Making Contact

The official Day to Commemorate Agent Orange victims is August 10 th  and marks the start of the US military’s decade of massive chemical warfare in Vietnam in 1961. Combat, chemicals, and corporations.  We’ll look at the legacy of Agent Orange,  a toxic defoliant. Featuring: Ngo Thanh Nhan , co-coordinator Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign;  Fred Wilcox  scholar and author: ...

Nationally, American prisons release more than 650,000 people into society every year. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Memphis or Boston.  On this edition, producer Aaron Mendelson followed ex-prisoner Kevin Tindall on his journey out of prison. Special thanks to Claire Schoen  and the University of California Berkeley, School of Journalism. Featuring:    Gordon Brown , ex-prisoner M...

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 tarsands, produces by Barbara Bernstein. Featuring: Kevin Lewis,  Idaho Rivers United conservation director Linwood Laughy , writer...

Natural healing can take many forms.  These days, the Latin American “curandera” is re-emerging in the US, after generations of going underground. On this edition, producer Erica Hellerstein takes us on a journey to identity through an ancient medicinal practice. Featuring:    Lauren Villa,  UC Berkeley Graduate Student Atava Swiecicki Garcia  Healer Sandra Pacheco,  Healer and Professor of Chican...

We profile women fighting the expansion of global militarism and violence. Korean sister Stella Soh campaigns to save an UNESCO world heritage site from a planned military base. US activist Kathy Kelly founded Voices for Creative Nonviolence. And Brazilian Miriam Nobre works with the World March of Women. Featuring:    Sister Stella Soh , Catholic Nun and activist with Save Jeju Island Kathy Kelly...

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...

Rodeo is a part of life for many Americans. But if you’re an LGBTQ rodeo fan participating in the sport you love can mean hiding part of who you are to fit in. But a tight knit group of queer cowboys has found a way to live the country and Western lifestyle in their own way.  You don’t often hear the words “gay” and “rodeo” together. On this edition Producer Vanessa Rancaño brings us one bull ride...

More than 60 countries either ban or require labeling on GMO foods; the US is not one of them. As GMO regulation moves to a local level, frustrated consumers and farmers are pushing for state or county regulations, but the seed and pesticide companies are fighting back. Today, we bring you a special episode investigating corporate control of our democracy and our dinner plates. This program is par...

Parenting has never been easy.  Merging your politics with your parenting decisions can be even more challenging.  On this edition, fathers…and mothers…on fatherhood and how it’s changing. Traditional ideas about what a dad is supposed to be are slowly disappearing, but what will take their place? Featuring: Tomas Moniz,  Rad Dad creator Airial Clark,  Sex Positive Parent blogger Janine Macbeth, ...

Description:   As Brazil prepares to host the 2014 soccer World Cup many are questioning the economic, environmental, and social cost of this sporting mega-event. From soccer ball manufacturing in Pakistan, to forced evictions in Brazil to make way for World Cup infrastructure, who wins, when the World Cup comes to town? On this edition of Making Contact, we take a closer look at the good, the bad...

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors are much more likely than their straight counterparts to be alone and isolated as they age. Housing and support for these elders is a growing need--and the issue is not confined to the United States. On this edition, we’ll visit Jakarta Indonesia, and Los Angeles, California, to hear stories of building housing and community for LGBTQ seniors. Featuri...

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. Featuring: Saru Jayaraman , c...

From pedestrian plazas to pop-up-parklets…cities are looking to create spaces for people to gather, interact and create.  But are some people being left out of this new urban renaissance? This week:  from Detroit, to Montreal, to Istanbul, people are reclaiming the commons.   How do we create public spaces that are embracing and inclusive? Featuring: Susan Silberberg , MIT lecturer in Urban Design...

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...