The Magic City of the Southwest

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.

Other ways to listen

Stream on the Magic City of the Southwest website
Stream on Apple Podcasts
Stream on Spotify
Stream on Google Podcasts

Explore the episodes

Emergency Hospital during 1918 Influenza Epidemic, Camp Funston, Kansas

National Museum of Health and Medicine, public domain

History

One man’s close encounter with a forgotten piece of Durango history

Jamie Wanzek

History is under our feet and all around us: old buildings, streets, statues, and signs. We drive by remnants of the past every day, without giving them a second thought. This is the story of one man’s close encounter with a forgotten piece of history, from the Magic City of the Southwest.

Primary Colors, oil on board, 2015, Ed Singer

used with permission of the artist

Culture

Diné artist Ed Singer uses classical oil painting to portray Indigenous experience

Kirbie Bennett

For more than 50 years, Ed Singer has used oil paints on canvas to depict life in the Navajo Nation. In a style that is both realistic and abstract, Singer’s paintings portray the Indigenous experience using classical European painting techniques, and modern style.

Those attending Durango's Clown Around Snowdown in 1992 saw a sea of red noses.

Magic City Studios/KSUT

History

The Magic City of the Southwest: 1992 may have been the edgiest in Snowdown history

Kirbie Bennett

A winter festival that started as a counter-culture "cabin fever reliever" 45 years ago has become a tourist draw for city boosters and local businesses. But in the early 1990s, organizers may have inadvertently sent a few pedestrians running for the hills.

A few clues behind Durango's mysterious origin story

Magic City Studios/KSUT

History

The Magic City of the Southwest: Durango's mysterious origin story

Adam Burke

Durango loves its frontier town mythos. But was the city born through the spirit and determination of early settlers? Listen to the real story on The Magic City of the Southwest.