Making Contact

As relations between the United States and Russian governments continue to deteriorate, people are growing concerned that we're on the brink of another nuclear arms race. Both the U.S. and Russia are modernizing their nuclear arsenals. According to Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, "it's frighteningly easy to imagine how something could go wrong in that situation." Women Rising Radio takes us inside the movement for nuclear disarmament, to meet the women on the frontlines of the fight for a future free of nuclear weapons. From the US to Russia, the UK, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Japan, these dedicated advocates make the case for returning to the Nonproliferation Treaty and fulfilling its mandate. Featuring: Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation, Mayors for Peace, and Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons. Abacca Anjain-Maddison, Marshall Islands Senator, member of Marshall Islands delegation arguing the case against 9 nuclear nations at the International Court of Justice. Kate Hudson, General Secretary of Britain's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and National Secretary for the Left Unity party in the UK. Nadezda Kutepova, born and raised in a secret city, in Ozyorsk, Russia, survivor of the explosion of the Mayak nuclear weapons plant. Sharon Dolev, Israeli Disarmament Movement. Fujiko Yoshikawa, writer, Rafu Shimpo newspaper in Los Angeles, Japanese language magazine TV Fan. She and her family lived in a village near Hiroshima in Japan, when the atom bomb fell August 6, 1945.

Greg Palast, is an investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker. His new film, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: a Tale of Billionaires and Ballot Bandits," unmasks the continuing and unrelenting Jim-Crow attempts by America's "Billionaire Bandits" to prevent minority communities from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Featuring: Greg Palast, Investigative reporter, documentary filmmaker

In the US, the right to vote is one of the country's most cherished and hard-fought rights. But it doesn't mean that everyone has equal access to the polls. In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down a key civil rights provision of the Voting Rights Act. This November will be the first presidential election in 50 years where voters will not have the full protection of the original law. In this second installment of Making Contact's Immigrants and Elections series, we explore some of the barriers immigrants and other historically disenfranchised voters face in gaining access to the polls.

Since the 2013 Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, many states have pushed changes to voter laws that raise disturbing connections to the past. Before the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act on August 6th, we revisit the hard fought battles for voting rights and the implications of new laws. Featuring: Reverend Tyrone Edwards, civil rights historian in Plaquemines Parish Louisiana Tyrone Brooks, Georgia State Representative Clifford Kuhn, Professor of History at Georgia State University JT Johnson, civil rights organizer Allen Secher, rabbi Jerel James, Tamia Adkinson, docents at Civil Rights Museum of St. Augustine August Tinson, testified in U.S. vs Fox (1962) Gary May, professor of history at the University of Delaware and the author of Bending Towards Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy.

As relations between the United States and Russian governments continue to deteriorate, people are growing concerned that we're on the brink of another nuclear arms race. Both the U.S. and Russia are modernizing their nuclear arsenals. According to Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, "it's frighteningly easy to imagine how something could go wrong in that situation." Women Rising Radio takes us inside the movement for nuclear disarmament, to meet the women on the front lines of the fight for a future free of nuclear weapons. From the US to Russia, the UK, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Japan, these dedicated advocates make the case for returning to the Nonproliferation Treaty and fulfilling its mandate.

Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem was founded on a promise to serve all patients with the same, excellent care. This week, against the backdrop of military occupation, we go inside Hadassah's Mount Scopus maternity ward. There, the separation of Jewish and Arab mothers resulted in conflict between midwives at the hospital.

In a world that increasingly seems to strive for uniformity, afro-descendant Creole people on the eastern coast of Nicaragua seek to hold on to their unique culture through their food. Incoming palm plantations are fragmenting traditional Creole farmland and making it difficult for local coconut oil businesses. Overfishing and pesticides from the palm fields are reducing stocks of fish in the lagoons, making it more difficult to access traditional protein sources. In the towns and cities along the coast, an influx of foreign products is setting a new standard for how you should look, talk and eat. Rondon is one of the most celebrated traditional Creole dishes. Similar to a curry, it has a base of coconut milk in which you cook cassava, dasheen, breadfruit, baby corn and fried fish with fresh herbs and spices. It's a dish with strong connections to Africa. For a people descended from freed blacks, escaped slaves and indigenous Americans, holding on to Rondon is holding on to heritage.

The US military didn't shrink much under President Obama, and our perpetual state of war has barely waned since 9-11. Author Rosa Brooks says the consequences of this 'new normal' reach deep into our society; far beyond the body count of those killed overseas. On this edition, Rosa Brooks speaks about her new book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything. Special thanks to Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington DC Featuring Rosa Brooks, author of How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything. Host: Andrew Stelzer

September 11, 2001 ushered in an era marked by the unending War on Terror, dragnet government surveillance programs, and escalating attacks on people perceived to be Muslim. Just last month, Khalid Jabara, a 37-year old Lebanese American man was shot and killed on his front porch in Tulsa Oklahoma by a neighbor who had harassed his family for years, calling them 'dirty Arabs' and 'Mooslems'. This is just one of the many reported attacks on people perceived as Muslims in the United States. Last year, there were 174 incidents of anti-Muslim violence, and that's only if you count the attacks that made headlines. This backlash is just tip of the iceberg. Below the surface is a growing Islamophobia with deep roots in history and empire. Where does the idea of the 'Muslim enemy' come from? And how has it evolved into what we see today? Fifteen years after 9/11, Deepa Kumar, author of Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, takes us back nearly 15 centuries to find out.

Millions of people around the world work in jobs that aren't formally recognized or afforded legal protections typical of wage earning jobs. They're often not even thought of as legitimate work. On this edition of Making Contact, we're going to meet people making work where there is no work for them. From recyclers, to border couriers, to waste pickers, we're exploring the informal labor sector and what some are doing to gain greater recognition, protections, and rights. Featuring Landon Goodwin, recycler and pastor and also featured in documentary Dogtown Redemption Aicha al Azzouzi border courier Salma al Azzouzi, Aicha's oldest daughter Charles Gachanga Gichonge, creator of the Mustard Seed Courtyard clean-up campaign Antony Makau, Dandora resident Richard Munene, Dandora restaurant owner Sally Roever, Urban Policy Director for Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) Malati Gadgil, KKPKP