))
“Making Contact” digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Produced by Frequencies of Change Media (FoC Media), the award-winning radio show and podcast examines the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground, building a more just world through narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the environment, labor, economics, health, governance, and arts and culture.
…
continue reading
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 ha…
…
continue reading
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 …
…
continue reading
1
East Orosi's Long Struggle for Water Part 2: The Role of Community Utility Districts
29:17
29:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:17
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?…
…
continue reading
1
Culture & Spirituality As Substance Use Treatment in Indigenous Communities
29:16
29:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:16
In the late 1990s, psychologist Dr. Joseph Gone, a professor and member of the Aaniiih Gros Ventre tribe, returned home during his doctoral training to the Fort Belknap Reservation in north central Montana. There, he set aside eurocentric concepts of psychology he was learning in school and instead asked tribal members how mental illness is address…
…
continue reading
1
East Orosi's Long Struggle for Clean Drinking Water
29:12
29:12
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:12
East Orosi hasn't had safe drinking water in over 20 years. The water is full of nitrates, runoff from industrial agriculture, which is harmful to human health. The community has taken action to find a solution, from lobbying at the state capital to working with neighboring towns. And they may finally have one. New California laws, passed in the la…
…
continue reading
1
The Healing Project: An Abolitionist Story (Encore)
29:18
29:18
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:18
Composer, pianist, and vocalist Samora Pinderhughes tells us about The Healing Project. The Healing Project, a fundamentally abolitionist project, explores the structures of systemic racism and the prison industrial complex. This story first aired February 2023. Pinderhughes and The Healing Project takes action towards abolition with forms such as …
…
continue reading
1
Caring Relationships: Negotiating Meaning and Maintaining Dignity (Encore)
29:15
29:15
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:15
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 l…
…
continue reading
1
Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice (Encore)
29:15
29:15
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:15
Inflammatory diseases are on the rise around the world, and when left unaddressed can turn chronic. Now, doctors are finally starting to pay more attention. But why & when does a beneficial part of our immune system turn against us? Raj Patel & Rupa Marya think it has a lot to do with the world we live in. They talk about climate change, ecological…
…
continue reading
1
Family Matters: What Helps Black Trans Kids Thrive
29:17
29:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:17
Kids are coming out as LGBTQ+ younger than ever before, making their identities more politicized than ever before. Hateful political rhetoric and discriminatory laws are likely contributing to the poor mental health documented among LGBTQ+ kids. In an effort to combat these struggles, researchers are studying what works to keep kids healthy, happy,…
…
continue reading
1
Family Matters: How Communities Support Trans Kids in Conservative States
29:17
29:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:17
In 2023, Kirin Clawson’s endocrinologist placed a puberty-blocking implant in her arm, a medical intervention that is associated with improved mental health for many trans kids with gender dysphoria. In February, Indiana joined several other conservative states banning this treatment for minors. In the first of a 2-part series, we hear from the Cla…
…
continue reading
1
The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation
29:17
29:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:17
Caste—one of the oldest systems of exclusion in the world—is thriving. Despite the ban on Untouchability 70 years ago, caste impacts 1.9 billion people in the world. Every 15 minutes, a crime is perpetrated against a Dalit person. The average age of death for Dalit women is just 39. And the wreckages of caste are replicated here in the U.S., too—er…
…
continue reading
1
Disclose! Divest!: Behind the Fight Over College Endowments
29:16
29:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:16
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 b…
…
continue reading
What are borders, and why do we have them? And how is violent border enforcement at the US-Mexico border connected to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza? And what happens when borders cross living land and communities? We'll dig into these questions in this week's episode with the help of Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Gr…
…
continue reading
1
The Art of Healing: Finding Strength Through Frida Kahlo
29:18
29:18
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:18
This week on Making Contact we take a look at one of the most prolific Mexican artists, Frida Kahlo, and how she inspired the Latina artist collective, “The Phoenix Fridas.” “In Confianza, with Pulso” producer Anthony Wallace brings us the story of Thania Betancourt Alcazar. A member of “The Phoenix Fridas,” Alcazar discovered a lifeline in the art…
…
continue reading
1
Jenny Odell and Discovering Life Beyond the Clock (Encore)
29:16
29:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:16
Have you ever really considered how we view time as a society? From work to leisure to appointments, we schedule every minute of our days, but how often do we think about why we treat time the way we do, our relationship to it, and why we value productivity over all else? This week, we talk to Jenny Odell about the ideas behind her book Saving Time…
…
continue reading
1
Uncovering the Refugee Experience & Healing Through Storytelling (Encore)
29:18
29:18
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:18
This week's Making Contact episode is about two strong women who survived historic trauma, and the stories they later told their families. We start with the story of Katie Wilson. Born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Kiev, Ukraine, she grew up safe and comfortable - until the Russian Revolution. After holding it close for years to protect the next …
…
continue reading
1
Survival for All: Securing Vaccines for the Global South
29:16
29:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:16
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 which was imposed globally through the WTO. At the time, activists tried to pass the TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Waiver, w…
…
continue reading
