuring * Landon Goodwin, recycler and pastor and also featured in documentary Dogtown Redemption * Aicha al Azzouzi border courier * Salma al Azzouzi, Aicha’s oldest daughter * Charles Gachanga Gichonge, creator of the Mustard Seed Courtyard clean-up campaign * Antony Makau, Dandora resident * Richard Munene, Dandora restaurant owner * Sally Roever, Urban Policy Director for Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) * Malati Gadgil, KKPKP

Millions of people around the world work in jobs that aren't formally recognized or afforded legal protections typical of wage earning jobs. They're often not even thought of as legitimate work.

On this edition of Making Contact, we're going to meet people making work where there is no work for them. From recyclers, to border couriers, to waste pickers, we're exploring the informal labor sector and what some are doing to gain greater recognition, protections, and rights.

Love em or hate em, they’re an ever present part of American culture. And they’re not going away anytime soon. On this edition, recorded before the Oct. 1st mass shooting in Colorado, we talk guns…from the shooting range, to the black panthers, to red state America. The people behind the trigger are probably not who you’d assume.

Featuring

Matt Knox, gun owner
Ed & Dave, gun owners
Huey Newton, Black Panther
Tamu Mcfalls, former member of the communist party

Women Rising Radio 28 profiles global community organizers - whose work is based in their compassion and common sense, and whose organizing is making a worldwide impact.

4-minute interview with Lee Goodman of Illinois Stop Conceal Carry Coalition, March 2014

It’s one of the most dangerous jobs in America: taxi driving. In this special joint episode from ReWork and Making Contact, we’ll hear a radio adaptation of TeAda Productions’ play “Global Taxi Driver,” and we’ll take a ride to meet the cab drivers at one of the country’s busiest airports.

Featuring:

Abate Teferi and Daniel Kassa, taxi drivers at LAX and organizers with National Taxi Workers Alliance
Leilani Chan, Shaan Dasani, Elyse Dinh, Kenesha Hemmings, Joshua Lamont, Marcos Najera, and Ova Saopeng, Teada Productions Global Taxi Driver Director and Cast

We’ve been hearing a lot about desperate migrants trying to make the treacherous crossing from North Africa to Europe. But did you know there’s a little piece of Europe in North Africa itself? The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla are just an hour ferry ride from mainland Europe. These two cities are a part of Spain, but share land borders with Morocco. And those borders are gateways for a brisk trade. Moroccan markets sell goods imported through the enclaves at a discount for buyers. But that discount comes at a price -- for the Moroccan women who bring those goods across the border on their backs. Thalia Beaty reported this story with Maggy Donaldson.

A radio adaptation of the documentary Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle. This documentary examines the life and mysterious death of pioneering Mexican-American journalist Ruben Salazar.

At the heart of the story is his transformation from a mainstream, establishment Los Angeles Times reporter to a supporter and primary chronicler of the radical Chicano movement of the late 1960s until he was killed by a law enforcement officer in 1970.

Featuring material from recently released files, the program removes Salazar from the glare of myth and martyrdom and offers a clear-eyed look at the man.

Black Lives Matter. This simple phrase has become the motto of a growing movement calling for true justice and equalty for black people. Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, first typed out those three words back in 2013.

In March of 2015, Alicia Garza visited the University of Southern Maine to tell the story of how Black Lives Matter came to be, and express her hopes for where it’s headed. We hear her speech.

Featuring:

Alicia Garza, Black Lives Matter co-founder
Cephus Johnson, uncle of Oscar Grant
Grace Anderson, protestor

On this week's show we’re exploring how some women have been dehumanized to the point of indifference.

We’ll learn how one community is undoing the silence around the violence women of color face. We’ll also hear about how serial killers were able to hunt down mostly Black women for three decades in South Los Angeles. Then we’ll take you to the Yucatan where pregnant indigenous women struggle under a health care system failing to provide proper medical care.

While you're listening to this week's show, take a minute to support our Immigration and Elections crowdfunding campaign: http://radioproject.org

Ross McKenzie was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but after 15 years on Lithium, he wasn’t getting any better. He decided to take matters into his own hands, get off the drug, and find out why so many people are being told they have mental illnesses.
This week on Making Contact, we bring you an abridged version of the film Bipolarized; Rethinking Mental Illness, chronicling McKenzie’s journey.

Nationally, American prisons release more than 650,000 people into society every year. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Memphis or Boston.

On this edition, producer Aaron Mendelson followed ex-prisoner Kevin Tindall on his journey out of prison.

Special thanks to Claire Schoen and the University of California Berkeley, School of Journalism.

Featuring:

Gordon Brown, ex-prisoner
Monta Kevin Tindall, ex-prisoner
Jerry Elster, ex-prisoner
Tom Gorham, Program Director Options Recovery Services
Barry Krisberg, Director of Research and Policy and Lecturer in Residence at Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, UC Berkeley
Debra Mendoza, former parole officer, consultant

On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Southern Gulf Coast. Drawn by reconstruction work, the number of Latino immigrants has nearly doubled. Reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina drew thousands of people from India, Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, and other Latin American countries. Workers were charged with pulling dead bodies from abandoned homes and rebuilding New Orleans. But the influx of migrant workers also increased immigration crackdowns.

Making Contact’s Jasmin Lopez follows Jose Monterubio, a reconstruction worker. He tells us about his detention and how he stands for immigrant rights with the support of Congress of Day Laborers. Next, Jose Torres Tama recites Corporate Coyotes Smuggle Immigrant Workers, a poem from his book Immigrant Dreams, Alien Nightmares.

Ten years later after hurricane Katrina, it’s estimated there are nearly 100,000 fewer African Americans living in the city of New Orleans. Andrew Stelzer visits the Lower 9th Ward Living Museum, to learn how some are trying to preserve the lessons and legacies of the past. And we talk to a resident of one of the ultramodern homes built by Brad Pitt’s Make it Right project.

As a new lower 9th ward emerges, what will it look like and who will be included in the remake?

Featuring:

Luis Medina, immigrant reconstruction worker
Jose Monterrubio, immigrant reconstruction worker
Jose Torres-Tama, artist
Robert Green, Lower 9th Ward resident
Beck Cooper, Director of the Lower 9th Ward Living Museum

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Southern Gulf Coast. Katrina left a trail of devastation stretching for years to come. Ten years later, it’s estimated there are nearly 100,000 fewer African Americans living in the city of New Orleans. Drawn by reconstruction work, the number of Latino immigrants has nearly doubled. Reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina drew thousands of people from India, Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, and other Latin American countries. Workers were charged with pulling dead bodies from abandoned homes and rebuilding New Orleans. But the influx of migrant workers also increased immigration crackdowns.

It’s something many of us take for granted: access to clean drinking water. But for many Americans it’s not something they can rely on. From chemical spills in West Virginia to ecoli in the water on the Texas-Mexico border, to contamination from farming in California. On this edition, we hear what happens when there’s not a drop to drink.

Featuring: * Angela Walker, Charleston resident * Neena Satija, environment reporter Texas Tribune * Daisy Gonzalez and Vicente Lara, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water * Horacio Amezquita, resident San Jerado

Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Southern Gulf Coast. Ten years later, it’s estimated there are nearly 100,000 fewer African Americans living in the city of New Orleans. Drawn by reconstruction work, the number of Latino immigrants has nearly doubled. Reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina drew thousands of people from India, Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, and other Latin American countries. Workers were charged with pulling dead bodies from abandoned homes and rebuilding New Orleans. But the influx of migrant workers also increased immigration crackdowns.

On this edition of Making Contact, we talk to residents about how the city has transformed since Hurricane Katrina and the resulting friction.

It’s election season! But since the 2013 Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, many states have pushed changes to voter laws that raise disturbing connections to the past. On this week’s show, we’ll hear about hard fought battles for voting rights and the implications of new laws.

Featuring:

Reverend Tyrone Edwards, civil rights historian in Plaquemines Parish Louisiana
Tyrone Brooks, Georgia State Representative
Clifford Kuhn, Professor of History at Georgia State University
JT Johnson, civil rights organizer
Allen Secher, rabbi
Jerel James, Tamia Adkinson, docents at Civil Rights Museum of St. Augustine
August Tinson, testified in U.S. vs Fox (1962)
Gary May, professor of history at the University of Delaware and the author of Bending Towards Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy.

During the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 millions of people lost their jobs and hustled to survive. Since then, the economy has regained more than 8 million jobs. Still wage growth remains low and many simply can’t find a full time work.

On this edition of Making Contact we’ll hear from a panel of labor experts on the state of labor market especially for part-time and low-wage workers. The Panelists include former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, Ann Boger, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy for the Freelancers Union; Tsedeye Gebreselassie, Senior Staff Attorney for the National Employment Law Project; and Rick McGahey, the first voice you’ll hear. He’s a Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Environmental Policy and Sustainability for The New School for Public Engagement. The moderator is David Gray, Senior Fellow at New America NYC.

This is a special encore edition.

Renowned biologist Sandra Steingraber has made fighting environmentally induced cancers her lifes work. Steingraber’s book, Living Downstream, has been turned into a movie chronicling a year in her life trying to create a world free of cancer causing toxics. On this edition, we hear excerpts of the documentary film, Living Downstream.

Special thanks to The People’s Picture Company for allowing us to excerpt the film ‘Living Downstream’.

Renowned biologist Sandra Steingraber has made fighting environmentally induced cancers her life’s work. We hear excerpts of the documentary film, Living Downstream, which chronicles her efforts to create a world free of cancer causing toxics.

From unpaid bills to entire governments facing bankruptcy, debt is never far from our minds or the news. It’s deeply embedded in our lives: our language, culture, even major religions. It’s also at the heart of many of our most pressing political debates. But have you ever thought about where debt comes from? On this edition of Making Contact we hear from Anthropologist David Graeber, author of “Debt: The First 5,000 Years.” Graeber traces the history of debt and asks what might we learn from how societies in the past dealt with it. His 2011 talk was recorded by Allan Campbell, producer of People United at KOOP radio, in Austin Texas and featured on Bread and Roses Radio.

Debt is deeply embedded in our lives: our language, culture, even major religions. It’s also at the heart of many of our most pressing political debates. But have you ever thought about where debt comes from? On this edition of Making Contact we hear from Anthropologist David Graeber, author of “Debt: The First 5,000 Years.” Graeber traces the history of debt and asks what might we learn from how societies in the past dealt with it. His 2011 talk was recorded by Allan Campbell, producer of People United at KOOP radio, in Austin Texas and featured on Bread and Roses Radio.

The female body as medium, and as message.

How can a woman determine how she is perceived by the world, and even by herself?

On this edition, we hear stories of women who are using their bodies for political protest, and as tools of self-empowerment…forcing everyone to reevaluate their perspectives on the female form.

Featuring:

Neda Topaloski & Xenia Chernyshova, Femen members
Galia Ackerman, author of the book “Femen”
Catherine King, Executive Producer, Global Fund for Women
Yolando Y'Netta Harbin-Venson, Big Ol Pretty Girls owner
Jenny “Diva” Davis, clothing designer Diva’s Exquisite Designs.

When journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates set out to write about police killings he went to visit Mable Jones. Back in 2000, Jones son, a friend of Coates from their time at Howard University, was shot and killed by police in Virginia. He was twenty five years old.

Written in the form of a letter to his own teenage son, Coates' book "Between the World and Me" puts police shootings in a wider context.

Ta-Nehisi Coates spoke as part of the Lannan Foundation's Pursuit of Cultural Freedom Series.

Over 6,000 migrant deaths were recorded on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico between 1998 and 2013. The true number of deaths is likely higher, and thousands of families never hear from their loved ones again.

This documentary travels to the desert ranch lands of Brooks County and the border town of Reynosa, Tamaulipas to introduce us to the human cost of “prevention through deterrence,” a border enforcement strategy introduced during the Clinton administration.

This show takes a look at issues within the foster care system in the U.S. from the high rate of teen pregnancy to the alarming use of psychiatric medications in California’s foster care system.

This show takes a look at issues within the foster care system in the U.S. from the high rate of teen pregnancy to the alarming use of psychiatric medications in California’s foster care system.

Featuring:

Nicole Rocke, former foster youth
Kyle Lafferty, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
Linda Bryant,Clinical Professor at New York University’s School of Social Work
Benita Miller, Deputy Commissioner of Family Permanency Services at the Administration of Children’s Services
Lorraine Jacobs, caseworker
Yolanda Vasquez, former foster youth
Adriane Fugh-Berman, Pharmacology Professor at Georgetown University’s Medical Center
Bill Grimm, Attorney at National Center for Youth Law
Susan Bullard
David Arrendondo, Child psychiatrist
Dr. Edmund Levin, at the Lincoln Child Center
Nancy Forster, Therapist at the Lincoln Child Center
April Rene Sanders, former foster youth and recipient of AB12
Kyle Sporleader, Statewide Legislative Coordinator for California Youth Connection (CYC)

What do our voices say about us? On this edition we explore voice and identity.

We'll hear from someone who nearly lost their voice, the challenges that come with ordering a pizza with a speech generating device, and and how voice contributes to trans women's sense of safety and of self.

Featuring:

Mya Byrne, singer-songwriter
Kathe Perez, creator of EVA app
Samuel Sennott, assistant professor of special education at Portland University
Bob Segalman, author “Against the Current, My Life with Cerebral Palsy”
April Bryant, UC Berkeley student
Hannah Simpson, Nika Jewell, Tela Love, 13th Philadelphia Transgender Health Conference, attendees.

This show features Lateef McLeod, our 1st Community Storytelling Fellow. Donate now to help this year’s class of fellows tell their stories.

We go back to the night in June 1969 at the New York City Stonewall Inn that sparked the LGBT rights movement. On today’s show we’ll hear about the day that galvanized a generation and the continued fight for LGBT civil rights.

The first Pride parades took place in June 1970 marking the 1st anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Michael Schirker and David Isay bring us an oral history Remembering Stonewall: The Birth of a Movement.

Editor at large of the Huffington Posts’ Gay Voices Michelangelo Signorile says while there have been a series of recent wins for the LGBT rights movement, bigotry remains a daily reality for many.

At a New America NYC forum Signorile spoke with June Thomas, Culture Critic and Editor of Outward, Slate’s LGBTQ Section about what he calls “victory blindness”. It’s a central theme in his new book, “It’s Not Over, Getting to Beyond Tolerance Defeating Homophobia and Winning True Equality.”

We bring you to Alaska s Tongass Forest, where the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act turned tribes into corporations and sparked a lengthy logging frenzy.

In this radio adaptation of the documentary film, Walking in Two Worlds, we meet a Tlingit brother and sister, who are trying to heal both the forest and their native community.

Special thanks to Specialty Studios.

Featuring:

Wanda Culp & Bob Loescher, Tlinget brother & Sister
Peter Coyote, narrator
Mike Jackson, Tlingit tribal historian
Ernestine Hanlon-Abel, Weaver & Activist
Byron Mallott, Former Seaalaska CEO
Israel Shotridge, Tlingit carver
Tom Thorton, anthropologist
Lydia George, Tlingit Clan Mother
Joe Sebastian, Alaska Fisherman & guide
Deny Bschor, former US Forest Service Regional Forester
John Rowan, Tlingit carver
Richard Nixon, President of the United States
Rick Harris, Former Seaalaska Executive VP
Rosita Worl, Seaalaska Board member

What is it like to be a student who has fought in a war? Producers at The Stanford Storytelling Project’s podcast, State of the Human asked six Stanford students and recent alumni, all veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to tell their stories about “Returning Home.”

Featuring:

Dustin Barfield, Chris Clark, Josh Francis, Annie Hsieh, Russ Toll, and William Treseder, military veterans
Heidi Toll, wife of veterana

More Information

Returning Home from the Stanford Storytelling Project (full episode)
Veterans for Peace
Student Veterans of America
Complexity of Student Vets
Ten Things You Should Know About Today's Student Veteran

On this week's show we’re exploring how some women have been dehumanized to the point of indifference.

We’ll learn how one community is undoing the silence around the violence women of color face. We’ll also hear about how serial killers were able to hunt down mostly Black women for three decades in South Los Angeles. Then we’ll take you to the Yucatan where pregnant indigenous women struggle under a health care system failing to provide proper medical care.

Black Lives Matter.

This simple phrase has become the motto of a growing movement calling for true justice and equality for black people. Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, first typed out those three words back in 2013.

In March of 2015, Alicia Garza visited the University of Southern Maine to tell the story of how Black Lives Matter came to be, and express her hopes for where it’s headed. We hear her speech.

Special thanks to E.B.Leonard with Maine X Change.

Featuring:

Alicia Garza, Black Lives Matter co-founder
Cephus Johnson, uncle of Oscar Grant
Grace Anderson, protestor

Interview with Robert Neuwirth, author of Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World

Imprisonment, oppressive laws, and harassment of journalists - these are just a few means of censorship around the world. The use of these repressive tactics threaten freedom of expression and the public’s right to information.

On this edition, we hear from journalists in Ecuador and Mexico, and learn about the most censored countries from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Featuring:

William Morocho, Page Designer with Diario HOY
Jaime Mantilla, Director of Diario HOY newspaper
Carlos Ochoa Hernandez, head of Supercom
Rosental Alves, Director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas in Austin
Romel Jurado, Consultant for Supercom
Gustavo Ruiz, Independent Photographer
Edwin Canché Pech, Journalist
Adrián López Ortiz, director of Northwestern newspaper
Marcela Zendejas, Associate Officer on Alternative Media and Gender Issues at Article 19 MEXICO
Courtney Radsch, Advocacy Director with the Committee to Protect Journalists

Araxie Barsamian survivor of #armeniangenocide Archived sound by @altradio David Barsamian of his mother

@KathaPollitt short excerpts from live interview by Rose Aguillar at Planned Parenthood Event in SF Feb 2015. Recorded by @Making_Contact. Pollitt reclaims word "PRO" and uses Reproductive Justice framework. Talks about media coverage vs. real sentiment of people and our real lives + how lack of access to abortion healthcare in Texas forces women to cross boarder for pills at inaccurate doses... Pollitt is a columnist for The Nation magazine and a feminist essayist, poet and critic. Her new book is titled "Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights." She is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute.

Making Contact partnered with the 2014 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, CA to produce this special open mic highlighting the power of thoughtful, truth telling, community focused poetry.

Featuring Poets: * Chris Cuadrado * Lindsay Stone * Jared Paul * Caitlin Clark * Queen T

Making Contact partnered with the 2014 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, CA to produce this special open mic highlighting the power of thoughtful, truth telling, community focused poetry.

Five years after the deepwater horizon oil spill in the gulf of mexico, not everyone is “back to normal”.

On this edition, we follow BP’s trail from the Bayous of Louisiana to the fine art galleries of London.

Featuring:

Antonia Juhasz, investigative Journalist
Monique Verdin & Beau Verdin, Houma tribe members
David Gauthe, community organizer
Thomas DarDar, United Houma Nation Chief
Mark Miller, Southern Utah University History professor
Mel Evans, author of Artwash: Big Oil and the Arts

Climate change is here affecting weather conditions and sea levels. In India it's also having a more surprising influence on the country's tigers. On this edition of Making Contact, reporter Daniel Grossman takes us to India in Heat of the Moment: Sea Level Rise.

Heat of the Moment was originally produced for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and WBUR.

Featuring:

Pranabes Sanyal, former park director for the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve
Amit Mallick, Sundarbans resident and man attacked by tiger
Tushar Kanjilal, secretary of the Tagore Society for Rural Development
Mohammed Sheikh Gafur, Sundarbans resident and tea shop owner
Sugata Hazra, an oceanographer at Calcutta’s Jadavapur University
Ainun Nishat representative to the International Union for Conservation of Nature
Shafiqul Islam, director of a small college and founder of the Pani Committee
Sheikh Nural Ala, chief engineer for this region of the Water Development Board
Atiq Rahman, director of the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies
Daniel Grossman, journalist

4-minutes Loretta Ross spoke to Making Contact about the Trust Black Women campaign re billboards and abortion, and what the term "Allies." means...SEE MORE at http://www.radioproject.org/2015/04/pop-music-and-reproductive-justice/ and http://www.radioproject.org/2011/11/who-controls-black-womens-bodies/

Officially opening in 1914, the Panama Canal connected the Atlantic and Pacific creating a short-cut for ships. It was the biggest infrastructure project of its time. But originally the United States wanted to build the canal in Nicaragua. The plans shifted largely after French engineer Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla convinced U.S. lawmakers otherwise.

Well now the Nicaragua canal plans are back on the table. Nicaragua plans to build a $50 billion canal to connect the Caribbean and Pacific. Supporters argue it will create more than 250,000 jobs. But small farmers and environmentalists say the project will destroy Lake Nicaragua.

On this edition, we’ll take a look at the economic, political and environmental controversies surrounding the Nicaragua canal. Reporter Reese Erlich has the story.

Featuring: * Maria Mercelin, fisherman’s wife * Michael Healey, head of an agribusiness association * Monica Lopez, anti-canal activist and lawyer * Lionel Teller, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the EU * Rosibel Lope, owner of snack bar on OmetepeIsland * Jairo Carrilon, anti-canal coalition leader * David Quintana, spokesperson for Foundation for Nicaraguan Sustainable Development * Benjamin Lanzas, member of the canal’s governing body * Juana Juarez, resident of Ometepe Island * Osvaldo Navas, Ometepe Island leader * Antonio Granados, land owner whose property lies directly along the canal route.

It’s the second most-traded commodity in the world after oil but how much do you think about your cup of coffee?

From coffee farmers in Colombia to the trash produced by your single-cup coffee machine, Making Contact andGreen Grid Radio team up to count the costs of your morning cup o’joe.

Featuring: * Jairo Martinez, Mariana Cruz, Suzana Angarita, coffee farmers * Jeff Goldman, former executive director FairtradeResource Network * Jeff Chean, Principal and Chief Coffee GuyGroundworks Roasters * John Hazen, single-cup coffee machine owner * Rebecca Jewell, recycling program manager for Davis Street Transfer Station

On last week’s show we brought you to Idaho and Montana, where hundreds of trucks were routed to haul gigantic mining equipment to the Tar Sands oil fields of Alberta Canada, but an alliance of citizens and community groups was able to block the transport through environmentally sensitive land.

This week we continue the saga of the megaloads heading to the Tar Sands through the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies. We also follow two more tendrils of the Tar Sands project stretching from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia.

This is the second of a two part special, on the growing resistance to the tar sands, produced by Barbara Bernstein.

Listen the the first part here.

Featuring:

Kevin Lewis, Idaho Rivers United conservation director
Linwood Laughy, writer & historian
Borg Hendrickson, Clearwater Country co-author
Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent author
Bob Skinner, Canada School of Energy and the Environment interim director
Annick Smith, A River Runs Through It co-producer
Bob Gentry, environmental attorney
Steven Hawley, Recovering a Lost River author
David James Duncan, The Heart of the Monster co-author
Zack Porter, All Against The Haul executive director
Steve Seninger, University of Montana economist
Spider McKnight, All Against the Haul communications specialist

The Canadian Tar Sands is the largest industrial project on earth. And the potential environmental consequences have brought together citizens from across borders, to fight its rippling effects.

This is the first of a two part special, on the growing resistance to the tar sands, produced by Barbara Bernstein.

Featuring:

Kevin Lewis, Idaho Rivers United conservation director
Linwood Laughy, writer & historian
Borg Hendrickson, Clearwater Country co-author
Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent author
Bob Skinner, Canada School of Energy and the Environment interim director
Annick Smith, A River Runs Through It co-producer
Bob Gentry, environmental attorney
Steven Hawley, Recovering a Lost River author
David James Duncan, The Heart of the Monster co-author
Zack Porter, All Against The Haul executive director
Steve Seninger, University of Montana economist
Spider McKnight, All Against the Haul communications specialist

We follow Dr. Ann Aurelia Lopez as she shows us the reality of farm workers' lives in the United States and Mexico. Dr. Lopez founded the Center for Farmworker Families in Watsonville, California.

Featuring:

Dr. Ann Aurelia Lopez, founder and director of the Center for Farmworker Families
Women farmworkers

We follow Dr. Ann Aurelia Lopez as she shows us the reality of farm workers’ lives in the United States and Mexico. Dr. Lopez founded the Center for Farmworker Families in Watsonville, California.

Robert Neuwirth, author of "Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World", estimates that more than a billion people--thats 1 in 7--are squatters. This week, we visit squats in Venezuela and the Philippines, and find out why squatters aren’t just tolerated...they are crucial to the growth of major cities and national economies.

Featuring:

Robert Neuwirth, author of "Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World"
Filomena Cinco, Barangay captain of Estero de San Miguel
Luz Sudueste, Urban Poor Associates organizer
William Gonzalez, Gladys Flores, Jacqueline Calderon and Yolimar Noriega, Toree David residents
Andres Antillano, Universidad Central de Venezuela professor & activist for squatters’ rights.

Interview with Julie Perini one of the producers of "Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Portland, Oregon" about the "ghostly scratchings" she created at the sites of police violence. For more about her work go to: http://julieperini.org/

Why are so many of those killed by police young people of color?

A recent ProPublica investigation found that a young black male is at twenty one times greater risk of being shot dead by police than his white counterparts.

On this edition of Making Contact we'll hear from one of the reporters who analyzed the data on police killings to come up with that startling conclusion, as well as stories of family and community members who say the justice system itself needs to be put on trial.

Why are so many of those killed by police young people of color? A recent ProPublica investigation found that a young black male is at twenty one times greater risk of being shot dead by police than his white counterparts. On this edition of Making Contact we ll hear from one of the reporters who analyzed the data on police killings to come up with that startling conclusion, as well as stories of family and community members who say the justice system itself needs to be put on trial.

(Photo by Police Lights by JJ https://www.flickr.com/photos/tattoodjay/4172577749/in/photolist-7mHxZF-ntjU6o-BA5dw-4YVuiR-4oxk3p-9WvKAJ-6aAVL8-4TriEc-9RxFf5-cX9PJ7-9FWBUQ-9iVSZY-3JGAkJ-aA7muZ-5Z6ysn-NajHv-97f5km-7NV3qB-dhhs8s-fjfh3-9Ra8Si-nZLv2P-HjZTJ-hrc2rF-cbcHJ5-bW6YvQ-4kV4bM-7ynd7W-6o9NgG-8yWFdk-njUXuw-hW3Gdn-5TrD7z-7SzJu6-5uTcPM-k5PZ3-z2Mac-dacs7-bUvC9D-5ytkNk-6y45Mt-8bNSbx-5uTcHK-7z1Xbh-7Czew1-6Uy2dA-nzDBsJ-3JXPUW-ph8MMx-7aXn45)

Some call it a new civil rights movement. Others simply call it “black lives matter”. But its yet to be seen if the momentum for justice will result in systemic change. And to get there, what kind of strategies are needed? On this weeks edition, a conversation about waging non-violence between civil rights movement veteran David Hartsough and Ferguson activist Reverand. Osagyefo Uhuru.Sekou.

Featuring:

David Hartsough, civil rights activist and author of “Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist,”

Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru.Sekou, activist and Pastor For Formation & Justice Church

Special thanks to Waging Nonviolence.

Before it was legal in the United States, some doctors would risk arrest to provide women with access to safe abortions. When that wasn’t possible, some sought abortions from unsafe providers, often with deadly consequences.

The Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, and the numbers of people dying after having an abortion dropped, but are we now seeing a return to the past?

On this edition, what can the time before abortion was legal tell us about the dangers of restricting access to abortion today? We’ll hear a special radio adaption of "Motherhood by Choice not Chance" a documentary produced and narrated by Dorothy Fadiman.

what can the time before abortion was legal tell us about the dangers of restricting access to abortion today? We’ll hear a special radio adaption of “Motherhood by Choice not Chance” a documentary produced and narrated by Dorothy Fadiman. Find out more at: http://www.radioproject.org

You’ve heard of Hip-Hop, but what about Krip-Hop? That’s the name for the international movement of disabled artists, poets, musicians, and MCs.

On this edition of Making Contact, we hear the story of Krip Hop from hate mail to worldwide phenomenon.

The female body as medium, and as message.

How can a woman determine how she is perceived by the world, and even by herself?

On this edition, we hear stories of women who are using their bodies for political protest, and as tools of self-empowerment…forcing everyone to reevaluate their perspectives on the female form.

Featuring:

Neda Topaloski & Xenia Chernyshova, Femen members
Galia Ackerman, author of the book “Femen”
Catherine King, Executive Producer, Global Fund for Women
Yolando Y’Netta Harbin-Venson, Big Ol Pretty Girls owner
Jenny “Diva” Davis, clothing designer Diva’s Exquisite Designs.

On April 4, 1967 one year to the day before his assassination Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made a major address on the Vietnam War at Riverside Church in New York. It was the first time King would tell the world why he opposed the war, saying that his “conscience [left him] no other choice.” We rarely hear about King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech in the mass media, and glossy retrospectives on network television often fast forward from his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, to the Voting Rights Act victory of 1965, to the image of King dead on the balcony of a Memphis motel in 1968. What about King’s call for the United States to get on “the right side of the world revolution?” Or, his denunciation of what he called the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism? More info: http://www.radioproject.org/2003/01/beyond-the-dream-mlk-and-the-anti-war-movement/

We've wrapped up our 2nd community storytelling fellowship focusing on women's body image and plus sized models. Listen to this short preview from our fellow Aquiela Lewis and listen to the full show on January 21st at http://radioproject.org.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th 1963, Martin Luther King Jr delivered one of the most famous speeches of all time. But it nearly didn't happen. On this special edition of Making Contact for MLK Day, Gary Younge, author of “The Speech” talks about Martin Luther King Junior's “Dream” and the story behind it.

Featuring:

Gary Younge, author of “The Speech: Martin Luther King Jr's Dream and the Story Behind It”

What are the roots of the historic mistrust between people of color, especially African Americans, and the police? And how does 911 really work? Is slow response time just perception, or reality?

During the 2nd half of our 2-part special—The Race to An Emergency, we follow the path of a 911 call, and along the way, encounter decades of mistrust that fuel a lack of confidence in the system.

When you call 911, who answers the phone? How do they decide who to send to the scene, and how fast will they get there? We bring you a 2-part special—The Race to An Emergency, produced by KALW radio in San Francisco.

We follow the path of a 911 call, and along the way, encounter decades of mistrust that fuel a lack of confidence in the system.

Special thanks to KALW Radio.

Featuring:

Lesley Phillips, Sharena Thomas, Peoples Community Medics co-founders
Nikki Anjenique, Sharena Thomas daughter
Rick Rocha, California Highway Patrol dispatcher
Olivia Moy, Wolleen Jones, Oakland police Department dispatchers
Terry Woodard, Oakland Fire Department Communications dispatcher
Jason Murphy, Paramedics Plus dispatcher
Tracy Chin, Rob Thrower, Oakland Fire Fighters
Brian Murphy, Oakland Police Officer
Regina Harris Gilliard, Johnna Watson Oakland Police Department spokespeople
Benjamin Bowser, Cal State East Bay Sociology Professor

Gary Younge on The Speech

In today’s news cycle it’s challenging keeping up with the latest developments around the world. In 2014 we saw pro-democracy protests spanning 75 days in Hong Kong to the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. Often we just get the stories when they first break, then once the height of a conflict diminishes or really when another issue surfaces to the top of the news cycle, that’s it. After that we don’t hear much more about the issue. Even though we know that the issues remain.

On today’s show we’re going to bring you an update on some of the stories we’ve covered this year. We’ll go to a protest to talk to advocates calling for an end to using Native American imagery and stereotypes in sports. We’ll talk to the Center for Food Safety about the political outlook for supporters of better regulations of GMOs and pesticides. And we’ll get an update on US immigration policy from the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Featuring

Alice Ollstein, radio producer
Suzan Shown Harjo, Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee advocate for American Indian rights
Morning Star Gali, co-chair of Bay Area Coalition to End Racism in Sports
Jacqueline Keeler, founding member of Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry
Don Tipping, Seven Seeds Farm owner
Chris Hardy, Rogue valley farmer
Sylvia Wu, staff attorney at Center for Food Safety
Catherine Tactaquin, Executive Director of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

On today’s show we’re going to bring you an update on some of the stories we’ve covered this year. We’ll go to a protest to talk to advocates calling for an end to using Native American imagery and stereotypes in sports. We’ll talk to the Center for Food Safety about the political outlook for supporters of better regulations of GMOs and pesticides. And we’ll get an update on US immigration policy from the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Find out more on our website: http://wp.me/p45WJM-3Gt

radioproject.org/donate Making Contact works with community reporters from around the world and your donation helps us pay our freelancers and bring you more first hand coverage on important issues. radioproject.org/donate

Fallen Heroes of 2014

Hundreds of social justice advocates and organizers passed away in 2014, leaving their work behind as their legacy, but often also leaving an irreplaceable hole in their movements.

On today’s edition of Making Contact we honor and revisit the lives of just a few of those fallen heroes who passed away this year.

Featuring

Chokwe Lumumba, former mayor of Jackson MS
Morgan Powell, Bronx River Sankofa founder
Charity Hicks, Detroit People’s Water Board co-founder
Darby Tillis, death penalty opponent
Yuri Kochiyama, civil rights activist
Ted Gullickson, San Francisco Tenants Union director
George Carter; Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools participant
Leslie Feinberg, author of Stone Butch Blues
Eddie Ellis, prison reform advocate
Mark Naison, Fordham University African-American history professor
Lila Cabbil, Rosa Parks Institute president emeritus
Diane Fujino, author of Heartbeat of Struggle, the revolutionary life of Yuri Kochiyama
Taiyo Na, author
Randy Shaw, Tenderloin Housing Clinic executive director
Qasim Davis, Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools project manager
Perry Cobb, Darby Tillis’ co-defendant
Dr. Divine Pryor, executive Director of the center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions

Fossil fuels are a trillion dollar industry but environmentalists say they have a plan to pull the plug on the industry: divestment. The campaign to get institutions to end their investments in oil, gas, and coal companies has won supporters around the US and abroad.

But is the strategy working? We hear from students in Boulder, Colorado who have been campaigning since 2012 and we hear about the close relationship between the oil industry and professional soccer.

Featuring

Jay Carmona, Community Divestment Campaign Manager for 350.org
Ben Ayliffe, Greenpeace Arctic Campaign
Michael Goodman, sports writer for Grantland
Stefan Szymanski, Professor of Sports Management and Business at the University of Michigan
PD Gantert, Kelsey Cody, Fossil Free CU campaigners
Ken Mcconnellogue, Vice President for Communication at the University of Colorado
Steven Schueth, President and Managing Member of First Affirmative
David Gross, Senior Instructor of Finance and Faculty Director of the Masters Program in Finance and Real Estate CU Boulder

Over 6,000 migrant deaths were recorded on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico between 1998 and 2013. The true number of deaths is likely higher, and thousands of families never hear from their loved ones again.

This documentary travels to the desert ranch lands of Brooks County and the border town of Reynosa, Tamaulipas to introduce us to the human cost of “prevention through deterrence,” a border enforcement strategy introduced during the Clinton administration.

Featuring:

Lori Baker, Professor of Anthropology, Baylor University
Eduardo Canales, Executive Director, South Texas Human rights Center
Elias,

Every week since January of 1995, Making Contact has been bringing you voices and perspectives from the grassroots…analysis of the larger structures driving our global economies…and solutions being created by people all over the world.

On this special 20th program’s creation by volunteers, and how this little radio show became part of a new generation of media outlets that continues to both counter the mainstream, and transform our conception of who and what is considered newsworthy.

Featuring:

Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President Emertia of Bennett College for Women
Peggy Law & Norman Solomon, Making Contact co-founders
Paul George, Steve Rock, Shelley Kessler, Pam Law, Bill Creighton, early Making Contact volunteers
Food Not Bombs volunteers
Laura Livoti, former Making Contact Managing Director
Michael Eisenmenger, Community Media Center of Marin Executive Director
David Cole, Georgetown University constitutional law professor
Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report founder

Kenneth Williams in Oakland talks about his reaction to the Ferguson grand jury announcement. (Photo and recording by Jasmin Lopez)

Migrants traveling north to the U.S.-Mexico border risk are exposed to the risks of organized, crime, exploitation, and harsh environments. In this clip, one migrant shares his experience.

This segment is a preview of our upcoming show on Border Crossing and Migrant Deaths at the Mexico Border. The show will be available at http://radioproject.org on Dec. 3rd.

In September of 2014, Women Rising radio rode the People’s Climate train coast to coast, with over 200 activists heading to New York City to join the largest climate change march in history.

Featuring:

Valerie Love, Center for Biological Diversity, No Tar Sands Campaigner
Penny Opal Plant, Indigenous climate activist
Lauren Wood, Utah’s Peaceful Uprising co-founder
Teresa Jimenez, Urban Tithe organizer
Shannon Biggs, Global Exchange Community Rights program director
Rosalind Harris, Global Climate Justice Alliance
Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director
Sister Santussika, Tony Sirna, Camille Herrera, Carrie, Riders on the People’s Climate Train
People’s Climate Train Singers

Victims and perpetrators sitting down face to face…it can help heal their wounds, and our society. Incarcerating our way out of crime clearly hasn’t worked, and it’s costing us billions. Meanwhile, school suspensions are reaching record highs.

Now, Institutions across US are finally starting to consider problem solving methods other than punishment. Restorative justice is gaining ground–in the schools, and behind bars.

Featuring:

Paul Jacobsen, Rosa Parks elementary school principal
Mekaylah Porter, Marilyn, Rosa Parks elementary students
Yari Sandel, restorative justice coordinator
Helen Parker, San Francisco’s restorative practices department coach
Sonya Shah, Insight Prison Project Justice Program Director
Nancy Potts, mother of son killed by drunk driver
Chris Scezech, drunk driver
Radha Stern, mother of murder victim
Sam Johnson, San Quentin prison inmate

More than a decade after the start of the second Gulf War, the United States has embarked on a bombing campaign targeting Islamic State forces inside Iraq and Syria. It’s the third U.S. military action inside Iraq in as many decades.

But the reasons for the new war keep shifting, from protecting ethnic and religious minorities, to preventing terrorist attacks on the U.S.

As independent producer Reese Erlich reports from Northern Iraq, this latest conflict, and the future of the region is tightly connected to the oil industry and international politics.

Featuring:

Antonia Juhasz, author The Bush Agenda, The Tyranny of Oil, and Black Tide
Fauzi Ali and Aiwa Majdal, Yazidi refugees
Chenar Rozbyani, photographer
Richard Nabb, oil company advisor
Kemal Afaraci assistant district manager Tak Tak oil field
Shirin Jabar, demonstrator at KDP rally.

In her new book: “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate”, Naomi Klein argues that while it’s too late to stop climate change, we can save our civilization.

But it’s going to take radical steps that will transform the way humans interact with the world. Business as usual is no longer an option. On this edition, Naomi Klein speaks about her new book, and points out signs of hope as the global movement to counter climate change matures.

Featuring:

Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate

It’s election season! But since the 2013 Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, many states have pushed changes to voter laws that raise disturbing connections to the past. On this week’s show, we’ll hear about hard fought battles for voting rights and the implications of new laws.

Featuring:

Reverend Tyrone Edwards, civil rights historian in Plaquemines Parish Louisiana
Tyrone Brooks, Georgia State Representative
Clifford Kuhn, Professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
JT Johnson, civil rights organizer
Allen Secher, rabbi
Jerel James, Tamia Adkinson, docents at Civil Rights Museum of St. Augustine
August Tinson, testified in U.S. vs Fox (1962)
Gary May, professor of history at the University of Delaware and the author of Bending Towards Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy.

http://radioproject.org/donate Making Contact covers the movements and issues you care about most. Listen to labor organizer Shelly Kessler explain why she values Making Contact then donate today. http://radioproject.org/donate

Heroes to many, traitors to some. The internet has put whistleblowers in the public eye, and the government’s crosshairs. With increased access to classified information, and the ability to spread it, the world’s biggest institutions are running scared and cracking down.

On this week’s show, we hear about the whistleblowers we don’t see on the nightly news. They’re not named Manning or Snowden, they’re ordinary people who report wrongdoing at their place of employment, and pay the consequences.

Featuring:

Eileen Chubb, founder of Compassion in Care and The Whistler
Felix Smith, former US Department of Fish & Wildlife biologist
Gary Santolo, wildlife biologist and toxicologist
Lloyd Carter, former environmental reporter
Stephen Kohn, National Whistleblowers Center director

Kesterson Wildlife Refuge had a little known problem back in 1982: selenium contamination was leading to birth defects and death in fish and birds.

On this segment, Reporter Kerry Klein brings us the story of the government whistleblower who wouldn’t let his agency cover it up.

Listen to the entire show on whisteblowers on October 15th here: http://wp.me/p45WJM-3Au

What do our voices say about us? On this edition we explore voice and identity. We’ll hear from someone who nearly lost their voice as well as the challenges that come with ordering a pizza with a speech generating device.

Featuring:

Mya Byrne, singer-songwriter
Kathe Perez, creator of EVA app
Samuel Sennott, assistant professor of special education at Portland University
Bob Segalman, author “Against the Current, My Life with Cerebral Palsy”
April Bryant, UC Berkeley student
Hannah Simpson, Nika Jewell, Tela Love, 13th Philadelphia Transgender Health Conference, attendees.

Meredith Talusan reflects on her own voice among the voices of other trans women.

Making Contact’s first ever Community Storytelling Fellow, Lateef McLeod, tells the story of his voice. We join Lateef at a library in Oakland, California, where he is about to perform one of his poems...

Making Contact partnered with the 2014 National Poetry Slam to produce this special open mic highlighting the power of thoughtful, truth telling, community focused poetry.

[one_half]Featuring Poets:

Chris Cuadrado
Lindsay Stone
Jared Paul
Caitlin Clark
Queen T

More information, photos and the full 3 hour open mic at:

Making Contact

"Reflection" was written on April 29, 2014 during National Poetry Month. I love fairy tales and nursery rhymes. I was actually thinking of Snow White and the relationship she had with her wicked step mother. I also remember vividly seeing how the step mother's only friend seemed to be her mirror. I switched it around and imagined what I saw when I looked into the mirror. And those images just came forth so I wrote about them.

Aqueila M. Lewis is Making Contact's 2014 Community Storytelling Fellow. She will focus on body image, and her journey to becoming a plus-size model. Find her work here: http://www.radioproject.org/author/aqueila/

As part of the 2014 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, CA, Making Contact hosted a social justice-themed ope mic. Spittin fire!!!!

One in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime, yet in pop culture accurate portrayals of real people s stories are rare. In this show we hear about representations of abortion and reproductive decision-making in popular culture, and why those stories really matter.

Who's watching you? Nowadays it seems everyone wants to get their hands on our personal data. From the FBI to the welfare department, to some of the country's biggest retailers. On this edition, we take a closer look at the world of surveillance.

Featuring

Hasan Elahi, artist and Associate Professor at the University of Maryland
Charles Duhigg, New York Times journalist and author of “The Power of Habit”
Jodie Berger, public benefits lawyer
John Gilliom, Professor of Political Science at Ohio University
Kaaryn Gustafson, welfare lawyer and University of Connecticut teacher

More than 150,000 people sign up for the US military every year. Their reasons for joining vary widely, from those hoping for financial help through college, to others looking to follow in the footsteps of parents or grandparents.

In recent years getting into the military has gotten harder, with criminal records and low academic scores proving the biggest barriers. As hard as getting into the military might be, getting out may be harder still.

On this edition of Making Contact we’ll hear radio adaptations of Michelle Mason’s film, “Breaking Ranks,” produced by Screen Siren Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada and of “Deserter” by Rick Rowley, from Big Noise Films and PM Press.

Featuring:

Jeremy Hinzman, Kyle Snyder, Joshua Key, Ryan Johnson, Brandon Hughey, US military personnel who refused to return to Iraq.
Sergeant Brian Jensen, military recruiter.

They say a smart athlete will use their head. But what if using your head cost you everything? That’s a question being asked in locker rooms the world over. Whether it’s boxing, hockey, or soccer, it seems that head injuries are finally being taken seriously.

In the United States, lawsuits brought by players, as well as a body of scientific evidence, has lead to growing awareness about the impact American football has on players’ brains.

And now a similar debate has kicked off across the Atlantic among players and fans of the sport that American football evolved from: rugby. On this special edition of Making Contact, producer Luke Eldridge brings us to the UK to hear how rugby is dealing with the issue of head injuries.

Featuring:

Lewis Moody, former rugby player
Dr Michael Grey, motor neuroscience physiologist at the University of Birmingham
Peter Robinson, father of Ben Robinson
David Barnes, Rugby Director of the Rugby Players’ Association in England

Is your children’s schoolyard routinely sprayed with pesticides? How safe your children are might depend on where you live. Today we hear about how and why one pesticide has been banned for household use, but affects the health of farmworkers and their children. Children’s health is especially fragile–so why aren’t we protecting them?

Featuring:

Kim Harley, Center for Environmental Research in Children’s Health associate director
Isabel Arrollo, El Quinto Sol de America organizer
Jennifer Sass, Natural Resources Defense Council senior scientist
Tracey Brieger, Californians for Pesticide Reform co-director
Marina Gomez, Brian Jimenez-Gomez, CHAMACOS research participants
Margaret Reeves, Pesticide Action Network senior scientist
Valerie Bengal, family physician and UC San Francisco clinical professor
Brett Knupfer, Ohlone Elementary School principal
Marcy Mock, Ohlone special education teacher
Casimira Salazar, Ohlone migrant education teacher
Cynthia Fernandez, Ohlone 2nd grade teacher
Brett McFadden, Pajaro Valley Unified School District chief business officer
Mary Ellen Kustin, Environmental Working Group policy analyst

Nomi Prins, journalist and a former managing director of Goldman Sachs, discusses her book All the Presidents’ Bankers, the hidden alliances that drive American power. Prins retraces the relationship between American financiers and presidents stretching more than a century. From family friends, trusted confidants to the present day; how the relationship has deteriorated and presidents have lost control of the economy.

Special thanks to Pirate TV for the original recording from June 17, 2014.

Featuring:

Nomi Prins , journalist and author of All the Presidents’ Bankers, the hidden alliances that drive American power.

The Zapatistas are a group in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico working to bring democracy to their country and their local communities. 20 years after their founding, the group’s influences has spread far beyond Mexico’s border through music and art. On this edition of Making Contact producer Alejandro Rosas explores how Zapatismo has influenced those in the U.S. –including himself.

Special thanks to Claire Schoen and the University of California Berkeley, School of Journalism.

Featuring:

Hector Flores, Las Cafeteras member
Margaret Chowning, University of California at Berkeley professor of Mexican history
Emory Douglas, former Black Panther Party Minister of Culture

The official Day to Commemorate Agent Orange victims is August 10th and marks the start of the US military’s decade of massive chemical warfare in Vietnam in 1961.

Combat, chemicals, and corporations. We’ll look at the legacy of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant.

Featuring:
Ngo Thanh Nhan, co-coordinator Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign; Fred Wilcox scholar and author: Waiting for An Army To Die and Scorched Earth;Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange featured in the KQED segments

Nationally, American prisons release more than 650,000 people into society every year. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Memphis or Boston.

On this edition, producer Aaron Mendelson followed ex-prisoner Kevin Tindall on his journey out of prison.

Special thanks to Claire Schoen and the University of California Berkeley, School of Journalism.

Featuring:

Gordon Brown, ex-prisoner
Monta Kevin Tindall, ex-prisoner
Jerry Elster, ex-prisoner
Tom Gorham, Program Director Options Recovery Services
Barry Krisberg, Director of Research and Policy and Lecturer in Residence at Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, UC Berkeley
Debra Mendoza, former parole officer, consultant

On last week’s show we brought you to Idaho and Montana, where hundreds of trucks were routed to haul gigantic mining equipment to the Tar Sands oil fields of Alberta Canada, but an alliance of citizens and community groups was able to block the transport through environmentally sensitive land.

This week we continue the saga of the megaloads heading to the Tar Sands through the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies. We also follow two more tendrils of the Tar Sands project stretching from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia.

This is the second of a two part special, on the growing resistance to the tar sands, produced by Barbara Bernstein.

Listen the the first part here.

Featuring:

Kevin Lewis, Idaho Rivers United conservation director
Linwood Laughy, writer & historian
Borg Hendrickson, Clearwater Country co-author
Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent author
Bob Skinner, Canada School of Energy and the Environment interim director
Annick Smith, A River Runs Through It co-producer
Bob Gentry, environmental attorney
Steven Hawley, Recovering a Lost River author
David James Duncan, The Heart of the Monster co-author
Zack Porter, All Against The Haul executive director
Steve Seninger, University of Montana economist
Spider McKnight, All Against the Haul communications specialist

The Canadian Tar Sands is the largest industrial project on earth. And the potential environmental consequences have brought together citizens from across borders, to fight its rippling effects.

This is the first of a two part special, on the growing resistance to the tarsands, produces by Barbara Bernstein.

Featuring:

Kevin Lewis, Idaho Rivers United conservation director
Linwood Laughy, writer & historian
Borg Hendrickson, Clearwater Country co-author
Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent author
Bob Skinner, Canada School of Energy and the Environment interim director
Annick Smith, A River Runs Through It co-producer
Bob Gentry, environmental attorney
Steven Hawley, Recovering a Lost River author
David James Duncan, The Heart of the Monster co-author
Zack Porter, All Against The Haul executive director
Steve Seninger, University of Montana economist
Spider McKnight, All Against the Haul communications specialist

Natural healing can take many forms. These days, the Latin American “curandera” is re-emerging in the US, after generations of going underground.

On this edition, producer Erica Hellerstein takes us on a journey to identity through an ancient medicinal practice.

Featuring:

Lauren Villa, UC Berkeley Graduate Student
Atava Swiecicki Garcia Healer
Sandra Pacheco, Healer and Professor of Chicana Latina Indigenous Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies
Patricia Torres, owner of Mystical Collections
Anna, Psychotherapist and Sol Collective Member
Lauren Villa’s father

We profile women fighting the expansion of global militarism and violence. Korean sister Stella Soh campaigns to save an UNESCO world heritage site from a planned military base.

US activist Kathy Kelly founded Voices for Creative Nonviolence. And Brazilian Miriam Nobre works with the World March of Women.

Featuring:

Sister Stella Soh, Catholic Nun and activist with Save Jeju Island
Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence co-coordinator
Miriam Nobre, Coordinator Of The International Secretariat Of The World March Of Women

Victims and perpetrators sitting down face to face…it can help heal their wounds, and our society. Incarcerating our way out of crime clearly hasn’t worked, and it’s costing us billions. Meanwhile, school suspensions are reaching record highs.

Now, Institutions across US are finally starting to consider problem solving methods other than punishment. Restorative justice is gaining ground–in the schools, and behind bars.

Featuring:

Paul Jacobsen, Rosa Parks elementary school principal
Mekaylah Porter, Marilyn, Rosa Parks elementary students
Yari Sandel, restorative justice coordinator
Helen Parker, San Francisco’s restorative practices department coach
Sonya Shah, Insight Prison Project Justice Program Director
Nancy Potts, mother of son killed by drunk driver
Chris Scezech, drunk driver
Radha Stern, mother of murder victim
Sam Johnson, San Quentin prison inmate

Making Contact's Community Storytelling Fellow, Lateef McLeod interviews April Bryant about her use of an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device.

Rodeo is a part of life for many Americans. But if you’re an LGBTQ rodeo fan participating in the sport you love can mean hiding part of who you are to fit in. But a tight knit group of queer cowboys has found a way to live the country and Western lifestyle in their own way. You don’t often hear the words “gay” and “rodeo” together. On this edition Producer Vanessa Rancaño brings us one bull rider’s story.

Featuring:

Jason Strand, bull rider
Stud Monkey & David Grub, rodeo competitors
Clint Coil, rodeo judge and Stud Monkey’s partner
Judy Munson, Gay Games Rodeo Committee Chair
Darcey Ward, arena crew member
Rob Matyska, arena crew coordinator
Tom Porter, rodeo fan and David’s partner
Bill Lyle & Jane Silva, co-owners of The Thrill at Morgan Hill Rodeo Company
Steve Wollert, longtime IGRA member
Michael Weldert, rodeo fan
Edwin & Romiro, Bill Lyle’s employees
Will Ikeman, Jason’s husband

One in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime, yet in pop culture accurate portrayals of real people's stories are rare.

Two reproductive justice advocates listen and discuss two songs: Nick Cannon's 'Can I Live?' and Nicki Minaj's 'Autobiography', and ask: what messages are pop songs sending about reproductive health issues?

This story is part of a joint reporting project on reproductive rights in pop culture that includes Bitch Media, Feministing, and Making Contact. This work is part of a Media Consortium collaboration made possible in part by a grant from the Voqal Fund.

Featuring: Alicia Walters, Movement Building Director at Forward Together Samara Azam-Yu, Executive Director at ACCESS Women's Health Justice

More than 60 countries either ban or require labeling on GMO foods; the US is not one of them. As GMO regulation moves to a local level, frustrated consumers and farmers are pushing for state or county regulations, but the seed and pesticide companies are fighting back.

Today, we bring you a special episode investigating corporate control of our democracy and our dinner plates. This program is part of What the Fork, a collaboration between Making Contact, Center for Media and Democracy/The Progressive Magazine and Food Democracy Now.

Featuring:

Rebecca Wilce, Progressive and ALEC Exposed reporter
Marcia Ishii-Eieman, Pesticide Action Network senior scientist
Don Tipping, Seven Seeds Farm owner
Chris Hardy, Rogue valley farmer
Elise Higley, Our Family Farms Coalition leader
Magdeleno Rose-Avila, Yes on 15-119 volunteer
Barry Bushue, American Farm Bureau vice president
Klayton Kubo, Kauai citizen
Gary Hooser, Kauai County Council member
Dr. Judy Shabert, Harvard Physician
Chris Broussard, Whinney Hee, James Masey, concerned Kauai residents
Dean Okimoro, Farm Bureau Association president
David Louie, Hawaii Attorney General
Harry Stalford & Willow Coberly, Stalford Seed Farms farmers

Parenting has never been easy. Merging your politics with your parenting decisions can be even more challenging. On this edition, fathers…and mothers…on fatherhood and how it’s changing. Traditional ideas about what a dad is supposed to be are slowly disappearing, but what will take their place?

Featuring:

Tomas Moniz, Rad Dad creator
Airial Clark, Sex Positive Parent blogger
Janine Macbeth, Oh Oh Baby Boy author
Brent Ramos, Danny Gutierrez, Craig Elliot, Jeremy Smith, Jeremy John, Jason Oppy, fathers

Reporter Zoe Sullivan has been following the wave of evictions ahead of the World Cup in Brazil 2014

In this short clip from Making Contact's "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Side of 'The Beautiful Game'" author Dave Zirin reads Eduardo Galeano's "The Nobodies" and talks about its connection to Brazil's World Cup.

Description:

As Brazil prepares to host the 2014 soccer World Cup many are questioning the economic, environmental, and social cost of this sporting mega-event. From soccer ball manufacturing in Pakistan, to forced evictions in Brazil to make way for World Cup infrastructure, who wins, when the World Cup comes to town? On this edition of Making Contact, we take a closer look at the good, the bad, and the ugly side of the “beautiful game.”

Featuring:

Dave Zirin; author “Brazil’s Dance With the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy”, Mohammad Idrees and Ghafoor Husain, soccer ball workers; Safdar Sanda, soccer ball factory owner; Sarfraz Bashir, chairman of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce. Santiago Halty, founder Senda Athletics; Nasir Dogar, chief executive Independent Monitoring Association for Child Labor, Djani da Silva,resident of Camarigibe; Ana Ramalho professor of urban planning and architecture at the Federal University of Pernambuco,

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors are much more likely than their straight counterparts to be alone and isolated as they age. Housing and support for these elders is a growing need--and the issue is not confined to the United States. On this edition, we’ll visit Jakarta Indonesia, and Los Angeles, California, to hear stories of building housing and community for LGBTQ seniors.

Featuring: Michael Adams, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders executive director; Alice Herman, Rosie Delmar, Triangle Square residents; Eric Harrison, Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing executive director; Yulianus Rettoblaut, waria activist and community leader; Yoti Maya, Mbok Sri, waria elders. Special thanks to FSRN-Free Speech Radio News.

Americans eat out more than any other people. But the workers who put food on our restaurant tables are struggling to feed themselves and their families. On this edition, Saru Jayaraman, co-director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and author of “Behind the Kitchen Door” makes the case for bringing justice to restaurants and how ordinary diners can help.

Featuring:

Saru Jayaraman, co-director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and author of “Behind the Kitchen Door”

From pedestrian plazas to pop-up-parklets…cities are looking to create spaces for people to gather, interact and create. But are some people being left out of this new urban renaissance? This week: from Detroit, to Montreal, to Istanbul, people are reclaiming the commons. How do we create public spaces that are embracing and inclusive?

Featuring:

Susan Silberberg, MIT lecturer in Urban Design and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning;Jane Jacobs, urban planning expert; Shannon Franssen, coordinator at Solidarité St-Henri; Fred Burrill, housing rights advocate; Erik Howard, The Alley Project founder; Freddy Diaz, Mary Luevanos, Detroit artists; Hugo Camarena, Alley Project neighbor; Neil Brenner, Harvard Graduate School of Design Professor of Urban Theory; Roberto Bedoya, Tucson Pima Arts Council executive director

Pregnant women in America’s prisons are being shackled to their beds and cells. Others are being sterilized, some say, against their will. Correctional institutions claim the policies are for safety’s sake, and that consent is always obtained. But others see a larger pattern at work.

On this edition, from shackling to sterilization, thousands of incarcerated people are struggling to maintain control over their own reproductive health.

Featuring:

Courtney Hooks, Justice Now! campaign and communications director
Tina Reynolds, Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH) co-founder and chair
Samantha Rogers, California Coalition for Women Prisoners program assistant
Karen Shain, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children former policy director
Victoria Law, “Resistance Behind Bars” author
Kimberly, formerly incarcerated mother
Joe Higgins, Rappahannock Regional Jail Superintendent
Carolyn Sulfrin, former prison nurse

Locked up for month, years, or decades. Poetry is form of self-expression that’s become vital to the incarcerated. In Prison, Poetry can keep you sane, and help you move towards a better future. To mark National Poetry Month, we bring you a special production by the Prison Poetry Workshop. We go from California’s San Quentin prison, to a group of Alabama prison poets. And we’ll meet a legendary prison poet of the 1960’s who helped spark a literary movement.

Featuring: Andrew Gazzeny, San Quentin prisoner poet; Etheridge Knight, formerly incarcerated poet; Janice Knight-Mooney, Etheridge’s sister; James Depp, poet and friend of Etheridge; Melba Boyd, former Broadside Press employee; Ira Smith, Guy Carter, AJ Payne, Sarge Daniels, Calvin Green, Staton Correctional Facility poets; Keyes Stevens, Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project facilitator; Dwayne Betts, formerly incarcerated poet

Who's watching you? Nowadays it seems everyone wants to get their hands on our personal data. From the FBI to the welfare department, to some of the country's biggest retailers. On this edition, we take a closer look at the world of surveillance.

Featuring:

Hasan Elahi, artist and Associate Professor at the University of Maryland
Charles Duhigg, New York Times journalist and author of “The Power of Habit
Jodie Berger, public benefits lawyer
John Gilliom, Professor of Political Science at Ohio University
Kaaryn Gustafson, welfare lawyer and University of Connecticut teacher

Cesar Chavez has made it to the big screen. Millions of people are now learning about the legendary farmworker organizer. But where did Chavez get his organizing philosophies?

This week, Paul Ingles and Carol Boss of Peacetalks radio take us down ‘The Non Violent path of Cesar Chavez’, through conversations with Chavez’ colleague and friend Delores Huerta, and Jose Antonio Orozco, author of the book, Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence.

Noise pollution is a growing problem. Affecting everything from the lives of people living under airplane flight paths, to marine life. On this edition, we’ll hear from people struggling to be heard over the din of our noisy modern life and ask, is there anywhere left in the world you can get some peace and quiet?

Noise pollution is a growing problem. Effecting everything from the lives of people living under airplane flight paths, to marine life. On this edition, we’ll hear from people struggling to be heard over the din of our noisy modern life and ask, is there anywhere left in the world you can get some peace and quiet?

Needle exchange programs began springing up in the 1980’s during the AIDS crisis.

Countless lives have been saved by providing IV drug users with clean needles.

But even now, with hundreds of programs across the US and throughout the world, some states still view distributing needles as illegal.

This week, WABE reporter Jim Burress takes us to ‘The Bluff’, a neighborhood in Atlanta where a needle exchange program—breaking the law every day– has become a vital part of a struggling community.

Our world is generating more and more nuclear waste, but have no permanent place to dispose of it. But the nation of Finland has a plan. They’re building an underground cave, to hold thousands of tones of nuclear waste, for at least 100 thousand years.

On this edition, we hear excerpts of the film, “Into Eternity”, which explores the logistical and philosophical quandaries around the construction of something that if it works, might very well outlast the entire human race.

Before it was legal in the United States, some doctors would risk arrest to provide women with access to safe abortions. When that wasn’t possible, some sought abortions from unsafe providers, often with deadly consequences.

The Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, and the numbers of people dying after having an abortion dropped, but are we now seeing a return to the past?

On this edition, what can the time before abortion was legal tell us about the dangers of restricting access to abortion today? We’ll hear a special radio adaption of “Motherhood by Choice not Chance” a documentary produced and narrated by Dorothy Fadiman.

We profile women of Greenpeace, the legendary eco-activist organization. Hettie Geenan is first mate on the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior. Leila Deen leads the campaign against fracking. And Laila Williams connects Greenpeace with indigenous communities, women’s groups and people of color. Happy International Women’s Day March 8th!

Featuring:

Leila Deen, Greepeace Senior Campaigner
Hettie Geenen, First Mate on the Rainbow Warrior
Laila Wiiams, Ruckus Society program associate

On this edition of Making Contact we’ll explore how the privatization of public education is playing out across the country and how students and teachers are fighting back. We’ll start in Philadelphia and see how students are faring after 23 schools were shut down and 3,700 teachers, counselors and administrative staff were laid off. We’ll learn about Teach for America and how sending thousands of young, intelligent, idealistic teachers into classrooms may be doing more harm than good. Then we’ll go to California, where community colleges are under threat.

Featuring:

Nuwar Ahmed, Philadelphia Student Union member
Joanne Tien, Teach for America alum
Su Jin Jez, assistant professor at California State University in Sacramento
Justin Fong, Teach For America’s Vice President of Internal Communications
Kerry Kretchmar, Caroll University professor
Wendy Kaufmyn, teacher at City College of San Francisco and Save CCSF Coalition member
Leslie Simon, teacher at City College of San Francisco and member of Save CCSF Coalition member
Itzel Calvo, former student of City College of San Francisco and member of Save CCSF Coalition
Ron Galatolo, chancellor at San Mateo Community College District

From farm to fork, few things matter more than the food we eat. We all want the freedom and opportunity to choose what ends up on our plate- but when a handful of companies control most of the brands you see at the grocery store- what choices are really left?

On this edition Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch, author of Foodopoly, and one of the nation’s leading healthy food advocates, says it’s time to turn the tables on big agribusiness.

Learn more on the Making Contact website.

How do we talk about race and racism in this country?Not as deeply as we should, according to filmmaker and educator Dr. Shakti Butler.

On this edition, we hear excerpts from Dr. Butler’s film “Cracking the Codes”, and speak with her about using the medium of film to start conversations around the thorny issues of racial inequity.

Featuring:

Dr. Shakti Butler, World Trust founder and Creative Director
Humaira Jackson, Hugh Vasquez, Y. Jelal Huyler, Aeeshah B. Clottey, Ise Lyfe, Cracking the Codes interview subjects.

Thank you to production intern Lisa Barfai and to World Trust Educational Services.

They may not have made it to the Superbowl- but the “Washington Football team” has gotten a lot of attention this season- not so much for their performance on the field, but rather their refusal to change the name of their team.From FedEx Field to High School Football teams, pressure is increasing on teams to stop using American Indian names and mascots. The battle is playing out in stadiums, court rooms, and in the media. And some of America’s best known sports brands may be forced to change.

Featuring:

Gregg Deal, member of Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, artist, activist
Suzan ShownHarjo, Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee advocate for American Indian rights
Fili Sagapolutele, congressional aide
David Grosso, DC councilmember
Sadie Makarechi Jerry Neuwirth, Michael Wright,Washington football fans
Robert Jordan, President and CEO Justin Siena High School
Dawson Del Dotto, Paul Brown, Sam Hoff, Lupe Padilla-Aguayo, current and former Justin Siena students
Scott Gabaldon, Tribal Chair Mishewal Wappo Tribe

Find our more at Making Contact

Drone attacks on American citizens. Black sites around the globe where prisoners are tortured. And the prison at Guantanamo is still in operation. As we enter the 6th year of Barack Obamas presidency, his foreign policy legacy is becoming more clear. Independent journalist Jeremy Scahill investigated Obama’s “Dirty Wars” and says the President has put Americans in more danger through actions that fuel hatred and extremism.

This speech was excerpted from a presentation by the Lannan Foundation.

The cost of American democracy is the most expensive in the world. In the 2012 elections billions of dollars were spent on political campaigns. But there’s a growing consensus that big business and wealthy individuals are buying power. Authors John Nichols and Robert McChesney have a name for the state we’re in: Dollarocracy.

Thanks to Pirate TV for use of their recording

What are the roots of the historic mistrust between people of color, especially African Americans, and the police? And how does 911 really work? Is slow response time just perception, or reality?

During the 2nd half of our 2-part special—The Race to An Emergency, we follow the path of a 911 call, and along the way, encounter decades of mistrust that fuel a lack of confidence in the system.

Special thanks to KALW Radio.

When you call 911, who answers the phone? How do they decide who to send to the scene, and how fast will they get there? Many people of color believe the emergency response system is prejudiced. But is that really the case?

We bring you a 2 part special "The Race to An Emergency, produced by KALW radio in San Francisco. We follow the path of a 911 call, and along the way, encounter decades of mistrust that fuel a lack of confidence in the system.

Featuring:

Lesley Phillips, Sharena Thomas, Peoples Community Medics co-founders
Nikki Anjenique; Sharena Thomas daughter;
Rick Rocha, California Highway Patrol dispatcher;
Olivia Moy, Wolleen Jones, Oakland police Department dispatchers;
Terry Woodard, Oakland Fire Department Communications dispatcher;
Jason Murphy, Paramedics Plus dispatcher;
Tracy Chin, Rob Thrower, Oakland Fire Fighters;
Brian Murphy, Oakland Police Officer;
Regina Harris Gilliard, Johnna Watson Oakland Police Department spokespeople;
Benjamin Bowser, Cal State East Bay Sociology Professor

Special thanks to KALW Radio.

We bring you up to date on our most compelling and resonating stories of 2013. From pregnant women in prison who ve been mistreated; to the tomato fields of Florida, where the power of community radio helps workers take action; then out west, to a national forest in California, where wildfires are raising questions about fire management techniques. We ll also get updates on where those stories stand now.

Over 2 million Syrians have been displaced by that country’s ongoing civil war. Neighboring countries are overwhelmed with refugees. So where else to turn? Heading to more affluent nations isn’t so easy. On this edition, we meet refugees who’ve fled Syria to Turkey, Sweden, and Thailand. They’re trying to navigate a fragmented global refugee policy, in a time of extreme need.

Special thanks to our freelance reporters Dalia Mortada, Christopher Holmback, Julia Lundberg, Simba Russeau.

Featuring:

Ahmad Dabbagh, Ayham Al Fares, Sania, Kais Badro, Syria refugees,
Abu Sarah, Hassan Mohammad, Palestinian refugees from Syria.
Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International Turkey researcher.
Sanna Vestin, Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups chairman.
Gregor Noll, Lund University professor of international law.
Anoop Sukumaran, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network coordinator.
Patra Jirawisan, Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation Policy & Research Officer.
Mother Agnes Mariam, Mother Superior of St. James the Mangled Monastery in Qara, Syria.
Host/Producer: Andrew Stelzer
Producers: Nancy Lopez, Andrew Stelzer, George Lavender
Contributing Producers: Dalia Mortada, Christopher Holmback, Julia Lundberg, Simba Russeau

What does it mean to be an ally in a political movement? From white Americans in the civil rights era, to Israelis in Palestine, to Latino-Americans working with the undocumented…how does one work to support another’s struggle? On this edition, from Mississippi to Zimbabwe, a roundtable discussion on the do’s and don’ts of how to be an effective ally.

Featuring:

Darria Hudson, racial justice activist and divinity student; Rumbidzai Dube, Zimbabwean human rights lawyer; Leehee Rothschild, Israeli activist and blogger; Ingrid Cruz, immigrants rights activist; Mary King, former member of SNCC and Peace University Professor

This conversation was recorded at the 2013 Narco News School of Authentic Journalism.

Years of campaigning for basic human rights for people caught up in America's criminal justice system may finally be paying off. 2013 saw significant changes from sentencing reform, to drug policy, to how people are treated behind bars. On this edition, we look at year victories in the struggle to bring humanity to the world’s largest prison industrial complex. Are these changes really a sign of progress? Or will the ‘tough on crime’ crowd rise once again for another crackdown?

Native American women experience the highest rates of violence of any other group in the United States. One in three native women have been victims of sexual assault and the murder rate of indigenous women is consistently higher than the national average. On this edition, Andrea Smith, author of “Conquest: Sexual Violence and Native American Genocide” explains the connection between violence against women, and the colonization of native lands and bodies.

Andrea Smith's presentation includes descriptions of racial and sexual violence, so please be forewarned.

While countries like Japan, Italy and Germany begin to phase out their use of nuclear energy, the US aims to build the first new nuclear power plant in nearly thirty years. We hear excerpts from the film The Atomic States of America , which chronicles the rise of nuclear energy, the high price some communities have paid for it, and how the U.S. is pushing to redefine nuclear as green to meet our energy demand.

Special thanks to Specialty Studios.

Featuring:

Kelly McMasters , author of Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town; David Lochbaum , nuclear engineer and senior member of Union of Concerned Scientists; Arnie Gunderson , nuclear engineer and former senior vice president of Nuclear Energy Services; Christine Todd Whitman , co-chair of CASEnergy Coalition, former New Jersey governor and administrator for the U.S Environmental Protection Agency; Eric Epstein , chair of Three Mile Island Alert; Neil Sheehan , spokesperson for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Paul Cataldo , NRC resident inspector for Indian Point Unit 3; Michelle Catts , NRC resident inspector for Indian Point Unit 2; Dr. Helen Caldicott , co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility; Randy and Lauren Snell ; Alec Baldwin, actor.

Spoken word. Its poetry…its hip-hop…and it’s increasingly, the chosen means of expression for today’s youth. On this edition we bring you the poets and students of Youth Speaks, from their annual event in honor of another master orator, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..

Special thanks to Youth Speaks.

Featuring:
James Kass, Youth Speaks founder & executive director; Talia Young, Dante Clark, Gretchen Carvahol, Prentice Powell, Justin Jodiatis, spoken word artists.

Americans eat out more than any other people. But the workers who put food on our restaurant tables are struggling to feed themselves and their families. On this edition, Saru Jayaraman, co-director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and author of "Behind the Kitchen Door" makes the case for bringing justice to restaurants and how ordinary diners can help.

Our world is generating more and more nuclear waste, but have no permanent place to dispose of it. But the nation of Finland has a plan. They're building an underground cave, to hold thousands of tones of nuclear waste, for at least 100 thousand years. On this edition, we hear excerpts of the film, “Into Eternity”, which explores the logistical and philosophical quandries around the construction of something that if it works, might very well outlast the entire human race.

Special thanks to Specialty Studios

We bring you voices from Pakistan of families destroyed by drone strikes. And, we hear from Medea Benjamin and other activists working to build a global movement against this controversial military technology, which accelerated after 9/11.

Some call it “Paradise”, but Hawaii isn’t just a tourist getaway. Look beyond the resorts, and you’ll find a history of opposition to US occupation. From sacred sites, to indigenous language, Hawaiians are fighting hard to protect their traditions, and their future. On this edition we hear excerpts from the 2012 film by Catherine Bauknight “Hawaii: A Voice for Sovereignty,” which explores the history of Hawaii - from the beginning of the US occupation up to statehood and the present day.

It’s not just about Roe v Wade and the Supreme Court. Local institutions can create restrictions that prevent women from exercising reproductive health choices, even with the law on their side. From Albuquerque to Portland to New York City, obstacles are surfacing in pharmacies, state legislatures, city councils and even medical schools.

Renowned biologist Sandra Steingraber has made fighting environmentally induced cancers her lifes work. Steingraber’s book, Living Downstream, has been turned into a movie chronicling a year in her life trying to create a world free of cancer causing toxics. On this edition, we hear excerpts of the documentary film, Living Downstream. Special thanks to The People’s Picture Company for allowing us to excerpt the film ‘Living Downstream’.

We profile women of La Via Campesina, the global peasant movement celebrating 20 years of grassroots activism, for sustainable farming, land rights and social justice. Canadian Nettie Wiebe fights to keep seeds in the hands of small farmers. From the US, Dina Hoff takes on climate change and trade agreements. Elizabeth Mpufo of Zimbabwe raises issues facing women. And Japan’s Ayumi Kinezuka shares the effects of the Fukishima nuclear disaster on her organic farm. This show was produced by the Women Rising Radio Project.

At overcrowded and underfunded public schools across the country high suspension rates are exacerbating existing achievement gaps. Often, chaos in the classroom is to blame, keeping students from concentrating on their classes. On this edition we’ll hear excerpts from Russell Long’s film “Room to Breathe” which takes us to a middle school in San Francisco, California, that began teaching mindfulness in the hopes of giving students the skills they need to focus on learning.

Before 2001, there was another 9/11. In 1973, a military coup backed by the United States, overthrew the Chilean government and ushered in seventeen years of brutal dictatorship. In the first of a two part series; we hear stories of the Chilean 9/11.That day marked the end of one of Latin America’s longest democratic traditions, and brought on almost two decades of murder, disappearances, repression, and fear. This program was produced by the Freedom Archives

Before 2001, there was another 9/11. In 1973, a military coup backed by the United States, overthrew the Chilean government and ushered in seventeen years of brutal dictatorship. In the first of a two part series; we hear stories of the Chilean 9/11.That day marked the end of one of Latin America’s longest democratic traditions, and brought on almost two decades of murder, disappearances, repression, and fear. This program was produced by the Freedom Archives

Have you ever wanted to run your own radio station? This October the FCC is opening a window in which anyone can apply for to create their own low-power FM radio station. It could result in thousands of new radio stations. We visit current LPFM stations, and find out how you can get involved.

50 years after the March on Washington, historians are still defining the legacy of the civil rights movement, and of Dr. Martin Luther King. Syndicated columnist Reverend Byron Williams makes the case that 1963 was the pivotal year for American culture, but has been overlooked… until now. On this edition, Williams speaks about his book, 1963: The Year of Hope & Hostility.

The struggles of undocumented youth in the US often fly under the radar of the mainstream media. But with the tools of creative expression and the power of social media, a new generation of young immigrants is making sure their voices are heard. From musical theater to political posters to videos on the web, young undocumented artists speak their truth.

Combat, chemicals, and corporations; a special program in honor of Agent Orange Day. We’ll look at the multigenerational legacy of Agent Orange -- a toxic defoliant used by the United States military in the jungles of Vietnam.

Unions are getting weaker and the general public no longer understands or supports organized labor says organizer and author Bill Fletcher Jr.. Progressive Radio’s Matthew Rothschild interviews Fletcher about why working Americans and unions have lost touch with one another, and what might be done to turn that around.

At the mall, online, and even within the US military. Interactive, realistic, pro-war video games have become part of American culture. But anti-war protestors have found a way inside those games too. And artists are finding ways to turn the virtual world, into a place where the military hero narrative can be questioned. On this edition, We hear excerpts from the movie Returning Fire: Interventions in Video Game Culture, written and directed by Roger Stahl.

After serving time, finding food, a job and a place to live with a criminal record can become an almost impossible task. On this edition, women building their own support network after being released from prison. We’ll hear "A New Way of Life and the New Underground Railroad," a documentary by Chris Moore-Backman.

Tens of thousands are in solitary confinement in American prisons which according to the United Nations is torture. Claire Schoen met nine former prisoners.

Its not just jobs and prosperity that draw immigrants to the United States. Many Latin Americans were brought here, or forced to come by dangerous or deadly conditions-which the US often helped create.On this edition, part two of “Harvest of Empire” a documentary film written and narrated by Democracy Now’s Juan Gonzalez. Today, in excerpts from the film, Gonzalez traces the history of Nicaraguan and Salvadoran migration to the United States.

Its not just jobs and prosperity that draw immigrants to the United States. Many Latin American’s were brought here, or forced to come by dangerous or deadly conditions. And the US often had a role in creating those crises. Over the next 2 weeks, we’ll hear “Harvest of Empire” a documentary film written and narrated by Democracy Now’s Juan Gonzalez. Today, in part one, Gonzalez traces the history of Guatemalan, Dominican, and Mexican migration to the United States.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors are much more likely than their straight counterparts to be alone and isolated as they age. Housing and support for these elders is a growing need--and the issue is not confined to the United States. On this edition, we’ll visit Jakarta Indonesia, and Los Angeles, California, to hear stories of building housing and community for LGBTQ seniors.

Fathers…and mothers…on fatherhood and how it’s changing. Traditional ideas about what a dad is supposed to be are slowly disappearing, but what will take their place?

In the winter of 2012, flash mob round dances, demonstrations, hunger strikes, and blockades swept Canada. What began as a protest against new laws seen as curtailing environmental protections and infringing indigenous sovereignty, quickly grew into a movement for indigenous rights and environmental justice. On this edition, Sylvia McAdam, one of the founders of Idle No More, tells the story of the movement.

What’s the connection between the increase in chronic diseases, mental illness and drug addiction in our society today? On this edition, Dr. Gabor Mate talks about the relationship between mind and body health – and what the rise of capitalism has done to destroy both.

What does it mean to be an ally in a political movement? From white Americans in the civil rights era, to Israelis in Palestine, to Latino-Americans working with the undocumented…a roundtable discussion on the do’s and don’ts of how to be an effective ally.

How do we talk about race and racism in this country? Not as deeply as we should, according to filmmaker and educator Dr. Shakti Butler. On this edition, we hear excerpts from Dr. Butler’s film “Cracking the Codes”, and speak with her about using the medium of film to start conversations around the thorny issues of racial inequity.

As Burma transitions from dictatorship to democracy, hundreds of political prisoners have been freed after decades behind bars. On this edition, we hear from some of these freed political prisoners as they struggle to rebuild their lives, and test the emerging democracy.

After the Boston Marathon bombing, journalists scrambled to identify those responsible for the attack, and their motive. Rolling news and online message boards were filled with speculation, many pointing the finger at Muslims and Arabs. Does the media reinforce anti-Arab and anti-Muslim stereotypes?

The struggles of undocumented youth in the US often fly under the radar of the mainstream media. But with the tools of creative expression and the power of social media, a new generation of young immigrants is making sure their voices are heard. From musical theater to political posters to videos on the web, young undocumented artists speak their truth.

Special thanks to the Left Tilt Fund and the Berwick-Degel Family Foundation.

Renowned Indian author Arundhati Roy says her country’s government has declared war on its own people. Her outspokenness earned her an invitation to spend time with Maoist rebels. On this edition, Arundhati Roy takes us into the jungles of India, as she reads excerpts from her new book ‘Walking with the Comrades’.

Special thanks to the Center for Place Culture and Politics at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center.

The growth of the ex-gay movement in the last two decades gave rise to hundreds of therapy programs aiming to change people’s sexual orientation. Many were explicitly religious, and claimed to be able to “pray away the gay”. But there’s a growing movement, led by survivors of ex-gay therapy, to disprove and ban these harmful practices for good. On this edition, stories of recovery from conversion therapy, and becoming ex- ex-gay.

Imagine paying almost nothing in taxes—sounds great doesn’t it? Some of America’s biggest companies are doing just that and making millions or even billions in profits, thanks to loopholes and political influence… On this edition, why does big business pay lower tax rates than the rest of us? And how activists have brought the issue into the spotlight.

When city budgets are cut, public transportation is often on the chopping block. And routes and lines serving those who need the service most, can be the first to go. But from New York to Argentina, an emerging ‘transportation justice’ movement is standing up for people’s right to ride.

Pregnant women in America’s prisons are being shackled to their beds; others are being sterilized. Correctional institutions claim the policies are for safety’s sake, but thousands of incarcerated people are fighting for control of their own reproductive health.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq defined a generation; the world’s largest anti-war protest was followed by the 3rd longest war in US history. Ten years later, American troops have officially left Iraq, but the occupation and its effects continue. On this edition, we look back at the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For Iraqis, for the US military, and for the anti-war movement; how have things changed? And what, if anything, has the world learned?

With nuclear power back on the agenda, three prominent female activists tell their stories: Kaori Izumi was part of the grassroots campaign to shutdown Japan’s nuclear power plants, after the Fukushima disaster. Winona LaDuke, has spent much of her life working to oppose uranium mining on indigenous land. And Alice Slater is part of a global initiative to ban nuclear weapons. On this edition, is the anti-nuclear movement on the rise? This is a special collaboration with Lynn Feinerman and Crown Sephira Productions.

Inspired by the campaign to end South African apartheid, Palestinians are leading an international campaign to put economic and political pressure on Israel by boycotting Israeli products, divesting from Israeli companies and pushing for international sanctions on Israel. On this edition, Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti explains his people’s resistance, and the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

Author, radio host, and scientist David Suzuki has spent a lifetime working to protect the environment. But a generation later, he says activists like him have failed to shift the paradigm; more is needed to protect
the health of our species and our planet. On this edition, David Suzuki says we need to stop fighting, and use the laws of nature as a starting point for moving forward.

Richmond, California is one of the lowest-income communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s also one of the most toxic. On this edition, we’ll hear how community activists in this heavily polluted area are coming together to fight for environmental justice.

African-Americans have endured one of the most painful eras of American history – an era that has been normalized and justified not only by institutions that have been complicit with slavery but also by African-Americans themselves. Dr. Joy DeGruy is the author of “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing”, she argues that African-Americans suffer from a deep psychological trauma that has been passed on through generations.

Artists and creative people have always used culture as a tool for social change. On this edition, excerpts from a panel on racial justice, culture and politics featuring some of today’s most insightful and outspoken artists.
Special thanks to Applied Research Center, Colorlines and the Facing Race Conference 2012

As we look for a solution to global energy problems and a way out of the limate crisis- some are turning to dams and hydroelectric power as a source of “green” energy. But at what cost? Massive dams are being built and considered all over the world, despite mounting concern over their economic, environmental and human impacts. On this edition, we’ll take a closer look at the damage caused by hydropower projects, and we’ll visit a community trying to keep their culture and homeland free from the destructive influence of river dams.

More than two decades after the fall of the Berlin wall, what have we learned about barriers that separate people? In dozens of countries around the world, millions of people live beside border walls. These heavily militarized and closely watched areas can be dangerous places to be. On this edition, from Palestinian farmers struggling to make a living next to the Israeli wall, to shootings at the fence that divides the US and Mexico. Living in the shadow of the wall…

Corporations have the same rights as people. But do our communities and natural ecosystems have any rights? How about our bodies, cells and genetic material? Thomas Linzey and Katherine Davies argue that in order to defend our bodies and our environment, they must be given rights under the law.

Alixa and Naima are two poets who together make up Climbing PoeTree, an award winning performance duo. Mixing poetry and politics they seek to use their words to educate and inspire. On this edition, we hear performances by Climbing PoeTree and hear how their performances have evolved over the years.

As 2013 approaches, we look at some of the important issues we’ve covered in 2012: from domestic workers struggling for respect, to the consequences of climate change, todrone warfare. We’ll listen back to some highlights from those programs, and get updates on where those stories stand now.

Reporter Nancy Mullane speaks to some of those on California’s death row and we hear from two opponents of the death penalty about where the movement to end executions goes next.

Michelle Alexander has struck a chord in so-called ‘post racial’ America. The Ohio State University law professor makes the case that the United States’ current criminal justice system policies can be traced directly back to slavery. Those targeted now, as they were then, are African Americans. On this edition, Michelle Alexander talks about her book, ‘The New Jim Crow. Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness’.

Around the world communities are already facing the impacts of climate change. Now international organizations, like the World Bank, are pushing a policy that asks polluters to offset their pollution by paying governments to protect forests. But is it working?

On this edition, we take a closer look at this policy and ask, is it a plan to save the planet, or just sell it off? We'll hear extracts from the Global Justice Ecology Project and the Global Forest Coalition's “A Darker Shade of Green: REDD Alert and the Future of Forests” produced by Jeff Conant and narrated by Dania Cabello.

At overcrowded and underfunded public schools across the country high suspension rates are exacerbating existing achievement gaps. Often, chaos in the classroom is to blame, keeping students from concentrating on their classes. On this edition we’ll hear excerpts from Russell Long’s film “Room to Breathe” which takes us to a middle school in San Francisco, California, that began teaching mindfulness in the hopes of giving students the skills they need to focus on learning.

For centuries, the Taos Pueblo people in New Mexico lived entirely off their land. Sustainable agriculture was a way of life, but U.S. federal policies helped put an end to that. Food wasn’t grown at the pueblos; it was trucked in. Traditional farming gave way to government subsidies and obesity rates soared. But recently, a surprising agricultural renaissance has taken root across the pueblos. On this edition, Making Contact’s Rita Daniels takes us to the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico to share a story of rebirth and renewal.

With nuclear power back on the agenda, three prominent female activists tell their stories: Kaori Izumi was part of the grassroots campaign to shutdown Japan’s nuclear power plants, after the Fukushima disaster. Winona LaDuke, has spent much of her life working to oppose uranium mining on indigenous land. And Alice Slater is part of a global initiative to ban nuclear weapons. On this edition, is the anti-nuclear movement on the rise? This is a special collaboration with Lynn Feinerman and Crown Sephira Productions.

Yale University Law & Political Science Professor Akhil Reed Amar says the Electoral College discourages voting, lessens the power of the states, and could work to the disadvantage of either major political party. Professor Amar speaks with Angela McKenzie of Initiative Radio about how the US constitution can be changed to create a more fair and just society

Around the world, students have been taking to the streets. They’re opposed to rising tuition fees and cuts to education. On this edition, we’ll hear how students in Quebec helped bring down the government and why Chilean students are back out on the streets again. We’ll also speak to an activist in Puerto Rico who says she’s had enough of US-style higher education.

It took 40 years to build ACORN, but just a few months to bring it down. Local organizers are trying to rebuild, but how is ACORN’s absence affecting elections, poverty, and the continuing housing crisis?

Under President Obama more than 1 million people have been deported from the United States. Immigration officials claim that many of those being deported are criminals. On this edition, producer Cory Fischer-Hoffman investigates the connection between immigration and the criminal justice system and the impact this burgeoning relationship is having on immigrants.

Hugh Sinclair, the author of Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic, in conversation with KALW radio host Rose Aguilar. Sinclair tells the story of how he learned the dirty truths behind the banking sector that’s creeping across the "developing" world.

COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be “subversive,” targeted many movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S.. Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operations. This week, the second part of the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101,” produced by the Freedom Archives.

COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be “subversive,” targeted many movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S.. Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operations. This week, the first part of the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101,” produced by the Freedom Archives.

Every summer, wildfires torch thousands of acres of land. The National Forest Service rushes to the rescue; to save lives, homes, and communities. But is the agency’s approach to fire doing more harm than good? Producer George Lavender takes a closer look at the “War on Fire.”

The global economic situation is causing more people to consider worker owned businesses. We go from Chicago, where workers are trying to take over the factory to save their jobs, to the Basque country in Spain, where an entire region has formed a massive co-operative society.

It began with an on-air rant by CNBC commentator Rick Santelli. It became a major political movement, with elected representatives on Capitol Hill. The Tea Party has come a long way, but who’s really behind it? On this edition: how some of America’s largest corporations are using grassroots movements to influence law makers. We hear excerpts from the documentary "The Billionaires’ Tea Party" and learn more about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

We bring you voices from Pakistan of families destroyed by drone strikes. And, we hear from Medea Benjamin and other activists working to build a global movement against this controversial military technology.

African-Americans are helping to lead the environmental movement. We take you to a resettlement community in North Carolina, sustainable farms in Wisconsin and a local bike ride in California, where local black leaders are changing the color of environmentalism.

Interactive, realistic, pro-war video games have become part of American culture. But protestors and artists are finding ways to turn the virtual world into a place where the military hero narrative can be questioned. On this edition, we hear excerpts from the movie Returning Fire: Interventions in Video Game Culture, written and directed by Roger Stahl.

Police officers and prison guards hold tremendous political sway. Their unions support or opposition can make or break a campaign for office. And their advocacy for better pay, more power, and more jobs has been a major factor in the expansion of the prison industrial complex. For decades, they’ve helped build America’s build America’s criminal justice system. Now that system is changing. Can law enforcement unions change as well?

The US dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Three days later, Nagasaki also fell victim. On this edition, we commemorate the anniversary of the bombings with excerpts from two documentaries, Hiroshima Countdown and Nagasaki Journey.

Reese Erlich brings us a special report from Libya on the chaos that remains in the wake of the overthrow of hated dictator Muammar Gaddafi. While the west proclaimed a great victory for so-called “humanitarian military intervention,” armed militias once allied with the US and NATO now attack government offices and engage in extortion rackets.

The Olympic Games have grown into a multibillion dollar industry. But with that growth comes concerns about the negative effects of the event on the people and places where the Games take place. We ask who wins, and who loses, when the Olympics come to town? We take you to Vancouver, London, and Denver -- the only city to ever turn down the Olympics.

It’s not even the crime that counts sometimes. It’s that little box on an application that asks you to reveal if you have a criminal history. Checking that box can mean the difference between failure and success. We look at the nationwide movement to ‘ban-the-box’, and make criminal histories less of a stigma.

Renowned anti-racist author Tim Wise examines how society is being divided and conquered on the basis of race and class. But legendary activist Angela Davis says we must not give up hope. On this edition, we hear Davis and Wise discuss privatization, the economy, and other critical issues of our times – moderated by journalist Rose Aguilar.

The United States imprisons more people than any other country. In California a new policy called ‘realignment’ aims to reduce the number of people in state prison. Could the incarceration nation finally be slowing down?

Shrinking the world’s population is one way to curb global warming, according to some environmentalists. To make that happen, women need more control of their own fertility. But those perspectives are controversial. Can a movement for ‘population justice’ save our planet while respecting women’s rights?

Renowned Indian author Arundhati Roy takes us deep into the revolutionary-filled jungles of India, as she reads excerpts from her new book Walking with the Comrades.

Barack Obama’s first term has been a disappointment for many, and leaves open the question for those with a progressive agenda—is voting for Obama in 2012 the best route to take? We hear excerpts of a panel discussion titled “The 2012 Elections: Lesser Evil or Left Alternative?”

On the second anniversary of the 2010 uprisings, this special documentary looks at police violence in Jamaica. In May 2010 a government crackdown left 73 people dead and a city in chaos. Their families continue to fight for justice and accountability, despite Jamaica’s long record of police violence and government corruption.

The endless search for fossil fuels is polluting our waterways, and our water supplies. The fight to protect clean drinking water is motivating Americans to take action. But with regulatory agencies in the pocket of industrial polluters, will it be enough and will it be too late?

Farmer Steve Mello has put down roots in “The Delta” in central California. But climate change is threatening the levees which protect Delta farms. Can we defend our farms from the impacts coming with climate change?

On this edition, political science professor David Shirk sheds light on the history and politics of the war on drugs in Mexico. And, an emerging movement in Mexico points to how both Mexicans and Americans can play a role in creating change.

After Apartheid, after genocide and after civil wars—how do nations, or people who’ve been pitted against each other, resolve their differences and live together in peace? We host a round table discussion on reconciliation with community organizers from Serbia, South Africa, Azerbaijan, and Sudan.

It’s been 20 years since four white police officers were cleared of unlawfully beating Rodney King in Los Angeles. But we might never have heard of Rodney King had it not been for an amateur cameraman who caught the whole thing on tape. On this edition, we hear how video cameras have changed the way we see the police.

Spoken word. It’s poetry…it’s hip-hop…and increasingly, it’s the chosen means of expression for today’s youth. On this edition, to celebrate National Poetry month, we bring you performances by the poets and students of Youth Speaks, from their annual event in honor of another master orator, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

With the passage of New York’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2010, workers are now organizing in California and other states to win basic rights and protections long denied to this labor force. On this edition, we look at past and present struggles of domestic workers.

Honey bees help pollinate 1 in every 3 bites we eat. But they’re fighting to survive, in a world filled with pesticides and parasites. We’ll learn about colony collapse disorder and hear from beekeepers, researchers, and gardeners who are trying to protect the honey bee.

We’ve all seen how high water devastated New Orleans. But another historic Jewel, Venice, Italy, is struggling to plan for sea level rise. On this edition, Producer Zoe Sullivan takes us to both Venice and New Orleans, to look at some creative solutions they’re trying, and what other coastal cities might do as the effects of climate change set in.

Author Glenn Greenwald talks about his book, ‘With Liberty and Justice for Some.’ Americans claim to live under the rule of law; that no one is above our system of justice. But as we witness more exceptions to that rule, there are growing doubts that fairness is a value we as a nation, still hold dear.

It’s not even the crime that counts sometimes. It’s that little box on an application that asks you to reveal if you have a criminal history. Checking that box can mean the difference between failure and success. We look at the nationwide movement to ‘ban-the-box’, and make criminal histories less of a stigma.

A look at pregnancy, and motherhood, inside US jails and prisons. What does the huge number of incarcerated women in prison foretell for the next generation of America’s kids?

40 years after the Clean Water Act became law, the landscape of our water supply has been transformed, and regulation is being framed by some as an enemy of progress. On this edition, we look at how we manage our water in the twenty-first century. Are we doing too little, or are we trying to control too much?

What’s the connection between the increase in chronic diseases, mental illness and drug addiction in our society today? On this edition, Dr. Gabor Mate talks about the relationship between mind and body health – and what the rise of capitalism has done to destroy both.

Occupy Wall Street has changed the conversation about the distribution of wealth. So what now? What policy changes and initiatives should the movement be pushing for? Economics Professor Richard Wolff has some answers.

Reproductive health services for women are under attack, leaving poor women and women of color lacking access. But a broad coalition of women is striking back, changing the conversation on abortion and race.

As the U.S. prepares for another presidential election, journalist Tariq Ali says the ‘choices’ don’t present much in the way of options. On this edition, Ali speaks about the growth of the ‘extreme center’ and how Occupy and other emerging social movements are challenging the status quo.

There’s a raging debate within the Occupy movement over what tactics should be used. On this edition, a debate from Oakland, California between practitioners of non-violence, versus those who believe a diversity of tactics is what Occupy needs to move forward.

As the popular uprising against the Syrian government continues, reporter Reese Erlich is one of the few foreign reporters who got into Syria to interview opposition demonstrators, government officials and impassioned supporters of President Bashar al Assad. On this edition, Erlich takes us inside the Syrian uprising.

A dialogue between Princeton University professor Cornel West, and Revolutionary Communist Party USA spokesman Carl Dix about the future of America’s youth in the age of Obama.

A look back at some of the most important issues of 2011: Attacks on organized labor, the Egyptian revolution, and the struggle to address climate change. We’ll hear highlights from some of our best programs of the year, and get updates on where those stories stand now.

On this edition, author and political science professor Melissa Harris-Perry speaks about the stereotypes black women face, its impacts on their identity and how it has limited the ways in which society views them as true “citizens.”

Gang injunctions are a controversial crime fighting tool that some people say should be illegal, and others say is a necessary last resort for communities plagued by violence.On this edition, we go from the birthplace of gang injunctions in L.A., to their newest use in London.

We take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure in nail salons, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

As the Occupy movement continues to grow participants, activists and community organizers are grappling with how to ensure that Occupy develops beyond tents and into long-term systemic change.

He went from illiterate street kid, to world renowned poet. But it was in prison that Jimmy Santiago Baca connected with his Native American and Chicano heritage, and began learning the lessons of his people’s past.On this edition, Progressive Magazine editor Matthew Rothschild sits down with Jimmy Santiago Baca.

On this edition, we bring you the voices of Veterans from Occupy Wall Street and a special report on veterans returning home from war and the struggles they endure from inadequate healthcare to the inability in finding employment.

Reproductive health services for women are under attack, leaving poor women and women of color lacking access. But a broad coalition of women is striking back, changing the conversation on abortion and race.

WARNING: This program contains graphic language.

The people of the U.S. have seemingly awakened, and are out in the streets, demanding changes to a system in which money controls politics. On this edition, corporations, elections and the 99%. In a post-citizens united world, is it too late to reclaim our democracy?

Riots all over the world are calling on us to get involved in societal change. But what kind of action is needed, and how do we create real change? We feature a round-table discussion that explores political action, strategies, and leadership.

In 2011, why are there fewer than 20 female heads of state around the world? A former President, a Supreme Court justice and other women leaders reflect on the battles they’ve won on the way to the top of their fields, and just how far there still is to go.

Two generations of veterans cope with PTSD—looking to heal themselves and the world. Featuring S. Brian Willson, author of Blood on the Tracks.

A new generation is telling their stories of overthrowing corrupt regimes. And in the digital age, their lessons can spread more quickly than ever before. We’ll hear from Egyptian, Serbian, and Azerbaijani activists, about their work to topple undemocratic rulers.

Honey bees help pollinate 1 in every 3 bites we eat. But they’re fighting to survive, in a world filled with pesticides and parasites. We’ll learn about colony collapse disorder and hear from beekeepers, researchers, and gardeners who are trying to protect the honey bee.

Was mainstream media in cahoots with government forces in the lead up to the Iraq War? In his film, “The War You Don’t See,” Australian journalist John Pilger reveals how American and British journalists contributed to the drumbeat of war and how they could have prevented the invasion of Iraq.

American Arabs and Muslims are under the microscope, and many feel demonized and say they are living in fear of arrest. On this edition, we'll hear stories about the past 10 years of anti-Arab profiling and prosecution. We also look at parallels with the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship is gone, but a military council now rules Egypt, and has kept much of Mubarak’s repressive apparatus. Meanwhile extremist Islamist groups want to adopt undemocratic, right-wing policies. Producer Reese Erlich goes to Cairo to ask: “Who Won the Egyptian Revolution?”

Journalist Christian Parenti speaks about his new book, Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. He connects the effects of climate change to the increasing number of civil wars, ethnic violence, criminality and failed states in Kenya, Brazil and India, among others.

The American consensus on Israel and Palestine is breaking down. And Jewish Americans are playing a major role. But it’s not easy. On this edition, a Jewish American community divided. More and more members of the tribe are breaking a long-standing taboo, and voicing criticism of the Israel government.

African-Americans are helping to lead the environmental movement. We take you to a resettlement community in North Carolina, sustainable farms in Wisconsin and a local bike ride in California, where local black leaders are changing the color of environmentalism.

Art and music have long contributed to society and our way of life. But in these dire financial times, it’s not always a priority in our schools. On this edition, we bring you the voices of artists speaking on the importance of arts, music and
politics.

Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States, or the last gasp for unionized workers, as they face continual erosion of their rights? This week, we hear Part 2 of a retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.

Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States, or the last gasp for unionized workers, as they face continual erosion of their rights? This week, we hear Part 1 of a retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.

As part of our “Women Rising” series, we profile a dynamic partnership between the Women’s Earth Alliance and the Global Women’s Water Initiative: working on women’s rights to water, land, farming and basic human dignity.

Global warming is no longer a fear for the future. It’s threatening human civilization, now. Part 2 of a special 2 part series produced by Brian Edwards Tiekert…on climate change that is happening, the political response that isn't, and the people trying to break the gridlock.

Global warming is no longer a fear for the future. It’s threatening human civilization, now. Part 1 of a special 2 part series produced by Brian Edwards Tiekert…on climate change that is happening, the political response that isn't, and the people trying to break the gridlock.

In the past decade, more and more political marching bands have been invigorating social movements. In some cases, they're the protest themselves. On this edition, we look at how musicians are stirring up public spaces; from the streets, to supermarkets to your Facebook feed.

Despite President Obama’s promise to change America’s broken immigration system, the dehumanization and detention of immigrants continues to rise. On this edition, Mexican-American journalist Maria Hinojosa speaks about the United States’ loss of humanity’ in dealing with immigrants and immigration.

Renowned author Chris Hedges paints a bleak picture of our world today, in rapid economic, environmental, and religious decline-but we still have a chance to turn things around. On this edition, Hedges speaks about his new book, The World as it is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress.

Jamaica has a long history of police violence and corruption. In May 2010 a government crackdown left 73 people dead and a city in chaos. The majority of those victims are presumed innocent and their loved ones continue to seek justice.

CointelPro, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be “subversive.”, targeted many African American, Native American, and other movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S. Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operations. Over the next two weeks, we’ll broadcast the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101.” Today we hear the second half of the film, produced by the Freedom Archives.

COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be 'subversive,' targeted many African-American, Native-American, and other movements for self-determination by people of color in the US. Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operations. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be broadcasting the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101.” Today we hear the first half of the film, produced by the Freedom Archives.

African-Americans have endured more than 246 years of slavery, 100 years of racism and segregation. The trauma from that experience continues to impact African-Americans and society today. Dr. Joy DeGruy presents a discussion on post traumatic slave syndrome.

Racism in the American media goes back even further than the founding of the US. Now, media consolidation and shrinking news budgets are threatening to make things even worse.

On this edition, a discussion on Race and the American Media, from the 2011 National Conference on Media Reform, featuring Democracy Now’s Juan Gonzalez, Rinku Sen from the Applied Research Center, and the first woman of color to anchor a major network news show, Carole Simpson.

Special thanks to Free Press.

Almost 4,500 American soldiers and more than 100,000 Iraqis have died since the start of the “Shock and Awe” campaign. Eight years later, we assess the consequences of the war in Iraq through an audio documentary, “The Cost of War: A Reflection on Eight Years in Iraq,” produced by KALW News.

Solidarity has long been used as an organizing tool, but it is shifting radically amidst a new political landscape and new technologies. Left Forum’s ‘Towards a Politics of Solidarity’ conference explores this in depth and discusses its impact today.

2011 marks the year for redistricting – the once-in-a-decade process to draw boundaries that determine your elected officials from local school boards to state and congressional representatives. On this edition, we examine the U.S. redistricting system and some of its pitfalls.

2011 marks the year for redistricting – the once-in-a-decade process to draw boundaries that determine your elected officials from local school boards to state and congressional representatives. On this edition, we examine the U.S. redistricting system and some of its pitfalls.

A look at pregnancy, and motherhood, inside US jails and prisons. What does the huge number of incarcerated women in prison foretell for the next generation of America’s kids?

A look at pregnancy, and motherhood, inside US jails and prisons. What does the huge number of incarcerated women in prison foretell for the next generation of America’s kids?

An exclusive interview with economist Richard Wolff, who explains how failed ‘trickle down economics’ theories are being recycled under a different name. Can the working and middle classes withstand the newest round of cuts to vital services, and how can the trend be reversed?

American Arabs and Muslims are under the microscope, and the effect on those communities has been devastating. On this edition, we’ll hear stories about the past 10 years of America’s homeland war on Muslims and Arabs, and about racial profiling during previous war times.

American Arabs and Muslims are under the microscope, and the effect on those communities has been devastating. On this edition, we’ll hear stories about the past 10 years of America’s homeland war on Muslims and Arabs, and about racial profiling during previous war times.

Youth and their use of social media have been cited as leading factors for Egypt’s “January 25th” revolution. But women also came out in force to protest Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years of dictatorial power. On this edition, we look at the role women played in the 2011 revolution– and in Egypt’s history.

Youth and their use of social media have been cited as leading factors for Egypt’s “January 25th” revolution. But women also came out in force to protest Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years of dictatorial power. On this edition, we look at the role women played in the 2011 revolution-- and in Egypt’s history.

This week, we revisit a recent show about a natural gas drilling method called "hydraulic fracturing" or "fracking." We'll hear excerpts from the oscar-nominated documentary "Gasland." We'll also hear from people from Pennsylvania to the mountains of Colorado who are trying to prevent the toxic fallout from 'fracking' before it starts.

This week, we revisit a recent show about a natural gas drilling method called "hydraulic fracturing" or "fracking." We'll hear excerpts from the oscar-nominated documentary "Gasland." We'll also hear from people from Pennsylvania to the mountains of Colorado who are trying to prevent the toxic fallout from 'fracking' before it starts.

About one in four adults in the United States suffers from a “diagnosable mental disorder” in any given year, according to the National Institute for Mental Health.

But some Americans don’t find it useful to label their psychological experiences as ‘disorders.’

On this edition, we hear from people who say they have ‘dangerous gifts.’ They tell us about their experience with mainstream mental health care, and how they say they are navigating the space between brilliance and madness. We also look at some alternative models for care.

About one in four adults in the United States suffers from a “diagnosable mental
disorder” in a given year – that’s according to the National Institute for Mental Health.
But some Americans don’t find it useful to label their psychological experiences
as ‘disorders.’ On this edition, we hear about alternative models for mental health care.

The controversy over WikiLeaks has deep implications for the future of free speech in the Internet era. Beyond journalistic and national security issues that stem from the website, other concerns need to be considered as well. On this edition, we take you to a panel discussion focused on the importance of WikiLeaks within a legal, business and technology framework. Does the public have the right to know the secrets of its government? Should private companies keep commercial interests ahead of public interest? What role does the Internet hold for whistleblowers?

Special Thanks to The Real News Network.

Professor Michelle Alexander, author of ‘The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness’ makes the case that the US’ criminal justice system policies can be traced directly back to slavery. The target then, and now, are African Americans.

Many retirees enjoy the rest and relaxation that eluded them during their working years. But for some, retirement means opportunities to affect change in their communities. We profile three elders who became activists in the second half of their lives.

With the UN’s climate negotiations faltering, indigenous and other grassroots community groups are re-strategizing. We’ll hear voices from the streets of Cancun, and a look at where the world might turn for answers to a perilous problem.

If you’ve ever stepped into a nail salon, you know the smell of a chemical cocktail that hits you like an invisible wall. While consumers may tolerate it during a short visit, the nail salon workers find themselves stewing in a toxic bubble for years. On this edition, we take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

The 1973 Roe versus Wade decision was hailed as a victory by many advocates of a woman’s right to choose. But decades later, many young people still lack the resources to make informed choices about sex – choices that could affect the rest of their lives. On this edition, we bring you a discussion about sex education in schools, federal funding for sex-ed and how advocacy groups and parents are making their voices heard on the issue.

While the Korean War ended in 1953 with a temporary armistice, a formal peace treaty was never signed. The United States is still technically at war with North Korea, and tensions between the two countries remain high. Many view North Korea as a strange and rogue country that threatens U.S. security. But others argue that North Korea’s actions have legitimate basis and that historical context is critical to understanding the issues.

On this edition, we look at Korea’s past conflicts and current tensions to understand how to avoid another war in the peninsula.

For many people in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, the struggle to legalize gay marriage across the U.S. remains the priority political battle. But others in the LGBT community disagree. They question whether gay marriage should be the central issue of their movement.

The earthquake in Haiti. The BP oil spill. A crumbling US economy and educational system. And domestic workers in New York receive a historic bill of rights. We look back at some stories we brought you in 2010, and look ahead to 2011.

We look at how people are meeting each others' needs, without charity, or even exchanging a dollar.

From courtroom battles to government regulation, we take a look at how citizen groups around the world are holding oil companies accountable for environmental contamination and human rights abuses.

So-called ‘quality of life’ policing may temporarily decrease crime, but it has harsh consequences for innocent people caught up in the frenzy of arrests. If it’s illegal to be on a city’s sidewalks, parks and plazas, where else can people go?

We re-examine the question of race - how far we've progressed, where we still need to go, and how to get there. We take you to the Facing Race conference in Chicago, for an in-depth discussion by prominent racial and social justice organizers.

If you’re a young person looking for a job, it looks pretty dismal out there, and it may not brighten up anytime soon. On this edition of How We Survive, we look at how the economy is hitting the “millennial generation.”

Arizona’s SB 1070 put immigration enforcement in the national spotlight. On this edition, we look at the controversial law – its effects In Arizona and across the country, and how it has motivated immigrant communities to become politically active.

At the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, discussion will center on market based solutions. On this edition, a roundtable discussion about alternative ways to both understand, and solve the climate crisis. Must it be done through economics?

Harvard professor Ogletree speaks about his book, The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America.

Stretched by fighting two wars, the US military has stepped up efforts to recruit teenagers and young adults. Guest host Anna Sussman hosts a roundtable discussion about the new face of military recruiting, and counter-recruiting efforts taking place.

Californians go to the polls this November, to vote on whether to legalize pot for all adults to smoke. We look at the damage wrought by the failed war on marijuana, with a focus on the millions caught in the criminal justice system. How might things change if prop 19 is passed into law?

Long time Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk speaks about the power of words in shaping public opinion and public policy, and the tragic consequences of a press corps that toes official line: in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine.

Violence against women pervades every culture. Sources say one of every three women is abused at some point in their lives. In Latin America, sexism and impunity contribute to violence against women. But the region is also home to powerful female voices, and effective movements for the advancement of women.

We hear about hip-hop and change in Cuban society, and what people on the ground are saying about new phases in the Cuban revolution.

We go to Michigan, where from the city of Detroit, to the farmlands and countryside, citizens are battling to gain greater control over the bounty of the great lakes.

We look at how political marching bands are stirring up public spaces; from the streets, to supermarkets to your Facebook feed.

On September 11th, 1973, a US-backed military junta toppled Chilean president Salvador Allende, marking the beginning of decades of repression.

We bring you a documentary about a group of Chilean exiles and musicians in the US who transform their experience of terror into artistic expression.

It’s been decades since the U.S. has had a powerful labor movement and recent efforts to revive it have mostly fallen flat. But there is hope for a new labor movement that goes beyond the unions.

We go to the Gulf Coast to hear why, despite the dangerous and deadly consequences, locals aren't ready to turn their back on the oil industry. What does that mean for the rest of us, as we pursue a future free of fossil fuels?

We go to California, America's leading producer of fruits, vegetables, and dairy, to see some examples of how the nation's agricultural industry is slowly but surely moving away from factory farms.

We look at how the unemployed are getting creative about making ends meet, from starting their own businesses to work-sharing.

We'll hear excerpts from the movie Gasland, including stories from residents who say their drinking water catches on fire--one of the toxic effects of hydraulic-fracking: an increasingly controversial natural gas drilling technique.

Sports writer Dave Zirin tells the story of how the Phoenix Suns basketball team took a stand against their state's anti-immigrant bill SB1070. He says athletes, too, can be revolutionaries.

We take a look at the police killing of Oscar Grant in Oakland, and the debate over who gets to decide when an officer has done something wrong.

Venezuela is undergoing a modern day revolution. Workers, small farmers and the poor consistently vote for socialist President Hugo Chavez. Economically better-off citizens denounce the president as a communist who is destroying the country, but even some on the left criticize Chavez.

We'll hear from experts who insist the U.S. has a lot to learn from social movements in Latin America -- especially in times of crisis.

This June, thousands of grassroots activists converged on Detroit, Michigan to attend the 2010 United States Social Forum. We were there and on this edition of Making Contact, we'll bring you some of the local and international voices we found.

In a special collaboration with “Feet in 2 Worlds,” we hear the story of an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Phoenix, Arizona. And we report on a successful grassroots effort to change policies at “Hutto.”

It’s been decades since the U.S. has had a powerful labor movement and recent efforts to revive it have mostly fallen flat. But there is hope for a new labor movement that goes beyond the unions.

An interview with James Lawson, the chief architect of the 1960 lunch counter sit-ins, and confidant to Martin Luther King. Lawson touches on everything from Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez to the modern gay rights and environmental movements.

For many people in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, the struggle to legalize gay marriage across the U.S. remains the priority political battle. But others in the LGBT community disagree.

Art is everywhere...but why do we do it? On this edition we speak with young artists of diverse backgrounds who use their independent experiences and creative impulses to talk about race, identity, and politics...and along the way to self-reflect.

This June, the US Social Forum will be held in Detroit, Michigan. We look at how Domestic Workers got organized at the last US Social Forum and we ask, what can we learn from the fall and rise of one of America’s great industrial cities?

State budgets are strapped and deep cuts to public programs continue. On this edition, we look at the crisis in K through 12 education. While the Obama administration pushes states to “Race to the Top,” teachers, parents and students are resisting budget cuts from the bottom up.

We’ll hear part two of a documentary called Heavy Weather, produced by freelancer Barbara Bernstein. She’ll look at how climate change is creating new challenges in urban communities as they recognize the need to think and act sustainably.

On this edition, we hear from LGBTQ immigrants in the U.S. who not only have to hide their legal identity, but their sexuality too. Their stories demonstrate why living illegally in the U.S. is not only their refuge, but also their biggest fear.

We’ll hear part one of a documentary called Heavy Weather, produced by freelancer Barbara Bernstein. She’ll explore the connections between the increase in extreme weather and our changing climate and landscapes.

We take a look at tax revolt movements you might not have heard about, including upper income folks asking for tax increases on themselves. And we compare the tax burdens and benefits in Europe and the United States.

The business model of journalism is collapsing. Thousands of journalists have lost their jobs, newspapers are folding, and major dailies are in bankruptcy. This week we hear a discussion about government subsidies and new funding models to save the Fourth Estate.

Author Paul Loeb is re-releasing his book, ‘Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times’. He’s collected stories of everyday people working for social justice. On this edition, we’ll hear from Loeb and two people profiled in the book.

We present a panel discussion that looks at net neutrality and the digital divide. What is it? Why should we care? What’s at stake for immigrant communities and communities of color in the fight over who controls the Internet?

The climate talks at Copenhagen closed in 2009 with no binding agreements or timetables for curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Only pledges were made to avoid more than a two degree Celsius temperature increase and avoid dangerous climate change. On this edition, we hear from climate justice activists who went to Copenhagen. They say we need a system change, not climate change.

Social programs have been cut, living wage jobs are scarce and our economic system is in upheaval. On this edition, we bring you the ColorLines TV special “Race and Economic Recovery,” featuring untold stories of how racism hurts all of our economic futures.

Dr. Joanna Macy is a long-time peace, justice, and ecology activist. A celebrated Buddhist teacher, Dr. Macy’s wide-ranging work spans Eastern and Western thought. She spoke at the 2009 Bioneers Conference held in San Rafael, CA.

We continue our series, How We Survive. This week? It’s a time of crisis in higher education. And as administrators cast an eye toward privatization, students are mobilizing for change…and a voice in the system.

Are food, housing, and health care human rights? A round table discussion about the right to healthy food, the right to housing, and the right to healthcare. Do Americans have these, and if not, what’s standing in the way?

It's a time of economic transition, and systems that may have seemed stable over the past few decades are proving to be far from it. But how did we get here? This week, we hear from three people who've been sounding the alarm about capitalism's house of cards for years.

In the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in recent history, we look at Haiti’s history with the United States, the militarization of American relief efforts, and the economic policies that have contributed to the devastation.

We go to two communities sorting through the aftermath of Bush-era federal immigration raids, and to Los Angeles, where American Apparel became the first test case of the Obama administration’s new approach to workplace hiring violations.

Stupak, the Hyde Amendment, and religion. We take a look at some of the threats to abortion access, more than thirty-five years after Roe V. Wade legalized a woman's right to have an abortion.

We profile two government leaders tackling the monumental problem of war –– Gambia's Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court and retired Colonel Ann Wright, a former United States military leader and diplomat for the State Department.

A look into how struggling communities around the U.S. are meeting each others needs, without charity, or even exchanging a dollar.

Two wars continued, the economy remained in freefall, and as hardship ensued, people crafted creative solutions. We look back at some of the most compelling stories we brought you during 2009, and find out where things are headed for 2010.

A look into the roots of a long-standing conflict between a powerful oligarchy and a dispossessed majority.

We hear from Israeli settlers in Palestine and get reactions to related Obama administration policy.

We meet a New York City street canner who’s changed his life and community one can at a time, and a San Francisco couple paying the bills with pickles. And, author John Curl says an unemployment movement may be on the rise.

We revisit the voices from that Seattle WTO protests and find out how global economic forces have shifted in the past decade.

An agricultural renaissance has taken root among the Taos Pueblo people in New Mexico. Sustainable agriculture is returning, after years of unhealthy food, poor health and obesity.

Journalist Dahr Jamail talks about the on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the growing refusal to serve in the US military.

A look at food deserts in both urban and rural areas, and the community gardens that are sprouting up in them

A former narcotics officer and a drug reform activist suggest how to move away from current drug policy

The story of the weeping woman has been told since the time of the Spanish conquest. This Hallowee, we re-tell the myth of La Llorona.

An immigrant family is torn apart after a raid in Arizona, and grassroots efforts help change policies at a Texas detention center.

Marine Corporal Rick Reyes and other anti-war activists travel to Afghanistan to meet with government officials, women’s rights activists and ordinary Afghans.

The business of borrowing isn't always fair. We talk to lenders who do things differently and those who stave off financial scams.

From toxic water clean-ups to a long-standing watershed war, we take you to the frontlines of efforts to protect water.

Three T-shirt designers use garments to mourn, fight racism, and communicate cultural identity.

Dave Zirin and Elizabeth Terzakis take a look back at the history of discrimination against women in sports.

We hear from renters and renters’ advocates about the invisible victims of the mortgage meltdown.

We take a look at the Employee Free Choice Act and the future of labor unions.

We'll hear how two different communities are dealing with the economic crisis by taking matters into their own hands.

We talk to river stewards across the U.S. working to protect, cleanup and restore our valuable fresh waterways.

Who polices the police? The ongoing battle between the people and the police.

``` A look into how communities and everyday people around the U.S. are resisting foreclosure of their homes. We take a stab at the question: are rescue programs actually working?
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A controversial vaccine is at the intersection of immigrant rights and reproductive justice organizing. The HPV vaccine is mandatory for permanent resident status, and advocates say it follows a history of controlling the bodies of women of color.

We hear about the gay community’s struggle for legal rights in India, and their prospects for cultural acceptance after a historic victory in court.

We hear from physicians and others who are taking a stand for a national health care plan for all.

Three African-American community leaders talk about Obama's presidency and how it has changed their perspective on what black power is...and isn't.

Inside the war as it comes home to our communities, with a focus on the special role our educational institutions can play in helping former soldiers adjust to civilian life

On this edition, we look at the greening of America. Is it really a new deal for everyone?

Thousands of Nepali-speaking refugees from this Buddhist-majority nation are arriving on North American soil. Starting a new life is full of hard times, especially in this economy.

Queer youth share their stories, perspectives and create social change on the radio.

Nine formerly incarcerated people described what it's like not to talk to or touch another person for years at a time.

Each woman in the military has a unique story, but all pay the price of being a woman seeking to serve their country.

Three intellectuals share about why they've been sounding the alarm about capitalism's house of cards.

A small Indian tribe in Northern California tell their story of their struggle to prevent the flooding of their sacred land.

Advocates outside the 2009 World Water Forum tell us about the failures of private water management, and alternatives to corporate control.