Best Publicmedia Podcasts (2025)

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East Orosi’s Long Struggle for Water, Part 2: The Role of Community Utility Districts (Encore) Description 29:17

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7d ago29:17

29:17

Last 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 questi…

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East Orosi’s Struggle for Clean Drinking Water (Encore) 29:12

14d ago29:12

29:12

In 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 t…

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Dr. Rebecca Crumpler, America's First Black Female Public Health Pioneer 29:16

21d ago29:16

29:16

Dr. Rebecca Crumpler was the first Black woman to become a physician in the United States. Working in the aftermath of the Civil War, she made immense contributions to public health, despite the racism and sexism she faced. We'll trace the course of her remarkable life and work with in a story brought to us by the podcast Lost Women of Science, hos…

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Seeing Signs from Queens Memory Podcast (Encore) 29:16

28d ago29:16

29:16

For 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 …

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The Healing Project: An Abolitionist Story (Encore) 29:18

1M ago29:18

29:18

Composer, pianist, and vocalist Samora Pinderhughes tells us about The Healing Project. The Healing Project, a fundamentally abolitionist project, explores the structures of systemic racism and the prison industrial complex. The Healing Project takes action towards abolition with forms such as musical songs, films, an exhibition, community gatherin…

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Radical Therapy from Re:Work 29:19

1M ago29:19

29:19

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we bring you a story at the intersection of therapy, healing and social justice. We'll hear about one therapist’s work to bring the lens of radical therapy and community care into her practice. This piece was produced by the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center. Featuring: Claudia Morales, therapist …

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The Promise and Peril of Geoengineering (Encore) 29:11

2M ago29:11

29:11

For Earth Day, we bring back a special environmental episode from our archives! As we head into an ever warming world, some experts and politicians are embracing a possible solution to climate change called geoengineering. Theoretically geoengineering could slow down climate change, stop it, and maybe even remove carbon from the air. It sounds like…

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The Calling 29:16

2M ago29:16

29:16

For Black Maternal Health Week, we celebrate the important work that Black midwives do in their communities. In this week's show, we'll hear a conversation about how one woman followed her calling to midwifery in a story brought to us by the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center. Featuring Kimberly Durdin, licensed midwife and co-founder of Ki…

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The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition (Encore) 29:17

2M ago29:17

29:17

What is caste? According to author Thenmozhi Soundararajan, “caste is suffering. That one’s worth and fate are determined at the moment of birth. Forced to exist in a caste apartheid of segregated ghettos." On this week's episode, we talk to Thenmozhi Soundararajan the author of The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Heal…

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Karinda Dobbins: Black and Blue (Encore) 30:16

2M ago30:16

30:16

On this week's episode, we speak with Bay Area based comedian Karinda Dobbins about the release of her debut comedy album, Black & Blue. In Black & Blue, Karinda shares personal stories - finding humor in the most ordinary moments of her daily life - including her girlfriend’s arbitrary policy on household pests, the changes hipsters have brought t…

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The Supreme Court Under Trump 29:11

3M ago29:11

29:11

During his first term, Trump stacked the Supreme Court with hard right judges creating a 6-3 split that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a stunning ruling in which a human right which was previously granted by law was taken away from the public. This time Trump faces even less resistance and could remake the Supreme Court once again. Ellie My…

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Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment from Lost Women of Science 29:16

3M ago29:16

29:16

Dr. Flemmie Kittrell was a Black home economist whose research in the field of early childhood education shaped the way we think about child development today. She became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition and contributed immensely to programs like Head Start – even though her name is often left out of the history. We'll hear more a…

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How The First Home Pregnancy Test Was Born (Encore) Description 29:12

3M ago29:12

29:12

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to know about and take control of their own lives and bodies. But while the design of the protot…

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Ninety Seconds to Midnight: The Dangerous Philosophy of Silicon Valley (Encore) 29:17

3M ago29:17

29:17

A new philosophy steeped in the ideas of Artificial Intelligence, space colonization, and the long-term survival of the human species is gaining ground among the wealthy. However, there are reasons to question its goals and its ethics. Longtermists believe that not only could we colonize space and create simulated humans in giant servers around sta…

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A History of Development and Disruption (Encore) 29:15

3M ago29:15

29:15

This week on Making Contact, we bring you a story of urban planning and how race has shaped American cities. In his book, Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption, Mitchell Schwarzer explores the origins and the lasting impacts of transportation improvements, systemic racism, and regional competition on Oakland’s built environmen…

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Exposed Part 2: the Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point from SF Public Press 29:16

4M ago29:16

29:16

In episode two of “Exposed” from our friends at the San Francisco Public Press, we explore a little-known chapter in San Francisco’s nuclear era: human experiments carried out to assess the health effects of radiation. Scientists from the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, located at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, designed and executed at le…

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Exposed Part 1: the Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point from SF Public Press 29:16

4M ago29:16

29:16

Today we present the first half of a two-part radio documentary from our friends at the San Francisco Public Press, “Exposed,” opening a window into the little-known history of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The sprawling abandoned naval base, in San Francisco’s southeast waterfront Bayview neighborhood, is currently the site of the city’s large…

Publicmedia Podcasts

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Making Contact

Frequencies of Change Media

1
East Orosi’s Long Struggle for Water, Part 2: The Role of Community Utility Districts (Encore) Description 29:17

1
East Orosi’s Struggle for Clean Drinking Water (Encore) 29:12

1
Dr. Rebecca Crumpler, America's First Black Female Public Health Pioneer 29:16

1
Seeing Signs from Queens Memory Podcast (Encore) 29:16

1
The Healing Project: An Abolitionist Story (Encore) 29:18

1
Radical Therapy from Re:Work 29:19

1
The Promise and Peril of Geoengineering (Encore) 29:11

1
The Calling 29:16

1
The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition (Encore) 29:17

1
Karinda Dobbins: Black and Blue (Encore) 30:16

1
The Supreme Court Under Trump 29:11

1
Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment from Lost Women of Science 29:16

1
How The First Home Pregnancy Test Was Born (Encore) Description 29:12

1
Ninety Seconds to Midnight: The Dangerous Philosophy of Silicon Valley (Encore) 29:17

1
A History of Development and Disruption (Encore) 29:15

1
Exposed Part 2: the Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point from SF Public Press 29:16

1
Exposed Part 1: the Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point from SF Public Press 29:16