In The NoCo

Mental health challenges for young people in Colorado — and what to do about them.  

First, some good news: Colorado has seen improvements in some of the most alarming trends for youth mental health. Incidents of suicide by young people have fallen by more than half from their peak level in 2020.  

But some nagging — and serious — issues remain when it comes to kids and their mental wellbeing. Doctors and emergency room staffers in Colorado say they routinely see teens admitted for depression, anxiety and panic attacks.  

So, today’s episode is about some possible solutions.  

Erica Breunlin covers education for The Colorado Sun. She spent time recently with members of the Youth Council on Mental Health. It's a group of young people from around the state who offer advice to policy makers and healthcare providers on what might make a difference in kids’ mental health. The group is affiliated with Children’s Hospital Colorado. 

Erica had some frank and sometimes revealing conversations with kids on the council. She spoke with Erin O’Toole to share some of what she learned. 

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Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Colorado has played a leading role in many films. The state’s western landscapes can be seen in movies like The Hateful Eight and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.   

Then there’s the famous scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in which Paul Newman and Robert Redford leap off the edge of a cliff into the rushing river below. That scene was filmed near Durango, above the Animas River.   

Robert Redford famously spent a lot of time in Boulder. And actors like Don Cheadle and Pam Grier have all come from Colorado.    

This summer, the first-ever Colorado 150 Film Festival will celebrate these movies and actors with screenings of 150 films being shown in 35 independent theaters across the state. It’s also a celebration of the state’s 150th anniversary on Aug. 1.  

One of the festival’s organizers, Rob DuRay, spoke with Erin O’Toole about the festival and where Colorado’s film industry might go from here.  

The Colorado 150 Film Festival begins this weekend and continues through November. View the full lineup of films and venues. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

With the summer travel season here, it’s a very busy time at Denver International Airport. But it's also noisy at the airport. 

And that can be tougher for travelers than you might realize.  Research suggests that exposure to noise can trigger stress in a traveler’s brain and body, which doesn’t help people already tense from trying to get through those crowded security lines. 

Which is why last summer, Denver airport officials launched a campaign to turn down the noise. The goal is to create a calmer and more peaceful airport experience. 

Jamie Banks is a health and environmental scientist, and the founder and president of Quiet Communities, an organization that works to reduce noise pollution – from restaurant interiors to noisy neighborhoods. 

She spoke with Erin O'Toole in December to talk about how a quieter airport might help tame some of the anxiety of travel. We’re listening back to that conversation today. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

More Colorado ranchers are using satellite technology to manage their livestock across vast, rugged landscapes — without having to put up miles of physical fence.  

Virtual fencing uses GPS-enabled collars to allow ranchers to guide their cattle and keep them within invisible boundaries, using a mobile phone or computer.  

Ranchers who use virtual fencing say it’s relatively cheap and helps them keep tabs on their herds. And it may help ranchers coexist with wolves and other predators. 

So, are ranch hands – and fence posts – endangered in the West? 

Tracy Ross of The Colorado Sun interviewed several ranchers about the technology. She talked with Erin O’Toole about how virtual fencing works and why it appeals to ranchers.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Some uninvited guests are coming for a visit.  

The warm, dry weather in recent months led many insects to emerge early this spring. And for your plants, that’s bad news – because plants are especially vulnerable to damage when moisture is scarce.  

So, as Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, today’s guest will introduce you to some of the bugs who are coming for your plants. 

Karim Gharbi is a horticulture specialist with CSU Extension who also studies insects and how they interact with plants. And he’s a frequent In The NoCo guest. He spoke with Erin O’Toole onstage at a recent In The NoCo live episode taping, and shared a few simple strategies to help protect your plants. 

CSU Extension has information and helpful resources on Japanese beetle, Emerald Ash Borer and other insects that harm trees and plants. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

A small nuclear reactor proposed by the Pentagon may be a reality soon in Aurora.  

The proposed microreactor would power Buckley Space Force Base and give the site a steady source of electricity.   

But it would look different – and operate at a smaller scale – than the nuclear reactors built a few decades ago. Rather than a large energy plant with cooling towers that jut into the sky, this small reactor would fit inside a semi-trailer.   

The Buckley project is one of three microreactors proposed for military bases around the country. Even so, nuclear energy, and the radioactive byproducts associated with it, make many people uneasy.  

So we reached out to Thomas Albrecht for some context. He's a professor at Colorado School of Mines who studies the chemistry of nuclear materials and the long-term storage of nuclear waste. He spoke with Erin O’Toole about how microreactors operate, and why nearby Aurora residents shouldn’t be worried.  

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

For decades, Warren Miller was synonymous with a very Colorado genre of film. 

In Miller’s films, skiers glide across pristine winter terrain and hurtle down near-vertical slopes. Over the decades, Miller and his film crews turned those images into dozens of feature-length documentaries that celebrated the thrill of a day on the mountain – and also captured the poetry of skiing.  

Miller died in 2018 at the age of 93. Now, his work and legacy are the subject of a new exhibit at the Colorado Snowsports Museum in Vail.  

The museum’s executive director, Jen Mason, spoke with Erin O’Toole about how Miller's movies defined an entire genre of sports documentary known as the “stoke” film. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Listeners of a certain age: Do you remember how great Colorado’s craft beer scene used to be? 

The late 1990s and early 2000s saw hundreds of small breweries and taprooms spring up in communities across the state. But in the last five years, around 140 breweries, taprooms and brewpubs have closed -- including 40 that shuttered in 2025 alone.  

And while that still leaves more than 400 breweries across Colorado, the trend has many wondering if the market for craft beer is going flat.  

Our guest today views this as a sign of an industry maturing and settling into its next phase. Jeff York is a professor of entrepreneurship at CU Boulder's Leeds School of Business, and he co-hosts a podcast about craft beer called Creative Distillation.  

He joined Erin O'Toole earlier this year to talk about how Colorado's local brewers can adapt to the changing landscape – and why it ultimately could be a good thing for beer lovers. We’re listening back to that conversation today. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

After this tough winter and dry spring we've been having, the trees around your home may be taking things especially hard.  
 
In fact, some of the strain that your trees feel when there's a lack of moisture runs so deeply that it may not even be visible to you until a few years from now. So, it’s important to protect your trees from drought conditions now to prevent damage and illness later. 
 
To help get ahead of these problems, we spoke with John Murgel, a horticulture expert from CSU Extension who advises the public on how to care for trees. John shared some of his best tips with Erin O’Toole during a live episode taping a few weeks back in Fort Collins.  

If you’re thinking of planting new trees this spring, John mentioned that birches and maples are especially thirsty varieties that he doesn’t recommend for our increasingly dry climate. For more, check out this list of tree recommendations from CSU Extension. 

Missed our earlier conversations from the In The NoCo live event? Find them here: 

• How to make your landscape more drought-tolerant with sustainable landscape expert Deryn Davidson.  
• How to help your yard through a dry spring and summer with grass and turf expert Alison O’Connor. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Fireflies lighting up the sky on a summer night can feel magical – especially if you happen to catch them as they light up at the same time. 

Which brings up one of the mysteries of the insect world: How do fireflies shine their lights in sync with one another? 

A pair of computer science researchers with the University of Colorado Boulder set out to better understand how fireflies do this – and why.    

Orit Peleg is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and the BioFrontiers Institute at CU Boulder.  She and fellow CU research scientist Owen Martin spent time in a South Carolina swamp to study what causes the phenomenon known as firefly synchrony.  

They spoke with Erin O’Toole about what they learned about how fireflies communicate, and how that understanding might help develop new technologies. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.