These photos show what it’s like to live in a tent city
This slideshow requires JavaScript. With rising rents around the country and decreased access to housing services, many people are looking for ways to aid the country’s growing homeless population. On this week’s show we look at tent cities that have emerged in Seattle and Portland. Scroll through the photos to get a better idea of life in Seattle’s Nickelsville and Portland’s Dignity Village. Listen to...
A Dream Remembered?: Martin Luther King Jr and the Grassroots Civil Rights Movement
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th 1963, Martin Luther King Jr delivered one of the most famous speeches of all time. But it nearly didn’t happen. On this special edition of Making Contact for MLK Day, Gary Younge, author of “The Speech” talks about Martin Luther King Junior’s “Dream” and the story behind it. Producer: George Lavender Special thanks to the New School for use of their recording....
Squatters: Intruders or Innovators?
Robert Neuwirth, author of “Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World”, estimates that more than a billion people–thats 1 in 7–are squatters. This week, we visit squats in Venezuela and the Philippines, and find out why squatters aren’t just tolerated…they are crucial to the growth of major cities and national economies. Featuring: Robert Neuwirth, author of “Shadow Cities: A Billion...
The Border: thoughts on place and identity
“There was a wall…Like all walls it was ambiguous, two-faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side of it you were on.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed I have been thinking a lot about borders. The borders I know come to being at the airport—at the security line where my belongings and body are scanned, at the booths of the immigration officers who take my fingerprints, my picture, my...
Concussions: Your Brain or the Game?
They say a smart athlete will use their head. But what if using your head cost you everything? That’s a question being asked in locker rooms the world over. Whether it’s boxing, hockey, or soccer, it seems that head injuries are finally being taken seriously. In the United States, lawsuits brought by players, as well as a body of scientific evidence, has lead to growing awareness about the impact American football has on...
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....
