Colorado Matters

An organizer of the Women’s March on Denver was pleasantly surprised by Saturday’s turnout, but knows it won’t be easy to create a sustained movement. Then, a discussion on the future of underground art spaces in Denver after two venues were closed. Plus, protesters hope to shut down a talk by Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulus at CU Boulder this week. We meet a student who invited Yiannopolus to campus.

The day before Donald Trump’s inauguration, high school students from across the state talk about their hopes and concerns, and what responsibility they feel toward their country and community. Then, artists take on the topic of religion in a new show in Denver. One piece is a collection of crosses made from everyday objects like salt shakers and remote controls. And, a Boulder man’s brush with heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali — which took a very stellar turn.

NASA wants to know more about asteroids, which are remnants of an earlier time in the solar system. A Colorado team was just chosen to develop a spacecraft that will spend nearly two decades exploring Trojan asteroids. Then, there’s a new documentary about Clara Brown, a slave torn apart from her children. When Brown was freed, she came to Colorado to look for her children and became a successful businesswoman. Plus, Troy Walker got his law degree from the University of Denver and then turned to stand-up comedy. Now, his career is taking off.

The idea that humans could become a multi-planetary species is not as far-fetched as you might think. But where would they go? Sending people to Mars is within the grasp of science today, says Leonard David, an award-winning space journalist from Golden, and the author of “MARS: Our Future on the Red Planet.” Amanda Hendrix, senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Niwot, and co-author of “Beyond Earth: Our Path to a New Home in the Planets,” says Titan, a moon of Saturn, has an accommodating atmosphere. The duo joined Colorado Matters at the University of Denver, along with aerospace engineer Andrzej Stewart, who lived for a year in a NASA-sponsored Mars simulation habitat in Hawaii.

Two Colorado women are headed to Washington, D.C. this week but for very different reasons. One is a Latina Republican who will attend President-Elect Trump’s inauguration. The other, a Democrat, will march in a protest the next day. We’ll hear their thoughts on the next four years. Then, doctors say chronic marijuana users are being afflicted with a disorder that involves uncontrollable dry retching. And, on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a hymn that Dr. King first heard in Denver became one of his favorites. Plus, choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson on growing up in a segregated city.

President Barack Obama put his stamp on Western environmental policy over the last eight years but the Trump administration could reverse many of his policies. And, as the Colorado legislature opened this week, Gov. John Hickenlooper gave his “State of the State” speech…CPR reporters annotated it to fact-check and add context. An editor describes what they found. Then, former Nuggets coach George Karl’s new book, “Furious George,” is making a lot of people mad. Plus, the comedy duo of moms Shayna Ferm and Tracey Tee is billed as “parentally incorrect.”

The agency charged with safeguarding the country’s most cherished public lands has neglected to protect its workers. That’s what High Country News found when it investigated the National Park Service. They uncovered stories of sexual harassment, assault and gender discrimination. Congress has taken note of the story. Then, a new film about a homeless man who died at the hands of deputies in the Denver County jail. The life and death of Marvin Booker. And, author Sean Prentiss went on a quest to find the grave of the creator of the Monkey Wrench Gang, but what he really found were answers to other mysteries.

We get reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s press conference from a Colorado Republican who vowed to stand up to him. Congressman Mike Coffman talks about the future of healthcare, the new VA hospital in Aurora, and Russian meddling in the election. He sits on the House Armed Services Committee which has cybersecurity in its purview. Then, a new CU regent says the University of Colorado system needs more diversity (but she’s not talking about gender or race.) Heidi Ganahl joins us. And, a Denver man has a new comic book that deals with heavy subjects: police shootings and race relations.