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Disclose! Divest!: Behind the Fight Over College Endowments
Jun05

Disclose! Divest!: Behind the Fight Over College Endowments

As graduation approached this year, students around the country began protests after calls for divestment from Israel were initially ignored by university leadership. The campus encampments were met with physical violence and the mainstream press dismissed the students’ demands as naive and immature. But, it turns out that there’s a lot we should be asking about college endowments.  We take a look at what an endowment is...

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Fallen Heroes 2021: bell hooks, Nawal El Saadawi, Carrie Dann, Margo St. James, and more
Dec29

Fallen Heroes 2021: bell hooks, Nawal El Saadawi, Carrie Dann, Margo St. James, and more

Making Contact · Fallen Heroes, 2021   Thousands of social justice leaders in communities all over the world passed away this year. In our annual Fallen Heroes episode, we share words of inspiration from, and about, some grassroots activists that may not have been very well known outside their particular communities. Special thanks to the following for use of audio: Clandestino Institut Outlaw Poverty, Not Prostitutes produced by...

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The Best of Making Contact
Dec31

The Best of Making Contact

Best of Making Contact 2019 Before we jump into our 2020 catalogue, we look back at our favorite shows from 2019. From Artificial Intelligence, to the stigma around women’s periods, from guns and restraining orders to the cost of Insulin, these are the stories that inspired us, taught us something or just made us think differently. Featured shows: Guns and Restraining Orders Legacy of Mistreatment Bad Math: The Risks of...

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Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
Aug27

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools is an examination of the experiences of black girls across the country whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged “by teachers, administrators, and the justice system “and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. In her new book, Morris shows how, despite obstacles, stigmas,...

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Legacy of Mistreatment
Mar06

Legacy of Mistreatment

Special Education African-American students across the country are much more likely than any other student group to be placed in special education. In this week’s episode, we present a documentary from San Francisco, where we hear about a landmark education case, and what is and isn’t working for black students with special needs today. This story first aired on KALW-FM’s news magazine Crosscurrents as part of the series Learning...

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Reclaiming Public Schools: Education in the Trump Era
Mar14

Reclaiming Public Schools: Education in the Trump Era

Outside of the home, children learn about the world, where they fit in amongst their peers, and who they want to be in school. Access to a quality education means different things to different people. Some families are willing and able to pay top dollar for a private school, other children are homeschooled, while many rely on public schools for their education. And some students are calling for a more thorough and inclusive curriculum...

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Room To Breathe: From Chaos to Peace in the Classroom

At overcrowded and underfunded public schools across the country high suspension rates are exacerbating existing achievement gaps. Often, chaos in the classroom is to blame, keeping students from concentrating on their classes. On this edition we’ll hear excerpts from Russell Long’s film “Room to Breathe” which takes us to a middle school in San Francisco, California, that began teaching mindfulness in the hopes of giving students the skills they need to focus on learning.

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Room To Breathe: From Chaos to Peace in the Classroom

At overcrowded and underfunded public schools across the country high suspension rates are exacerbating existing achievement gaps. Often, chaos in the classroom is to blame, keeping students from concentrating on their classes. On this edition we’ll hear excerpts from Russell Long’s film “Room to Breathe” which takes us to a middle school in San Francisco, California, that began teaching mindfulness in the hopes of giving students the skills they need to focus on learning.

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Education Not for Sale

Around the world, students have been taking to the streets. They’re opposed to rising tuition fees and cuts to education. On this edition, we’ll hear how students in Quebec helped bring down the government and why Chilean students are back out on the streets again. We’ll also speak to an activist in Puerto Rico who says she’s had enough of US-style higher education.

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The Toxic Truth About Nail Salons

We take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

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