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.

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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.

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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

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