Nell London

The San Luis Valley produces more fresh potatoes than anywhere in the U.S. other than Idaho. And farmers here are welcoming a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Mexico. It cleared the way for them to sell potatoes in there. But they’re also skeptical, because the court decision is just the latest round in a trade dispute that has dragged on nearly two decades.

In Rocky Mountain National Park, they’ve discovered a new plant species. The Wishbone Moonwort is small and fern-like. Among the botanical sleuths, crawling on their hands and knees to find this, was Steve Popovich, a Forest Service botanist who recently retired.

“Simultaneously inspiring and terrifying.” That’s how University of Colorado Boulder professor Marcus Holzinger describes the traffic, and the trash, in space right now. He testified this month about the danger this poses and possible solutions at the first Space and Science Subcommittee chaired by Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper.

People with dementia have been hit hard in the pandemic. In Colorado, deaths among this population are up nearly a quarter. The toll on caregivers is incalculable. Amelia Schafer, head of the Colorado Alzheimer’s Association, joins us along with Jay Kephart of Denver, who cares for her husband at home.

Two astronauts from Colorado will help launch the next missions to the Moon, missions that include sending the first WOMAN to walk on the Moon by 2024. Matthew Dominick from Wheat Ridge and Jessica Watkins from Lafayette are part of the newly announced Artemis team. Ryan spoke with them in January when they graduated as NASA’s newest class of astronauts.

“Flash bangs” are a military tool — a stun grenade that makes loud noise and light. John Chapman of Denver used them in the Marines. Now that he’s out of the service, he’s using his experience to make a better one. His company, Liberty Dynamic, is getting help from a business incubator for veterans called Bunker Labs. Hark Herold is the regional director. We spoke in 2019.