Making Contact

For Earth Day, we bring back a special environmental episode from our archives!  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 for a global political system that just can’t stop burning fossil fuels even if it kills us all. But 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. This episode first aired in 2023. 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 nonprofit Indigenous Environmental Network in Alaska  Making Contact Team: Episode hosts: Salima Hamirani and Jessica Partnow | Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang | Executive Director: Jina Chung | Engineer: Jeff Emtman | Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong | Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music Credits: Chris Zabriskie – Air Hockey Salon | Bio Unit – Industrial Zone | Chris Zabriskie – Take Off and Shoot a Zero | Doctor Turtle – Leap Second | Monplaisir – Ridiculous | Monplaisir – Juan Garcia Madero  Learn More:  Indigenous Environmental Network | Arctic Ice Project | Institute for Policy Studies 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.

For Black Maternal Health Week, we celebrate the important work that Black midwives do in their communities. In this week's show, we'll hear a conversation about how one woman followed her calling to midwifery in a story brought to us by the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center. Featuring Kimberly Durdin, licensed midwife and co-founder of Kindred Space LA and the Birthing People Foundation Making Contact Team Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music credit: "Documentary" by The Mountain via Pixabay Re:Work Episode Credits Hosted and produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed Learn More Making Contact homepage | Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center 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.

What is caste? According to author Thenmozhi Soundararajan, “caste is suffering. That one’s worth and fate are determined at the moment of birth. Forced to exist in a caste apartheid of segregated ghettos." On this week's episode, we talk to Thenmozhi Soundararajan the author of The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition. Examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspective , Thenmozhi lays bare the grief, trauma, rage, and stolen futures enacted by Brahminical social structures on the caste-oppressed. This is an encore presentation of a show that first aired June 12, 2024. Featuring: Thenmozhi Soundararajan the author of The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolitio   Making Contact Team Host: Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman  Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain   Music: Blue Dot Sessions - "3rd Chair" Blue Dot Sessions - "Paving Stones"   Learn More:  The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition Thenmozhi Soundararajan / Dalit Diva Google’s plan to talk about caste bias led to ‘division and rancor’ Hindu Sect Accused of Using Forced Labor Dismantling the Caste System 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.

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. This is an encore presentation of a show that first aired August 14, 2024. Featuring: Karinda Dobbins, standup comedian, writer, and actor Making Contact Staff: Host: Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong  Engineer: [Jeff Emtman](http://www.jeffemtman.com/)  Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music Credits: Dee Yan-Key "Hold on" Audiobinger "The Garden State"   Learn More:  Karinda Dobbins  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.

Ellie Mystal, a justice correspondent for The Nation and author of "Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution," dives deep into the implications of Trump's Supreme Court appointments. He discusses how Trump's restructuring has resulted in a powerful conservative majority, leading to major rulings like the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Mystal critiques Democratic failures to counter this shift and speculates on potential future nominations that could further impact our rights. He emphasizes the importance of grassroots activism for meaningful change.

Dr. Flemmie Kittrell was a Black home economist whose research in the field of early childhood education shaped the way we think about child development today. She became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition and contributed immensely to programs like Head Start – even though her name is often left out of the history. We'll hear more about her life and work in a story from the podcast _Lost Women of Science_,_ _hosted by Carol Sutton Lewis and Danya AbdelHameid. Featuring: Dolores Caffey-Fleming, Program director of Project STRIDE, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science Allison Horrocks, Public historian Lauren Bauer, fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution  Credits Making Contact Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: [Jeff Emtman](http://www.jeffemtman.com/)  Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music Credit:  "Science Documentary" by [Aleksey Chistilin] Lost Women of Science: "Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment" Hosted by Danya AbdelHameid and Carol Sutton Lewis Written and produced by Danya AbdelHameid with senior producer Elah Feder Music composed by Lizzie Younan  Episode sound designed and mastered by Alex Sugiura Executive producers: Amy Scharf and Katie Hafner Chief multimedia editor at our publishing partner, _Scientific American_: Jeff Delviscio Learn More:  Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org Listen to the full episode from _Lost Women of Science: https://www.lostwomenofscience.org/podcast-episodes/flemmie-kittrell-and-the-preschool-experiment   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.

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to know about and take control of their own lives and bodies.  But while the design of the prototype was simple, Crane faced the issues we continue to fight when it comes to reproductive rights and the health and autonomy of people who give birth: an uphill battle to convince the pharmaceutical companies, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary. After all this, Crane is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry. Featuring: Margaret Crane – Graphic designer and inventor of the first home pregnancy test Wendy Kline – Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, History Faculty Purdue University Jesse Olszynko-Gryn – Head of the Laboratory for Oral History and Experimental Media at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science  Arthur Kover – Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University Alexandra Lord – Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History Credits: Host: Amy Gastelum Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman  Digital Media Marketing: Anubhuti Kumar   Music Credits: Podington Bear, Rhythm and Strings Learn More: National Museum of American History: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1803285 A Woman’s Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544399/a-womans-right-to-know/ Predictor by Jennifer Blackmer: https://newplayexchange.org/plays/348156/predictor   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.

A new philosophy steeped in the ideas of Artificial Intelligence, space colonization, and the long-term survival of the human species is gaining ground among the wealthy.  However, there are reasons to question its goals and its ethics. Longtermists believe that not only could we colonize space and create simulated humans in giant servers around stars, but that we must. Anything short of a trillion-year multi-planetary existence for our species would be a moral failing. They also believe that all of our ethical actions should focus on the countless lives that may exist in that dim future, instead of on the people alive today. Is this the kind of ethics we should all accept, however? Philosopher and historian Émile P. Torres joins us to discuss Longtermism and its dangerous pitfalls. Featuring: Émile P. Torres, Philosopher and Historian Credits: Host: Salima Hamirani Co-host: Amy Gastelum Executive Director: Jina Chung Segment Editor + Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Lucy Kang, Amy Gastelum Audio Engineering: Jeff Emtman Music Credits: Rocky Marsiano – Whatshappenin Blear Moon – Ongoing Cases Alex Productions – Born Dilating TImes – Faded Flowers Danny Bale – Fern Music (Extended) Learn More:  Emile P. Torres Article on Longtermism 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 week on Making Contact, we bring you a story of urban planning and how race has shaped American cities.  In his book, Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption, Mitchell Schwarzer explores the origins and the lasting impacts of transportation improvements, systemic racism, and regional competition on Oakland’s built environment. Schwarzer, an architectural and urban historian, pulls from his experience as a city planner, and educator to tell the story of a city divided. Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here: http://bit.ly/3LYyl0R and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Mitchell Schwarzer; Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Visual Culture at California College of the Arts. He has written books on architectural theory, visual perception, and the buildings of the San Francisco Bay Area. Credits Host:  Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Interim Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow Engineer: Jeff Emtman Music: Blue Dot Sessions “Bedroll” Blue Dot Sessions “Messy Inkwell” Andy G. Cohen “Our Young Guts” Learn More: Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption Most Segregated Cities 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.

In episode two of “Exposed”  from our friends at the San Francisco Public Press, we explore a little-known chapter in San Francisco’s nuclear era: human experiments carried out to assess the health effects of radiation. Scientists from the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, located at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, designed and executed at least 24 experiments that involved gathering data from humans — in some cases, injecting test subjects with radioisotopes or having them ingest fluids laced with trace amounts of radioactive materials. Even football players from the San Francisco 49ers were enrolled as test subjects in these so-called tracer studies. We hear from military veterans who were sent on a mysterious mission to spread radioactive substances onto rooftops at an Army base near Pittsburg, Calif., for an experiment the radiation lab played a role in designing. Some recount experiences of witnessing nuclear bomb blasts in the Nevada desert. We also examine a national pattern of human radiation experiments revealed by Eileen Welsome, the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, who shined a light on similar practices conducted by government facilities, hospitals and other institutions. Featuring: Eldridge Jones, who served in the military and was part of Operation Stoneman Merle Votaw, a Navy veteran who participated in Operation Stoneman II Eileen Welsome, author of "Plutonium Files" Holly Barker, Anthropologist and professor at the University of Washington who studied the Marshall Islands Credits: San Francisco Public Press: Reporting: Rebecca Bowe and Chris Roberts Editing: Michael Stoll and Liz Enochs Research Editing: Ambika Kandasamy Web Design: John Angelico Copy Editing: Kurt Aguilar, Michele Anderson and Richard Knee Archival Research and Illustration: Stacey Carter Audio Editing: Liana Wilcox, Mel Baker and Megan Maurer Sound Gathering: Justin Benttinen Photography: Sharon Wickham, Yesica Prado and Guillermo Hernandez Graphic Design: Reid Brown Fact Checking: Dani Solakian and Ali Hanks Proofreading: Lila LaHood, Noah Arroyo, Zhe Wu and Sylvie Sturm Special thanks to Alastair Gee and Danielle Renwick at The Guardian and Ben Trefny at KALW Public Radio, and to Laura Wenus and Amy Pyle Making Contact: Host: Salima Hamirani Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Anubhuti Kumar Music Credits: Midday, by the Blue Dot Sessions Sweet Leilani, by Bing Crosby   Learn More:  Exposed on the San Francisco Public Press Exposed Part 1   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.