City Cast Denver

When Pastor Ryan Canaday confessed his alcoholism to his congregation back in 2013, he was shocked by the outpouring of love and stories from others who were on their own journeys of recovery. It was that experience that eventually led him and his wife Tami Canaday — a former climber on the corporate coffee ladder — to build their own community around coffee and recovery. Host Bree Davies sits down with the Canadays to talk about how the “gift of desperation” led them to start a non-profit, a coffee roasting company, Wagon Coffee, and now their very own coffee shop — all to help normalize and support people in recovery from alcoholism. The Canadays have been hosting support groups virtually every Saturday at 7 p.m. throughout the pandemic, and they are excited to return to in-person meetings this Saturday, December 4, at 2122 S. Lafayette St. Find all the details here.For more on the Canadays, here’s the 303 Magazine piece where we first heard about them.Don’t miss another newsletter fresh in your inbox every weekday! https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Yeah yeah, don’t worry, we’re on Twitter too: @citycastdenver

We may have yet to see snow on the ground, but artist Lonnie Hanzon has successfully captured the feeling of Christmas in his annual immersive installation, Camp Christmas. Lonnie’s work is kitschy, but not cynical; it’s over-the-top, but not obnoxious. This year, he’s transformed the entire 15-building campus at Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park into a lavish and sparkling winter wonderland, complete with neon trees, glitter horses, rainbow chandeliers, and psychedelic sheep. City Cast Denver host Bree Davies caught up with Lonnie Hanzon to learn all about the creation of Camp Christmas and how he captured the feeling of the season in this beautiful, interactive landscape. Camp Christmas is in partnership with the DCPA and the city of Lakewood. It runs until Jan. 2, 2022 and you can buy tickets by clicking here. Get more local Christmas info via the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Tell us your favorite Denver Christmas traditions on twitter: @citycastdenver

What’s the best part of any good local bookstore? The staff recs! Duh. We love those colorful little handwritten notes on the shelf pointing us to that next page-turner. So as holiday shopping gets under way, we invited two of Tattered Cover’s book buyers to come on the show and share some of their favorites of the year. City Cast Denver host Bree Davies sits down with Jeremy Patlen and Kathy Baum to talk through Tattered Cover’s 2021 Books of The Year and give us a little behind-the-shelf insight into how these recommendations happen. Find links to all the books mentioned and the full list right here: https://www.tatteredcover.com/2021-books-yearAnd for even more on The Holly: Five Bullets, One Gun, and The Struggle to Save an American Neighborhood, check out our interview with author Julian Rubinstein and Terrance Roberts, the former gang member-turned-anti-gang activist at the heart of Rubinstein’s book: https://open.spotify.com/episode/55BtBvCfcJZ52TJB34sKbv?si=67eb748add9b4bc9Wanna help Capitol Hill Books rebuild after a truck drove through their front window? Here’s a link to their GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/t2b6z-help-capitol-hill-books-rebuildFor more local shopping inspiration, be our inbox buddy! https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/What was your favorite book of the year? Shout it out and tag us @citycastdenver

We’re taking the rest of the week off to be with friends and family, so please enjoy this re-run of one of our favorite episodes of the year. We took out the bleeps and added back some of the good stuff that didn’t make it onto the plate last time. Enjoy!Here’s our original description for this episode: So what exactly is Denver-style Mexican food? How do we differentiate our particular brand of Mexican food? (Hint: We’re talking green chile. On everything.) Food writer Gustavo Arellano and Westword editor and Den-Mex super fan Patty Calhoun break down where it came from, what we need to do to protect it, and what makes Den-Mex so special.Warning: Side effects of this episode may include a growling stomach and watering mouth.Subscribe to our morning newsletter for more Denver news, and follow us on Twitter @citycastdenver.

After suffering a stroke in 2019, Kristen Aguirre was let go from her dream job at 9News. Her colleagues supported her recovery. The station even broadcast her story of recovery on World Stroke Day. But behind the scenes, she says management made it clear: they didn’t want her on TV anymore. Host Bree Davies sits down with Aguirre to talk about what happened, why she’s now suing 9News for racial and disability-related discrimination, and why it is so important for her to bring her experience with disability and discrimination to light.Read the details of Kristen Aguirre’s case via original reporting from The Denver Post: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/11/11/kristen-aguirre-sues-9news-discrimination/Peyton’s been cooking up some good stuff over at the City Cast Denver newsletter, which you can subscribe to here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Say hello on Twitter: @citycastdenver

For the last 20 months, the fate of Casa Bonita has been uncertain. Would Denver’s original “immersive experience” survive a pandemic, not to mention a bankruptcy? Things were looking up when Matt Stone and Trey Parker (you know, the guys who created South Park) announced they were purchasing CB. But optimism quickly turned to skepticism and hardcore fans wondered: Was our landmark of kitsch and fun in danger of being changed forever? Turns out, things are changing. But it sounds like… for the better? Last week, news broke that Parker and Stone have hired renowned chef Dana Rodriguez, the culinary visionary behind hit restaurants like Super Mega Bien and Work & Class, to improve the food. Host Bree Davies called up the chef to find out what, exactly, she has planned for CB 2.0. Subscribe to the Casa Bonita Podcast…er, City Cast Denver newsletter:  https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Tell us your hopes and dreams for CB on Twitter: @citycastdenver

These days, it seems like the Casa Bonita news faucet never turns off. This week, the new owners Matt Stone and Trey Parker (ever heard of ‘em??) announced that renowned Denver chef Dana Rodriguez would be taking over the CB kitchen. The internet all but imploded and so did the City Cast Denver team. So producer Xandra McMahon, host Bree Davies, and newsletter writer Peyton Garcia are on the show today to talk through those reactions and nervous feelings. Plus, Peyton has a curated restaurant recommendation to get you through your weekend. For more about chef (and possible future mayor) Frank Bonanno, he was one of our very first guests when we launched this show back in March. You can hear that episode right here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5w7mP3I6DQ8P7fZk5OMSCF?si=00ddd5163eec485dGet Peyton’s Plate in your inbox on Fridays! And a healthy digest of news and cool events throughout the week: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

The Bookies has been an institution in Denver for decades. Tucked away inside a nondescript Glendale strip mall, the bookstore has served generations of curious young readers and helped teachers curate their classrooms affordably for more than 50 years. But in July, the bookstore lost its owner and steward, Sue Lubeck — and the fate of the quirky bookseller was unknown. Enter Nicole Sullivan, owner of BookBar across town. Host Bree Davies sat down with The Bookies’ new owner to talk about her plans for the beloved Denver staple. Plus, we chatted with one of The Bookies’ many longtime employees about how Sue Lubeck’s kindness was so infectious. Get more news delivered to your inbox every weekday by signing up for the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Share your Bookies memories with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

It’s no secret that Denver’s a pretty expensive place to live these days. But there’s hope — in recent years, voters have approved measures to help ease the burden of high housing costs. Still, there’s a lot of mystery around how, exactly, affordable housing gets built in Denver. Today on the show, Host Bree Davies speaks with developer Kimball Crangle of Gorman & Company, who has built affordable housing all over Colorado, to explain how it works, why it's important, and how you can help.Also: Denver recently proposed a new affordable housing policy. The Department of Community Planning and Development has a whole mess of documentation for Denverites to dig through, plus dates and times for open houses and focus groups to talk about the proposal, if you’re into that sort of thing: https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Community-Planning-and-Development/Denver-Zoning-Code/Text-Amendments/Affordable-Housing-ProjectThe first announced changes to Casa Bonita are here! Read the latest in our daily City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Chat with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Way back in the spring of 2019, Denver became the first American city in the country to decriminalize psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, with 50.56% of voters in favor. That left many Denverites worried about where decriminalization could lead — like Jeff Hunt, who said this to CBS4: “What I’m afraid we’re going to see happen now is people go, ‘Denver is a place where I’m not going to get prosecuted, so we’re going to increase the use of these drugs.’” Well, Jeff, the first batch of numbers are in! Today on the show, host Bree Davies sits down with Kevin Matthews, the former West Point cadet who led the decriminalization campaign. He’s been working with the city to monitor the situation and last week he presented a report and some interesting recommendations for next steps to City Council. To see Matthews’ whole presentation to City Council last week, click here: http://denver.granicus.com/player/clip/14561?view_id=180&redirect=trueFor more on the push toward legalization across the country, Matthews was quoted in this recent New York Times piece about veterans leading the charge: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/health/veterans-psychedelics-ptsd-depression.html?referringSource=articleShareSubscribe to our newsletter for more news and cool events! https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Follow our twitter account for nonsense and memes! @citycastdenver