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I fully fact-checked these stories for print or audio publication.

TransLash Media •

No Such Thing As A Lone Wolf

The Anti-Trans Hate Machine
Season Three, Episode 3: No Such Thing As A Lone Wolf
Imara Jones, HOST: Under the cover of darkness – a 20-year-old white man slinks through the wooded area of the Community Church of Chesterland, a half hour east of Cleveland, Ohio.
He crosses a grassy clearing that opens up to the small church.
Around him, the smell of gasoline and alcohol mixes in the air. Rage radiates through him. He can’t let this place stand.
He places two glass bottles on the hard earth. He’s...
TransLash Media •

Patriot Front and the Rise of Localized Anti-LGBTQ Violence

The Anti-Trans Hate Machine
Season Three, Episode 2: Patriot Front and the Rise of Localized Anti-LGBTQ Violence
Imara Jones, HOST: It’s June 2022, and a group of 31 men are packing themselves into the back of a U-Haul moving truck. It’s in a parking lot of a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, the most populous city in North Idaho. Stuffed inside the truck, the men wear a uniform of white balaclava masks, baseball caps, and sunglasses. Several hold red, white, and blue riot shields.
They’re following a det...
TransLash Media •

The Proud Boys’ Anti-Trans Playbook to End Democracy

The Anti-Trans Hate Machine
Season Three, Episode 1 The Proud Boys’ Anti-Trans Playbook to End Democracy
Imara Jones, HOST:It’s March 19, 2023, and people are lined up outside of the LGBTQ Center in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. It’s a place where I have been more than 100 times over the years for meetings, dances, parties and celebrations of all kinds.
But the people facing opposite of the center are not in a celebratory mood. They’re there to protest an event hosted by New York State Attorne...
5280 •

How a Boulder-Born AI Service Can Help Your Garden Grow

Released in March, Flora—a free AI texting service (sign up online) created by Boulder-based fertilizer company Love, Plants—provides instant answers to your botanical queries. But does the cheerful chatbot receive a green thumbs-up from a human expert? To find out, we interviewed Flora and then asked Jenny Cavanaugh, founder of edible-garden consultancy Denver Kitchen Gardens, to weigh in on its responses.
5280: Hi, Flora! Novice gardener here. What are the easiest vegetables to grow in Denver?...
Mother Jones •

Overturning Roe didn’t just cut off access. It sabotaged science, too.

In early May 2022, reproductive health researcher Liz Mosley was at a dinner celebrating her first day as an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine when the news broke: A leaked draft of the Dobbs decision revealed the Supreme Court’s plan to gut abortion rights in the United States—the “worst-case scenario,” as one dinner guest put it.

Mosley also worried the ruling would upend her work as a scientist. She and her colleagues were in the process of conducting a s...
5280 •

A Pair of Local Pilots Will Follow Legends Like Amelia Earhart During a Renowned Air Race This Month

Alaina Bravo brought the plane in low while her bombardier, Amanda Willson, readied the payload—a pumpkin. As they approached the drop zone, Willson aimed and sent the squash somersaulting through the air until it exploded right next to the target. The women cheered. Not only did their run win them first prize at Wray’s 2023 Brew n’ Que Fly In, but it also sent a message to their all-male competition: Women belong in aviation.
Coloradans have tried hard over the years to spread the word. The sta...
5280 •

The Best Things at Le French Aren’t French at All

A restaurant name like Le French conjures visions of tartare, moules-frites, and other bistro staples. That’s why it may seem strange to go there for Senegalese food. But stick with me here: It’ll all make sense once you consider the owners’ backgrounds.
The 9&CO restaurant is a sister eatery to the original Le French, located in the Denver Tech Center and owned by Aminata and Rougui Dia. The siblings’ family is from Senegal (a former French colony whose cuisine was influenced by 300 years of oc...
5280 •

5 Places To Go in South Federal’s Far East Center

After fleeing postwar Vietnam in 1975, the Luong family transformed a Westwood trailer park into the Far East Center. Nearly 50 years later, in January, the 2.5-acre shopping plaza was added to the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.
Below, five spots you need to check out.Originally a 1,000-square-foot video rental store, Truong An Gifts is now a 5,500-square-foot market that sells everything from herbal medicines and imported snacks to K-pop memorabilia and Japanese kawaii items th...
Mother Jones •

Outside influence: A third party timeline

Frustrated by the two-party system? Polling shows you’re not alone, with more Americans than ever supporting the idea of a third party. But the winner of November’s presidential election will be either Biden or Trump, and voters weighing other candidates need to consider if a protest vote to end the duopoly might instead help end our democracy. In the May+June 2024 issue, we examine the past and present of third-party outsiders, and how they could upend this year’s race. You can read all the pie
Mother Jones •

Can Maine lead the way to a future without forever chemicals?

Dostie Farm, an organic dairy in Fairfield, Maine, was thriving until one day in October 2020 when owner Egide Dostie Jr. got a call from Stonyfield, his exclusive buyer. Something was off with the farm’s milk: Tests had found that it contained three times the state’s allowable level of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, one of the class of “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
“We called bullshit,” Dostie remembers. PFAS contamination had recently been found at two other Maine dairy farms. But those fa...
Mother Jones •

Did the largest pediatrician group miss the mark on GMOs?

Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued new guidelines for doctors fielding parents’ questions about the risks of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. Given the morass of GMO misinformation on social media, the report was an opportunity for experts to set the record straight on how pediatricians should advise their patients on a very thorny question: Is it safe for kids to eat foods that contain GMOs?

But soon after the report was published, critics began to point ou...
5280 •

What to Order at Fritay Haitian Cuisine, Denver's Only Spot for Haitian Food

When Taste of Haiti, Denver’s only Haitian restaurant, closed in 2019, Farah-Jane Jean Pierre took the matter—and batter—into her own hands. Using the culinary degree she earned in New Jersey after immigrating there in 2010, Jean Pierre started perfecting recipes for comfort foods from her home country in her own kitchen, eventually selling them at pop-ups in 2021. Fritay Haitian Cuisine, which evolved into a food truck a few months later, specializes in fritay (pronounced “free-tie”), an assort...
5280 •

Are Invasive Species Really to Blame for Being Invasive—or Are Humans the Problem?

The bird is striking: creamy gray body, square-tipped tail feathers, and a black slash at the back of its neck. My 13-year-old son expands the feathered accordion of its wing. “Isn’t it beautiful?” he says, admiring the Eurasian collared dove he’s just killed with his BB gun.
He unzips the bird with a sharp knife, fingers out the viscera, and tugs off the feathered coat. I smell the particular, though not unpleasant, scent of internal organs: sharp and earthy. The head and innards go to our chic...
5280 •

Colorado's Oldest Photography Nonprofit Opens Brand New Headquarters

When the iPhone debuted in 2007, Carol Golemboski began to worry. With high-powered digital cameras suddenly filling everyone’s pockets, the professor of photography at the University of Colorado Denver noticed fewer students signing up for darkroom classes—her specialty—and she feared for film’s future. But surprisingly, there’s been a resurgence of student interest in the ultimate “latergram” in recent years, as film-focused shutterbugs look to stand out from the digital hordes. “The darkroom...
5280 •

Can You Access Colorado’s Corner-Locked Public Lands?

About 240 years ago, as white settlers started making their way west, the federal government began divvying up vast swaths of territory into 640-acre squares, some of which it gave to the newly formed states to fund schools and, later, to the railroads to spur industrialization. Others it sold to private owners. Millions of acres never found buyers, however, and agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management stepped in to administer the terrain. Today, much of it is open for hunting, fishing, an...
5280 •

Learn How to Appreciate the Ancient Art of Bonsai

Denver Botanic Gardens (DBG) will unpack its bonsais from winter storage this month, which means Larry Jackel will soon resume his accidental espionage. As a bonsai specialist at DBG, Jackel spends much of his days meticulously pruning the tiny trees he’s harvested in the Rocky Mountains, and he can’t resist eavesdropping as patrons admire his work. He’s never happier than when guests liken his diminutive arbors to the full-size versions they’ve seen elsewhere, whether that’s a gnarly ponderosa pine near a trailhead or a giant ficus on a beach. “For me, that means I’ve succeeded,” Jackel says. This summer, DBG will host the American Bonsai Society’s annual learning convention from June 8 to 11 (from $125). Classes include a seminar led by Jackel on how to appreciate bonsais. It’s more complicated than it sounds, and even flora sophisticates are sure to gain a greater understanding of the way a twisted trunk, for example, can engender a sense of character. But to Jackel, the most important element to consider is wonder, which is why he will begin his students’ educations by asking: “What do you see?”
5280 •

Denver’s Real Estate Market Is Finally Cooling Off. What Does That Mean for Buyers and Sellers?

If you were looking to buy a house in Denver over the past couple of years and didn’t have the cash flow of, say, a neurosurgeon, you were likely priced out. With the city—and the world—in a virus-induced panic, interest rates dropped, sales prices soared, and unless buyers could pay thousands over the asking price in cash, securing the keys to the Highland bungalow of their dreams was nearly impossible. Over the past 10 months, though, the landscape has been evolving, and the market has returne...
5280 •

Why Did a Colorado Man Set Himself on Fire in Washington, D.C.?

When Wynn Bruce was a boy, his father, Douglas, took him canoeing in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, their paddles plunging into a cool lake as they glided toward a campsite in Superior National Forest. After landing and portaging their boat over miles of rocky and remote land, they set up their tent and built a campfire beneath the pines. “That was a special moment,” says Douglas, now 78. The memory of Bruce’s face illuminated in the dark remains among the first images that come to mind when...
Mother Jones •

Hunting for America’s vanishing Venus flytraps

The Endangered Species Act has been one of the country’s most valuable environmental tools, but it faces new threats. As the law turns 50, we’re asking whether this “pit bull” of an environmental law, as one expert described it, can survive the challenges of our time—from political attacks to climate shocks. You can read all the stories here.

There’s something unsettling about the Venus flytrap. When it eats, it behaves more like an animal than a plant, ensnaring unsuspecting insects in its fra
Mother Jones •

Elon Musk’s Texas takeover

When the US targeted Russia’s oligarchs after the invasion of Ukraine, the trail of assets kept leading to our own backyard. Not only had our nation become a haven for shady foreign money, but we were also incubating a familiar class of yacht-owning, industry-dominating, resource-extracting billionaires. In the January + February 2024 issue of our magazine, we investigate the rise of American Oligarchy—and what it means for the rest of us. You can read all the pieces here.

On the morning of Apr
Mother Jones •

Donald Trump freed a convicted Medicare fraudster. The Justice Department wants him back.

On a Thursday in September 2019, Philip Esformes arrived for his sentencing at the federal courthouse in downtown Miami looking pale and gaunt. The previous April, after an eight-week trial, Esformes, heir to a large, successful chain of nursing homes, had been convicted of fraud, kickback and money laundering crimes, and obstruction of justice. Citing more than $1 billion in false reimbursement claims, prosecutors described him as the linchpin of the “largest single criminal health care fraud c
Mother Jones •

Welcome to America’s wealthiest zip code

When the US targeted Russia’s oligarchs after the invasion of Ukraine, the trail of assets kept leading to our own backyard. Not only had our nation become a haven for shady foreign money, but we were also incubating a familiar class of yacht-owning, industry-dominating, resource-extracting billionaires. In the January + February 2024 issue of our magazine, we investigate the rise of American Oligarchy—and what it means for the rest of us. You can read all the pieces here.

Fisher Island, popula
Mother Jones •

Radicals took over the Michigan GOP. Now they can’t stop losing.

In early June, roughly 250 Michiganders filed into a windowless banquet hall for the Macomb County GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner. The dining tables were decorated with white tablecloths, tiny American flags, and famous Lincoln quotes, while the silent auction display off to the side featured Trump Wine, a cardboard cutout of Donald and Melania, and 30 mm rounds the size of a baby’s torso that had “Jesus is Lord!” etched into the shells.

After I introduced myself to my tablemates, they were happy

I provided research and/or fact-checking assistance for this content.

5280 •

Top of the Town 2023

We found 116 reasons to fall in love with the Mile High City all over again.From the tastiest scoop of ice cream to the most inviting patio for summer sips to the hippest new lodging in town, we tracked down the best of the best that the Mile High City has to offer. The result is a curated list of 37 editors’ choices that complement our 79 readers’ choice winners.
How we selected this year’s Top of the Town honorees.
How does 5280 pick Top of the Town winners?
Our reporters and editors spend mon...
5280 •

Top of the Town 2024

From the hippest new restaurant to the coolest bookstore, we tracked down the best of the Mile High City. Here, our curated list of editors’ picks, complemented by our readers’ choice winners.
How we selected this year’s Top of the Town honorees.
How does 5280 pick Top of the Town winners?
Our reporters and editors spend months exploring the city to choose winners for select categories on the ballot. We try to do our research anonymously and pay for all meals and services, where possible. Our re...
5280 •

Denver’s Top Doctors 2024

For more than three decades, 5280 has been providing the must-have list of the best doctors in the Denver metro area. For the second year in a row, we’ve partnered with Castle Connolly, a health care research and information company, to create the list. Although some of the medical specialties represented will be different than they have been in the past, by partnering with Castle Connolly, 5280 is able to deliver a much larger list of physicians, which we hope better serves our readers.
The lis...
Mother Jones •

A new police force chased a 17-year-old boy to his death. Then it vanished.

Cruising south down a two-lane highway in Montana, Braven Glenn looked out onto the open road, the evening sky chilly and dark. It was November 24, 2020—half a year into the pandemic and three months after his 17th birthday. He was a good student, on his way to pick up his girlfriend, a basketball player like him, at her house on the Crow Indian Reservation.

Most days, Braven took his time while driving; his friends sometimes teased him for staying below the speed limit. But lately he hadn’t be
5280 •

Denver's Top Dentists 2023

Search the 2023 list of Denver’s Top Dentists.
This list is pulled from the 2023 topDentists database, which is created using peer evaluations and includes listings for more than 900 dentists and specialists in Colorado. To create its list, topDentists asked dentists and specialists a personal question: “If you had a patient in need of a dentist, which dentist would you refer him or her to?” The nomination pool comprised all active dentists listed online with the American Dental Association as w...
5280 •

50 Things Every Colorado Kid Must Do

What may seem extreme elsewhere can be weekend warrior stuff in Colorado, even for the short set. “There are so many learning opportunities for families,” says Stacey Halvorsen, the youth education programs director for 111-year-old Colorado Mountain Club (CMC), which hosts day and overnight camps for first through 12th graders that teach skills such as mountaineering and rock climbing. “I remember hiking and talking to my dad about philosophy and social situations. It’s that bonding time and le...
5280 •

The Ultimate Guide to Denver's Food Truck Scene

When I finally get my hands on an order of Yuan Wonton’s emerald-hued Sichuan eggplant dumplings, all I can think about is sinking my teeth into the crispy-bottomed parcels of charred vegetables. I forget how cold my fingers are from waiting in line outside for 30 minutes. I don’t care that I’m perched on a bench inside a crowded brewpub. And I’m definitely not pondering all the logistics it takes for chef-owner and 2023 James Beard Award nominee Penelope Wong to serve her menu of refined Chines...
Mother Jones •

"We keep people alive": As summers get deadlier, a tiny church is fighting back.

Pinch the skin on the top of your hand and then let go. It should drop back into place, a nursing student told me as we stood in a dim Sunday School room at Wesley United Methodist Church in South Phoenix last summer. If, however, the skin stays up, “tenting” as nurses say when they’re testing skin turgor, then you’re in some trouble—seriously dehydrated, headed toward the kinds of physical heat response that would kill 425 people in Maricopa County before the year was out.

That day at the Wesl