Conversations Different with Inez Russell Gomez

Award-winning author, chef and food lover Cheryl Alters Jamison has published two new cookbooks that feature a Santa Fe landmark and a high-class Texas staple.   The books share some beloved recipes and stories from the Plaza Café and the Perini Ranch Steakhouse.   The café, owned by Leonardo Razatos, has been around for eight decades cooking up American, Greek and Northern New Mexican cuisines. It is known for many dishes including seasonal pumpkin pozole, green chile stew and coconut cream pie — all three you can find in the cookbook.    The steakhouse, owned by Tom and Lisa Perini, is a family institution that has 40 years of history from its early days as a chuck wagon operation to now a reservation-only affair. Cowboy cooking and hospitable service are its top attributes, but don’t expect to experience them unless you are willing to travel to the small town of Buffalo Gap, Texas.   On the latest “Conversations Different” podcast, host Inez Russell Gomez is joined by Alters Jamison who reflects on writing the two cookbooks and shares what it was like getting to know both families in the process. She said hearing their stories was among the most fascinating parts of both collaborations.   In the episode, she also talks about her travels abroad which involve taking a group of people on culinary tours to explore different foods and cultures the world has to offer.   More information about the cookbooks and the food tours can be found on Alters Jamison’s website excitedaboutfood.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new art exhibition at Vladem Contemporary in Santa Fe is putting Japanese American internment on display to remind people of a dark and painful history.   Machiko Harada, a Santa Fe-based curator who was raised in Japan and moved to the U.S. in 2010, is the artist behind the exhibit, “Reclaiming the Future: The Legacy of Japanese American Incarceration.”   According to Harada, the exhibit focuses on cultural references from both Japan and the United States to depict the challenges of immigration, racism and war. Those themes infused the World War II era as the U.S. and Japan faced off in conflict abroad.  At home, it resulted in internment camps becoming widespread, with the government locking up Japanese Americans without due process.  On the latest “Conversations Different” podcast episode, host Inez Russell Gomez is joined by Harada to discuss the inspiration for her exhibit, the historical research that went into it and what she wants people to know as they experience it for the first time.   She also reflects on the importance of art and how it can be used to illustrate important moments involving politics and people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the heels of the highly anticipated 2026 midterm elections, local organizers from Indivisible Santa Fe, the group tied to the national “No Kings” political movement, are gearing up to rally for democracy once again but this time things will look a little different.    The event, which has occurred annually since President Donald Trump took office in 2025, will not have mass protests when it returns to Santa Fe Oct.17. Indivisible Santa Fe Chair Ellen Hill said they will instead be focusing on “civic engagement” and trying to get as many people to the polls as possible.   She described the event as a “honk and wave” at the corner of Paseo de Peralta and Old Santa Fe Trail near the Roundhouse. People will still have the chance to gather just not in the event’s normal fashion.   On the latest “Conversations Different” podcast episode, host Inez Russell Gomez is joined by Hill and Nico Devitt, an Indivisible member, to preview the October rally and discuss the reason for its change in theme.   Hill and Devitt also offer their perspectives on the current state of our politics, explaining why people are motivated to vote in this election cycle and are energized to join political organizations like Indivisible.    To learn more about the group’s local events visit indivisiblesantafe.org  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Mexico was the most remote of the Spanish provinces in 1812 when an assembly known as the Cortes de Cádiz was convened to create a constitution for the empire. Don Pedro Bautista Pino was elected to represent New Mexico at the assembly and faced a taxing journey to get there. Former New Mexico state Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a descendent of Pino, joins the “Conversations Different” podcast to discuss his new novel Beyond the Edge of the Known World, which offers a fictionalized account of the Don Pedro Bautista Pino’s arduous four-year journey from Santa Fe to Cádiz and back. Ortiz y Pino discusses what is known about the journey and how he approached writing the historical novel, his first book. He shares what New Mexico was like at the time of the assembly, as well as what things have changed and what has stayed the same since then. Ortiz y Pino has two upcoming in-person events to promote the book. He will appear at Garcia Street Books in Santa Fe at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11. And on Saturday, Oct. 17, he will appear at the Embudo Valley Library in Dixon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In front of a live audience at Sky Cinemas in Santa Fe, Democrat Deb Haaland shares her plan for New Mexico as she seeks to win the governor’s seat in the November election. Haaland, the former U.S. interior secretary and congresswoman, speaks with Santa Fe New Mexican Opinion page editor and “Conversations Different” host Inez Russell Gomez in a wide-ranging interview that touches on child welfare, data centers, support for rural parts of the state, affordability issues and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.