Changing Denver

Two months ago, we capped off our first season with an episode about the hot new restaurant Hop Alley and its namesake, Denver's old Chinatown. For this bonus episode, we invited food journalist Laura Shunk to help us do a proper review of the restaurant.

Of course, we put the Changing Denver spin on it, so it's a little different from what you might expect.

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The rave reviews of Hop Alley keep pouring in. 5280 just named it the best restaurant in Denver on its annual list of the top 25!

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Our theme song is "Minnow" by Felix Fast4ward.

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Season 2 of Changing Denver is coming soon.

This is not it. This is something ... different.

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In this installment of Changing Denver Bit By Bit, we feature an interview Paul did with CU Boulder history professor William Wei for KGNU. It's all about Wei's new book "Asians in Colorado," and excerpts of it were featured on our recent season finale, on Hop Alley.

The interview touches on Denver's old Chinatown, but also explores how the discrimination facing Asians in Colorado morphed from Sinophobia into Japanophobia in the 20th Century. Yes, that means there is discussion of Japanese internment in concentration camps, as Wei calls them, as well as former governor Ralph Carr.

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On this episode of Changing Denver – the finale of season 1! – we figure out the connection between Denver's old Chinatown and a new Chinese restaurant in River North. It turns out they have more in common than the name Hop Alley.

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We are taking a couple months off after this episode to give some ongoing projects the time they deserve. All complaints about this will be interpreted as expressions of grief, so bring 'em on! You can also tell us how you feel in a review on iTunes. Just make sure all profanity-laced tirades are preceded by five gold stars.

Thanks to everyone who made this first season happen. All the support and love has been so important.

See you in season 2!

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You can learn more about William Wei's new book, Asians in Colorado: A History of Persecution and Perseverance in the Centennial State, here.

CU Denver professor of History Tom Noel's home page, including a full list of his Colorado-related publications, can be found here.

You can read Jarod Ballentine's review of Hop Alley here (he gave it a 7.5 out of 10), and find more of his reviews at The Infatuation.

If you are as curious about Hop Alley's food as we are, you can make a reservation here.

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Our theme song is "Minnow" by FelixFast4ward. You can find more of his music on Soundcloud.

Local bluegrass band Meadow Mountain provided two songs for this episode, "Homestead" and "Central," which both appear on their new Homestead EP. You can hear them perform every Tuesday night at Cerebral Brewing. It's called Bluegrass Tuesdays, and it seems like fun. Their website is http://meadowmountain.wix.com/meadowmountainmusic.

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Learn more about Changing Denver at our site, www.changingdenver.com, or follow us on Twitter at @ChangingDenver.

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On Changing Denver this month, we have an interview with local historian Amy Zimmer about her new book Lost Denver and her experiences on the Landmark Preservation Commission. She outlines Denver's fraught relationship with its own past and explains our official process for preserving historic landmarks.

Memory, loss, the value of seeing your past around you: It can be a challenge to take these issues on without slipping down a rabbit hole. You have been warned.

Amy Zimmer's book is available at many of Denver's independent booksellers.

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Our theme song is "Minnow" by Felix Fast4ward. You can find more of his music here.

The other song used in this episode is called "Make it Weird," and it was provided to us by Morlox. You can find more music by Morlox on Bandcamp and learn more on the Morlox Facebook page.

Did you know we send out a regular newsletter? If you sign up now at www.changingdenver.com/about, you can get the full backstory on how this, and every other episode came to be.

Or maybe just follow us on Twitter @ChangingDenver.

Looking for a way to support the show? Rate us on iTunes or Stitcher! Quality reviews will help us reach a wider audience and eventually expand our offerings.

Thanks for listening!

In this installment of Changing Denver Bit By Bit, Central Library Administrator Rachel Fewell discusses some of the challenges facing the Denver Public Library and the ways she and her colleagues are dealing with them. She also responds to comments Phil Goodstein made about the library in our episode about the West Side.

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#ListenLocal

Check out the Revisit Denver podcast at www.revisitdenver.com to hear more stories of Denver's past.

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Our theme song is "Minnow" by Felix Fast4ward. You can listen to more of his music on Soundcloud.

Follow us on Twitter (@changingdenver) or sign up for our newsletter to get exclusive behind-the-scenes content and bonus interviews with local Agents of Change.

If you like this episode, please write us a review on iTunes or Stitcher. Quality reviews will help us reach a wider audience.

Thanks for listening!

On Changing Denver this month, we invite local journalist Andy Kenney to guide us through the story of Stoner Hill, a small elevated area of Commons Park. For years it has been a respite for assorted travelers, misfits, and people experiencing homelessness. But now that developers and their wealthy customers have moved into the neighborhood, it has become a source of tension. We dove into this one heads first, figured out the latest news on Stoner Hill, and even got a little involved in the conflict ourselves.

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This episode is a follow-up to Andy's wonderful cover story for Westword last December. It is not required reading for the episode, but we highly recommend going back for it.

Also, you can follow Andy on Twitter, @andyknny.

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The end credits song in this episode is "Hashtag: First World Problems" by The Windermeres. It's track number one off their 2014 album Anthem of the Recession Generation, which you can find on their bandcamp page. You can also find them on Facebook.

Our theme song is "Minnow" by Felix Fast4ward. You can listen to more of his music on Soundcloud.

Follow us on Twitter (@changingdenver) or sign up for our newsletter to get exclusive behind-the-scenes content and bonus interviews with local Agents of Change.

If you like this episode, please write us a review on iTunes or Stitcher. Quality reviews will help us reach a wider audience.

Thanks for listening!

It's another installment of Changing Denver Bit By Bit, our series of shorts that complement or supplement the regular episodes. This time, we have an interview with former city councilwoman for District 10 Jeanne Robb. She discusses what it was like representing Cap Hill and how some of the neighborhood's major issues changed over her 12 years in office.

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Our theme song is "Minnow" by Felix Fast4ward. You can listen to more of his music on Soundcloud.

Follow us on Twitter (@changingdenver) or sign up for our weekly newsletter to get exclusive behind-the-scenes content and bonus interviews with local Agents of Change.

If you like this episode, please write us a review on iTunes or Stitcher. Quality reviews will help us reach a wider audience.

Thanks for listening!

On Changing Denver this month, we investigate paranormalactivity in Cap Hill. It turns out the early reports greatlyunderestimated the infestation! Ghosts are legion in this historicDenver neighborhood, and not necessarily the kind you'd expect.

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Materials for further research:

Ghost Quest, the feature length paranormal investigationdocumentary, is available on YouTube in full.

Bree Davies wrote this column for Westword on the closing of the Gypsy House.

Lady Speech tweets @LadySpeech and has a list ofupcoming appearances on her website www.ladyspeech.com.

Noah Van Sciver was recently nominatedfor an Eisner Award! His work is available at many of Denver'sfinest bookstores, including Kilgore Books. You can also findhim on tumblr andTwitter @NoahVanSciver.

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Our theme song is "Minnow" by FelixFast4ward. You can find more of his music on Soundcloud.

The song we played throughout the episode is "Deathville" byEldren. You can find more about them on their Facebook page.

The other songs you heard under the Noah Van Sciver interviewwere "solace"and "architects"by Three Chain Links. I found them on WFMU's Free Music Archive.They were released under a Creative Commons AttributionLicense.

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You can keep up with Changing Denver by signing up for ournewsletter or byfollowing us on Twitter, @changingdenver.

Looking for a way to support the show? Rate us on iTunes orStitcher! Quality reviews will help us reach a wider audience.

Thanks for listening!

On Changing Denver this month, we have the story of Hungarian Freedom Park. What is the connection between Hungary, landscape architecture, and our Queen City of the Plains? More generally, how does a people forge a lasting connection to a place? You can hear the answers to these questions and much more in this, our most ambitious and personal episode to date.

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Materials Referenced in this Episode:

Here are some links to S.R. DeBoer’s plans for Alamo Placita Park (1927) and what became Hungarian Freedom Park (1925)

Here is a copy of the Hungarian Club of Colorado’s founding charter from 1963.

Here is a copy of the ordnance that officially changed the park’s name.

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Extras:

This is the Denver Parks and Recreation Dept.’s current policy on naming and renaming parks.

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Music:

Our theme song is “Minnow” by Felix Fast4ward. You can find more of his music on Soundcloud.

The song we played under the end credits is “Hatcher Creek” by Strawberry Runners. You can find more about them on their website or Facebook. They are headlining a show at the Larimer Lounge on 1 April, and you may see some of the Changing Denver team there, if you’d like to say hi or talk to us about Hungarian Freedom Park.

We found the other music for this episode on WFMU’s Free Music Archive. The tracks were “Gagool” and “Trio for Piano Violin and Viola” by Kevin MacLeod, and “Peace Within” and “Snowing” by Peter Rudenko.

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You can keep up with Changing Denver by signing up for our newsletter or by following us on Twitter, @changingdenver.

Looking for a way to support the show? Rate us on iTunes or Stitcher! Quality reviews will help us reach a wider audience.

Thanks for listening!