Colorado Public Radio to Launch New Daily News Podcast

Colorado Public Radio announced a new podcast Colorado Today to give listeners a roughly 10-minute daily rundown of the biggest and most interesting news in the state. New episodes will be released each weekday morning starting March 3.

“For years, CPR has been a daily radio habit for many thousands of people,” said Kevin Dale, executive editor of CPR News, which includes Denverite and KRCC in Colorado Springs. “Americans increasingly prefer their news on their phones and on-demand, and we are excited to meet people where they are with our fact-based, timely journalism.”

“Colorado Today” is designed to be part of Coloradans’ daily routines, providing a much-needed summary of local and state news to accompany listenership of national shows that deliver brief morning digests. The show will feature top stories and actionable information alongside moments of joy and curiosity.

The show is hosted by Bazi Kanani and Arlo Pérez Esquivel, two journalists who joined CPR News last year to focus on this podcast. Kanani brings years of experience as a national and international reporter at ABC News and as an anchor and reporter for 9News in Denver. Pérez Esquivel is an accomplished science journalist with a background in documentary production and hosting for PBS.

In addition to Kanani and Pérez Esquivel’s hosting, along with reporting from the podcast team, “Colorado Today” stories will be drawn from the prolific reporting of the CPR News team, now the largest nonprofit newsroom in the state. Listeners will hear CPR News journalists in conversation with the podcast’s hosts, and will be transported to places where news is happening through audio recorded around the state.

“Bazi and Arlo will make the news relatable and – dare I say it – enjoyable. They will be your daily companions and most informed friends,” said Rachel Estabrook, an executive producer of Colorado Today. “This podcast is designed to make CPR’s award-winning reporting available in a convenient format that fits your busy lifestyle.”

“Colorado Today” is the result of many months of research and discovery into podcast listening habits. To create the prototypes for the show, Estabrook and her team conducted qualitative research with more than 400 podcast listeners in Colorado to understand what would be useful to them in a daily news show.

“We’ve seen from our own research and other studies that, while national news fatigue is high, people want to know what’s going on in their own backyards,” said Estabrook. “We are taking this seriously, and making sure each episode delivers the best balance of stories.”