Making Contact

As the cost of insulin continues to skyrocket patients are dying from trying to ration their medication. It's an extreme example, but not unusual - the cost of insulin mirrors the broader health crisis in the United States. Medicine is too expensive and inaccessible. Today, we look at ways to combat health costs associated with diabetes. 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.

Courtesy of the Decarcerated Podcast, host Marlon Peterson hosts a live conversation with Common Justice founder Danielle Sered. Sered's New Book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair explores the difficult transformations we need to make — both as individuals and as a society — before we can displace and replace the prison industrial complex. The interview took place at The Brooklyn Public Library's Dweck Center on April 10, 2019.

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools is an examination of the experiences of black girls across the country whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged "by teachers, administrators, and the justice system "and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. In her new book, Morris shows how, despite obstacles, stigmas, stereotypes, and despair, black girls still find ways to breathe remarkable dignity into their lives in classrooms, juvenile facilities, and beyond.

On this edition of Making Contact we present, The Struggle Inside: The Murder of George Jackson, a program about the modern anti-prison movement. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Black August, first originated in the California prisons to honor fallen Freedom Fighters, George and Jonathan Jackson, Khatari Gaulden, James McClain, and William Christmas.

Some call it "Paradise", but Hawaii isn't just a tourist getaway. Look beyond the resorts, and you'll find a history of opposition to US occupation. From sacred sites, to indigenous language, Hawaiians are fighting hard to protect their traditions, and their future. On this edition we hear excerpts from the 2012 film by Catherine Bauknight "Hawaii: A Voice for Sovereignty," which explores the history of Hawaii - from the beginning of the US occupation up to statehood and the present day.

The US dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Three days later, the small fishing city of Nagasaki also fell victim. On this edition, we hear the voices of the most deadly attacks the world had ever seen. We commemorate the anniversary of the bombings with excerpts from two documentaries: "Hiroshima Countdown" and "Nagasaki Journey."

In this episode, we explore new safe at-home abortion options and the growing movement for "self-managed abortions." Amidst changes to the Supreme Court of the United States, and after decades of restrictions to abortion access across the country, people continue to find ways to make this vital procedure safer, more affordable, and more accessible. Advances in medicine and discoveries made by women themselves have changed the kind of options available outside of clinics.

According to Ytasha Womack, use of the imagination for self-development and social change is one of the greatest tenets of Afrofuturism. This show features Womack's presentation at the 2017 Sonic Acts Festival, Afrofuturism: Imagination and Humanity.

A handful of companies are making millions off of ankle monitors strapped to undocumented immigrants in ICE custody. The makers pitch the monitors as an alternative to being jailed, but are they simply another form of bondage? Reporter Ryan Katz looks at what life is life while wearing one of these monitors. He untangles the complicated web of ICE, immigration bail agent companies, and the attorneys fighting them. 70 Million is made possible by a grant from the Safety and Justice Challenge at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The 70 Million podcast is a production of Lantigua Williams & Co. Photo Credit: 70 Million; Caption: Floricel Liborio Ramos in Northern California.

Lewis Wallace was a reporter at Marketplace. You may have heard his voice on the Marketplace Morning Report with David Brancaccio. That was until he publicly questioned the role of objectivity in a Medium post. This line of questioning ultimately got him fired from Marketplace. Dive into one journalist's reckoning with truth.