In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Will Rose speaks with historian Max Perry Mueller about his groundbreaking new book, Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West. Mueller uncovers the complicated, often misunderstood history of Chief Wakara, the influential Ute leader whose life intersected with Mormon settlers, the expanding American state, and the violent transformations of the 19th-century West.

Through a conversation that blends archival detective work with storytelling, Mueller explains how Wakara shaped trade networks, diplomacy, intertribal relations, and the contested borderlands of the Great Basin. The discussion explores Wakara not as a mythic figure or a villain—as he has often been depicted—but as a strategist navigating colonial pressures while protecting his people’s interests.

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón speaks with writer and journalist Michelle Morgante about her journey from a small agricultural town in California’s San Joaquin Valley to a globe-spanning career in journalism, and ultimately, to fiction writing.

Morgante begins by reflecting on her childhood in Lindsay, California, a tiny, heavily agricultural town she describes as a real-life “Mayberry.” She shares vivid memories of biking across town, a deeply segregated school environment, and how being a mixed-heritage kid positioned her literally and symbolically in the “in-between”—a role that crystalized when she became the school dance DJ mediating between racial groups through music. This early experience of living between worlds seeded her lifelong fascination with liminal spaces, a theme that now shapes much of her creative work.

Chacón and Morgante explore how magical realism, borderland identity, and Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept of nepantla inform their artistic perspectives. Morgante describes how Latino culture sees the magical and the mundane as intertwined, a worldview that deeply influences her fiction.

From there, the conversation moves into Morgante’s wide-ranging journalism career with the Associated Press, taking her to Detroit, Denver, New York, Miami, Mexico City, Portland, San Diego, and beyond. She recalls the unexpected beauty and sorrow she saw in places like Detroit, the artistic vibrancy of Mexico City’s Condesa neighborhood in the 1990s, and how newsroom layoffs and the decline of local media brought her back to the Valley. She and Chacón also discuss the impact of AI on journalism, the growing importance of human-created writing, and why authentic storytelling will matter more than ever.

Listen to part 2 of Tim Z. Hernandez's conversation with Olga Talamante. Be sure to catch part 1 right here on the Words on a Wire podcast.

In this episode of The Storykeeper from Words on a Wire, host Tim Z. Hernandez sits down with activist and community leader Olga Talamante to explore the extraordinary journey behind her life’s work. Drawing from her migrant childhood in Gilroy, her early experiences as a student leader, and her awakening as a young Chicana organizer, Olga reflects on the forces that shaped her political consciousness. She recounts her time studying in Latin America, the path that led her to Argentina in the 1970s, and the harrowing period during which she was imprisoned as a political prisoner—an experience that would galvanize her lifelong commitment to human rights and social justice.

This first part of a two-part conversation offers an intimate look at the roots of Olga’s activism and the resilience that has defined her career, including decades of leadership in the Chicana/Latina community. It is a powerful story of courage, identity, and the transformative impact of bearing witness.

In this candid and forward-looking conversation, host Will Rose sits down with longtime Words on a Wire co-host Daniel Chacón to examine how profoundly the writing life has changed—and what the new realities mean for anyone trying to build a writing career in 2025.

Drawing from personal experience and decades inside the MFA world, Chacón reflects on the fading era when a single book and an MFA could reliably lead to a university teaching job and a stable writing life. That model, he explains, has all but dissolved. With thousands of new MFAs minted each year and only a handful of creative-writing jobs available, the old path is no longer the norm—it is the exception.

The episode explores the daunting numbers behind today’s publishing landscape: millions of new books released annually, the vast majority selling fewer than 100 copies, and the rise of self-publishing as a legitimate entry point rather than a career dead-end. Will and Daniel also discuss how writers must navigate the “attention economy” by developing skills in branding, social media, community-building, and even entrepreneurial thinking.

In this episode, host Daniel Chacón sits down with Fredrick Luis Aldama—the award-winning author, theorist, and editor known as Professor Latinx—to explore how stories shape our minds, our culture, and even our bodies. Aldama discusses his astonishingly prolific career, from editing FlowerSong Press and launching the Brown Ink imprint to teaching courses on narrative, wellness, and smartphone storytelling.

Their conversation moves from literature to neuroscience to video games, revealing how imagination and “flow” unite mind and body in the creative act. Aldama explains how storytelling—whether on the page, the screen, or through play—is a fundamental human drive that keeps evolving, urging us to see, feel, and think in new ways.

In this episode of The Storykeeper on Words on a Wire, host Tim Z. Hernandez sits down with poet, performer, and educator Darren J. de Leon to explore his new collection The Hoops and Crosses of Mt. Vernon (Hinchas Press, 2025). Blending poetry and fiction, de Leon’s debut offers vivid portraits of life in San Bernardino’s working-class neighborhoods and the formative tensions of growing up between danger and possibility.

De Leon reads from his stories “Kmart” and “This Street Does Not Go Through,” weaving memories of skateboarding under the glow of a department-store sign with reflections on inheritance, family, and survival. He discusses how his years teaching youth “in risk” shaped his desire to write for young adults—those on the edge of choices that can determine their futures. For de Leon, language itself becomes liberation: “There are no laws in poetry, only the word.”

The conversation traces his journey from the Mission District classroom to San Francisco’s electrifying 1990s spoken-word scene, where he co-founded the avant-garde ensemble Los Delicados. With Hernandez, de Leon revisits that era’s fusion of poetry, politics, punk energy, and Afro-Cuban rhythm that redefined Latinx performance art.

The episode closes with de Leon’s powerful reading of a coming-of-age poem about youth, desire, and self-discovery—an echo of the book’s central themes: voice, risk, and the freedom to define one’s own story.

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Will Rose speaks with award-winning author and translator Anton Hur, celebrated for bringing contemporary Korean literature to English-speaking readers through works like Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny.

What began as a practical skill evolved into a creative calling that now connects readers to voices from Korea’s vibrant literary scene. He also explains how his interest in coding and AI influenced the philosophical ideas in his novel, Toward Eternity, a story exploring consciousness and identity in a technological age.

The conversation also delves into Hur’s collaboration with Bora Chung, whose Cursed Bunny became an international sensation and Booker Prize finalist. Hur reflects on their trust-based process and on the growing recognition of Korean fiction worldwide. From Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win to the work of rising authors, Hur describes this moment as both exciting and transformative for global literature.