Exposed Part 2: the Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point from SF Public Press
Release Date: 02/12/2025
Crosswinds: Friendship
Making Contact
We take a deep dive into coal dust air pollution in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, where trains transporting coal expose residents of predominantly Black communities to harmful dust. We look at this issue of environmental racism with the help of the podcast Crosswinds, featuring producer Adrian Wood. Featuring: Lathaniel Kirts, practitioner-in-residence at University of Virginia's Repair Lab Malcolm Jones, practitioner-in-residence at University of Virginia's Repair Lab Grace Holmes, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Dr. Kim Fields, environmental policy expert at the...
info_outline
Geraldine’s Story: How Public Schools Are Failing Black Students with Dyslexia (Encore)
Making Contact
Black students with dyslexia all too often carry a heavy burden in our public schools. This documentary centers around a grandmother who fought for years to get her grandkids — particularly her grandson — properly assessed for dyslexia. Like too many African American boys, Geraldine Robinson’s grandson had been erroneously labeled with an “intellectual disability” and deprived of proper reading remediation. Monica Lopez hosts this episode, which first aired in 2021. Featuring: Geraldine Robinson, Oakland matriarch raising her grandkids Cheryl Theis, Education Advocate, Disability...
info_outline
70 Million: Why Policing Our Schools Backfires (Encore)
Making Contact
School resource officers are often called upon in middle and high schools to help with routine discipline. But for many children, especially those with disabilities, a law enforcement response to their behavior can lead to the school-to-prison pipeline. This week on Making Contact, we hear a story from our podcast partner 70 Million about the relationship between students with special needs and school resource officers and the changes some would like to see in an edited version of “Why Policing Our Schools Backfires.” 70 Million Team Episode Reporter: Claire McInerney...
info_outline
Disability: Our Culture Ourselves (Encore)
Making Contact
In this episode we discuss disability, culture and identity from the perspective of disability communities themselves. Seattle based activist Dorian Taylor talks about the specific challenges disabled people face while accessing public transportation and Professor Sara Acevedo discusses the powerful ways that common language and terminology can shape our perceptions of disability, and why even today we are seeing further exclusion of disabled people. This program originally aired in 2019. Featuring: Dorian Taylor, Sara Acevedo. Episode Credits Special thanks to CIIS, the...
info_outline
Caring Relationships Negotiating Meaning Maintaining Dignity (Encore)
Making Contact
The vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care. Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity. In honor of Disability Pride Month, we’ll revisit the dynamic and complex relationship of care receiving and giving. Camille Christian, home care provider...
info_outline
Decoding Algorithmic Racism with Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble (Encore)
Making Contact
On this week’s episode, we dive into the hidden biases of the digital age with Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble, author of the groundbreaking book, Algorithms of Oppression. Dr. Noble unpacks how search engines, often seen as neutral tools, can reinforce harmful stereotypes and limit access to critical knowledge. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our digital experiences and discuss the urgent need for accountability in technology. This show first aired in December 2024. Featuring: Dr. Safiya U. Noble, David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and professor of gender studies,...
info_outline
What does a Latino version of "The Bear" taste like?
Making Contact
On this week's show, we explore Latino food and culture in Chicago’s historic Pilsen neighborhood and hear about how food can bring communities together. We tag along with the podcast In Confianza with Pulso as they try to answer the question: what does a Latino version of the tv show "The Bear" taste like? We'll head to two restaurants, Cafe Jumping Bean and Pochos, to find out. Featuring: Eleazar Delgado, owner of Cafe Jumping Bean | Miguel Hernandez and Irene Acosta, owners of Pochos Making Contact Credits Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima...
info_outline
Mothers, Markets, and Migration (Encore)
Making Contact
In this week’s episode, we take a look at how over six decades after the Korean War, South Korea processed the most international adoptions in history and how the demand for a “domestic supply of (adoptable) infants” may be playing a role in increasing threats to autonomy over pregnancy in the US. This show first aired in November 2024. Featuring Alex Lewis, independent producer and founder of | Schuyler Swenson, producer | , registered midwife Making Contact Team Episode Host: Amy Gastelum Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang...
info_outline
A Making Contact Pride Show!
Making Contact
To celebrate Pride Month, we have a special show featuring stories from the Making Contact archives. We'll revisit the Stonewall Uprising with the 1989 audio documentary Remembering Stonewall, and then head to the gay rodeo with producer Vanessa Rancaño in a story from 2014. Making Contact Credits Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Engineer: Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain Music "Minimal Documentary" by via Pixabay Bleep sound effect by from Remembering Stonewall:...
info_outline
Soul Force: The Legacy of Rev. James Lawson Jr.
Making Contact
A year ago, the world said goodbye to Reverend James Lawson Jr. On today's show, we look back at the work and legacy this leading figure in the Civil Rights Movement and advocate of nonviolence, with the help of the podcast Re:Work from the UCLA Labor Center. Reverend James Lawson Jr., nonviolence advocate and civil rights leader Making Contact Episode host and producer: 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...
info_outlineIn 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 least 24 experiments that involved gathering data from humans — in some cases, injecting test subjects with radioisotopes or having them ingest fluids laced with trace amounts of radioactive materials. Even football players from the San Francisco 49ers were enrolled as test subjects in these so-called tracer studies.
We hear from military veterans who were sent on a mysterious mission to spread radioactive substances onto rooftops at an Army base near Pittsburg, Calif., for an experiment the radiation lab played a role in designing. Some recount experiences of witnessing nuclear bomb blasts in the Nevada desert. We also examine a national pattern of human radiation experiments revealed by Eileen Welsome, the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, who shined a light on similar practices conducted by government facilities, hospitals and other institutions.
Featuring:
- Eldridge Jones, who served in the military and was part of Operation Stoneman
- Merle Votaw, a Navy veteran who participated in Operation Stoneman II
- Eileen Welsome, author of "Plutonium Files"
- Holly Barker, Anthropologist and professor at the University of Washington who studied the Marshall Islands
Credits:
San Francisco Public Press:
Reporting: Rebecca Bowe and Chris Roberts
Editing: Michael Stoll and Liz Enochs
Research Editing: Ambika Kandasamy
Web Design: John Angelico
Copy Editing: Kurt Aguilar, Michele Anderson and Richard Knee
Archival Research and Illustration: Stacey Carter
Audio Editing: Liana Wilcox, Mel Baker and Megan Maurer
Sound Gathering: Justin Benttinen
Photography: Sharon Wickham, Yesica Prado and Guillermo Hernandez
Graphic Design: Reid Brown
Fact Checking: Dani Solakian and Ali Hanks
Proofreading: Lila LaHood, Noah Arroyo, Zhe Wu and Sylvie Sturm
Special thanks to Alastair Gee and Danielle Renwick at The Guardian and Ben Trefny at KALW Public Radio, and to Laura Wenus and Amy Pyle
Making Contact:
Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Anubhuti Kumar
Music Credits:
Midday, by the Blue Dot Sessions
Sweet Leilani, by Bing Crosby
Learn More:
Exposed on the San Francisco Public Press
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.