We go to the gulf coast to hear why, despite the dangerous and deadly consequences, locals aren’t ready to turn their backs on the oil industry.  What does that mean for the rest of us, as we pursue a future free of fossil fuels?

We look at how the unemployed are getting creative about making ends meet, from starting their own businesses to work-sharing.

Sports writer Dave Zirin tells the story of how the Phoenix Suns basketball team took a stand against their state’s anti-immigrant bill SB1070. He says athletes, too, can be revolutionaries.

Venezuela is undergoing a modern day revolution. Workers, small farmers and the poor consistently vote for socialist President Hugo Chavez. Economically better-off citizens denounce the president as a communist who is destroying the country, but even some on the left criticize Chavez.

This June, thousands of grassroots activists converged on Detroit, Michigan to attend the 2010 United States Social Forum. We were there and on this edition of Making Contact, we’ll bring you some of the local and international voices we found.