For almost 30 years, a little-known program inside a Colorado prison quietly helped wild mustangs find new homes – and helped incarcerated men find new purpose.

The wild horse program at a Cañon City correctional facility paired horses rounded up from Western rangelands with incarcerated people who learned to care for, train, and prepare the horses for adoption.

The project helped the Bureau of Land Management protect the wild horses it oversees. In a news release, the Colorado Department of Corrections says it gave inmates “unique vocational and rehabilitative skills.”

But now, the federal government has announced that it will end the program, citing rising costs.

Colorado Sun reporter Jennifer Brown recently wrote about this unusual collaboration. She joined Erin O'Toole to talk about what the program accomplished, and what’s next for Colorado’s wild horses.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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
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.

Victorian Death Experiences is a Halloween attraction with a historic twist.

The program takes place in the historic home which houses the Center for Colorado Women’s History in Denver. Visitors see rooms decorated for mourning. They hear stories of death in the Old West. And they see fascinating artifacts, like hair jewelry made partly from the hair of a deceased loved one.

Above all, the program highlights the central role that women have traditionally played when a loved one died – preparing bodies for burial, hosting wakes, and other acts that allowed people to mourn at the end of life.

“Death, for Victorian women, was a deep and sacred act. Women, regardless of race or class, have long been the arbiters of life and death,” said Cat Jensen, education coordinator for the center.

Cat spoke with In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole last October about the program, which is now in its third year. We’re listening back to that conversation today.

Victorian Death Experiences takes place on selected Thursday and Friday evenings throughout October. Find more information and tickets here.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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
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.

Denver composer Nathan Hall’s new album of percussion music focuses on some unique instruments: They’re hand-carved from stone and date back several millennia.

Lithophones are polished, resonant rocks shaped like baguettes. Archaeologists say that Indigenous people used the stones somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago near what’s now Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Nathan wrote a series of pieces to be performed on the stones and recorded the music with a Colorado group called Perc Ens. The resulting album, called Gentle Worship, is out now.

Nathan talked with In The NoCo's Erin O’Toole about collaborating with Marilyn Martorano, the Colorado archaeologist who studied the lithophones. The music he wrote combines the ancient stone instruments’ sounds with modern instruments like woodblocks and timpani.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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
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.

When school leaders in Colorado work to prevent shootings and other violent incidents – like the one last month at Evergreen High – they have a tool that officials in many states don’t have.

Under Colorado’s so-called “red flag” law, teachers and other educators are among those who can request that someone’s access to firearms be suspended if they appear to be a threat to themselves or others.

But as Chalkbeat reported recently, there’s little evidence that educators have used this tool in the two years since Colorado lawmakers gave it to them. And that lack of use is striking, given that police say that the shooter at Evergreen High showed warning signs months before he shot two other students, and then died by suicide, using a gun he got from home.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser thinks part of the problem is that teachers don’t know about this tool – or how to use it. So he is launching new training courses for teachers to help them better understand how and when to use what are called Extreme Risk Protection Orders.

Weiser – who is running for governor, but launched this initiative in his current capacity as attorney general – spoke with In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole about why he’s optimistic this new teacher training will make a dent in the problem.

This conversation contains mentions of suicide.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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
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 week ago on the show, we talked about how to stay safe during fall hikes – and more specifically, what to do if you encounter a grumpy, pre-hibernation bear out on the trail.

But plenty of other animals in Colorado can dazzle us with their beauty while keeping us on guard as they fatten up for winter or look for a mate. So today, the In The NoCo team brings you a sequel of sorts: We're talking about how to stay safe if you encounter an elk, moose or bighorn sheep while camping or hiking.

Bridget O’Rourke with Colorado Parks and Wildlife joined Erin O’Toole to explain why the stakes are a bit higher when we venture into a forest or national park this time of year.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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
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.

Taylor Swift seems to be everywhere these days. Her new album drops Friday. Her engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce is all over the news. And if that weren’t enough, she helps teach students at Colorado State University. Sort of.

Spanish for Swiftie Purposes is a course available to students at CSU. It’s been offered once, and the curriculum asks students to hone their skills at translating English into Spanish. They also analyze other people’s translations like a Spanish-language version of Taylor’s song “Fortnight,” performed by the duo Kevin and Karla.

In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole spoke with the professor who created the course, Alyssia Miller de Rutte. Alyssia says she hopes to teach the class again this spring.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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
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.

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

They’re all part of an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum that asks visitors to confront some uncomfortable emotions.

Denver artist Sadie Young 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 Young’s 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 in May to talk about her exhibit at the DAM, the inspiration behind the creatures, and how she got started with crocheting. We’re listening back to that conversation today.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
This episode was produced by Ariel Lavery

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.

Many farmers on Colorado's Eastern Plains face uncertain futures.

They grapple with unpredictable crop prices, extreme weather that spoils harvests, and siblings with different levels of commitment to maintaining the family farm.

In the new fifth season of the award-winning KUNC podcast The Colorado Dream, the show offers a glimpse into the inner workings of a family farm.

The first new episode is in podcast feeds now. Stephanie, who also hosts the show, gave Erin O’Toole a preview of the new season.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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
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.