In The NoCo

Fear. Anxiety. Shame. And a horde of colorful, crocheted monsters. 

It’s all part of a new exhibit at the Denver Art Museum that asks visitors to confront some uncomfortable emotions. 

Denver artist Sadie Young has created cuddly and soft monsters with vivid colors and big eyes. And they’re all crocheted out of thousands of yards of yarn. Some are large enough for visitors to step inside.  

The exhibit, called The Tangled Self, draws on both her artistic experience and her educational background in psychology, particularly the concept of the shadow self. 

Sadie is also the founder and creative director of Spectra Art Space, which specializes in immersive installations. She joined Erin O’Toole to talk about her new exhibit at the DAM, the inspiration behind the creatures, and how she got started with crocheting. 

* * * * *
 
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 goo and gunk you find in your dishwasher, or in the drip tray underneath your refrigerator, could hold secrets to fighting climate change or reducing pollution. 

That’s according to James Henrickson, a research scientist from Colorado State University. He says your hot water heater, washing machine, and shower are similar to hot springs or volcanic vents on the ocean floor. James studies creatures that can survive in these harsh environments.  

James has traveled the world in search of these organisms, which scientists call extremophiles. Extremophiles can survive by consuming carbon dioxide or toxic chemicals.  

So, James is on a search for new extremophiles that might make the planet healthier. He started a campaign with CitSci, an organization that lets citizen scientists upload their observations and share them with researchers.  

James joined Erin O’Toole to talk about how the public might be able to help in the search and why he sees potential in these creatures.

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 effects of post-partum depression or anxiety can be debilitating. Research shows one in five mothers experience post-partum mental health challenges after childbirth. 

And that number is even higher for Latina mothers living in the United States. Nearly half of them experience post-partum mental health issues. 

But organizers of a unique research program based at the University of Colorado Boulder say they’ve successfully reduced postpartum depression for hundreds of mothers – with an emphasis on helping Latinas, including immigrants. They did it by providing peer support to new moms from women who’ve had similar struggles in the past. The program is called Alma, and it recently reached its 10th anniversary. Organizers plan to expand the program with an online version beginning this summer. 

Professor Anahi Collado is a clinical psychologist who helps train mothers to become peers in the Alma program. She joined Erin O’Toole to talk about the program, and why its creators saw a need for something that helped immigrants and other Latina mothers.

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.

Manipulating the clouds to make it rain or snow sounds like something straight out of science fiction. But in reality, the technology behind cloud seeding is decades old, going back to the 1940s. 

The science of cloud seeding got some new attention recently after lawmakers ordered the Government Accountability Office to look into the technology as water becomes a more precious resource in the U.S. That report says cloud seeding shows promise, but more research is probably needed before we make it part of any serious federal policies. 

So, as drought continues to be a problem for the Colorado River Basin, some experts wonder if it’s time to look more seriously at cloud seeding’s potential.  

KUNC’s in-house water reporter Alex Hager spoke with Erin O’Toole in February about what he’s learned about how cloud seeding might help the Colorado River basin. We’re listening back to that conversation today. 

For more on the Colorado River, check out KUNC’s award-winning podcast Thirst Gap.

* * * * *

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 few weeks back, Boulder Reporting Lab published an unusual article.  

The writer, Simon Testa, told his story using data and statistics to wrestle with the risk associated with a type of rock climbing called scrambling.  

Simon lives in Boulder, and scrambling is his favorite hobby. He even wrote a scrambling guidebook. He climbs up huge rock walls without climbing ropes. He has made hundreds of ascents without ropes over the past decade.  

But scrambling is also risky. After two tragic accidents last year, Simon dug into records of 16 people who died while scrambling on the Flatirons –  those towering rock formations outside Boulder.  

Simon told In the NoCo’s Brad Turner about what he discovered in the data, and how he approaches scrambling differently 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.

It's a precarious moment for public media. The Trump administration has declared it wants to end federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – which supports stations that carry programs from NPR and PBS.  

If you’re wondering where all of that leaves a local station like KUNC or The Colorado Sound, we’re actually trying to figure that out too. 

So today, we’re sharing what we know so far. In The NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Mike Arnold, the Chief Audience and Content Officer for KUNC and The Colorado Sound. Last week, he and about 190 other leaders from NPR members stations around the country met in Washington, D.C. to talk about this moment of uncertainty for public radio. And they asked lawmakers to continue supporting public media. 

   
* * * * *
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 Colorado Rockies have some of the most loyal fans in all of baseball. And that might be part of their problem. 

The Rockies are off to their worst start of any team in Major League Baseball’s modern history. And yet the fans still show up.  

It's been the story of the Rockies for years: The team struggles. The fans keep coming. And the steady ticket sales mean ownership has little incentive to build a better team 

So what’s behind the uncommonly loyal baseball fans here in Colorado? And are they starting to lose patience this season?  

To find out, we turned to Kevin Simpson of the Colorado Sun. He’s been a season ticket holder since the Rockies’ first season in 1993 – and he’s written about why the fans stick around even as the Rockies have one bad season after the next.

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.

Each spring, the Front Range endures miller moth season. Even in relatively mild years, the tiny, winged visitors enter our homes, annoy us and even frighten us.   

But they’re also fascinating.  

So, we talked with Karim Gharbi – an insect expert and horticulture specialist with Colorado State University Extension – to unpack the mysteries of the miller moths.   

Where do the moths come from? Where do they go when they leave? Are they dangerous to our clothing or food? And why do our pets seem to enjoy chomping on them?   
  
Gharbi spoke with Erin O’Toole last spring and offered some surprising answers to these questions and more.  We’re listening back to that conversation today. 

* * * * *
 
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’s mountain passes and great weather make it a destination for competitive cyclists. But the history of professional cycling races in Colorado is a rocky one.   

Races like the Colorado Classic, the Coors Classic, and The USA Pro Cycling Challenge have all come and gone over the years. 

So, we were intrigued when an events company recently announced plans to create the Tour of Colorado – a five-day men’s road biking race through the Rockies that will attract worldclass cycling teams. The first edition would be held in September 2026. And organizers recently received encouragement from Gov. Jared Polis, who praised the plan. 

Betsy Welch is a freelance writer who reported on the proposal for the Colorado Sun. She spoke from her home in Carbondale with Erin O’Toole  about whether this new proposal looks promising and why professional road racing in Colorado has been so hard to sustain.

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 an abundance of mountains named after famous men – think Long’s Peak, Mount Wilson, or Pikes Peak. 

Since childhood, Sarah Hahn Campbell has been fascinated by the people behind place names. But she discovered little to no information on peaks, lakes or trails named after women.  

So, in 2017, the Denver-based author and high school teacher set out to research the mysterious women behind the names of some of Colorado’s landmarks. 

That culminated in Sarah's new book, Her Place on the Map: 18 Women and the Colorado Wonders Named for Them. It’s part trail guide and part history lesson, exploring 18 Colorado trails, mountains and lakes, while highlighting the stories of the women for whom these places were named. 

She spoke with Erin O’Toole about the book, and how challenging it was to learn about the real women behind the names. 

Sarah will discuss the book and share some of her favorite local hikes at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Wolverine Farm in Fort Collins. 

* * * * *

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.