Making Contact
2:00 PM PACIFIC TIME: Fridays
Covering the movements, the issues, and the people fighting for some of the most important social justice issues of our time. Hosted by Amy Gastelum, Salima Hamirani, Anita Jonhson, and Lucy Kang.
Making Contact – Art is Our Weapon: A Conversation With Climbing Poetree
Alixa and Naima are two poets who together make up Climbing PoeTree, an award winning performance duo. Mixing poetry and politics they seek to use their words to educate and inspire. On this edition, we hear performances by Climbing PoeTree and hear how their performances have evolved over the years. Featuring: Alixa and Naima, … Continued
Making Contact – Looking Back, Moving Forward: 2012 Year in Review
As 2013 approaches, we look at some of the important issues we’ve covered in 2012: from domestic workers struggling for respect, to the consequences of climate change, to drone warfare. We’ll listen back to some highlights from those programs, and get updates on where those stories stand now. Featuring: Ai-Jen Poo, National Alliance for Domestic … Continued
Making Contact – Life or Death: Ending the Death Penalty
A growing movement is demanding the United States do away with the death penalty. In 2012 voters had the chance to vote to replace California’s death penalty with life without the possibility of parole. But while some saw the ballot measure as a way to end the death penalty, others saw life without parole as … Continued
Making Contact – Saving or Selling the Planet? REDD, Climate Change and Indigenous Lands
Around the world communities are already facing the impacts of climate change. Now international organizations, like the World Bank, are pushing a policy that asks polluters to offset their pollution by paying governments to protect forests. But is it working? On this edition, we take a closer look at this policy and ask, is it … Continued
Making Contact – 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, chaosb 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, … Continued
Making Contact – Native Harvest for a Modern World (ENCORE)
For centuries, the Taos Pueblo people in New Mexico lived entirely off their land. Sustainable agriculture was a way of life, but U.S. federal policies helped put an end to that. Food wasn’t grown at the pueblos; it was trucked in. Traditional farming gave way to government subsidies and obesity rates soared. But recently, a … Continued
Making Contact – International Anti-Nuclear Activists
With nuclear power back on the agenda, three prominent female activists tell their stories: Kaori Izumi was part of the grassroots campaign to shutdown Japan’s nuclear power plants, after the Fukushima disaster. Winona LaDuke, has spent much of her life working to oppose uranium mining on indigenous land. And Alice Slater is part of a … Continued
Making Contact – The Electoral College’s Dirty History
Who are the electors, anyway? And will the United States ever join the rest of the world, and adopt a popular vote for president? Yale University Law & Political Science Professor Akhil Reed Amar says the Electoral College discourages voting, lessens the power of the states, and could work to the disadvantage of either major … Continued
Making Contact – 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 … Continued