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.

The Colorado Drug Bust That Wasn’t; Suicide Rocks Climbing Community

DEA investigators in Denver believed they had an open and shut case; a drug company they thought played a role in the opioid crisis. But in the end, they say the company got only a slap on the wrist. What that means for the fight against opioids. Then, films that came out of Colorado this year. And, the new head of public health at the CU School of Medicine is an air quality expert. He plans to make things better. Also, we remember a Colorado mountain climber who was “an uncensored soul.”

Hickenlooper On Tax Plan, Me Too; New Appointee On Colorado’s Supreme Court

In our monthly interview, Gov. John Hickenlooper says CHIP — the health insurance program for poor kids and pregnant moms– shouldn’t be used as a bargaining chip. Hickenlooper, and other governors — from both parties — are lobbying Congress for the program’s reauthorization. He also discussed what he found when he looked into complaints in his own executive branch in the wake of the Me Too movement. Then, the impact new appointee Melissa Hart might have on the Colorado Supreme Court.

Doping In The Olympics; Cracking The Gender Pay Gap

With the Russian team banned from the Olympics in South Korea, we talk with the head of the sports governance center at the University of Colorado about whether the Games’ governing body is finally getting serious about doping. Then, a major Colorado employer says it’s nearly cracked the gender pay gap. And, RTD tries to explain delays with its commuter rail lines.