Kyle Clark has worked as a general assignment reporter, investigative reporter, political reporter, and anchor for 9News in Denver since 2007. But if there’s one thing you really know him for, it’s that he criticized you for sending in photos of your patio furniture when it snows. As he says to me in this week’s episode, if he were to walk out on Speer Blvd. and get hit by an RTD bus today, that would be the first line in his obituary.

While he never thought anyone would care about that playful jab in the ribs to 9News viewers, with regard to his impressive body of work, it’s clear Kyle Clark cares very deeply about the practice of journalism and elevating the understanding of important issues and public officials. His pointed editorials – about the lack of Bernie Sanders coverage, about Colorado’s cannabis culture and 4/20, and others – are shared across social media, and illustrate an engaged reporter who offers thoughtful views on issues that matter.

On this week’s show, we spend a great deal of time talking about his underlying philosophy about engaging with the topics of the day, which includes asking difficult questions of public officials, because the media consumer deserves nothing less than thorough engagement and enhanced understanding of the decisions and processes that affect their lives. For context, we reference this Huffpost article lauding Kyle Clark’s (and his colleague Brandon Rittiman’s) pointed questions during the Colorado Senatorial debate between Rep. Cory Gardner and Sen. Mark Udall in 2014.

This stuff is all important (and fascinating, quite frankly, if you care about how we understand our world), but lest you think this episode is all high-falutin’ pedantry about the 4th estate, we also spend some time chatting about the goofiness of being a local celebrity, what the schedule of a local newsman is like, whether he intentionally made a Pete Holmes reference on air, and, oh yes, BEER.

Kyle Clark is a craft beer geek (as am I), and we chat about how we got into the scene, why we love it, and drop some names of our favorites. Included in here – and this is by no means inclusive – are mentions of: The Post Brewing, Comrade Brewing, Station 26 Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, Odell Brewing, Denver Beer Company, Call to Arms Brewing, and Beryl’s Beer Co.

There, now that this blog post looks all spammy, let’s add a few more. Follow Kyle Clark on Twitter and Like him on Facebook.

Then download this episode on iTunes, stream it on Stitcher, or listen at the Jon of All Trades homepage.

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