Eleanor Bennett
Anchor, reporter, producer at Aspen Public RadioGrowing up in the valley listening to KAJX in her parents’ car on the way to school, Eleanor learned the power and urgency of community storytelling. She was further captivated by the medium while interning at APR after graduating from Middlebury College in 2015.
From there, Eleanor moved to New York where she covered issues of climate justice and women's empowerment for SiriusXM Radio and launched several podcasts from soup-to-nuts. Eleanor recently finished a project interviewing hundreds of New Yorkers about their dreams and fears for an interactive audio-visual exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum by the photographer and muralist, JR.
Making these kinds of personal connections with people from all walks of life and creating empathic spaces for them to tell their stories fuels her work. Eleanor is delighted to be back home in the Rocky Mountains working with the Aspen Public Radio team and local residents to shine a light on the critical issues that shape our valley.
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As young people across the country continue to die in the fentanyl epidemic, El Jebel resident Cath Adams is spreading awareness in schools and other venues about the synthetic opioid drug after losing her 21-year-old daughter to an accidental overdose in 2020.
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The short documentary won the People’s Choice Award at this year's 5Point Adventure Film Festival and will be showing at the festival's encore screening on Saturday, May 4. The film follows Triston Chaney and his Alaskan Yup'ik family as they fight to protect their culture and fishing livelihood against a proposed mining project.
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Local schools from Aspen to Glenwood Springs have teamed up with national organization Best Buddies to make prom more accessible and fun for all.
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Community members are invited to join the Colorado Pika Project on Independence Pass this Saturday to collect data and observations on pikas in their natural habitat. The volunteer training is part of a statewide effort to better understand how climate is impacting the small, furry animals.
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Social emotional learning and an all-school ski day has helped Aspen Community School students, teachers and families grapple with the recent string of threats made to local schools.
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Local residents celebrated a traditional Mexican posada and cut down their own Christmas trees in the Thompson Divide area last Saturday. Reporter Eleanor Bennett spent the day with Vicky Rodas, who wanted to give her 10-year-old son, Jahir Rodas, the same experience her mother gave her growing up in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
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In Colorado's mountains, an immigrant family from Mexico cut down their first Christmas tree together, carrying on a beloved tradition.
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The world’s population reached 8 billion this week, just as the 27th annual United Nations climate summit was wrapping up in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Aspen Public Radio talked with local residents who have been attending COP27 over the past two weeks.
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From wildfires to drought and dwindling snowpack, local communities are facing the impacts of the human-caused climate crisis. Eight mayors and county commissioners from Aspen to Vail came together during a three-day United Nations convening last week to talk about solutions and the importance of regional collaboration.
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Community members gathered in Aspen on Saturday to celebrate the life of local legend Bob Braudis. Many remembered his community-based, restorative-justice approach to law enforcement.