Making Contact

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.

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 M...

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, for...

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 T...

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 , Direct...

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...

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, “Edg...

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 Wor...

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?

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...

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...

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-fou...

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 campa...

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 perfor...

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...

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 feature...

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. Featurin...

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 , Direct...

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...

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 an...

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...