The Radio Café on Santafenewmexican.com

One hundred days ago, the 117th Congress of the United States was sworn in, and we began this series covering the daily life and work of Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez. We talk about what's been accomplished so far, and what challenges lie ahead.

Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is an ecological treasure in Northern New Mexico. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez gives a report from the top of the mountain, and talks about the importance of changing how campaigns are financed. 

What is the role of Congress in determining foreign policy, given the strong role of the executive branch? What does Congress have to say about water policy, given that states play a large role in determining their own water law? And how do we transition away from the fossil fuel industry in a state where we're heavily dependent on its revenues? 

What does it mean to spend trillions of dollars on infrastructure? Where does the money come from to pay for it? And what is involved in getting new voting rights legislation passed? Also hear how Teresa Leger Fernandez's Catholic faith affects the way she thinks about politics in Diary of a Congresswoman.

How do we finally address mass shootings and pay discrimination? And what's really going on on the U.S.-Mexico border—is it even a crisis? Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez speaks on the issues with host Mary-Charlotte Domandi.

Follow first-time representative to Congress Teresa Leger Fernandez as she navigates the process of representing her country and her district. This is a chance for those of us outside the halls of Congress to understand how things get done…or don't…and how New Mexico is represented during a transitional moment in U.S. history.

Many of our "essential workers" pay into the unemployment system but get nothing back when they're unemployed—because of their immigration status. We talk to organizer Marcela Diaz about the challenges—and opportunities—of navigating the health and economic crises caused by the global pandemic.

The new book, "100% Community: Ensuring 10 Vital Services For Surviving,”  shows how to build county-based systems that ensure well being for all their residents. We speak with authors Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello. 

Host Mary-Charlotte Domandi speaks with Stuart Kauffman – a medical doctor, complex systems research scientist, author, MacArthur Fellow and Santa Fe resident – about how the coronavirus spreads and the importance of social distancing in stopping exponential growth.

Award-winning author Terry Tempest Williams discusses her new book, “Erosion: Essays of Undoing.”

Andrew Lustig, founder and president of Global Outreach Doctors, talks about sending physicians and integrative medicine practitioners to the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Historian C.J. Alvarez talks about his new book, “Border Land, Border Water,” and the history of construction on the border, from Mexican independence to the present. We discuss how these projects both divide and connect the two countries—and cause catastrophic consequences to the environment.

Fred Nathan of Think New Mexico talks about how to improve our state system so that private sector employees and contractors can save money for retirement, and how the public sector can better serve its current and future retirees.

The Mexican gray wolf was brought to near extinction by predator-extermination campaigns, spearheaded by the livestock industry. The Endangered Species Act made it possible for wolves to be reintroduced into the wild, where they can do their work as apex predators to keep the rest of the ecosystem in balance. But the pressure against them is still strong. We talk to David Parsons, Carnivore Conservation Biologist with the Rewilding Institute, about the successes and challenges of integrating wolves into their natural habitat.

We talk to Karen Cain of the Street Homeless Animal Project, a Santa Fe-based group that helps people living on the streets to care for their animals. We also talk to Carlyn Montes de Oca about her new book, "Dog as My Doctor, Cat as My Nurse."

Author, radio producer, and aural historian Jack Loeffler's new memoir, “Headed into the Wind,” takes us on a journey of inner and outer freedom in nature and society. After witnessing an atomic bomb test, he realized that our world was insane, and sought new paths, including the counterculture, the environmental movement, jazz music, old-time Hispanic music and culture, Native American ways of life, meditation, and more. A longtime radio producer, he's recorded thousands of hours of interviews with some of the most important voices of our time, and has recorded wildlife all over the West—including a close encounter with a rattlesnake.

Middlebury professor Allison Stanger's new book, "Whistleblowers: Honesty in America from Washington to Trump,” recounts the long American tradition of whistleblowing from even before the Revolutionary War, how whistleblowers have been treated (spoiler alert: not very well), and what's at stake in our new digital world.

Jenny Parks is CEO of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation. In this sponsor spotlight, we hear about the foundation's work with students and teachers, and the challenges of making a difference with philanthropy.

A chat with mixologist and culinary maven Natalie Bovis about Thanksgiving dinner—food choices, recipes, cocktails, and how to enjoy the day even if you're doing all the cooking.

Fred Hampton was a young, charismatic, and brilliant leader in Chicago's African American community when he was gunned down by the police in service of the FBI. Hampton's attorney and biographer, Santa Fean Jeff Haas, talks about his life and legacy.

Michael Berman's new book “Perdido: Sierra San Luis” is a journey in photographs and stories about a complicated landscape on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border, where the natural world has been compromised and where survival depends on a complexity of relationships. 

Henry Shukman, director of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center, talks about his new memoir, "One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart."

We talk to Santa Fe Institute and Portland State University computer scientist Melanie Mitchell about her new book, “Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans.”

Santa Fe author Mark Winne's new book, “Food Town, USA: Seven Unlikely Cities That are Changing the Way We Eat,” is not just a food travelogue, but also the story of how American cities are rebuilding themselves and their local food systems through healthy food entrepreneurship—and along the way starting to heal the wounds of poverty, racism, poor health and erosion of community. 

Photographer Joan Myers has spent over 40 years making images of the American West—not the grand, majestic landscapes of previous generations, but complex, layered images of decaying icons, strange cultural juxtapositions and the myths that underly our sense of place.

Mona Malec's one-woman show, "Motherhood, Barbells & T-Shots," is a powerful story about having a transgender child in a world where acceptance and understanding are hard won. We talk to Mona and director Rod Harrison.

We talk to City Council candidates from districts 2 and 4. Districts 1 and 3 have uncontested races this year. Election day is Tuesday, Nov 5, and early voting runs through Nov. 2.

The current fossil fuel boom in southeastern New Mexico comes with difficulties for workers and residents—impossible housing prices, inadequate infrastructure, and strain on workers both in and outside the industry. Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Jens Erik Gould reports.

Santa Fe's Metamorfosis Documentation Project goes to Latin America to document indigenous traditional ceremonies and ways of life that are under threat from modernization. We talk about the new documentary film about the Tzintzuntzan celebration in a P'urhépecha community in Michoacan, Mexico.  

We talk to four filmmakers from the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival about everything from indigenous rights to the Louisiana Bayou to the unraveling of a suburban housewife.

Steve Elkins is a filmmaker and, above all, an explorer. Flying over the rainforest with lidar technology, he found an ancient city—complete with pyramids and plazas—and put together a team of scientists, filmmakers and journalists to explore and document the site. We talk to Elkins and journalist Doug Preston about the film and the book, both titled “The Lost City of the Monkey God.” 

All of us are part of a collective intelligence—from our communities, to our workplaces, to our governments. We talk to MIT professor Tom Malone about how artificial intelligence and information technology can make our group mind smarter—and more democratic. 

"The Once and Future Child: A Photographic History of Childhood in New Mexico" is an exhibit that traces the history of childhood in New Mexico over the last century. We talk with photographer Don Usner and writer Bill DeBuys about about what these images say about our past—and future.

That's the name of Pat Mitchell's book, a memoir of her career in media. She was the first woman head of PBS and has been a lifelong pioneer in women's media and leadership. She'll be at Collected Works Bookstore at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

Dr. Ross Greene has been working with so-called problem kids for years, and has found what's really going on with them — and it can't be solved through punishment, reward or other behavior modification systems. He explains the fundamentals of his successful methods.

Three Santa Fe theater companies collaborate to bring audiences The Elliot Trilogy by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes. We talk to director Alix Hudson.

Paul Watson's ships had giant blades on the front to tear open the hulls of illegal whaling ships; Dave Foreman's stealthy conservationists stood up to loggers, corporations and law enforcement—all in the service of species that cannot protect themselves. We talk to these two controversial, audacious and extraordinarily successful conservationists. 

Lauren Ancel Meyers is a professor of both integrative biology and statistics and data science. She combines these fields to make models of epidemics—to help us prevent, mitigate and treat things like influenza, zika and other potentially life-threatening illnesses. She will be giving the Ulam lectures for the Santa Fe Institute on Monday, Sept. 23, and Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Lensic Performing Arts Center.

Paul Davies is an astrophysicist and astrobiologist whose book "The Eerie Silence" is an exploration of the search for intelligent life in the universe. But what is “life,” and what is “intelligence?” And what is the likelihood of life forming on other planets? And if it did, how would we know?

While politicians and other adults have brought the world to the edge of catastrophic climate disruption, young people all over the globe are organizing and taking action. We speak to four young New Mexicans about the upcoming General Climate Strike and 7 Days of Resistance.

Thirty years ago, a group of pueblo women started getting together to talk about their problems and issues, including everything from child rearing, to trauma, culture and politics. Now, Tewa Women United is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a series of events. We talk to executive director Corrine Sanchez about her journey empowering women and community.

Jason Rezian was the Washington Posts's Teheran correspondent when he and his wife were taken away at gunpoint and accused of a bizarre list of crimes. His new book, “Prisoner,” details the harrowing 18 months in Iranian prison, and the efforts of his employer, friends and family to get him out. 

How can the fruits of Silicon Valley high tech be used to keep our children safe? Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney's new book, "Anna, Age Eight," is about how to prevent child abuse and trauma by improving the systems within social services, government and private agencies, and getting them to share data.

Laurel Chiten's documentary Just One Drop looks at the history of this alternative healing practice—the controversy, the efficacy and the mystery surrounding what was once—and in many places still is—an accepted practice.

Aurra Gardner had everything going for her—talented musician, creative artist, beloved daughter and older sister—but she chose to end her own life at 16. How can we understand her story — and the stories of other suffering families? Nick Pachelli of Searchlight New Mexico talks about his in-depth report on this issue.

Migration policies continually changing; migrants in danger from both cartels and police; insufficient work, shelter and service; shortage of immigration attorneys and judges. These are just some of the circumstances encountered by refugees on the Mexico-U.S. border. Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Jens Erik Gould tells about his recent stories from El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.

Santa Fe Institute economist Rajiv Sethi talks from an economics and social science perspective about stereotyping in the criminal justice system, and the resulting disparities in our communities.

Avi Belkin's new film, "Mike Wallace is Here," profiles the life of the influential broadcast journalist who inaugurated 60 Minutes, and whose life work brings up important questions about journalism today.

Searchlight New Mexico's April Reese discusses her reporting on the effects of toxic chemicals from Cannon Air Force Base on local groundwater—and the severe toll these toxins have taken on the viability of a dairy business and the health of its owner.

A mining company is exploring the possibility of mineral extraction in the National Forest near Pecos. We talk to two experts on the potential consequences to our state's air and water.

August has been dedicated “Local Food Connects” month, and we talk to local food advocate Denise Miller and farmer Alex Pino.