Making Contact

Series produced by Making Contact

Series image

An international radio program that links people, vital ideas, and important information

Making Contact is an award-winning, 29-minute weekly magazine/documentary-style public affairs program, heard on more than 190 radio stations in the USA, Canada and South Africa. Making Contact is committed to in-depth critical analysis that goes beyond the breaking news.

Showcasing voices and perspectives not often heard in mainstream media, Making Contact focuses on the human realities of politics and the connections between local and global events, emphasizing positive, creative and grassroots ways to solve problems.

Making Contact's first broadcast was in 1995.


535 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Non-profits Make Jobs by Supporting Micro-Enterprise
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
Despite Obama’s words of support of small business, experts say some aren’t relying on government, but more and more on community groups and micro-...

Bought by WCSU-FM, KZMU Moab Community Radio, and KUOW


  • Added: Aug 12, 2010
  • Length: 09:00
  • Purchases: 3
A Waste-Free Dairy of the Future?
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: cheese maker at Fiscalini, Credit: Rita Daniels
It’s estimated that dairy products make up a full 20% of our daily food intake here in North America. But with increased focus on cattle waste met...

  • Added: Aug 10, 2010
  • Length: 08:42
Dry Farming-a Technique for a Water Scarce Future
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
Farmers in California's central valley are getting a sneak preview of what much of the country, and the world, can expect to see in the next few de...

Bought by KALW


  • Added: Aug 10, 2010
  • Length: 07:52
  • Purchases: 1
Small Farms, Big Future
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Making Cheese at the Fiscalini Cheese Company , Credit: Rita Daniels
We go to California, America’s leading producer of fruits, vegetables, and dairy, to see some examples of how the nation’s agricultural industry is...

Bought by WSKG, KZYX, and Yellowstone Public Radio


  • Added: Aug 10, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 3
How We Survive: Getting Creative About Jobs
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
We look at how the unemployed are getting creative about making ends meet, from starting their own businesses to work-sharing.

Bought by WCSU-FM and Yellowstone Public Radio


  • Added: Aug 03, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Oscar Grant and Police Accountability
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
We take a look at the Police killing of Oscar Grant in Oakland, and the debate over who gets to decide when an officer has done something wrong.

Bought by KZMU Moab Community Radio


  • Added: Jul 15, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Lessons from Latin America
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Oscar Estrada, Credit: http://www.elheraldo.hn/content/view/full/18947
We hear from activists and experts who say the U.S. can learn a lot from social movements in Latin America.

Bought by KRZA


  • Added: Jul 01, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Crisis as Opportunity: Voices from the U.S. Social Forum
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
This June, thousands of grassroots activists converged on Detroit, Michigan to attend the 2010 United States Social Forum. We were there and on thi...

  • Added: Jun 29, 2010
  • Length: 29:59
Working Beyond Unions
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
It’s been decades since the U.S. has had a powerful labor movement and recent efforts to revive it have mostly fallen flat. But there is hope for a...

Bought by KZYX


  • Added: Jun 08, 2010
  • Length: 29:59
  • Purchases: 1
James Lawson: Non-Violent Warrior
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Rev. James Lawson Arrested in Nashville, 1960 , Credit: www.blackpast.com
An interview with James Lawson, the chief architect of the 1960 lunch counter sit-ins, and confidant to Martin Luther King. Lawson touches on every...

  • Added: May 27, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
Art in Action
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
On this edition we speak with young artists of diverse backgrounds who use their independent experiences and creative impulses to talk about race, ...

  • Added: May 18, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
Heavy Weather (Part II)
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
On this edition, we’ll hear part two of a documentary called Heavy Weather, produced by freelancer Barbara Bernstein. She’ll look at how climate c...

  • Added: Apr 23, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
LGBTQ Immigrants Speak Out
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
On this edition, we hear from LGBTQ immigrants in the U.S. who not only have to hide their legal identity, but their sexuality too. Their stories d...

Bought by WXDU, KRUA, and WRNC-LP


  • Added: Apr 20, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 3
Heavy Weather (Part 1)
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Tillamook Floodplain, Credit: Barbara Bernstein
On this edition, we’ll hear part one of a documentary called Heavy Weather, produced by freelancer Barbara Bernstein. She’ll explore the connection...

Bought by WUAL and The Neighborhood


  • Added: Apr 13, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Dr. Joanna Macy: Gifts of Uncertainty
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Dr. Joanna Macy, Credit: www.bioneers.org
Dr. Joanna Macy is a long-time peace, justice, and ecology activist. A celebrated Buddhist teacher, Dr. Macy’s wide-ranging work spans Eastern and ...

Bought by Yellowstone Public Radio


  • Added: Feb 23, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Women Rising XX: Leaders Struggling with War
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Fatou Bensouda, Credit: Jeffrey MacMillan for USN&WR
In this program, we profile two government leaders tackling the monumental problem of war –– Gambia's Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor at the Inte...

Bought by WSKG


  • Added: Feb 09, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Redefining Human Rights: The Case for Food, Health Care & Housing
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Annie Flores, Womens Economic Agenda Project; Max Rameau, Take Back the Land Founder; Shereen D'Souza, California Food and Justice Coalition Director., Credit: Khanh Pham
Are food, housing, and healthcare human rights? A round table discussion about the right to healthy food, the right to housing, and the right to he...

Bought by WCSU-FM


  • Added: Feb 09, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Chronology of Capitalism (ENCORE)
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Top: Steve Williams, co-founder of POWER. Bottom: Stanley Aronowitz, Professor, City University of New York, Credit: http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com
As continual efforts to tweak the economic system seem to be failing, there’s growing suspicion that the flaws may be systemic. We hear from 3 peop...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Feb 02, 2010
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Local Aftermath of Bush-Era Workplace Immigration Raids
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Piece image
We go to Postville, Iowa and Laurel, Mississippi--two communities where the largest workplace immigration raids happened in 2008.

Bought by KUOW


  • Added: Jan 20, 2010
  • Length: 14:53
  • Purchases: 1
Immigration Reforms: How a Broken System Breaks Communities
From: Making Contact
Series: Making Contact
Caption: Former workers at Agriprocessors (far left and right), march with Father Paul Ouderkirk (second from right), the priest at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa, during an event marking the one-year anniversary of the Postville immigration raid, Credit: Nathaniel Popper
We go to two communities sorting through the aftermath of Bush-era federal immigration raids, and to Los Angeles, where American Apparel became the...

  • Added: Jan 20, 2010
  • Length: 29:00

Playlists That Feature This Series: