KPFA - Making Contact

Covering the movements, issues and 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. Sign up for program alerts and sneak peeks from Making Contact at: http://ow.ly/1FkV30aq1z2

The post Making Contact – July 4, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

On this week’s show, we explore Latino food and culture in Chicago’s historic Pilsen neighborhood and hear about how food can bring communities together. We tag along with the podcast In Confianza with Pulso as they try to answer the question: what does a Latino version of the TV show “The Bear” taste like? We’ll head to two restaurants, Cafe Jumping Bean and Pochos, to find out.

GUESTS:

Eleazar Delgado, owner of Cafe Jumping Bean.

Miguel Hernandez and Irene Acosta, owners of Pochos.

The post What does a Latino version of “The Bear” taste like? appeared first on KPFA.

In this weeks episode, we look at how, over six decades after the Korean War, South Korea processed the most international adoptions in history and how the demand for a domestic supply of (adoptable) infants may be playing a role in increasing threats to autonomy over pregnancy in the U.S. This show first aired in November 2024.

The post Mothers, Markets, and Migration (encore) appeared first on KPFA.

To celebrate Pride Month, we have a special show featuring stories from the Making Contact archives. We’ll revisit the Stonewall Uprising with the 1989 audio documentary Remembering Stonewall and then head to the gay rodeo with producer Vanessa Rancaño in a story from 2014.

The post A Making Contact Pride Show! appeared first on KPFA.

A year ago, the world said goodbye to Reverend James Lawson Jr. On today’s show, we look back at the work and legacy this leading figure in the Civil Rights Movement and advocate of nonviolence, with the help of the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center.

The post Soul Force: The Legacy of Rev. James Lawson Jr. appeared first on KPFA.

In part one of our series on water in the Central Valley of California, we visited a town called East Orosi, which has been fighting for clean water for over 20 years. This week we turn our attention to their sewage system, which is also falling apart. Why has it been so difficult for East Orosi to get clean drinking water and fix its sewage problems?

To answer that question we take a look at the entities that run things like sewage and water in unincorporated towns all across California. They’re called Community Utility Districts. Community Utility Districts are often one of the only forms of self governance in unincorporated towns. But they’re staffed by volunteers, they’re underfunded, and they’re trying to share a vital resource, water, which is also slowly disappearing in the San Joaquin Valley.

We talk about the problems with Community Utility Districts and ways to save them.

GUESTS:

Berta Diaz Ochoa – community member of East Orosi

The post Thirsting For Justice (part two): Community Utility Districts and East Orosi’s Drinking Water Problems (encore) appeared first on KPFA.

Today’s episodes of Making Contact and Pushing Limits are preempted by special programming for KPFA’s 2025 Spring Fund Drive.

Sasha Lilley speaks with Greg King, an award-winning journalist and activist credited with spearheading the movement to protect Headwaters Forest, in Humboldt County, California. King initiated the “redwood wars” following the notorious 1985 takeover of the venerable Pacific Lumber Company by the Houston energy and real estate conglomerate Maxxam. King has spent decades researching redwood logging and preservation efforts and is the author of the book The Ghost Forest: Racists, Radicals, and Real Estate in the California Redwoods.

To support our mission and receive the book The Ghost Forest as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA).

The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Greg King on the California Redwoods appeared first on KPFA.

Today’s episodes of Making Contact and Pushing Limits are preempted by special programming for KPFA’s 2025 Spring Fund Drive.

Brian Edwards-Tiekert speaks with photographer and author Josh Jackson, an advocate for public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Through his Forgotten Lands Project, he employs storytelling and visual narratives to inspire engagement with California’s unknown landscapes. His latest book is The Enduring Wild: A Journey Into California’s Public Lands.

To support our mission and receive Josh Jackson’s book The Enduring Wild as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA).

The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Josh Jackson on California’s Incredible Public Wilderness appeared first on KPFA.

Today’s episodes of Making Contact and Pushing Limits are preempted by special programming for KPFA’s 2025 Spring Fund Drive.

Christopher Bache, a professor emeritus of philosophy and religious studies, speaks with C.S. Soong about his twenty-year psychedelic journey, which is described and interpreted in his book LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven.

To support our mission and receive Christopher Bache’s book as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA).

The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Christopher Bache on the Psychedelic Journey appeared first on KPFA.

Composer, pianist, and vocalist Samora Pinderhughes tells us about The Healing Project. The Healing Project, a fundamentally abolitionist project, explores the structures of systemic racism and the prison industrial complex. This story first aired February 2023.

The Healing Project takes action towards abolition with forms such as musical songs, films, an exhibition, community gatherings, live performances, and a digital library of audio interviews. At the center of the project are the intergenerational voices of people across the country, including folks incarcerated in prisons and detention centers. Their stories, experiences, and ideas serve as the foundation for The Healing Project’s vision for societal transformation.

Featuring:

The post The Healing Project: An Abolitionist Story (encore) appeared first on KPFA.