Mutual Support: We do it Together
We hear about systems of mutual support; where peers coping with similar struggles like HIV, mental health issues and surviving prison step into the roles typically filled by licensed specialists. Mutual support can be controversial, especially when it tries to replace professional help. But it can also be immensely rewarding for all parties involved, and can save a ton of money. This show features a special segment by Making Contact...
For Undocumented Women Seeking Reproductive Healthcare, Policing and Politics Create a Maze of Barriers
In September 2015, an undocumented woman arrived at a healthcare clinic outside of Houston, Texas for a routine follow-up exam. Blanca Borrego handed a false driver’s license to the receptionist at the Memorial Hermann women’s clinic upon check-in and waited to be called into the examination room with her two daughters at her side. They sat in that waiting room for two hours. Finally, when her name was called, her daughters stayed...
Resurrected: Formerly Incarcerated Change-Makers
In order to reduce prison over-crowding the Justice Department is releasing about 6,000 non-violent inmates early. Darris Young is working to make sure upon release individuals can successfully transition after incarceration. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll meet more individuals like Darris who also went to prison, came out and dedicated their lives to making a positive difference. Featuring: Frankie V. Guzman, Attorney at the...
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2016 marks 50 years since the founding of the Black Panther Party-a group that’s took the world by the storm, but is still widely misunderstood. There’s a new documentary film that’s trying to set the record straight. On this edition of Making Contact, journalist Eric Arnold talks with Stanley Nelson, director of The Black Panthers, Vanguard of the Revolution. Featuring: Stanley Nelson, Director of Black Panthers: vanguard of the...
Making Contact team wins SPJ Excellence in Journalism Award!
Every year the Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Awards recognize the best stories and most innovative projects from media outlets around the country. These awards are where some of the most celebrated names in journalism recognize the crucial, enlightening work being done by their peers. We’re excited to announce that a team from Making Contact has won a Feature Storytelling award from the SPJ...
Invisible Workers, Laboring in the Shadows
Millions of people around the world work in jobs that aren’t formally recognized or afforded legal protections typical of wage earning jobs. They’re often not even thought of as legitimate work. On this edition of Making Contact, we’re going to meet people making work where there is no work for them. From recyclers, to border couriers, to waste pickers, we’re exploring the informal labor sector and what some...
Guns: An American Tradition
Love em or hate em, they’re an ever present part of American culture. And they’re not going away anytime soon. On this edition, recorded before the Oct. 1st mass shooting in Colorado, we talk guns…from the shooting range, to the black panthers, to red state America. The people behind the trigger are probably not who you’d assume. Featuring Matt Knox, gun owner Ed & Dave, gun owners Huey Newton, Black Panther Tamu Mcfalls, former...
WOMEN RISING RADIO XXVIII: Global Community
Women Rising Radio 28 profiles global community organizers – whose work is based in their compassion and common sense, and whose organizing is making a worldwide impact. Featuring Ruth Messinger, American Jewish World Service (USA) Amber Khan, Women For Women International (USA) Zainab Salbi, Emerita, Women For Women International (USA) Martha Karnga, Executive Director, Bassa Women’s Development Association, (Liberia)...
Global Taxi Driver
It’s one of the most dangerous jobs in America: taxi driving. In this special joint episode from ReWork and Making Contact, we’ll hear a radio adaptation of TeAda Productions’ play “Global Taxi Driver,” and we’ll take a ride to meet the cab drivers at one of the country’s busiest airports. Featuring: Abate Teferi and Daniel Kassa, taxi drivers at LAX and organizers with National Taxi Workers Alliance Leilani Chan, Shaan Dasani, Elyse...
Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle
A radio adaptation of the documentary Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle. This documentary examines the life and mysterious death of pioneering Mexican-American journalist Ruben Salazar. At the heart of the story is his transformation from a mainstream, establishment Los Angeles Times reporter to a supporter and primary chronicler of the radical Chicano movement of the late 1960s until he was killed by a law enforcement officer in 1970....
