Coloradans who struggle with anxiety or depression will soon have a new treatment option. Psychedelic treatment with a licensed therapist– will be as legal in Colorado as prescription antidepressants. 

Colorado voters approved this. Starting in April, licensed healing centers can offer psychedelic therapy using psilocybin, the psychedelic component in some mushrooms.  

We wanted to understand what psychedelic therapy looks like before it becomes more widespread.  

Dr. Scott Shannon founded the Wholeness Center in Fort Collins, which offers an array of treatments for mental health, including for anxiety and depression. He’s offered psychedelic therapy for eight years and treated thousands of patients. (He’s worked with psychedelics while following the old laws that existed until this year.) 

Scott and other therapists who support access to psychedelics say it could change the way we treat mental health problems in Colorado. He walked host Erin O’Toole through a typical psychedelic therapy session. 

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.

When Colorado writer X. Ho Yen was a kid, he loved to read science fiction.   

X. Ho Yen is autistic. He liked how some sci-fi stories, like the Star Trek series, depicted a more enlightened future society where neurodivergent people were treated equally.   

Eventually he began writing his own science fiction novels. His newest release is titled Space Autistic Author’s Puzzling Innerverse. It’s different from his other books: It’s a series of puzzles that reveal the plot of a story as you solve them.   

X. Ho Yen spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about the new book, his influences and how science fiction resonated deeply with him as a child.

Check out a recent profile of the author from The Colorado Sun.

Correction: An earlier version of this episode gave the incorrect city of residence for X. Ho Yen. He lives in Centennial.

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.

If you think of Baroque music, it might bring to mind ornate-sounding pieces by composers like Bach, Vivaldi or Handel. But a pair of concerts in Denver this weekend will offer listeners a different flavor of Baroque music – one that blends European-style harmonies with rhythms and percussion from Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The performances, by the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, focus on Latin American Baroque. The program will explore on the writings and music of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, an artist who lived in Mexico in the 1600s.

University of Denver musicologist and viola da gamba player Zoe Weiss will lead the concerts at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Denver. Zoe talked with host Erin O’Toole about why she’s eager to play this music in Colorado.

* * * * *

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.

Visitors to Colorado ski resorts can ride to the top of the mountain in a sleek gondola, or take a high-speed, four-person chairlift.  

Or, if they head to one of the state’s smallest resorts, they can ride up in a trailer pulled by a snowcat. 

Cuchara Mountain Ski Park in southern Colorado operates on weekends without a functioning ski lift, and serves just a few dozen skiers per day. They charge $40 for a daily pass when many of their gigantic competitors charge more than $200.  

Cuchara recently received a $250,000 grant from the state to help with operating costs. 

We wanted to know more about how a small, nonprofit ski resort sustains itself in a state where behemoth ski resorts are the norm. Ken Clayton is with the Panadero Ski Corporation that manages Cuchara. He talked with Erin O’Toole about why he believes the place has a bright future and what makes it special.

* * * * *

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.

You may have heard the recent news of a scandal involving state lab technicians who falsified some test results of drinking water. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment suspended further testing for now, saying the results couldn’t be trusted.  

You may also have heard about bogus test results in monitoring for water contamination near oil and gas wells around the Front Range.   

On top of that, you might also recall hearing about tainted DNA test results at the state crime laboratory earlier this year. The issue potentially may have affected hundreds of criminal cases.  

Colorado has multiple investigations into mishandling of data at several state labs.  These scandals might make you wonder if you should be concerned about your health and safety.  

“The thing that really connects them is that they all involve some element of science, and some element of the scientific process being subverted,” says John Ingold, reporter with The Colorado Sun who focuses on health and healthcare coverage.  

He’s been following these stories and joined host Erin O’Toole to offer some answers, and a bit of reassurance. 

* * * * *

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.

When it’s time to get a good night’s rest, women have it harder than men. Women are more likely than men to have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

But the treatments that doctors prescribe for sleep disorders, like medication or different bedtime routines, may be based more on data about male sleep patterns than female sleep patterns.  

That's a key takeaway from a new study out of the University of Colorado. The findings could eventually lead doctors to rethink how they treat sleep problems -- especially in women. 

Rachel Rowe is Assistant Professor of Integrative Physiology at CU, and she worked on the study. Rowe joined Erin O’Toole to explain her research and how sleep medicine as we know it may be short-changing women who experience sleep problems.

* * * * *

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.

Have any of your New Year’s resolutions included to live a happier life this year? If you said yes, one recent study suggests you’re probably not alone.  

Americans feel less happy than in previous years, according to the recent World Happiness Rep, which collects data on happiness from countries around the world every year. The U.S. finished 23rd, behind countries like Kuwait and Slovenia.  

So we wanted to find some expert advice on how to be happy in 2025. Luckily, the University of Colorado has its own happiness expert. Dr. June Gruber is Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at CU Boulder and she teaches a class on happiness.  

Erin O’Toole talked with Gruber to get her best advice on being happy. She said it starts with shifting your perspective a little. 

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.

The start of a new year often involves making changes in pursuit of a healthier life.  For many of us, that means fewer processed foods, more veggies, and – maybe – a few more trips to the gym.   

Or perhaps your resolution is to work on relationships – to make new friends or reconnect with existing ones. After all, friendships are a key part of our well-being. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says loneliness is an epidemic that harms mental health and even physical health.   

But what’s the best way to make friends? How do you rekindle a relationship that’s gone quiet? And how do you nurture your current friendships?   

For answers, we reached out to Natalie Pennington, assistant professor of communication studies at Colorado State University. She studies the importance of friendship in our lives, and co-leads the American Friendship Project, an ongoing study of the state of connectedness in the U.S. 

She joined host Erin O’Toole to share practical tips on how to build new friendships – or reconnect with friends we haven’t seen in a while. 

* * * * *

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.

When someone dies nowadays, their online accounts and social media profiles can become a poignant online memorial. Or sometimes, those accounts can become a hassle for grieving loved ones.   

For many people who have recently lost someone, knowing what to do with a loved one’s online accounts is a mystery.  Sometimes an account gets deleted by the organization that manages them. Sometimes the account gives the impression that the dead person is still alive. Or th account might simply sit unused.  

A new clinic set up by a University of Colorado researcher provides guidance and aid in handling digital accounts after someone passes away. It’s a free help desk called the Digital Legacy Clinic. Professor Jed Brubaker founded the clinic and oversees its operation. 
 

Brubaker joined Erin O’Toole to discuss the unusual task of managing our online accounts for after we’re gone. He said it’s a reflection of how we mourn in a more digital age. 

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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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 teachers say their students are missing something that helps determine their academic success. Call it grit.  

If a student who struggles with math studies hard and performs well on their math test, that’s grit. If they complete a homework assignment that was tough to finish, that's also grit.   

Erica Breunlin covers education for The Colorado Sun. Since the pandemic, she says teachers have told her they’re seeing less grit in the classroom. And that’s leading to lower test scores for K-12 students.  

Breunlin recently wrote about grit, and the strategies some educators and parents have developed to build more of it in their kids. She joined host Erin O’Toole to share what she learned.

* * * * *
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
Producer: Ariel Lavery
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.