Making Contact

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 Mar...

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 ,  form...

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 o...

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 and Green 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,  form...

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...

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 , write...

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

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 Bil...

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...

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. Fea...

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, wh...

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…f orcing everyone to reevaluate their perspectives on the female form.   Featuring: Neda Topaloski &  Xenia Chernyshova , Femen members Galia Ackerma...

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 D...

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 Phill...

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...

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 Po...

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 c...

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 b...

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 20 th  program’s creation by volunteers, and how this little radio show became part of a new generation of media outlets that continues to both coun...

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...

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 sc...

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 Re...

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...