Making Contact

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.

On today's program, John Carlos Frey, author of Sand and Blood: America's Stealth War on the Mexico Border, explores increased militarization at the border, US deterrent strategy, and the profitable business of fear.

We look at our favorite shows from 2019. From Artificial Intelligence, to the stigma around women's periods, from guns and restraining orders to the cost of Insulin, these are the stories that inspired us, taught us something or just made us think differently.

Megafarms and oil & gas producers in California's Central Valley are some of the worst polluters of local air, soil, and water. We'll hear how Central Valley residents are pushing back. Later, author Naomi Klein talks about her book, On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal. But first, we go to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, where reporter we learn how six Native American tribes are harnessing wind power to bring economic development to their members.

"Honorable people can do terrible things" says Andrea Pitzer in her book "One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps." We talk to Andrea Pitzer about her research as she traces the evolution of the camp, from its earliest incarnation in Cuba to its modern day forms in China, Burma and Guantanamo. What is a concentration camp? Why are they so deadly? And most importantly, what do we do to fight them?

In the aftermath of a disaster, information can mean the difference between life and death. After the earthquake hit in Mexico City, it wasn't just buildings that collapsed, the normal lines of communication that connect the city did as well. It was in this dangerous state of confusion and chaos that a group of friends using WhatsApp to share information ended up creating what later became known as Verificado19s, a spontaneous, grassroots initiative that consisted of a vast network of volunteers that traveled throughout the city to gather and verify information. Special thanks to the podcast "The Response."

Our radio adaptation of the film, The Murder of Fred Hampton, produced by filmmakers Mike Gray and Howard Alk, provides a glimpse into the life of Hampton and the Illinois Black Panther Party. On December 4th, 1969, exactly 50 years ago, Black Panthers Fred Hampton, age 21, and Mark Clark, age 22, were shot to death by Chicago police.

As the fossil fuel industry works to turn the Pacific Northwest into a fossil fuel hub, a Thin Green Line stands in its way. Producer Barbara Bernstein's latest project, "Holding the Thin Green Line," explores how local communities are fighting the fossil fuel industry's push for massive fracked gas projects in Washington and Oregon. In part 1, we heard about plans to build the world's largest methanol refineries in Tacoma and Kalama, Washington. This week we hear part 2, "A View from the Blast Zone," on the struggle to stop a massive LNG facility that is being built at the Port of Tacoma.