Kids are coming out as LGBTQ+ younger than ever before, making their identities more politicized than ever before. Hateful political rhetoric and discriminatory laws are likely contributing to the poor mental health documented among LGBTQ+ kids.

In an effort to combat these struggles, researchers are studying what works to keep kids healthy, happy, and alive. In this episode, we discuss data around what might be working to prevent suicidality among Black trans youth, and we hear about a program helping parents learn how to support their LGBTQ+ kids through their own behavior changes.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/06/family-matters-what-helps-black-trans-kids-thrive]

Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. 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 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; Flomichelle Battles, Interim Executive Director of Trans Solutions Research and Resource Center; and Dr. Caitlin Ryan, Director of the Family Acceptance Project.

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 Jason Shaw, including “Bird in Hand,” “River Meditation,” and “Solo Acoustic Guitar.” Available via WFMU Free Music Archive at https://freemusicarchive.org.

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, Indiana joined several other conservative states banning this treatment for minors. In the first of a 2-part series, 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.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/06/family-matters-how-communities-support-trans-kids-in-conservative-states]

Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] 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 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.

MAKING CONTACT: 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.

MUSIC: This episode includes music Jahzzar- Vanlig available via WFMU Free Music Archive.

Learn More:

Gender Nexus - https://www.gendernexus.org/

Gender Expansive Kids and Company - https://www.ingekco.com/

Trans Solutions - https://www.transsolutionsrrc.org/

Protect Our People - https://www.protectourpeople.info/

LGBTQ services and support map from Family Acceptance Project and the Innovations Institute - https://trainings-theinstitutecf.umaryland.edu/lgbtqfamily/map.cfm

Family Acceptance Project - https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/

The Kinsey Institute -https://kinseyinstitute.org/

Caste—one of the oldest systems of exclusion in the world—is thriving. Despite the ban on Untouchability 70 years ago, caste impacts 1.9 billion people in the world. Every 15 minutes, a crime is perpetrated against a Dalit person. The average age of death for Dalit women is just 39. And the wreckages of caste are replicated here in the U.S., too—erupting online with rape and death threats, showing up at work, and forcing countless Dalits to live in fear of being outed.

Dalit American activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan puts forth a call to awaken and act, not just for readers in South Asia, but all around the world. She ties Dalit oppression to fights for liberation among Black, Indigenous, Latinx, femme, and Queer communities, examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspective--and laying bare the grief, trauma, rage, and stolen futures enacted by Brahminical social structures on the caste-oppressed. Incisive and urgent, “The Trauma of Caste” is an activating beacon of healing and liberation, written by one of the world’s most needed voices in the fight to end caste apartheid.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/06/the-trauma-of-caste-a-dalit-feminist-meditation]

Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] 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: Thenmozhi Soundararajan, the author of “The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition” and a Dalit American artist, organizer, technologist, and theorist. Currently, Thenmozhi is the Executive Director of Equality Labs.

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 Sessions, including “3rd Chair" and "Paving Stones."

Learn More:

The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition

Thenmozhi Soundararajan / Dalit Diva - https://dalitdiva.com/

Google’s plan to talk about caste bias led to ‘division and rancor’ - https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/02/google-caste-equality-labs-tanuja-gupta/

Hindu Sect Accused of using forced labor - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/nyregion/nj-hindu-temple-india-baps.html

Dismantling the Caste System - https://www.michigandaily.com/michigan-in-color/dismantling-caste-system-long-overdue/

As graduation approached this year, students around the country began protests after calls for divestment from Israel were initially ignored by university leadership. The campus encampments were met with physical violence and the mainstream press dismissed the students' demands as naive and immature. But, it turns out that there's a lot we should be asking about college endowments.

We take a look at what an endowment is and how they’re invested. Then we learn why transparency around the endowment (and divestment!) might actually benefit the entire college community.

We talk to Kelly Grotke, a financial researcher from Pattern Recognition, a research collective focused on financialized higher education. And, with Andrea Pritchett, we look at the links between the encampments today, and those from the 80s, when students protested South African Apartheid.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/06/disclose-divest-behind-the-fight-over-college-endowments]

Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] 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 Kelly Grotke, co-founder of Pattern Recognition, a research collective and Andrea Pritchett, former student organizer against South African Apartheid. Currently a middle school teacher and co-founder of Berkeley Cop Watch.

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

MUSIC: This episode features “Slinky” by Robert John, “Take Off and Shoot a Zero” by Chris Zabinske, “Leap Second” by Doctor Turtle, and “Blue” by Komiku.

Learn More:

https://patternrecognitionresearch.substack.com/

https://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/

What are borders, and why do we have them? And how is violent border enforcement at the US-Mexico border connected to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza? And what happens when borders cross living land and communities?

We'll dig into these questions in this week's episode with the help of Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center. And then we'll hear a story brought to us by In Confianza, with Pulso about one time when the natural boundary between two countries changed – and what happened to the people caught on the other side.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/05/borders-what-are-they-good-for]

Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] 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 Heba Gowayed, sociology professor at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center and author of Refuge: How the State Shapes Human Potential and the forthcoming The Cost of Border; Charlie Garcia, writer and producer of the story “The Border is Alive!” from In Confianza, with Pulso.

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 features "Documentary" by AlisiaBeats via Pixabay.

Learn More:

Heba Gowayed: www.hebagowayed.com

In Confianza, with Pulso: www.projectpulso.org/tag/podcast

“The Border is Alive!” full episode: https://projectpulso.org/2022/10/11/ep23-border-is-alive/

This week on Making Contact we take a look at one of the most prolific Mexican artists, Frida Kahlo, and how she inspired the Latina artist collective, “The Phoenix Fridas.”

“In Confianza, with Pulso” producer Anthony Wallace brings us the story of Thania Betancourt Alcazar. A member of “The Phoenix Fridas,” Alcazar discovered a lifeline in the art of Frida Kahlo and her artistic message of resilience and empowerment.

Alcazar shares her experience being a Mexican immigrant, her feeling of being an outcast, and finally feeling seen as she saw herself and her culture reflected in the rising popularity of Frida Kahlo and her art in the U.S.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/05/the-art-of-healing-finding-strength-through-frida-kahlo]

Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] 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 Anthony Wallace, the host of this episode; Thania Betancourt Alcazar, a member of The Phoenix Fridas and artist; Celia Stahr, an art historian at the University of San Francisco and the author of Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist.

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.

In Confianza, with Pulso Credits:

This episode was produced/hosted by Anthony Wallace

Editor: Charlie Garcia

Audio Engineer and Mixing: Anthony Wallace and Charlie Garcia

Executive Director: Liz Alarcon

MUSIC: This episode features Original Music Composed by Julian Blackmore and Anthony Wallace.

LEARN MORE:

-In Confianza, with Pulso - https://projectpulso.org/podcast/

-Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist - https://www.abebooks.com/9781250113382/Frida-America-Creative-Awakening-Great-1250113385/plp?ref_=ps_ms_267691761&cm_mmc=msn-_-comus_dsa-_-naa-_-naa&msclkid=64f95bca797114e4c1893d8c1c965b24

-The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait - https://www.fridakahlodiario.com/thediary

-The Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City - https://www.museofridakahlo.org.mx/visit/?lang=en