National Public Radio

Film on a Roll

Video: Swagger, Colorado Springs sheep dog, is Westminster Kennel Club's Cinderella story

Can a dog wear a glass slipper? Bugaboo's Picture Perfect, nicknamed "Swagger," nearly did at the Westminster Kennel Club's annual dog show last night. Swagger, who hails from Colorado Springs, nearly set the canine world on its collective ear, coming out of nowhere to challenge for the coveted Best ... More >>

Year in Review: The strangest people and events of 2012

See also: Year in Review: The 2012 Hall of Shame

Unwrapping David Sedaris and The SantaLand Diaries on their twentieth anniversary

"I wear green velvet knickers, a forest green velvet smock, and a perky little hat decorated with spangles. This is my work uniform," David Sedaris said for the first time on NPR's Morning Edition twenty years ago this Christmas. Chronicling his stint as an elf in the madcap Santa Land at Macy's, th ... More >>

Thanks for coming out, America: Are pop culture and politics on the same queer path?

Waking up on November 7, I felt like a million bucks. A million bucks that could breathe again, knowing that my president was still mine, my uterus was in the clear, and so many people had exercised the right to vote. That part, the voting part, was the most exciting, because after months of the imp ... More >>

Meet David Wineland, Boulder-based co-winner of the Nobel Prize for physics

The National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder needs some lessons in publicity. NIST's own David Wineland has just been named co-winner of the Nobel Prize for physics -- an incredibly prestigious honor for Wineland and the facility. Yet at this writing, there's no reference to the awa ... More >>

NPR drinks up New Belgium Brewery's energy policy in pre-debate Fort Collins series

In the build-up to tonight's presidential debate in Colorado, the folks at National Public Radio have been focusing on Fort Collins. The final part of the series, which aired today, focuses on energy policy...and also brewskis, since a significant portion of the segment features New Belgium Brewery' ... More >>

NPR puts Fort Collins in the presidential debate spotlight

Colorado was already getting plenty of spotlight time from national political reporters even before presidential debate week at DU -- but there's even more attention now. Example: An extended piece on National Public Radio's Morning Edition focusing on Colorado's undecided voters -- and specifically ... More >>

Amanda Palmer on being criticized for enlisting fans to perform and paying them in beers, hugs

Update 9/20/12: Local string quartet Per Vita is slated to back Amanda Palmer this Friday at the Gothic Theater. The group reached out to Palmer immediately when she put out the initial call, knowing full well that it was volunteer only. "We didn't care at all," says Laena McDonald. "We play a lot ... More >>

Molly Ringwald on writing and advice she got from Bret Easton Ellis

Molly Ringwald, who comes from a family of voracious readers, started writing as a child -- before she became an '80s teen icon who starred in such John Hughes films as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club -- but says she never really thought she'd publish anything. Last year, thou ... More >>

A Smoking Pistolera

If you're going to watch the Olympics on TV, at least do it at the gym

I often go to the gym to watch television. The primary reason is because, at my commune, the Witch House, we haven't figured out how to hook up the flat-screen we scored in an awesome barter situation (someone we know was going on a "life journey" and had to get rid of all earthly possessions.) But ... More >>

The Worst Moments from SXSW 2012

The last few days, Village Voice Media's indefatigable music staff has been regaling you with stories of the best from SXSW 2012. In the midst of these discoveries, we've been culling another list: the worst shit. The acts that ranged from huge bore-fests to downright lame. Below, you'll find our cr ... More >>

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Wednesday, March 21, Ogden Theatre, 888-929-7849.

kART Across America: Michael Moore offers to help local documentarians

In December, we caught up with Andy Raney and Jeremy Make, the local co-creators of kART Across America, a documentary devoted to their 108-day trek across the United States in a fussy, broken-down golf kart named Christine. On Thursday, Michael Moore caught up with them -- on NPR. In a Talk of the ... More >>

Scott Gessler dubbed rock star by NPR, but he prefers being called Honey Badger

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler is a controversy magnet, with many progressive figures taking his name in vain. Example: a blistering October critique by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. But today, NPR, a news outfit frequently accused of liberal bias, sent the mega-conservative Gessler an audio lov ... More >>

Video: David Barnett, CU prof, hoping NPR plug will kickstart his iPhone 4 case business

David Barnett.​This morning, David Barnett, a University of Colorado philosophy professor, has reason to be philosophical. After all, his iPhone 4 case, which he's hawking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, was prominently featured on NPR -- even though one commentator deems the o ... More >>

Tim Tebow inspires least confidence of all QBs this weekend, say ESPN's Mike and Mike

How can Denver be in the playoffs and still be a national laughingstock? This morning, NPR opened a half-hour segment by noting that the Broncos have 120-1 odds against making the Super Bowl, with the host wryly noting that this fact probably won't prevent some Tim Tebow fans from betting on them. B ... More >>

Bad Elf

The arty, spare Inni follows Iceland's Sigur Ros

Occupy Denver dog leader Shelby discussed & mocked on NPR's Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me

There is no end to the dog puns that can and have been made about Border Collie-mix Shelby's appointment as the leader of Occupy Denver's leaderless movement. Westword will be doggone if we haven't heard the full range of them since we announced her term exactly two weeks ago. But this weekend broug ... More >>

The 10 best David Sedaris quotes from last night's lecture, presented free of context

Image via​David Sedaris is a tiny man with a huge life. Truly, the man is pretty darn small, and though his voice sounds like that of a timid librarian, it packs a biting combination of charm and painful humor that's strong enough to ring through even the spaciousness of the Paramount. Last ... More >>

Audioloom, a non-profit studio designed to give local acts a place to record for a song, needs help

​Audioloom, the recording studio that Brian Gerhard, Christopher Shumake and Greg Nichols have been building at 3430 Lawrence Street is nearly finished. A non-profit venture, the studio was established with the goal of giving Denver artists a place to record for nothing more than a donation. A ... More >>

NPR celebrates Colorado as thinnest state -- but one that's getting fatter (AUDIO)

Why would Colorado be spotlighted in National Public Radio's ongoing series about obesity? Because while our fair state is currently the leanest in the U.S., we're still packing on the pounds despite the shining example of fitness beasts like Boulder's Ryan Van Duzer.

Didn't catch the Tea Party Debate? Here it is, in 75 seconds of mind-numbing glory

Uh, no apologies.​Monday night, the eight Republican Presidential candidates threw down on the CNN-hosted Tea Party Express debate, and one thing was clear: The country is poor, the current approach to healthcare isn't working and Rick Perry is disliked. By everyone else in his party. But we w ... More >>

Marijuana critic William Breathes's sublime & ridiculous global media blitz (AUDIO, VIDEO)

Mr. Breathes.​If medical marijuana reviewer William Breathes looks tired lately, it's not because he's been critiquing too much weed. Since being featured on Rupert Murdoch's iPad-friendly The Daily and National Public Radio, he's been absolutely inundated with interview requests, many from in ... More >>

New music marketed to old people: AARP Internet radio

Medical marijuana critic William Breathes gets the NPR treatment -- thanks to Starbucks

Mr. Breathes.​A few weeks ago, in an interview for Ruper Murdoch's iPad newspaper, The Daily, I casually mentioned that Denver has more dispensaries than Starbucks -- a fact Denver Post's Chris Osher first pointed out back in January. I had no clue then that paraphrasing that quote would re-ig ... More >>

Cars 2 and other sequels that tried (and failed) to freshen up by going abroad

​What's the best way to perk up a tired movie franchise? Most of the time, there is no way. But movie producers still continue to try by taking the old characters overseas and hoping the new locale will reheat the leftovers. Case in point: Cars 2. The film comes out this Friday and promises to ... More >>

Frontier pilots approve cost-saving pact, CEO says airline over halfway to profitability goal

Bryan Bedford.​Update: Frontier Airlines has just announced that pilots have approved a cost-saving agreement, with 89.6 percent offering their approval. That's not the end of the austerity plan, but in a statement, Frontier CEO Bryan Bedford says the carrier is more than halfway toward its " ... More >>

Twitter Tuesday: Don Lemon's comin' out

​If Don Lemon's recent admission about his sexual orientation via his Twitter account (and through the discussion of his new memoir, Transparent, due out next month) isn't testament to the power of this micro-social networking site, we don't know what is. In fact, it was this piece of personal ... More >>

The Cars

Sunday May 15, Fillmore Auditorium, 303-830-8497.

National Public Radio: John Williams's Butcher's Crossing a book to take to a fistfight

John Williams​Posthumous vindication has its drawbacks, to be sure. But the novels of John Williams, who died in 1994, are drawing more acclaim and readers now than the irascible University of Denver professor ever imagined he'd have. The latest laurel to come his way? A piece last week on Na ... More >>

Sole expands his "rap as journalism" with two new videos

​When we last checked in with Sole (aka Tim Holland) a couple months back, he was just starting to explore the notion of "rap as journalism," in which he turned pre-existing songs and beats into political statements, quickly and without a lot of investment. He's since gone on to do a few of th ... More >>

National Public Radio's problems not hurting Colorado Public Radio, says executive

​Right now, National Public Radio is in turmoil, what with the resignation of CEO Vivian Schiller following anti-Tea Party comments from fundraiser Ron Schiller (no relation), not to mention the crusade by the likes of Doug Lamborn to cut federal funding for public broadcasting. So has Colorad ... More >>

Hey, is that Dave Grohl?: Ten awesome celebrity photobombs

Dude, Dave. Chill!Last week, NPR asked listeners to share photos of themselves with favorite musicians. That's a swell idea and all, but we thought that taking the angle of the photobomber would be a more entertaining way to look at pictures of famous people with non-famous people. While there have ... More >>

Tonight: Smith Westerns at the Larimer

​Chicago's Smith Westerns have no doubt been thrown under the worn out labels of beachy and reverb-heavy -- but past a surface listen, the band goes deeper than many of it's lo-fi contemporaries. Reminiscent of T. Rex and Donovan, the music of Smith Westerns has a charming sexiness in their vo ... More >>

Meta Stories

Stream the new DeVotchKa album now

​DeVotchKa's latest offering, 100 Lovers isn't due out on Anti- Records till March 1, but the fine folks over at NPR's All Songs Considered are streaming the new record in its entirety until its release. The record, produced by Craig Schumacher, features DeVotchKa's trademark, Eastern European ... More >>

Human Videos: Christian teenagers find proselytizing way easier as mimes

Jesus says if you twist your face like that, it will stay that way.​Not too long ago, National Public Radio ran a piece on the art of "Human Videos" -- a phenomenon that entails Christian teenagers competing in groups to do their best physical translations of contemporary religious music. "It' ... More >>

Tonight: Peter Wolf Crier at the Hi-Dive

​It's like mother nature wanted to set the perfect scene for Peter Wolf Crier's first date of it's 2011 tour. The epic snow dump Colorado has been waiting for finally came last night, effectively creating a wintery backdrop for the midwest duo's cuddle-by-the-fire-inducing songs of nostalgia a ... More >>

The Anthology of Rap's alleged errors and Adam Bradley's subsequent explaination to Slate.com

​Last month, Yale University Press released The Anthology of Rap, an exhaustive compendium of rap lyrics edited by CU professor Adam Bradley and his colleague Andrew DuBois. Although the book has been praised by some admitted outsiders, it has also been subjected to scrutiny by various hip-h ... More >>

Bad Elf

Accident scene reminds drivers to clear their plates: Kenny Be's Sign Language

Reader: Michael Bennet contributor now thinks NPR-featured senator belongs in Dante's Pit

Michael Bennet.​Our piece yesterday about Michael Bennet's rising national stature, exemplified by a huge feature on NPR, riled up one reader, who opened up with both barrels on one of the few Dems in tight races to survive the Tea Party onslaught on election day. Here's what the commenter, w ... More >>

Doug Lamborn wants to trash PBS and NPR: Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario

Dueling grouches: Oscar vs. Lamborn.​ Rep. Doug Lamborn, the grouch in the trash can to the left in the picture above, represents Colorado Congressional District 5. His bill to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio is getting a lot of attention and support ov ... More >>

Michael Bennet: NPR gives him common-sense showcase for surviving Tea Party onslaught

Michael Bennet.​Soon after Michael Bennet was declared the Senate race winner, we asked Bennet spokesman Trevor Kincaid if he thought the Dem's victory amid a Republican landslide would enhance his power and profile. Kincaid deferred, but days later, the answer appears to be "yes" -- with an e ... More >>

Hot Rize was bluegrass before bluegrass was cool

NPR's "All Songs Considered" dumps its collection into a new radio station

​ If you're anything like us, streaming music services like Pandora or lastfm don't ever seem to really get things right. They're always cool for a little bit, but inevitably, they end up repeating things to the point we get bored. We'll turn on the radio here and there as well, but even our f ... More >>

Introducing Split Decision: Tale of the tape

​Cassettes, in case you haven't noticed, are once again becoming viable. The number of tape-only imprints that seem to keep cropping up have not only made for decent blogger bait (see our recent Deathbomb Arc item or the recent NPR blog post focusing on Ft. Collins Patient Sounds), it's served ... More >>