City Cast Denver

A note from producer Lizzie Goldsmith: The end of May was a time of transition for City Cast Denver. Our regular host, Bree Davies, was heading off on maternity leave, producer Paul Karolyi was getting ready to take over as temporary host, and the whole team was preparing to welcome me, Lizzie Goldsmith, as a producer for the summer. I rarely stepped behind the mic, but I worked behind the scenes...

TGICCDF (Thank God It’s City Cast Denver Friday) which means it’s time to look back on the news of the week. Host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi chat about Historic Denver’s 50 actions for 50 places list that was released on Tuesday. They’ve also got a story update regarding the Park Hill Safe Outdoor Space (hear our episode from May 3 on the program here) and some weekend recommendations f...

Every day since July 5, Colorado health officials have issued an “action day” alert, warning residents about poor air quality across the Front Range. So what are we supposed to do about that? Not go outside during the summer anymore? Not breathe? Move? City Cast Denver host Bree Davies had questions, so we invited Dr. Anthony Gerber on the show for answers. He is professor of medicine and director...

Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl, and Ben Roy: Together, they are The Grawlix, a comedy supergroup that has risen to the top of Denver’s comedy scene over the past 20 years, consistently selling out shows and even skipping off to Los Angeles for a few years to make a big Hollywood TV show (“Those Who Can’t” is now streaming on HBOMax). So now that they’ve restarted their monthly comedy nights...

Big name concerts and massive summer festivals are back in full swing, but how have local musicians fared throughout the pandemic? City Cast Denver host Bree Davies sits down with local music expert Bruce Trujillo to dig into the state of things for the music community here in Denver. As a radio host at Indie 102.3, an independent show booker, and now, as Concert Director for Swallow Hill Music, T...

Of Denver’s 56 historic districts and 352 individual landmarks, less than 3% commemorate non-white contributions to the city’s history. Tonight, Denver City Council could change that. They are set to vote on the creation of a historic cultural district in La Alma Lincoln Park, which would make it the first historic district in the country to honor the Chicano movement. Sitting outside the La Alma...

For this week’s news round-up, City Cast Denver host Bree Davies, producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon, and newsletter writer Peyton Garcia unpack the proposed $450 million infrastructure bond package, which Mayor Hancock detailed this week in his State of the City address. What would all that money fund? Who’s for it and who’s against it? And what’s a bond again? Smash that play button for a...

Dr. Alex Marrero has only lived in Denver for three weeks. But as the new superintendent of Denver Public Schools, it’s his job to lead 90,000+ students when classes start next month. With open questions looming on masks in the classroom, equity, and cops in schools, he’s got quite the mountain to climb. City Cast Denver host Bree Davies sat down with Marrero yesterday to get to know him a little...

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most loved places in all of Colorado. After a dip in visitation last year, it’s on a record-setting pace once again. But many people who visit see only the same old, same old: Trail Ridge Road, Bear Lake, etc. Enter: Exploring Estes Park, a new podcast aiming to help the 4+ million people coming through RMNP get off the beaten path and understand the land...

There are more than 1,000 people sleeping in their vehicles in Denver right now, according to the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative. And with the federal evictions moratorium set to expire at the end of the month, that number could skyrocket. So today on the show, we bring you the story of Lando Allen, a man who was experiencing homelessness before he fell into the “insidious trap” of living in a v...

So far, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been nothing short of surreal. With protesters in the streets and no fans in the stands, the Opening Ceremony on Friday begged the question: Why is this even happening? And almost 50 years ago, that was that exact question that led Dick Lamm, a young Colorado state lawmaker who would go on to become governor, to lead a campaign to block the 1976 Winter Games fr...

Since he guest hosted the show this past week, you know that donnie l. betts is an activist, storyteller, filmmaker, and producer of audio dramas. So we couldn't help but share a little more of his work, especially since it connects with so many of the themes we discussed on the show this week. "The Tale of the Bullet" explores America's obsession with guns from the perspective of the bullet. He i...

The Opening Ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is tonight! Yes, they’re still calling it that, even though it’s definitely 2021. No, there won’t be fans in the stands. No, the Japanese public doesn’t want this to be happening. Yes, we’re feeling as conflicted about it as you are. But Denver’s relationship with the Games has always been conflicted. We were the first city to be awarded the Games th...

It’s been two months since Denver lifted its mask mandate, and more than half of Coloradans are fully immunized against COVID-19. But many still aren’t, and the new, more contagious Delta variant is now the dominant strain. So are we going to see another mask mandate like they have in Los Angeles? And what’s going to happen when schools open in the fall? We had questions about the state of the pan...

“Just when the government was about to let crowds of people congregate again so that we could play our horns once more, the lid was clamped down tighter than ever.” That’s how jazz legend Louis Armstrong remembered his experience of the 1918 pandemic in New Orleans in his 1954 memoir Satchmo. “Everybody was down with it, except me.” Because he managed to survive, jazz flourished across the country...

These are boom times for gun sellers in Colorado, with more gun purchases reported in 2020 than in 2000, 2001 and 2002 combined, according to the Denver Post. Look a little closer at those numbers, and the story gets a little more complicated, especially for Black people in Denver. City Cast Denver guest host donnie l. betts sits down with Alton Clark, the founder of 5280 Steel, a local gun club t...

Earlier this year, journalist Julian Rubinstein published The Holly, a thorough and revealing look at the history of gang violence in Denver, focusing in particular on the story of one former gang member turned anti-gang activist Terrance Roberts. It’s a fascinating book that answered many questions about a little-understood issue in our city, and it landed as violent crime is once again on the ri...

It's time for another #listenlocal podcast recommendation from our friend Berry of Podcasts in Color, the largest database of podcasts produced by people of color in the world. Berry's pick this month is The Taxman, Colorado Public Radio's three-parter on Douglas Bruce, the man behind the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights and his legacy in Colorado today. Initially published in 2017, this is still a must-...

TGIF! We’re back with another news round-up for you today, and this week City Cast Denver producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon are joined by award-winning storyteller, inventor, and activist donnie betts. We’re excited to have him on the show today, and to announce that he’ll be guest hosting City Cast Denver all next week! But first, listen in to this conversation about the week’s top storie...

History Colorado has been documenting the state’s stories since 1879, just three years after Colorado became a state. And the way we teach history has changed a lot in the last 142 years. In the organization’s recent past, controversy around a 2013 Sand Creek Massacre exhibit propelled History Colorado towards a more community-centered mission. And just this past week, the organization announced a...

What do Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and the Grateful Dead have in common? If you guessed music, good for you, that’s correct. But more specifically, they all played shows at a long-forgotten hippie rock club in southwest Denver that was only open for 10 months in 1967 and 1968. DU professor Scott Montgomery and filmmaker Dan Obarski made a documentary, The Tale of the Dog, which argues that withou...

Housing activists and our unhoused neighbors say that the City of Denver has been increasing sweeps of homeless encampments ahead of today’s MLB All-Star Game at Coors Field, and many have accused Mayor Michael Hancock of attempting to whitewash our housing crisis for the TV cameras. But there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Denverite reporter Kevin Beaty filed records requests to get a b...

The Globeville and Elyria-Swansea (GES) neighborhoods never seem to get a fair shake. Hemmed in by industrial polluters, highways, and massive commercial real estate developments, the area has long been among the poorest and most marginalized in the city. So when the City of Denver suspended work on one piece of the redevelopment of the new National Western Center during the pandemic, they saw an...

Happy Friday! We’re shaking things up a bit and have 15 minutes of news catch-up for you. City Cast Denver producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon chat about the top stories from the week, that huge upcoming sporting event, and the news that made them feel “meh.”  Want a shot at a $100? All you’ve got to do is fill out our new listener survey here: https://denver.citycast.fm/survey/ It’ll take 5...

Earlier this week, City Cast Denver listeners brought to our attention the story of Lakewood resident Ameer Allen and the alleged police brutality he experienced in February. He says he was the victim in an altercation with a tow truck driver, but when the police arrived, they too assaulted him. He was arrested and now faces four misdemeanor charges. Since then, a Lakewood city council member who...