Nathan Fernando-Frescas

Senior Host, All Things Considered

@heffeln[email protected]

Nathan Fernando-Frescas (Heffel) is a host for All Things Considered on CPR News.

Professional background:
Nathan returned to Colorado Public Radio in 2022, bringing years of on-air experience with radio stations across Colorado. From 2015 to 2018, he was a host and producer for CPR News' daily interview show, Colorado Matters. In 2018, he left CPR to work as an editor for NPR’s All Things Considered in Washington, D.C., before returning to Colorado to become the station manager for KRVG FM, a commercial music station in Western Colorado. Nathan was a host and reporter for KUNC in Greeley, Colo., with an emphasis on coverage of transportation, public infrastructure and LGBT issues. Prior to that, he was news manager for KUVO and began his radio career as an assistant producer for KYGO, both Denver stations.

Nathan's work has been featured on national and international radio shows including PRI's The Takeaway, NPR's Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, All Things Considered, Here and Now, and ABC's Victoria Statewide Drive. In print, The Denver Post, U.S. News and World Report and numerous other local newspapers around Colorado.

Education:
Bachelor’s degree in government, Lawrence University.

Awards:
Nathan's work in journalism has been recognized by the Associated Press, the Colorado Broadcasters Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and Public Radio News Directors Incorporated.

Colorado Matters

Meet A Developer Who Says Gentrification Doesn’t Have To Mean Displacement

Denver developer Kyle Zeppelin says he is not a typical urban developer, “an industry that’s gotten a little bit tainted.” We’ve asked teachers and others to tell us about how they’re innovating in their classrooms, and more than 40 of them weighed in. Lyons printmaker Bud Shark’s work appears at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Met. His archive’s moving to CU-Boulder. And the U.S. Navy’s newest attack submarine, the USS Colorado, will go into service Saturday.
By Nathan Fernando-Frescas
News

School Active Shooter Drills: Do They Help Anyone Feel Safer?

Jazmin Araujo thinks every day about how she’d keep herself and her younger brother safe if someone with a gun stormed their school, Bruce Randolph School. There are regular safety drills, but dies anyone feel safer? Then, Colorado’s prison population predicted to grow. Will money follow? And, who are the victims of human trafficking in Colorado, and is enough being done to stop these crimes?
By Nathan Fernando-Frescas
Colorado Matters

What It Feels Like To Live Through A School Shooting, And The Aftermath

The school shooting in Florida last week in which 17 people died broke Avery Griggs’ heart, because she lived through the Arapahoe High School shooting. Then, getting the word out to non-citizens about deportation dangers around working in the weed business. What it takes to resurrect and redevelop relics from Colorado’s sugar beet gold rush days. And we get a sneak peak inside Google’s new Boulder campus.
By Nathan Fernando-Frescas
Colorado Matters

What’s Next For The Lucrative Outdoor Industry In Colorado?

Luis Benitez, director of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, talks about what’s next for the outdoor industry. Forget the Gold Rush, what about the White Gold Rush in the late 1800s? Also, Thousands of immigrants detained in Aurora move forward with claims they were forced to work for little or no money. And Lois Fink of Fort Collins lost her colon to Chron’s disease. She writes about her new life in “Courage Takes Guts.”
By Nathan Fernando-Frescas
Colorado Matters

Did VA Officials Mislead Congress About The Aurora Hospital?

The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs oversight committee has more questions about the VA hospital under construction in Aurora. Then, a Boulder company’s app lets workers award small bonuses to their peers. We’re launching a cooking tour of Colorado. First stop: Denver’s Hop Alley. And, ‘We’ll Meet Again’ on PBS reunites a civil rights activist with her former colleague’s family.
By Nathan Fernando-Frescas
Colorado Matters

Can Colorado Move Electric Cars Into The Fast Lane?

This could be the year of the electric car. At least that’s what people are saying in the Economist, Wired, and on CNN. Are we there yet? Then, a $50 million dollar adult funhouse from Santa Fe called Meow Wolf is coming to Denver in the next couple years. What’s it all about? And, We’ll talk to the band Lost Walks about their gothic concept album that started as a Disney-type musical.
By Nathan Fernando-Frescas