“Making Contact” is produced by International Media Project, an independent, non-profit organization founded in 1994, committed to investigative journalism, in-depth critical analysis, the promotion of civic participation and the dissemination of educational material. Its core focus is National Radio Project, the team that creates Making Contact.
Making Contact programs cover: Agriculture/Food – Civil Liberties – Globalization/Global-Political Economy – Education – Environment – Environmental Justice – Gay/Lesbian – Healthcare – Human Rights – Native/Indigenous Peoples – Labor – Latin America – Media – Middle East – Military/War/Peace – Nuclear – Political Activism – Prison/Police – Race – Social Justice – US Foreign Policy – US Domestic Politics – Welfare – Women – Youth … and more.
March 28, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
NO, COVID ISNT OVER, AND THE NEED FOR CONTINUED COMMUNITY
March marks four years since the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health failures and government inaction have forced communities to take matters into their own hands. On today's show, we look at two groups steeped in the values of community care: the Auntie Sewing Squad and Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future.
ListenMarch 21, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: THE ONGOING STRUGGLE FOR BODILY AUTONOMY (ENCORE)
Today we share excerpts from She's Beautiful When She's Angry, a documentary about the rise of activism around womens rights in the late 1960s, the intersections of race in this movement, and the coalescence of the movement around bodily autonomy. The stories resonate particularly in a moment where control of womens bodies has yet again become a debate.
ListenMarch 7, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
THE ETHICAL DILEMMA OF GEOENGINEERING & GLOBAL WARMING (ENCORE)
In an era where climate change is top of mind for all and our futures hang in the balance, scientists think theyve found a solution: geoengineering. We take a deep dive into whether this answer to global warming actually fulfills its promises - or does more harm than good.
Read MoreFebruary 29, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
Making Contact: The Feminist Birth of the Home Pregnancy Test
In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young graphic designer with an idea: Why couldn't women do their own pregnancy tests at home? This is the story of how she launched a product to help women know and make choices for their own bodies - and the inevitable backlash.
Read MoreFebruary 22, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
Making Contact: Jenny Odell on Saving Time
We speak with Jenny Odell, author of "Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock," about how the ways we think about time shapes our lives. A critical look at productivity culture and the idea that time is money, we disentangle our day-to-day concept of time from its capitalistic and colonialist roots.
Read MoreFebruary 15, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
Making Contact: Continuing to honor Black history and heritage
Today's episode from our archives continues to honor Black history and heritage. We take a look at the life and legacy of Bayard Rustin, a central figure in the struggle for civil rights and freedom. A pacifist, a gay man, and a practitioner of nonviolence, Rustin dedicated his life to racial equality, economic justice and ending warfare.
Read MoreFebruary 8, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
TULSA’S BLACK HISTORY SATURDAY SCHOOL
When Oklahoma passed a law limiting discussion of race in classrooms, Tulsa activist Kristi Williams rallied the community to create Black History Saturdays. Now, she says entire families are learning who they are by knowing where they come from.
Read MoreFebruary 1, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
BUILDING BACK BLACK WALL STREET
Tulsa Tri-City Collective leaders Carlos Moreno and Bracken Klar talk about the history of Greenwood, a Tulsa neighborhood founded by and for Black and Indigenous people at the beginning of the 20th century.
Read MoreJanuary 25, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
UNCOVERING THE HISTORY OF THE MASSACRE OF BLACK WALL STREET (ENCORE)
In the first of our 3 part series leading up to Black History Month, we focus in on how journalists and historians today are covering the Tulsa Race Massacre. KalaLea, producer and host of the podcast Blindspot: Tulsa Burning. She talks about how the series led coverage of the brutal 1921 attack on a prosperous Black Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa, known as Black Wall Street. Then we'll hear from Tulsa's Tri-City Collective who continue to investigate the history.
Read MoreJanuary 18, 2024 National, News & Public Affairs
NUCLEAR COLONIALISM AND THE STORY OPPENHEIMER DIDNT TELL (ENCORE)
Oppenheimer swept the Golden Globes, but what did it leave out? We talk about the impact of nuclear colonialism on New Mexico with Myrriah Gmez, author of Nuclear Nuevo Mxico, and how nuclear testing led to contamination in the Marshall Islands and around San Francisco.
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