Kunc's Colorado Edition

A bill being discussed at the state capitol has lawmakers sounding like a bunch of Swifties – or at least has them talking about Taylor Swift’s music. State Sen. Jeff Bridges referenced the pop superstar’s album 1989 when he threw his support behind a proposed law that would make it easier for artists in Colorado to do business and help protect the rights to their creative work.  Bridges told the Colorado Sun that the bill would avoid situations like what happened to Swift when her former record company sold away the rights to 1989 and other albums she’d created. Parker Yamasaki covers arts and culture and wrote about the bill for the Colorado Sun. She spoke with Erin O’Toole about the idea behind it, and how it could help Colorado artists trying to support themselves through their creative work.  * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your fa

Mountain Plovers are a celebrated bird species in parts of Colorado. But if you’ve never seen one, you’re in the majority.  Mountain Plovers nest on Colorado’s eastern plains and are sometimes referred to as the “prairie ghost” because their sandy-colored plumage makes them hard to spot.  The annual Mountain Plover Festival in Karval – which begins this Friday – celebrates this bird.   The festival draws hundreds of visitors each year, and owes much of its success to support from local ranchers, who have gotten involved in preserving Mountain Plover habitat. Angela Dwyer is a manager for the stewardship program of the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. She joined Erin O’Toole last year to talk about the ranchers, the festival and the plovers — including why this prairie-loving bird has “mountain” in its name. We’re revisiting their conversation today. The sound of Mountain Plovers used in this episode can be found in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library.  * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newslett

When a natural disaster strikes, we often think of children as the most vulnerable of victims. Picture families forced to evacuate during a wildfire, or kids forced to take remote classes for months during the pandemic. A University of Colorado researcher says this thinking may be too simplistic – that it overlooks the ways children help out during and after a disaster, and the importance of letting kids help respond to a chaotic world. Lori Peek is a sociology professor and director of the Natural Hazards Center at CU Boulder. She studies how communities respond to natural disasters, and she's particularly focused on how children help out.  She’s giving a talk on the topic Wednesday in Boulder. Ahead of that, she spoke with Erin O’Toole about her research.  If you enjoyed this interview, check out our previous In The NoCo conversation with Lori about how surviving a wildfire can make a community more resilient. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas?

Colorado has been a magnet for businesses over the past two decades. In the past seven years, the state attracted dozens of companies and more than 40,000 jobs, according to the governor’s office.   But that trend appears to be shifting.   Nearly a hundred companies are thinking about leaving Colorado – or have already done so. That’s according to a recent report from the Colorado Chamber Foundation.   And earlier this month, a group of business and tech leaders signed an open letter to Gov. Jared Polis and other state officials.  The letter warned that Colorado’s business climate is heading in the wrong direction. They pointed to too many regulations on businesses – and especially companies that use AI to do things like set prices.  Axios Denver reporter John Frank recently wrote about what’s driving the departures. He joined Erin O’Toole to discuss the details, and what business leaders think might help reverse the trend.   * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback?

Colorado author Collin Irish writes science fiction and fantasy. And while his new book includes imaginative storylines set in space, its inspiration came from a more personal place: Collin’s writing drew from his work as a volunteer youth mentor.   Collin works with some young men to help them better understand themselves through the use of storytelling and fairy tales. It’s part of a program based in Boulder called Rocky Mountain Rites . His new novel Messenger grew out of that mentoring work. It blends fairy tale, fantasy, and science fiction to explore the challenges of growing up in a modern world filled with uncertainty.   Collin, who lives in Lakewood, spoke with Erin O’Toole about how his experience as a mentor shaped Messenger, and his approach to writing. Read an excerpt from Messenger that appeared in the Colorado Sun. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The N

Just days after the Artemis II astronauts returned to Earth, we’ve got a different lunar exploration story today – one that hasn’t gotten as much attention.    Scientists have known for years that the moon holds traces of water. That water could be invaluable for future space exploration, as ingredients for rocket fuel, or perhaps by providing water for a colony on the moon one day.  But exactly where that water is remains something of a mystery.   A new study led by University of Colorado researchers is helping to solve part of that mystery, by pinpointing where frozen water might be.   Paul Hayne is a planetary scientist at CU Boulder's Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics. He’s part of the research team, which published their findings earlier this month in the journal Nature Astronomy.   Paul joined Erin O'Toole to help explain what we know about the moon’s hidden water, how his work ties into NASA’s Artemis program, and how the research might one day help establish a base on the moon.  * * * * *Sig

For centuries, the Arapaho have called Colorado and Wyoming home. The tribe gave names to places like the Kawuneeche Valley, the Never Summer Mountains, and Mount Blue Sky.   But the language the Arapaho have spoken for centuries is at risk of disappearing, as fewer members of the tribe have learned the language.  A team of language experts at the University of Colorado Boulder is working to change that. They’re compiling an online database that includes recordings of the Arapaho language and can be used as a learning and teaching tool.  Andrew Cowell is a linguistics professor at CU, and faculty director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous studies. He helped launch this project more than two decades ago.   He spoke with Erin O’Toole in January  about how he hopes the digital database helps future generations learn and continue to speak the Arapaho language.  We’re listening back to that conversation today. You can access the Arapaho Language Project here. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo new

It’s been a tough winter for skiers and snowboarders in Colorado. And that’s also rippling through the local economy of nearby resort towns.  Workers in bars and restaurants, backcountry gear shops, and hotels that depend on busy ski seasons are feeling the pinch. Many businesses are coping by cutting employee hours, not hiring some seasonal workers, or cutting back on overall spending.  Journalist Steve Knopper wrote in 5280 Magazine about the economic ripple effects this low-snow season is creating beyond the ski resorts. His article is a snapshot of how a historically dry year is affecting the lives of the people who live and work in Colorado’s mountain towns.  Steve talked with Erin O'Toole about what he learned, and why he wanted to write this particular story now.    * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thank

A position on the ski patrol at a Colorado resort is a dream job for many people – even in a dry winter like this one. They get paid to spend their days on some of the best terrain in the U.S. And they help thousands of skiers and snowboarders have a great time in the High Country.  But that work can also take a toll. Aside from the physical demands of skiing as a full-time job, there are downright traumatic moments -- like when a patrol team responds to a skier who's badly injured or gone missing.   Winter Park's ski patrol set out in recent years to make sure its patrol members are properly equipped to handle the toughest incidents. Working with a nonprofit called Responder Alliance, they got their patrol team talking about stress and resilience. The story was featured in a recent Colorado Sun article. Zachary Akselrad is in his 16th season as a ski patrol employee, and he's assistant director of Winter Park’s ski patrol. He talked with In The NoCo’s Brad Turner in January about how the new approach has mad

Creede is a small, former silver mining town in the heart of a canyon in the San Juan mountains. It has about 300 full-time residents. Just about everywhere you look, you see reminders of the area's mining heritage – including the abandoned mines that surround the town. One thing sets Creede apart from other mining towns in Colorado: It has a thriving local theater scene.  In the 1960s, as the silver mining industry began to die out, The Creede Repertory Theatre opened with a handful of theater students. Sixty years later – there's still some tension between the free-spirited thespians who visit each summer, and the locals who work as ranchers or outfitters.     Yet, somehow, they coexist. That dynamic – and how everyone gets along with one another – drew filmmakers Kahane Corn Cooperman and Innbo Shim to make the new documentary Creede, USA. The film will be screened this Saturday as part of Colorado State University's ACT Human Rights Film Festival in Fort Collins.  Ahead of the film festival’s opening, Kah

For people in much of the world, snakebite is a life-threatening condition.  We don't think about it much in Colorado — though it may be more top of mind this spring, since the warm winter is prompting rattlesnakes to emerge from their dens a little earlier than usual. Here, a nasty rattlesnake bite might send the occasional hiker to the emergency room.  But the World Health Organization estimates that, around the globe, as many as 138,000 people die from venomous snakebites each year.  And while antivenom can be used to treat snakebite, it’s often costly and difficult to produce.  An expert at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley hopes to change that.   Biology professor Stephen Mackessy is part of an international team that recently announced a breakthrough in the production of antivenom. The new technology could save lives by making antivenom cheaper to manufacture — and available in larger quantities.   Mackessy and his team recently published their findings in the journal Nature. He spoke with

Just a note - today's episode touches on themes of depression and suicide. Ten years ago, Colorado writer Becky Jensen’s life seemed great. She was raising two sons and engaged to be married. Yet, she was struggling quietly with depression and thoughts of suicide – although she didn't know why.  Hoping to find clarity, Becky decided to take a bold step: She shouldered a backpack and set out to hike all 500 miles of the Colorado Trail on her own. Along the way, she confronted dangers in the wilderness – and her own feelings of low self-worth and repressed trauma.  What began for her as an escape turned into a journey toward healing and, ultimately, a newly published memoir called No Man’s Land: Unpacking One Woman’s Worth on the Colorado Trail.  Becky joined Erin O'Toole to talk about her experience, and what led to her taking this unusual step toward self-discovery. Becky will present a book talk and slide show at Wolverine Farm Publick House in Fort Collins on Thursday, April 9. And she’ll join Colorado Trai

Steam powers much of the modern world. It drove the Industrial Revolution, and is still widely used to generate electricity, to sterilize equipment used in food production and medicine, and to heat and cool large buildings.    However, the traditional method of making steam hasn’t changed in more than 150 years. It involves burning fossil fuels like coal or natural gas to heat water in a boiler – a process which creates harmful emissions.   Which is why Todd Bandhauer felt that the old way was long overdue for an upgrade. He's a professor of mechanical engineering at Colorado State University, and co-founder and chief technical officer of a CSU spinoff company called AtmosZero.  He recently helped develop a method that uses heat from the air, rather than from burning gas or fossil fuels, to make steam generation cleaner. And Bandhauer thinks it could be transformative for manufacturing cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, heating college campuses, and brewing beer.   Bandhauer was recently named to the Time 100 Cli

Climate change in Colorado isn’t just an abstract idea. We can see the effects now.   Cities have already imposed summer watering limits. Snowpack is at record lows, and some ski resorts are closing early this season. Governor Jared Polis recently activated the state's drought task force with a warning that Colorado is in the middle of its warmest year on record.  Colorado Sun environment reporter Michael Booth recently wrote a piece exploring ten visible signs that climate change is happening now in Colorado – including the challenges farmers are facing, and how drought is affecting Colorado’s iconic Ponderosa pine forests. Michael spoke with Erin O'Toole about why he set out to write the story, and why some experts are hopeful about possible solutions.   * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!  Host and Prod

The Colorado Rockies play their first home game of the season on Friday. It’s a fresh start for the team after last season, which was the worst in franchise history.  Today, we’re talking about a rather bold  idea that might hold potential to change the team’s fortunes moving forward. A routine part of the Rockies’ misfortunes is the fact that Coors Field sits a mile above sea level. Baseballs fly further here, which means more home runs. It also means pitches like curveballs have less curve to them, which makes life harder for the pitchers. Colorado Sun reporter John Ingold looked into one possible solution: using baseballs with raised seams to increase the air resistance on fly balls – and make playing at Coors Field similar to what players experience at other ballparks.  John joined In The NoCo’s Brad Turner last September to talk about how it might work – and the science of playing baseball at this altitude. We’re listening back to that conversation today. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter:

It’s a positive development in a grim trend we rarely talk about.   Across Colorado, fewer pregnant women and new moms are dying from accidental overdoses. The number of maternal overdose deaths dropped from 20 in the year 2020 to 8 deaths just three years later. That's a 60% reduction in the most recent years for which data is available.  Why that's happening isn’t totally clear. But a doctor who specializes in addiction treatment during pregnancy has a theory that involves Naloxone. That’s an over-the-counter medication that can stop or reverse the symptoms of an overdose by people who use opioids, including heroin or some painkillers.  Naloxone has become more widely distributed in recent years, but it's not without controversy. Proponents say it saves lives, while some feel it enables or perpetuates drug abuse.   Dr. Kaylin Klie, an associate professor of family medicine at CU Anschutz Medical Campus, thinks Naloxone may be behind the decline in maternal overdoses. She wrote about that in a recent piece f

A stolen idea for a novel, an angry social media post – and an online backlash that engulfs the main characters. These are the elements of an intriguing novel by Colorado author R.L. Maizes.   The writer says it draws on some of her own experiences. And the novel raises thorny questions about who gets to own an idea, who has the right to tell a particular story, and the tension of writing a novel in an age of social media tirades.   A Complete Fiction was released in November.  Maizes, who lives near Boulder, joined Erin O’Toole to share the real-life challenges of being a writer in our chronically online society. We’re listening back to that conversation today. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!  Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole Executive Producer: Brad Turner  Theme music by Robbie Reverb Additional musi

A poison control center is the place to call if your child accidentally swallows something dangerous, like paint or a detergent pod.   But the Rocky Mountain Poison Center based in Denver also tracks the things that poison Coloradans. It monitors prescription drug misuse, tracks new substances Coloradans might ingest, and helps hospitals treat venomous snake bites. Dr. Richard Dart has led the center, which serves Colorado and three other western states, since 1992. In that time, he's seen a lot of changes, from how the center handles phone calls to how it trains the next generation of toxicologists. Dart recently announced he’s retiring. Ahead of that, he joined Erin O’Toole to share more about how the things that sicken or kill Coloradans have changed in recent decades – and what drew him to this unusual line of work. If you enjoyed this conversation, check out our recent interview with Stephen Mackessy, a researcher at the University of Northern Colorado who’s part of an international team developing more

A recent discovery by paleontologists working in Colorado is giving scientists a slightly revised history of primates. That’s the group of mammals that includes apes – and humans.  Scientists working at Corral Bluffs near Colorado Springs recently discovered tiny teeth and bone fragments belonging to a species called Purgatorius.  Purgatorius was an early and distant cousin of humans. It thrived 65 million years ago  – not long after an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Purgatorius fossils had never been found as far south as Colorado before this recent dig. And scientists say the discovery suggests that, once dinosaurs were out of the picture, mammals may have thrived more quickly – and over a wider swath of the planet – than previously understood. Jordan Crowell is a postdoctoral fellow with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, who worked with dozens of volunteers and other scientists on the dig near Colorado Springs. He joined Erin O’Toole to talk about what they found, and why scientists are excited b

Mysterious, unsolicited packages are showing up in people's mailboxes in Colorado and several other states.   They appear to be sent from another country, often China. Labels on the packages suggest there’s a small piece of merchandise inside, like jewelry or some kind of wire connector.   Instead, recipients find packets of seeds inside – with no indication of what the seeds are, who sent them, or why. They may look similar to sunflower or pumpkin seeds. But state and federal agriculture officials recently warned people not to plant these mystery items.  Laura Pottorff is the Director of Colorado Seed Programs with Colorado State University. She joined Erin O’Toole to discuss the mystery of these odd packages, and what to do in case one arrives in your mailbox. Laura mentioned that - if that does happen - you should mail the unopened packet to the USDA office in Colorado at this address:  USDA APHIS PPQ 3950 North Lewiston Street, Suite 104 Aurora, CO 80011-1561 * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newslette