If you’ve ever stepped into a nail salon, you know the smell of a chemical cocktail that hits you like an invisible wall. While consumers may tolerate it during a short visit, the nail salon workers find themselves stewing in a toxic bubble for years. On this edition, we take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

Asian Health Services Educates Patient Leaders from pauline bartolone on Vimeo.

Nail Salon Workers Speak Up About Chemical Exposure

The amount of nail salons has nearly quadrupled nationwide in the past decade. In California, about two-thirds of nail salon workers are Vietnamese immigrants. In this next segment, Making Contact Producer Pauline Bartolone explores the health impact of chemical exposure on nail salon workers, and what groups are doing to protect them.

Nail Salon Businesses Go Green in Bay Area

Nail salon workers and advocates are pushing hard to change public policy around exposure to toxic chemicals.  But there’s also a movement coming from businesses themselves to make the salons greener and safer for workers and consumers. Correspondent Momo Chang has more.

–

Featuring:

Alisha Nga Tran, Patient Leadership Council facilitator, Asian Health Services; Dr. Thu Quach, Epidemiologist, Cancer Prevention Institute of California; My Tong, Associate, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative; Lam Le, former nail salon worker and cancer survivor; Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins , CEO, Green For All; Jamie Silberberger, Director of Programs and Policy at Women’s Voices for the Earth; Uyen Nguyen, Owner, Isabella Nail Salon; Sarah Vuong , employee at Isabella Nail Salon; Jill Adams , client, Isabella Nail Salon; David Chiu , President of San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Thanks to all of our supporters, to As You Sow‘s Environmental Enforcement Fund and to Spot.us for helping to crowd fund this story.

For more information:

Asian Health Services
Oakland, CA

California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
Oakland, CA

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
Washington, D.C.

National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance
Washington, D.C.

The Story of Cosmetics

Women’s Voices for the Earth
Missoula, MT

Music:

P.S. by Chromakey
Warm Sound by Zero 7

North Korean troops invaded South Korea 25 June, 1950, marking the beginning of the Korean War Photo: AFP

While the Korean War ended in 1953 with a temporary armistice, a formal peace treaty was never signed. The United States is still technically at war with North Korea, and tensions between the two countries remain high.

Many view North Korea as a strange and rogue country that threatens U.S. security. But others argue that North Korea’s actions have legitimate basis and that historical context is critical to understanding the issues.

On this edition, we look at Korea’s past conflicts and current tensions to understand how to avoid another war in the peninsula.

Featuring:

Charles Armstrong, Columbia University’s Associate Professor of Korean Studies; Jade Wu, actress; Paul Liem, President of the Korea Policy Institute; John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies; Jung, Geum Song, Korean War survivor.

For more information:

Korea Policy Institute
Los Angeles, CA

Foreign Policy in Focus
Washington, DC

Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
New York, NY

The Korea Society
New York, NY

National Campaign to End the Korean War
Washington, DC

Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook: North Korea

Nautilus Institute

National Committee on North Korea
washington, DC

Articles, Blogs, and Reports:

North Korea: Beyond the DMZ
Credits and a preview of the film can be viewed.

1994 Agreed Framework
Agreement between the U.S. and North Korea on the resolution of North Korea’s nuclear program.

2000 Joint North/South Korea’s Declaration
Joint statement between North and South Korea on cooperative efforts towards reunification.

Still Present Pasts
Traveling art exhibit

Music:

A Different Town by Mychael Danna
Bus by Mychael Danna
Comptine D’un Autre Ete by Yann Tiersen
Lakota Flute Song by Peter Kater
Canon in D by Lee Chang Yui
Arirang by the New York Philharmonic

Arundhati Roy

While the world was watching a series of terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November of 2008, the media’s focus was on a stand-off at the Taj Mahal Hotel. But what were the terrorist’s goals? Like many of the problems between India and Pakistan, much can be traced to Kashmir. It is one of the least understood but most important conflicts in the world.

On this edition, David Barsamian speaks with renowned author and activist, Arundhati Roy, about the future of Kashmir.

Featuring:

Arundhati Roy, activist and author; David Barsamian, author and Alternative Radio founder, producer and host.

Executive Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Producer: Andrew Stelzer
Contributing Producer: David Barsamian
Executive Director: Lisa Rudman
Associate Director: Khanh Pham
Production Coordinator: Elena Botkin-Levy
Interns: Asma Mohseni, Patti Restaino, Keisha Thomas and Rita Daniels

For more information:

Alternative Radio - Boulder, CO

Global Giving - Washington, DC

Kashmir International Relief Fund – London

WE (a documentary featuring the words of Arundhati Roy)

Additional information:

Arundhati Roy on recent non-violent demonstrations in Kashmir

BBC Q&A on Kashmir Dispute

Time magazine interview with Barack Obama on Kashmir and other foreign policy issues

United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 on Kashmir (1948)

“Kashmir and Elections,” by Ather Zia
From International Museum of Women (part of online election exhibit)
Note: The link to the this article offers a detailed history of the elections in the disputed region of Kashmir in India; it explains the complicated history of the region and delves into the serious issues regarding Kashmiris’ general disenchantment with electoral politics, women’s near invisibility in leadership positions, women’s political kinships, rigging, and the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination.

Water... Source: Dyson

We profile two women activists taking on the global water crisis. Canadian Maude Barlow is a well known leader in the global struggle for water justice. Ge Yun from China is in the vanguard of her country’s growing conservation movement. In this program, they both warn us about the link between climate change and the loss of one of our most basic human requirements: water for life.

Featuring:

Ge Yun, Xinjiang Conservation Fund executive director; Maude Barlow, The Council of Canadians national chairperson and Blue Planet Project co-founder.

Executive Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Women Rising Producer: Lynn Feinerman
Women Rising Host: Sandina Robbins
Women Rising Sound Editor: Stephanie Welch
Producer: Andrew Stelzer
Associate Producer: Puck Lo
Executive Director: Lisa Rudman
Associate Director: Khanh Pham
Interns: Elena Botkin-Levy and Aubrey Green

For more information:

Maude Barlow – Ottawa, ON

Xinjiang Conservation Fund

Beijing office: Chaoyang District

Top: Historian and author, Tariq Ali. Bottom: Alternative Radio founder and producer, David Barsamian. Source: Indymedia Ireland, Alternative Radio

British-Pakistani author, Tariq Ali, is one of the world’s leading historians and speakers on South Asia, U.S. foreign policy and the so-called clash of civilizations. This past March, before an audience at the Left Forum in New York City, Alternative Radio’s founder and host, David Barsamian, spoke with Mr. Ali. They talked about Pakistan’s history, recent news events, and about what the future holds for the country. This is an excerpt of that conversation.

Featuring:

David Barsamian, Alternative Radio founder/host and author; Tariq Ali, renowned author and historian

Executive Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Producer: Andrew Stelzer
Associate Producer: Puck Lo
Intern: Elena Botkin-Levy
Executive Director: Lisa Rudman

For more information:

Alternative Radio – Boulder, Colorado

Tariq Ali

Karen lady in traditional attire fetching water in bamboo "buckets" in the armed conflict zone of Kawthoolei. Source: Free Burma Coalition

Burma is a country run by one of the strictest military juntas in the world. For nearly 60 years, the country has been embroiled in civil war. More than 1 million people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities have fled to refugee camps in neighboring Thailand escaping forced labor, rapes, killings and imprisonment. The situation has deteriorated so badly that last September the U.N. Security Counsel added Burma to its formal agenda.

The Karen tribe is the largest ethnic minority in Burma. They continue to fight the junta. They say they will not surrender until there is peace and a separate state for the Karen people. Producer Jack Chance and the international documentary team Outer Voices went to Burma and Thailand to interview refugee activists from the Karen Women’s Organization. This is their story.

This had been a special collaboration with Outer Voices.

Featuring:

Interviews with Nobel nominees Zipporah Sein and Lydia Tom La as well as several other women activists, observers, humanitarian workers, and refugees.

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio.
Outer Voices Producers: Jack Chance, Stephanie Guyer-Stevens, Barrett Golding and Robin Wise.
Contributing Producer: Emily Polk.

For more information:

Karen Women’s Organization – Thailand

Outer Voices – Sebastopol, CA

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees

The Thailand Burma Border Consortium – TBBC – Bangrak, Thailand

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) – Mae Sot, Thailand

Burma Issues /The Peace Way Foundation – Thailand

U.S. Campaign for Burma – Washington, DC

North Korea often appears in the headlines for its militarism and current push to become a global nuclear power. Yet, the legacy of routine human rights abuses connected to the government of Kim Jong II rarely makes news.

North Koreans live in one of the most politically oppressive and economically depressed societies on the globe, according to international human rights groups. Not surprisingly, many of its citizens seek asylum in foreign nations. It is said that some are captured and entered into a torturous repatriation process. Some are believed executed. Some, putting their lives on the line, enter the U.S. illegally seeking refuge and a new life.

On this edition, we hear the stories of two North Koreans who crossed border after border, eventually making their way into the U.S.

Featuring:

Yong Kim, North Korean escapee and Chairman of the North Korean Refugees Association in the U.S.; Park Kum-Nyo, North Korean escapee and restaurant worker; Colonel Kim Bong Keon, retired Korean army officer and President of the Coalition of Korean-American Patriotic Organizations in the U.S.A.; Yohngsohk Choe, Chairman of the External Affairs Coordinating Committee, Coalition of Korean-American Patriotic Organizations in the U.S.A., and translator for Yong Kim.

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Making Contact Intern Producer: Alina Potts
Mixing Engineer: Stephanie Welch

For more information:

North Korean Refugees Association in the U.S. – Los Angeles, CA

Coalition of Korean-American Patriotic Organizations in the U.S.A. – Los Angeles, CA

U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea – Washington, DC

North Korea Freedom Coalition – Fairfax, Virgina

Defense Forum Foundation – Virgina

Liberty in North Korea (LiNK)

Human Rights Watch-Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – New York, NY

Amnesty International – New York, NY
Read their “North Korea Report 2005″

Chosun Journal

Yong Kim’s testimony

Seoul Train – Vail, CO
Documentary on the plight of North Koreans (including Yong Kim) as they try to escape into China

Kashmir earthquake survivors. Source: www.athrot.org

A 7-point-six earthquake hits Kashmir, a region that overlaps the borders of Pakistan and India, leaving thousands dead and millions homeless. Months later, conditions remain critical as the Kashmiri people struggle to survive the harsh Himalayan winter.

On this edition, we’ll hear from one grassroots organization that has close and personal ties to Kashmir, as they bring aid directly to the people along with a message of hope.

Featuring:

Talal Ansari, journalism student and community and campus outreach coordinator.

This week’s host: Tena Rubio.

For more information:

Kashmir Earthquake Relief - Los Angeles, CA

ATHROT Volunteer Relief Coalition

Kashf Foundation – Pakistan

Kashmir International Relief Fund – London, UK

Global Giving – Washington, DC

Featuring:

Rita Panicker, founder of Butterflies Street and Working Children in India; Sunil Kumar, head of the Butterflies Media Project; Esan and Pappu, street kids living in Delhi; Charles Aboureszk, KILI Radio News Director and Aboureszk Law Firm; Ron Walters, Native American Journalists’ Association; Pete TriDish, Media Activist, Prometheus Radio Project.

For more information:

Butterflies Street and Working Children (New Delhi, India)

KILI Radio–Porcupine, SD

Native American Journalists’ Association–Vermillion, SD

Abourezk Law Firm–Rapid City, SD

Prometheus Radio Project–Philadelphia, PA