Gaza, Solidarity, and the Movement for Palestinian Liberation
For weeks people around the world have been witness to Israel’s deadly assault on Gaza. Today, we uncover the military corporations profiting from the war, and highlight the activism in every corner of the world in support of Palestinian liberation. We’ll hear from Rami Almeghari, a Gaza-based journalist, to get insight on the conditions on the ground in Gaza before zooming out with Nora Barrows-Friedman to look at...
Not Just Speed Traps: Alabama Community Fights Back Against For-profit Policing – A 70 Million Story (Encore)
Just 20 minutes north of Birmingham on Interstate 22, Brookside, Alabama is a working-class town with less than 1,300 residents. From 2018 to 2020, income from traffic fines and forfeitures increased 640%, accounting for 49% of the town’s revenue. In 2019, Brookside saw its first lawsuit from a motorist that included allegations of racism and police misconduct. It caught national attention for being a predatory speed trap in 2022 and...
The Rest of the Story: Indigenous Resistance
In this episode, we revisit two stories concerning indigenous rights we’ve covered in the past. In the first half, Rebecca Nagle joins us to discuss the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act and why the legitimacy of the law is so important to tribal sovereignty. We also talk about the right’s legal strategy in the last few decades and what that means for decisions at the Supreme Court. In the...
A History of Traditional Root Healing (ENCORE)
In some parts of the world, traditional herbal remedies are the norm. When we think of natural remedies we tend to think of older generations living in remote areas, in far away countries, with little access to modern healthcare. We rarely think about the ancient medicinal plants that might exist in our very own cities. On today’s episode we look at plant and herb medicines through the lens of Michele Elizabeth Lee the...
70 Million – Highway Robbery: How a Small Town Traffic Trap Became A Legal Black Hole
This week on Making Contact, we bring you a story from our podcast partners, 70 Million titled Highway Robbery: How a Small-Town Traffic Trap Became A Legal Black Hole. About 20 minutes north of Birmingham, Alabama, on Interstate 22, is the working-class town of Brookside. Its almost 1300 residents make it about the size of a large high school. According to the 2020 census, Brookside’s population is mostly White and 21% are...
The Healing Project: An Abolitionist Story (Encore)
This week on Making Contact we speak with composer, pianist, and vocalist Samora Abayomi Pinderhughes about The Healing Project at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The Healing Project, fundamentally an abolitionist project, explores the structures of systemic racism — particularly the prison industrial complex — in the United States. Pinderhughes uses music, visual arts, film, and language as abolitionist action. The Healing...
