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I was one of the producers of History Colorado's documentary podcast, Lost Highways: Dispatches from the Shadows of the Rocky Mountains, between 2021 and 2024.
We shared stories from Colorado and the American West that we couldn't believe we had never heard before, or we looked for novel and critical ways to discuss well-known events and historical figures.
​This project was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Sturm Family Foundation.
As featured in The Denver Post.
January 24, 2024.
Written by Maria Maddox.
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Hosted by Noel Black and Maria Maddox
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Engineered by Tyler Hill.
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Colorado's San Luis Valley is the last place you might expect to find a centuries-old lineage of Sephardic Jews. But a rare form of breast cancer and a host of unusual traditions, artifacts, and rituals led researchers to discover an enclave of Crypto-Jews that fled Europe for the New World in the 16th Century to hide out in one of the most remote areas of the lower 48 states. On this episode, we’ll unveil a secret Jewish faith and identity rooted deep in the American Southwest.
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Guests: Dr. Ryan Burge | Sam Bock | Richard De Olivas y Cordova | Rachel Kaufman | Norma Libman | Naomi Minturn and her mother, Gail | Dr. Andrés Prieto | Jared Saltiel |
Dr. Seth Ward | Jeff Wheelwright.
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February 21, 2023.
Written by Maria Maddox.
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Hosted by Noel Black and Maria Maddox
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Engineered by Dustin Hodge.
Cathay Williams was an African American Woman who was conscripted to work as General Philip Sheridan's cook during the Civil War. When the war was over, she wanted to join one of the all-Black Army Regiments that later became known as the “Buffalo Soldiers." But women weren't allowed to serve at that time. So she put on men's clothes, changed her name to William Cathay, and spent the next three years as a Buffalo Soldier in the "Wild West." Her story could easily serve as a western myth – a portrait of so-called frontier courage in the face of insurmountable odds. But we look more closely at the way her choice to live as a Black male soldier also reflects the extremely limited options available to Black women at the time.
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Guests: Rebecca Atkinson | John Bell | DeAnne Blanton | Peter Boag | Haskell Hooks |Shelton Johnson | Carlos López | Jan MacKell Collins | Paul J. Matthews | Al Melton |Dexter Nelson II.
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February 7, 2022
Written by Maria Maddox.
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Hosted by Noel Black and Tyler Hill.
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Engineered by Tyler Hill.
In 2019, Spike Lee's 2018 film "BlacKkKlansman" won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film brought national attention to the story of Ron Stallworth, the first Black Detective to work in the Colorado Springs Police Department, who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. But what many people don't know is that Colorado has been home to THREE Black Klansmen. In this episode, Noel and Tyler talk to experts, scholars, Theo Wilson (the most recent Black Klansman), and more as we explore the story of Dr. Joseph Westbrook, who infiltrated the KKK in the 1920s in an effort to protect the thriving Five Points community in Denver.
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Guests: Sam Bock | Shaun Boyd | Cara Caddoo | Terri Gentry | Robert "Bob" Goldberg | Nicki Gonzales | Linda Gordon | Theo Wilson