Making Contact

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.