City Cast Denver

Mother’s Day is just around the corner — have you made plans with your mother yet?! This holiday often centers on going out for a nice brunch but in this town, getting reservations can feel nearly impossible. You still have a few days to plan that big bash for mom this Sunday, and the City Cast Denver crew is here to help. We’ve rounded up some of our most favorite brunch spots across the city, fr...

Colorado was lucky to have a particularly wet winter in 2023, meaning water runoff from the mountains is really strong right now. But does that mean we can stop worrying about the Colorado River and that pesky 20-year megadrought? KUNC reporter Luke Runyon has a new podcast out, “Thirst Gap,” exploring the precarious state of our water supply. So producer Paul Karolyi sat down with Luke to talk ab...

It’s Friday, and we’re talking about all the local stories that mattered this week. Way back in November 2019, Colorado voters narrowly approved the legalization of sports betting, taking the illicit hobby out of the shadows and on to our phones! And on billboards! And everywhere else! Sports betting is now a multi-billion-dollar industry with Coloradans chasing the adrenaline rush from the Bronco...

It’s not just you— trying to get a camping spot in Colorado feels impossible these days because it kind of is! New data reported by the Denver Post shows it was five times harder in 2022 to secure a campsite in this state than it was pre-pandemic. So, how do you get your outdoors on when the competition is so fierce? Newsletter editor Peyton Garcia — the City Cast Denver camping authority — takes...

There didn’t used to be a place in Denver called RiNo. So it wasn’t a problem when a bunch of artists found some space and made dusty, industrial Brighton Boulevard… cool. But now art is big business in RiNo, and several rising entertainment companies — Vinyl Me, Please; Victrola; AEG Presents: Rocky Mountains — are building Denver’s next “music district” right there on Brighton. So where does tha...

With 2023 state legislative session almost over, the race is on to get these bills outta the house — but what will our lawmakers focus on with their final week? The fact that our property taxes are going through the roof? Or that the Suncor oil refinery continues to emit toxic chemicals? Or are they just focused on fighting their own trolls on social media? It’s Tuesday, so host Bree Davies and pr...

The Nuggets are having a history-making season, and — knock on wood! — Denver could be on its way to our first NBA Championship in franchise history. But sports teams are so much more than the athletes. Coaches, scouts, analysts, trainers, and many many more work together to get those wins — like today’s guest, Kyle Speller. He’s a PA announcer now in his 18th season with the Nuggets, and his voic...

It’s Friday, and we’re rounding up the stories that caught our eye this week. Housing has been top of mind for Coloradans and finally, Governor Jared Polis was poised to do something about it — in the form of a massive housing and land-use bill. But SB213 was gutted this week, thanks to Republicans and Democrats standing up for “the Colorado Way,” as they put it. So what went wrong? Producer Paul...

Are the stars more beautiful from Denver? We are one mile closer, after all. But seriously, after the surprise Aurora Borealis sighting in Colorado last weekend, we are determined not to miss another epic cosmic show. So we posed that Mile High query and all our other starter stargazing questions to Ron Hranac of the Denver Astronomical Society. Producer and certified star-liker Paul Karolyi sat d...

Gardening in Colorado comes with a unique set of challenges. Between our clay-heavy soil and our seriously dry climate, getting anything other than weeds to poke up out of the ground takes some special know-how. Host Bree Davies sits down with gardening enthusiast Ann Marie Awad to answer Denver’s most pressing gardening questions directly from you, our listeners! Ann Marie covers everything from...

It’s Tuesday, and we’re looking at all the important stories shaping Denver this week. With only a few weeks left in the legislative session, the Democrats in power at the state Capitol are still divided on new gun laws. So host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi are talking about the politics of guns, a new lawsuit over “abortion reversal” drugs, and why Bandimere Speedway is closing this year...

Way back in 1981, a humble New York transplant named Jimmy Lambatos opened an innovative toasted sub shop at the corner of 13th Avenue and Grant. Denverites quickly fell in love with Quiznos, fueling the rise of a sandwich empire to more than 5,000 locations around the world by the mid 2000s. But now, as Westword’s food editor Molly Martin reported last week, Quiznos is on the ropes, and that firs...

It’s time for the thrilling conclusion to Cherry Creek Week! All week long, we’ve been talking about one of Denver’s most divisive neighborhoods: Cherry Creek. How will the community deal with the vexing problems brought by an imminent wave of development? Can it find a solution to the ongoing fight — and current impasse — over transportation infrastructure? As the historians taught us, change is...

It’s Cherry Creek Week, Day Four! The story of Cherry Creek is the story of big dreams, yet with each exciting new project, the clash of old vs. new continues. Today, we’re examining what one developer has planned for that abandoned sea of parking lots just to the west of the mall. Amy Cara talks with host Bree Davies about her vision for Cherry Creek West — what could be multiple towers of office...

It’s Cherry Creek Week — Day Three! When Denverites talk about Cherry Creek, the conversation often goes to the neighborhood’s multi-million dollar homes and high-end shops like Hermés, Louis Vuitton, and Neiman Marcus. But what about the people who make the community, well, work? As one of the largest private employers in the city, Cherry Creek Shopping Center and neighboring Cherry Creek North c...

Cherry Creek Week continues! Sometimes it feels like the only constant in Denver is change. And that feeling is especially present in Cherry Creek, a community that today is known as a high-end shopping destination — but it wasn’t always this way. The neighborhood is named for the waterway running alongside it, a natural resource that has been attracting people for hundreds of years. Back in the m...

Welcome to Cherry Creek Week! Density. Growth. Infrastructure. Housing. Overcrowding. These words represent our biggest challenge as a city: How can Denver grow without changing all the things that make it great? All this week on the show — and in our newsletter Hey Denver — we’re exploring that question in one neighborhood that’s near and dear to our hearts (and the city’s tax base): Cherry Creek...

The Nuggets are having one of their best seasons in decades as they take the number one seed in the Western Conference Finals. But after years of negotiations between Comcast and Altitude Sports, many Nuggs fans still can’t watch the team legally. Host Bree Davies is joined by Altitude sportscaster Vic Lombardi and our state politics and green chile correspondent Justine Sandoval to talk #nugglife...

Is the Polis administration’s “More Housing Now” proposal the solution to our state’s affordable housing woes? Some think it’s a step in the right direction, while others are skeptical. This sweeping plan — Senate Bill 213 — could end single-family-only zoning across Colorado and move some aspects of decision-making power from the local to the state level. One of the sponsors of the bill, House Di...

Sam Tallent is kind of a big deal — the Denver metro-raised comedian has been touring the stand-up circuit for years, honing his act and making a name for himself outside Colorado. He’s also recorded his own comedy special, made appearances on WTF with Marc Maron and Bert Kreisher’s Bertcast, and even found time to write Running the Light, a book fellow comedians have praised as the best depiction...

It’s Tuesday and we’re talking about the big stories around Denver this week, especially what’s happening with Denver Public Schools. On Wednesday, a high school student was forcibly removed from the House gallery in the Capitol, which comes on the heels of the protests and concerns about gun violence in schools in light of the recent shootings. Meanwhile, more drama for the DPS school board: Form...

From the Illuminati and the New World Order to the runways and some weird art, there are too many conspiracy theories about DIA to count. We’re diving into some of the most popular ones today, though, and what the true story is behind them. Host Bree Davies talks with Denver Public Library’s Chris Root about Blucifer, the Leo Tanguma murals, and much more, as well as why DIA has been such a hotspo...

It’s Friday! Although election night is behind us, we’re still waiting for all the ballots to be counted. We know for sure that Mike Johnston and Kelly Brough will face off in the June mayoral runoff and that Lisa Calderón officially conceded. But the outcomes in several city council seats are still too close to call. Host Bree Davies is joined by our state politics and green chile correspondent J...

Denver’s LoDo neighborhood has long been a magnet for nighttime revelry, with its concentration of restaurants, breweries, shops, and nightclubs. But the area has also become known as a hotspot for trouble and occasional crime — especially late at night when the bars let out, spilling thousands of patrons into the streets with nowhere to go. Is it possible to foster a safer nightlife scene while k...

For the first time in 12 years, Denver will have a new mayor. And now we’ve officially narrowed the field from 16 contenders down to two: Mike Johnston and Kelly Brough are set to campaign head-to-head in a runoff leading up to June 6. Host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi stayed up late to bring you up-to-date reactions and analysis of all the election results — from the mayor’s race to the...