Making Contact

We need affordable housing now! On today's episode, we look more closely at two stories that underscore the importance of affordable housing. First, we'll examine what the recent Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson means for unhoused people who are living on the streets and how historical disinvestment in affordable and public housing has created our current homelessness wave. Then, we'll hear about the fight to legalize and preserve one important type of affordable housing units in New York City – basement apartments – and how the escalating impacts of climate change are making that campaign more urgent than ever.    Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project  Annetta Seecharran, executive director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation    Making Contact Staff: Episode Host: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Music credit: Pendi

On this week's episode, we speak with Bay Area based comedian Karinda Dobbins about the release of her debut comedy album, Black & Blue. In Black & Blue, Karinda shares personal stories, finding humor in the most ordinary moments of her daily life, including her girlfriend’s arbitrary policy on household pests, the changes hipsters have brought to Oakland, and a Black woman’s unique packing list for hiking.  Featuring: Karinda Dobbins, standup comedian, writer, and actor  Episode Credits: Host: Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Music Credits: Dee Yan-Key "Hold on"; Audiobinger "The Garden State" Learn More:  Karinda Dobbins - https://karindadobbins.com/  

In Part 1 of our series on water in the Central Valley of California we visited a town called East Orosi, which has been fighting for clean water for over 20 years. This week we turn our attention to their sewage system, which is also falling apart. Why has it been so difficult for East Orosi to get clean drinking water and fix its sewage problems?  To answer that question we take a look at the entities that run things like sewage and water in unincorporated towns all across California. They're called Community Utility Districts. Community Utility Districts are often one of the only forms of self governance in unincorporated towns. But they're staffed by volunteers, they're underfunded, and they're trying to share a vital resource, water, which is also slowly disappearing in the San Joaquin Valley.  We talk about the problems with Community Utility Districts and ways to save them.  Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. Making Contact digs into the story beneath the story—con

At the beginning of the pandemic, we reported on the extreme inequality of the vaccine rollout to low income countries. Their access was hindered because of a western patent system imposed globally through the World Trade Organization. At the time, activists tried to pass some activists tried to pass something called the TRIPS waiver, which would have suspended all patents related to COVID-19, not just for vaccines, but for all therapeutics and protective equipment. But as the world moved on from COVID-19, so did the efforts for equity. The TRIPS Waiver failed to provide access to medicines, and poor countries never received the vaccines they were promised.  But the global south is fighting back. On today's show we look back at the failures of the early pandemic and we look forward, at new initiatives led by scientists and activists to circumvent patents and create broader access to medicines. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. Making Contact is an award-winning, national

This week we continue delving into community-rooted disaster relief in California, from wildfires to the pandemic. From building mutual aid networks, to translating emergency messages in common local languages, we see in action the incredible difference language justice can make in our communities.   In Sonoma County, organizers hit the field with information on where to get food, shelter, and support.   In San Francisco, they set up a much needed support response to COVID-19 in the city’s Mission District.   Tune in and hear how these leaders act collectively to confront those in power, work for justice, and together answer one vital question: how can next time be different? Special thanks to Sonya Green. Thank you to the But Next Time team. To listen to all of the But Next Time episodes and access video versions with Spanish subtitles visit www.butnexttime.com. You can also learn more about the organizations featured in the podcast and access resources like a listening and discussion guide. Learn more abo

As fires ravaged California's world-famous wine country in 2017, a community radio station, emergency dispatcher, and tenant organizers helped the most vulnerable in their community survive and recover.   Community organizers and hosts of the podcast But Next Time Chrishelle Palay and Rose Arrieta bring us the first of four stories of hard-won lessons learned from people on the frontlines of California’s wildfires and Texas’ storms as they work to answer the question, how can next time be different? In this first episode we discuss hardship faced by farm and service workers during this time, especially non-English speakers. These workers are the heart of wine country, from the planters to the harvesters, to the line cooks, hotel staff and dishwashers. Our systems failed them, how do we do better next time? To listen to all of the But Next Time episodes and access video versions with Spanish subtitles visit www.butnexttime.com. You can also learn more about the organizations featured in the podcast and access

For weeks the world has been witness to Israel's deadly assault on Gaza. Today, we uncover the military corporations profiting from the war, and highlight the activism in every corner of the world in support of Palestine. We'll get insight on the conditions on the ground in Gaza before zooming out to look at Israel's military industrial complex and how the United States is enabling genocide, through policymaking and the defense industry. But activists are taking aim and taking action. We close with a discussion on the Palestinian liberation movement from an abolitionist perspective. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. Like this story? Support independent journalism, NewsMatch will double your donation up to $1,000! Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.  This epis

We travel to Buenos Aires with reporter Rosina Castillo who immerses us in the culture of a local community arts organization who saw a need in their community and took action during the height of the pandemic. La Casona de Humahuaca transformed their operations to host “ollas populares” or community kitchens to help support their community and make it through the toughest parts of COVID together, all the while learning more about their organization and purpose in the community. We follow that with a conversation with Belen Desmaison, an architect and urbanist who discusses the building of an innovative communal living space with modular food preparation areas in Lima, Peru. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. Like this story? Support independent journalism, NewsMatch will double your donation up to $1,000! Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most

On this week's Making Contact, we bring you a special encore of an episode that first aired in June. We'll hear an extended interview with Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, a queer Diné filmmaker and director of the award-winning documentary Powerlands, Powerlands traces how multinational energy corporations extract resources and profits while displacing and harming Indigenous communities around the world. The film follows Indigenous activists in Navajo Nation, Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines who are fighting back against corporations like Peabody Energy, Glencore and BHP.  Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring:  Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, an award-winning queer Diné filmmaker and director of Powerlands  Making Contact Team: Host: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman This episode includes excerpts from the documenta

Just 20 minutes north of Birmingham on Interstate 22, Brookside, Alabama is a working-class town with less than 1,300 residents. From 2018 to 2020, income from traffic fines and forfeitures increased 640%, making up 49% of the town’s revenue. In 2019, Brookside saw its first lawsuit that included allegations of racism and police misconduct. It caught national attention for being a predatory speed trap in 2022 and now facing a class-action federal lawsuit. Thank you to our podcast partner, 70 Million, for the story “Highway Robbery: How a Small-Town Traffic Trap Became A Legal Black Hole.”  Learn more about the story and find the transcript on makingcontactradio.org. Like this story? Support independent journalism, NewsMatch will double your donation up to $1,000! Making Contact is a 29-minute weekly program committed to investigative journalism and in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news. FEATURING: Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Archibald, Brookside residents Sandra Harris an

As we head into an ever warming world, some experts and politicians are embracing a possible solution to climate change called geoengineering. Theoretically geoengineering could slow down climate change, stop it, and maybe even remove carbon from the air. It sounds like the perfect answer in for a global political system that just can't stop burning fossil fuels even if it kills us all. However, it might not be the easy fix we're hoping for. We talk to scientists and activists about what geoengineering is and why it could actually be a dangerous way to tackle climate change. We also dive into the moral and ethical questions of testing geoengineering technology on indigenous lands.  Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Basav Sen;  Climate Justice Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies Dr. Steven Zornetzer; Vice-Chair, Governing Board of Arctic Ice Project Panganga Pungowiyi; organizer for the nonp

How do you decide what kind of parent you want to be? Our friends at Pulso Podcast Maribel Quezada Smith and Liz Alarcón discuss ways they maintain their children’s cultural identity as Latinos while living in the U.S. They also touch on what they have changed from how their immigrant parents raised them. And, Liz sits down with Latinx parenting coach Leslie Priscilla to talk about her work using an antiracist, anticolonial and child-centered lens.  Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring Liz Alarcón: mom and Executive Director of Pulso Podcast   https://www.lizalarcon.com/aboutme  Maribel Quezada- Smith: mom and founder of the media production company, Diferente Creative  https://www.maribelqs.com/  Leslie Priscilla:  founder of Latinx Parenting  https://latinxparenting.org/  Making Contact Staff Host: Amy Gastelum Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Ch

Dive into the history of Point Reyes National Seashore in northern California with us. It's one of the most iconic national parks in the region, known for rugged sweeping beaches and the famous tule elk. We'll recount the waves of colonization that violently upended the lives of the Coast Miwok peoples who lived there – and one Indigenous woman's struggle to preserve her family history. The story of Point Reyes is a story about how the forces of colonialism continue to shape the fate of public lands in the United States.  Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring:  Theresa Harlan, (Kewa Pueblo/Jemez Pueblo), adopted daughter of Elizabeth Campigli Harlan (Coast Miwok), founder and executive director of The Alliance for Felix Cove  Making Contact Staff: Host: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Marketing Manager: T

In this special encore edition of Making Contact we present “Saltwater Soundwalk”: Indigenous Audio Tour of the Seattle Coast. Produced by Jenny Asarnow and Rachel Lam, this rhythmic, watery audio experience, streams of stories that ebb and flow, intermixing English with Coast Salish languages. Indigenous Coast Salish peoples continue to steward this land and preserve its language, despite settler colonialism, industrialization and gentrification. Part story, part sound collage, this piece is scored entirely with the sounds of the waters and animals who live in and around the Salish Sea.  Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring:  Voices in order of appearance: Water at Don Armeni Boat Ramp Randi Purser Smith (Suquamish) Archie Cantrell (Puyallup) Southern Resident Orcas Plainfin Midshipman Fish Ken Workman (Duwamish) Michelle Myles (Tulalip) LaDean Johnson (Skokomish) Owen Oliver (Quinault/Isleta Pueblo) RYAN! Fedde

In this episode, we revisit two stories we've covered in the past concerning indigenous rights. In the first half, Rebecca Nagle joins us to discuss the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act and why the legitimacy of the law is so important to tribal sovereignty. We also talk about the right's legal strategy in the last few decades and what that means for decisions at the Supreme Court. In the second half we hear from Chairman of the Amah Mutsun tribal band, Valentin Lopez, about the most recent developments in their fight to protect the sacred site Juristac. The site was slated to be developed into a mine, but the tribe has continued to gain support from environmental organizations and activists. We talk about next steps and how you can get involved.   Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring:  Rebecca Nagle: activist, writer and host of the podcast This Land Valentin Lopez: Chairman of the

George Floyd’s murder sparked increased attention toward Black liberation and by extension, racial discrimination generally. Institutions raced to check boxes for workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but it’s hard to know whether real work has been done. In this episode, two thought leaders around race and belonging, Ruchika Tulshyan and Ijeoma Oluo, discuss the finer points of how to create equity in the workplace. This conversation takes place at Town Hall Seattle and center’s Tulshyan’s book Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work.  Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring:  Ruchika Tulshyan - Inclusion strategist, speaker and author of the bestseller Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work. Ijeoma Oluo - Speaker and writer, author of the New York Times bestseller, So You Want to Talk About Race  Making Co

In this bonus clip, Marian Naranjo (Kha Po Owingeh), founder and director of Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE), speaks about the impact and legacy of the nuclear industry and Los Alamos National Laboratory on the Tewa people. The clip is from the 2021 video RadioActive: Nuclear Boom with Petuuch Gilbert and Marian Naranjo, courtesy of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The film Oppenheimer has reignited public interest in the Manhattan Project, the WWII-era secret program to develop the atomic bomb. But the movie leaves out important parts of the story. On today's show, we hear about the impact of nuclear colonialism and the Manhattan Project on the people and places of New Mexico with Myrriah Gómez, author of Nuclear Nuevo México: Colonialism and the Effects of the Nuclear Industrial Complex on Nuevomexicanos. And then we dig into how nuclear testing during the Cold War led to dangerous and lasting contamination in the Marshall Islands and San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood.  Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring:  Myrriah Gómez, associate professor in the Honors College at the University of New Mexico and author of Nuclear Nuevo México: Colonialism and the Effects of the Nuclear Industrial Complex on Nuevomexicanos     Making Contact Team: Host: Lucy Kang Prod

In some parts of the world, traditional herbal remedies are the norm.  When we  think of natural remedies we tend to think of older generations living in remote areas, in far away  countries,  with little access to modern healthcare.  We rarely think about the ancient medicinal plants that might exist in our very own cities. On today's episode we look at plant and herb medicines through the lens of Michele Elizabeth. Lee the author of Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African-American Healing.  Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring:  Michele Elizabeth Lee is a traditional healing practitioner, educator, visual artist and the author of Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing.  Brandi Mack, a Holistic Health Educator, Therapeutic Massage Therapist, Trauma-Informed Youth developer, Powerful Presenter, and Permaculture Designer. Estrella  Davina is a holistic practitio

On today's show, we'll hear an encore of a show from our archives that first aired in April. We'll be looking at the environmental impact of the rail industry and hear from people in two communities currently impacted by rail-related contamination. In February, a Suffolk Northern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and residents are still recovering from the disaster over two months later. Residents like Jami Wallace and community organizations are fighting for relief. In Houston's Fifth Ward, residents have been living with the dire health effects of carcinogenic creosote used to treat railroad ties decades ago. Health officials have found cancer clusters in the neighborhood, where many have been devastated by the loss of friends, neighbors and loved ones. We'll hear a story from Living Downstream about the impacts to this close-knit community, where residents and organizers like Sandra Edwards continue to advocate for accountability and justice.  Like this program? Please show