Making Contact

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many Americans are worried about their health insurance. The cost of treating the illness, if a patient ends up in the ICU, can run into the tens of thousands of dollars without coverage. Which most people just can't afford. Today we bring you a piece we produced last year about a related topic -the rising cost of insulin, and the effectiveness of medicare for all. First, we visit a group of community scientists called the Open Insulin Project, an organization trying to create its own insulin outside the lengthy FDA process and whether it's worth the associated risks. And we talk about the benefits of Medicare for All, a policy which would get rid of private insurance and make all medicine and medical care accessible and affordable.

On this edition of Making Contact, acclaimed author Ian Haney López talks about his new book - Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America. This book explores the links between current day wealth and race inequality, elections, and how coded racism has evolved in the Trump era. The book also looks at ways we can proactively build cross-racial solidarity to diminish barriers between us. Author Ian Haney López holds an endowed chair as the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Election protection is increasingly seen as a critical issue in the US. From gerrymandering and voter purges, to precinct closures and problems with voting machine technology, Women Rising Radio explores threats to the US electoral process with two election protection activists.

Our radio adaptation of the film, Who Bombed Judi Bari?, explores Judi Bari's bold activism to save the Redwood Forest in the face of corporate greed, and the violent measures taken to silence the environmental movement. Produced by Darryl Cherney, Elyse Katz, Sheila Laffey, Bill and Laurie Benenson and directed by Mary Liz Thomson, the film delves into the bombing and her fight against the F.B.I.'s attempted frame-up.

We think of Artificial Intelligence as being the stuff of science fiction movies, set far in the future. But it's already having an impact on our lives. We look at a kind of decision made by artificial intelligence called a risk assessment and how it impacts the poor and people of color and we talk about ways to fight back.

I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond.

Five years after Michael Brown's death at the hands of a police officer galvanized criminal justice reform activists in St. Louis, they're gaining serious momentum to shut down the city's notorious Workhouse jail. Reporter Carolina Hidalgo spent time with the Close the Workhouse campaign and Arch City Defenders, their supporters, and detractors.

You'll hear about ongoing food insecurity issues from food scholar Raj Patel, and hopeful solutions from families in the Black Creek community garden in Toronto, Canada.

Meeting family needs in a city of widening wealth gaps is a big lift. Studies show that when parents are engaged in their kids' education, it has a huge impact. Reporter Lee Romney spent a year following the work of one family liaison at a high-poverty school.

Spies of Mississippi is a journey into the world of informants, infiltrators, and agent provocateurs in the heart of Dixie. Directed and produced by Dawn Porter and executive produced by LOOKS TV and Martina Haubrich. The film tells the story of a secret spy agency formed by the state of Mississippi to preserve segregation and maintain "the Mississippi way of life," white supremacy, during the 1950s and '60s.