Words on a Wire

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Will Rose speaks with writer Andrew Bertaina about his book-length essay, Ethan Hawke and Me , which was inspired by Richard Linklater's acclaimed Before trilogy. Blending memoir, literary criticism, and cultural reflection, Bertaina explores how the films shaped his understanding of romance, relationships, marriage, divorce, and the often complicated jour...

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we work, raising difficult questions about expertise, creativity, and the future of professional life. In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Will Rose speaks with Chris Walker, author of The Frequency Era , about his argument that society is entering a new economic age. Walker contends that as information becomes increasingly abundant through AI,...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón sits down with actor, director, and The University of Texas at El Paso theater professor Jay Stratton for a wide-ranging conversation about creativity, performance, teaching, and life in the arts. Stratton reflects on his years as a working actor in New York City, his journey from business student to theater artist, and the realities of build...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón speaks with acclaimed author Reyna Grande about her latest book, Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget . Their conversation explores the lasting emotional impact of migration, family separation, motherhood, memory, and the vulnerability of writing memoir. Grande reflects on the difference between fiction and nonfiction, the deeply...

Host Daniel Chacón sits down with Dr. Gabriela Baeza Ventura, director and publisher of Arte Público Press—widely recognized as the nation’s leading publisher of U.S. Latinx literature. Their conversation begins on the U.S.–Mexico border, tracing Dr. Ventura’s upbringing between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, and quickly expands into a deeper exploration of how literary worlds are built, sustained, an...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Will Rose sits down with Jazmine Ulloa, national political and immigration reporter for The New York Times , to discuss her powerful new book, El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory . Ulloa traces the lives of five families across more than a century to tell a sweeping, deeply human story of migration, identity,...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Will Rose sits down with graphic designer Josh Korwin to explore the often unseen craft behind book and literary magazine design. With a career rooted in typography and a passion for shaping how readers encounter text, Korwin has worked on the identities and interiors of journals like Zyzzyva and Huizache , bringing a careful balance of aesthetics, readabi...

In this episode of The Writer’s Pick , hosts Luis Marquez and Charissa Wong welcome poet, educator, and journalist María Esquinca for a conversation on writing, identity, and the power of storytelling.  Esquinca discusses her award-winning collection Where Heaven Sinks , a deeply personal reflection on her upbringing between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso. She explores how her work is shaped by themes...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Will Rose sits down with author Lauren D. Woods to discuss her debut short story collection, The Great Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe —a book that moves fluidly between realism and the surreal, blending sharp emotional insight with inventive, often unexpected forms. Woods talks about the long and winding path to publishing her first collection, including st...

Join hosts Jack Bishop, a father and veteran from the Appalachian Mountains, and Luis Marquez, a Mexican American writer based in the borderlands, as they navigate the vibrant and challenging landscape of creative writing. This first episode of the Writer's Pick is a deep dive into the minds of emerging writers. Jack and Luis explore the creative writing community at the University of Texas at El...

This special episode of Words on a Wire brings together host Daniel Chacón and historian David Dorado Romo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Romo’s groundbreaking book Ringside Seat to a Revolution . Before an audience of students, faculty, and community members, the conversation revisits a work that reshaped how El Paso—and the U.S.-Mexico border more broadly—is understood, blending rigorous a...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Will Rose speaks with Caleb Lara, whose work on social media and through community projects has brought renewed attention to the rich and often overlooked history of the borderland. Lara shares how a childhood fascination with downtown architecture grew into a lifelong passion for documenting the stories hidden in El Paso’s buildings, neighborhoods, and la...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón sits down with poet, educator, and community organizer Richie Marrufo for a wide-ranging conversation about art, identity, and what it means to stay human in a digital world. They explore how AI is changing the way students write—and what may be lost when language becomes too polished. Marrufo reflects on teaching bilingual writers, balancing...

In this episode, host Will Rose sits down with journalist and author Jessica Goudeau to discuss her ambitious and deeply personal new book, We Were Illegal . After writing about refugee families rebuilding their lives in Texas, Goudeau began asking a question she had never considered about herself: how did her own family get here? What followed was a years-long investigation into her ancestry — an...

On this episode of Words on a Wire, host Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny guides us through an inspiring conversation with acclaimed poet, journalist, and educator Maria Esquinca. Maria, the 2024 Andres Montoya Poetry Prize winner for her collection "Where Heaven Sings," reveals how her multifaceted identities influence her artistry and world view. Maria Esquinca opens up about her journey from journalism to...

In this episode, host Will Rose speaks with author Stephanie Austin about her debut novel, Burn, which will be released on February 3, 2026, from Cowboy Jamboree Press. Stephanie reflects on the novel’s remarkable twenty-year journey to publication, tracing how the story evolved across drafts, forms, and decades before finally finding its true shape. She discusses why returning the book's setting...

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Will Rose speaks with historian Jeff Roche, author of The Conservative Frontier: Texas and the Origins of the New Right (University of Texas Press), about how West Texas became one of the most conservative regions in American political life. Roche traces the roots of modern conservatism back to the late nineteenth century, beginning with the rise of ranchin...

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Will Rose speaks with El Paso–based photographer and videographer Christian Iglesias, widely known on social media as @ChristianChurches. Iglesias has built a devoted following by documenting the landscapes, people, and everyday moments of the borderlands. The conversation traces Iglesias’s journey from shooting high school football games at Eastwood High S...

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón speaks with writer, editor, and cultural critic Scótt Russell Dúncan about identity, futurity, and the politics of who gets to imagine the future. Dúncan discusses Chicanx futurism as an act of reclamation—of land, history, and possibility—pushing back against dominant narratives that exclude brown and Indigenous communities from visions of to...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón sits down with Dr. Roberto Avant-Mier, Chair of the Communication Department at the University of Texas at El Paso and a leading scholar of Chicano film. Their wide-ranging conversation uses Wim Wenders’ film Perfect Days as a point of entry into deeper reflections on cinema, music, memory, and meaning. Avant-Mier discusses how music function...

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Will Rose speaks with historian Max Perry Mueller about his groundbreaking new book, Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West. Mueller uncovers the complicated, often misunderstood history of Chief Wakara, the influential Ute leader whose life intersected with Mormon settlers, the expanding American state, and the viole...

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón speaks with writer and journalist Michelle Morgante about her journey from a small agricultural town in California’s San Joaquin Valley to a globe-spanning career in journalism, and ultimately, to fiction writing. Morgante begins by reflecting on her childhood in Lindsay, California, a tiny, heavily agricultural town she describes as a real-li...

Listen to part 2 of Tim Z. Hernandez's conversation with Olga Talamante. Be sure to catch part 1 right here on the Words on a Wire podcast.

In this episode of The Storykeeper from Words on a Wire, host Tim Z. Hernandez sits down with activist and community leader Olga Talamante to explore the extraordinary journey behind her life’s work. Drawing from her migrant childhood in Gilroy, her early experiences as a student leader, and her awakening as a young Chicana organizer, Olga reflects on the forces that shaped her political conscious...

In this candid and forward-looking conversation, host Will Rose sits down with longtime Words on a Wire co-host Daniel Chacón to examine how profoundly the writing life has changed—and what the new realities mean for anyone trying to build a writing career in 2025. Drawing from personal experience and decades inside the MFA world, Chacón reflects on the fading era when a single book and an MFA cou...