The Forum with Jim Falk

Beginning more than a decade ago, thousands of Uyghurs fled repression in Xinjiang, the region of western China many consider their homeland and call East Turkestan. Many eventually made their way to Syria, where they became fighters in the civil war and helped the rebel forces that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. It is a remarkable story, and one that remains surprisingly little known...

When it comes to ethics, transparency, and accountability in state government, New Mexico lags much of the country. A recent survey found that only 19% of New Mexicans trust their state government. With a new governor taking office in January, Think New Mexico is calling for sweeping legislative reforms. Its latest report, The Next Step for a Modernizing Legislature , outlines 10 recommendations,...

This week's Forum features Heather Lamboy, Director of the Santa Fe Land Use Department and Daniel Strongwater, a developer and member of the Board of Friends of Architecture, discussing Santa Fe Forward and the city's current project to update and improve  our General Plan and Land Use Code. 

This week on the Forum, KSFR News Reporter Patrick Davis and Rev. Talitha Arnold continue the discussion on homelessness in Santa Fe, this time with Nick Svetnicka and Carrie Wilbur from the St. Elizabeth Shelter, and Kent Grubbs of Interfaith Community Services.

In the days following the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, President Joe Biden made clear his steadfast support for Israel. But as Israel’s military campaign continued and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza deepened, concern and opposition grew within his own administration over Israel’s conduct of the war and America’s continuing support. My guest, journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed , interviewe...

What does it mean for a city to respond to homelessness—and what does that response look like from the perspective of someone who has experienced being unhoused?    This week on THE FORUM, we turn to Santa Fe’s unhoused community and the complex challenges facing the city as it works to respond. Our guests bring two very different, but complementary, perspectives to the conversation.    Carina Jul...

Just a few weeks before the publication of Ben Macintyre’s latest book, Redwood, I had the pleasure of talking with him about what he considers one of the most intriguing and least-known espionage stories of the Cold War. That’s quite a statement, given Ben’s long list of bestsellers, including The Spy and the Traitor, A Spy Among Friends, and Operation Mincemeat. In this show, Ben shares with me...

Music is often described as a universal language, but American music may be something even more interesting.  It is the product of different cultures, different traditions, different voices - of people borrowing from one another, occasionally argumentatively, and sometimes creating something entirely new.  Our guests are American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and Colin Jacobsen, artistic director of S...

Sebastian Mallaby, senior fellow for global economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Jim Falk for a conversation about his recent New York Times bestseller, The Infinity Machine , and the extraordinary race to develop artificial intelligence. Mallaby takes us inside the world of one of the most important AI pioneers, Demis Hassabis, whose ambition to build machines capable of human-lev...

This November, New Mexico voters will elect a new lieutenant governor this November. But what exactly should voters expect from the person who holds the state’s second-highest office? On this edition of The Forum , Jim Falk and co-host Peter Smith talk separately with the two candidates for lieutenant governor: Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard, New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands; and, Repu...

Americans lose billions of dollars each year to fraud, but today’s scams are about far more than stolen credit cards or suspicious emails. On this edition of The Forum , we look at The Business of Deception : how scams work, why even careful and well-informed people can fall victim, and what we can do to protect ourselves and those around us. Criminals are increasingly sophisticated, using stolen...

With the 2026 midterm elections less than three months away, control of Congress is at stake, but so are larger questions about presidential power, the role of Congress, and Americans’ declining trust in their political institutions. Tonight’s discussion centers on the Common Sense Coalition’s recently published report, Betrayed: America Didn’t Vote for This , which was written and edited by a gro...

Rarely does a day go by without New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez making news. Coming off a week in which the First Judicial District Court ordered Meta to pay $567 million and implement reforms in a case widely viewed as a landmark, Torrez was eager to explain why New Mexico’s lawsuit against the social media giant was so consequential. What makes this conversation particularly compelling i...

In this episode of The Forum Plus , Jim Falk talks with British journalist and author Antonia Senior about her acclaimed new book, Stalin's Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire . Drawing on newly declassified documents from Britain and Eastern Europe, Senior offers a fresh assessment of one of the most damaging espionage networks of the twentieth century. The conversati...

According to Feeding America, one in six New Mexicans experiences food insecurity, including more than 108,000 children. Hunger affects far more than empty stomachs; it can undermine a child's ability to learn in school and thrive later in life. In this episode of The Forum , our guests describe how rising food prices, inflation, and higher transportation costs are driving more individuals and fam...

Changes that took effect on July 1 under the One Big Beautiful Bill have reshaped the federal student loan landscape for both current borrowers and future students. To help explain what these changes mean, co-host Daniel James begins the program with a pre-recorded conversation with nationally recognized student financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz. Following the break, co-host Peter Smith, a life...

What if the next great geopolitical competition isn't over oil, rare earth minerals, or artificial intelligence but biotechnology? In this episode of The Forum Plus , Jim Falk talks with Dr. Jeremy Levin, physician, entrepreneur, and longtime biotechnology executive, about the warning at the heart of his new book, Biotech in the Balance: Saving a Strategic Industry in an Age of Distrust . Levin ar...

In this episode of The Forum , hosts Jim Falk and Peter Smith explore the growing erosion of trust and its impact on personal relationships, communities, and some of America’s most important institutions, including the judiciary and the presidency. Their guests, Dennis Shaw and Yoram Solomon, both military veterans and authors who have written extensively about trust, explain why trust is indispen...

In this episode of The Forum Plus , Jim Falk talks with acclaimed author Ben Fountain about his new novel, Rasputin Swims the Potomac . Best known for his National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novel Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk , Fountain's latest work is a sharp political satire that blends celebrity culture, religion, and Washington intrigue into a highly entertaining story that, given t...

In this episode of The Forum , Jim Falk and co-host Daniel James explore the forces shaping Santa Fe's future through conversations with the city's tourism and economic development leaders. Fresh from Travel + Leisure naming Santa Fe the nation's best city to visit for the second consecutive year, Tourism Director Randy Randall explains what sets the City Different apart and how his office plans t...

In this episode of The Forum Plus , Jim Falk talks with bestselling author Robert McCaw about his new novel, Traitors . Best known for his Koa Kāne Hawaiian mystery series, McCaw's latest novel takes readers into the world of counterintelligence, Russian disinformation, and the complex legal and moral choices involved in protecting national security. McCaw believes one reason for the success of hi...

Santa Fe's reputation as one of America's premier arts and cultural destinations is central to both its identity and its economy. But how are the city's galleries and performing arts organizations adapting to changing audiences, economic uncertainty, and new expectations? In this episode of The Forum , Jim Falk and co-host Daniel James, executive director of Santa Fe Pro Musica, explore the opport...

This coming Saturday is the 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation. In nearly every city, town, village across the U.S., there will be celebrations with fireworks, food, speeches and especially music—which is the focus of tonight’s forum, titled “Crossing Borders: The Music That Made Us American.” We’ll trace the history of some of the best-known songs and musical styles of this country—and...

Originally, this program was intended to be an in-depth discussion of Blackstone's proposed acquisition of PNM, New Mexico's largest electric utility, by Blackstone, the private equity firm that describes itself as the world's largest alternative asset manager. Unfortunately, shortly before we went on the air, one of the leading opponents of the proposal was unable to join us. Representatives of b...

It is one of the most remarkable, and least known, stories of World War II. Under the leadership of William “Wild Bill” Donovan, founder of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a group of American archaeologists set aside their scholarly pursuits to become intelligence operatives. After limited training at “The Farm,” they recruited Greeks and Greek Americans to carry out secret missions across...