Curanderismo, Poetry, and How to Heal a Broken Heart with Tommy Archuleta, Santa Fe Poet Laureate
Release Date: 10/16/2024
Button Box Dreams & Repair-Shop Flair: Mastering the Art of Accordions with Tony Tomei and Antonio Maestas
Encounter Culture
Accordions are woven into New Mexico’s soundscape—at fiestas, on plazas, and in the musical storytelling traditions that travel across generations. In this episode of Encounter Culture, host Emily Withnall talks with Tony Tomei and Antonio Maestas, a master-and-apprentice duo who completed the New Mexico Arts Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program in 2024, focusing on accordion restoration and traditional New Mexico tunings. Tony and Antonio fell in love with the accordion in different decades and play different styles. Tony first encountered the accordion as a child in the 1950s, growing up in...
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Boosterism, Broken Narratives, and What the Camera Sells: The Mullarky Collection, New Mexico History Museum Photo Archives
Encounter Culture
Photos can obscure as much as they reveal. When we encounter historic photographs, it can feel like we’ve entered the past through a portal. But like contemporary photographs, what is left out of the frame is as interesting and puzzling as what we can observe. Still, the donation of historic photos to any archive can only help to add to our knowledge and expand the questions we need to ask. This is certainly the case for the William Thomas Mullarky photo collection at the New Mexico History Museum’s Palace of the Governors Photo Archive. The Mullarky collection has never been accessible...
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Excavating New Mexico's Land Grant Legacy at Cañón de Carnué with Archaeologist Kelly Jenks
Encounter Culture
In this episode of Encounter Culture, community-led archaeology takes center stage as an alternative to extractive excavation practices of the past and a best practice rooted in respect and deeper historical understanding. At the Cañón de Carnué land grant in New Mexico, New Mexico State University has partnered with land grant heirs, as Dr. Kelly Jenks, a historical archaeologist with NMSU, discusses efforts to uncover the layered history of a community first established in 1763, revealing how Indigenous, Genízaro, and colonial peoples together shaped the region’s frontier past....
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BONUS: Come Together Over New Mexico Culture This Winter
Encounter Culture
Are you feeling the pull to be connected this winter? We have some opportunities for you to be a part of New Mexican culture featuring art, history, science, poetry, and live conversations. Plus find out who loves winter and who does not... Encounter Culture host Emily or producer Andrea? Learn more about the Folk Art Apprenticeship Program & Apply: Get details about the reopening of the Museum of Natural History & Science: Join Us For An El Palacio Reading: January 11, 2026, 2pm @ FUSION, Albuquerque - February 22 at 2 pm in the Donnelly Library at New Mexico Highlands...
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Good Heart Work: Poetry as Medicine with Manuel González, New Mexico Poet Laureate
Encounter Culture
New Mexico has a new Poet Laureate! Although Manuel González is well known in the slam poetry circles in Albuquerque—where he also served as the city’s poet laureate from 2016 to 2018—he is now stepping into a larger role with big visions about how to engage the entire state in the unique connection and expression inherent to poetry. Throughout his career, González has made it his mission to reach the most marginalized people in New Mexico, and now he plans to leverage his role as Poet Laureate heal hearts in as many communities as possible. Discover more: Hear more on...
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Everyone Wants to be Included in the Story of New Mexico: The Wonders on Wheels Mobile Museum
Encounter Culture
New Mexico is the fifth largest state, making access to art, history, and culture at museums or historic site difficult for many. The Wonder on Wheels mobile museum traverses the state to bring art and history directly to small towns, villages, and Pueblos, ensuring everyone can participate in the rich cultural conversations so central to New Mexican identity. The exhibition inside the thirty-eight-foot RV changes annually and this year, the eight New Mexico State Historic Sites tell the state’s story across centuries, from 1150 to the early twentieth century. The staff pack rich history...
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Behind the Mic and Between the Pages: Sharing Award-Winning Stories and Season 9 Preview with Emily Withnall & Andrea Klunder
Encounter Culture
In anticipation of another rich season of New Mexico history, art, and culture, El Palacio editor and Encounter Culture host Emily Withnall and producer Andrea Klunder reflect on a year of award-winning storytelling. From earning national recognition for both the podcast and the magazine to the art of curating New Mexico’s most compelling voices, Andrea and Emily share what it takes to craft stories that resonate across time and place. They also look ahead to a new season of conversations with artists, historians, and cultural stewards. Plus, tune in to hear about a few...
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Connecting People Through Time - Makowa: The Worlds Above Us with Misha Pipe and Kaela Waldstein
Encounter Culture
For as long as humans have been on this earth, we have looked to the cosmos for information and direction. The Indigenous people of North America used the skies to make sense of their environments and to guide them in planting crops, building villages, and conducting ceremonies. The new exhibition at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Makowa: The Worlds Above Us, showcases a wide range of art, photographs, videos, and more to center the wisdom and longevity of Native astronomy and to remind us that we are all interconnected. On this episode of Encounter Culture, guest consultants for...
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Uplifting Cultural Knowledge with Navajo Picture Book Author Daniel Vandever
Encounter Culture
On the surface, Diné author Daniel Vandever’s picture books might appear to be straightforward stories, but the messages about the power of imagination and adventure in his books are imbued with layers of meaning. In his book Fall in Line, Holden!, a little boy breaks free from the constraints of rules and discipline by using his imagination. On a deeper level, the book speaks to the history of Indian Boarding Schools in pushing cultural assimilation. Likewise, in his wordless picture book Herizon, a girl goes on a magic scarf ride to find her lost sheep. This book is imbued with...
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Time Travel: From Giant Millipedes to Modern Landscapes with New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science
Encounter Culture
A long, long time ago, the region that is now New Mexico was part of a giant land mass, and it was located on the equator. The climate was warm and tropical and much of the present-day state was covered in shallow seas. This was long before humans or even dinosaurs existed—252 to 541 million years ago. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science has recently opened a new permanent exhibition, The Bradbury Stamm Construction Hall of Ancient Life, that covers the vast geologic history of ancient life in the state. Piecing together the story of ancient life in New Mexico can...
info_outlineLet’s be honest: these are turbulent times for us all. No matter who you are and what your personal circumstances are, it’s likely that you may be in need of some remedies or poetry—or both! Santa Fe Poet Laureate Tommy Archuleta offers both in his new collection, Susto.
The book of poems weaves poetry about love and loss with meditations on the New Mexican landscape. Threaded between the poems are remedios for a broken heart. No matter your ailment, these remedios are bound to offer some relief.
“With each evolution of each draft, there's just this beauty that was coming out,” Archuleta says. “Because being asked, ‘Why the heck do you write about death so much? My God, all of you guys--all the way back to Dante.’ … I don't know what his excuse is, but I think the reason is because it's a way of embracing the present life that you do have.”
ENCOUNTER CULTURE EPISODES TO CATCH UP ON:
From Goatheads to Grand Canyons with Laura Camp
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Learn more about Tommy Archuleta’s readings and poetry workshops
Request a reading or workshop from Tommy Archuleta
Susto, poetry collection written by Tommy Archuleta, Santa Fe Poet Laureate
CulturePass
New Mexico State Library
For further reading and more resources, view the full show notes.
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Encounter Culture is a production of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.
Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at El Palacio Magazine
Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann
Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz
Recording Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Editor & Production Manager: Alex Riegler
Associate Producer & Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota)
Theme Music: D’Santi Nava
Instagram: @newmexicanculture and @elpalaciomagazine