Reno Street Audio

“Growing up with a disability was hard. When you’re a kid, all the other kids want to know what’s wrong, why you walk like that, and why you do certain things,” Jenna said. Jenna is a 28-year-old disabled woman living in Reno, Nevada. She’s been navigating her disability her entire life. When Jenna was an infant, she suffered a stroke, which resulted in severe deficiencies on the left side of her...

From the front lines of the Tallac Hotshots, battling California’s biggest wildfires like the Dixie and Caldor Fires, to the depths of the ocean helping restore coral reefs in Honduras. Jp has built a life defined by resilience, service, and purpose. 🌊🔥 Between fire seasons, he’s taught diving, hunted invasive lionfish, and volunteered with @CleanUptheLake, helping preserve local alpine ecosyste...

Machinist and small business owner Paul McCutcheon shares his journey from a junior high metal shop in Fontana, California, to running his own precision machining business in Fallon, Nevada. Through decades of hard work, Paul built a career for himself after being told he wouldn't be hired elsewhere. From aerospace manufacturing to entrepreneurship, he reflects on the challenges of starting out wi...

Kelly August, an experienced dance instructor in Reno, shares how she teaches burlesque not just as a style of dance but as a way to empower people to become confident in their own skin. Burlesque was first used as a rebellious way to dance and challenge society norms; today burlesque dancers use it for a multitude of reasons. Not only does burlesque empower its dancers, but as Sara Ewing reports...

The Old Washoe Club is one of the most notorious, and reportedly haunted locations we have here in the Northern Nevada Area. A hub for the social elites during the silver rush in Virginia City in the 1800s, the club is full of history, as well as alleged spirits. Come along with one of the club’s tour guides as she shows us inside “The Crypt” of the building and tells us all about its spooky histo...

For 43 years, the Great Reno Italian Festival has transformed the streets of downtown Reno, Nevada into a cultural haven full of handmade raviolis, Italian music, the smells of slow cooking pasta sauce, and a stage with barrels full of grapes for stomping. The festival is one of Reno’s biggest cultural events, and attracts thousands of visitors each year for its authentic Italian food and wine, ve...

After more than a year in Portland, 22-year-old Filipino-American artist Vivid Helene returned to her hometown stage, performing at RareTea to a crowd of devoted fans, close friends, and supportive family members. Amanda Avilla caught up with her to compare the two cities, and discuss being an artist in the Biggest Little City.

On this episode of the Our Town Reno Podcast, Nicolas Scolaro interview Dalton Debold, a Reno local who has lived in Reno all of his life. His family has owned a bike shop for over 15 years and he has experienced most of the changes of Reno first hand, from the perspective of growing up here, his family having a business, and now as a student, snow enthusiast and aspirant filmmaker.

In this episode, we go further afield in northern Nevada, as April McCutcheon interviews Ron Evans, a retired teacher and community member to discuss his work with the Fallon Daily Bread. The organization, founded in 2006 at the Epworth United Methodist Church, is focused on providing meals to the unhoused and food insecure in Fallon a town of about 10-thousand people. Evans shares how the need co...

Reno native Sage L. has lived in twelve places across the city, including student housing like dorms and apartments. For the Our Town Reno podcast, he speaks about his strategies for finding affordable places to live as a recent UNR graduate and young professional, comparing and contrasting all his experiences, and pointing out the bad and even the worse, while trying to improve his living situati...

Ever wonder what funk band Honey Plant gets up to behind the scenes? Lauren Juillerat and her media team with Biggest Little Bands caught up with the local group, Robin Low (vocals and bass), Noah Jeffery (saxophone), Matthew Nist (drums) and Sam Putney (guitar, synths, vocals) to chat about fun traditions, their practice spot, and how they define their sound.

Reporter and local concertgoer Kade Collins highlights some great local bands, including Charity Kiss, Worm Shot, In the Works? and Pissmixer, shares a few personal anecdotes about the local scene, and gives an assessment of Reno's place in the greater west coast music scene.

Luke Hill is a born-and-raised Renoite, a waiter at a local sushi restaurant, and a musician with the band Kings Row.  In his bedroom, under a make-shift tent made from his comforter, he chats with Kade Collins about what it’s been like growing up in Reno and nearby suburbia through many economic shifts, including the current population and gentrifying development boom, how he barely avoids commit...

Our special episode reporters Lexi and and Jadee interview local Bollywood dance intructor Chhavi Bhalla about her experiences teaching Bollywood dancing in south Reno, her passion for this evolving dance scene and future projects to keep it growing.

Lexi Waisanen and Alysha Cancino interview Richie Bednarski about his experiences cycling in Reno as a green commuter and what he thinks could be better. Bednarski also explains the multitude of cycling communities in Reno that he is a part of and why he loves cycling in Reno. The photographer and filmmaker is also working on a project documenting the rich history of cycling and bicycle culture in...

Hosts Derek Raridon and Dominic Gutierrez talk with local northern Nevada artists Hosway Valadaze, Chris Kepley and Doomed Movement about their current projects giving back to the community, their ongoing collaboration with the O’Brien Middle School art program and other trends in the Reno art scene.

In this Our Town Reno episode, reporter Lauren Juillerat interviews a local Reno band, Faded Shawties, on their experience and perspectives on the local music scene. Nico, Eduardo and Daniel share their opinions on lighthearted topics such as their favorite foods to eat before a show, to more serious topics concerning the recent cancel culture in the Reno scene, as well as their mission as a band...

In this Our Town Reno episode, our music reporter Lauren Juillerat hosts Reno photographer and videographer Jake Erwin on his experience in the local music scene. Jake only started pursuing photography and videography in 2021 and rapidly learned new skills that helped him gain new opportunities in northern Nevada. Success this early on in a photographer’s career is rare. Jake shares his advice on...

A resident of Curti Ranch, now in Ward 6, since 2005, a mom who battled to get one of her son’s to overcome childhood leukemia, and a professional in marketing for decades, Brandi Anderson wants south Reno to no longer be overlooked in terms of parks and recreation, public safety, and solutions-based infrastructure. Listen to her interview as she begins her campaign for a seat on Reno's City Counc...

Before his mother passed away at the end of 2022, Michaelangelo Aranda remembers she used to call him “Mayor Michael.” His father, who is currently struggling with health challenges, set the bar even higher. “When I had shared with him that I'm running for city council,” Aranda says, he told him he hopes to stay alive to see him as president. “I don't know if I will career that far,” Aranda told O...

Heather Goulding, running for District 27 of the Nevada State Assembly, rides bikes whenever and wherever she can, including on her commutes, and with big tires, she handles all weather and steep inclines. Goulding, currently a senior project manager in utility energy efficiency programs, is bringing that can do spirit to her campaign to become a representative for a district encompassing portions...

With two fourth place finishes in previous citywide mayoral elections, William Mantle, a raw data person who likes to ask questions, is now running for Ward 6, the new ward in South Reno with about 40,000 residents, high home prices, wild horses and plenty of new multi-unit apartment complexes. Listen to his interview as part of an Our Town Reno podcast 2024 local election series.

Erica Roth, a civil rights attorney now running for Nevada Assembly seat District 24, traces back her willingness to serve in elected office to help she gave as a public defender to a now incarcerated man. Listen to her make her case as part of our series of episodes looking ahead to 2024 elections.

Sparks-based Nevada Forward Party chair Cesar Marquez explains how he went from Tesla employee to operative for the Andrew Yang led Forward Party in the Silver State, as well as strategies for the 2024 election, including a final push for ranked choice voting and open primaries to pass.

It’s the end of an era here, the end of our weeklies, we’ve consistently produced over the past two years for podcast platforms and for KWNK. We’ve interviewed people struggling on the streets and volunteers who do good to help them out, as well as movers and shakers, artists and illuminaries of our community, radical thinkers, doers and promoters. As we’ve gone independent, we no longer have the...