City Cast Denver
Join Host Bree Davies and the City Cast Denver crew every weekday morning as we celebrate, explore, and challenge an ever-changing Denver. It’s the daily news podcast for all Denverites — whether you’ve been here for six months or six generations. We’ll break down the news you need (and want) to know with journalists and culture makers; activists and artists; neighbors and ne’er-do-wells — and John Elway, if he ever returns our calls. Learn more and subscribe to our morning newsletter at citycast.fm/denver. *Named Westword's Best Podcast of 2021, 2023
Episodes
It has been almost one year since the first rumors of a Venezuelan gang started circulating in Aurora. A new report from the New York Times Magazine looks back at how those rumors blew up into an election-defining political issue and now unprecedented ICE raids across the Denver metro. So host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi invited outgoing Denver Post immigration reporter Megan Ulu-lani Boyanton to look back at the whole ar...
Mark as Played
July 10, 2025 • 28 mins
Colorado has been a leader in transgender health care and civil rights, but since Trump won back the presidency, this community has been under attack across the country. The question for Denverites and their politicians alike has become: What’s the best way to respond? Representative Brianna Titone of Arvada is Colorado’s first openly trans legislator, and she is on today with host Bree Davies to talk about the federal government’s...
Mark as Played
Battles over bike lanes, the uncertain future of Welton Street’s light rail line, and questions about the historic Rossonian hotel ever reopening again — these debates playing out in Denver’s District 9 are a microcosm of issues happening citywide. Councilman Darrell Watson has been representing this district, which covers neighborhoods from Globeville to South Park Hill, for nearly two years. He joins host Bree Davies and producer...
Mark as Played
July 8, 2025 • 37 mins
There’s been talk about layoffs at the city for weeks, but information on just how many jobs are on the chopping block and when these layoffs are suppose to happen has been vague. One city worker tells us there a lot of concerns internally about how Mayor Mike Johnston has been approaching the city’s budget shortfall. Then, TRVE Brewing is the latest brewery to close up shop. Is South Broadway a victim of its own success? Host Bree...
Mark as Played
July 7, 2025 • 35 mins
Denver’s beloved Colfax Avenue has seen better days… but it’s also seen worse days. The notorious street has been through plenty of ups and downs since it became one of the city’s main thoroughfares back when it was Route 40 — a little bit of bus rapid transit construction isn’t gonna change that! But it is changing a lot. So ahead of our live podcast recording with our sponsors at the Colfax Ave BID this Thursday at Champagne Tige...
Mark as Played
July 3, 2025 • 47 mins
Bree Davies and all 12 other City Cast podcast hosts (from Austin, Boise, Chicago, DC, Houston, Las Vegas, Madison, Nashville, Philly, Pittsburgh, Portland, and Salt Lake City) compete head-to-head in a high-stakes showdown to answer the question that’s been burning up our company-wide Slack for weeks: which city is the best for a summer weekend trip? From naked bike rides to ‘the country’s best farmers market,’ pickle festivals t...
Mark as Played
July 2, 2025 • 27 mins
Huge news for local music lovers broke on Tuesday: The Underground Music Showcase is ending “in its current form” after this year. The festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary later this month with three days of live music and the usual debauchery on South Broadway, and it’s unclear what exactly led to this decision. Host Bree Davies has been hearing from musicians, business owners, promoters, and UMS insiders since the news br...
Mark as Played
New Yorkers shocked the country last week when they picked a Democratic Socialist TikTok star as the Democratic Party’s nominee for mayor. So could a Zohran Mamdani-type phenomenon happen here? Our politics contributor Deep Singh Badhesha joins producer Paul Karolyi and host Bree Davies to talk about how our local politics are different. Plus, a food influencer shared a traumatizing and seemingly racist experience at Morning Story ...
Mark as Played
July 1, 2025 • 33 mins
July is here, and it’s a hot one! From cooling down in the lazy river at Pirate’s Cove to sitting on perfect patio with misters, we’ve put together a fun list of the best ways to enjoy this sweltering summer month in the Mile High.
If you're new here, welcome! We’ve put together a starter pack for you, with episodes and articles to welcome you to the City Cast Denver community.
Come see us live at the Colfax Indie Bash on J...
Mark as Played
June 30, 2025 • 31 mins
When 9News’ Kyle Clark was on the podcast last week talking about Governor Jared Polis’ new proposal to build an elevated pedestrian walkway outside the Capitol, he said that the most telling weakness of the proposal was the fact that no one was making a good argument for it. So we found two people who are really excited about the project to make the case. Host Bree Davies sits down with local AAA spokesperson and Capitol insider S...
Mark as Played
June 27, 2025 • 55 mins
The latest battle in Colorado’s age-old power struggle between the state government and local municipalities played out in Douglas County this week, with surprising results! A vast majority of residents opposed the conservative county commissioners’ bid for “home rule” authority, but what does that vote mean for the rest of the Denver metro area? Former DougCo politics reporter McKenna Harford joins host Bree Davies and one of our ...
Mark as Played
June 26, 2025 • 20 mins
Governor Polis wants to build a bridge — a long winding walkway that will stretch from the steps of the State Capitol, over four lanes of traffic on Lincoln Street, and all the way to Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park. And he wants it built before Colorado’s 150th birthday next summer. But how much will it cost? Who will pay for it? Will it match the classic architecture and City Beautiful Movement-era park design? And does anyone els...
Mark as Played
June 25, 2025 • 28 mins
A local activist group, Rooted in Littleton, recently conducted a survey of more than 1,000 Littleton voters about housing density — and found that 49% of those polled think the city is in a housing shortage. But that same survey found that more than half of respondents oppose increasing housing density. Kyle Schlachter, the mayor of Littleton, took the survey himself, and has a lot of thoughts about preserving the charm of Littlet...
Mark as Played
June 24, 2025 • 25 mins
The Federal Theatre joins Denver’s list of vintage movie palaces turned music venue after the folks behind The Oriental Theater recently announced they were taking over the space. Could this be a new catalyst for more business along this Northside strip? Then, after President Trump complained that his portrait at the state capitol was “truly the worst”, it was removed — but legislators and History Colorado are trying to decide if t...
Mark as Played
June 23, 2025 • 26 mins
A local law firm recently sued Google to have a nasty one-star review removed from their profile, according to BusinessDen. It sounds like a pretty terrible situation, but it reminded us just how powerful the humble user review can be! So today we’re going inside the minds of the people leaving negative reviews for local faves with another round of our famous one-star review game. Quizmaster slash producer Paul Karolyi puts returni...
Mark as Played
June 20, 2025 • 61 mins
City Cast hosts are on the pulse of what’s happening in our communities. So Bree Davies and all 12 other hosts sat down with City Cast CEO David Plotz to talk about creative local problem solving that might work in your hometown too and to commiserate about stressors affecting most of our cities, from unaffordable housing to bike lanes.
Learn more about the sponsors of this June 20th episode:
Xcel Energy
Babbel - Get up to 60% o...
Mark as Played
June 18, 2025 • 24 mins
You know that busted old building down the street? Why does it feel like nothing’s being done about it? Turns out, there are 285 of these derelict or abandoned properties across Denver, and that number is on the rise! Westword’s Catie Cheshire has been reporting on the city’s abandoned buildings issue, and she’s on today with host Bree Davies to talk about some particularly wild stories and break down City Council’s new plan to fix...
Mark as Played
Hundreds of “No Kings” rallies took place across the state over the weekend, with an estimated 20,000 people converging on Civic Center Park for marches and a “People’s Fair” put on by a coalition of progressive organizations. Producer Paul Karolyi was there to witness it all, and he’s on today with host Bree Davies to talk about where all the anti-Trump, anti-ICE energy will go from here. Plus, our local billionaires are negotiati...
Mark as Played
June 16, 2025 • 31 mins
Anti-Trump protests have been escalating in Denver, especially as the president ratchets up his immigration crackdown. While no Waymos have been torched here in the Mile High, there is a still an open question about violence. Eighteen protesters were arrested last Tuesday after a confrontation with police, and one conservative talk show host was kicked. 710KNUS’s Jeff Hunt has been attending protests in Denver all year, and he caug...
Mark as Played
June 13, 2025 • 57 mins
Protestors took to the streets downtown on Tuesday in solidarity with demonstrations in LA over ICE raids, and more protests are planned across the metro over the weekend. But will protesters — and police — keep it peaceful? Then, Mayor Mike Johnston celebrated the “largest multi-year reduction in unsheltered homelessness in American history,” but the data leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Westword editor-in-chief Patty Calhoun...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.