Making Contact (Investigative)

The endless search for fossil fuels is polluting our waterways, and our water supplies. The fight to protect clean drinking water is motivating Americans to take action. But with regulatory agencies in the pocket of industrial polluters, will it be enough and will it be too late?

On this edition, political science professor David Shirk sheds light on the history and politics of the war on drugs in Mexico. And, an emerging movement in Mexico points to how both Mexicans and Americans can play a role in creating change.

It’s been 20 years since four white police officers were cleared of unlawfully beating Rodney King in Los Angeles. But we might never have heard of Rodney King had it not been for an amateur cameraman who caught the whole thing on tape. On this edition, we hear how video cameras have changed the way we see the police.

With the passage of New York’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2010, workers are now organizing in California and other states to win basic rights and protections long denied to this labor force. On this edition, we look at past and present struggles of domestic workers.

We’ve all seen how high water devastated New Orleans. But another historic Jewel, Venice, Italy, is struggling to plan for sea level rise. On this edition, Producer Zoe Sullivan takes us to both Venice and New Orleans, to look at some creative solutions they’re trying, and what other coastal cities might do as the effects of climate change set in.

It’s not even the crime that counts sometimes. It’s that little box on an application that asks you to reveal if you have a criminal history. Checking that box can mean the difference between failure and success. We look at the nationwide movement to ‘ban-the-box’, and make criminal histories less of a stigma.

40 years after the Clean Water Act became law, the landscape of our water supply hasbeen transformed, and regulation is being framed by some as an enemy of progress. Onthis edition, we look at how we manage our water in the twenty-first century. Are wedoing too little, or are we trying to control too much?

Occupy Wall Street has changed the conversation about the distribution of wealth. So what now? What policy changes and initiatives should the movement be pushing for? Economics Professor Richard Wolff has some answers.

As the U.S. prepares for another presidential election, journalist Tariq Ali says the ‘choices’ don’t present much in the way of options. On this edition, Ali speaks about the growth of the ‘extreme center’ and how Occupy and other emerging social movements are challenging the status quo.

As the popular uprising against the Syrian government continues, reporter Reese Erlich is one of the few foreign reporters who got into Syria to interview opposition demonstrators, government officials and impassioned supporters of President Bashar al Assad. On this edition, Erlich takes us inside the Syrian uprising.

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Gang injunctions are a controversial crime fighting tool that some people say should be illegal, and others say is a necessary last resort for communities plagued by violence. On this edition, we go from the birthplace of gang injunctions in L.A., to their newest use in London.

As the Occupy movement continues to grow participants, activists and community organizers are grappling with how to ensure that Occupy develops beyond tents and into long-term systemic change.

On this edition, we bring you the voices of Veterans from Occupy Wall Street and a special report on veterans returning home from war and the struggles they endure from inadequate healthcare to the inability in finding employment.

The people of the U.S. have seemingly awakened, and are out in the streets, demanding changes to a system in which money controls politics. On this edition, corporations, elections and the 99%. In a post-citizens united world, is it too late to reclaim our democracy?