The Forum with Jim Falk

Beginning more than a decade ago, thousands of Uyghurs fled repression in Xinjiang, the region of western China many consider their homeland and call East Turkestan. Many eventually made their way to Syria, where they became fighters in the civil war and helped the rebel forces that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

It is a remarkable story, and one that remains surprisingly little known.

NPR White House Correspondent Emily Feng joins Jim Falk to discuss her new book, Our Hearts Burned for Home: Uyghur Militants in Syria’s Civil War. Drawing on extensive reporting in China and Syria and conversations with Uyghur fighters and their families, Feng explains why they left China, how some became affiliated with Islamist militant groups, and what motivated them to fight in a war thousands of miles from their ancestral home.  

The conversation also looks at the families now building lives in Syria are trying to preserve their Uyghur identity for themselves and their children.

Host:               Jim Falk

Guest:              Emily Feng, NPR White House Correspondent & Author, Our Hearts Burned for Home: Uyghur Militants in Syria’s Civil War.

When it comes to ethics, transparency, and accountability in state government, New Mexico lags much of the country. A recent survey found that only 19% of New Mexicans trust their state government.

With a new governor taking office in January, Think New Mexico is calling for sweeping legislative reforms. Its latest report, The Next Step for a Modernizing Legislature, outlines 10 recommendations, including requiring legislators to recuse themselves when they have financial conflicts of interest, stronger disclosure requirements for so-called dark money, and a mandatory cooling-off period before former legislators can lobby their former colleagues.

On this week's The Forum, Think New Mexico Executive Director Fred Nathan discusses these proposals, along with Amendment 4 on November's ballot, which would allow New Mexico legislators to receive a salary for the first time. A link to the report is included in the show notes.

Host:           Jim Falk

Co-Host:      Daniel James

Guests:        Fred Nathan, Founder & Executive Director, Think New Mexico

Read the report The Next Step for a Modernizing Legislature

This week's Forum features Heather Lamboy, Director of the Santa Fe Land Use Department and Daniel Strongwater, a developer and member of the Board of Friends of Architecture, discussing Santa Fe Forward and the city's current project to update and improve  our General Plan and Land Use Code. 

This week on the Forum, KSFR News Reporter Patrick Davis and Rev. Talitha Arnold continue the discussion on homelessness in Santa Fe, this time with Nick Svetnicka and Carrie Wilbur from the St. Elizabeth Shelter, and Kent Grubbs of Interfaith Community Services.

In the days following the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, President Joe Biden made clear his steadfast support for Israel. But as Israel’s military campaign continued and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza deepened, concern and opposition grew within his own administration over Israel’s conduct of the war and America’s continuing support.

My guest, journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed, interviewed more than 150 people for his important new book, Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza. During our conversation, Akbar described how Biden relied on a small coterie of advisers, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and Brett McGurk, the National Security Council’s Middle East coordinator, leaving much of the State Department largely on the sidelines.

We also talk about critical moments when the administration appeared to have opportunities to exert greater pressure on Israel, including the aftermath of the April 2024 killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers. But that pressure was short-lived as Israel continued to push the boundaries of Biden’s so-called “red line” over a major military operation in Rafah.

Nearly three years after the Hamas attack, Gaza’s population continues to face severe shortages of desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Akbar believes there will be little progress on President Trump’s 15-point peace plan, The Comprehensive Plan to End the Conflict in Gaza, until after Israel’s elections at the end of October, and even then the situation is likely to remain deadlocked.

Host:               Jim Falk

Guest:              Akram S. Ahmed, Diplomatic Correspondent NOTUS & Author, Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors and Israel’s War in Gaza

What does it mean for a city to respond to homelessness—and what does that response look like from the perspective of someone who has experienced being unhoused?
 
 This week on THE FORUM, we turn to Santa Fe’s unhoused community and the complex challenges facing the city as it works to respond. Our guests bring two very different, but complementary, perspectives to the conversation.
 
 Carina Julig, city reporter for The Santa Fe New Mexican, helps us understand the issue from the perspective of city policy, management, and the decisions being made about how Santa Fe responds to homelessness. John Bacon, peer support manager at The Life Link and a former member of the unhoused community, brings the perspective of lived experience and his work supporting others who are navigating homelessness.
 
Their conversation looks at the issue from both sides—from the challenges of managing a citywide response to the very personal realities of experiencing homelessness—and considers the people, policies, and perspectives at the heart of the conversation.
 
Host: Patrick Davis
Co-Host: Daniel James
Guests: Carina Julig, The Santa Fe New Mexican
               John Bacon, The Life Link

Just a few weeks before the publication of Ben Macintyre’s latest book, Redwood, I had the pleasure of talking with him about what he considers one of the most intriguing and least-known espionage stories of the Cold War. That’s quite a statement, given Ben’s long list of bestsellers, including The Spy and the Traitor, A Spy Among Friends, and Operation Mincemeat.

In this show, Ben shares with me the remarkable story of how KGB officer Vladimir Kuzichkin came to the decision to become a double agent at a critical moment in history. At the height of the Cold War, there was considerable concern that Iran, like neighboring Afghanistan, might fall within the Soviet orbit. The intelligence provided by Kuzichkin gave Britain and the United States an extraordinary window into Soviet intentions and operations in the region. Later, when Iran’s Islamic leadership learned what Kuzichkin had revealed about Soviet activities and connections inside Iran, it took extreme measures against members and supporters of the Tudeh, Iran’s communist party, further consolidating the power of Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers. During our conversation, Macintyre also told me how MI6 officer Ian McCredie recruited Kuzichkin and built a uniquely personal relationship with him, one that continued long after Kuzichkin “retirement” in the U.K where he worked as a well-regarded acupuncturist! 

It’s a fascinating story about espionage, friendship, betrayal, and the very human motivations that can lead someone to risk everything by becoming a spy.

Host: Jim Falk
Guest: Ben Macintyre, author, Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold Ware’s Most Extraordinary Spy (pub. 9/15/2026)

Music is often described as a universal language, but American music may be something even more interesting.  It is the product of different cultures, different traditions, different voices - of people borrowing from one another, occasionally argumentatively, and sometimes creating something entirely new. 

Our guests are American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and Colin Jacobsen, artistic director of Santa Fe Pro Musica.  Their conversation begins with a discussion of Fleck’s interesting arrangement of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which will open Santa Fe Pro Musica's 2026-2027 season and launch its new series, Democratic Vistas.   From there, the conversation broadens as Jacobsen explores how music can reflect democratic ideals including different voices in dialogue, disagreement and collaboration and, ultimately, the creation of something more inclusive than one voice. 

Host:           Jim Falk

Co-Host:      Daniel James

Guests:        Béla Fleck, banjo virtuoso

Colin Jacbosen, violinist, composer, and artistic director of Santa Fe Pro Musica

Sebastian Mallaby, senior fellow for global economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Jim Falk for a conversation about his recent New York Times bestseller, The Infinity Machine, and the extraordinary race to develop artificial intelligence.

Mallaby takes us inside the world of one of the most important AI pioneers, Demis Hassabis, whose ambition to build machines capable of human-level intelligence helped transform what once seemed like science fiction into one of the defining technological revolutions of our time.

Their conversation explores the promise and risks of increasingly powerful AI, the intense competition among companies and nations, and whether the world can develop safeguards, including some form of AI nonproliferation, before the technology moves beyond our ability to control it.  

Host:               Jim Falk

Guest:              Sebastian Mallaby, Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics;

Author, The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence

This November, New Mexico voters will elect a new lieutenant governor this November. But what exactly should voters expect from the person who holds the state’s second-highest office?

On this edition of The Forum, Jim Falk and co-host Peter Smith talk separately with the two candidates for lieutenant governor: Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard, New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands; and, Republican David Gallegos, a longtime state legislator from southeastern New Mexico.

In two wide-ranging conversations, the candidates discuss what motivated them to run, how they view the responsibilities of the lieutenant governor, and the role they hope to play in partnership with the next governor. They also address some of the critical issues facing New Mexico, from healthcare, economic development and education to energy and public safety. Moving to specifics, both candidates voice their positions on two controversial issues: Project Jupiter and the proposed acquisition of TXNM, parent company of PNM, by Blackstone.

These interviews give voters an opportunity to hear directly from two candidates with very different backgrounds and perspectives about the office they are seeking, their running mates and their respective visions for New Mexico’s future.

Host:           Jim Falk

Co-Host:      Peter Smith

Guests:        David Gallegos, Republican Party Candidate for New Mexico Lieutenant Governor

                   Stephanie Garcia Richard, Democratic Party Candidate for New Mexico

                   Lieutenant Governor