Making Contact

Over 6,000 migrant deaths were recorded on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico between 1998 and 2013. The true number of deaths is likely higher, and thousands of families never hear from their loved ones again. This documentary travels to the desert ranch lands of Brooks County and the border town of Reynosa, Tamaulipas to introduce us to the human cost of “prevention through deterrence,” a border enforcement strategy introduced during the Clinton administration. Featuring: Lori Baker, Professor of Anthropology, Baylor University Eduardo Canales, Executive Director, South Texas Human rights Center Elias,

Every week since January of 1995, Making Contact has been bringing you voices and perspectives from the grassroots…analysis of the larger structures driving our global economies…and solutions being created by people all over the world. On this special 20th program’s creation by volunteers, and how this little radio show became part of a new generation of media outlets that continues to both counter the mainstream, and transform our conception of who and what is considered newsworthy. Featuring: Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President Emertia of Bennett College for Women Peggy Law & Norman Solomon, Making Contact co-founders Paul George, Steve Rock, Shelley Kessler, Pam Law, Bill Creighton, early Making Contact volunteers Food Not Bombs volunteers Laura Livoti, former Making Contact Managing Director Michael Eisenmenger, Community Media Center of Marin Executive Director David Cole, Georgetown University constitutional law professor Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report founder

In September of 2014, Women Rising radio rode the People’s Climate train coast to coast, with over 200 activists heading to New York City to join the largest climate change march in history. Featuring: Valerie Love, Center for Biological Diversity, No Tar Sands Campaigner Penny Opal Plant, Indigenous climate activist Lauren Wood, Utah’s Peaceful Uprising co-founder Teresa Jimenez, Urban Tithe organizer Shannon Biggs, Global Exchange Community Rights program director Rosalind Harris, Global Climate Justice Alliance Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director Sister Santussika, Tony Sirna, Camille Herrera, Carrie, Riders on the People’s Climate Train People’s Climate Train Singers

Victims and perpetrators sitting down face to face…it can help heal their wounds, and our society. Incarcerating our way out of crime clearly hasn’t worked, and it’s costing us billions. Meanwhile, school suspensions are reaching record highs. Now, Institutions across US are finally starting to consider problem solving methods other than punishment. Restorative justice is gaining ground–in the schools, and behind bars. Featuring: Paul Jacobsen, Rosa Parks elementary school principal Mekaylah Porter, Marilyn, Rosa Parks elementary students Yari Sandel, restorative justice coordinator Helen Parker, San Francisco’s restorative practices department coach Sonya Shah, Insight Prison Project Justice Program Director Nancy Potts, mother of son killed by drunk driver Chris Scezech, drunk driver Radha Stern, mother of murder victim Sam Johnson, San Quentin prison inmate

More than a decade after the start of the second Gulf War, the United States has embarked on a bombing campaign targeting Islamic State forces inside Iraq and Syria. It’s the third U.S. military action inside Iraq in as many decades. But the reasons for the new war keep shifting, from protecting ethnic and religious minorities, to preventing terrorist attacks on the U.S. As independent producer Reese Erlich reports from Northern Iraq, this latest conflict, and the future of the region is tightly connected to the oil industry and international politics. Featuring: Antonia Juhasz, author The Bush Agenda, The Tyranny of Oil, and Black Tide Fauzi Ali and Aiwa Majdal, Yazidi refugees Chenar Rozbyani, photographer Richard Nabb, oil company advisor Kemal Afaraci assistant district manager Tak Tak oil field Shirin Jabar, demonstrator at KDP rally.

In her new book: “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate”, Naomi Klein argues that while it’s too late to stop climate change, we can save our civilization. But it’s going to take radical steps that will transform the way humans interact with the world. Business as usual is no longer an option. On this edition, Naomi Klein speaks about her new book, and points out signs of hope as the global movement to counter climate change matures. Featuring: Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate

It’s election season! But 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. On this week’s show, we’ll hear about 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 at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 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.

Heroes to many, traitors to some. The internet has put whistleblowers in the public eye, and the government’s crosshairs. With increased access to classified information, and the ability to spread it, the world’s biggest institutions are running scared and cracking down. On this week’s show, we hear about the whistleblowers we don’t see on the nightly news. They’re not named Manning or Snowden, they’re ordinary people who report wrongdoing at their place of employment, and pay the consequences. Featuring: Eileen Chubb, founder of Compassion in Care and The Whistler Felix Smith, former US Department of Fish & Wildlife biologist Gary Santolo, wildlife biologist and toxicologist Lloyd Carter, former environmental reporter Stephen Kohn, National Whistleblowers Center director

What do our voices say about us? On this edition we explore voice and identity. We’ll hear from someone who nearly lost their voice as well as the challenges that come with ordering a pizza with a speech generating device. Featuring: Mya Byrne, singer-songwriter Kathe Perez, creator of EVA app Samuel Sennott, assistant professor of special education at Portland University Bob Segalman, author “Against the Current, My Life with Cerebral Palsy” April Bryant, UC Berkeley student Hannah Simpson, Nika Jewell, Tela Love, 13th Philadelphia Transgender Health Conference, attendees.

Making Contact partnered with the 2014 National Poetry Slam to produce this special open mic highlighting the power of thoughtful, truth telling, community focused poetry. [one_half]Featuring Poets: Chris Cuadrado Lindsay Stone Jared Paul Caitlin Clark Queen T More information, photos and the full 3 hour open mic at: Making Contact