Colorado Matters

New research on the costs and benefits of Colorado’s Medicaid expansion shows more low-income residents are getting health insurance, but it’s come with more than a few surprises. Then, the buyer for the Tattered Cover Book Stores says a kind, young writer from Colorado has written the most terrifying book in recent memory, set in a swanky hotel where, “one by one, the staff is getting murdered.” We get that and other summer reading recommendations — and a few musical ones as well, with a preview of classical concerts and festivals in Colorado this summer.

Resort skiers need to step up avalanche awareness after a court ruling. A Boulder novelist looks at schizophrenia through a child’s eyes. Denver’s signature omelet may have started as a sandwich. A Denver experiment that aided the poor could have international impact . Revisiting a conversation with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Four years after hemp became legal in Colorado, farmers may produce the state’s first industrial crop. A Wyoming writer’s latest Walt Longmire mystery is a ghost story. A man wants help proving his relative didn’t swindle residents of a Jewish immigrant colony near Pueblo. And, Russian novelist Vladmir Nabokov’s love of the West helped inspire “Lolita.”

In the film “Shade,” a then-high school student explores how her classmates stereotype shades of African-American skin. And, triplet sisters who run Boulder’s Shine restaurant have a new cookbook. Also, Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art faces criticism for a photography exhibit. Then, an author’s advice for enjoying Rocky Mountain Park.

A former Fort Carson soldier who tackled a suicide bomber in Afghanistan says he doesn’t deserve his Medal of Honor because he just did what any soldier would. A military chaplain offers advice for ministering to veterans and their families. Then, Denver author Adam Makos tells the story of a Korean War plane crash that brought military men of different races together. And, a sculpture in Idaho Springs depicts an adventurer who never lived.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper talked about major Colorado policy issues and offered up personal stories from his new book when Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner traveled with him to Arapahoe County and Colorado Springs May 20, 2016. Also, artist Wayne Gilbert uses art to ease the symptoms of Parkinson’s.

Some of our favorite recent Colorado Matters interviews about state history include “Colorado Vanguards,” profiles of people who shaped the state. Then, an effort to revive Colorado’s original state song. And, the state historian on some little-known aspects of Colorado’s past.

Scientists are tweaking human reproductive techniques like IVF and surrogacy in a Northern Colorado bison herd to preserve its stellar genetics and eliminate the danger of a deadly disease. Boulder composer Carter Pann was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a whirling, rhythmic piece written for saxophone.