Purplish
Colorado Public Radio
Purplish is a podcast about politics and policy and how they shape Coloradans’ lives, hosted by Colorado Public Radio’s public affairs reporter Bente Birkeland and reporters from the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. They break down the latest developments at the statehouse, in Congress and in local communities, to find the bigger picture behind the political headlines.Purplish is produced by CPR News with support from the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 11, 2023 • 32min
Disability rights at center stage
Housing, recreation, government -- advocates for people with disabilities say there are a lot of ways Colorado could be doing more to make those things accessible to all.
Mar 3, 2023 • 34min
Rent control in Colorado?
The policy has been banned in Colorado for four decades, but that could all change this year.
Feb 10, 2023 • 44min
How Colorado’s gun laws have changed from frontier days to today
From the founding of the state to modern mass shootings, we look at the forces that have driven changes to Colorado law over the years, and what it means for this year's brewing debate.
Jan 20, 2023 • 21min
The Polis Agenda
In the first State of the State speech of his second term, Gov. Polis picked a big fight with local governments, while saying little on a major priority for many in his party.
Jan 13, 2023 • 30min
The legislature is back: what do they want to do?
State lawmakers have returned to session in Denver. We cover a bit of DC-style drama on opening day, and hear from congressional reporter Caitlyn Kim how the actual DC drama went down with the many, many Speaker votes.
Nov 11, 2022 • 25min
Is Colorado a blue state now?
Yes, we know what happened Tuesday, but we're still not changing the name of the podcast.
Nov 4, 2022 • 30min
What we’re watching for on Election Day
The big day is almost here and our team looks at where the campaigns, the polling and the voters stand, as things come down to the wire.
Oct 28, 2022 • 32min
What keeps our elections safe?
Colorado's election system has all sorts of checks built in to prevent fraud and subversion, but much of it happens out of public view. We go through some of the biggest security measures -- and some of the biggest conspiracy theories still circulating.
Oct 22, 2022 • 32min
All your 2022 ballot measures explained (plus a few weird ones from history)
There are 11 statewide measures on the ballot this year, and we're here to give you the key points on each of them. Oh, and Andy plays stump-the-hosts with 140 years of initiative history.
Oct 14, 2022 • 30min
Housing on your ballot
Coloradans are increasingly naming housing as a top issue, and it's one that will appear on ballots this fall in a couple of ways.
