All Around Cowboy: Inside the world of queer rodeo
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 rider’s story. Featuring: Jason Strand,...
Songs in the Key of Choice: Pop Music and Reproductive Justice
This story is part of a joint reporting project on reproductive rights in pop culture that includes Bitch Media, Feministing, and Making Contact. This work is part of a Media Consortium collaboration made possible in part by a grant from the Voqal Fund. {Special 11 min. piece, not whole radio program} One in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime, yet in pop culture accurate portrayals of real people’s stories are...
G.M.No!! Genetically Modified Democracy
This week’s program is part of What the Fork, a collaboration between Making Contact, Center for Media and Democracy/The Progressive Magazine, ALEC-Exposed and Food Democracy Now. Click here to go to the full project site. 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...
Rad Dads!!!
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?
GOALLLL! The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game
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, and the ugly side of the “beautiful game.”...
Seeking Shelter: Building Housing and Community for LGBTQ Elders
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.
Behind the Kitchen Door: Restaurant Workers’ Fight for Justice
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 our restaurants, and how ordinary diners can help.
Reclaiming the Commons
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 and Planning...
Our Bodies, Our Stories: Reproductive Health Behind Bars
Pregnant women in America’s prisons are being shackled to their beds; others are being sterilized. Correctional institutions claim the policies are for safety’s sake, but thousands of incarcerated people are fighting for control of their own reproductive health.
Words vs. Bars: How Prison Poets Escape
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 prison poet of the 1960’s who helped...
