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The Magic City of the Southwest

The Magic City of the Southwest is a new history podcast created in partnership with KSUT.
Magic City Studios/KSUT
The Magic City of the Southwest is a new history podcast created in partnership with KSUT.

The Magic City of the Southwest is a podcast inspired by the work of an informal group of local history enthusiasts in Durango.

In early 2022, KSUT reporters Kirbie Bennett and Jamie Wanzek joined the group. They discovered an abundance of archival documents, oral histories, and a range of new details that are not accounted for in the common telling of Durango histories.

The Magic City of the Southwest seeks to tell those stories.

The first season of The Magic City of the Southwest explores pieces of Durango's history that don’t fit neatly inside the frame of a historic Western town, especially the many neglected and forgotten stories of non-white residents. The podcast will also address unflattering aspects of city history, such as the influence of the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the first half of the 20th century.

The Magic City of the Southwest is produced by Magic City Studios in partnership with KSUT Public Radio.

Episodes air on KSUT on the first Sunday of each month at 2 p.m.

Other ways to listen

Explore companion pieces and podcast episodes on this page.

The Magic City of the Southwest is a new history podcast created in partnership with KSUT.
Magic City Studios/KSUT
/
The Magic City of the Southwest
KSUT partners with Magic City Studios to launch "The Magic City of the Southwest," a podcast about Durango's history
The podcast is built around a series of relatively unknown stories that will add to Durango’s history books. It explores stories that have often been ignored in the common telling of the city’s history. Hear episodes on the first Sunday afternoon of each month at 2.
Rep. Andrew Boesenecker with Gov. Jared Polis during a bill signing for the Revolving Loan Fund in 2022
Courtesy of Andrew Boesenecker
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The Magic City of the Southwest
Why Colorado only has a handful of resident-owned mobile home parks
Kirbie Bennett
Since 2019, Colorado lawmakers have been strengthening protections for residents of mobile home communities, including laws to increase the number of resident-owned parks in the state. There are less than a dozen in Colorado. Why so few?
Since 2022, Alejandra Chavez has been the property manager at Westside Mobile Home Park in Durango
Courtesy of Jamie Wanzek
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The Magic City of the Southwest
For years Alejandra Chavez felt ‘invisible’ in Durango. Now she’s a community leader
Kirbie Bennett
Two years ago, Alejandra Chavez was an everyday working mom and a community member of Durango’s Westside Mobile Home Park. But when the park went up for sale, Chavez found her voice as a leader and organizer.