Purplish
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Purplish
Purplish is a podcast about politics and policy and how they shape Coloradans’ lives, hosted by Colorado Public Radio’s public affairs reporter Bente Birkeland and reporters from the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. They break down the latest developments at the statehouse, in Congress and in local c...
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Colorado banned conversion therapy for minors. A U.S. Supreme Court case could upend that
In 2019, Colorado Democrats had control of both the House and the Senate. That gave them the momentum they needed to push forward an issue that had re...
How a possible Buc-ee’s travel plaza has divided one Colorado town
Last year, Buc-ee’s opened its first Colorado location, an expansive 74,000 square-foot outpost in Weld County filled with beaver-branded merch, brisk...
Budget balanced (for now), AI decisions punted, relationships ruptured: What went down during special session
The giant tax-cuts-and-spending package passed by Congressional Republicans will have major ramifications for every state in the country, but Colorado...
Crude Signal chats, social media attacks, mistreated aides: lawmaker conduct is back in the headlines
House Republicans sharing locker room jokes about a Democratic colleague's outfit in a group chat. A former Democratic senator charged with a felony f...
Why lawmakers have been eyeing Colorado's $2B in ‘unclaimed property’
There’s a secure room in the State Capitol filled with the lost treasures of generations of Coloradans: baseball cards, war medals, even a large yello...
What Republicans' ‘One Big Beautiful Bill' means for Colorado
After a lot of back and forth, Republicans in Congress have passed President Trump’s mega tax and spending package, aka the “One, Big Beautiful Bill.”...
Why is Douglas County so worked up about home rule?
Voters in Douglas County are deciding whether to become a home rule county. With ballots due June 24, the issue is stirring up a lot of strong feeling...
When Colorado rewrote the rules for policing
2020 was an extraordinary year for the Colorado legislature. COVID-19 forced lawmakers to break halfway through session. They returned to work in May...
Medicaid cuts, AI regs, special session chances: Colorado’s governor and legislative leadership weigh in
State lawmakers have bid adieu to the Colorado State Capitol — for now. But lots of questions remain. For example, what’s next for Colorado’s controve...
That’s a wrap, for now. Here’s how the 2025 session ended up
State lawmakers took it right down to the wire on some of the biggest issues of the 2025 legislative session, including immigration, artificial intell...
A rare veto showdown at the State Capitol
Lawmakers got behind a bill this session that would have required social media companies like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram to do more about illega...
100 days of Trump, in the eyes of two Colorado lawmakers from two different capitols
From tariffs to immigration, the Department of Government Efficiency, and an avalanche of executive actions and policies, President Donald Trump's fir...
Colorado answers Trump's immigration crackdown with expanded protections
Colorado already has numerous laws in place to protect the rights of immigrants. But as President Donald Trump takes unprecedented steps to carry out...
As the White House restricts trans rights, Colorado is poised to fortify them
At a time when the federal government is rolling back rights and recognition for transgender Americans, Colorado is moving to expand its protections i...
Colorado's political parties navigate a changed political landscape
American politics are in a moment of major upheaval: a Republican president and GOP-controlled Congress are reshaping the federal government and expan...
Colorado's budget hits crunch time with ‘painful’ cuts
A variety of factors have strained the state’s finances as of late, and that meant state lawmakers had to find more than a billion dollars in savings...
Some Colorado cities plan to ignore new housing density laws
Cities of a certain size in Colorado have to allow more density, because of a suite of new state development mandates. But several cities, like Westmi...
Colorado lawmakers hit halftime at the State Capitol
Colorado lawmakers are just past the halfway point of this year’s legislative session. That means it’s crunch time, with plenty of big, controversial...
The human toll of Colorado’s sexual assault evidence backlog
As of late February, 1,407 people in Colorado are waiting for DNA results from their sexual assault cases -- some of them for more than a year. Withou...
Vacancy appointments get lots of lawmakers to the capitol. Is it time for a change?
A lot of Colorado lawmakers got their foot in the door at the statehouse not through the ballot box, but through a side door, a vacancy committee. Sta...
Life as a new state lawmaker
Nearly a third of Colorado's 65 House members are new to the statehouse this year. They come from all walks of life and bring a variety of experiences...
The billion-dollar budget hole
Here's a mystery: Colorado's economy is healthy. It's unemployment rate is low and its tax collections are healthy. So why are lawmakers looking at a...
An assault weapons ban by any other name...
Democratic lawmakers say they're getting serious about enforcing Colorado's ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines. But their solution would take a...
The embattled Labor Peace Act
Colorado was once the scene of guerilla warfare over labor organizing. This year's fight at the State Capitol isn't as bloody, but it could have far-r...
What are SMART Act hearings?
Before they can get to the fun stuff -- passing laws and debating policy -- Colorado's legislators spend the start of each session sitting through hou...
New Congress, old normal (for now?)
From cute kids and ceremonial photos to the peaceful democratic transfer of power, the opening weeks of the 119th Congress have managed to avoid the d...
A bipartisan tradition fades in the CO House, while Democrats preview both ambitions and fault lines
Before state lawmakers hit the gas on their new session, we look over its opening days. In the House, strains of national politics wove themselves int...
Budget cuts on tap for Colorado
Colorado's General Assembly gavels in on Jan. 8 with one big issue hanging over its head: the state budget. With painful cuts looming, lawmakers have...
How it all went down
Election night has come and gone, but when we went to the mics, there was still one race too close to call. Hosts Bente Birkeland and Caitlyn Kim talk...
What will make the difference in this election?
On the eve of the election, hosts Bente Birkeland and Caitlyn Kim discuss what they've heard from voters, volunteers and campaigns about the top races...
How Colorado secures the vote
Once again, conspiracy theories about voting fraud are front and center ahead of a presidential election. Led by their nominee, Republican voters in p...
All. The. Ballot. Questions. All of them.
Grab your ballot and follow along as hosts Bente Birkeland and Megan Verlee introduce you to the dozen-plus questions on the state ballot this fall. F...
The Colorado congressional races to know about
For this episode, we're doing something we never have before: recording the show in front of a live studio audience. Hosts Caitlyn Kim, Bente Birkelan...
Will ranked-choice voting rewrite Colorado's elections? Prop. 131 explained.
Voters this fall will decide whether to change how Colorado selects its leaders in the future, by doing away with partisan primaries and ranking candi...
Coming soon: Purplish's 2024 election season
Purplish is coming back to help you prepare for Colorado's 2024 election, including contentious congressional races and 14 statewide ballot measures.<...
Assessing the primary as the dust settles
Our hosts discuss the big themes that emerged from Republican primary results and what they mean for the future of the party, and for the general elec...
GOP rifts in the Congressional Districts 5 and 8 primaries
How a pair of two-man races in El Paso County and along the northern Front Range are illustrating the increasingly bitter divisions in Colorado's Repu...
The primary fight for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District
With Rep. Lauren Boebert out of the running, which of the half dozen Republicans trying for the seat is likely to win the primary and take on Democrat...
In eastern Colorado, a primary and a vacancy election
What to make of the nine major party candidates -- including Rep. Lauren Boebert -- all running in Colorado's fourth congressional district? And how d...
What are Colorado voters worried about?
From the future of our democracy to the state of their bank accounts, Colorado voters have been telling us about their top concerns for the upcoming e...