Kunc's Colorado Edition

The Trump administration announced recently it’s terminating hundreds of jobs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The announcement sparked protests, including one in Boulder in which NOAA supporters and employees took part. The threat of layoffs at NOAA also led our guest to write a defense of the work the organization does. Kari Bowen is an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado who works closely with, and has her work funded by, NOAA. Before working at CU, she spent 11 years as a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, which is part of NOAA.  Bowen argues that even if you don’t know what NOAA does, you might miss NOAA’s services if they’re slashed or privatized. She says NOAA, and the data from its weather satellites, are something many of us use every day. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite po

Wildfires are an ever-present threat in Colorado. And those that grow and spread quickly are becoming more common – and more destructive.   But there’s a piece of technology that could help spot a blaze in the earliest stages, before it spreads.  Cameras equipped with artificial intelligence can detect plumes of smoke in the air – even in remote areas – and alert firefighters nearby. This makes AI cameras a valuable tool for the few fire departments that already use them.  But the cameras are expensive. Each one costs about $50,000 dollars per year. And so far, Colorado lawmakers have been hesitant to fund wider use of the cameras.  The Aspen Fire Department began using AI detection cameras in 2021, after a donor supplied money to buy them. There are now nine of these cameras in the surrounding Roaring Fork Valley – and Aspen Fire Chief Rick Balentine thinks Colorado firefighters should be using more of them.  He recently testified at a hearing for the most recent bill state legislators are considering, which

Crowds of sandhill crane admirers gather in Southern Colorado each spring to watch these birds – which have recovered after nearly being wiped out a century ago. The birds’ admirers are fascinated by the cranes’ calls, their mating behaviors, and the fact that the species has existed for 2.5 million years. Scott Weidensaul is a writer and ornithologist who has also found inspiration from the sandhill cranes. He is the keynote speaker at this year’s Monte Vista Crane Festival, in the San Luis Valley, which starts this Friday. Scott talked with Erin O’Toole about the role these birds play in our imagination, and why he has found them so inspiring. Thank you to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library for letting us share recordings from their sandhill crane audio archive. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host

Colorado has ambitious goals around renewable energy.  Governor Jared Polis is aiming for 100 percent of the energy in the state to come from renewable sources by the year 2040.   But there’s an obstacle: Colorado doesn’t have enough power lines to deliver all that renewable energy from where it’s produced – often in rural parts of the state – to where it’s needed. A new study from the state’s Electric Transmission Authority found that Colorado needs at least $4.5 billion in transmission investment over the next decade or two, just to keep up with demand.  Which is why clean energy advocates, and Gov. Polis, are intrigued by an unusual business model from a San Francisco-based company called SunTrain.  The plan involves loading train cars with massive batteries filled with renewable energy. The trains would haul batteries from solar and wind farms in rural areas of Colorado to the cities and towns that need that electricity.  SunTrain’s President Christopher Smith and CEO Jeff Anderson have been working with

Democrats in Colorado control the governor’s office and both houses of the state legislature. Many of them openly oppose the Republican Trump administration’s actions to ramp up arrests and deportation of immigrants without legal status in the state.  And those Democratic lawmakers have heard from many constituents in recent weeks who also oppose immigration raids.  But more than a month after Trump took office and sweeps began in places like Denver and Aurora, Colorado Democrats still haven’t determined how they plan to push back. KUNC politics and legislature reporter Lucas Brady Woods spoke with Erin O’Toole to help explain what state legislators can – and can’t – do in the face of federal immigration enforcement.  You can find more of KUNC's statehouse coverage from the Capitol News Alliance here.    * * * * *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

Challenging anti-trans legislation – and   finding a way to laugh about it. That’s the idea behind a new national comedy tour created by a transgender comedian who lives in Gunbarrel, outside of Boulder.  Ren Q Dawe is the organizer of the tour – called “Here  to Pee” – which launches this Saturday at Junkyard Social in Boulder. The comedians have stops planned in all 50 states. And some of the comedy, which is performed by trans comics, revolves around literal potty humor. That’s significant in an era when public bathrooms can be contentious spaces for trans folks.   Ren joined Erin O’Toole to talk about why comedy is his way of standing up for his community. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike 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'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional m

A piece of U.S. immigration law allows some people who have entered the country illegally to be detained and quickly deported – without typical legal proceedings and a hearing before an immigration judge.   Until recently, this policy applied to people without legal status who had been in the country for less than two weeks, if they were detained near the U.S. border.  But on the first day of his new term, President Trump dramatically expanded that policy, known as expedited removal. Now, immigrants without legal status who’ve been in the country for up to two years can be deported more quickly. And Trump’s revised version of the policy applies to the entire U.S. – not just the border region.  This shift potentially affects thousands of noncitizens here in Colorado, at a moment when immigration officials have been ramping up raids in cities like Denver and Aurora.  To better understand expedited removal, we reached out to Violeta Chapin, a professor of immigration law at the University of Colorado School of L

Dozens of childcare and preschool centers in Colorado are run by companies backed by private equity funding.   Private equity firms use investor money to buy companies with a goal of improving them and selling them for a profit. This kind of investment can help a small childcare business grow and make upgrades, which could be useful in a state like Colorado that has a childcare shortage.  But many private equity firms have a reputation for cutting staff and raising prices. And that’s concerning to some Colorado lawmakers – especially since more public money is going to childcare and preschool after the state launched its universal pre-K program a few years ago.  Several legislators at the state Capitol have introduced a bill that aims to establish some guardrails for private equity-backed centers. The proposed rules include requirements to notify parents about upcoming enrollment changes or staff layoffs. Journalist Ann Schimke has reported on this issue for Chalkbeat Colorado. She talked with Erin O’Toole ab

In 2018 the City of Boulder and Boulder County filed an unusual lawsuit: they sued Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy for contributing to climate change.  Climate change, the lawsuit argued, has caused a plethora of problems like flooding, road damage, and an increase in wildfires. The city and county have spent millions of dollars reacting to these problems.  And they wanted help paying for it.  Since the case was filed, more communities around the country have followed Boulder’s lead and brought similar lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. Earlier this month, the Colorado Supreme Court held a hearing to determine the fate of this case.  So, while we await a decision, we wondered: What are the odds of this lawsuit moving forward? And how might it affect other communities dealing with climate change?  Erin O’Toole spoke with Colorado Sun reporter Parker Yamasaki, who’s been covering the case and the recent hearing, to learn more. * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedba

Nuclear Waste is piling up at power plants around the country, and we have no idea where to put it. Many states are aggressively fighting plans for new storage facilities. But northwest Colorado is quietly opening the door. KUNC’s investigative reporter Scott Franz recently traveled around rural Colorado talking with people about what nuclear waste storage could do for the local economy – and also interviewing folks who are dead set against that idea.  On this special edition of In The NoCo, we’ve combined all of Scott’s reporting from the past few months into a single episode. You can also see photos and check out more on this investigation. Scott’s reporting was edited by Leigh Patterson. 

Over the past few months, crews have worked on an unusual firefighting operation near Boulder. They extinguished a blaze that has burned underground for more than a century.  The work happened at Marshall Mesa near an open area that's popular for hiking. A fire in a a coal seam there had smoldered beneath the surface for years. It was a remnant of a time when coal mining thrived in the area. And it was a hazard: Heat from underground blazes can sometimes set fire to grass and other brush nearby.  So crews have spent the winter digging up combustible material and bringing it to the surface. Then they mixed in cooler dirt to prevent future fires.   Work at the site wrapped up recently, and officials held a celebration at the site on Thursday. So today, we’re revisiting a conversation with Jeff Graves recorded back in October, as the work was getting started. Jeff is director of Colorado’s Inactive Mine Reclamation Program, and he managed the job.  He talked with In The NoCo's Brad Turner about how Marshall Mesa

After the recent death of President Jimmy Carter, many of the tributes mentioned his environmental legacy and push for energy-efficient development. And one unusual part of his plan was focused here in Colorado.  Carter’s administration had backed the design of some experimental homes along the Front Range. They were warmed by the sun and fueled by renewable sources – an exciting idea in the late 1970s.  John Avenson was paying attention back then, and wanted to live in one of those homes. He got the plans, hired a contractor and built his very own Carter home in Westminster in 1981 – even as Carter’s successor in the White House, President Ronald Reagan, scaled back renewable energy development.  Avenson still lives in that home today. It’s featured in an episode of the PBS series Heart of a Building, which focuses on innovative building construction.  The episode will be shown at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival in Golden on Feb. 23.  Erin O’Toole spoke with Avenson and Heart of a Building host Paul

A note: Today’s episode deals with issues around suicide and firearm violence. Over the past decade, Colorado has seen more than 7,000 deaths by suicide that involved a firearm. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guns are involved in more than half of Colorado’s deaths by suicide. A bill making its way through the state legislature could help reduce those numbers.  The proposal would allow Coloradans to place a voluntary freeze on their own access to buy a gun.  Someone who’s concerned about their mental health could add their own name to a database of people who are ineligible to purchase a firearm.  Colorado’s proposal is based on a national campaign called Donna’s Law. If approved, the bill would make Colorado the fifth state to set up what's known as a Do Not Sell registry.  So, how effective are voluntary programs like this at reducing the risk of suicide with a firearm? Erin O’Toole spoke with two KUNC colleagues: editor and reporter Leigh Paterson, and Chas Sisk, editor of the

Ask a teacher about the hardest part of their job, and you might expect them to cite long hours or low pay.  But there’s another, less visible challenge that educators face: exposure to student trauma. Students may confide in a teacher about not having enough to eat at home, or an abusive family member.  And exposure to those problems takes a serious toll on teachers.  According to a new study out of the University of Northern Colorado, about 9 in 10 teachers and other classroom educators deal with what’s called secondary traumatic stress from helping students with their problems, or simply hearing about them.  And of those teachers, 42 percent had secondary traumatic stress that was considered severe.  Breanna King, a graduate student in UNC’s School Psychology program, designed and led the study. She spoke with Erin O’Toole about how high levels of secondary traumatic stress may contribute to teachers leaving the field – and she shared ideas about how to help teachers cope. * * * * *Sign up for the In The N

In 2025, many of us are on social media – and lots of us are hunting for a new job.  If that sounds like your situation, a University of Colorado researcher says be thoughtful about what you post online. Because what you do on Facebook or Threads or BlueSky can change your odds of landing that new gig. Jason Thatcher has been studying how hiring managers use social media to make decisions about candidates. And he found 60 percent of hiring managers decide who to interview or who to hire, in part, by checking out applicants’ social media accounts.  So how do your Facebook posts about politics affect your chances of landing your dream job? And is there anything you can do to make your social media accounts more appealing to a hiring manager? Thatcher recently spoke with Brad Turner about what he’s observed. We’re listening back to that conversation today. You can also check out his previous In The NoCo interview on how to keep “technostress” from driving you crazy at work.  * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoC

Researcher Caitlin Clark has a job a lot of people would envy. Clark is a food scientist who oversees a new laboratory devoted to the study of chocolate – how it’s made, what makes it taste so good, and how to make new and better varieties of it. She and her team, based at the Colorado State University Food Innovation Center in Denver, work to dream up new confections that hopefully will end up on grocery store shelves or, maybe, in your box of Valentine’s Day chocolates.  Clark talked with Erin O’Toole about her work in the new laboratory, and how her expertise in fermentation helped pave the way for her to become a chocolate researcher. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike 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'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot Sessi

In February of 1942, not long after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. military removed thousands of Americans of Japanese descent from their homes. Most of them were full citizens who had been born and raised in the United States.   Families had just a few days to get their affairs in order before reporting to relocation centers, mostly in Western states. Roosevelt’s order affected about 120,000 Japanese Americans, including 17,000 children.  Writer and poet Brandon Shimoda, who is fourth-generation Japanese American, says the impact of incarceration didn’t end with the war.   Shimoda, who lives in Colorado Springs and teaches at Colorado College, is a descendant of several family members who were incarcerated in internment camps. He says his family’s stories helped inspire his newest book, The Afterlife Is Letting Go.  He spoke with Erin O’Toole about the legacy of Japanese American incarceration, and why the impacts still resonate today. Brandon Shimoda will be part of a discussion on untold histories,

In the late 1960s, a new movement of Black music grew out of the end of the civil rights era. Black artists declared their “Black power” and rocked the airwaves with the sound of funk.    Funk music was more than just a genre with excellent grooves. It had deeper social and political meaning. Funk began as a reaction to tumultuous times and would ultimately lay the foundation for the hip0hop and R&B we listen to today. This is the argument in the new book by Reiland Rabaka, called The Funk Movement: Music, Culture, and Politics.  Rabaka is a professor of African, African American, and Caribbean studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is also the founder and director of the Center for African American Studies at CU, and hosts a podcast called The Cause. He joined Erin O'Toole to talk about the importance of funk, and why it deserves respect for its singular impact on music and culture.     * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us:

If you grew up in the 80s, you might remember a famous anti-drug public service announcement from TV. There was a frying pan, a sizzling egg and an ominous warning:  “This is your brain on drugs.” Josh Gowin, a researcher with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, remembers that ad quite well. Anti-drug PSA's like that one inspired him to study the effects of marijuana use on the brain and find out if that fried egg analogy is accurate.  Gowin, a neuroscientist, looked at more than 1,000 scans of people’s brains. And he saw something notable in the brains of frequent cannabis users: a reduction in their working memory, which is the brain function that helps people keep track of what they’re doing.  Gowin recently published his research. He joined Erin O’Toole to explain what his findings mean for cannabis users – and what kinds of tasks might suffer if someone’s working memory deteriorates. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUN

A vaccine against weight gain could be on the horizon, according to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder.  The research shows that a particular strain of bacteria known as M. vaccae could help prevent obesity by reducing inflammation.  Chris Lowry is a professor of integrative physiology at CU and led the research. His study found that he could prevent mice from becoming overweight even when they were raised on the equivalent of an all-McDonald’s diet. When his team injected mice with M. vaccae, the junk food mice gained no more weight than mice with healthy diets.   Lowry spoke with Erin O’Toole about this research, and why he thinks it’s a promising solution for weight gain. Correction: An earlier version of this episode gave the incorrect last name for Chris Lowry’s colleague who helped with the research. The colleague’s name is Luke Desmond.* * * * * 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? He