In The NoCo

Imagine being able to control exactly when the plants in your vegetable garden will ripen. 

New research out of Colorado State University could make that concept a reality. Researchers there have been working to create what they call “genetic toggle switches” embedded in the DNA of plants.  

The researchers plug synthetic DNA into a plant’s genetic material and use it as a switch that tells the plant to ripen, or flower, or grow. 

Professors June Medford and  Ashok Prasad led this research into plant biology and recently published their findings in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology.  

They joined host Erin O’Toole to talk about how these “toggle switches” work, and how the technology might eventually change the produce section at your grocery store.

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Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
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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.

More than 82 million people passed through Denver International Airport last year – and almost none of them noticed the very complicated cleanup project happening right under their noses. 

Airport officials spent $3 million dollars cleaning up toxic chemicals left over from the firefighting foam the airport used on its runways in the past. The foam is full of PFAS – otherwise known as “forever” chemicals – which have been linked to harmful effects in humans.  

DIA recently completed the cleanup project as part of a program created by the state of Colorado to remove forever chemicals from DIA and other sites that use firefighting foam. 

Now that they’ve cleaned up the chemicals and the contaminated firefighting equipment at the airport, there’s a new challenge – figuring out where to dispose of 100,000 gallons of harmful waste from DIA.    

Michael Booth is an environmental writer for the Colorado Sun. He wrote about this cleanup project, and why the chemicals were used in firefighting foam in the first place.   

Listen to a recent In The NoCo interview with a Colorado scientist who’s exploring a promising new way to break down forever chemicals.

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.

Fifty years ago, two men came to the Boulder County courthouse, seeking a license to get married.  

Marriage equality was not the law of the land in 1975. But Clela Rorex, the newly elected Boulder County clerk, could find nothing in Colorado state law that would prevent her from issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple. So, she did. And she issued five more in the next few weeks before she was ordered to stop.  

It was a historic moment in the movement for LGBTQ rights, and her actions made her a hero -- and a target of backlash.  

Mardi Moore is the CEO of Rocky Mountain Equality, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Boulder. She was a friend and colleague of Clela, who died in 2022 at the age of 78.  

During Pride Month, Erin O'Toole spoke with Mardi to learn more about Clela Rorex and that day she made history back in 1975. 

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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
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 has ambitious goals around renewable energy. Gov. Jared Polis is aiming for 100 percent of the energy in the state to come from renewable sources by the year 2040.   

But there’s an obstacle: Colorado doesn’t have enough power lines to deliver all that renewable energy from where it’s produced – often in rural parts of the state – to where it’s needed. A recent study from the state’s Electric Transmission Authority found that Colorado needs at least $4.5 billion in transmission investment over the next decade or two, just to keep up with demand.  

Which is why clean energy advocates and Gov. Polis are intrigued by an unusual business model from a San Francisco-based company called SunTrain.  

The plan involves loading train cars with massive batteries filled with renewable energy. The trains would haul batteries from solar and wind farms in rural areas of Colorado to the cities and towns that need that electricity.  

SunTrain’s President Christopher Smith and CEO Jeff Anderson have been working with Xcel Energy to pilot their idea. They hope to demonstrate the concept in Pueblo in 2026.  

They spoke with Erin O’Toole in March about how “trainsmission” works, and how much of an impact it could have on Colorado’s energy landscape.  

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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
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 Stanley Hotel is a cultural landmark of Estes Park. It was built in the early 1900s, and soon became a popular Colorado getaway for wealthy vacationers.  

But it's perhaps most well-known as the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining. 

Today, the hotel caters to horror fans with ghost tours, while visitors who prefer a calmer vacation enjoy watching herds of elk on the lawn and the perfect view of Longs Peak.  

All of this has made the Stanley Hotel a huge part of Estes Park – and Colorado – culture. And an unusual team of investors and elected officials want to make sure the Stanley survives into the next century.  

Colorado Sun reporter Jason Blevins wrote about the sale of the Stanley Hotel, which was finalized in May. He joined Erin O'Toole to talk about how this arrangement came together, and what the future of this Colorado institution might look like.

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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
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 has been impacted severely by wildfires in recent years. And, as climate change continues to intensify, the threat  is growing. 

Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, recently co-sponsored a sweeping new bill to expand, and speed up, wildfire prevention efforts across the country. It’s called the Fix Our Forests Act.  

It calls for more funding for research to prevent wildfires, the creation of a central wildfire response center for the whole country, and the removal of more dead and diseased trees on federal land.  

It also calls for the time allowed to review or push back on these forest management projects to be much shorter. “The difference is it won't take five years or eight years... People will be able to do it fast enough so that they can really respond to this tinderbox situation we find ourselves in, in of the American West,” Hickenlooper said.  

Some critics have taken issue with the bill. They say it would undermine environmental protections and could lead to more logging.  

Host Erin O’Toole asked Hickenlooper to talk about the bill, address some of that criticism, and talk about why this proposal makes sense now.

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.

A small herd of bison roams the Soapstone Prairie north of Fort Collins. The herd offers a glimpse of what Colorado’s high plains looked like 200 years ago. 

These bison are unique for a few reasons. First, they’re descendants of the herd at Yellowstone National Park. Second, while most bison today carry some cattle DNA, this herd has nearly pure bison genes. That has spiritual significance for many Indigenous tribes.  

The breeding project is based at Colorado State University. It's raised hundreds of bison over the last decade and transferred them to tribes and wildlife organizations.  

Host Erin O’Toole spoke with Jennifer Barfield, a professor and reproductive physiologist at CSU who has been leading the project for the past 10 years. 

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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
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.

A unique legal argument caught our attention recently here at In The NoCo. It’s about rules banning people experiencing homelessness from sleeping in public places in Boulder. 

The recent court filing by the ACLU of Colorado argues that camping is so fundamental to the culture and history of Colorado that cities should not be allowed to punish people who camp in public. 
 
The ACLU of Colorado filed that brief to fight a recent ruling that said the city of Boulder can ticket or arrest people for sleeping outdoors. So-called “camping bans” like the one in Boulder are used by cities across the country. And they’ve been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

So how did the ACLU of Colorado decide to build an argument around the state’s camping culture, and how likely is it to win? 

Host Erin O’Toole spoke with  Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, to talk about why the group wants to end camping bans. 

For more coverage on the recent filing read the Boulder Reporting Lab’s coverage.

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.

Commercial airline travel is one of the safest ways to get around. 

In 2024, around five billion passengers worldwide flew on 40 million flights, according to the International Air Transport Association. In that year there was less than one aircraft-related accident for every million flights in the air. 

In other words, the odds are in your favor when you buy a plane ticket. 

And yet, fear of flying is one of the most common phobias people struggle with. Researchers estimate about 25 million adults in the U.S. suffer from aerophobia, or fear of flying.  

Randi Smith is a professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She studies why air travel provokes such an intense reaction in so many people.  

With the summer travel season about to get underway, she joined Erin O’Toole to share some science-backed strategies to help you, or a loved one, overcome a fear of flying.   

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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
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.

Picture this: It’s a warm summer evening. You’ve got burgers and sweet corn roasting on the grill. And for dessert, homemade cobbler with fresh peaches – picked right off your very own peach tree.  

If you live along the Front Range, you might think the only place you can get sweet, juicy Palisade peaches is at your local farmer's market. But it is possible to grow a peach tree outside of western Colorado, although it’s a bit more challenging than you might expect. 

Jeff Pieper is a horticulture specialist with Colorado State University Extension in Mesa County, on the Western Slope. He’s been on the show before, to discuss the science behind why Palisade peaches taste so incredible.  

He joined Erin O’Toole to walk through some of the pros – and pitfalls – of growing your own peach tree.  

Jeff mentioned lots of other fruit options that are more suited for the Front Range, including apple trees as well as small fruits like strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries and currants.   

Find more info and advice from CSU Extension on growing fruit trees and berries.  

 
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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
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.