Encounter Culture

New Mexico's deep artistic traditions have long engaged with the multifaceted histories and cultures of the state. At Encounter Culture, we talk with artists, historians, scientists, museum curators, and writers who are all a part of New Mexico's centuries' old lineage of helping us understand the places and people who make the Land of Enchantment so unique. https://podcast.nmculture.org/

Connecting People Through Time - Makowa: The Worlds Above Us with Misha Pipe and Kaela Waldstein 07/02/2025

Uplifting Cultural Knowledge with Navajo Picture Book Author Daniel Vandever 06/11/2025

Uplifting Cultural Knowledge with Navajo Picture Book Author Daniel Vandever 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 symbolism about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) epidemic, as well as cultural references to the Navajo Nation. Herizon was nominated to represent New Mexico at the 2024 National Book Festival. Mentioned in this Episode: by Daniel Vandever by Daniel Vandever by Daniel Vandever New Mexico representation at the in the Spring 2025 issue of El Palacio Deb Haaland’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report: and by Dr. Seuss by Rudolfo Anaya by Robert McCloskey by Bill Martin We’d love to hear from you! Let us know what you loved about the episode, share a personal story it made you think of, or ask us a question at . You can write a regular email or record a short voice memo and attach it for us to listen to. Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Our favorite way to fully experience everything they have to offer is with the. Reserve yours online! If you love New Mexico, you’ll love El Palacio Magazine! Encounter Culture, a production of the, is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor atExecutive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Technical Director & Post-Production Audio:Recording Engineer: Collin Ungerleider and Kabby atEditor & Production Manager:Associate Producer & Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota) Theme Music: Instagram: and /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/36927230

Time Travel: From Giant Millipedes to Modern Landscapes with New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science 05/28/2025

BONUS: Ancient Life (There's No Shame In Extinction) 05/28/2025

Exhibition Design, 3-D Modeling, and Clown Chess Sets at New Mexico Highlands University with Lauren Addario and Becca Sharp 05/14/2025

The American Mystique of the Cowboy Boot with Deana McGuffin and Jes Márquez 04/30/2025

La Virgen de Guadalupe: Photographing a Cultural Icon with Delilah Montoya and Katie Doyle 04/16/2025

Boots, Books, and the Vast Unknown: Season 8 Preview with Emily Withnall and Andrea Klunder 03/26/2025

The Oryx and the Bomb: Colonial Legacies at White Sands Missile Range with Marcus Xavier Chormicle 02/12/2025

The Beaded Nun, Haunted Exhibitions, and Other Museum Stories with Nick Waddell and Michelle Rodriguez, Museum of International Folk Art 01/29/2025

The Great Debate: How old ARE the Footprints at White Sands? with David Rachal and John Taylor-Montoya 01/15/2025

Painting Wildstyle Out in the Streets with Graffiti Writer Strike and Art Curator Rebecca Gomez 11/13/2024

Truth and Tragedy: The Timeless Mythology of La Llorona with Irene Vásquez at University of New Mexico 10/30/2024

Curanderismo, Poetry, and How to Heal a Broken Heart with Tommy Archuleta, Santa Fe Poet Laureate 10/16/2024

Curanderismo, Poetry, and How to Heal a Broken Heart with Tommy Archuleta, Santa Fe Poet Laureate Let’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: MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: written by Tommy Archuleta, Santa Fe Poet Laureate For further reading and more resources, *** We’d love to hear from you! Let us know what you loved about the episode, share a personal story it made you think of, or ask us a question at . You can write a regular email or record a short voice memo and attach it for us to listen to. Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Our favorite way to fully experience everything they have to offer is with the . Reserve yours online! If you love New Mexico, you’ll love El Palacio Magazine! *** Encounter Culture is a production of the , produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Editor & Production Manager: Associate Producer & Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota) Theme Music: Instagram: and /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/33415922

Investigating Who We Are Across Media and Millennia: Season Preview with Emily Withnall and Andrea Klunder 09/11/2024

From Exoplanets to Earthly Technology: Exploring Our Fears and Dreams Through Science Fiction with Ness Brown and Chris Orwoll 06/26/2024

Prison Art as an Assertion of Humanity with Museum of International Folk Art Curators Patricia Sigala and Chloe Accardi 06/12/2024

Rolling Into Rural Communities: Bookmobiles and Books by Mail Across New Mexico 05/29/2024

Rolling Into Rural Communities: Bookmobiles and Books by Mail Across New Mexico For many people who live in New Mexico the nearest library might be three hundred miles away. Luckily, the New Mexico State Library runs two excellent rural library services: Books by Mail and three bookmobiles that serve different regions of the state. If you live 20 minutes outside of the city limits of any city in New Mexico, or if you live within city limits but are homebound, or if you can only read large-print books, you can sign up for Books by Mail. The Books by Mail collection contains more than 30,000 titles, including books in Spanish, audiobooks, eBooks, and more. For schools and small communities who want to browse the shelves or access the internet from the bookmobile’s portable satellite terminal, check out the New Mexico State Library website to find out when and where a bookmobile will be stopping near you. And don’t forget to chat with the bookmobile librarian to find out what reading events and projects are offered during stops in your community! “I care about people first. I care about what's going on in their lives,” says Berdina Nieto, the New Mexico State Library Books by Mail librarian and rural services outreach specialist. “Patrons will call just to get their book order and then tell me what's going on in their world, and then I'll do the same. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE RECOMMENDED EPISODES We’d love to hear from you! Send feedback to [email protected]. You can write a regular email or record a short voice memo and attach it for us to listen to. Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Our favorite way to fully experience everything they have to offer is with the . Find out how to get yours . *** Encounter Culture, a production of the , is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Editor & Production Manager: Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota) Theme Music: Instagram: and For a transcript and full show notes, please visit /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/31447822

A History of Genízaro Identity in the Heart of New Mexico with Dr. Gregorio Gonzales 05/15/2024

A History of Genízaro Identity in the Heart of New Mexico with Dr. Gregorio Gonzales What do we lose when we don’t know ALL of our histories? Understanding our great, great, great, great grandparents' lives and how they survived, where they settled or traveled, and what languages they spoke – all of these details reveal so much about who we are and how we landed here in this place, at this moment in time. How our ancestors interacted with other people and with the land has had ripple effects on why things are the way they are today. Dr. Gregorio Gonzales (Comanche, Genízaro), the tribal liaison for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, works to develop relationships with 23 tribal governments based within New Mexico. DCA divisions interact with as many as 34 American Indian tribal governments, which include tribes with ancestral ties to New Mexico and whose tribal headquarters are located in Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. Gonzales is uniquely suited to this position due to his impressive knowledge of Indigenous history in the state—including Genízaro history which is still largely unknown in the context of United States history. Even within New Mexico, groups without any connection to a Genízaro identity are not likely to know this history. And as Gonzales reveals, he didn’t understand the full history and context of his Genízaro identity until he was a young adult. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE We’d love to hear from you! Send feedback to [email protected]. You can write a regular email or record a short voice memo and attach it for us to listen to. Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Our favorite way to fully experience everything they have to offer is with the . Find out how to get yours . *** Encounter Culture, a production of the , is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Editor & Production Manager: Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota) Theme Music: Instagram: and For a transcript and full show notes, please visit /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/31268207

Adventure Begins at Your Library: Explore New Mexico Tribal Libraries and Youth Programming 05/01/2024

From Goatheads to Grand Canyons: A Love Letter to the Landscape with New Mexico State Poet Laureate, Lauren Camp 04/17/2024

Protective Threads: Exploring Indigenous Fashion and Advocacy with Bobby Brower and Tara Trudell 02/07/2024

Protective Threads: Exploring Indigenous Fashion and Advocacy with Bobby Brower and Tara Trudell Creating art in the face of grief can be complicated and hard to navigate, especially when the grief feels both private and personal—and a part of a much larger epidemic, like the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis. Both Bobby Brower (Iñupiaq) and Tara Trudell (Santee Sioux/Rarámuri/Mexican/Spanish) found their way into speaking about the MMIP crisis through clothing and adornment that are linked to a long history of protection, prayer, and collaboration. On this episode of Encounter Culture, Brower and Trudell talk with host Emily Withnall about creating Native Alaskan atikluks and creating beads out of paper, respectively, and the reason it is so important to do this work in community. Brower is a fashion designer whose work has been featured on the TV series Alaska Daily and in New York Fashion Week, among others. Trudell is a multi-media artist working in fabric, paper, photography, and film, among other mediums. For both women, the art cannot exist without community, and it is in community that important stories and information can be shared and held. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE We’d love to hear from you! Send feedback to [email protected]. You can write a regular email or record a short voice memo and attach it for us to listen to. Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Our favorite way to fully experience everything they have to offer is with the . Find out how to get yours . *** Encounter Culture, a production of the , is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Editor & Production Manager: Theme Music: Special music in this episode: “Kinship Honor – K’é Biyiin,” written by Herman Cody & Radmilla Cody, performed by Radmilla Cody. Courtesy Canyon Records. Also, “Mother’s Words – Amá Bizaad,” written by Herman Cody & Radmilla Cody, performed by Radmilla Cody, courtesy Canyon Records. Instagram: and /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/29829213

Star Parties, Rim-Blown Flutes, and Pueblo History at Jemez Historic Site with Marlon Magdalena 01/24/2024

Keeping New Mexico's Spanish Alive: The National Hispanic Cultural Center's Legacy Project 01/10/2024

Keeping New Mexico's Spanish Alive: The National Hispanic Cultural Center's Legacy Project Traveling to some remote parts of Northern New Mexico can feel a little like traveling back in time. There’s the slower, rural lifestyle and lack of cell reception, for starters, but in some small pockets of rural communities, people still speak a 17th-century dialect of Spanish. Encounter Culture host Emily Withnall speaks with National Hispanic Cultural Center’s executive director, Zack Quintero, archivist Robin Moses, and Librarian Amy Padilla about their work to collect and preserve this ancient Spanish dialect before it disappears—which they say could happen in just fifteen years. Though the mountainous region of Northern New Mexico once helped to preserve this unique dialect, greater connectivity and the forces of assimilation have resulted in fewer native speakers. As Zack, Robin, and Amy reveal, they hope to preserve New Mexican Spanish as a part of their work with NHCC, but their investment in the project is personal, too. To learn more about the Legacy Project, go to . New information will be added to the website as the project progresses. Or visit the National Hispanic Cultural Center in person. The museum is open every day of the week, except Mondays. And if you’re interested in contributing to the project, please contact Zack Quintero at [email protected] or Robin Moses at [email protected]. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE We’d love to hear from you! Send feedback to . You can write a regular email or record a short voice memo and attach it for us to listen to. Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Our favorite way to fully experience everything they have to offer is with the . Find out how to get yours . Encounter Culture, a production of the , is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Editor & Production Manager: Theme Music: Instagram: /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/29410663

Big, Toothy, and Conveniently Dead: Why We Are Obsessed with Dinosaurs, Featuring Anthony Fiorillo, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science 12/13/2023

Big, Toothy, and Conveniently Dead: Why We Are Obsessed with Dinosaurs, Featuring Anthony Fiorillo, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science If you’ve ever been to a Sinclair gas station and see the green dinosaur out front, paleontologist Tony Fiorillo says it’s a fair approximation of New Mexico’s Alamosaurus—which was first discovered in New Mexico more than one hundred years ago. Not only is the Alamosaurus a “New Mexican icon,” as Fiorillo says, but it’s also the only dinosaur discovered in North America so far that appears to have migrated from South America. In addition to his work as a researcher and paleontologist, Dr. Tony Fiorillo is the executive director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. His career has covered several continents largely to study dinosaurs and the environments in which they lived. For more than two decades, Fiorillo focused on the Cretaceous of Alaska. There, his teams made significant advances in the understanding of ancient Arctic biodiversity and paleoecosystems as a way of understanding future climates. In this episode, Fiorillo joins Encounter Culture host Emily Withnall in a conversation about arctic dinosaurs, what 19th-century scientists understood about the first dinosaurs they found, and how dinosaurs can provide insight for what’s in store for humans. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins dinosaur sculptures at Crystal Palace Dinosaurs at Denali National Park We’d love to hear from you! Send feedback to . You can write a regular email or record a short voice memo and attach it for us to listen to. Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Our favorite way to fully experience everything they have to offer is with the . Find out how to get yours . *** Encounter Culture, a production of the , is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Editor & Production Manager: Theme Music: Instagram: /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/29043223

Look Up! Leo Villareal's Astral Array at New Mexico Museum of Art Vladem Contemporary 11/29/2023

Look Up! Leo Villareal's Astral Array at New Mexico Museum of Art Vladem Contemporary What would it be like to see a symphony? How can you capture the rhythm of waves or a murmuration in constellations of light? If anyone can offer a visual representation of multi-sensory experiences, multimedia artist Leo Villareal can. As Villareal shares in his conversation with Encounter Culture host, Emily Withnall, “I think of my tools more like instruments in a way. And I'm making kind of visual music.” is a world-renowned artist with roots in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in El Paso and Marfa, Texas. He currently lives in Brooklyn where he owns a gallery and oversees a team of artists, engineers, and programmers. His light sculptures can be seen in galleries in Geneva, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Madrid, Washington, D.C., Beijing, Amsterdam, New York, and San Antonio—to name a few. Among Villareal’s newest light sculptures is Astral Array, an installation on view permanently in the outdoor breezeway to New Mexico Museum of Art’s new Vladem Contemporary location in the Santa Fe Railyard. Villareal draws inspiration from the natural world, from Indigenous weaving, and from computer coding and programming. Despite the sometimes-impermanent nature of his installations, many of which are site- and time-specific, he appreciates the cycle of creation and dismantling inherent to his work and to the ways in which his continued experiments with light are visible to all. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Our favorite way to fully experience everything they have to offer is with the . Find out how to get yours . *** Encounter Culture, a production of the , is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Editor & Production Manager: Theme Music: Instagram: /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/28817143

Listen to the Land: Art at Bosque Redondo with Dakota Mace, Daisy Trudell-Mills, and Kéyah Keenan Henry 11/15/2023

Dusty Mesas & Accessible Art: Introducing Our New Host, Emily Withnall 10/18/2023

Democracy is Indigenous: The Power of the Vote with Laura Harris 07/19/2023

Democracy is Indigenous: The Power of the Vote with Laura Harris When Indigenous people vote, they honor their past and forge a better tomorrow for their communities. The act itself remains a complicated exercise. Indigenous voters must contend with a history of colonial rule, the goal of which was to eradicate their way of life, as well as present-day attempts by self-styled “poll watchers” to block their access to polling places or annul their ballots. And yet, democracy has always been Indigenous; a tribe’s power has always rested with its people. Welcome to the sixth and final episode in Encounter Culture’s series about the life and legacy of Miguel Trujillo, a collaboration with the . Encounter Culture host Charlotte Jusinski and series co-host Stephanie Padilla speak with the esteemed Laura Harris of Comanche Nation. Laura has extensive experience in national, state, and local campaigns and political fundraising. She’s also the executive director of . The trio discusses advocacy, education, and voting as paths to protecting Indigenous self-determination; they examine threats Indigenous voters face when participating in the electoral process – and finally recap the series. This episode was recorded in October 2022. Specific references to campaigning efforts and reported voter suppression tactics are from that election season, but voters continue to face similar challenges. Miguel Trujillo's legacy forms the foundation for every conversation in our current series. If you haven’t already, we urge you to catch up on the previous 5 episodes. We’d love to hear from you! What did you think of this season’s collaboration with the New Mexico History Museum about Native American Voting Rights Before and After Trujillo v. Garley? Send feedback to . You can write a regular email or record a short voice memo and attach it for us to listen to. *** Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Enter to win a package of four CulturePasses and a one-year subscription to El Palacio magazine all valued at $145 by visiting Whether you’re a local resident, or you’re visiting us on your travels, CulturePass is your ticket to each of our 15 museums and historic sites. Enter by August 31, 2023. You must be 18 years or older to apply and there is no purchase necessary. This opportunity is made possible by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. *** Encounter Culture, a production of the , is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Stephanie Padilla (Isleta, Laguna, Cochiti) & Charlotte Jusinski, Editor at Technical Director & Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Consulting Producer & Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota) Associate Producer & Editor: Alex Riegler Show Notes: Lisa Widder Social Media Design: Caitlin Sunderland Theme Music: Instagram: For more, visit Special thank you to Clark Tenakhongva, along with Gary Stroutsos and Matthew Nelson, for the incredible Hopi music featured throughout all 6 episodes of this season. Their new album Hon Muru is set to release in August 2023 and will be available for purchase along with their other recordings on Bandcamp and at . This season was made possible due to the generosity of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the family of Miguel and Ruchanda Trujillo. /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/27491670

You Can Make a Difference in Your Community with Kara Bobroff 07/12/2023

You Can Make a Difference in Your Community with Kara Bobroff In this episode, Encounter Culture host Charlotte Jusinski and series co-host Stephanie Padilla, a member of Isleta Pueblo, trace a throughline from Miguel Trujillo to their guest Kara Bobroff (Diné /Lakota), an educator honored by President Barack Obama as one of the best emerging social entrepreneurs in the country. Kara’s exceptional career achievements include her current role as executive director of One Generation (One Gen) and founder of the (NACA) and (NISN). If knowledge is power, access is the key to unlocking its potential. Kara has made it her life’s work to provide every Native child a way in. “I think at the center of how I was raised is really being of service to others and understanding that anything is possible. The trio discusses Kara’s incredible personal journey, her commitment to supporting Indigenous youth, and how culturally competent education provides Native communities the tools they need to continue their fight for equal rights and protection. This season, Encounter Culture is sharing the story of Miguel Trujillo, an unsung hero of voting rights activism for Native Americans in New Mexico. His legacy forms the foundation for every conversation in our series. If you haven’t already, we urge you to catch up on episodes one, two, three, and four. *** Visit for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours, and more. Enter to win a package of four CulturePasses and a one-year subscription to El Palacio magazine all valued at $145 by visiting Whether you’re a local resident, or you’re visiting us on your travels, CulturePass is your ticket to each of our 15 museums and historic sites. Enter by August 31, 2023. You must be 18 years or older to apply and there is no purchase necessary. This opportunity is made possible by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. *** Encounter Culture, a production of the , is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at Hosted by Stephanie Padilla (Isleta, Laguna, Cochiti) & Charlotte Jusinski, Editor at Technical Director & Production Audio: Recording Engineer: Kabby at Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann Consulting Producer & Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota) Associate Producer & Editor: Alex Riegler Show Notes: Lisa Widder Social Media Design: Caitlin Sunderland Theme Music: Instagram: For more, visit Special thank you to Clark Tenakhongva, along with Gary Stroutsos and Matthew Nelson, for the incredible Hopi music featured throughout all 6 episodes of this season. Their new album Hon Muru is set to release in August 2023 and will be available for purchase along with their other recordings on Bandcamp and at . This season was made possible due to the generosity of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the family of Miguel and Ruchanda Trujillo. /episode/index/show/presentedbydca/id/27428106

Encounter Culture

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