Podcast
Making Contact
Hosted by Frequencies of Change Media · EN
"Making Contact" digs into the story beneath the story—contextualizing the narratives that shape our culture. Produced by Frequencies of Change Media (FoC Media), the award-winning radio show and podcast examines the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground, building a more just world through narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the environment, labor, economics, health, governance, and arts and culture.
33episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Coast Miwok Peoples, Colonization, and the Preservation of Indigenous History (Encore)
4d ago00:29:16Tap to summarizeDive into the history of Point Reyes National Seashore, one of the most iconic parks in northern California, with us. Known for rugged sweeping beaches and the famous tule elk, we'll recount the waves of colonization that violently upended the lives of the Coast Miwok peoples who lived there – and one Indigenous woman's struggle to preserve her family history. The story of Point Reyes is a story about how the forces of colonialism continue to shape the fate of public lands in the United States, and the campaigns waged to fight back and protect Indigenous land. Featuring: Theresa Harlan (Kewa Pueblo/Jemez Pueblo), adopted daughter of Elizabeth Campigli Harlan (Coast Miwok), founder and executive director of The Alliance for Felix Cove Credits: Host: Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain "Whose Point Reyes?: A Battle for the Future of Public Lands" Parts 1 and 2 Credits: Reporter and producer: Sam Anderson Editor: Lucy Kang First aired on KPFA Learn More: Whose Point Reyes on Apple Podcasts Alliance for Felix Cove Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin 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.
Transcribe →Mexicans Confronting Racism: Aztec Myths to Modern Stereotypes (Encore)
2w ago00:29:17Tap to summarizeThere's an idea in Mexico that racism doesn't exist, that all Mexicans are "mestizo" – a homogenous blend of Spanish and indigenous. But cultural worker José Antonio Aguilar says racism is lived by Black and brown Mexicans in many ways. He founded Racismo MX, an organization which seeks to dismantle racism, after coming to terms with his own racial reality as a "prieto" – a brown man. We also hear from anthropologist Ismael Rivera and Aztec expert Camilla Townsend as they unravel lies the Spanish colonizers told about ancient Aztecs that still feed racist tropes today. This episode first aired in 2023. Featuring José Antonio Aguilar – Racismo MX, Founder and Director Ismael Rivera – Anthropologist, Historian, Cultural Guide Dr. Camilla Townsend, P.h.D. – Rutgers University, Professor Making Contact Host: Amy Gastelum Freelance Producer: Anthony Wallace Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music Nahuales Negros – Chinampa, Cempasúchil, Barcos A Lo Lejos, Mixquic, Teponaztli, Danza A Pakal Learn More Racismo MX FB: https://www.facebook.com/raciclasismomx IG: racismomx X: @Racismo_MX Ismael Rivera Tours FB: https://www.facebook.com/riveratrips Rutgers University FB: https://www.facebook.com/RutgersU X: @RutgersU IG: rutgersu Anthony Wallace X: @anthonyjwallace 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.
Transcribe →Juristac and the Amah Mutsun: Indigenous Resistance and Regeneration (Encore)
3w ago00:29:16Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we take a deep dive into Indigenous resistance against extractivism and the forces behind climate change. We'll look at an underreported story in California about the Amah Mutsun Ohlone's fight to save their most sacred site — a place called Juristac. Contributors Robert Raymond and Della Duncan explore the horrific injustices wrought upon California Indians since the time of the Spanish Missions up to the present and focus on how the Amah Mutsun are working to regenerate their culture, language, and land. _Special thanks to The Satterberg Foundation & Upstream Podcast._ Featuring: - **Valentin Lopez,** Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band - **Eleanor Castro,** Amah Mutsun Elder Credits: Episode Producers: Della Duncan and Robert Raymond The Making Contact Team Host: Monica Lopez Executive Director: Jina Chung Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Engineer: Jeff Emtman Music Credits: Chris Zabriski, BRONCHO, Xlyo Ziko, Inaequalis, Meydan Learn More: Protect Juristac Campaign County Of Santa Clara, Dept. of Planning and Development Sargent Quarry Ahmah Mutsun Land Trust 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.
Transcribe →Thirsting for Justice (Part 2): East Orosi's Long Struggle for Water: The Role of Community Utility Districts (Encore)
4w ago00:29:17Tap to summarizeLast week, we visited a community in California's Central Valley 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 community utility districts that run sewage and water in unincorporated towns all across California. We'll discuss their problems as well as ways to save them. This show first aired in August 2024. Featuring: Credits: **Episode Credits:** - Episode Host: Salima Hamirani - Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang - Executive Director: Jina Chung - Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong - Engineer: [Jeff Emtman](http://www.jeffemtman.com/) - Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Voiceovers - Ana Portnoy Brimmer - Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Music Credits - Komiko – Blue - PC III – Ocean Tapping - Alpha Hydrae – Friends and Apples - Hicham Chahidi – Gouttes - Ben von Wildenhaus – Week Twenty-five - Ketsa – No Light Without Darkness - The Custodian of Records – Thunderstorm Learn More: Making Contact: https://focmedia.org/ Community Water Center: https://www.communitywatercenter.org/ Self-Help Enterprises: https://www.selfhelpenterprises.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.
Transcribe →Thirsting for Justice (Part 1): East Orosi's Struggle for Clean Drinking Water (Encore)
Jun 1700:29:12Tap to summarizeIn 2012, the state of California declared water a human right. Yet nearly 400 water systems don't meet the state's drinking water standards. In the Central Valley, the community of East Orosi hasn't had safe tap water in over 20 years. The water is full of harmful nitrates and other runoff from industrial agriculture. We visit East Orosi and talk to Berta Diaz Ochoa and others about what it's like living without access to clean drinking water and how the community has taken action to find a solution. This episode originally aired in July 2024. Credits: **Making Contact Credits** Episode host and producer: Salima Hamirani Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: [Jeff Emtman](http://www.jeffemtman.com/) Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Voiceovers - Amy Gastelum - Bobbi James - Ana Portnoy Brimmer - Alex Corey Music Credits: - Komiku – Blue - Monet's Water Lilies - Dark Rainy Day - Water Drops, Sad Slow Piano Background - Mother Womb piano - Guracha Sonidera Cumbia Loops De Bateria Series II Learn More: Making Contact homepage: www.focmedia.org Community Water Center Self Help Enterprises State Water Resources Control Board 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.
Transcribe →Reclaiming Indianapolis's Black History from Urban Roots (encore)
Jun 1000:29:17Tap to summarizeToday we head back to Indianapolis with the podcast Urban Roots. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Jean Spears was a young mother and burgeoning preservationist. She saved antiques from houses about to be demolished; she bought a home in a white slum and renovated it; later on, she did the same with a historic home in the black neighborhood near Indiana Avenue. In the eighties, she and some neighbors started digging into this black neighborhood's history, uncovering the names of Black doctors, civic leaders, and other professionals who had lived there, many of whom had worked for Madam C.J. Walker. She helped rename the neighborhood to Ransom Place, in honor of Freeman Ransom, Madam Walker's prodigious lawyer. And in 1991, they succeeded in getting the Ransom Place Historic District included in the National Register of Historic Places. Thanks in no small part to the connection to Madam C.J. Walker, Jean Spears was able to save this pocket of Black history, in an area that — as we explained last episode — the city of Indianapolis had almost erased from memory. But black Indy history is about more than Madam Walker, and other stories and places in the city need protection, too. In this episode, we'll introduce you to three Black women who are carrying on what Ms. Jean Spears started — safeguarding these little-known stories of the past and guiding Indianapolis toward a brighter future. Featuring: Claudia Polley, Urban Legacy Lands Initiative | Kaila Austin, artist and historian | Judith Thomas, Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement for the City of Indianapolis | Paula Brooks, the Environmental Justice Program Manager at the Hoosier Environment Council Credits: Urban Roots Podcast: Urban Roots unearths little-known stories from urban history, especially histories of women and people of color that are in danger of being forgotten. Our mission is to elevate underrepresented voices and help preserve the places significant to them. Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk Editor and Executive Producer: Connor Lynch Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Making Contact Credits Episode Host: Salima Hamirani Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain **Music Credits** Roman- Galaxy (inspired up melody) Will Bangs - I'm so glad you exist Learn More: Part 1: Madam Walker & the Rise and Fall of Indiana Avenue | Urbanist Media 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.
Transcribe →A Making Contact Pride Show! (encore)
Jun 300:29:17Tap to summarizeTo 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. Credits: Making Contact Credits Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music credit: "Minimal Documentary" by penguinmusic via Pixabay Bleep sound effect by freesound_community from Pixabay Remembering Stonewall: The birth of a movement (1989) Narrated by Michael Schirker Produced by David Isay Distributed by Pacifica Radio Archives "All Around Cowboy: Inside the world of queer rodeo" Credits Story producer and host: Vanessa Rancaño This show was part of a partnership with the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Special thanks to Claire Schoen Learn More: Making Contact homepage: http://ww.focmedia.org Remembering Stonewall on Pacifica Radio Archives: https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/pz0146 Making Contact episode "All Around Cowboy: Inside the world of queer rodeo" https://focmedia.org/2014/06/all-around-cowboy-inside-the-world-of-queer-rodeo/ 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.
Transcribe →Staying in the Fight with Ijeoma Oluo, from In the Meanwhile
May 2700:29:16Tap to summarizeIn this special guest episode from the podcast In the Meanwhile, co-hosts Marcus Harrison Green and Nora Kenworthy sit down with author and activist Ijeoma Oluo (So You Want to Talk About Race; Mediocre: the Dangerous Legacy of White Male America; Be a Revolution) for a searching conversation about movement work, harm, belonging, and the radical choice to stay. Together, they explore the personal cost of speaking truth, the wounds movements can inflict on their own, and what it means to build the world we long for now—not after revolution, but through the way we live, love, and struggle every day. It's a deeply honest conversation about survival, accountability, joy, and choosing community even when it hurts. Featuring: Ijeoma Oluo Credits: Making Contact Team Episode host and producer: Jessica Partnow Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain In the Meanwhile Co-hosts: Marcus Harrison Green, Nora Kenworthy Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé. Logo by Nikki Barron. Producer: Jessica Partnow Learn More: If You Decide To Stay | Behind the Book | Be a Revolution | So You Want to Talk About Race | Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America | In the Meanwhile Podcast | 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.
Transcribe →Mabuhay: Welcome to Little Manila in Queens (Encore)
May 2000:29:16Tap to summarizeFor AAPI Heritage Month, we bring you an encore of our 2023 episode "Seeing Signs." With help from the Queens Memory Podcast, we'll learn about "Little Manila," a Filipino neighborhood dating back to the 1970s that still struggles to find its political footing. We also hear from Filipino care workers about their experiences battling COVID 19. This episode first aired on Making Contact in May 2023. Featuring: - Potri Ranka Manis: Nurse, Activist and Artist - Joey Golja: Community Member - Mary Jane de Leon: Community Member - John Bahia: Community Member - Steven Raga: Assemblymember for District 30, Queens, NY - Jaclyn Reyes: Artist, Designer, and Cultural Organizer - Gemma Balagtas: Community Member, Nurse - Zenaida (Ida) Castillo: Community Member and Owner of PhilAm Food Mart Credits: Making Contact Episode host and producer: Amy Gastelum Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Queens Memory Podcast Team Producers: Rosalind Tordesillas, Melody Cao, Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt Mixing and editing by Cory Choy Music composed by Elias Ravin Voiceover work by Arianne Arreglado Learn More: Making Contact homepage: https://focmedia.org/ Listen to Season 3 of the Queens Memory Podcast: https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826 https://open.spotify.com/show/2cnAhpl3RDOQTC0HXOQnPd https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/queens-memory-our-major-minor-voices/id1617641711 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.
Transcribe →Self Care as Selfless Act: Mental Health at the Root of Activism (encore)
May 1300:29:11Tap to summarizeActivists in the Latinx immigrant community of Los Angeles share what they do to take care of their mental health. The issues these activists work on often impact their personal lives, and people who work in the service of others are particularly at risk of burnout and compassion fatigue. Self-care becomes a "selfless act" when it allows activists to stay healthy and do their work in a sustainable way. This show first aired in August 2020. Featuring: **Paulina Velasco's** reporting on Self Care as Selfless Act: Mental Health at the Root of Activism was undertaken as a USC Center for Health Journalism 2020 California Fellow. Credits: Writer, Producer, Host: Paulina Velasco Editor: Monica Lopez Voice Over Actor: Mariana Carstens Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Transcription Volunteer: Mickey Ellinger Special thanks to USC Senior Fellow, Catherine Stifter. Music " Elmore Heights", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle " Kid Kodi", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle " The Yards", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle " Copley Beat", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle " Greylock", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle " Boston Landing", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle " Pedalrider", Blue Dot Sessions – 2018 – Skittle Learn More: AltaMed Behavioral Health Services Plascencia Consulting Power California – Organize, Vote, Lead Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California Central American Resource Center Los Angeles 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.
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