In dozens of countries around the world, millions of people live beside border walls. These heavily militarized and closely watched areas can be dangerous places to be. On this edition, from Palestinian farmers struggling to make a living next to the Israeli wall, to shootings at the fence that divides the US and Mexico.

This episode, originally produced in 2013, is presented as part of the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries takes us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It explores a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tells the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

Alex Soto, MC Shining Soul, Hannah Hafter, No More Deaths, Isabel Garcia, Derechos Humanos co-chair, Majed Wahdan, Gazan farmer; Mohammed Qudaih, drone strike victim; Dr Nabil Abu Sahammalla, Gazan Agricultural Ministry Director General for Planning; Zahra Abu Daqqa, Gazan farmer; Saber Za'aneen, non-violent activist

Making Contact Credits:

• Host: George Lavender
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Learn More:

No More Deaths

Coalición de Derechos Humanos

International Solidarity Movement

Palestinian Solidarity Project

Electronic Intifada

Oodham Solidarity

Gila River Against Loop 202

Stop CanaMex

No South Mountain Freeway

Shining Soul

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On November 30th, 1999, tens of thousands of people shook the streets of Seattle, Washington, in protest of the World Trade Organization. The WTO symbolized the corporate takeover of human needs and the environment. On this edition, we revisit the voices from that week.

This episode, originally released in 2009, is part of the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries takes us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It explores a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tells the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

Gopal Dayaneni, organizer with Movement Generation; Mohau Pheko, representative of the Africa Trade Network at the 1999 Seattle WTO meeting; Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute; Chuck Collins, co-founder of United for a Fair Economy and Wealth for the Common Good.

Making Contact Team:

• Producer: Andrew Stelzer
• Episode Host: Tena Rubio
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

• Infernal Noise Brigade
• The Platform

Learn More:

Focus on the Global South Bangkok, Thailand | Inequality and the Common Good Boston, MA | Institute for Policy Studies Washington, DC | International Forum on Globalization San Francisco, CA | Jubilee USA Network Washington, DC | Movement Generation Oakland, CA | Oakland Institute Oakland, CA | Ruckus Society Oakland, CA | United for a Fair Economy Boston, MA | Wealth for the Common Good Boston, MA

Five Days That Shook the World: The Battle for Seattle and Beyond

By Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair and Allan Sekula

The Battle in Seattle - The Story Behind and Beyond the WTO Demonstrations

By Janet Thomas

This is What Democracy Looks Like (film)

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 2019 a well known romance writer began tweeting about other writers in her community and concerns about racism. It led to a huge reckoning within an organization called the Romance Writers of America. And although the online debate seemed to be isolated to a specific community of romance writers and their fans, it was really a microcosm of what's been happening all over the US. In this episode we learn all about romance novels and how newer writers are changing the norms of the genre, and giving it a political power it's never had before. And, we talk about what it means for organizations to change as they grapple with questions of race.

This episode, originally released in June 2022, is part of the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries takes us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It explores a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tells the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

- Jayashree Kamble; professor of English Literature at La Guardia Community College

- Reagan Jackson; co-executive director, Young Women Empowered, also a romance reader and fan

- Contance Grady; Senior Culture Reporter for Vox

- Elise Staples, member of a romance reading book club through meetup.com

Credits:

**Making Contact Team**

- Episode Host: Salima Hamirani

- Producers: Salima Hamirani, Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Amy Gastelum

- Executive Director: Jina Chung

- Engineer: [Jeff Emtman](https://jeffemtman.com/)

- Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

**Music**:

- Johnny Ripper - Overout

- Johnny Ripper - Sfhk (mental breakdown)

- Johnny Ripper - Untitled (waking up)

- Johnny Ripper - In a Dream

- Dance of the Seahorse - Gideon Freudman

- Pictures of the Floating World - Waves

- Bio Unit - Subterannean

- Ketsa - you asked

Learn More:

• Constance Grady's Article for Vox
• The Romance Writers of America
• International Association for the Study of Popular Romance
• Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction: An Epistemología
• Recommended Reading list

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 2023, Kirin Clawson's endocrinologist placed a puberty-blocking implant in her arm, a medical intervention that is associated with improved mental health for many trans kids with gender dysphoria. In February 2024, Indiana joined several other conservative states banning this treatment for minors. In this episode we hear from the Clawsons how the ban has impacted their family. And, we hear from psychologist, Dr. Myeshia Price about how all adults in the lives of children can support gender diverse youth, despite increasing discriminatory anti-trans laws aimed at kids.

This episode, originally released in June 2024, kicks off the Making Contact Anniversary Capsule: celebrating 30 years of social justice journalism. The miniseries will take us from protests on the streets of Seattle to an Indiana family fighting for their daughter's gender affirming care. It will explore a racial reckoning in the world of romance writers, and tell the story of border walls from Gaza to Arizona. These shows embody how Making Contact has been digging into the story beneath the story since 1994.

Featuring:

This episode features the Clawson family including Beth, mother and Child Health Worker; Nathaniel, father and Project Manager; and children Kirin, Max, and Izzy Clawson. The episode also features Dr. Myeshia Price, an Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Human Development program within the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology and Associate Research Scientist with the Kinsey Institute; and Bradford Barrett, Indiana State House Representative.

Credits:

This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum with Production Assistant Emily Miles. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. Jeff Emtman is our engineer and LIssa Deonorain does digital media marketing.

Learn More:

Gender Nexus | Gender Expansive Kids and Company | Trans Solutions | Protect Our People | LGBTQ services and support map from Family Acceptance Project and the Innovations Institute | Family Acceptance Project |The Kinsey Institute

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company when a scientist gave her a tour of the lab. Looking at the long rows of pregnancy tests she thought, well anyone could do that test at home! So she set about designing a prototype for America's first home pregnancy test. While the design of the prototype was simple, convincing the company, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary was an uphill climb for Crane, who is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry. This show first aired in February 2024.

Featuring:

• Margaret Crane - Graphic designer and inventor of the first home pregnancy test
• Wendy Kline - Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, History Faculty Purdue University
• Jesse Olszynko-Gryn - Head of the [Laboratory for Oral History and Experimental Media](https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/research/projects/laboratory-oral-history-and-experimental-media) at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
• Arthur Kover - Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University
• Alexandra Lord - Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History

Making Contact Staff:

• Host: Amy Gastelum
• Guest Producer: Anne Noyes Saini
• Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

Podington Bear, Rhythm and Strings

Learn More:

• National Museum of American History https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1803285
• A Woman's Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain - https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544399/a-womans-right-to-know/
• Predictor, by Jennifer Blackmer https://newplayexchange.org/plays/348156/predictor

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

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 about her life and work in a story from the podcast Lost Women of Science, hosted by Carol Sutton Lewis and Danya AbdelHameid. This episode first aired on Making Contact in March 2025.

Featuring:

• Dolores Caffey-Fleming, Program director of Project STRIDE, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
• Allison Horrocks, Public historian
• Lauren Bauer, fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution

Credits:

Making Contact

• Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
• Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music

• "Science Documentary" by Aleksey Chistilin (Lexin_Music) via Pixabay

Lost Women of Science: "Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment" Credits

• Hosted by Danya AbdelHameid and Carol Sutton Lewis
• Written and produced by Danya AbdelHameid with senior producer Elah Feder
• Music composed by Lizzie Younan
• Episode sound designed and mastered by Alex Sugiura
• Executive producers: Amy Scharf and Katie Hafner
• Chief multimedia editor at our publishing partner, Scientific American: Jeff Delviscio

Listen to the full episode from Lost Women of Science: https://www.lostwomenofscience.org/podcast-episodes/flemmie-kittrell-and-the-preschool-experiment

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

This episode honors the life and legacy of Alice Wong (Mar 27, 1974-Nov 14, 2025). We start the show with the Making Contact segment she produced in 2015, exploring the complex relationships between caregivers and care receivers: the vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care. Whether you're a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. The segment includes a conversation with Patty Berne, co-founder of Sins Invalid, who passed away in May 2025.

The show continues with an excerpt from Wong's powerful essay, [Diversifying Radio with Disabled Voices](https://focmedia.org/2016/04/diversifying-radio-with-disabled-voices/), which is a powerful call for better inclusion and representation of disabled voices in audio journalism. The episode closes with Alice's reading of Laura Hershey's 1991 poem You Get Proud by Practicing.

Featuring:

• Camille Christian, home care provider and SEIU member
• Brenda Jackson, home care provider and SEIU member
• Patty Berne, co-founder and director, Sins Invalid
• Jessica Lehman, executive director, San Francisco Senior and Disability Action
• Kenzi Robi, president, San Francisco IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) Public Authority Governing Body
• Rachel Stewart, queer disabled woman passionate about disability and employment issues
• Alana Theriault, disability benefits counselor in Berkeley, California
• Ingrid Tischer, director of development, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)

Episode Credits:

• Host: Jessica Partnow and Laura Flynn
• Segment Producer: Alice Wong
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music:

• Dexter Britain: The Time To Run (Finale),
• Gillicuddy: Adventure, Darling,
• Steve Combs: March,
• Jason Shaw: Running Waters,
• Jared C. Balogh: BRICK BY BRICK DAY BY DAY,
• Jared C. Balogh: INCREMENTS TOWARDS SERENITY,
• Nheap: Crossings,
• Cherly KaCherly: The Hungry Garden,
• Trio Metrik: Vogelperspektive,
• Kevin MacLeod: Faster Does It

Learn More:

Diversifying Radio with Disabled Voices, by Alice Wong | You Get Proud by Practicing, by Laura Hershey | Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life, by Alice Wong | UCSF: UCSF Study Projects Need for 2.5M More Long-Term Care Workers by 2030 | SEIU: Longterm Care Workers | Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund | Disability Visibility Project | Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network | National Disability Leadership Alliance | Senior and Disability Action | Sins Invalid | San Francisco In Home Supportive Services Public Authority | Family Caregiver Alliance

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

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 experiments that involved gathering data from humans — in some cases, injecting test subjects with radioisotopes or having them ingest fluids laced with trace amounts of radioactive materials. Even football players from the San Francisco 49ers were enrolled as test subjects in these so-called tracer studies.

We hear from military veterans who were sent on a mysterious mission to spread radioactive substances onto rooftops at an Army base near Pittsburg, Calif., for an experiment the radiation lab played a role in designing. Some recount experiences of witnessing nuclear bomb blasts in the Nevada desert. We also examine a national pattern of human radiation experiments revealed by Eileen Welsome, the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, who shined a light on similar practices conducted by government facilities, hospitals and other institutions. This miniseries first aired on Making Contact in February 2025.

Featuring:

Eldridge Jones, served in the military and was part of Operation Stoneman | Merle Votaw, a Navy veteran who participated in Operation Stoneman II | Eileen Welsome, author of "Plutonium Files" | Holly Barker, Anthropologist and professor at the University of Washington who studied the Marshall Islands.

Credits:

San Francisco Public Press:

• Reporting: Chris Roberts and Rebecca Bowe
• Editing: Michael Stoll and Liz Enochs
• Research Editing: Ambika Kandasamy
• Web Design: John Angelico
• Copy Editing: Kurt Aguilar, Michele Anderson and Richard Knee
• Archival Research and Illustration: Stacey Carter
• Audio Editing: Liana Wilcox, Mel Baker and Megan Maurer
• Sound Gathering: Justin Benttinen
• Photography: Sharon Wickham, Yesica Prado and Guillermo Hernandez
• Graphic Design: Reid Brown
• Fact Checking: Dani Solakian and Ali Hanks
• Proofreading: Lila LaHood, Noah Arroyo, Zhe Wu and Sylvie Sturm
• Special thanks to Alastair Gee and Danielle Renwick at The Guardian and Ben Trefny at KALW Public Radio, and to Laura Wenus and Amy Pyle

Making Contact:

• Host: Salima Hamirani
• Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music Credits:

Midday, by the Blue Dot Sessions | Sweet Leilani, by Bing Crosby

Learn More:

[Exposed full investigation | Exposed Part 2

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

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 development project. The base played a key role in the Cold War nuclear era, when it housed a research institution known as the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, which studied the human health effects of radiation.

In Episode 1 of the podcast, we trace the radioactive contamination found in the shipyard soil today back to its origins, with nuclear bomb testing in the Marshall Islands. We also hear from environmental justice advocates, including one who led a health biomonitoring survey revealing that nearby residents have toxic elements stored in body tissues that match the hazardous chemicals of concern identified at the shipyard. It first aired on Making Contact in February 2025.

Featuring:

**Ahimsa Porter Sumchai, **community advocate and medical doctor | **Michelle Pierce:, **Executive director of [Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates](https://bvhpadvocates.org/) | **Leaotis Martin, **resident of Bayview | **Raymond Tompkins, **community advocate, chemist and former member of the Hunters Point Shipyard Restoration Advisory Board | **Daniel Hirsch, **president of Committee to Bridge the Gap | **Derek Robinson; **Navy representative.

Credits:

**San Francisco Public Press:**

• Reporting: Chris Roberts and Rebecca Bowe
• Editing: Michael Stoll and Liz Enochs
• Research Editing: Ambika Kandasamy
• Web Design: John Angelico
• Copy Editing: Kurt Aguilar, Michele Anderson and Richard Knee
• Archival Research and Illustration: Stacey Carter
• Audio Editing: Liana Wilcox, Mel Baker and Megan Maurer
• Sound Gathering: Justin Benttinen
• Photography: Sharon Wickham, Yesica Prado and Guillermo Hernandez
• Graphic Design: Reid Brown
• Fact Checking: Dani Solakian and Ali Hanks
• Proofreading: Lila LaHood, Noah Arroyo, Zhe Wu and Sylvie Sturm
• Special thanks to Alastair Gee and Danielle Renwick at The Guardian and Ben Trefny at KALW Public Radio, and to Laura Wenus and Amy Pyle

**Making Contact:**

• Host: Salima Hamirani
• Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
• Engineer: [Jeff Emtman](https://www.jeffemtman.com/)
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

**Music Credits:**

• Midday, by the Blue Dot Sessions
• Sweet Leilani, by Bing Crosby

Learn More:

Exposed full investigation

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

We sit down with Kev Choice, a classically trained pianist, rapper, composer, and educator, who has reshaped the Bay Area music scene. Raised in Oakland with San Francisco roots, Kev blends hip-hop, jazz, soul, and classical music into a unique sound. His latest EP, _All My Love_, explores themes of love, vulnerability, and human connection, with soulful melodies and reflective lyrics capturing the complexities of relationships. This episode first aired in November 2024.

Featuring Kev Choice

Making Contact Team

• Episode host: Anita Johnson
• Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Learn More

Kev Choice | on Instagram | interview in West Coast Styles | Oakland Symphony

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.