City Cast Denver

It’s Friday and we’re chatting about stories big and small in Denver this week, starting with Union Station — which can’t seem to get a decent headline in its favor these days. Producer Paul Karolyi is joined by host Bree Davies and Patty Calhoun, founder and editor of Westword, to discuss perceptions of crime downtown and the re-opening of a beloved Denver Mexican restaurant. Plus, the pickleball player who’s landed himself in a real pickle with the police.Read the latest from Westword on crime statistics at Union Station here: https://www.westword.com/denver/Print?oid=13699478For more on the pickleball power struggle, Denverite’s Desiree Mathurin has been all over this story: Here’s the original piece and here’s the follow-up. Get the whole backstory on the Outdoor Retailer trade show’s move back to Salt Lake City from past City Cast Denver guest and Colorado Sun reporter Jason Blevins: https://coloradosun.com/2022/03/23/outdoor-retailer-leaving-denver-salt-lake-city/The Denver Post story about the situation downtown and at Union Station that we talked about is here.Paul shouted out his father-in-law and his favorite Longmont brewery, Wibby Brewing. For directions to their taproom and more, click here: https://www.wibbybrewing.com/Peyton’s got a roundup of fun things to do this weekend in our daily newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Chit-chat with us on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertiseOh, and we’re hiring!! https://citycast.fm/audio-producer-city-cast-denver/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The painter Stevon Lucero was his own person through and through. He created his own style, which he called “metarealism,” and through painting he explored the outer bounds of consciousness, connecting dots no one else saw. When top Denver art galleries didn’t seem interested in him or other Chicano artists, they started up their own thing — Chicano Humanities and Arts Council, or CHAC — paving the way for a surge of interest in Chicano art today. Lucero passed away last year, but not before finishing a room at the hottest gallery in town, Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station, where “meta” is the name of the game. Host Bree Davies visited Convergence Station with Lucero’s wife and fellow artist Arlette Lucero to discuss her husband’s legacy and the special exhibition of his works opening there tomorrow.Peyton’s got all the hot Denver food gossip in our newsletter today. Read and subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Do you have a favorite Stevon Lucero painting? Share a pic with us on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About an hour west of Denver is a place called Lincoln Hills, an outdoor recreation destination created especially for — and built by — Black people. For 100 years, it has offered a safe, welcoming space for Black folks from across the country to come enjoy all the natural beauty Colorado has to offer. Today on the show, host Bree Davies sits down with past City Cast Denver guest host donnie l. betts, whose Lincoln Hills documentary which screens at History Colorado next month, and retired judge Gary Jackson, whose great grandfather was one of the original builders of Lincoln Hills and whose family has owned a cabin there ever since. History Colorado is celebrating Lincoln Hills’s 100th anniversary all year long. On April 15th, they’re hosting donnie l. betts for a screening of his documentary and a Q&A. Then, on June 3rd, they’re hosting Gary Jackson for a talk on his experience and research into the Lincoln Hills story. There a restaurant in Denver that’s taking a stand against drug cartels by… taking avocados off their menu. Peyton’s got a deep dive into why in our newsletter today: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Have you ever been to Lincoln Hills? Tag us in your pics! @citycastdenver Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lipgloss is one of the longest running indie club nights in the country — and it takes place every Friday evening, right here in Denver. Started by DJ Michael Trundle and a group of friends in 2001, Lipgloss is a music connoisseur’s dream: when you hit the dance floor, you’re apt to hear everything from The Killers to The Supremes to Fontaines D.C. Trundle has been the sole DJ behind the turntables for the last half-decade or so of Lipgloss, but he’s been at the heart of the dance night from the beginning. Today, he joins host Bree Davies to talk about how the little indie dance night that could has survived —and thrived — for more than two decades in Denver, and what’s next as it moves to its latest location, HQ, on South Broadway.Looking to take in some live theater next month? Our producer Lizzie Goldsmith has got recommendations, plus a behind-the-scenes interview about Curious Theater Company’s latest production, “Refuge.” Find that and subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Follow us on Twitter @citycastdenverWanna advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly 800 Coloradans have received aid-in-dying medication since voters approved a controversial law giving doctors that prescription option under certain circumstances in 2016. While the debate over the right to die has grown no less controversial in the past six years, one leading eating disorder doctor based in Denver wants to expand access to people with severe eating disorders, prompting alarm within the psychiatric field across the country. Today on the show, host Bree Davies talks with Colorado Sun reporter Jennifer Brown about this new turn in the death-with-dignity debate and what it could mean for people who suffer from life-threatening eating disorders all across the country. Read Jennifer Brown’s report for the Colorado Sun here: https://coloradosun.com/2022/03/14/denver-doctor-gaudiani-aid-in-dying-aneroexia-patients/There is a ton going on at Denver schools right now, so Peyton rounded up all the important stories for you in our newsletter today: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Follow us on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Friday! And we’re looking back at two years in Denver since lockdown. What’s changed about the city for the better? What structural, social, and political shifts do we want to keep with us from these pandemic times? How did we survive the two-hour prohibition of weed and alcohol sales that sent many Denverites running Black Friday-style to their nearest dispensary and liquor store? The whole team is here — Host Bree Davies, Producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon, and Newsletter Writer Peyton Garcia — and we’re trying to focus on the silver linings, like city council going online and the joys of car-free streets. Want to snag a couple free tix to see Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad at the Paramount on April 17? We’re giving a set away, and all you have to do is write a nice review of City Cast Denver wherever you listen to podcasts and send a screenshot of that review to denver@citycast.fm by April 1. Because, come on, it’s Jad freakin’ Abumrad. One of the greats.  Wanna know what to do this weekend in Denver? Read and subscribe to the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Find us lurking on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads: citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost 20 years ago, Erika Krouse took a job as a private investigator. Her first big case? A massive sexual assault scandal that was exposing a toxic culture of abuse within CU Boulder’s prized football program. Krouse’s new book, “Tell Me Everything: The Story of A Private Investigation,” is part true crime thriller and part memoir, as she weaves together her recollections of the case with the story of her own experience with sexual assault. City Cast Denver newsletter writer Peyton Garcia sits down with Krouse to talk about what it was like going up against an institution as powerful as the University of Colorado, how she saw her own story in the stories of the victims, and the legacy of the case today. Warning: While there are no graphic descriptions, this episode contains discussions about sexual assault.If this is your first time hearing about the scandal at the heart of Krouse’s book, ESPN has a full timeline right here.Catch all the latest Denver food news and gossip in our newsletter today, including Peyton’s take on the James Beard Award finalists: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Follow us on Twitter @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was a time when food trucks were the hottest thing out there, and it seemed like every chef and restaurateur wanted to sell sushi burritos on a street corner for $15 a pop. But now that the novelty has worn off, where do food trucks fit in Denver’s dining scene? And what does it take to start one now? We’ve been looking at all aspects of Denver dining alongside Denver Restaurant Week this week, and today host Bree Davies speaks with Maria Rangel, a former EMT who left healthcare to start cooking and selling gorditas out of a truck in the middle of a global pandemic. Find out where Rangel is going to be serving up gorditas and vegan green chile next at maizdenver.com.Interested in learning more about the business course Rangel took at Mi Casa Resource Center? Check out micasaresourcecenter.org. Did you know Bree has a tattoo dedicated to the old Colfax laundromat Smiley’s? Well she does. And now that the old Smiley’s building is being demolished, Bree shared some of her Smiley’s stories in our newsletter. Read and subscribe at denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/What’s your favorite local food truck? Tell us on Twitter @citycastdenver]Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Denver Restaurant Week is the perfect occasion for a nice night out without breaking the bank. And that means Frank Bonanno’s restaurants have been packed. Along with his wife Jacqueline, he runs a growing empire of restaurants across the city, including the flagship fine dining spot Mizuna and the downtown food hall Denver Milk Market. Host Bree Davies interviewed Bonanno almost exactly one year ago when Mizuna was celebrating its 20-year anniversary under the shadow of a possible sale and demolition. So we invited him back ahead of our one-year anniversary for an update on Mizuna’s real estate situation, an explanation of some of the changes he’s made during the pandemic, and his thoughts on the future of Denver’s dining scene. Do you want a chance to see Radiolab founder Jad Abumrad at the Paramount Theater on April 17? We’re giving away two free tickets, and all you have to do to enter is write a really nice review of City Cast Denver wherever you listen to podcasts, and rate us 5 stars. Then, take a screenshot of your review and send it to us at denver@citycast.fm by April 1.There is an HOA in Green Valley Ranch that has foreclosed on more than 50 homes, according to recent reports from Denverite and Denver7. Peyton’s got a full breakdown of the story in our newsletter today: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/What’s your favorite Denver restaurant? Tweet at us @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Denver Restaurant Week and we’re exploring all aspects of the dining scene. Today, John Hinman is a pastry chef and the owner of Hinman Pie. But he’s also the founder of Culinary Hospitality Outreach and Wellness, or CHOW, a nonprofit offering support groups and mental health courses to restaurant workers that’s grown by leaps and bounds in the last two years. Host Bree Davies sits down with Hinman to talk about how his own mental health struggles led to CHOW, the specific challenges of working in Denver restaurants today, and what kinds of positive changes he’s seeing in the local food world. If you’re interested in attending one of CHOW’s support group meetings, check out the Denver chapter’s in-person gatherings on Monday nights at 6 p.m. at 1633 Fillmore Street. Follow @CHOW_org on Instagram for up-to-date information on meetings and other resources.In today’s City Cast Denver newsletter, local musician Arnie Swenson remembers his friend, collaborator, and jazz great Ron Miles, who passed away last week: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Check us out on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices