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Season two of Lost Highways: Dispatches from the Shadows of the Rocky Mountains begins officially on Wednesday, September 16. Made possible by ongoing support from the Sturm Family Foundation and a new $208,808 grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the next season of Lost Highways debuts via historycolorado.org/lost-highways, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and everywhere podcasts are found. Season one is also available now.

Lost Highways delivers addictive in-depth history through highly produced episodes in an entertaining documentary style. Its stories support thoughtful, more inclusive dialogues on Colorado, the greater Rocky Mountain region, and the nation. Episodes in season two will chronicle the experiences of independent women (“Snake, Rattle and Roll”; “Back Alleys and Backpages”), countercultural idealists (“Tuned In Dropouts”; “A Tale of Two Communes”), and Hispanic activists (“The Miseducation of Freddie Freak”), among others.

A list of episode topics is available here. Season two opens with “A Line in the Sand”, a closer look at Colorado Governor Edwin C. “Big Ed” Johnson’s 1936 declaration of martial law to selectively close the border with New Mexico during the Great Depression. Johnson sought to bar individuals seeking labor opportunities from entering the state.

Season one of Lost Highways, which first aired in the fall of 2019, explored the roots of such resonant contemporary topics as talk-radio culture, same-sex marriage, and American Indian mascots. The season earned coverage from 5280 Magazine, BusinessDen, Colorado Public Radio, KOA Newsradio, Thirst Colorado, and Westword, and was aired by KUNC and KRCC radio.

“In such unprecedented times, people have a renewed hunger to understand how we got to now,” said Jason Hanson, Chief Creative Officer and Director of Interpretation & Research at History Colorado. “Lost Highways gives listeners a deeper understanding of how the issues impacting our lives today took shape. There is no better place to start these narratives than History Colorado's vast archive of stories. Our oral history collection and audio archive add vibrant dimensions to how people encounter our shared past.”

"Getting an NEH grant is one of the greatest honors I can imagine as a producer and writer," says host Noel Black.

About the Hosts
Noel Black is the senior producer and host of Lost Highways. Formerly he was the creator, co-host, and senior producer of Wish We Were Here, an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning show and podcast produced by KRCC public radio in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Tyler Hill is producer and co-host. He has worked at NPR’s Morning Edition, Weekend All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Lost Highways is made possible by the Sturm Family Foundation, proud supporters of the humanities and the power of story-telling for more than 20 years.

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that serves more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 141-year-old institution that operates Colorado’s oldest museum, nine additional museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and the State Historical Fund (SHF), which is the nation’s largest preservation program of its kind. The SHF currently administers more than 280 grants worth approximately $24 million in active distributions across the state. More than 70% of its grants are currently allocated in rural areas of Colorado.

History Colorado’s outlets are publishing Black voices and confronting entrenched racism in historic preservation. Inclusive, values-driven, and intentional, History Colorado has added curators of Latino Heritage and LGBTQ+ History to its staff within the last year, as well as a full-time position to its Museum of Memory team, which works proactively to incorporate underserved communities and voices into its contemporary collecting initiative and other efforts. Its recent statement and historical essay on civil unrest have been widely shared by major news outlets.

History Colorado’s eight museums around the state were among the first cultural institutions in Colorado to reopen to visitors under new safety protocols. The swift return to in-person service in June followed an agile reorganization in response to COVID-19 that catalyzed new avenues for youth education, full-length episodes of its podcasts, a weekly digest with over 28,000 subscribers, and one of the nation’s most comprehensive collecting initiatives: a partnership with dozens of schools, communities, and more than 40 newsrooms called History in the Making. The State Historical Fund successfully distributed more than $1 million in grant dollars to community projects across the state this spring and continues its grant funding on schedule.

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and nine other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information.

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