Humans are peculiar. We are capable thoughts, feelings, and expressions ranging from unconditional love to insidious hate. It begs the question: where do we learn those concepts? And then: How do we unlearn them? Here is a good one: How does someone who has been a member of a group that professes hatred of other humans leave that community and ideology behind? What are the steps? What’s the process like? Who are the people that can help them?

After many attempts over what seems like forever, New Mexico has finally passed a law making recreational cannabis use legal for adults. But the rollout is not as simple as lighting a match as special considerations for how this new law will impact New Mexicans must be addressed. It raises a lot of questions: What happens to people with prior cannabis convictions? Who will have access to the emerging industry? How will equity be enacted? And how will this affect you if you don’t have citizenship

The illness of racism was here long before Covid-19, but the pandemic brought it out into a brighter focus. It is too blinding not to see it. It is too loud to be silent in its presence. So we are going to make some noise of our own—the kind of noise you can dance to. On Episode 26, we highlight the dialogues we’ve had over the past year with anti-racist educators and leaders. A s the country loops back through a national call to self-destruct on Sunday, April 11, NoMoNo spins remixes of

2020 was a long year. We don't have to tell you. It was a constant barrage of reality-shaping events, and it hasn’t stopped. What is different for us now that we are on the verge of—maybe, knock on wood—coming out of the pandemic? How are the leaders we elected approaching their duties now? How are activists applying what they’ve learned to push their causes forward? How are the people who experienced hardship pre-pandemic adapting to a possible post-pandemic life? No More Normal reflects on

Storefront lenders offering payday loans or title loans are a quick way to get money for people who are often in dire straits financially. And it can be a slippery slope when the interest rate on these loans can be as high as 175 percent in New Mexico. Around the country, other states have passed laws to make those rates lower. But a bill that would have capped that rate at 36 percent here didn’t make it through the legislative session. KUNM’s Khalil Ekulona spoke to Fred Nathan, a proponent of

The 2021 Legislative Session is now over... or is it? Lawmakers ended a whirlwind couple of months by passing 158 bills, but as always the time ran out on dozens of other measures. In today's update we run down the big bills that made it across the finish line, and the ones that will have to wait for another year. One of those bills was the adult-use cannabis legalization measure, which just ran out of time and oxygen in the last hours of the session. But, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham thinks

A lot of fireworks throughout the night and into the wee hours of the morning. All of that means we are in for a wild ride in the last day and a half of the 2021 legislative session. Some of the big highlights and takeaways of the last 24 hours: the Land Grant Permanent Fund Amendment (HJR 1) made it through the Senate and appears to be headed to a ballot near you, after years of effort. Also, the Healthy Workplaces Act (HB 20), which was changed back early this morning to only affect private

A late night/early morning helps push cannabis legalization legislation one step closer to the finish line. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-4 to advance House Bill 12 to the full Senate just after 1:30am this morning. That was after hours of amendments and debate, which will no doubt foreshadow an epic showdown when and if the bill comes up for a vote of the full chamber. Read more about it all , and another bill that would limit reciprocity practices within the medical cannabis program

A lot of the activity here in the last days of the session, not surprisingly, is focused on money matters. The first order of business each year is of course the budget ( HB 2 ), and that seems to be nearing the finish line with just three and a half days left to go. Also, lawmakers in the House yesterday unanimously approved a Capital Outlay package ( HB 285 ). Now it's up to the Senate to pick up the baton. A measure to tap more money from the Land Grant Permanent Fund is also moving forward

Things are definitely moving fast and furious in the Roundhouse, as you would expect with only 4 and half days left in this year's session. One of the fastest moving bills is House Bill 47 , which is the Medical Aid in Dying Measure that recently passed through the full House. It followed suit yesterday in the Senate after more than two and a half hours of emotional debate and discussion. Three democrats joined the republicans in opposing the bill, which now heads back to the House for