You Can Still Have An Abortion
How does anyone make sense of abortion access these days? We sat down with All Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington, Indiana to talk about what’s changed since Indiana’s full abortion ban went into effect last August. Local abortion funds like All Options do a lot, but they can’t talk to clients about self-managed abortion, even though the World Health Organization says it’s safe and effective. We learn about...
The Coast Miwok Peoples, Colonization, and the Preservation of Indigenous History (Encore)
Dive into the history of Point Reyes National Seashore, one of the most iconic parks in northern California, with us. Known for rugged sweeping beaches and the famous tule elk, we’ll recount the waves of colonization that violently upended the lives of the Coast Miwok peoples who lived there – and one Indigenous woman’s struggle to preserve her family history. The story of Point Reyes is a story about how the forces of...
America’s Black Capital
“America’s Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy” chronicles how a center of Black excellence emerged amid virulent expressions of white nationalism as African Americans pushed back against Confederate ideology to create an extraordinary locus of achievement. Alongside author Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, in this episode we examine the methods in which Black Atlanteans pushed for social,...
Help Us Support Journalism from Gaza
Click here to donate to our Gaza Reporting Fund! Over the next few weeks, we are running a special campaign to fundraise for our Palestinian colleague Rami Almeghari. He is currently in Gaza with his family as Israeli military forces continue their genocidal assault on the residents of what has been called “the world’s biggest open-air prison.” Rami has been a longtime journalist and friend to Making Contact, and his work has...
The Origins of Zionism
For the last 6 months, the world has been witness to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Outsized, and unprecedented attacks on the people of Gaza, and support from western countries for these Israeli attacks have led to a situation where Gaza is being referred to as the world’s largest open-air prison. In this episode with Gaza-based reporter Rami Almeghari, we talk to Rashid Khalidi about his book “The Hundred Years’ War on...
7 Shows to Listen to this Women’s History Month
We’re knee deep in Women’s History Month and at Making Contact we’re celebrating the best way we know how: highlighting the stories of women making change and fighting for a better future for ourselves and all those around us along the way. Check out these stories from Making Contact featuring the often untold stories impacting women everyday: 1.Don’t Let Them See You Bleed: PERIOD From period stigma to the unfair tax on...
No, COVID Isn’t “Over,” and the Need for Continued Community
This March marks four years since the COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared. Public health failures and government inaction have forced communities to take matters into their own hands. On today’s show, we look at two groups steeped in the values of community care. First, we’ll hear about the Auntie Sewing Squad, which distributed over 350,000 hand-sewn masks to communities in 2020-2021. Then, we’ll speak with...
Reproductive Justice: The Ongoing Struggle for Bodily Autonomy (Encore)
Today we share excerpts from “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry,” a documentary filled with stories that still resonate today as women face new challenges around reproductive rights and sexual violence. The documentary tells the stories of the activists of the Women’s Liberation Movement that gained traction in the late 1960s and led to social and policy changes that set women on a path towards equality and reproductive...
Who’s Afraid of DEI?: Interrogating Gender & Race in the Workplace (Encore)
“There was not a moment that I came into the workplace and thought that I would belong or be treated properly or equally.” Ruchika Tulshyan, a workplace inclusion expert, paraphrases an interview with Ijeoma Oluo, a thought leader on race in America, for Tulshyan’s book, Inclusion on Purpose. In the conversation featured in this episode, these two women talk about Ruchika’s misassumptions about race and gender in the workplace in her...
The Ethical Dilemma of Geoengineering & Global Warming (Encore)
Geoengineering is defined as some emerging technologies that could manipulate the environment and partially offset some of the impacts of climate change. Seems like the perfect solution for a consumerist society that lives on instant gratification and can’t stop polluting even at the risk of our futures, right? Well, let’s slow down. Today we’ll discuss the dangers of geoengineering and the ethics of the fact that these new...
