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Colorado Edition: Colorado River gets popular on TikTok; tackling truancy; new CU president; Telluride Film Festival

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Lake Powell stores water from the Colorado River and straddles the Arizona-Utah border. It is currently at 27% of its total capacity.
Luke Runyon

On this episode of Colorado Edition, we check out how a river guide is turning information about the Colorado River drought into digestible TikToks. We speak with the new president of the University of Colorado. From Chalkbeat Colorado, we hear how one school district is trying to get students back in the classroom. Finally, we hear about this year’s Telluride Film Festival and what keeps the festival great.

Featured Segments

TikToking through the Colorado River drought: A 25-year-old river guide from Colorado is racking up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok explaining the megadrought in the Colorado River basin. The reasons for the drought, and potential solutions, can be hard to wrap one’s head around, but as KUNC’s Luke Runyon reports, Western Water Girl makes it snarky and fun.

On TikTok 25-year-old Teal Lehto goes by “WesternWaterGirl,” and her clips regularly garner hundreds of thousands of views. Since joining the app in April, she’s amassed nearly 48,000 followers who tune in for her fast-paced, snarky and often profanity-laced takes on the West’s water crisis.

New CU President: Todd Saliman was officially selected as the 24th president of the University of Colorado system this year. He has served as interim president since July 20-21. Todd grew up in Colorado and graduated from CU Boulder. KUNC’s Beau Baker spoke with him recently to find out what he’s working toward for the CU system.

Todd Saliman was officially selected as the 24th president of the University of Colorado system this year. He previously served as interim president since July 20-21. KUNC's Beau Baker spoke with him recently to find out what such a seemingly big job entails and what he’s working toward for the CU system.

Tackling truancy in Colorado: When a student starts missing school, things can go sideways. It can be hard for them to keep up with coursework, pass classes, and even to graduate. In Colorado, about 26 percent of students are chronically absent, missing ten percent or more of school days. Ann Schimke, a senior reporter at Chalkbeat Colorado, recently reported on how one Colorado school district is trying to get students back into the classroom. She spoke with KUNC's Beau Baker.

Telluride Film Festival brings the goods: The 49th Telluride Film Festival took place last weekend. The four-day celebration of movies began in 1974 in what was then a run-down old mining town. Today, the festival is an international destination. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film at CU Denver, what counts is that the festival still champions some of the finest films of the present and the past.

Friday marks the opening of the 49th Telluride Film Festival, a four-day celebration of the movie which began in 1974 in what was then a run-down old mining town and today is an international destination resort. But for KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film at CU-Denver, what counts is that the festival still champions some of the finest films of the present and the past.

You can hear Howie on Friday afternoons on KUNC, or check out more of his reviews on our website.

Credits

Colorado Edition is hosted by Yoselin Meza Miranda and produced by the KUNC newsroom, led by news director Sean Corcoran. Web was edited by digital operations manager Ashley Jefcoat. 

The mission of Colorado Edition is to deepen understanding of life in Northern Colorado through authentic conversation and storytelling. It's available as a podcast oniTunes,Spotify,Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Colorado Edition is made possible with support fromour KUNC members. Thank you!

Our theme music was composed by Colorado musicians Briana Harris and Johnny Burroughs. Other music in the show byBlue Dot Sessions.