Chris Walker
@cwalker.bsky.social
Denver-based investigative reporter specializing in narrative features & podcasts. Bylines in The Atlantic, NPR, Playboy, Atavist, etc.
Substack: http://bit.ly/40LWQm9
Classes at Lighthouse: https://tinyurl.com/yc33tut2
Website: www.chrisallanwalker.com
Substack: http://bit.ly/40LWQm9
Classes at Lighthouse: https://tinyurl.com/yc33tut2
Website: www.chrisallanwalker.com
I once heard Vanity Fair described as "rich people behaving badly" and this story not only fits that mold, but is pretty much a modern classic by @joehagantv.bsky.social www.vanityfair.com/style/story/...
Ocean of Influence: Inside the Celebrity Boat Trip That Was All Over Your Feeds
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection threw the mother of all influencer trips, featuring Tom Brady, Leo DiCaprio, Martha Stewart and a hundred or so other A-Listers. Vanity Fair climbed aboard…
www.vanityfair.com
September 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I once heard Vanity Fair described as "rich people behaving badly" and this story not only fits that mold, but is pretty much a modern classic by @joehagantv.bsky.social www.vanityfair.com/style/story/...
Coming from an alt-weekly background, I LOVE this for the Bay Area. Hope this thrives.
🎊 YEAHHHH WE DID IT!!!! 🎊
holy toledo just about $800 left til @coyotemedia.org hits our pie-in-the-sky stretch goal! and then we launch our sicccccccck worker owned bay area alt weekly on sept 15! givebutter.com/coyotemedia
August 29, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Coming from an alt-weekly background, I LOVE this for the Bay Area. Hope this thrives.
Great piece that tracks with my experience www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
Who Killed the Narrative Podcast?
Podcasts like 'Serial,' 'The Shrink Next Door,' and 'Over My Dead Body' were once a booming industry. But times — and budgets — have changed.
www.rollingstone.com
August 25, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Great piece that tracks with my experience www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
Reposted by Chris Walker
Just got galleys for our upcoming book MASTER PLAN — exposing the secret plot to legalize corruption in America.
The book builds off the award-winning podcast with never-before-reported revelations & documents.
Pre-order: levernews.com/masterplanbook
The book builds off the award-winning podcast with never-before-reported revelations & documents.
Pre-order: levernews.com/masterplanbook
August 16, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Just got galleys for our upcoming book MASTER PLAN — exposing the secret plot to legalize corruption in America.
The book builds off the award-winning podcast with never-before-reported revelations & documents.
Pre-order: levernews.com/masterplanbook
The book builds off the award-winning podcast with never-before-reported revelations & documents.
Pre-order: levernews.com/masterplanbook
wish we could resurrect Hunter S. Thompson just so he could cover this.
August 13, 2025 at 12:33 PM
wish we could resurrect Hunter S. Thompson just so he could cover this.
I rode my bike past this right after it happened, riding by a firetruck and shocked to see a body behind it on the street. I didn't realize the victim was a cyclist because first responders had already moved the bike. Now I'm even more shaken since I ride through this intersection all the time
A driver killed a woman on a bike tonight on W 38th Avenue. This is the second fatal hit and run bike crash on W 38th Avenue in the last few years.
July 22, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I rode my bike past this right after it happened, riding by a firetruck and shocked to see a body behind it on the street. I didn't realize the victim was a cyclist because first responders had already moved the bike. Now I'm even more shaken since I ride through this intersection all the time
"The company today is more interested in taking on YouTube than MailChimp."
Subtack taking on VC...cue the enshittification
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
Subtack taking on VC...cue the enshittification
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
Substack Raises $100 Million, Betting on Subscriptions but Coming Around to Ads
www.nytimes.com
July 18, 2025 at 7:16 PM
"The company today is more interested in taking on YouTube than MailChimp."
Subtack taking on VC...cue the enshittification
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
Subtack taking on VC...cue the enshittification
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
damn, this piece by Josh Bearman is so beautifully written. Do yourself a favor and soak this in:
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
Mark’s House Is Gone. Heather’s House Is Gone. Eddie’s House Is Gone.
When a hometown burns down, how do we account for so much loss?
nymag.com
July 10, 2025 at 2:57 PM
damn, this piece by Josh Bearman is so beautifully written. Do yourself a favor and soak this in:
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted by Chris Walker
In 2020, we launched The Lever from scratch.
This week, The Lever won the National Press Club Award & our reporting dominated Capitol Hill in two high profile events.
It's been an amazing 5 years. Thanks to our subscribers who make our work possible. We're just getting started.
This week, The Lever won the National Press Club Award & our reporting dominated Capitol Hill in two high profile events.
It's been an amazing 5 years. Thanks to our subscribers who make our work possible. We're just getting started.
The Lever's audio series MASTER PLAN has just won the 2025 National Press Club Award.
The series exposes the secret plot to legalize corruption: MasterPlanPodcast.com
This is a huge honor for our newsroom & for independent accountability journalism.
The series exposes the secret plot to legalize corruption: MasterPlanPodcast.com
This is a huge honor for our newsroom & for independent accountability journalism.
The Lever Wins The 2025 National Press Club Award
This award is a major milestone not just for The Lever’s newsroom, but for all independent news outlets competing with the world’s biggest media conglomerates.
www.levernews.com
May 24, 2025 at 1:33 AM
In 2020, we launched The Lever from scratch.
This week, The Lever won the National Press Club Award & our reporting dominated Capitol Hill in two high profile events.
It's been an amazing 5 years. Thanks to our subscribers who make our work possible. We're just getting started.
This week, The Lever won the National Press Club Award & our reporting dominated Capitol Hill in two high profile events.
It's been an amazing 5 years. Thanks to our subscribers who make our work possible. We're just getting started.
wow what a story. I remember this fire well and had considered looking into it more as a feature (I wish I had). But @wired.com's Raksha Vasudevan writes a strong narrative feature here not just about the crime but, importantly, its privacy implications. www.wired.com/story/find-m...
3 Teens Almost Got Away With Murder. Then Police Found Their Google Searches
An arson attack in Colorado had detectives stumped. The way they solved the case could put everyone at risk.
www.wired.com
May 21, 2025 at 6:07 PM
wow what a story. I remember this fire well and had considered looking into it more as a feature (I wish I had). But @wired.com's Raksha Vasudevan writes a strong narrative feature here not just about the crime but, importantly, its privacy implications. www.wired.com/story/find-m...
I was thankful to have had the FIJ's financial support on this 4-year reporting project. The podcast has its wide release on May 6
Podcast examines major wine fraud case and sheds new light on 30-year-old murder - The Fund for Investigative Journalism
Blood Vines, an eight-episode narrative podcast series produced with support from the Fund, chronicles Chris Walker’s three-year-long investigation of one of the largest wine frauds in U.S. history an...
fij.org
April 16, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I was thankful to have had the FIJ's financial support on this 4-year reporting project. The podcast has its wide release on May 6
Here's another side to federal workforce downsizing: inability to get interview clearance. My press contacts at two federal agencies have quit and been fired. This is frustrating b/c officials usually can't talk without a green light from the comms department, but now there's no comms...
April 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Here's another side to federal workforce downsizing: inability to get interview clearance. My press contacts at two federal agencies have quit and been fired. This is frustrating b/c officials usually can't talk without a green light from the comms department, but now there's no comms...
A lot to digest here, but I did like this line:
“30- and 40-something lawmakers commiserate about having to decipher the mysteries of the internet for their older colleagues; one said she recently had to explain to another House member what a podcast was.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
“30- and 40-something lawmakers commiserate about having to decipher the mysteries of the internet for their older colleagues; one said she recently had to explain to another House member what a podcast was.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
Schumer’s Retreat From a Government Shutdown Has Young Democrats Fuming
A generational divide, seen in newer lawmakers’ impatience with bipartisanship and for colleagues who don’t understand new media, has emerged as one of the deepest rifts within the party.
www.nytimes.com
March 14, 2025 at 4:16 PM
A lot to digest here, but I did like this line:
“30- and 40-something lawmakers commiserate about having to decipher the mysteries of the internet for their older colleagues; one said she recently had to explain to another House member what a podcast was.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
“30- and 40-something lawmakers commiserate about having to decipher the mysteries of the internet for their older colleagues; one said she recently had to explain to another House member what a podcast was.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
this
The reality of being a freelancer in the west is you have a slim few publications based in the region. Fewer than ever. So, then, the job becomes selling editors in New York on why their readers should care about people and issues in the west. If your story isn’t political, good luck to you.
March 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
this
Good piece on the history of NYT v. Sullivan, the protections it awards journalists, and the interests looking to dismantle or weaken it www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/m...
NYT v. Sullivan: Will the Landmark Defamation Ruling Survive?
New York Times v. Sullivan and other landmark Supreme Court decisions protect the press’s ability to investigate public figures. But a growing right-wing movement seeks to overturn them.
www.nytimes.com
March 3, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Good piece on the history of NYT v. Sullivan, the protections it awards journalists, and the interests looking to dismantle or weaken it www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/m...
Reposted by Chris Walker
Today's the day for Colorado Today!
Listen and subscribe to CPR's new daily podcast, out this morning. It's short (less than 15 minutes) and gets you up to date with the top stories around Colorado.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Listen and subscribe to CPR's new daily podcast, out this morning. It's short (less than 15 minutes) and gets you up to date with the top stories around Colorado.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Colorado Today
Daily News Podcast · 2 Episodes · Updated Daily
podcasts.apple.com
March 3, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Today's the day for Colorado Today!
Listen and subscribe to CPR's new daily podcast, out this morning. It's short (less than 15 minutes) and gets you up to date with the top stories around Colorado.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Listen and subscribe to CPR's new daily podcast, out this morning. It's short (less than 15 minutes) and gets you up to date with the top stories around Colorado.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Reposted by Chris Walker
Special Vermont Resistance edition
Lucy Welch, a hero for the moment.
billmckibben.substack.com
March 1, 2025 at 10:21 PM
this story is insane (in multiple senses of the word) and a truly wild ride
"The more time I spent following the group that some called the Zizians, the more their story started seeming itself like some kind of basilisk." @evrat.bsky.social @wired.com
longreads.com/2025/02/26/t...
longreads.com/2025/02/26/t...
February 27, 2025 at 4:49 PM
this story is insane (in multiple senses of the word) and a truly wild ride
A recent episode of the podcast Search Engine, about how students are using ChatGPT on school work (many of them to cheat or write essays) got me thinking about how the ways high schools teach writing is broken. Here's what I wish I'd learned instead of the 5 paragraph essay
ChatGPT is Exposing Everything Wrong with How High Schools Teach Writing
Or: What I wish I'd learned in my high school English classes instead of the 5-paragraph essay
longformlowdown.substack.com
February 26, 2025 at 10:05 PM
A recent episode of the podcast Search Engine, about how students are using ChatGPT on school work (many of them to cheat or write essays) got me thinking about how the ways high schools teach writing is broken. Here's what I wish I'd learned instead of the 5 paragraph essay
Reposted by Chris Walker
As you may have heard, most (not all) of the people who produce Outside magazine (and the website) were laid off on Thursday. The ex-ME has a complete archive of issues going all the way back to the 1970s. If anybody knows of a library that might want to house these, lemme know.
February 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
As you may have heard, most (not all) of the people who produce Outside magazine (and the website) were laid off on Thursday. The ex-ME has a complete archive of issues going all the way back to the 1970s. If anybody knows of a library that might want to house these, lemme know.
Wow. McConnell couldn't get a single Republican to vote no on RFK with him? Shows just how much power the "Darth Vader" of the Senate has lost in this new era
February 13, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Wow. McConnell couldn't get a single Republican to vote no on RFK with him? Shows just how much power the "Darth Vader" of the Senate has lost in this new era
This is a good follow-up to that Outside feature about the two climbers who died on Shishapangma racing to be the first American woman to summit all the 8,000-meter peaks.
Their deaths meant a Colorado woman was was now in the running to claim that title
www.5280.com/tracee-metca...
Their deaths meant a Colorado woman was was now in the running to claim that title
www.5280.com/tracee-metca...
Inside a Vail Woman’s Harrowing Pursuit of the World’s Highest Mountains
A fatal race made Tracee Metcalfe the closest to becoming the first American woman to summit all of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks.
www.5280.com
February 2, 2025 at 1:21 AM
This is a good follow-up to that Outside feature about the two climbers who died on Shishapangma racing to be the first American woman to summit all the 8,000-meter peaks.
Their deaths meant a Colorado woman was was now in the running to claim that title
www.5280.com/tracee-metca...
Their deaths meant a Colorado woman was was now in the running to claim that title
www.5280.com/tracee-metca...
This is good and bleak about how much Netflix has contributed to hollowing out filmmaking www.nplusonemag.com/issue-49/ess...
Casual Viewing | Will Tavlin
A decade before Airbnb persuaded homeowners to transform their homes into hotels, Netflix convinced its users to turn theirs into mini Netflix warehouses. Customers who held onto their DVDs for longer...
www.nplusonemag.com
January 31, 2025 at 8:49 PM
This is good and bleak about how much Netflix has contributed to hollowing out filmmaking www.nplusonemag.com/issue-49/ess...
@westword.com always has its finger on the pulse. Like declaring Denver had lost its "mojo" in 2022, this brainstorm of ways to pump some life into downtown feels appropriately timed.
I agree that a full-on renovation of Civic Park isn't needed right now!
www.westword.com/news/how-dow...
I agree that a full-on renovation of Civic Park isn't needed right now!
www.westword.com/news/how-dow...
A Broken Heart: Can Downtown Come Back From COVID, Construction and Crime?
Here are ten ideas for Mayor Mike Johnston.
www.westword.com
January 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM
@westword.com always has its finger on the pulse. Like declaring Denver had lost its "mojo" in 2022, this brainstorm of ways to pump some life into downtown feels appropriately timed.
I agree that a full-on renovation of Civic Park isn't needed right now!
www.westword.com/news/how-dow...
I agree that a full-on renovation of Civic Park isn't needed right now!
www.westword.com/news/how-dow...
I have a podcast coming out Feb 5 on Wondery+ (for subscribers) and May 6 for ad-supported listening.
The trailer just was released today!
The 8-ep show is a never-before reported tale of wine fraud, a murder, the rose craze, and how easily we can all be deceived
open.spotify.com/episode/1NoD...
The trailer just was released today!
The 8-ep show is a never-before reported tale of wine fraud, a murder, the rose craze, and how easily we can all be deceived
open.spotify.com/episode/1NoD...
Introducing: Blood Vines
Blood Vines · Episode
open.spotify.com
January 22, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I have a podcast coming out Feb 5 on Wondery+ (for subscribers) and May 6 for ad-supported listening.
The trailer just was released today!
The 8-ep show is a never-before reported tale of wine fraud, a murder, the rose craze, and how easily we can all be deceived
open.spotify.com/episode/1NoD...
The trailer just was released today!
The 8-ep show is a never-before reported tale of wine fraud, a murder, the rose craze, and how easily we can all be deceived
open.spotify.com/episode/1NoD...