City Cast Denver

When Styler Rising opened Metamorphosis Fitness in 2015, they focused on creating a place that embraced exercise, strength, and transformation. But what Styler didn’t realize was that they were also providing something else — a safe, queer-affirming gym environment. So, the fitness business went through a transformation of its own, and things really took off after a TikTok about the gym went viral. Today on the show, Bree talks with Styler about all the work they have done to create a cool, welcoming place for all bodies who want to get fit.Want to own 800 pounds of prime Denver history? Bree’s got an exclusive lead on a very interesting opportunity in our newsletter today: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/What do you love most about your gym? We’ll share all the local love on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

In the waning hours of their 2022 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly finally reached a compromise on a bill meant to stop the spike in fentanyl-related deaths across Colorado. After months of debate, they agreed to toughen punishments for possession of smaller amounts of the synthetic opioid. Just like the lawmakers, we made this bill our top priority for the legislative session, so Bree and Paul are looking back at how it all went down, unpacking what made it into the bill, and what’s next. To get a full picture of how this debate played out, here’s a rundown of our recent coverage: “More Like Poisoning than an Overdose” with Attorney General Phil Weiser (February 22, 2022) “Why the New Fentanyl Bill Has Harm Reductionists Concerned” with Harm Reduction Action Center executive director Lisa Raville (March 29, 2022) “Inside the Fentanyl Fight at the Capitol” with State Representative Leslie Herod (May 2, 2022) Here’s a few of our sources for this conversation:  For a breakdown of all the little things that were included in the final version of the fentanyl bill, check out this piece from Colorado Public Radio. This Denver Post article has a good explanation of the closing minutes of the legislative session, when a flurry of compromises led up to the final vote. Bree mentioned a new repatriation effort underway at the Denver Art Museum. For more on that fascinating story, Peyton’s going deep in today’s CCD newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/How do you feel about the fentanyl bill our lawmakers delivered? Share your thoughts on Twitter and tag us @citycastdenverLearn more about the sponsors of this episode:How to Buy a Home PodcastLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

Move over Greta Thunberg, Colorado’s got its own wunderkind climate champion. Her name is Madhvi Chittoor. She’s 11-years-old, and she lives with her parents in Arvada. But every chance she gets, Chittoor zips across the world speaking out against plastic pollution, leading climate rallies, and meeting with world leaders, like Vice President Kamala Harris. Today, Bree sits down with Chittoor to talk about her life in activism, her budding music career, and her latest legislative achievement, a bill that would ban the sale of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” across Colorado. Check out this profile of Chittoor from Conrad Swanson at the Denver Post for even more on her inspiring activism: https://www.denverpost.com/2022/04/26/colorado-pfas-madhvi-chittoor-environmental-activist/For more, here’s the full Denver7 report on the PFAS bill that we excerpted in this episode and, per Chittoor’s recommendation, CNN’s documentary, “Midway, A Plastic Island.” Chittoor’s album, “I am… Princess Genius,” is available through her website, and we found it on Spotify here.After the Colorado state legislative session wrapped up last week, Governor Jared Polis has got to get out his signing pen. Peyton’s got a breakdown of all the important stuff that hit his desk in today’s newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/How was your Denver weekend? Hit us with a pic on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

It has been ten years since Denver enacted an urban camping ban, providing the legal basis for what many housing activists are now calling “Denver’s Decade of Doom.” So to mark the occasion, we are bringing you this bonus episode of the new Elevated Denver podcast. Their hope for the podcast is to build compassion for the experience of being unhoused, to see this as a system issue and not an individual issue, and to spark hope for solving homelessness. You can learn more about their broader advocacy project, subscribe to the Elevated Denver podcast, and listen to the whole 10-episode series here: https://elevateddenver.co/podcast/Here’s how they describe this episode: “Myra takes on her journey from being housed to being unhoused, and then searching out the resources she needed to get back into stable housing.*Trigger warning: Myra's story may be triggering to some of you. Please take care.”

Ten years ago this week, Denver leaders signed an urban camping ban into law. Since then, folks across the city have experienced displacement, skyrocketing housing costs, and fewer and fewer sheltering options for those living on the margins. Today on the show, Bree sits down with Denver Homeless Out Loud cofounder Benjamin Dunning and Westword reporter Conor McCormick-Cavanaugh for a wide-ranging conversation on how Denver got here and what the future looks like for a city that desperately needs more affordable housing options.For a thorough breakdown of Denver’s recent history dealing with our housing crisis, do yourself a favor and spend some time with McCormick-Cavanagh’s terrific feature story from last December: https://www.westword.com/news/denver-homelessness-decades-hancock-hickenlooper-pena-12975252Interested in the work advocates and the unhoused community are doing? Denver Homeless Out Loud offers resources and information, like this “Seven Myths of Homelessness” list. Also, events commemorating the “Decade of Doom” culminate this weekend. More info here. Wanna have a kickass weekend? Peyton’s got a rundown of cool events and other stuff to do in today’s CCD newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/If you were running for mayor in 2023, what would be your stance on the urban camping ban? Repeal it or extend it? Tell us why on Twitter @citycastdenver or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood and we might play it on the show: (720) 500-5418‬Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

On April 27, Gary Arellano was shot and killed in La Alma-Lincoln Park. The city’s response? Fence off the park to the community, something that Arellano’s family says is in direct opposition to what he would have wanted. And this wasn’t the first time the park has been closed to the public because of violence. So what’s to be done in this rapidly gentrifying neighborhood? Denver Post reporter Elizabeth Hernandez has been reporting on the situation at La Alma-Lincoln Park, and she’s on the show to explain what happened, why, and explore this moment’s connections with the historic displacement of Auraria, just on the other side of Colfax. Gary Arellano’s family is hosting a benefit this Saturday, May 14, at The Denver Inner City Parish from 1-6 p.m. You can find details for that, a link to their GoFundMe, and their petition to “Save La Alma Park in Honor of Gary Arellano” here. The Park Hill golf course drama continues and Peyton’s breaking it all down in the City Cast Denver newsletter. Read and subscribe: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Do you have a connection to La Alma-Lincoln Park? Tweet us: @citycastdenver. Or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: (720) 500-5418‬Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

Earlier this year, North High School teacher Tim Hernández came on the show to talk about his experience teaching in a pandemic. But he also spoke passionately about the cultural significance of the work he does as a Chicano teacher on the Northside, and the importance of teaching Chicano and Latino history to his mostly Latino classes. So last week when Tim posted online that he was being let go from his beloved Northside school, we knew there was more to the story. Today on the show, Bree talks with Tim about his impending departure from North High School, and why — in a city with a supposed teacher shortage — a devoted, community-centered educator like him would be let go.On the show today, Bree also mentioned “Denver’s Decade of Doom,” a term some housing and unhoused community activists are using to mark the 10-year anniversary of Denver’s urban camping ban this week. See their event page for more details about the planned week of “grievance and action.” Read and subscribe to the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Say hi on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

It’s our producer Xandra’s last hurrah in Denver before she heads off to Philadelphia. So we had to ask: What‘s on your bucket list before you leave Colorado? Her number one choice was a trip to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keensburg, home to 38 tigers that once belonged to the man they call the Tiger King. So we sent her off to visit this past weekend. Bree sits down with Xandra to get the inside scoop on what the sanctuary is like, what kinds of animals you can find there, and why this space made just for lions, tigers, and (very big) bears feels so different from visiting a traditional zoo. Plus: you, our dear listeners and readers, had some fantastic recommendations for Xandra’s bucket list and Peyton rounds them up in the City Cast Denver newsletter. Read and subscribe: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Chit-chat it up with us on Twitter: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

Denver is sooooo bad at recycling and composting. In fact, our diversion rate — the amount of waste we divert from landfills to recycling and composting — is a paltry 26%. So how did Denver get so far behind when it comes to trash? And what are we doing to catch up? Councilman Jolon Clark has been pushing for one surprising, seemingly counter-intuitive measure since he was elected to City Council in 2015, and it looks like he might finally have the support to make it happen this year. So Bree sat down with Councilman Clark to hear why he wants Denverites to start paying for our trash. Councilman Clark mentioned an initiative that’s going to be on Denver’s ballot this fall to require all businesses, including apartment buildings, offer recycling and composting bins. Here’s a link to learn more about the Waste No More initiative.The City of Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency recently adopted Clark’s new pay-for-trash proposal and incorporated it into their broader plan to increase our diversion rate to 50% by 2027. After complaints from the neighbors, Number 38 is no longer allowed to host super loud concerts in RiNo. Peyton’s got the whole story and all the news you need to know to start your week right here in our daily newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Hang out with us on Twitter @citycastdenver]Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

We’ve brought you a burger crawl, a breakfast burrito battle, and a fried chicken chowdown. Now, we’re tackling something sickly sweet and asking the big, round, frosted question: Who makes the best donuts in Denver? Peyton, Paul, Xandra, and Bree took on the task of taste-testing four of the top contenders in the Mile High City (and may have suffered a collective sugar overload in the process, so you don’t have to). Settle in as we debate who bakes, fries, (and in one case, blowtorches) the best dang donuts in Denver. It’s Friday! Peyton’s rounded up all the cool stuff happening in and around the Mile High in the City Cast Denver newsletter. Read and subscribe: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Tweet at us: @citycastdenverLooking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise