Making Contact

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 contr...

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...

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 P...

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 bo...

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...

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 constructi...

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...

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...

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...

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 healt...

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 Di...

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, cou...

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 6 th  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 t...

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. Speci...

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 mist...

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 sta...

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...

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...

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 p...

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 again...

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 e...

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 ,  Gretc...

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.