This week on Voices of Taos

This week on the Voices of Taos podcast, Taos News Editor John Miller talks with local teens Angelina Burns Diaz and Carlos Miller about suicide and mental health in Taos.

Burns Diaz is a Taos News intern and an incoming senior at Taos High School. Since the spring, she has been working on a film documentary about suicides at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.

“With the way the bridge is set up now, it’s not able to hold people that go there that struggle, and we need to find a way to find them more support,” Angie says.

Carlos Miller was a youth member of the Town of Taos Council before he graduated from Taos High School in June. He has been talking with Taos’ elected officials about how adding barriers or raising the railings at the Gorge Bridge can have a measurable impact in preventing people from taking their own lives.

As a case study, Miller has been following the construction of stainless steel netting under California’s Golden Gate Bridge, another known “suicide destination” in the U.S.

“We don’t have the time to fight back and forth on this,” Miller said on this week’s episode. “There’s a clear direction on barriers, and we need to revive the idea that was so close to being implemented, and we need to do that expediently.”

This week’s episode discusses suicide. Call 988 to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for 24/7 free support for mental health, substance use and more. You can also text, call or chat 988.

All episodes of Voices of Taos are available to listen to for free on taosnews.com or anywhere you get your podcasts, no subscription necessary.