New Mexico in Focus (A Production of NMPBS)

This week on New Mexico in Focus … Now that the 2020 U.S. Census count is complete, one of the next steps for New Mexico is redrawing congressional and legislative districts. Redistricting is often a political process decided under a veil of secrecy. But this year, lawmakers are debating a bill that would create a new commission to depoliticize the process and restore transparency. Correspondent G...

In this special episode of New Mexico in Focus, host Gene Grant talks to New Mexico Poets about the power of the spoken word in light of inaugural poet Amanda Gorman's performance at Super Bowl LV. Albuquerque Poet Laureates Hakim Bellamy and Jessica Helen Lopez join us, along with state Poet Laureate Levi Romero. The group talk about the power of language, and what they expect from Gorman's perfo...

This week on New Mexico in Focus … The Line opinion panel looks at the mad dash by school districts across the state to consider reopening after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham gave the okay to return kids of all ages to the classroom during her State of the State address. The group discusses the approach districts are taking as they consider bringing educators and students back to school.&n...

This week on New Mexico in Focus … NMiF producer Matt Grubs interviews New Mexico In Depth reporter Bryan Metzger about his deep dive into the role of lobbyists in the state’s legislative process. With pandemic restrictions at the Roundhouse this year, lobbyists have found themselves on the outside of a process in which they’re often the ultimate insiders. Metzger recently looked at the role of lo...

This week on New Mexico in Focus … PFAS, toxic man-made chemicals, are showing up in New Mexico’s waters, according to a state study.  Scientists have found these PFAS chemicals – associated with products like firefighting foams, nonstick cookware and fire-retardant fabrics – in waters across the state, from pretty remote reaches of the Gila River to right here in Albuquerque’s stre...

This week on New Mexico in Focus … The Navajo Nation is one of the largest tribes in the United States, both geographically and by population.  The Navajo have been hit hard by COVID-19, with more than 25,000 positive cases and more than 800 deaths. Jonathan Nez, president of the Navajo Nation, has been fighting the pandemic with curfews and lockdowns and has aggressively ...

This week on New Mexico in Focus … The COVID pandemic has thrown many people into financial crisis and has spotlighted how important adequate shelter is to health. Correspondent Megan Kamerick talks to law professor and housing advocate Serge Martinez about housing as a human right and how to stem the flood of evictions once the moratorium is lifted. This month’s installment of Our Land looks back...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… The Line opinion panelists wrap up our list of the top stories of 2020. Once again this week, our list is dominated by the various impacts and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic here in New Mexico. Also making our top 5 list is the surge of protests over racial inequality and controversial historical monuments and statues. Tune in to find out what made the top of...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… The Line opinion panelists begin our annual countdown of the top stories of the year. 2020 was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts in New Mexico, but there are many specific issues our special panel of working journalists is ready to examine. This week, they take on stories 10-6, including the rise of Zoom and remote working, and the impacts of COVI...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… Of the nearly six thousand missing and murdered Indigenous women reported each year in the U.S., many are never identified. This is due in part to an outdated database.  Correspondent Gwyneth Doland talks to UNM professor Heather Edgar, who has been working with Native tribes and experts to find a respectful, high-tech solution. Wildlife experts believe there...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland talks with correspondent Laura Paskus about the possibility of joining the Cabinet for President Joe Biden as secretary of the Department of the Interior. The 1st Congressional District Democrat is on the short list for the job, and talks about the post, what the agenda should be for the administration, and the importance of consulting Native...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… Outgoing U.S. Sen. Tom Udall talks with correspondent Laura Paskus about climate change and the environment, two issues the New Mexico senator has spent much of his career working on. Addressing rumors that the Biden administration was considering him as U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary, Udall also talks about the importance of that job, which his father,...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… honoring Native American Heritage month with a celebration of native resilience and innovation. Correspondent Antonia Gonzales interviews tribal leaders and the Secretary of Indian Affairs about the surge of COVID-19 cases across New Mexico. The pandemic has hit Indigenous communities especially hard, and more recently the situation has become especially challengi...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… Correspondent Megan Kamerick interviews Dr. Tracie Collins, UNM’s current dean of the College of Population Health. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Collins as the new leader of New Mexico’s Department of Health.  The pair talks about the state’s pandemic response, COVID-19’s impact on vulnerable communities, and how Dr. Collins will tackle the cabi...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… Correspondent Russell Contreras talks to Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where, according to its website, “she focuses on issues of rule of law, security, and governance in post-conflict countries, fragile states, and states in transition.” Dr. Kleinfeld explains how covering conflicted elections in other countri...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… NMiF producer Matt Grubs talks with Kathleen Sabo, the executive director of New Mexico Ethics Watch, about how campaign spending by special interest groups influenced New Mexico races. Gene Grant and The Line opinion panelists break down results from key elections in New Mexico. They look at congressional races, legislative contests, and end with an examination o...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… NMiF producer Matt Grubs talks with reporters across the state to discuss important issues in their areas before the election. First up is Dan Boyd of the Albuquerque Journal, who assesses the general election chances of progressive Democratic senate candidates against Republican challengers, after the progressives ousted moderate members of their own party in the...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… Correspondent Megan Kamerick interviews end-of-life planner Gail Rubin, who is the coordinator of the upcoming Before I Die Festival. As the world battles a pandemic, it is especially apt to talk about facing death and dying, a topic many people would rather avoid. NMiF producer Matt Grubs talks with New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver about how v...

This week on New Mexico in Focus… Correspondent Russell Contreras speaks with Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, a New Mexico native who is now an assistant professor at Arizona State. As co-editor of the book “Querencia: Reflections on the New Mexico Homeland,” and as a Chicana who is critical of monuments to Spanish conquistadors, she is working on a biography of controversial conqueror Don Juan de Oñate....

This week, New Mexico in Focus previews conversations with Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres Small and her two-time Republican opponent in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, Yvette Herrell. The full hour-long special airs on NMPBS Sunday at 6:00 p.m. When a river begins to run dry it impacts all living things that depend on it, including sandhill cranes and other migratory birds arriving i...

William Perry Pendley has served the U.S. Bureau of Land Management under President Trump and is now deputy director for policy and programs. He visited New Mexico in September while still acting as head of the BLM, a role thrown out by a federal judge last week. While in the state, he visited Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a hotspot for the agency, which is developing two million acres o...

New Mexico is dealing with difficult times, from economic struggles, to a worldwide pandemic and civil and political unrest. The COVID-19 outbreak has laid bare many systemic failures here in New Mexico, often revolving around the issue of racial inequality. This week on a New Mexico in Focus special, we lean into these challenges with candid conversations about just one such example, reforming po...

This week on New Mexico in Focus: Correspondent and environmental journalist Laura Paskus follows up on a story by Algernon D’Ammassa of the Las Cruces Sun-News that reported people were finding dead migratory birds across the state of New Mexico. Paskus talks to New Mexico State University ornithologist Martha Desmond and Audubon New Mexico’s Jonathan Hayes to find out what might be causing the b...

This week on New Mexico in Focus: Correspondent Gwyneth Doland takes an in-depth look at redistricting as she talks with Lilly Irvin-Vitela of New Mexico First and Rob Black of the New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry about how a citizen’s task force is working to redraw district maps to shift power into voters’ hands.  This report is part of the Your New Mexico Government Project....

Dr. David Scrase, cabinet secretary for the Human Services Department, knows that as the Labor Day weekend approaches, New Mexicans will want to gather and may be tempted to flout public health rules on masking and social distancing. NMiF producer Matt Grubs talks to Scrase about what he and the pandemic response team are doing to prevent a spike in COVID cases. Our Land producer and NMiF correspo...