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From Dreamers in Arizona to Muslims in Michigan: Immigrant Communities Upholding Democracy
This edition of Making Contact is Part I of our special series examining how immigrants are responding and participating in elections and politics today. From Dreamers in Arizona to Muslims in Michigan, we’ll meet immigrant communities upholding democracy. We’ll also have a conversation with the Brennan Center for Justice President and author of the Fight to Vote, Michael Waldman about how immigrants throughout history have expanded the right to vote. Featuring Elizabeth Perez, “Ellie” council assistant to the Office of...
read moreCall for Pitches: April 14, 2016
We’re looking for pitches from freelancers on several themes. See list below. If you feel you have a story that fits or you have a new idea, please let us know! We’re also always interested in pitches on any of our ongoing beats: prisons, poverty, corporations’ undue influence, reproductive health, climate change and the environment. We’re still looking for reporters who are themselves immigrants for our Immigrants and Elections miniseries–per that recent call for pitches. **NewsFlash — We’ve gotten a...
read moreCaring Relationships: Negotiating Meaning and Maintaining Dignity
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. On this edition of Making Contact, which features a segment by our Community Storytelling Fellow Alice...
read moreRadio Producer Part-Time based in the Bay Area
NOTE: We are not accepting applications at this time. We currently have 4 awesome core producers. Please pitch us as a freelance contributor. See https://focmedia.org/desk/pitches/ and https://focmedia.org/production/submission-guidelines/ Are you an energetic, organized creative producer with strong radio-writing, audio editing and sound mixing skills? Able to work on your own features and edit freelancers’ work while juggling both? Making Contact seeks an interim Part Time radio producer with excellent mixing...
read moreNot a Drop to Drink: our dwindling access to clean drinking water
It’s something many of us take for granted: access to clean drinking water. But for many Americans it’s not something they can rely on. From chemical spills in West Virginia to ecoli in the water on the Texas-Mexico border, to contamination from farming in California. On this edition, we hear what happens when there’s not a drop to drink. Featuring: Angela Walker, Charleston resident Neena Satija, environment reporter Texas Tribune Daisy Gonzalez and Vicente Lara, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water Horacio Amezquita, resident San...
read moreDiversifying Radio with Disabled Voices
Radio can be a familiar friend, source of knowledge, a marker of time and place. But as a cultural institution, what constitutes a “good voice” in radio reflects and transmits cultural norms and structures. When I started my Community Storytelling Radio Fellowship at Making Contact, I prepared by reading articles from Transom and AIR media about interviewing, storytelling, and production. I felt more intimidated as I read about advice on ‘how to do radio,’ especially since some parts were very physical (e.g.,...
read moreThe true cost of fast fashion: a look inside Los Angeles sweatshops
Los Angeles’ garment district is notorious for sweatshop conditions, abuse, and the outright theft of earned wages. Yet the name-brand clothes that some of us are wearing right now, may have been produced in factories like these. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll take you on a trip through LA’s garment district. Featuring: Irma, Eulalia, garment workers Marissa Nuncio, the director of LA’s Garment Worker Center Credits Host: Monica Lopez Contributing Producers: RE:Work Radio, Stefanie Ritoper and Saba Waheed More information RE:Work...
read moreUnstoppable: The Fight for 15
In 2012, fast food workers in NYC kicked off a movement that has exceeded all expectations, and changed the conversation about the minimum wage. On this edition, low paid workers tell the story of the fight for 15, the exploding nationwide movement for fair wages. Featuring: Alvin Major, KFC employee and original NYC striker Richard Wilson, Walmart employee Bernardo Monteo, Chanda Roberts, Jayla Mosley; fast food workers Mary Kay Henry, SEIU President Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education Thomas...
read moreLife, Breath, and Toxics: Lethal Negligence of Northeast and South L.A.
From Norco, Louisiana to Flint, Michigan to Los Angeles, California – environmental racism is real. On this edition of Making Contact, we look at polluting industries in Northeast and South L.A. We begin with a story by Making Contact’s Community Storytelling Fellow Ivan Rodriguez, followed by an interview with journalist Aura Bogado and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis. Featuring Ivan Maceda Rodriguez, Making Contact Community Storytelling Fellow Aura Bogado, Journalist, Grist Hilda Solis, Los Angeles County Supervisor Credits...
read moreMaking Contact’s dialogue on Women, Media and Community Activism
Join us for a live recording session in San Francisco! On March 16th The Making Contact team is happy be partnering with the California Institute for Integral Studies for an evening of important discussion and public journalism. Race, police violence and criminal justice reform have been at the top of headlines nationwide with no signs of slowing as we move into the election season. Join us for a dialogue with two inspiring community organizers and media makers on the front lines, pushing for systematic change and providing accurate media...
read moreWomen Rising 30: International Slavery and Human Trafficking
Women Rising Radio #30 profiles women fighting slavery, trafficking and forced labor globally. Featuring: Ima Matul, with CAST LA, was trafficked to Los Angeles, was rescued by the Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking in Los Angeles, and now heads CAST’s leadership program. Joanna Ewart-James is the executive director of WALK FREE, an online and on-the-ground network battling trafficking, forced labor, and servitude worldwide. WALK FREE is based in London. Elena Uraleva is an independent human rights monitor in her home country of...
read moreChina’s Reproductive Regime: Mei Fong & Barbara Demick on China’s one child policy
January 2016 marked the end of China’s one child policy—a regime of family planning policies and enforcement that scarred generations of parents and children. On this edition of Making Contact, China correspondent Gady Epstein speaks with Mei Fong, author of One Child:The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment, and Barbara Demick, journalist and former Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times. Featuring: Mei Fong, author of One Child:The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment Barbara Demick, , journalist and former Beijing bureau...
read moreListen to our extended interview with Stanley Nelson on “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution”
Stanley Nelson’s “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” has sparked a renewed interest in the famed revolutionary organization. In November journalist Eric Arnold interviews Nelson for our show. Now listen to the full unedited...
read moreThe 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 The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution Eric Arnold,...
read moreAfter Disaster: Picking up the pieces in an age of climate change
Among the effects of climate change are more extreme weather events, such as Typhoon Haiyan, Superstorm Sandy, and a severe drought stretching across much of the Western United States. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll take a deeper look at the social and psychological impacts of climate change, and the weight of inaction. Featuring: Niki Stanley and Derice Klass, Far Rockaway residents Zardos V. Abela, firefighter for the Bureau of Fire Protection in Tacloban, Philippines Abigail Gewirtz, psychologist at the University of...
read moreWe Are the Bomb: Boots Riley and Dave Zirin Talk Activism and Politics
Rapper and grassroots organizer Boots Riley’s recent book is titled “Tell Homeland Security: We Are the Bomb”. Riley appeared at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington DC, where he was interviewed by author and Edge of Sports blogger Dave Zirin. Special thanks to Politics and Prose Bookstore & Coffeehouse Featuring: Boots Riley, “Tell Homeland Security: We Are the Bomb” author Dave Zirin, “Edge of Sports” blogger More information: Tell Homeland Security: We Are the Bomb by Boots Riley Politics and Prose Bookstore & Coffeehouse The...
read moreThese 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 reporter Sara Bernard’s report below and the entire show here. Nicklesville Pushes Seattle Towards Acceptance...
read moreCall for Pitches: Immigration and Elections
We want your pitches! Making Contact is assembling a team of freelance journalists to examine how immigrants in the U.S. participate in politics and are responding to the 2016 elections. Two freelancers have already joined the project. Their work will specifically examine issues Latino/a communities are confronting in the upcoming elections. We’re looking for character-driven stories that focus on how other immigrant communities engage in U.S. politics. Here are some themes we’re interested in exploring: What interest...
read moreTent Cities: When Society Fails to House
Tent cities have popped up across the country, from New Jersey to Texas to New Mexico. Many are starting to build more permanent living structures. So what are the benefits of living in a cluster of tents? And is this part of a real solution to homelessness? Featuring: Eric Tars, Sr. Attorney with The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty Jack Tefari, John Reese, Ibrahim Mubarak, Doug, Dignity Village residents Will, John Derrig, Asa Yoe, Chris Semrau, Nicklesville residents Sharon Lee, Low Income Housing Institute executive...
read moreAbortion Access Under Attack
Special edition of Making Contact with guest Host, Rose Aguilar discussing reproductive health and abortion rights 43 years after Roe v. Wade. Featuring: Corrine Rivera-Fowler, deputy director of COLOR, the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights Carol Joffe, professor at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco and author of “Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Cost of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients, and the Rest of Us.” Credits Host: Rose Aguilar...
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