Full time Struggle, Part time Work: Making a living post recession
During the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 millions of people lost their jobs and hustled to survive. Since then, the economy has regained more than 8 million jobs. Still wage growth remains low and many simply can’t find a full time work. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll hear from a panel of labor experts on the state of labor market especially for part-time and low-wage workers. The Panelists include former New York Times...
Living Downstream-creating a world free of cancer causing toxics
Renowned biologist Sandra Steingraber has made fighting environmentally induced cancers her life’s work. We hear excerpts of the documentary film, Living Downstream, which chronicles her efforts to create a world free of cancer causing toxics.
Why We Owe: David Graeber on the Origins of Debt
From unpaid bills to entire governments facing bankruptcy, debt is never far from our minds or the news. It’s deeply embedded in our lives: our language, culture, even major religions. It’s also at the heart of many of our most pressing political debates. But have you ever thought about where debt comes from? On this edition of Making Contact we hear from Anthropologist David Graeber, author of “Debt: The First 5,000 Years.” Graeber...
My Body My Message: women’s bodies as tools of self-empowerment
The female body as medium, and as message. How can a woman determine how she is perceived by the world, and even by herself? On this edition, we hear stories of women who are using their bodies for political protest, and as tools of self-empowerment…forcing everyone to reevaluate their perspectives on the female form. Featuring: Neda Topaloski & Xenia Chernyshova, Femen members Galia Ackerman, author of the book “Femen” Catherine...
Why we need more voices to speak the unspeakable.
My Community Radio Storytelling Fellowship with Making Contact (MC) has come to an end and I’m confident that my voice has been heard! I am happy to have had the opportunity to be one of the first cohort of fellows to participate in what was both a challenging and engaging project, which I want to dedicate to Kimberly Robertson (may she forever rest in peace) and to all of the black female (including transwomen)...
Bodily Safety: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Police Shootings
When journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates set out to write about police killings he went to visit Mable Jones. Back in 2000, Jones son, a friend of Coates from their time at Howard University, was shot and killed by police in Virginia. He was twenty five years old. Written in the form of a letter to his own teenage son, Coates’ book “Between the World and Me” puts police shootings in a wider context. Ta-Nehisi Coates spoke as...
Deadly Divide: Migrant Death on the Border
Congratulations to Jasmin, George, Bradnon, Mitra and team for this show’s Excellence in Journalism Award from Society of Professional Journalists NorCal, for Feature Storytelling (radio/audio) 2015 ! Over 6,000 migrant deaths were recorded on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico between 1998 and 2013. The true number of deaths is likely higher, and thousands of families never hear from their loved ones again. This...
We need to tell our own stories, no matter how the voice sounds
Lateef McLeod was Making Contact’s first Storytelling Fellow. Listen to his segment, read his reflection on his experience and donate to support this year’s class of fellows. My tenure as the first Making Contact Storytelling Fellow was an extraordinary experience. I had an amazing time producing the radio segment on the public’s perspective of people who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (A.A.C) devices....
Alice Wong investigates interdependence between the disability and caregiver communities
I am a disabled person who uses personal assistance for almost every aspect of my activities of daily living. If I did not have paid and unpaid personal assistance (including family members), my life chances and opportunities would look drastically different. Without the usage of Medicaid-funded personal assistance programs such as IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) in California and family support, I know I would have to enter a...
Ivan Rodriguez is fighting the toxic effects of environmental racism in Southeast LA
Southeast Los Angeles is my home, it is also one of the most heavily industrialized areas in Los Angeles, a community about six and a half miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. My Making Contact story is about my experience of institutional environmental racism and the hidden effects it has on my community. The greatest challenge to the area is the large number of toxic polluters, superfund sites, brownfields and freeways. This so...
