Making Contact

Frequencies of Change Media
  • 4.8 (60)
  • NEWS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

"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.

  1. 5D AGO

    Kev Choice: Love, Growth, and the Power of Music (Encore)

    We sit down with Kev Choice, a classically trained pianist, rapper, composer, and educator, who has reshaped the Bay Area music scene. Raised in Oakland with San Francisco roots, Kev blends hip-hop, jazz, soul, and classical music into a unique sound. His latest EP, _All My Love_, explores themes of love, vulnerability, and human connection, with soulful melodies and reflective lyrics capturing the complexities of relationships. This episode first aired in November 2024. Featuring Kev Choice Making Contact Team Episode host: Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman  Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Learn More Kev Choice | on Instagram | interview in West Coast Styles | Oakland Symphony 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.

    29 min

  2. NOV 5

    The Way Home (Encore)

    To mark Indigenous People's Day, we'll hear two stories about communities working with food to revitalize identity and ancestry. First, we speak to Mariah Gladstone and Kenneth Cook in Blackfeet Nation in Montana about their online cooking show Indigikitchen and follow them into the field as they harvest a bison. Then, we talk to Dr. Keitlyn Alcantara about the Tlaxcala, an indigenous tribe living in central Mexico who were able to survive the expansive Aztec empire in the period just before colonization, and visit the Healing Garden at Hilltop in Bloomington, Indiana, where diaspora members connect with familiar plants, the earth and each other. This show first aired in August 2022. Featuring: Kenneth Cook, helps operate Indigikitchen Mariah Gladstone, founder of Indigikitchen Boyd Evans, rancher on Blackfeet Nation Dr Keitlyn Alcantara, assistant professor of archeology at Indiana University Margarita Martinez Osorio, PhD student of history at Indiana University Andre Bispo de Jesus, gardener at Indiana University Making Contact Team: Guest Reporter: Kathleen Shannon Episode hosts: Salima Hamirani and Amy Gastelum Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Amy Gastelum, Salima Hamirani and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain   Music Credits: Caslo – Freedom Jonny Ripper – Opening Credits Danny Bale – Grevillia Music Learn More:  Indigikitchen The Healing Garden 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.

    29 min

  3. OCT 29

    Criminalized Survival (Encore)

    October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so we are revisiting a show from our archives about criminalized survival, the criminal justice system's long practice of imprisoning survivors of intimate partner violence when they fight back against their abusers. We'll hear from journalist Natalie Pattillo and filmmaker Daniel A. Nelson, who followed the stories of imprisoned women Kim Dadou Brown, Tanisha Davis and Nikki Addimando for their documentary film And So I Stayed. This show first aired in July 2023. Featuring: Natalie Pattillo, journalist, mother and co-director of the film And So I Stayed Daniel A. Nelson, filmmaker, cinematographer and co-director of the film And So I Stayed Credits: Making Contact Team Episode Host: Amy Gastelum Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman Digital Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain Music via WFMU free music archive Poddington Bear, Alsace HoliznaCC0, Whatever  Learn More:  The Survivor's Justice Project | And So I Stayed Film | The National Domestic Violence Hotline 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.

    30 min

  4. OCT 22

    How the Legacy of Colonialism Keeps Puerto Rico's Healthcare System in Shambles (Encore)

    Almost half of Puerto Rico's doctors have fled the island over the past decade, leading to a lack of specialists and treatment and incredibly long wait times. And this isn't just an inconvenience. People are dying from lack of care. Why is Puerto Rico's health care system collapsing, and why are doctors fleeing the island? We take a look at its deeply dysfunctional private medical system and why attempts to fix it, and create a universal health care plan on the island, are being hindered by Puerto Rico's status as a US colony. Its massive unpayable debt, held by investors in the US, means that it cannot make its own economic decisions, even when it affects the livelihood of poor Puerto Ricans living there. But there might be a fix, getting rid of Puerto Rico's debt and rethinking its colonial relationship to the US. This episode first aired in October 2024. Credits: Making Contact Team 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 Marketing Manager: Lissa Deonarain Music Credits Daniel Birch – Indigo Strokes Axletree – Goldfinch- Flight to the North Mindseye – Spores Soft and Furious – So What Learn More:  Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora | The Nation Magazine: Puerto Rico's Unnatural Disaster 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.

    29 min

  5. OCT 15

    The City Displaced

    We return to Norfolk, Virginia, where flooding and rising sea levels threaten residents, and the climate plan for the city could perpetuate harmful patterns of segregation and environmental racism. With the help of the podcast Wading Between Two Titans, we'll take a look at how urban redevelopment is pushing out low-income and Black residents and what happens when communities are displaced due to climate gentrification. Featuring: Mr. Vernell, resident Vincent Hodges, social worker and organizer Monét Johnson, lead housing and environmental organizer for New Virginia Majority Paul Riddick, former Norfolk City Council member Credits: Making Contact Team Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman  Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music Credit: "A Documentary" by AKTASOK via Pixabay Wading Between Two Titans Team Written, recorded, produced, edited, mixed, mastered and hosted by Adrian Wood Show art by Adrian Wood Story editing by Kelly Jones Consultation and visioning with the Repair Lab 2022 Practitioner-in-Residence, Kim Sudderth Music by Sugarlift A project featuring original research by the Repair Lab Learn More:  Making Contact homepage | Wading Between Two Titans 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.

    29 min

  6. OCT 8

    Port City, from Generation to Generation

    In this episode, we'll head to Norfolk, Virginia, where flooding and rising sea levels are disproportionately threatening Black residents, while the city is also also weathering a housing crisis. We'll hear about how sea-level rise, racism and housing are intertwined in this coastal city in a story from episode one of the podcast Wading Between Two Titans, brought to us by the University of Virginia's Repair Lab and producer Adrian Wood. Featuring: Dr. Tommy L. Bogger, professor of history at Norfolk State University | Cassandra Newby-Alexander, endowed professor of Virginia Black History and Culture at Norfolk State University Credits: Making Contact Team Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Jeff Emtman  Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music Credit: "A Documentary" by AKTASOK via Pixabay Wading Between Two Titans Credits Written, recorded, produced, edited, mixed, mastered and hosted by [Adrian Wood](http://adrianwoodstudio.com/) Show art by [Adrian Wood](http://adrianwoodstudio.com/) Story editing by Kelly Jones Visioned by the Repair Lab 2022 Practitioner-in-Residence, [Kim Sudderth](https://www.kimfor92.com/) Music by [Sugarlift](http://soundcloud.com/sugarlift) A project featuring original research by [the Repair Lab](http://repairlab.virginia.edu/) Learn More:  Making Contact homepage | Wading Between Two Titans 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.

    29 min

  7. OCT 1

    Saltwater Soundwalk: Indigenous Audio Tour of Seattle (Encore)

    Today on Making Contact we present "Saltwater Soundwalk," an Indigenous audio tour of Seattle featuring a watery audio experience, with streams of stories that ebb and flow that intermixes English and Coast Salish languages. Indigenous Coast Salish peoples continue to steward this land and preserve its language, despite settler colonialism, industrialization and gentrification. Part story, part sound collage, this piece is scored entirely with the sounds of the waters and animals who live in and around the Salish Sea. This episode first aired in April 2023. Saltwater Soundwalk Credits Rachel Lam (Anigiduwagi enrolled Cherokee Nation) and Jenny Asarnow produced this work as part of FLOW: Art Along the Ship Canal, a commission from Seattle Public Utilities in partnership with the Office of Arts & Culture Special Thanks Commissioned with SPU 1% for Art Funds. Administered by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. City of Seattle, Bruce Harrell, Mayor. This episode of Making Contact was supported in part by a Moral Courage grant from the Satterberg Foundation. Making Contact Team Episode host: Anita Johnson Segment Editor: Jessica Partnow Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Lucy Kang, Amy Gastelum Executive Director: Jina Chung Audio Engineering: Jeff Emtman Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain  Music Credits Last Kiss – Magnus Moone | Audiobinger – Enchanted Forest Learn More Saltwater Soundwalk | Seattle Times | Art Beat Blog 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.

    29 min

  8. SEP 24

    El béisbol is where we shine

    On this week's Making Contact, we talk about baseball with the help of some Venezuelan players living in Peru. In a story brought to us by the podcast In Confianza, with Pulso, we hear about how their hopes and dreams of making it big can fuel community when they're living far from home. The story featured in this show first aired in July 2024. Featuring: Raian Baute, Venezuelan baseball aficionado | Rodrigo Baute, Los Astros player | Manny Padron, Major League Baseball scout for the Miami Marlins | Franklin Lopez, Los Astros coach | Wilmer Flores, baseball player for the San Francisco Giants Making Contact Team: Episode host: Lucy Kang 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 Music credit: "Drums" by Andrewfai via Pixabay Guest Episode Credits - In Confianza from Pulso Show hosted by Liz Rebecca Alarcón Story produced and narrated by Anthony Wallace  Editing by Mark Pagán and Charlie Garcia Audio engineering and scoring by Anthony Wallace Additional audio engineering and mixing by Charlie Garcia Listen to the full episode from In Confianza, with Pulso 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.

    29 min
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4.8
out of 5
60 Ratings

About

"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.

Information

  • Creator
    Frequencies of Change Media
  • Years Active
    2005 - 2025
  • Episodes
    826
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Frequencies of Change Media
  • Show Website
    Making Contact

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