Behind the Stories, the first podcast from 5280, will take listeners—you guessed it!—behind the stories that appear in 5280 magazine and on 5280.com. Each episode, hosted by editorial director Geoff Van Dyke, will feature editors and writers from 5280 discussing articles they’ve been working on and giving readers insight into how these stories come together.
Listen to Behind the Stories Now
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Episode 19: The Charming, Eccentric, Blessed Life of Lee Maxwell
Ninety-four-year-old Lee Maxwell lives in Eaton and owns a Guinness-world-record-holding washing machine museum. When his wife of 71 years recently died, Maxwell was left to ponder what his new life would look like—and if anyone, besides him, cares about his singular collection. Robert Sanchez joins the pod to discuss Maxwell and his extraordinary life.
Episode 18: Meet the Local Nonprofit Responsible for Nearly Every Trail on Colorado’s Fourteeners
The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI) has built sustainable routes on 36 14,000-foot peaks in the past 30 years. Lindsey King joins the pod to discuss the history of CFI, the challenges of building trails on 14,000-foot mountains, and the future of access to these prized Centennial State peaks.
Episode 17: The Enduring Legacy of Colorado’s All-Woman Professional Baseball Team
Thirty years ago, the barnstorming Colorado Silver Bullets women’s baseball team played its first season to national fanfare. Three decades later, the players have moved on in their lives, even as their legacy is still being written. Robert Sanchez joins the pod to discuss the Silver Bullets’ legacy.
Episode 16: Meet the Con Artist Who Deceived the Front Range Tech Community
When Aaron Clark disappeared from Colorado, he left hundreds of thousands of dollars unaccounted for. His employees, contractors, and investors are still wondering who he really was—and where he is today. Chris Walker joins the pod to reveal who Aaron Clark really is.
Episode 15: Did bad fire science send Tim and Deb Nicholls to prison?
Twenty years ago, a house fire killed three children. Prosecutors used spurious science to convict Tim and Deb Nicholls of murder. Do they deserve a new trial? Robert Sanchez joins the pod to discuss his feature on the case.
Episode 14: Inside the local gravel biking boom, and the Colorado-based effort to create a federal office of outdoor recreation
Everything you need to know about gravel biking in Colorado, plus Denverite Luis Benitez’s push to open an office of outdoor recreation in Washington, D.C.
Episode 13: The Deion Sanders experiment at CU Boulder starts now. PLUS, learn how to sail in Colorado.
We give you the inside story on CU Boulder’s big bet on Deion Sanders, and everything you need to know if you want to start sailing on Colorado’s lakes and reservoirs.
Episode 12: The Casa Bonita Reopening Megasode!
We’re talking all things Casa Bonita in this episode! The pink palace partially reopened on June 23, so here we dive into the restaurant’s new menu and reveal what Trey Parker and Matt Stone said in an interview with 5280 about the (very expensive) journey they’ve taken as Casa Bonita’s newest owners.
Episode 11: Denver’s cooling real estate market, and more!
Inside Denver’s cooling real estate market; the truth about sports betting in Colorado; and the story of a trucker’s kidnapping, a suspicious ransom, and an Aurora family’s perilous quest for justice.
Episode 10: Things every Colorado kid should do. PLUS: Inside Denver’s new vinyl record pressing plant.
Episode 10 of Behind the Stories highlights some of the coolest things Colorado kids can do this summer—and beyond, and Vinyl Me, Please’s forthcoming record pressing plant in RiNo.
Episode Nine: Denver’s food truck scene, and more!
Episode nine of Behind the Stories features a look at the booming food truck scene in Denver, and the inside story of why Arvada Police shot and killed a man who’d prevented a mass shooting.
Episode Eight: Denver distilleries, A-Basin’s big business move, and the future of Larimer Square
Episode eight of Behind the Stories features a discussion on some of our favorite distillery tasting rooms in and around Denver; how A-Basin has become more profitable by having fewer people on its slopes; and how Larimer Square could change under new ownership.
Episode Seven: Dry January, permaculture, and why some millennials are leaving Denver
Episode seven of Behind the Stories features a discussion on why Dry January has gotten so big, plus tips and tricks for participating; the permaculture pioneer living on Basalt Mountain; and why some millennials are deciding that the Mile High City is just too expensive.
Episode Six: Backcountry skiing, the fentanyl crisis, and a murder mystery
Episode six of Behind the Stories features a discussion on how to safely get into backcountry skiing; the fentanyl crisis in metro Denver; and the untold story of how a Black Denver man in the Army died in a small Texas town in 1942.
Episode Five: The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
Episode five of Behind the Stories is all restaurants all the time as we discuss this year’s 25 Best Restaurants feature.
Episode Four: The housing shortage in Breckenridge, leaf peeping in electric vehicles, and the future of downtown Denver
Episode four of Behind the Stories features a discussion on the housing shortages in Breckenridge and Summit County; how you can see fall foliage in an electric vehicle; and the future of downtown Denver as the city emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Episode Three: Rare diseases in Colorado, the battle over the herb oshá, and disc golf
Episode three of Behind the Stories features a discussion on how rare diseases are treated in Colorado; the battle over the herb oshá, which has healing properties and only grows at high elevations in parts of southwest Colorado and the Rocky Mountains; and a primer on the burgeoning sport of disc golf.
Episode Two: Top of the Town and more!
Episode two of Behind the Stories features the 2022 installment of 5280‘s Top of the Town package—the magazine’s celebration of life in Denver—and dives into two stories about the Marshall fire recovery roughly half a year after the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history ripped through Boulder County.
Episode One: Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, and more!
Episode one of Behind the Stories features a discussion about the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, a lesser-known wilderness area that straddles the Colorado/Wyoming border; an in-depth look at Denver novelist Kali Fajardo-Anstine on the eve of the release of her debut novel, Woman of Light; and a conversation about the booming aerospace industry here in Colorado.
