Que Tal? Program Episode Highlights Jan 19-25, 2025

Want to know what topics hosts and guests will be discussing on your favorite talk shows this week? Or what themes your favorite music hosts will be highlighting? Click on each day for details of show episodes. If you like what you see and hear, go to our Donate page and show your support! A full list of programming may be found on our Schedule page.

​​Sunday​

Delving In
Sunday 9-10 AM
Friday 11 AM-12 PM, Rebroadcast
Political scientist Bruce Bueno de Mesquita discusses his book, The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics with Stuart Kelter. His radically simple, empirically validated theory both explains and predicts political dynamics and outcomes of any and every political entity, including dictatorships, democracies, and corporations.

A Way With Words
Sunday 10-11 AM, Rebroadcast
Wednesday 10-11 AM
Thunderstorms might sound scary, but playful explanations for all those booms can help reassure little ones: How about 'The potato wagon's rolling over the bridge?' Or 'The angels are going bowling?' Plus, if you just finished enjoying an audiobook, you might say you've read it, but a listener asks if there's a better word. And: towns with names that are three letters long--or less. They're fun to say, and super easy to spell! The town of Eek, Alaska, for example, is spelled E-E-K. Plus, the use of humming to mean "stinking," slashfic and shipping, woodshedding, ratcatcher, bib and tucker.

Making Contact
Sunday 11:30 AM-12 PM, Rebroadcast
Friday 12:30-1 PM
Look at how art can highlight the struggles of incarcerated women, build solidarity with them across prison walls, and fight against the erasure and censorship inherent to incarceration. Hear about a dance performance that's built around the complex ways that incarcerated women relate to their beds. Learn about an art exhibition curated and created by incarcerated artists, writers and poets inside Central California Women's Facility.

The Moth
Sun 1-2 PM, Rebroadcast
Tuesday 5-6 PM
Stories of beef! Petty grievances to full blown rivalries. At work, over the phone, and, of course, online. Storytellers:
Lori Tucker-Sullivan finds herself on the receiving end of strange and unpleasant phone calls.
18-year-old Morgan Balavage is betrayed by a friend/coworker.
Matthew Trenda gets into a war of words with an internet stranger.
Diego Aguirre adopts a dog and begins to see the world more differently than he could have imagined.​

Strange Currency
Sun 2-4 PM, Rebroadcast
Thursday 11 PM-1 AM
The Human Fear is the sixth and most recent album from Scottish band Franz Ferdinand. Hear music from it as well as selections from Universe Room, the 41st LP from Ohio’s Guided by Voices, which will be out later in 2025.

Music They Don't Want You to Hear
Sunday 6-8 PM
Wed 10 PM-12 AM, Rebroadcast
Ron Cooke pays tribute to Peter Yarrow, author of “Puff the Magic Dragon” and a member of Peter, Paul and Mary to mark his passing plus songs for Martin Luther King Day from Mahalia Jackson, Joan Baez, Fannie Lou Hamer, Harry Belafonte, Eric Bibb, Mavis Staples and more.

​Monday

Special Programming
Monday 9-10 AM
Ron Cooke presents a special broadcast in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. featuring music and audio excerpts from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28th, 1963. The event featured performances by Mahalia Jackson, Marion Anderson, Odetta, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary plus excerpts from the speeches of Josephine Baker and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Travel With Rick Steves
Monday 11 AM-12 PM
While it can be an eye-opener to travel outside your "comfort zone," it also doesn't hurt to plan a trip to a place that can make you feel more comfortable.  Oneika Raymond recommends her favorite neighborhoods for a sunny and warm getaway to Miami. Plus, tour guides from Scotland Helen Houston and Liz Lister explain how their cultural icons, and even a few tourist cliches, help to reinforce their national identity.  And singer Jim Malcolm pays tribute to Scots poet Robert Burns, just in time for "Burns Night." 

Alternative Radio
Monday 12-1 PM
There’s power in a union is not just an empty slogan or the title of a song. When labor organizes itself into a union it can exert power over bosses. It can demand higher wages and better working conditions and benefits. The CEO class offers workers crumbs while pocketing the big bucks in salaries, bonuses and stock options for themselves. The propaganda system is largely under the control of ruling elites and big business. Thus, unions are painted negatively. However, a Gallup poll shows that union support among workers has increased significantly in recent years.

Global Village
Monday 3-4 PM
Chris Heim celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with songs dedicated to him, music inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, and pieces that reflect human rights themes as performed by artists from around the globe, including Mavis Staples, the Soweto Gospel Choir, Toots & the Maytals, Stevie Wonder, the Neville Brothers and more.

Reveal
Monday 5-6 PM
Partnering with the nonprofit newsroom The War Horse to join Ergo’s unit as they reunite and try to make sense of what they did and what was done to them. Together, they remember Bradley Faircloth, the 20-year-old lance corporal from their unit who lost his life, and unpack the mental and emotional battles that continue for them today.​

Tuesday

Cafe Con Leche
Tuesday 8-9 AM
Fri 2-3 PM, Rebroadcast
Greg talks with Karen Conley and another guest about ArtForms Artists Association and For the Love of Art Month coming up in February.  Studio visits and other events are part of the Month that highlights so much of what is happening in the arts here locally.

Wednesday​

Speak Up Las Cruces
Wed 8-10 AM
Wed 2-4 PM, Rebroadcast
8:00-8:30:
Peter Goodman and Daisy Maldonado discuss news of the day. Speak Up at 575-526-5825.

8:30-9:00:
Peter and Daisy talk with the Organ Mountain Technical Rescue Squad, including Bob Almon.

9:00-9:20:
Kevin Bixby of Wildlife for All discusses the bill he hopes the Legislature will pass in the upcoming session, turning the gaming commission into a wildlife-management commission that accomplishes a wider set of public goals.

9:20-10:00:
Magistrate Judge Nathan Graf and Public Defender Kris Knudson join Daisy and Peter to discuss crime, punishment, justice, and the upcoming legislative session.

A Way With Words
Wed 10-11 AM
Sun 10-11 AM, Rebroadcast
National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you truly believe, because if you're not writing from your beliefs, then you're just passing along information. And: if someone says they're going to plant flags at a gravesite, they may not mean what you think. That's because the word flag is also the name for a certain flower. All that, along with a brown study, pitcher-proud, ring-tailed ripsnorter, gleepers, clackers and a brain-busting take-off puzzle.

Open to Debate
Wednesday 5-6 PM
In the 2024 election, the Democrats did not have messaging that resonated with men, some say and is part of the reason Kamala Harris lost. Could leaning into identity politics to engage men work for future elections? Those arguing “yes” say focusing on men-related issues could help the Dems reconnect with a demographic that feels left behind. Those arguing “no” say focusing on gender and identity politics divides voters rather than unite them. Now we debate: Could Identity Politics Help Democrats Engage Men?

Afropop Worldwide
Wednesday 7-9 PM
Music from Botswana and Dumelang.

Music They Don't Want You to Hear
Wed 10 PM-12 AM, Rebroadcast
Sun 6-8 PM
Ron Cooke pays tribute to Peter Yarrow, author of “Puff the Magic Dragon” and a member of Peter, Paul and Mary to mark his passing plus songs for Martin Luther King Day from Mahalia Jackson, Joan Baez, Fannie Lou Hamer, Harry Belafonte, Eric Bibb, Mavis Staples and more.

Thursday

Friday

Delving In
Friday 11 AM-12 PM, Rebroadcast
Sunday 9-10 AM
Political scientist Bruce Bueno de Mesquita discusses his book, The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics with Stuart Kelter. His radically simple, empirically validated theory both explains and predicts political dynamics and outcomes of any and every political entity, including dictatorships, democracies, and corporations.

Cafe Con Leche
Fri 2-3 PM, Rebroadcast
Tuesday 8-9 AM
Greg talks with Karen Conley and another guest about ArtForms Artists Association and For the Love of Art Month coming up in February.  Studio visits and other events are part of the Month that highlights so much of what is happening in the arts here locally.

Saturday

Catalog/The Smear Campaign
Saturday 7-9 PM
DJ Tone Deaf and Johnny Catalog join forces for a two-hour block of music and interview with the mastermind behind Las Cruces' own local metal label, Desert Wastelands! They will chew the fat about music, running a DIY record label and, of course, the punk and metal tunes shall flow forth like the Rio Grande on a hot summer night​

CHECK BACK 
​​NEXT WEEK!!!

This Month On KTAL-LP

Special Saturday January 25 Catalog/Smear Show
Two of the three weirdos in the Saturday night trifecta of punk and electronic music, DJ Tone Deaf of the show Smear Campaign (7-8 PM) and Johnny Catalog of the show Catalog (8-9 PM), will be changing format for a special 2-hour show on January 25th, featuring Sean, head of the local metal record label Desert Wastelands. Mixed among their usual potpourri of punk, hardcore, indie, and obscure music, they will discuss with Sean about running the label, some of the bands in the Desert Wasteland roster, the music scene, and who knows what else. Look out for more of these types of shows where they break away from their conventional set up and invite the movers and shakers of the local and regional art and music scene to share what they’re up to and what's happening in our little corner of the Southwest.  
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