• WRITER. EDITOR.
    CYCLIST. PODCASTER

     

     

    CHRIS WALKER

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    Award-Winning Journalist

    Chris Walker is a writer and editor based in Denver, Colorado who specializes in narrative longform reporting. He is currently an associate editor at 5280 Magazine.

     

    His work has spanned four continents, ranging from investigative journalism to arts and culture writing. Chris's freelance stories can be found in The Atlantic, Playboy, the Atavist, VICE, Forbes, NPR, Rock and Ice, Backpacker, Westword, and LA Weekly -- among others.

     

    In 2020, Chris released his first narrative podcast series The Syndicate, which peaked at #9 in Apple's top shows chart. He has another narrative podcast series coming out in 2024.

  • Career Highlights

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    Bicycling from Paris to Shanghai

    2012 - 2013

    Walker's journalism career began in 2012, when he and another reporter rode bicycles 16,000 miles from France to China. Cycling allowed the pair to find scoops off the beaten track, launching them into investigations of orphanage tourism in Cambodia, child boxing and gambling in rural Thailand, India's evolving transgender community, Uighur rappers in western China, and a climber's daring self-rescue on the border of Russia.

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    LA Weekly

    2014

    Upon returning stateside, Walker cut his teeth at Los Angeles' storied alt-weekly, reporting on criminal justice and culture. While at the paper, he unearthed a scandalous tale involving jazz legend Charlie Parker, as well as explored the city's underground cycling scene -- like The Fast and the Furious on bikes. 

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    Westword

    2015 - 2019

    As a staff writer for Denver's alt-weekly, Westword, Walker honed his narrative longform reporting. His 37 cover stories at the paper ranged from profiles of iconoclastic lawyers and musicians in the Mile High City to exploring secret LSD laboratories and embedding with an armed, anti-government militia in southern Colorado.

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    Freelance Print Work

    2016 to present

    A murder mystery in Mexico. Missing climbers in the Andes Mountains of Argentina. A profile of America's biggest metal band. Walker continues to write feature stories for national magazines as a freelance reporter.

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    Podcasting

    present

    Walker's latest focus has been narrative podcasts in the vein of Serial and This American Life. His first, The Syndicate, was released in fall 2020. In 2022, Walker released Ballot Trip, a 4-part miniseries with City Cast Denver after being selected for the first cohort of the Ferriss-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Reporting Fellowship. His next narrative project is in the works.

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    5280 Magazine

    present

    Walker joined 5280 Magazine's staff as an associate editor in June 2022. His work for the Denver magazine can be found here.

  • Journalism Awards

    Society of Professional Journalists

    2018

    Walker's story about Denver's clandestine LSD labs in the 1960's was selected by the SPJ for its national Sigma Delta Chi award in feature writing.

    Best of the West

    2019

    Walker was awarded a first place prize in immigration reporting by the Best of the West Contest for a story about a Pakistani man who, paradoxically, couldn't get himself deported from the U.S. despite his best efforts.

    Livingston Award Finalist

    2013 & 2020

    Two time finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2013 and 2020, both in the international reporting category

    Others

    2015 to 2020

     

    -The Child Welfare League of America's Anna Quindlen Award in 2016

    -numerous first place SPJ "Top of the Rockies" awards

    -numerous first place Colorado Press Association awards

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