Covering the movements, the issues, and the people fighting for some of the most important social justice issues of our time. Hosted by Amy Gastelum, Salima Hamirani, Anita Jonhson, and Lucy Kang.
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“Making Contact” digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Produced by Frequencies of Change Media (FoC Media), the award-winning radio show and podcast examines the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground, building a more just world through narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the environment, labor, economics, health, governance, and arts and culture.
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During his first term, Trump stacked the Supreme Court with hard right judges, creating a 6-3 split that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a stunning ruling in which a human right which was previously granted by law was taken away from the public. This time Trump faces even less resistance and could remake the Supreme Court once again. Elie My…
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During his first term, Trump stacked the Supreme Court with hard right judges creating a 6-3 split that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a stunning ruling in which a human right which was previously granted by law was taken away from the public. This time Trump faces even less resistance and could remake the Supreme Court once again. Ellie My…
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Dr. Flemmie Kittrell was a Black home economist whose research in the field of early childhood education shaped the way we think about child development today. She became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition and contributed immensely to programs like Head Start — even though her name is often left out of the history. We hear more abou…
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Dr. Flemmie Kittrell was a Black home economist whose research in the field of early childhood education shaped the way we think about child development today. She became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition and contributed immensely to programs like Head Start – even though her name is often left out of the history. We'll hear more a…
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Today’s episodes of Making Contact and Pushing Limits are preempted by special programming for KPFA’s 2025 Winter Fund Drive. Paul Reitter and Paul North discuss their translation of Capital: Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1, by Karl Marx. To support KPFA’s mission, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732. The post Special Winter Fund Driv…
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In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to know about and take control of their own lives and bodies. But while the design of the protot…
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Today’s episodes of Making Contact and Pushing Limits are preempted by special programming for KPFA’s 2025 Winter Fund Drive. For four days in September of 1971, prisoners revolted, taking over the institution that incarcerated them in upstate New York. By the time the dust settled in Attica, 33 prisoners and 10 guards or staff had been killed – no…
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A new philosophy steeped in the ideas of Artificial Intelligence, space colonization, and the long-term survival of the human species is gaining ground among the wealthy. However, there are reasons to question its goals and its ethics. Longtermists believe that not only could we colonize space and create simulated humans in giant servers around sta…
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Today’s episodes of Making Contact and Pushing Limits are preempted by special programming for KPFA’s 2025 Winter Fund Drive: David Walker, award-winning comic book writer, filmmaker, journalist, and educator, joins Brian Edwards-Tiekert to discuss Walker’s book The Life of Frederick Douglass: A Graphic Narrative of a Slave’s Journey from Bondage t…
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This week on Making Contact, we bring you a story of urban planning and how race has shaped American cities. In his book, Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption, Mitchell Schwarzer explores the origins and the lasting impacts of transportation improvements, systemic racism, and regional competition on Oakland’s built environmen…
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The military exposed thousands of servicemen to radioactivity when it called them to participate in nuclear weapons tests, including Operation Teapot in 1955. One was Eldridge Jones, who later deployed to exercises in the Bay Area to try to clean up radioactive substances, directed by the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. In episode 2 of “Expo…
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In Episode 2 of “Exposed” from our friends at San Francisco Public Press, we explore a little-known chapter in San Francisco’s nuclear era: human experiments carried out to assess the health effects of radiation. Scientists from the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, located at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, designed and executed at least 24…
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This episode comes to us from the podcast at SF Public Press. “Exposed” opens a window into the little-known history of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The sprawling abandoned naval base, in San Francisco’s southeast waterfront Bayview neighborhood, is currently the site of the city’s largest real estate development project. The base played a key…
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Today we present the first half of a two-part radio documentary from our friends at SF Public Press, “Exposed,” opening a window into the little-known history of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The sprawling abandoned naval base, in San Francisco’s southeast waterfront Bayview neighborhood, is currently the site of the city’s largest real estate …
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Today we head back to Indianapolis with the podcast Urban Roots. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Jean Spears was a young mother and burgeoning preservationist. She saved antiques from houses about to be demolished; she bought a home in a white slum and renovated it; later on, she did the same with a historic home in the black neighborhood near Indiana …
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Today we head back to Indianapolis with the podcast Urban Roots. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Jean Spears was a young mother and burgeoning preservationist. She saved antiques from houses about to be demolished; she bought a home in a white slum and renovated it; later on, she did the same with a historic home in the black neighborhood near Indiana …
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Madam C.J. Walker was a brilliant entrepreneur who built a haircare empire and became the first African-American woman millionaire. You might have heard about her, but not many people know that her headquarters used to be located in Indianapolis, along a once vibrant Black corridor called Indiana Avenue, a place that today is known for parking lots…
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Madam C.J. Walker was a brilliant entrepreneur who built a haircare empire and became the first African American woman millionaire. You might have heard about her, but not many people know that her headquarters used to be located in Indianapolis, along a once vibrant Black corridor called Indiana Avenue, a place that today is known for parking lots…
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On today’s show, we look at how art can highlight the struggles of incarcerated women, build solidarity with them across prison walls, and fight against the erasure and censorship inherent to incarceration. First, we’ll hear about a dance performance called “If I Give You My Sorrows” that’s built around the complex ways incarcerated women relate to…
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On today's show, we look at how art can highlight the struggles of incarcerated women, build solidarity with them across prison walls, and fight against the erasure and censorship inherent to incarceration. First, we'll hear about a dance performance called "If I Give You My Sorrows" that's built around the complex ways that incarcerated women rela…
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What are borders, and why do we have them? And how is violent border enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border connected to Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza? And what happens when borders cross living land and communities? We’ll dig into these questions in this week’s episode with the help of Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and …
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What are borders, and why do we have them? And how is violent border enforcement at the US-Mexico border connected to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza? And what happens when borders cross living land and communities? We'll dig into these questions on this week's episode with the help of Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Gr…
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On this week’s episode, we speak with Jenny Odell, author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, about how the ways we think about time shapes our lives. We take a critical look at productivity culture and the idea that time is money. Then we hear how to begin to disentangle our daily concept of time from its capitalistic and colonial…
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On this week's episode, we speak with Jenny Odell, acclaimed author of _Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock_ and _How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy._ We'll dig into the ideas behind _Saving Time, _which gives a sweeping panoramic overview of how the ways we think about time actually shapes our lives. We begin with a cr…
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On this week's episode, we dive into the hidden biases of the digital age with Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble, author of the groundbreaking book, _Algorithms of Oppression._ Dr. Noble unpacks how search engines, often seen as neutral tools, can reinforce harmful stereotypes and limit access to critical knowledge. Join us as we explore the forces shaping ou…
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