Making Contact

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 q...

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 Conversat...

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. Go...

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.

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.