Manuel Gonzalez, host of Pass the Sopapillas, a podcast presented by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, talks with KC Counts about taking on the project ahead of their taping Sunday at 2 p.m. at KRWG-TV. The public is invited to attend and join the conversation. Seating is limited and offered on a first-come first-served basis. Below is a transcript of their conversation.
KC Counts:
First of all, tell me about you taking on this project. How did you get involved?
Manuel Gonzalez:
Well, representatives from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in hosting a podcast that would bring people from across New Mexico to have conversations about what they're doing to improve the lives and the communities of our families and children in New Mexico. And when I heard that, I jumped at the opportunity. I was excited to do it.
KC Counts:
Do you have a history of doing podcasts or is this your first?
Manuel Gonzalez:
No, this is my first any of this. I mean, I'm a spoken word poet and what I do is I teach writing workshops and I perform my poetry at different events and places all over the state. So this is my first time of ever being on camera and conducting an interview and doing anything that was called a podcast. I didn't even know there would be cameras because when I heard podcast, I assumed just audio and it's not. It's everything. They've got it's a very professional thing. But I've had the opportunity to meet some amazing people in New Mexico because what we're doing in this podcast is we're changing and shifting the narrative of what it means to be from New Mexico, because sometimes we get to be at the bottom of lists or or sometimes our struggle is what's highlighted. Whereas in this podcast, we're trying to show that we are innovators and at the forefront of things like education and childcare, things like culture and art, things like legislation, and there's people doing real work on a daily basis that are helping people across New Mexico. And we're going to the four corners of New Mexico to show that it's not just Albuquerque, it's not just Santa Fe, it's all of us together as New Mexicans making things better for one another for this community like that.
KC Counts:
Well, and tell me about some of the people that you've met along the way.
Manuel Gonzalez:
We've met people that are working to educate teachers in high school and getting them into college so that they can get their teaching credentials and then making it so that they can stay in the communities that they come from so that our teachers are from here and that we're growing homegrown teachers for our community. We're talking to people like Rodrigo Rodriguez from La Placita who are working with at-risk youth and helping them change the trajectory of their lives using culture, they're teaching them how to plant seeds so that they can change their lives from the negativity that they're living and speaking of planting seeds we're talking to people that are the seed protectors and those that are keeping our seeds for the future generations the ancestral seeds that have been passed down since time immemorial plus we're talking to legislatures and and and people that are doing real work as far as like the on the political front to get things done for our families to make sure that We have child education. We have early child education here in New Mexico. And we're feeding the kids too. We're making it so that the kids have lunches and food in their schools. There's things that are happening here in New Mexico that aren't happening in other states and other places because of the things that are happening because of the people that are here.
KC Counts:
Now, you're a teacher, so you certainly have experience and that comes through speaking to a group of people. How was this adventure like it was a natural fit for you.
Manuel Gonzalez:
Oh, it was amazing because I already love this state and that's part of what it means to be a poet laureate. It's not about me and my poetry. It's about me going to different places and highlighting the stories and voices of New Mexico. And so that was already what I was doing before I became part of this podcast. Now because of this podcast, I've got to sit down with these people that are actually doing it. Like the Kellogg Foundation has introduced me to some of these people from across the state that are doing the teamwork and I got to help collect their stories and I got to let them express themselves and not just talk about what they do but why they do it because what's important about it is that we're trying to make it so that When people listen to our podcast, we want them to be inspired to take whatever gift they have to make it so that they can make the community better for themselves and all of us get better when all of us get better.
KC Counts:
Well, and there's a movement in journalism called solutions journalism, right? So where maybe we identify a problem that exists in our own community, but we look to other communities to see how they have successfully addressed it. So it sounds like you're really focused on the solutions.
Manuel Gonzalez:
Yes, Yes, and we're changing that narrative. We're making it so that people look at New Mexico as one of the most amazing, innovative, and prosperous places in the country, if not the world, because there's things here that are unique here, that only exist here, and that we're trying to spotlight some of those things. What we're really doing is holding up a mirror to show our state their own shine.
KC Counts:
What can you tell us, for those listening, on Saturday in the 5p.m. hour on KRWG, you will be in our KRWG TV studios tomorrow and there is space for a studio audience. All say seating is limited, available first come, first serve. We're located on the NMSU campus in Milton Hall. KRWG TV is where you will find Manuel Gonzalez and the Pass the Sopapillas podcast. What can you tell us about what we're going to be talking about tomorrow?
Manuel Gonzalez:
We're going to be talking to some new innovators from people from across the state. We're going to be talking to people that are changing their families, changing their communities, and changing the world on a daily basis. People with boots on the ground and doing work to show that those of us that are doing that kind of work here in this state are changing things and we're making a difference.
KC Counts:
Now, the audience will have an opportunity to engage with your guests as well, right?
Manuel Gonzalez:
Yes. We're going to have a whole question and answer session and part at the end of our whole interview where It's because it's community. It's not me talking to these people. It's us together having a conversation, and that's when community happens like that.
KC Counts:
How long is the podcast?
Manuel Gonzalez:
After it's edited for time and everything, there are about 30-minute podcasts, but it's going to take about an hour for us to record the whole thing. Okay, I see.
KC Counts:
And who is bringing the sopaipillas?
Manuel Gonzalez:
Know what? I don't know where we're getting them from Las Cruces, but I know we're getting them and we got to make sure that they're from an authentic place.
KC Counts:
Well, I was going to say, we haven't, to my knowledge, done a poll necessarily to find, you know, those premier spots where you might go, but I just wanted to make sure that was going to be part of the mix. And of course, plenty of local honey, right?
Manuel Gonzalez:
Yes, because that's why we call it pass the sopaipillas. It's about sticky faces and happy kids. It's about the conversations that happen at the table when we the people that we're comfortable with, the people that we love, and we start to tell the truth and
open up in that way.
KC Counts:
Well, Manuel, what do you think is important for people to know that maybe I haven't asked you about yet, such as where to find previous episodes?
Manuel Gonzalez:
Pass the Sopaipillas is available anywhere you get your podcasts, whether it's YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you find podcasts. Just search Pass the Sopaipillas and you can find us
there.
KC Counts:
And congratulations on your status as New Mexico Poet Laureate as well.
Manuel Gonzalez:
Thank you. I appreciate that.
KC Counts:
We could talk a little bit about that if you don't mind.
Manuel Gonzalez:
Oh, sure.
KC Counts:
So what was that process like?
Manuel Gonzalez:
It was a nomination, but not only was I nominated I had to come with my proposal for what I was going to do with my laureateship. And my proposal was that I'm going to bring poetry to unexpected places because this is what I already do as part of my work, is I take poetry to detention centers. I take poetry to drug treatment centers. I take poetry to -- I've been to the foster care system places. I use poetry and literacy as a guise to do real heart work and have people authentic and sincere self-expression to help heal themselves and the scars and bruises that we carry on our hearts in that way.
KC Counts:
New Mexico poet laureate Manuel Gonzalez and host of the podcast Pass the Sopapillas, thank you so much for the time and we'll see you tomorrow (Sunday).
Manuel Gonzalez:
Thank you so much. Yes.
* Wondering about the spelling of Sopapillas? The original and traditional Spanish spelling is sopaipilla, but sopapilla is the most common phonetic spelling used today. Both are correct, according to Miriam-Webster.
