Left In The Attic

Ana and Deep sit down with Caroline Nutter, policy manager at the Colorado Fiscal Institute, to break down Amendment 87, the graduated income tax on your November ballot and the biggest structural change to Colorado’s tax code since TABOR passed in 1992. Caroline walks through what TABOR actually does and what 87 changes: it strikes one line of the constitution, replaces the flat 4.4 percent with...

Ana and Deep welcome Uriel Espinoza, co-founder of Momento Presents and senior advisor for public engagement at Courageous Colorado, for Hispanic Heritage Month. Uriel breaks down Colorado's Latino registration gap (56% of registered Latinos statewide are unaffiliated, and 250,000 eligible Latinos in Colorado aren't registered at all), why candidates keep treating Latino outreach as an aft...

Ana and Deep sit down with Colorado Common Cause executive director Aly Belknap to break down the biggest threats facing Colorado’s 2026 election from federal pressure on mail voting and voter data to ICE at polling places and proposed ID changes. Aly explains why voter suppression, not voter fraud, is the bigger concern, how Common Cause is preparing through the Just Vote Colorado election protec...

Ana and Deep welcome Monica Hunter, Vice President of the Denver Public Schools Board and former DPS teacher, for a conversation about what's actually happening in Colorado public schools, what's on the November ballot, and why school board disagreement is a feature, not a bug. Monica walks through her arc from first grade teacher in Montbello to strike captain during the 2019 DPS teachers...

Ana and Deep welcome Rayna Kingston, Denver community organizer, content creator, and founder of Denver Activist Women's Group (DAWG), for a conversation about building political power outside electoral politics. Rayna walks through her arc: from a Christian conservative kid in Littleton, to a food-tour content creator during COVID, to a first-time candidate for Colorado House District 5, to t...

Ana and Deep welcome Kyle Giddings, Deputy Director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CCJRC), for a conversation on what's happening inside Colorado's prisons and what's about to happen if voters pass Prop 132 this November. Kyle walks through his own journey from Republican aide, to jail, to being one of the loudest voices for reform in the state. He names the paradox...

Ana and Deep sit down with David Sirota, founder of The Lever, creator of Master Plan and Meltdown, former Bernie Sanders speechwriter, and one of the sharpest voices in independent political journalism. Sirota walks listeners through the through-line from Obama's supermajority-era failures to Trump's rise, connects it to his 50-year investigation of how the right legalized corruption in A...

When Graham Platner dropped out of the Maine Senate race and Eric Swalwell exited California’s Governor’s race over sexual assault allegations, the coverage focused on the campaigns. Ana and Deep sit down with Tracing the Steps founder Kelsey Harbert to ask what the political conversation keeps missing: what about the survivor? Kelsey walks through what actually happens when a survivor comes forwa...

Ana and Deep break down Colorado's June 30 primary from the winners to the bummers to what's next. Phil Weiser walloped Michael Bennet despite Bloomberg's millions. Melat Kiros ended a 30-year DeGette era in CD-1 with 6,000 volunteers, 116,000 doors knocked, and 500,000 phone calls. Julie Gonzales came within 5 points of Hickenlooper, and Jena Griswold won AG in a fractured four-way fi...

Ana and Deep head "west and south" to break down Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, the largest and most overlooked race on the June 30 ballot. They're joined by Democratic candidate Alex Kelloff, whose family roots in the district go back 130 years. The episode walks through CD-3's wild political saga and what Kelloff is actually hearing at the doors after 13 months of g...

Ana and Deep are joined for the first time by a repeat guest: Melat Kiros , the 29-year-old progressive organizer running against 30-year incumbent Diana DeGette in Colorado's 1st Congressional District. The conversation comes 18 days before the June 30 primary, which in safe-blue Denver is functionally the general election. Melat lays out the issues hitting hardest at the doors (ICE, data cen...

Deep and Ana welcome former state representative, Chicano Studies professor, and longtime Chicano organizer Tim Hernandez into the attic for one of LITA's most direct conversations yet about working class politics, immigrant rights, and what actually keeps people safe when ICE shows up. Tim walks through his political awakening, his vacancy committee election as the youngest Colorado state rep...

Ana and Deep sit down with Zach Neumann, co-founder and CEO of the Community Economic Defense Project, to break down Colorado’s housing crisis, eviction defense, and why renter protections keep failing at the Capitol. Zach shares how a single pandemic Facebook post grew into one of the state’s largest tenant-defense operations, helping tens of thousands of Coloradans access legal aid and emergency...

Deep and Ana sit down with civil rights and employment attorney Azra Taslimi for one of LITA’s most direct conversations on Colorado politics, accountability, and the Muslim American experience in 2026. Azra shares her path from public defender in New York to civil rights litigator in Denver, representing clients facing police misconduct, discrimination, and censorship, while reflecting on growing...

Ana and Deep welcome Paul Karolyi, senior executive producer at City Cast Denver, into the attic for a wide-ranging conversation about Colorado's 2026 primary landscape, and end up disagreeing with each other more than once. Paul shares how studying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a protest march in Nazareth pulled him toward journalism instead of activism. They recap the YIMBY and Greate...

Most Colorado voters have no idea their June primary ballot is shaped long before they show up to vote. In this episode, Ana and Deep break down the full caucus-and-assembly process — from Tuesday-night precinct caucuses to the state assembly floor — explaining how candidates either clear the 30% threshold to make the ballot or shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars in petition signatures inst...

Ana and Deep host Left in the Attic with special guest Hetal Doshi, a first-generation American, former deputy in the DOJ Antitrust Division under the Biden-Harris administration, now running for Colorado Attorney General. They discuss International Women’s Day and the value of multigenerational spaces, then Doshi shares her upbringing across the Deep South and how civil rights history shaped her...

Ana and Deep host Colorado State Senator Julie Gonzales to discuss her U.S. Senate campaign challenging incumbent John Hickenlooper, arguing Colorado needs stronger leadership on affordability, worker power, and civil liberties. Gonzales shares her background growing up on an Apache reservation and on the South Texas border, her path from organizing to the state senate, and her focus on policies l...

Ana and Deep interview Colorado Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser about democratic accountability, Colorado resisting federal overreach, and his case for governor in a head-to-head primary against Senator Michael Bennet. Weiser describes his background as a first-generation American whose mother was born in a concentration camp, his clerkship with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg...

In this episode of Left in the Attic, Ana and Deep talk with civil rights attorney, Colorado Attorney General candidate David Seligman, Executive Director of Towards Justice , about collapsing trust in the rule of law and how corporate power and opaque AI systems now shape everyday life. They also discuss elite accountability gaps and the growing influence of “black box” AI in hiring, healthcare,...

In this episode of Left in the Attic, hosts Ana and Deep talk with Colorado State Representative Brianna Titone (HD-27) about her path from tech and public service into politics, flipping a Republican district in 2018 as Colorado’s first openly transgender elected official, and her current run for state treasurer. Titone explains what the treasurer’s office does and her goals. They also dig into C...

In this episode of Left in the Attic, hosts Ana and Deep delve into the workings of local party politics, focusing on caucuses, delegates, and precinct organizers. They explain how everyday people can get involved in shaping the Denver Democratic Party. Special guest James Reyes, the current chair of the Denver Democrats and DNC Member, joins to share insights about his journey from being a young...

In this episode of Left in the Attic, hosts Ana and Deep dive into the critical themes of law, justice, and accountability in the Trump era. They welcome Michael Dougherty, three-time elected district attorney in Boulder County and candidate for Colorado Attorney General. The discussion kicks off with Michael and the hosts sharing their new year themes. The conversation then shifts to pressing iss...

In this episode of Left in the Attic, hosts Ana and Deep reflect on the major wins and losses of 2025 and share their predictions for 2026. Deep opens up about the recent loss of his mom, illustrating the significant impact she had on his life and community. They discuss his mom’s inspiring journey from India to the United States and her relentless community organizing efforts. The episode picks u...

In this episode of Left in the Attic, hosts Ana and Deep discuss the critical issues of money in politics, corruption in D.C., and the affordability crisis. They are joined by special guest Melat Kiros, who is challenging long-time incumbent Diana DeGette for Colorado's Congressional District 1. Melat shares her motivation for running, focusing on the urgent need to eliminate corporate money from...