Colorado In Depth

Colorado is home to one of the largest medical trials for psilocybin, the compound in magic mushrooms. One young mom in Denver, who has cancer, is among the first wave of patients to see if the therapy can help her reduce her anxiety and face the prospect that her illness may be terminal. What she and the researchers discover could help people with depression, PTSD, addiction and other conditions. 

Colorado in Depth is a podcast of special reporting, documentary news and investigations from CPR News. Follow the podcast for reporting from Colorado’s Front Range, the Four Corners, the Eastern Plains and the mountains. 

Reported and written by Andrew Kenney 
Edited by Rachel Estabrook 
Produced, mixed and sound designed by Luis Antonio Perez 
Executive producer: Kevin Dale 
Thanks also to CPR’s Lauren Antonoff Hart, Andrea Dukakis, Sam Brasch, Jo Erickson and Hayley Sanchez 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Universal Production Music 

Follow Andrew Kenney @AndyKnny
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Colorado in Depth is a production of Colorado Public Radio.

Tina Peters goes on trial in February. The former Mesa County clerk faces criminal charges for using her position overseeing local elections to empower a movement that falsely believes U.S. voting systems are rigged to steal elections. Peters' scheme and her evolution from trusting the election system to trying to subvert it from the inside is a warning sign for 2024.

This is an installment of Colorado in Depth, a podcast of documentary news, investigations and special reporting from CPR News. Follow the show for stories from the plains to the mountain, the Four Corners to the Front Range.

Hosts and reporters: Bente Birkeland and Stina Sieg

Colorado is remembering the five people killed at Club Q a year ago. Dozens more survived that night, and have been trying to figure out life in the aftermath. Stories from four people in their own words remind us that there is no going back to “normal,” and that for each of us, survival has its own meaning.

This is an installment of Colorado In Depth, a podcast featuring special reporting and investigations from CPR News. This episode is a collaboration with CPR’s partner KRCC.

Reported and produced by Abigail Beckman

Elijah McClain was a son, a brother, a healer and a musician. In 2019, police stopped him during a peaceful walk home. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but they violently subdued him. Now, officers and paramedics face criminal charges in his death.

McClain’s story has brought about reforms to the rules for police in Colorado, and it has put law enforcement in Aurora under state oversight, to stop a pattern of racist policing. The incident has taught Colorado how to effectively oversee conduct by law enforcement – and what happens when we don’t.

Colorado In Depth is a podcast of special reporting, documentary news and investigations from CPR News. Follow the podcast for reporting from the Front Range, the Four Corners, the Eastern Plains and the mountains.

Reported by Allison Sherry

The idea of drinking recycled wastewater, even if it's highly treated, grossed people out for a long time. But increasingly, it's part of the answer for how we can live in the West as the region and its rivers dry out. This episode goes to two Colorado cities, and a home in California, to show how we can reuse more of the water we already use, to make our Colorado River supplies go further. It's part of the CPR News climate solutions podcast, Parched.

Host: Michael Elizabeth Sakas

Today's episode is an introduction to a CPR News podcast called Parched. Hosted by climate reporter Michael Elizabeth Sakas, it's about how we can continue to live in the American southwest as it dries out. A two decade drought is sapping the Colorado River and other water supplies. But there are things all of us who live in the region can do to control how much this drought changes our lives and landscapes.

For more CPR News coverage of the Colorado River, visit cpr.org/parched.

Colorado In Depth is a podcast featuring documentary news, investigations and special reporting from the CPR newsroom. Subscribe to this podcast for stories from the plains to the mountains, from the Front Range to the Four Corners.

Hosted by Michael Elizabeth Sakas

For decades, the name William Richardson symbolized hope and opportunity in a close-knit northeast Denver community. But Richardson had lived an extraordinary life even before that. This is the never-before-told story of a Colorado family who uncovers their dad’s contributions to sports history, Black history, and American history while playing in the Negro Baseball League, a league born out of a period of racial segregation. Then he went on to touch the lives of hundreds of young people in metro Denver.

Colorado In Depth is a podcast of special reporting, documentary news and investigations from CPR News. Follow the podcast for reporting from the Four Corners to the Eastern Plains to the mountains.

Reporter and writer: Chandra Thomas Whitfield

Is your vote secure, and properly counted? Since November 2020, election integrity has been under public scrutiny. It’s questioned in the news, by family and friends, and candidates themselves. This episode takes you behind the scenes of Colorado’s elections, to meet the people and systems designed to prevent fraud and count every vote.

This is an installment of Colorado In Depth, a podcast featuring documentary news, investigations and special reporting from the CPR newsroom. Follow the show for stories from the plains to the mountains, the Western Slope to the Four Corners.

Reporter: Matt Bloom

Thanks also to Matt Moret and Kibwe Cooper.

One in five Americans has dealt with chronic pain. It can be physically, mentally and financially draining. It can lead to addiction, death and even thoughts of suicide. But some Coloradans have found new solutions to manage their pain, like brain therapy and medications other than opioids. We talk with people who experience pain, and physicians, to uncover these solutions and provide hope for pain sufferers and their loved ones who want to help.

This is an installment of Colorado In Depth, a podcast featuring documentary news, investigations and special reporting from the CPR newsroom. Follow the show for stories from the plains to the mountains, the Western Slope to the Four Corners.

Hosted by Rachel Estabrook

CPR News correspondent Caitlyn Kim travels to Estonia to see Colorado National Guard troops conducting military training exercises with allies, just weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. She found there is a lot at stake for Estonians in the Ukrainian war; a lot at stake for U.S. security and the NATO alliance; and a lot at stake for Coloradans who don't expect to find themselves on the doorstep of a land war when they go on longstanding training missions.

This is an installment of Colorado In Depth, a podcast featuring documentary news, investigations and special reporting from the CPR newsroom. Follow the show for stories from the plains to the mountains, the Western Slope to the Four Corners.

Hosted by Rachel Estabrook