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  • In this week's show, we take a look at the health, environmental and financial costs of coal that fall to people living nearby. With the help of our partner podcast Crosswinds, we meet three impacted communities along a railroad connecting coal mines in West Virginia to ports on the East Coast. And we'll hear how that rail infrastructure was built on the forced labor of incarcerated African Americans.

    Featuring:

    Adrian Wood, multimedia producer with the Repair Lab at the University of Virginia and producer of Crosswinds

    Making Contact Staff:

    Episode Host: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain

    Music credits:

    "A Documentary" by AKTASOK (Valentin Iakovlev) via Pixabay

    Credits for Crosswinds Episode 3: "Cost"

    Written, produced mixed and mastered by Adrian Wood Editing by Oluwakemi Aladesuyi of Rough Cut Collective Scoring by Torrin Purkett and Adrian Wood Produced through the Repair Lab at the University of Virginia

    Learn More:

    Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org Listen to the entire Crosswinds series: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ey0DQiOzuvJehEyCjGJYv Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-repair-lab/id1633699454 Coal Dust Kills: www.coaldustkills.com The Repair Lab: repairlab.virginia.edu
  • On today’s Making Contact, our friends from the podcast, Kerning Cultures, bring us “Black Panthers in Algeria.” It’s the story of when Elaine Mokhtefi landed in newly independent Algeria in the early 1960s and quickly found herself at the center of a special period in the country’s history, at a time when Algiers welcomed liberation groups from across the world – earning a reputation as the “Mecca of revolution."

    In this unlikely setting, Elaine moved in the same circles as world famous radicals, ragtag political parties, spies and military leaders. And she became an unlikely sidekick to one of the most iconic liberation groups of our time, just as it was beginning to fall apart.

    Credits - Kerning Cultures:

    This episode was produced by Deena Sabry and Alex Atack, and edited by Dana Ballout. Fact checking by Eman Alsharif, sound design by Mohamad Khreizat, Paul Alouf and Alex Atack. Our team also includes Zeina Dowidar, Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson.

    Making Contact Team:

    Host: Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonrain

    Learn More:

    Algiers: Third World Capital [https://bookshop.org/a/84225/9781788730006] Revolution or Death: The Life of Eldridge Cleaver [https://bookshop.org/a/84225/9781613739112] Kerning Cultures [https://kerningcultures.com/]
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  • The attacks on Imane Khelif's gender at this year's 2024 Paris Olympics is not new. In fact, the focus on women's appearance and gender expression goes back to the founding of the Olympics, the minute women entered elite sports.

    We talk to Rose Eveleth, host and producer of the podcast Tested about the history of sex testing in the Olympics and why it existed in the first place, why there's no easy way to classify the natural, biological variation that exists in human beings and why we might want to consider new ways of organizing athletes that is less sexist, racist and more accepting of genders outside of a simple binary.

    Featuring:

    Rose Eveleth, host and producer of the podcast Tested

    Episode Credits:

    Host: Salima Hamirani
    Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
    Executive Director: Jina Chung
    Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
    Engineer: Jeff Emtman

    Music:

    Alpha Hydrae - Friends
    Soft and Furious - So What
    Axletree- The Silent Grove
    Blear Moon - Further Discovery
    Crowander - Opening Lines.

    Learn More:

    Tested on NPR
    Tested on CBC

  • The last few years have seen a wave of labor organizing as it becomes more and more clear to workers that what they do is not expendable, but actually the heart of every business. From walkouts to unionization, workers from Starbucks to Amazon to your local coffee shop have come together to build and exercise their power. In this episode we explore the issues that led people to organize their workplaces, the ins and outs and ups and downs of the process, and the backlash.

    On the forefront of the next labor revolution, we visit a coffee shop in Maine called Little Dog whose staff starts a union. Then we talk to Robert Chlala from the UCLA Labor Center about the rise in unionization efforts among service workers and the social and cultural ethos in a post lockdown country that have led to this new wave of the labor movement.

    Featuring:

    Robert Chlala – Assistant Professor, CSU Long Beach & Visiting Researcher at UCLA Labor Center Jessica Czarnecki, Sydney, Sophie, Kira – Workers at Little Dog Cafe

    Making Contact Team:

    Host: Salima Hamirani Reporter: Jules Bradley Executive Director: Jina Chung Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum Engineer: Jeff Emtman Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

    Music:

    “Industrial Zone” by Bio Unit “Stay Quiet” by Monplaisir “Bleu” by Komiku “Leap Second” by Doctor Turtle “Which Side Are You On” by Pete Seeger

    Learn More:

    UCLA Labor Center Little Dog Employees Lawsuit Brunswick coffee shop strike ends with potential change in ownership
  • We need affordable housing now! On today's episode, we look more closely at two stories that underscore the importance of affordable housing.

    First, we'll examine what the recent Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson means for unhoused people who are living on the streets and how historical disinvestment in affordable and public housing has created our current homelessness wave.

    Then, we'll hear about the fight to legalize and preserve one important type of affordable housing units in New York City – basement apartments – and how the escalating impacts of climate change are making that campaign more urgent than ever.

    Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project Annetta Seecharran, executive director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation

    Making Contact Staff:

    Episode Host: Lucy Kang

    Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang

    Executive Director: Jina Chung

    Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong

    Engineer: Jeff Emtman

    Music credit:

    Pending (Relaxing Acoustic Ballad Nylon Guitar) by William_King via Pixabay

    Credits for "Invisible Homeless" by the Queens Memory Podcast

    Episode produced by Stella Gu in conjunction with Melody Cao, Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt
    Podcast hosted by J. Faye Yuan
    Mixing and editing by Cory Choy
    Music composed by Elias Ravin
    Voiceover work by Xia Liangjie and Chen Xiaojun

    Learn More:

    Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org

    Western Regional Advocacy Project: https://wraphome.org/

    Queens Memory Podcast: www.queensmemory.org

    Chhaya CDC: BASE Campaign: https://chhayacdc.org/campaigns/base-campaign/

  • On this week's episode, we speak with Bay Area based comedian Karinda Dobbins about the release of her debut comedy album, Black & Blue. In Black & Blue, Karinda shares personal stories, finding humor in the most ordinary moments of her daily life, including her girlfriend’s arbitrary policy on household pests, the changes hipsters have brought to Oakland, and a Black woman’s unique packing list for hiking.

    Featuring: Karinda Dobbins, standup comedian, writer, and actor

    Episode Credits:

    Host: Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Music Credits: Dee Yan-Key "Hold on"; Audiobinger "The Garden State"

    Learn More:

    Karinda Dobbins - https://karindadobbins.com/
  • In Part 1 of our series on water in the Central Valley of California we visited a town called East Orosi, which has been fighting for clean water for over 20 years. This week we turn our attention to their sewage system, which is also falling apart. Why has it been so difficult for East Orosi to get clean drinking water and fix its sewage problems?

    To answer that question we take a look at the entities that run things like sewage and water in unincorporated towns all across California. They're called Community Utility Districts. Community Utility Districts are often one of the only forms of self governance in unincorporated towns. But they're staffed by volunteers, they're underfunded, and they're trying to share a vital resource, water, which is also slowly disappearing in the San Joaquin Valley.

    We talk about the problems with Community Utility Districts and ways to save them.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Berta Diaz Ochoa- community member of East Orosi; Janaki Anagha- Director of Advocacy, Community Water Center; Kayla Vander Schuur- Community Development Specialist, Self Help Enterprises; Carlos Sanchez- board member of the East Orosi Community Utilities District; Maricela Mares-Alatorre- Community Solutions Advocate, Community Water Center.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode includes “Blue” by Komiku; Ocean Tapping by PC III; Friends and Apples by Alpha Hydrae; Gouttes by Hicham Chahidi; Week Twenty-five by Ben von Wildenhaus; No Light Without Darkness by Ketsa; and Thunderstorm by The Custodian of Records.

    Learn More:

    Community Water Center: https://www.communitywatercenter.org/

    Self Help Enterprises: https://www.selfhelpenterprises.org/

  • In the late 1990s, psychologist Dr. Joseph Gone, a professor and member of the Aaniiih Gros Ventre tribe, returned home during his doctoral training to the Fort Belknap Reservation in north central Montana. There, he set aside eurocentric concepts of psychology he was learning in school and instead asked tribal members how mental illness is addressed using traditional Indigenous practices. What he learned changed the trajectory of his career. Listen to find out how he helped bring precolonial cultural and spiritual practices into substance use disorder treatment in contemporary Indigenous settings.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Dr. Joseph Gone, psychologist and interdisciplinary social scientist at Harvard University and member of the Aaniiih-Gros Ventre tribal Nation of Montana.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC:

    Songs: The Horses are Coming, The Gift, Song of Honor Album: The Return of the Buffalo Horses Artists: Darrell Norman and Ramon Kramer https://www.blackfeetculturecamp.com/d-norman/

    For More Information:

    Dr. Joseph Gone

    American Indian Health and Family Services, Detroit, MI

  • East Orosi hasn't had safe drinking water in over 20 years. The water is full of nitrates, runoff from industrial agriculture, which is harmful to human health. The community has taken action to find a solution, from lobbying at the state capital to working with neighboring towns.

    And they may finally have one. New California laws, passed in the last five years, have opened up funding to build water infrastructure in small towns like East Orosi. But even as laws and funding develop, implementation has been challenging.

    We visit East Orosi and talk to Berta Diaz Ochoa about what it's like living without clean drinking water and the solutions on the horizon. This is part one of a two part series.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Susana De Anda -Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Community Water Center; Berta Diaz Ochoa -East Orosi community member and organizer; Cristobal Chavez - member of Community Water Center; Janaki Anagha - Director of Advocacy, Community Water Center; Jessi Synder - Director of Community Development, Self Help Enterprises; Andrew Altevogt, Assistant Deputy Director of the State Water Resources Control Board.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode includes “Blue” by Komiku; Monet's Water Lilies; Dark Rainy Day; Water Drops, Sad Slow Piano Background; Mother Womb piano; Guracha Sonidera Cumbia Loops De Bateria Series II

    Learn More:

    Community Water Center: https://www.communitywatercenter.org/

    Self Help Enterprises: https://www.selfhelpenterprises.org/

    State Water Resources Control Board: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/

  • Composer, pianist, and vocalist Samora Pinderhughes tells us about The Healing Project. The Healing Project, a fundamentally abolitionist project, explores the structures of systemic racism and the prison industrial complex. This story first aired February 2023.

    Pinderhughes and The Healing Project takes action towards abolition with forms such as musical songs, films, an exhibition, community gatherings, live performances, and a digital library of audio interviews. At the center of the project are the intergenerational voices of people across the country, including folks incarcerated in prisons and detention centers. Their stories, experiences, and ideas serve as the foundation for The Healing Project’s vision for societal transformation.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Samora Pinderhughes, composer, pianist/vocalist, and interdisciplinary artist.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. Segment Editors are Jessica Partnow, Lucy Kang, and Jacinda Abcarian. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode includes "Creeping" by Borrtex; "Process" and "Hope" by Samora Pinderhughes.

    Learn More:

    Samora Pinderhughes

    The Healing Project

    Exhibition site

    Tiny Desk Concert filmed live inside the exhibition

    Exhibition films, “Masculinity” & “Hold that Weight”

    Exhibition album

  • The vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care.

    Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. During this week’s anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we’ll revisit the dynamic and complex relationship of care receiving and giving.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Camille Christian, home care provider and SEIU member Camille Christian & Brenda Jackson, home care providers & SEIU members; Patty Berne, co-founder and director, Sins Invalid; Jessica Lehman, executive director, San Francisco Senior and Disability Action; Kenzi Robi, president, San Francisco IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) Public Authority Governing Body; Rachel Stewart, queer disabled woman passionate about disability and employment issues; Alana Theriault, disability benefits counselor in Berkeley, California; Ingrid Tischer, director of development, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF); and Alta Mae Stevens, in-home caregiver.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Laura Flynn & Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum, and Contributing Producers, Alice Wong and Stephanie Guyer-Stevens. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode includes Dexter Britain: The Time To Run (Finale), Gillicuddy: Adventure, Darling, Steve Combs: March, Jason Shaw: Running Waters, Jared C. Balogh: BRICK BY BRICK DAY BY DAY, Jared C. Balogh: INCREMENTS TOWARDS SERENITY, Nheap: Crossings, Cherly KaCherly: The Hungry Garden, Trio Metrik: Vogelperspektive, & Kevin MacLeod: Faster Does It.

    Learn More:

    UCSF: UCSF Study Projects Need for 2.5M More Long-Term Care Workers by 2030

    SEIU: Longterm Care Workers

    Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund

    Disability Visibility Project

    Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network

    National Disability Leadership Alliance

    Senior and Disability Action

    Sins Invalid

    San Francisco In Home Supportive Services Public Authority

    Family Caregiver Alliance

  • Inflammatory diseases are on the rise around the world, and when left unaddressed can turn chronic. Now, doctors are finally starting to pay more attention. But why & when does a beneficial part of our immune system turn against us? Raj Patel & Rupa Marya think it has a lot to do with the world we live in. They talk about climate change, ecological devastation, & the collapse of our planet & what that has to do with inflammation. Their thesis: our bodies are a mirror of a deeper disease in society & the environment. But there’s still hope. They point a way back to health via Deep Medicine, which is the quest to reignite our commitment to the web of life and our place in it.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Tré Vasquez, Co-director/collective member at Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project; Raj Patel, author, academic, journalist, activist; & Rupa Marya, author, Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a co-founder of the Do No Harm Coalition.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode includes music “Cenote” & “Lithosphere” from Frequency Decree; “Anto” by Blear Moon, & “Juniper” by Broke For Free.

    Learn More:

    Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice

    Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project

  • Kids are coming out as LGBTQ+ younger than ever before, making their identities more politicized than ever before. Hateful political rhetoric and discriminatory laws are likely contributing to the poor mental health documented among LGBTQ+ kids.

    In an effort to combat these struggles, researchers are studying what works to keep kids healthy, happy, and alive. In this episode, we discuss data around what might be working to prevent suicidality among Black trans youth, and we hear about a program helping parents learn how to support their LGBTQ+ kids through their own behavior changes.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Dr. Myeshia Price, an Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Human Development program within the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology and Associate Research Scientist with the Kinsey Institute; Flomichelle Battles, Interim Executive Director of Trans Solutions Research and Resource Center; and Dr. Caitlin Ryan, Director of the Family Acceptance Project.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode includes music from Jason Shaw, including “Bird in Hand,” “River Meditation,” and “Solo Acoustic Guitar.” Available via WFMU Free Music Archive at https://freemusicarchive.org.

    Learn More:

    Gender Nexus

    Gender Expansive Kids and Company

    Trans Solutions

    Protect Our People

    LGBTQ services and support map from Family Acceptance Project and the Innovations Institute

    Family Acceptance Project

    The Kinsey Institute

  • In 2023, Kirin Clawson’s endocrinologist placed a puberty-blocking implant in her arm, a medical intervention that is associated with improved mental health for many trans kids with gender dysphoria. In February, Indiana joined several other conservative states banning this treatment for minors. In the first of a 2-part series, we hear from the Clawsons how the ban has impacted their family. And, we hear from psychologist, Dr. Myeshia Price about how all adults in the lives of children can support gender diverse youth, despite increasing discriminatory anti-trans laws aimed at kids.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features the Clawson family including Beth, mother and Child Health Worker; Nathaniel, father and Project Manager; and children Kirin, Max, and Izzy Clawson. The episode also features Dr. Myeshia Price, an Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Human Development program within the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology and Associate Research Scientist with the Kinsey Institute; and Bradford Barrett, Indiana State House Representative.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum with Production Assistant Emily Miles. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode includes music Jahzzar- Vanlig available via WFMU Free Music Archive.

    Learn More:

    Gender Nexus

    Gender Expansive Kids and Company

    Trans Solutions

    Protect Our People

    LGBTQ services and support map from Family Acceptance Project and the Innovations Institute

    Family Acceptance Project

    The Kinsey Institute

  • Caste—one of the oldest systems of exclusion in the world—is thriving. Despite the ban on Untouchability 70 years ago, caste impacts 1.9 billion people in the world. Every 15 minutes, a crime is perpetrated against a Dalit person. The average age of death for Dalit women is just 39. And the wreckages of caste are replicated here in the U.S., too—erupting online with rape and death threats, showing up at work, and forcing countless Dalits to live in fear of being outed.

    Dalit American activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan puts forth a call to awaken and act, not just for readers in South Asia, but all around the world. She ties Dalit oppression to fights for liberation among Black, Indigenous, Latinx, femme, and Queer communities, examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspective--and laying bare the grief, trauma, rage, and stolen futures enacted by Brahminical social structures on the caste-oppressed. Incisive and urgent, “The Trauma of Caste” is an activating beacon of healing and liberation, written by one of the world’s most needed voices in the fight to end caste apartheid.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: Thenmozhi Soundararajan, the author of “The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition” and a Dalit American artist, organizer, technologist, and theorist. Currently, Thenmozhi is the Executive Director of Equality Labs.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode includes music from Blue Dot Sessions, including “3rd Chair" and "Paving Stones."

    Learn More:

    The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition

    Thenmozhi Soundararajan / Dalit Diva

    Google’s plan to talk about caste bias led to ‘division and rancor’

    Hindu Sect Accused of Using Forced Labor

    Dismantling the Caste System

  • As graduation approached this year, students around the country began protests after calls for divestment from Israel were initially ignored by university leadership. The campus encampments were met with physical violence and the mainstream press dismissed the students' demands as naive and immature. But, it turns out that there's a lot we should be asking about college endowments.

    We take a look at what an endowment is and how they’re invested. Then we learn why transparency around the endowment (and divestment!) might actually benefit the entire college community.

    We talk to Kelly Grotke, a financial researcher from Pattern Recognition, a research collective focused on financialized higher education. And, with Andrea Pritchett, we look at the links between the encampments today, and those from the 80s, when students protested South African Apartheid.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Kelly Grotke, co-founder of Pattern Recognition, a research collective and Andrea Pritchett, former student organizer against South African Apartheid. Currently a middle school teacher and co-founder of Berkeley Cop Watch.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode features “Slinky” by Robert John, “Take Off and Shoot a Zero” by Chris Zabinske, “Leap Second” by Doctor Turtle, and “Blue” by Komiku.

    Learn More:

    https://patternrecognitionresearch.substack.com/

    https://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/

  • What are borders, and why do we have them? And how is violent border enforcement at the US-Mexico border connected to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza? And what happens when borders cross living land and communities?

    We'll dig into these questions in this week's episode with the help of Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center. And then we'll hear a story brought to us by In Confianza, with Pulso about one time when the natural boundary between two countries changed – and what happened to the people caught on the other side.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center and author of Refuge: How the State Shapes Human Potential and the forthcoming The Cost of Border; Charlie Garcia, writer and producer of the story “The Border is Alive!” from In Confianza, with Pulso.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.


    MUSIC: This episode features "Documentary" by AlisiaBeats via Pixabay.

    Learn More:

    Heba Gowayed

    In Confianza, with Pulso

    “The Border is Alive!” full episode
  • This week on Making Contact we take a look at one of the most prolific Mexican artists, Frida Kahlo, and how she inspired the Latina artist collective, “The Phoenix Fridas.” “In Confianza, with Pulso” producer Anthony Wallace brings us the story of Thania Betancourt Alcazar. A member of “The Phoenix Fridas,” Alcazar discovered a lifeline in the art of Frida Kahlo and her artistic message of resilience and empowerment.

    Alcazar shares her experience being a Mexican immigrant, her feeling of being an outcast, and finally feeling seen as she saw herself and her culture reflected in the rising popularity of Frida Kahlo and her art in the U.S.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Anthony Wallace, the host of this episode; Thania Betancourt Alcazar, a member of The Phoenix Fridas and artist; Celia Stahr, an art historian at the University of San Francisco and the author of Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    In Confianza, with Pulso Credits:

    This episode was produced/hosted by Anthony Wallace

    Editor: Charlie Garcia

    Audio Engineer and Mixing: Anthony Wallace and Charlie Garcia

    Executive Director: Liz Alarcon


    MUSIC: This episode features Original Music Composed by Julian Blackmore and Anthony Wallace.

    Learn More:

    In Confianza, with Pulso

    Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist

    The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait

    The Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City

  • Have you ever really considered how we view time as a society? From work to leisure to appointments, we schedule every minute of our days, but how often do we think about why we treat time the way we do, our relationship to it, and why we value productivity over all else?

    This week, we talk to Jenny Odell about the ideas behind her book Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. We talk about how time shapes all our lives, question the idea that time is money, and look to understand the capitalistic and colonialist roots of the way we view time every day.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Jenny Odell, artist and author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    MUSIC: This episode features music "Simonero" by Keyframe Audio via Pixabay, "Documentary Ambient Guitar" by William_King via Pixabay, and Clock sound effects by Pixabay and Semen Surin via Pixabay.

    Learn More:

    Jenny Odell

  • This week's Making Contact episode is about two strong women who survived historic trauma, and the stories they later told their families. We start with the story of Katie Wilson. Born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Kiev, Ukraine, she grew up safe and comfortable - until the Russian Revolution. After holding it close for years to protect the next generation, she tells the story of the family she lost to her granddaughter.

    Then we hear about Helen Zia's experience as a Chinese-American and her mother's story fleeing Mao's Chinese Revolution. After years of silence in response to questions on the subject, Zia's mother finally shares her story and the burden of her trauma with her daughter.

    Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

    Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

    EPISODE FEATURES: Helen Zia, a Chinese-American journalist and activist for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. She is the former Executive Editor of Ms. Magazine, and author of several books. Katie Wilson, a Ukrainian refugee. Chana Wilson, a radio/audio producer and host at Pacifica’s KPFA in Berkeley, CA and the award-winning author of the memoir, Riding Fury Home.

    MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

    LEARN MORE:

    Helen Zia

    Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People

    Chana Wilson

    Riding Fury Home: A Memoir

    Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution