New Mexico in Focus (A Production of NMPBS)

Publisher Lindsey Wood is in the business of neighborhood news. She owns and operates the Nob Hill News, the North Valley News and the International District News. Wood tells Host Nosh Jones why her hyperlocal news model could be replicated nationwide. Southern New Mexico reporter Damien Willis is a one-man news organization. As the founder, editor and lone staff writer at the Organ Mountain News,...

This week, we celebrate Independence Day with our annual "State of Local Media" special. But before we do so, we provide an update on a bombshell news story that broke late last month, detailing whistleblower allegations that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into Albuquerque in pursuit of bigger cases. This week, top city, coun...

In March, UNM named Ryan Berryman to be its next athletics director. Berryman has been connected to Lobo sports since he was a teenager and, at 32, is one of the youngest ADs in Division I sports. The Albuquerque Journal's Geoff Grammer joins Senior Producer Lou DiVizio to discuss the new department head and consider what Berryman's tenure could mean for the Lobos on the football field, th...

Executive Producer Jeff Proctor sits down with constitutional and international law expert Joshua Kastenberg to delve into the war in Iran — how it began and how it’s going. Proctor asks the law professor and former Judge Advocate General how war crimes are defined — and by whom — and to consider whether he has seen any evidence of Trump or the U.S. military committing them in Iran. Podcast Host:...

Mayor Tim Keller is reshaping public safety leadership in his administration. He has resurrected the role of public safety director, naming Raul Bujanda to the job. He speaks with NMiF Show Host Nash Jones about how his experience as an FBI agent will inform his work. Then, Bujanda breaks down why it's important for Albuquerque's police, fire and community safety departments to better coor...

For years, the New Mexico affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union has kept a close eye on the Albuquerque Police Department. Now 11 months out from federal oversight of the department ending, policy advocate Daniel Williams sat down with Executive Producer Jeff Proctor to discuss how new leadership could help uphold recent reforms.  Podcast Host: Lou DiVizio Executive Producer Jeff Proctor...

This week on the podcast, over three episodes, we take a deep dive into new public safety leadership at the City of Albuquerque. We begin with Police Chief Cecily Barker who talks about her 20-year career with the Albuquerque Police Department and how she differs from the previous chief, Harold Medina.  Podcast Host: Lou DiVizio NMiF Show Host: Nash Jones Guest: Cecily Barker, Albuquerque Police C...

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-NM, dropped by the studio last week before returning to Washington D.C. NMiF Host Nash Jones spoke with the congresswoman about the war in Iran and the position she and her Democratic colleagues are in as the minority party in a Congress that never formally authorized military action in the first place. Leger Fernandez also spoke about the Trump administration&#...

The Public Service Company of New Mexico, or PNM, and its parent company filed an application last year with state regulators to be acquired by Blackstone Infrastructure, the nation's largest private equity firm. Ten months later, that sale is still pending. Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer Justin Horwath has covered the acquisition process. Horwath talks to Executive Producer Jeff Proctor abo...

Reporter Patrick Lohmann's byline is all over the home page of Source New Mexico, a nonprofit digital outlet that covers state news. NMiF Show Host Nash Jones asks Lohmann to run through three ongoing stories he's covered: immigrant detention, uranium mining and the State Fairgrounds.  Podcast Host: Lou DiVizio NMiF Show Host: Nash Jones Guest: Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico

Santa Fe New Mexican city reporter Carina Julig wrote a deep-dive series about Urban Alchemy's first year running the capital city's homeless shelter. Six months in, Urban Alchemy has spent nearly all of the $1.5 million allocated in its one-year emergency contract. Senior Producer Lou Divizio sat down with Julig to discuss the nonprofit’s financial dealings. Later, Lou asks Julig how the ...

KUNM's Jeanette DeDios sits down with three state senators who kickstarted an investigation into the state's long history of forced sterilization of Indigenous women and other women of color. Later, Jeanette asks the table how difficult it is for Native women to find a doctor in their community who specializes in reproductive health care.  Podcast Host: Lou DiVizio Correspondent: Jeanette...

This fall, New Mexico voters will decide whether to finally pay state lawmakers a salary, joining the rest of the nation. Senior Producer Lou DiVizio sat down with Mason Graham, a policy advisor with Common Cause New Mexico, to talk about the choice for voters — and other Common Cause priorities, including protecting voting rights amid federal pressure to restrict access. Podcast Host: Lou DiVizio...

Today on the podcast, we revisit a conversation from 2023 with Martha Burk — former chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations — about a letter she sent more than two decades ago that rocked the insular, men's-only membership of the Augusta National Golf Club.  Podcast Host: Lou DiVizio Executive Producer: Jeff Proctor Guest: Martha Burk, Author, Host of the Podcast ‘Equal Time...

Today on the podcast, we’re marking Sunshine Week — last week's annual celebration of the fight for government transparency — with the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. Executive Producer Jeff Proctor sat down with NMFOG board member Greg Williams to evaluate the state of local government transparency, where the light shines brightly in New Mexico, and what remains in the shadows.  Po...

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sits down with Host Nash Jones to take stock of her final regular legislative session. Nash asks the governor about the newly established universal child care system created during the session, and how the program can help families. Then, the two discuss the session's "rocket docket," a bundle of bills that sped their way through the early days at the Roun...

Earlier this year, the state House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution to create a subcommittee to investigate possible crimes committed at Jeffrey Epstein's former Zorro Ranch in Northern New Mexico. Democratic Rep. Andrea Romero chairs this new group, now known as the "Epstein Truth Commission." Romero recently joined Senior Producer Lou DiVizio to better understan...

Last year, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sent about 70 troops with the New Mexico National Guard to Albuquerque's International District. According to the governor, the guard worked alongside the Albuquerque Police Department to address “immediate quality of life concerns” of people living in the area, while "working towards long-term solutions to the city's most pressing public safety...

Capital and Main reporter Jerry Redfern returns to wrap up his series on oil and gas legislation from this year's session. Jerry sits down with Democratic state Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart after her signature climate bill failed yet again at the Roundhouse. Podcast Host: Lou DiVizio Correspondent: Jerry Redfern Guest: NM Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque   

Dr. Tameka Gillum co-wrote a study published last year by the American Journal of Public Health that declared the high rate of Black women murdered in America a “public health crisis.” That study examined more than 30,000 homicides between 1999 and 2020 and found a massive disparity in homicide rates between Black and white women. Russell Contreras to discuss her findings and consider how structur...

For the seventh year in a row, the state budget has grown. NMiF Podcast Host Lou DiVizio sits down with a panel of experts to discuss the $11.1 billion spending plan. Then, Lou asks the table to consider which high-profile bills passed, what didn't pass and what that means for the legacy of the termed-out Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Politics correspondent Gwyneth Doland stops by the Roundhous...

Podcast host Lou DiVizio updates you on several big-ticket bills moving through the legislature as we approach the final gavel Thursday at noon. Then, Senate Finance Chair George Muñoz, a Gallup Democrat, talks to host Nash Jones about several contentious line items in the state's budget, including copays for universal childcare and billions set aside for public and higher education.   And, Po...

Last month, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman made waves when he penned a letter to federal immigration authorities, threatening to prosecute ICE agents who detain people without legal justification in his jurisdiction. Alex Uballez, a former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, sat down with Executive Producer Jeff Proctor to discuss whether Bregman's threat holds any l...

A new "structured literacy" program has made its way into many classrooms across the state and, according to Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, is already producing success. Stewart tells Gwyneth why she is pushing a bill that would lean more heavily on the program to teach children to read.     Some teachers in the state are already using a "structured literacy" approach, ...

This episode, we wade into the debate over changing the state's medical malpractice laws. House Bill 99 would restrict how much money some people could collect in malpractice lawsuits. The highest-profile supporter of this bill is Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. In an interview with politics correspondent Gwyneth Doland, the governor makes her case for the bill and tells us what she meant when sh...