Long Strange Trip, the new four-hour documentary about the Grateful Dead, is shorter than most Grateful Dead concerts in the band’s golden era. It plays tonight at the Lensic, presented by the CCA. David D’Arcy has this review.

KSFR's Ellen Berkovitch talks with Hank Hughes of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness about their work, as well as the silent benefit auction of artsy birdhouses they'll hold this weekend (Sunday, June 4, 3 pm–5 pm).

Last October, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a site near New Mexico’s Eastern border was under consideration for the so-called Deep Borehole Field Test. That project would drill a hole three miles deep into the earth to explore the geology beneath and test the potential for future nuclear waste storage inside the borehole.

Last Tuesday, a terse announcement from U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan’s (D-NM) Tucumcari field office sparked relief among many residents of a ranching community near the New Mexico–Texas border.

KSFR’s Ellen Lockyer has the story.

Possibly as soon as this week, the city is slated to hire a new economic development director. In that light, a week ago we heard reports of a study commissioned by the League of Women Voters to gauge the past performance of the city's economic development grants.

There were a lot of questions about those findings; here's what some of the people involved told KSFR's Dylan Syverson last week.

We learned this month that Planned Parenthood is slated to close three of its six New Mexico clinics.

KSFR's Hannah Colton talked women's health with three different care provider from around northern New Mexico: Shaya Torres of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains; Nichele Salazar of San Juan Health Partners Midwifery & Women’s Health; and Corrine Sanchez of Tewa Women United.

Natasha Santa Fe is a gallery in the Railyard that opened late last year, though the proprietor, Natasha Naragis, has been here since the mid-70s.

Naragis was a driving force behind Santa Fe's storied past of fashion shows, including Trashique. (Bet you didn't know it, but Santa Fe used to be a place where fashionistas did without the cowboy boots and instead looked to packing tape and black plastic for inspiration.) KSFR's Ellen Berkovitch chatted with Naragis earlier this week.

Black, White & Grey, an exhibition of works by Natasha Naragis and photographic artist Barbara Sommers, opens tonight, May 26, with a reception at 5 pm; it will show through July 12. 

The New Mexico Wildlife Center is located in Española, just southeast of town in the Arroyo Seco valley. Folks who visit there meet injured birds, animals and snakes that have been rehabilitated, but cannot survive in the wild. 

That’s one cornerstone of the education program there.  The other takes place at schools and rivers around Northern New Mexico. Here's Deborah Begel with part two of her series on the Wildlife Center.

In The Lovers, the problem of adultery in a wilted marriage is treated with more adultery—between spouses. The comeback of Debra Winger is playing at the Violet Crown, and David D’Arcy has this review.

It's day two of the Special Legislative session. Sandra Fish of NM In Depth explains.

We open with some breaking news out of South Texas concerning an 84-year-old  former priest who was once employed by the Santa Fe Archdiocese after being treated at a NM center for pedophile priests. This story predates John Feit’s arrival in New Mexico.  In 1960 a 27-year-old Father Feit was the priest at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas. On April 16, 1960,  the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday, Irene Garza — a young schoolteacher in McAllen — went to church to give confession . Her body was found four days later and an autopsy found she had been raped while unconscious. The last person to see Irene Garza alive was Father Feit.  After Irene Garza’s death, Feit was sent to New Mexico for treatment at Servants at the Paraclete where he lived for six years. He was eventually promoted to a superior of the order..

Friest left the priesthood to marry in 1971. Last year he was arrested in connection with Garza’s murder. Hidalgo county Ricardo Rodriguez brought the indictment against Feit after more than five decades of investigative work by a variety of Texas agencies including the Texas Rangers.

Courthouse News Service reporter Erik de la Garza — who is no relation to the victim— joins me now live by phone to discuss yesterday’s events at the Hidalgo County Courthouse where Feit’s lawyers argued for a change of venue in the trial.

A short time ago in Gallup, not far away… Star Wars saw its 40th official translation.

In 2013, the Navajo Nation Museum worked with Lucasfilm to translate and dub the original film, now known as Episode IV: A New Hope, into the Navajo language. The cultural preservation project was completed in just a few months and debuted at Window Rock, Arizona, in July of that year.

Today, on the 40th anniversary of the original release of Star Wars, KSFR's Dylan Syverson looks at the film's cultural impact and speaks to some of the voice actors featured in the Navajo dub.

KSFR's Hannah Colton speaks with Melynn Schuyler and Heather Vigil of YouthWorks and Paige Kitson of Youth Shelters and Family Services about their work sheltering and providing skills training, among other services, for local young people.

KSFR's Ellen Berkovitch spoke to Paul Hooper, an evolutionary anthropologist at Santa Fe Institute. Dr. Hooper just concluded a 15-year project studying the indigenous Tsimane people of Bolivia, who have the healthiest hearts on the planet.

Sen. Martin Heinrich’s wrap of the rapid fire news cycle in and out of Washington DC last week and in fact during the last 14 days since Sally Yates testified to Congress on May 8th and Pres. Trump fired FBI director James Comey May 9th.

Our feature story today follows the second class of a seven-session training for prospective New Mexico women political candidates through Emerge New Mexico — part of a national movement called Emerge america. Last week Hillary Clinton’s new political group, Onward Together, announced that it chose Emerge America as one of the first five beneficiary organizations as that group works to support the resistance to President Donald Trump’s agenda.

 After the feature, I'm joined in the studio by Rep. Linda Trujillo, Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard and Kate Noble of the Santa Fe School Board.

Gordon's Summer Concerts in Los Alamos is a free outdoor concert series that's been going on every summer for the past 27 years. The 28th year kicks off tonight with Cuban jazz pianist Chuchito Valdes at Overlook Park in White Rock.

Russ Gordon has organized and promoted the series from the beginning, and as he recently announced, 2017 will be his final year doing so.

Russ joined KSFR's Dylan Syverson on the air to talk about his wild 28-year ride as the premier music promoter up on the hill, and hint at what to expect from his final season and beyond.

This weekend, the band Hoops will make Meow Wolf a stop on their first full US tour, supporting their debut album Routines. Their music has been described as dream-pop and 80s retro, but as bassist Kevin Krauter tells KSFR's Dylan Syverson, they just call it fun.

Last week a memo from Attorney General Jeff Sessions came to light ordering federal prosecutors to seek the stiffest possible sentences for drug crimes, including nonviolent offenses. Critics like Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Jeff Merkley of Oregon say the move will be a money drain and cause prison populations to swell. Those lawmakers yesterday introduced a bill intended to rein in AG Sessions's actions by giving prosecutors broader powers of discretion in sentencing.

Just after the Sessions memo was reported last week, KSFR's Ellen Berkovitch spoke with Gary Tennis, chairman of the board at the Santa Fe-based National Alliance on Model State Drug Laws and the former cabinet secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. They discussed approaches to drug policy and how it ties into some of the public health issues New Mexico chronically faces.

Dr. Lera Boroditsky is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California–San Diego and editor-in-chief of the journal Frontiers in Cultural Psychology.

Tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the New Mexico School for the Deaf's James A. Little Theater, Dr. Boroditsky will be speaking on "How the Languages We Speak Shape the Ways We Think," part of the School for Advanced Research’s public lecture series "Crossing Global Frontiers."

"Citizen Jane: Battle for the City" is a documentary about a scholar and an urban warrior, Jane Jacobs, who died last year. David D'Arcy brings us this review.

Mariajosé Alcazar, Earth Care program director, talks with KSFR's Mya Green about her organization's sustainability efforts in the region and the city of Santa Fe's 25-year sustainability plan.

Craig Johnson's "Walt Longmire Mysteries" book series is the basis for the Netflix series Longmire​.  The show is currently filming its sixth and final season in and around Santa Fe.

Johnson joined KSFR's Dylan Syverson by phone to talk about his latest paperback, The Highwayman; his involvement with the TV series; the extent of his personal "Walt-ness"; and how the heck to pronounce "Absaroka."

KSFR's Hannah Colton chats with Gretchen Grogan about the citywide Bike to Work Week and concomitant events, including the 100-mile Santa Fe Century road bike race this weekend.

Last week, the Senate voted 51-49 to uphold a rule to regulate the oil and gas industry's methane emissions. KSFR's Hannah Colton spoke with Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), who voted to maintain the rule, as well as Robert McEntyre, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, which disfavors the restrictions.

KSFR's Hannah Colton talks with Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, about President Donald Trump's reported disclosure of classified intelligence to the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador.

Rita Daniels reports.

The New Mexico Wildlife Center which has been caring for injured birds, reptiles and mammals for the last 31 years.

Since human activity generates most of the damaging impacts on wildlife, educating the public is a big companion goal of wildlife rehabilitation efforts.  Deborah Begel has a two part series on The NM Wildlife Center. Here is part one.

Mark Vanderlinden joins me in the studio for our weekly look at a Santa Fe organization making a difference. Mark Vanderlinden is the Chief Lending Officer at Homewise.

Chris Burden, who died of natural causes two years ago, became famous when he had himself shot on camera with a rifle. The documentary film Burden follows the career of the man who was called the Evel Knievel of art.

It’s playing at the CCA. David D’Arcy has this review.

Customarily, the Santa Fe Opera releases its seasonal schedules over a year in advance, and that's what they did in a press conference last Tuesday.

Director Charles McKay named the five Operas that will see performance starting June 29, 2018: Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers, Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, Bernstein's Candide, and Adams's Dr. Atomic.

KSFR's Ellen Berkovitch and Dylan Syverson attended the press event.

This weekend, starting with kickoff parties tonight, May 12, and continuing through Mother's Day on the 14th, fiber artists across Northern New Mexico will open their studios and shops to visitors and demonstrate their work. The Crawl features over 40 stops, with about half of them here in Santa Fe.

April Jouse, operations director for the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, joined KSFR's Dylan Syverson by phone to tell us more.

More details about the Crawl can be found at nmfibercrawl.org.

We listen to the second installment of my feature on Transgender Identity in New Mexico. A couple of weeks ago, Part I of this series aired and included a brief introduction to the topic of Transgender Identity and shed some light on the social issues faced by those who identity as transgender. Some of those issues include fear of bodily harm and social stigmas. In today’s Part II, you will hear from another Northern New Mexico voice who tells us about the discrimination she’s faced as a biological parent seeking custody …and beyond.

The executive director of Assistance Dogs of the West joins us to talk about the 2017 graduation ceremony happening Tuesday, May 16th, and the many programs that ADW now operates to train dogs in service to one person, or to many people.

The word resist — and new actions of resistance here in New Mexico and across the country — began to gain steam on November 9th 2016, the day after Donald Trump was elected president as the historically biggest popular vote loser of US presidents. But the word and the actions of Counterculture date back much farther than that— to the 1960s.

Today  Voices of Counterculture in the Southwest is a title of a multimedia production that is launching this weekend. Jack Loeffler co-curated the exhibition with Meredith Davidson that will open at NM History Museum on Sunday May 14th.

Voices of Counterculture in the Southwest is a title of a multimedia production that is launching this weekend. Jack Loeffler co-curated the exhibition with Meredith Davidson that will open at NM History Museum Sunday May 14th. On that day poet and environmental philosopher Gary Snyder will give a keynote lecture at the Lensic. And we are here because Jack Loeffler has kindly given us permission to air his eight-part radio series also titled Voices of Counterculture in the southwest —that he produced and hosts.

In what promises to be a recurring segment on Wake Up Call, we sought to hear from the younger New Mexicans among us about their hobbies, hopes, and dreams—and the futuristic world of smartphones and social media they've grown up in.

In this first edition of Ask a Teen, KSFR's Hannah Colton chatted with Santa Fe teenager "Z" about high school graduation, dancing, art, and the virtual world of Instagram.

KSFR's Mary Lou Cooper speaks with analyst Jill Gonzales of the consumer interest site WalletHub to learn which states they quantified as the most and least "fun" in the USA. Listen to find out where New Mexico landed...

A long parade of slow-cruising, glittery, low-slung classic cars was once a common encounter on Friday nights in the Española valley. Today the action has slowed, and New Mexico low-lows are typically only seen at car shows and special events—but could the subculture be perched for a renaissance?

KSFR's Dylan Syverson spoke with Don Usner, a Santa Fe-based writer-photographer, and Daniel Kosharek, who curates the photo archives at the Palace of the Governors. They talked about what makes lowriders special to so many people, dispelling wrong impressions about the subculture, and a plan they're hatching for a lowrider museum in Española.

John Nieto-Phillips is associate professor of history and Latino studies at Indiana University. He studies the way race, language, and education affect the concept of Latino or Hispanic identity, both in individuals and societies. Under the auspices of the School for Advanced Research's Latino Studies Initiative, he visited Santa Fe last Thursday to give a lecture titled "Hispano Homeland or Fantasy Heritage."

KSFR's Dylan Syverson caught up with Dr. Nieto-Phillips a couple hours before he spoke. He first asked the professor to elaborate on the title of his talk.

Nancy Benkof has worked with children and adults alike, sharing their experience of crisis.  She says the role of a court appointed special advocate is to be the voice of a child.  Deborah Martinez spoke with Nancy at a recent outdoor event in Santa Fe commemorating April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.  She volunteers in Santa Fe at the First Judicial District Court.

When children are removed from their homes and the case goes to court, they get entangled in an odyssey that can add to trauma.  But for 22 years now, a nonprofit group has been working on behalf of kids in the courts.  It’s called Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA.

CASA First—the branch covering the counties of Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba—is now taking applications for its next court volunteer training session.  Their phone number is 820-1500 in Santa Fe, and more information is available at casafirst.org.

A group of three students is suing the soon-to-close Santa Fe University of Art and Design, alleging fraud and breach of contract. Students on track to graduate by spring 2018 will be able to re-enroll, but all others will need to seek transfer options. Ben Allison and Justin Miller of the law firm Bardacke and Allison are representing the students; they joined Dylan by phone.

Amanda Clay, general manager of Meow Wolf, joined Dylan in the studio to talk about the art collective's vast new Southside manufacturing space, their annual DIY grant, and spicy Creole cooking.

KSFR's Dennis Carroll interviews Turkish-born Santa Fe businesswoman Nedret Gürler about her homeland's recent vote to expand the powers of President Recep Erdoğan.

Mya Green was joined in the studio by Monique Anair, lead faculty member in SFCC's film program, and David Shulman, executive director if the Seattle Film Institute, to explain the two institutions' academic partnership and the opportunities it presents to students.

In the wake of Santa Fe voters' rejection of a 2-cent-an-ounce sugary drinks tax, we sought reactions and ideas from activists who campaigned on either side of the issue.

We spoke to Loveless Johnson III of Smart Progress New Mexico, a PAC which opposed the tax measure.

We had also planned to hear from Pre-K for Santa Fe, the pro-tax PAC, but they did not answer calls at air time. The group released this public statement last night:

"Now that the campaign has ended, we hope proponents and opponents alike join together to fight with the same passion and energy for Pre-K for Santa Fe’s children. The need is great. The time was not now. But the longer we wait, the more children will be left behind.

To those who believed that there was a better way to fund Pre-K: we hope you will work hard to find that funding source.

To those who supported the Soda Tax, we urge you to keep working hard for Pre-K and against the Soda Industry’s unhealthy beverages."

May is a big month for young adults as they leave high school or college to begin the next chapter of their lives.  What does the world of work look like for them for 2017 and beyond?  KSFR's consumer reporter Mary Lou Cooper brings us the story.

Derrick Toledo reports from Albuquerque and the Gathering of the Nations. He hears from Justin Casiquito, who was tasked with running the ceremonial Eagle Staff from the former site of the gathering, the Pit, to the new site at Tingley Auditorium.

The local documentary Veiled Lightning just wrapped. The film documents Native American art but tells its story through the lens of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Filmmaker Jaima Chevalier joined Hannah Colton to tell us more.

Women and Money—that’s the focus of an upcoming series of workshops at the Women’s International Study Center. 

Joining Hannah Colton in the studio today are Elena Ribe, founding board member and chair of WISC’s Program Committee, and Christina Bruce, a Management Coach and Leadership Development Consultant and first presenter in the series.

Last week a federal appeals court lifted an order that blocked the release of Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico. Reporter Rita Daniels spoke with Brian Bird of Defenders of Wildlife about it and brings us this story.

KSFR's Ellen Berkovitch interviews Tate Cruz and Loveless Johnson III of the anti-soda tax PAC Smart Progress New Mexico, ahead of Santa Fe's May 2 special election.

KSFR's Ellen Berkovitch interviews Danila Chrestin-Zidovsky of the pro-soda tax PAC Pre-K for Santa Fe, ahead of Santa Fe's May 2 special election.