- It's a story of a murder that seems stranger than fiction. In 2012, Toni Henthorn was pushed off a cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park by her husband. And it wasn't the first suspicious death in his past. The case is the subject a new docuseries from ABC News and Hulu called "Wild Crime." Author Caleb Hannan explores that murder in Rocky Mountain National Park in his book, "The Accidents." We spoke in 2018.
- Many people already struggling with anxiety and depression say their problems intensified during the pandemic. Today, we talk about the evolution of ECT or electroconvulsive therapy. Then, school board races get more political. And, a new docuseries explores a murder in the Colorado Rockies. We listen back to an interview with an author who documented the case.
- Many people already struggling with anxiety and depression say their problems intensified during the pandemic. Hannah Wyatt Sultan shares her journey of recovery using ECT or electroconvulsive therapy. Dr. Konoy Mandal is a psychiatrist at UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont. He directs the hospital's ECT unit.
- Hospitalizations for Coloradans with COVID-19 are the highest they've been in nearly a year, although still well below December's peak, Most of those hospitalized are unvaccinated. But there's good news too: case numbers overall are going down. We get an update on where things stand, along with the latest on boosters and flu shots, from two doctors on the frontline of the pandemic.
- Gymnast Simone Biles. Tennis great Naomi Osaka. Basketball player Kevin Love. They've all shined a light on the stress and fear elite athletes face. Meanwhile, more and more colleges and universities are hiring psychologists to improve players' mental health on and off the field, and this awareness is trickling down to younger players in high schools and in youth leagues.
- Rachel Carlson is the co-founder and CEO of Denver-based Guild Education. Her company recently opened a child care center for its employees adjacent to Guild's main office. It's one way companies are working to attract and keep employees.
- Afghan refugees are arriving in Colorado from military bases around the country. Among the first of those refugees arrived this week. An estimated 865 Afghans are expected to arrive in the state in the coming weeks and months. Jaime Koehler Blanchard works with Lutheran Family Services on refugee resettlement. And Dr. Vinh Chung from Colorado Springs shares his perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead; he arrived in the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam more that forty years ago.
- Nurses are the backbone of a hospital. And nurses say the pandemic has led to a staffing crisis. It means the level of patient care just can't be the same. And the nurses who remain risk burning out. The incoming president of the Colorado Nurses Association is Laura Rosenthal, who's a nurse in Metro Denver. The association's Executive Director is Colleen Casper, who is also a nurse. They share their insight and perspective on the realities of what's happening.
- When a doctor, teacher or therapists suspects child abuse, Colorado requires they report their suspicions to authorities. But the person in charge of child protection for the state is worried many are confused about how exactly they're supposed to do that. Recently, child protection ombudsman Stephanie Villafuerte detailed those concerns in a report she released to the public.
- Mirwais Hotak was young when 9/11 happened, but it shaped the trajectory of his life and led him to Littleton, Colorado, where he settled and opened a restaurant.
- The film "Black Ice" follows a group of young people heading from Memphis to Montana to try ice-climbing. But it's really about being young and Black in America today. The film is directed by Zachary Barr with Boulder-based Reel Rock, a documentary production house. Malik Martin is featured in "Black Ice" and helped with cinematography. They spoke with Andrea Dukakis in June.
- A former internment camp in Southeast Colorado that housed Japanese-Americans during World War II is closer to becoming part of the National Park System. The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Thursday supporting that designation for Camp Amache. The vote was 416 to 2.
- An obsession with the Rocky Mountains drives Heather Mateus Sappenfield to write. An obsession not just with the topography but with the people of the Rockies who have to navigate economic, social, and racial disparities. Sappenfield lives in Vail. Her collection of short stories is called "Lyrics for Rock Stars."
- Artist Keith Haring first made his mark with chalk drawings of figures on the walls of New York subway stations. He moved on to large murals in his distinct pop art style. One of his works was a mural painted along the walls of a stairwell in a former youth center in New York. Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art transported the original wall panels to the museum. The museum's director Nora Burnett Abrams took CPR's Andrea Dukakis on a tour.
- The play "Harvey" premiered on Broadway in 1944. Audiences went gaga. It features a man named Elwood Dowd whose best friend is a large rabbit. The catch is: no one but Elwood can see the rabbit. Harvey became a feature film-- starring Jimmy Stewart. Playwright Mary Chase won a Pulitzer Prize for Harvey. She was a life-long Denverite who grew up in a working-class Irish family. There's a new biography of Chase, who died in 1981. It's called "Pulling Harvey Out of Her Hat." Author Mimi Pockross spoke with CPR's Andrea Dukakis.
- Now that summer's officially here, we asked two booksellers for their recommendations for good reads with Western themes or by Colorado authors. Margie Wilson owns Grand Valley Books in Grand Junction and Revati Kilaparti does community outreach for Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins.
