Making Contact

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, economic, and political upliftment through the development of Black collegiate systems, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement.  

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

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.

EPISODE FEATURES: Dr. Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar the author of America's Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. 

MUSIC: This episode includes music from Blue Dot Session, “Bedroll;” Audiobinger, “The Garden State;” and Quiet Orchestra, “My Friends.”

LEARN MORE: 

• Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar
• Atlanta Race Massacre
• Atlanta Race Massacre
• Hoke Smith
• Clarke Howell
• Tom Watson
• America's Black Capital

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 Palestine" in order to learn more about the very early history of the zionist movement in Palestine and his argument that it was, from the start, a settler-colonial endeavor.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. 

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.

EPISODE FEATURES: Rami Almeghari, a Palestinian reporter from Gaza, and Rashid Khalidi, an historian and Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani with reporting by Rami Almeghari. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: This episode includes music from Komiku, “Blue;” Doctor Turtle,  “Leap Second;” Chris Zabriskie, “Take Off and Shoot a Zero;” DAM, “Resale in Zenzana;”  رسالة من زنزانة - دام, “A Letter From a Prison Cell;” and Montplaisir, “Ridiculous.”

Learn More:

• The Hundred Years' War on Palestine

March marks four years since the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 organizers from Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future, which is working today towards a safer future for everyone.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

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.

EPISODE FEATURES: Kristina Wong, founder of the Auntie Sewing Squad; J Mase III, organizer with Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future; and Gata, organizer with Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. 

MUSIC: This episode includes "Background Documentary Piano" by SigmaMusicArt via Pixabay.

Learn More:

• Kristina Wong
• "Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord" at ACT in San Francisco
• Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future
• Home Test to Treat offers free tests and free treatment for COVID-19 and flu at home

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 justice. It also addresses the intersections of race and gender and the experiences of the Black women who were integral to this movement. 

The film is about activists, those who inspire, organize, and revolutionize the world by changing the standards and broadening what we think is possible. 

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

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.

EPISODE FEATURES: Alta, Chude Pamela Allen, Judith Arcana, Nona Willis Aronowitz, Fran Beal, Heather Booth, Rita Mae Brown, Susan Brownmiller, Linda Burnham, Jacqui Ceballos, Mary Jean Collins, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Muriel Fox, Jo Freeman, Carol Giardina, Susan Griffin, Karla Jay, Kate Millett, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Denise Oliver-Velez, OBOS, Trina Robbins, Ruth Rosen, Vivian Rothstein, Marlene Sanders, Alix Kates Shulman, Ellen Shumsky, Marilyn Webb, Virginia Whitehill, Ellen Willis, Alice Wolfson.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. 

DOCUMENTARY CREDITS:

• Director: Mary Dore

• Producers: Mary Dore & Nancy Kennedy, Geralyn Dreyfous

• Executive Producers: Pamela Tanner Boll and Elizabeth Driehaus

• Films Composer: Mark degli Antoni

• Melancholy Guitar by Scott Anderson, courtesy of For The Bible Tells Me So Ltd

• Wake up- Instrumental by Arian Saleh. Courtesy of Audio Socket

MUSIC: This episode includes Grand Caravan by Blue Dot Session & Build a View by Corey Gray.

LEARN MORE:

• She's Beautiful When She's Angry

“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 first book, and the intersection of race and gender as it differently and more severely impacts women of color. They discuss the immigrant experience, the subtle and overt ways immigrants and non-Black people of color are encouraged to hold up white supremacy and propagate anti-Blackness, and how we work to dismantle these and build workplaces where women of color feel safe, respected, and supported. 

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

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.

EPISODE FEATURES: Ruchika Tulshyan, inclusion strategist, speaker and author of the bestseller Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work and Ijeoma Oluo, speaker and writer, author of the New York Times bestseller, So You Want to Talk About Race.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. 

MUSIC: This episode includes Joyful Ride via Descript stock music and Trap Future Base, Royalty Free Music.

Learn More:

• Town Hall Seattle
• Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work

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 technologies are being tested on Indigenous lands. 

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

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.

EPISODE FEATURES: Basav Sen, Climate Justice Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies; Dr. Steven Zornetzer; Vice-Chair, Governing Board of Arctic Ice Project; and Panganga Pungowiyi, organizer for the nonprofit Indigenous Environmental Network in Alaska.

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Salima Hamirani and Jessica Partnow. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. 

MUSIC:  “Air Hockey Salon” and “Take Off and Shoot a Zero” by Chris Zabriskie; “Industrial Zone” by Bio Unit; “Leap Second” by Doctor Turtle; and “Ridiculous” and “Juan Garcia Madero” by Monplaisir.

Learn More: 

• Indigenous Environmental Network
• Arctic Ice Project
• Institute for Policy Studies

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 prototype was simple, Crane faced the issues we continue to fight when it comes to reproductive rights and the health and autonomy of people who give birth: an uphill battle to convince the pharmaceutical companies, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary. After all this, Crane is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. 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. 

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features 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 at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science; Arthur Kover, Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University; and Alexandra Lord, Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History. 

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. MUSIC: This episode includes “Podington Bear,” by Rhythm and Strings. 

Learn More: 

• National Museum of American History
• A Woman's Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain
• "Predictor" by Jennifer Blackmer

On this week's episode, we take a critical look at productivity culture and the idea that time is money by speaking with Jenny Odell, acclaimed author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.

We dig into the ideas behind Saving Time, which gives a panoramic overview of how the ways we think about time actually shapes our lives. Then we begin to disentangle our daily concept of time from its capitalistic and colonialist roots in order to liberate and expand our relationship to it. Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. 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. 

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Jenny Odell, artist and author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. 

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.  

Learn More: 

• Jenny Odell

Today, we continue celebrating Black history and heritage with a special encore episode honoring an often forgotten civil rights leader. We take a look at the life and legacy of Bayard Rustin, a central figure in and the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin was a trusted advisor to labor leader A. Phillip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rustin’s methodology for challenging racial inequality and imperialism centered on his intersectional perspective on race, class, gender, and sexuality. This episode combines film excerpts, insightful interviews and speeches from this important figure of the civil rights movement who envisioned and organized for the best future.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on  radioproject.org. Special Thank You to Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer the producers/directors of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin and Sam Pollard, the executive director.  And to the Pacifica Radio Archives for use of the Bayard Rustin archival materials. 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. 

 EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Bayard Rustin, the architect of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; Ashon Crawley, University of Virginia Associate Professor of Religious Studies and African-American and African Studies; Nancy Kates, filmmaker and producer of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin; Bill Sutherland, Fellowship of Reconciliation; Reverend A.J. Muste, pacifist and mentor of Rustin; George Houser, Fellowship of Reconciliation; Louis John, nephew of Bayard Rustin; Devi Prasad, pacifist.  

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Anita Johnson. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. MUSIC: This episode includes "Medieval Tension" by Cory Gray; "This Way Joyous" by Ketsa; "Rally," "Rayling," and "3rd Chair" by  Blue Dot Sessions; "Hold On" and "Go Down Moses" by Dee Yan-Key; and "Our Young Guts" by Andy G. Cohen. 

Learn More: 

• Bayard Rustin Fund
• Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers
• PBS
• History
• AFL-CIO
• Washington Post
• NYTimes

2021 marked the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre - a horrific attack white people waged against Greenwood, a once prosperous Black neighborhood in north Tulsa, Oklahoma. Also in 2021, state legislators passed a law that limits how race is discussed in classrooms.

  Tulsa activists say HB 1775 prevents descendants of those who built Greenwood from being able to acknowledge the attack, and also Greenwood’s success. In response, activist Kristi Williams rallied her community to start Black History Saturdays, where 120 Black Tulsans are using an intergenerational model to learn their history.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. 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.

EPISODE FEATURES: This episode features Kristi Williams, a Tulsa activist and Founder of Black History Saturdays, Bracken Klar, Co-Executive Producer of Focus: Black Oklahoma, Vice-President of Tulsa's Tri-City Collective, and Carlos Moreno, a member of Tulsa's Tri-City Collective, journalist and author of The Victory of Greenwood and A Kid's Book About the Tulsa Race Massacre. 

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Amy Gastelum. It is produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung. MUSIC: This episode includes music from Blue Dot Sessions, including “Krotoa Haze,” “Cheldana Outpost,” and “Helion Fleet.” 

Learn More: 

• Black History Saturdays
• EduRec Youth and Family Fun Center
• 2892 Miles to Go
• Black Emergency Response Team Vs. O'Conner