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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
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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.
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