Retake Our Democracy has a weekly, 30-minute radio show that airs on KSFR 101.1. FM at 11am every Saturday. We have been broadcasting since our first show on November 4, 2016 when we interviewed our first guest, Marcela Diaz, Executive Director of Somos Un Pueblo Uniido. We typically interview advocates, leaders who serve underserved communities and our elected officials. Since it is not alway possible to listen to the entire show, we have inventoried all shows here. By clicking on the link you can listen to any of our prior shows. I have created links for the last 8 shows and will continue to update this until I have worked through to our very first show. Shows are not placed online until a few days after they first air. They are listed below from our most current to our first show. Enjoy.
Dec. 9. Heather Ferguson, Legislative Director of Common Cause. We discussed the City of Santa Fe’s plan to rescind its election disclosure ordinance after being hit with a lawsuit by the Libertarian Rio Grande Foundation. Click here to listen.
Dec. 2. Pia Gallegos. Member of the Democratic Party State Central Committee, one of the founders of the progressive caucus being formed and co-author of Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis. Click here to listen.
Nov 25. Elaine Sullivan. Public Banking New Mexico. As we discuss the status of Santa Fe planning for a public bank. Click here to listen.
Nov. 18. Maria Perez. Fair VoteNM. We discuss Ranked Choice Voting in Santa Fe. Click here to listen.
Nov. 11. Miguel Angel Acosta Muños. YouthCare community organizer and educator leading efforts to develop young leaders in south and west Santa Fe. Conversation focused on gentrification and life in the trailer parks. Click here to listen.
November 4. Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, co-founders of the Weather Underground and lifetime activists and community organizers in a special one-hour show.. We discussed both their historic role as activists in the 70s, their continuing activism and their vision for a just future in America. Click here to listen..
October 21. Paul Gibson and Roxanne Barber were in studio for a full hour as part of pledge week and we discussed the role Retake Our Democracy is playing in the community, the challenges of organizing a non-partisan. Click here to listen..
October 14. Alan Webber, Santa Fe Mayoral Candidate. We discussed a range of issues related to Alan’s campaign for Mayor and challenges faced by the city in terms of gentrification, affordable housing, and racial and economic injustice. The last six monutes are a commentary by Paul on capitalism. Click here to listen.
October 7. Helena Norberg Hodge, co-founder of the International Economics of Happiness movement and keynote speaker at the Economics of Happiness Conference in Santa Fe. She was joined by conference coordinator, Melissa Pickett and emcee Craig O’Hare.Click here to listen..
September 30. A solo show with Paul Gibson, co-founder of Retake Our Democracy and host of the KSRF radio. He commented on Demand the Impossible, the book by Bill Ayers. Throughout the half hour, Paul posed the question: “What if?” And then described how only by expanding our view of what is possible and examining policy options that are not often considered ‘possible’can we ever achieve true justice. Click here to listen.
September 23. Douglas Meiklejohn, Executive Director, New Mexico Environmental Law Center. We discussed how NMELC has been fighting in the courts for decades on a variety of water, land and climate change issues. Click here to listen.
September 16. Daniel Werwath, local and national affordable housing expert who also develops and manages affordable housing in Santa Fe. We discussed the challenges faced by Santa Fe and other jurisdictions in developing affordable housing and some of the strategies, opportunities and tools that are available to Santa Fe at this moment to develop more affordable housing. Click here to listen.
September 9 Eric Griego. Director Working Families Party of NM. We discussed the growth of the WFP, its impact on local elections throughout the nation and in New Mexico. Click here to listen.
September 2, Wendy Johnson, La Familia Medical Director. We spent two weeks with Wendy, discussing local and state health issues and policies, as well as the water crisis in Detroit and New Mexico. Click here to listen.
August 26. Wendy Johnson, La Familia Medical Director. We spent two weeks with Wendy, discussing local and state health issues and policies, as well as the water crisis in Detroit and New Mexico. Click here to listen.
August 19, Viki Harrison, Common Cause. We discussed the impact of money on politics and the role of progressive lobbyists and of voters in conducting citizen advocacy at the Roundhouse. Click here to listen.
August 12, Kate Noble. Board Member, Santa Fe Public Schools, and we discussed the intersection of public education and community development. Click here to listen.
July 29. Ken Baumann and Kathy Sanchez, co-founders of the New Mexico, Democratic Socialists of America. We discussed the rapid expansion of the DSA across the country and the activities of the local chapter. Click here to listen.
July 22. Javier Benavidez, Javier had served as the Executive Director of the Southwest Organizing Project or SWOP and only recently resigned to focus his energy on a run for ABQ City Council. We discussed “Who really runs New Mexico?” Click here to listen.
July 15. Mayor Javier Gonzales. A special one-hour show with the Mayor of Santa Fe with the conversation ranging from the tone of civic dialog to community development, the parks, gentrification, and public transit….all with a lens on equity. Click here to listen.
July 8. Paul Gibson on the Need for Dem Party Reform. Gibson spoke of the need for the Democratic Party at a State and National level to learn from the 2016 election process with a review of the Obama administration and of the recently completed Roundhouse session, Click here to listen.
July 1. Tomas Rivera, founder of Chainbreaker Collective, a non-profit organization founded 13 years ago whose purpose is to serve and advocate for Santa Fe’s most under-served populations. We will discuss the degree to which Santa Fe is a deeply divided city economically and racially and what Chainbreaker is doing to address this reality. Click here to listen.
June 24. Margaret Lubalin, Wall of Love. Margaret was active in the Santa Fe 4 Bernie campaign and in November renewed her activism with Retake Our Democracy. She worked with local artist Bobbe Besold and over 200 other Santa Fe volunteers to produce a counter-statement to the vitriolic political communication so prevalent today, producing The Wall of Love. It is now installed at the Railyard across from Farmers’ Market. Click here to listen.
June 17. Tom Samuels Retake Our Democracy intern and canvassing coordinator, . We are going to discuss the ways in which Retake Our Democracy is working under the coordination of the Chainbreaker Collective and with a developing coalition of Santa Fe activist organizations that already include New Energy Economy, Earth Care, Indivisible, Somos Un Pueblo Unido, and Democratic Socialists of America. Click here to listen.
June 3. Mark Diaz Truman in a special one hour show focusing on what effective community organizing looks like, how to build power, and how to communicate more effectively when involved in political discussions. Mark Diaz Truman is a community organizer from ABQ who was trained at Harvard by Marshall Ganz, the principal strategist for César Chávez for 16 yrs. Ganz then served as the chief strategist for the brilliant 2008 Obama campaign. Click here to listen.
May 27. Three Chainbreaker members, individuals whose lived experience makes them experts in the effectiveness and impact of economic policies. In studio today we will be discussing the experiences of our three guesss Linda Martinez, T.C. Williams II, and Rocco Goodluck and how Chainbreaker has supported them. Click here to listen.
May 20. Former Democratic candidate for Governor, Alan Webber and former City Attorney and Chief Counsel to the Tax & Revenue Department, Frank Katz to discuss how the city and state can promote community and economic development without triggering gentrification. Click here to listen.
May 13. Charlotte Levinson and Mariel Nanasi, New Energy Economy. We find discuss a different environmental justice strategy that has been developing for a couple years: an activist shareholder initiative led by PNM Shareholders for a Responsible Future. We discuss the Santa Fe based shareholder revolt with Charlotte Levinson who initiated the action and Mariel Nanasi. Executive Director of New Energy Economy. Click here to listen.
May 6. District 2 City Councilor Joe Maestas and Economic Development Specialist for the City of Santa Fe, Ross Chaney. We begin an 8-12 week series of shows exploring economic, racial and climate justice. The first show focuses on the City’s plans for engaging in a community development planning process. Click here to listen.
Apr. 29. Retake interviewed two parents whose children are enrolled in Pre-K and a Pre-K teacher to discuss the Universal Pre-K election. Click here to listen.
April 22, Hazel James. Health Equity Coordinator for the San Juan Collaborative; Terry Smith who worked as miner at San Juan mine for 7 years and now works for a Non-profit Shiprock Community Development Corporation; Jessica Montoya is Organization Manager for New Energy Economy; and Mariel Nanasi is the Executive Director of New Energy Economy and a tireless advocate for environmental justice. Click here to listen.
April 15 Focus on Universal Pre-K with two national experts from the Prevention Institute. Alisha Somji is a co-author of a report published on the San Francisco and Oakland Soda Tax efforts and Juliet Sims who is a Program Manager at Prevention Institute, where she supports projects related to healthy eating and active living. Click here to listen.
April 8, Carol Oppenheimer and Morty Simon. As we initiate a four-week series focused on the Universal Early Childhood Education initiative speaking with the Coordinators of the campaign, Click here to listen.
April 1, with Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth and Speaker of the House Brian Egolf. We discussed the just completed Roundhouse session, key bills that were passed, and the process through which committees can kill good legislation. Click here to listen.
March 25, with Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver. We discussed how the Secretary of State oversees elections and the potential impact of an Ethics Commission and other election reform legislation. Click here to listen.
March 18, with Tim Keller, NM State Auditor and candidate for Albuquerque Mayor. We discussed his running a publicly-funded Mayor’s race and his prior experience dealing with lobbyists while serving in the Roundhouse as a legislator. Click here to listen.
March 11, with Steve Fischmann, Director of the New Mexico Fair Lending Coalition as we discussed the legislature’s inability to pass any form of legislation to protect people from predatory loans with interest rates above 500%. Click here to listen.
March 4, Viki Harrison, Executive Director of Common Cause, NM and Bruce Berlin Founder of NM Money Out of Politics as we discuss the influence of money in politics with our guests, Click here to listen.
Feb 25, Mayor Javier Gonzales, as we discussed how the Sanctuary resolution passed the City Council and what new protections it provides for Santa Fe immigrants. Click here to listen.
Feb 18, Glenn Schiffbauer, Director of the Green Chamber of Commerce and Kim Shanahan, Director of the Santa Fe Homebuilders Association. Our third show in the series looked at the potential impact of mass deportation on the local business community. Click here to listen.
Feb 11, Three Santa Fe Dreamers each of whom had different immigration status and experiences in the US. Click here to listen.
Feb 4, Marcela Diaz. Our first show and we kicked off a four week series focusing on the Sanctuary movement and immigration issues. Our first guests were Marcela Diaz, Director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido and Allegra Love, Director of the Santa Fe Dreamers Project.. Click here to listen.