The Radio Café on Santafenewmexican.com

Sara Solovich is executive editor of Searchlight New Mexico, which since its founding just over a year ago has published stories that have not only won national awards, but have spurred much-needed reforms. We talk to Sara, reporter Ed Williams and photojournalist Don Usner.  New Mexico journalism—sowing seeds of change 

 New Mexico news roundup with Steve Terrell for April. 1

Lilly Ledbetter worked as a manager for Goodyear for almost 20 years— not knowing that she was paid a fraction of her male counterparts. She fought, won, lost, kept fighting, and ultimately helped to get a law passed that helps people get pay equity.

Rachel Conn of Amigos Bravos talks about a proposed change to how New Mexico’s rivers, streams, and wetlands are protected under the Clean Water Act. She calls it the Dirty Water Rule, as it would remove protection from 96% of New Mexico’s waters—and would allow mines, wastewater treatments plants, corporations, and others to put highly toxic waste into our streams without regulation or consequence. 

Salvatore Scibona’s novel, The Volunteer, is a story that spans generations—from rural Iowa to Vietnam, to lowlife New York, to New Mexico. It’s an profound literary journey about people trying to survive in their own lives and in the mechanisms of power over which they have little control.

Ben Goldfarb is a beaver believer. He’s author of the new book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. We talk about the historical role of beavers in the ecosystems of the entire North American continent, how they were nearly wiped out, and why many communities are brining them back—and with them lusher wetlands and rivers.

Ahmed Abu Artema is a Palestinian writer, whose ideas gave rise to the Great March of Return last year. Jehad Abusalim is a Palestinian intellectual and activist working to facilitate Palestinian-Jewish dialog. We talk about their work for human rights and a basic standard of living.

Elizabeth Hoover traveled all over the country talking to indigenous communities about their food traditions, local gardening and agriculture initiatives, and what it could mean to have food self-sufficiency.

Dahr Jamail is an award-winning author and journalist, whose new book, The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption, is not only a description of the dire state of the planet’s living systems, but also a story of grief, loss, and courage to face the current and imminent crises with open eyes.

Nina Simons is co-founder of Bioneers and author of several books. Her new book is Nature, Culture & the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership.  She will be speaking at Collected Works Bookstore Thursday, March 14, in conversation with Cecile Lipworth.

Santa Fe Institute scientist Ross Hammond talks about the “snydemic” of climate change, obesity, and undernourishment—and some solutions that address all three at once.

Many teens in New Mexico are living in fear of gun violence, both in their schools and in the larger world. We speak with high school students Sophia Lussiez and Maki Omori, and gun-safety activist Miranda Viscoli, about their work to pass legislation that would keep firearms out of the hands of children and domestic violence offenders. 

Anthropologist and best-selling author Wade Davis talks about the knowledge, practices, and wisdom of non-Western societies, and how they can inspire us and help us to solve some of our most series problems—like climate change. 

We talk to Heather Ferguson, director of Common Cause New Mexico, about the formation of the brand new New Mexico ethics commission — what it’s for, who would and wouldn’t be affected, and why it matters to all of us.

In honor of love—and “love” is loosely defined here—we talk to six distinguished Santa Fe poets and listen to some of their selected poems.