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A borrowed camera, and Denver block by block.

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To quote this piece: Keith, “A borrowed camera, and Denver block by block,” We Them Media, filmed 2026-03-03, https://wethem.xyz/watch/from-america-to-denver-what-brought-you-here-denver. Each transcript line links to its second.

Seven minutes on a Denver street, third in a run of interviews asking people how they see the city. The camera is borrowed and being used for the first time, which Maceo says before anything else. He introduces himself, explains the plan, ten interviews before he leaves town, and gets a name: Keith.

Keith moved back about five years ago. He was working the airlines and “then I got laid off”. Before that he was a flight attendant on regional jets, “50 to 70 passengers”, running “shorter distances. But a lot of ups and downs”, out to “smaller little cities too, or towns, and then take them back to the like main hubs”.

Asked whether the job shaped how he sees America, he answers in cities. He liked Washington and could not afford it: “I lived in DC for a little while and I liked living there, but it was crazy expensive.” What he could not forgive was the transit, “the Metro didn’t go past 1 o’clock, which didn’t make no sense, and everybody closed at 2 or 3”, though he grants that “the Metro was easy to use, unlike New York City”, where asking directions gets you nowhere because “they only know their route and that’s about it”.

His Denver comes block by block. “each little area of Denver has its like little community”, he says: “up on Federal, it’s more Hispanic”, where they are standing is what “they say this is the gay part, gay community”, which he reports and then waves off, “I don’t see it, but I see a lot of gay people”, and “It’s like, who cares?” Then “down like 16th Street is like the tourist area”, currently “all under construction, so nothing’s going on”.

On politics he will not hand the city to either side. “It’s a mixture of both. Like you got conservative and liberal”, and you will find both “in the same bar”. He does not mind the governor and cannot produce the name, “Oh God, I can’t remember right now”, and the interviewer admits he could not name his own.

What he likes is the nightlife, “the entertainment, the community, some of the food”, the clubs up towards the baseball stadium, the hole in the wall bars, and the fact that “you got 3 or 4 bars in walking distance” of this one.

The last stretch is weather, and it turns into water. “the weather’s been great this winter, but no snow though”, against a last season of “constant snow”. He is not blaming the machines, “I think it’s not AI”, and puts it on El Nino pushing warm air up from the south. Water is on his mind because of fire: not in the city, he says, but on the outskirts, where a transformer arced and the wind carried it and “it torched a whole bunch of homes and everything”. Then he asks the camera for its name, and gets a booyah on a three count.

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Transcribed from the original audio and corrected for names. Search every transcript

These are the speaker’s own words. We have not checked their claims.

0:00This is This is new to me. This is my friend’s camera. Oh, okay. This is my first time using it. What’s up, everybody? This is Mao.

0:06Come on now. And I’m here. Tell me your name one more time. Keith. Keith. I’m here with Keith. We just met. I’m doing this interview series. I think I’m going to try and do 10 interviews uh before I leave Denver. And we’ll see if that changes. But I’m just asking people um how they see Denver, the community here, the culture here.

0:21Yeah. Yeah. How long you been here? I’ve been here I’ve been I moved back about 5 years ago. Mhm. I was here with the airlines for a little while and then I got laid off and but

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0:34I got that. What were you doing for the airline? I was a flight attendant. Oh yeah. So you got to travel all over the world, huh?

0:39No, just uh continental. Okay. I was I was on the small little jets. Okay. That’s pretty cool. Like uh so is that like small like is that like small

0:4950 to 70? Yeah. 50 to 70 passengers. So that’s like going like shorter distances. Yeah. Uh yeah, shorter distances but a lot of ups and downs.

0:59Okay, I hear that. Like like what does that mean? Ups and downs like stops. Yeah, you go you go back and forth. How you doing?

1:06Okay, sick. We go to the smaller, you know, like smaller little cities to our towns and then take it back to the like main hubs.

1:15So you feel like you have a a more like a does you feel like that’s informed your perspective on America? Uh yeah. Well, I I got like certain like bar I lived in DC for a little while and I liked living there, but it was crazy expensive.

1:30Mhm. And the metro didn’t go past 1:00, which didn’t make no sense. And everybody closed at 2 or 3. Yeah, I get that. How you doing, man?

1:41We’re going that way. Okay, dope. Yeah. You’re saying the the metro closed early in DC? Yeah. Yeah, we hate that. But the metro was easy to use, unlike New York City, which easy to hell.

1:53No, that’s fair. I only I feel like I’m only successful at using the New York City metro because Google Maps. Yeah. I’m like going Well, back then when I was in the city, I’m like, we just have Google map. You have to ask or

2:05Yeah. Yeah. That’s what I’m saying. Nobody knows where you’re going. Yeah. Like I don’t know. Yeah. It’s a big city. That’s true. You’re like, they only know their route and that’s about it, you know.

2:14Mhm. That’s true. It’s a big city. I feel like it’s like eight Denvers. Yeah. Yeah. You can go by. I’m sorry, man. As far as Denver, I like living uh each community, each little area of Denver has its like little community.

2:28Mhm. Like if you uh like upro is more Hispanic. Down here is more uh uh they say this is a gay part, gay community. But

2:40is the gay community supposedly m I like going I don’t see it but I see a lot of gay people you know. Mhm. But it doesn’t bug me.

2:49Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like who cares? Yeah. Yeah. I hear that. I mean I’m staying with my friend. Yeah. But that’s where everybody else says I’m going. But uh let’s see. Uh like uh 60 street is like the was the tourist area. Mhm.

3:10Right now it’s all under construction, so nothing’s going on. What do you think about the city? City politics. City politics, it’s a mixture of both of like you got a conservative and liberal and just depending on who you could talk to.

3:26Like you could talk to somebody ultra-conservative. Yeah. And then turn around talk to somebody super liberal like in the same bar or Yeah. Okay. And how do you think that votes for the actual like people who are in office here? Like what do you think? What do you think about the governor? The people

3:45the governor I don’t mind. Uh what’s the governor’s name? Oh god, I can’t remember right now. That’s okay. I couldn’t tell you my governor. I like I couldn’t I used to know that the governor of New York like

3:56Cuomo. No, that was a long time ago. But yeah, he was governor. I think Yeah, it’s okay. As a bear. Okay, I get that. I get that. So, what would you say is your favorite part about being here in Denver?

4:09Um, the light uh night life, the entertainment, uh the community, uh some of the food. Mhm. Cuz it’s a mixture. And uh what when you say like the the night life, what are things that stand out to you about night life? Like you could go like uh like down towards uh like the baseball stadium and up.

4:38You got nightclubs and everything. Got little uh uh hold in the wall bars. Mhm. Like this one. This one’s a nice bar. Oh yeah. Bar none.

4:49Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I’ve seen this on the internet. Political works LLC. Yeah. Interesting. And then like just in this little neighborhood, you got three or four bars of walking distance.

5:00Mhm. another nightclub right down the street on that’s called the church. Mhm. Where the girls dress nice. Mhm. Uh let’s see what else. I I just like living here. I’m like uh the weather has been great this summer winter, but no snow though.

5:24Yeah, no snow. I noticed that. I came from Philly and I feel like it’s actually been colder here than it was where where I was back home. It was like

5:32it was like -12° is how it felt like by the water in Philly and then I came here and I was like overdressed in my coat and I was like

5:39scratching my head. Yeah, this has been a warm summer or warm winter this this season. Last last season was like constant snow, you know, like it was cold cold.

5:50You think it’s the AI? I think it’s uh not AI. I think it’s just the Well, they it’s El Nia, I think. What’s that? Uh the weather uh the how the weather uh pushes the weather like El Nino. El Nino.

6:05Uhhuh. And it’s uh it pushes the high up higher. So the temperature from like down south comes up higher. Mhm. So uh that makes sense. I can see that.

6:17Okay. So we it’s a you know out here water is the main Yeah. Thank God for water. Right. Right. Well here it’s like helps put out fires, you know, all that, you know.

6:31There’s a lot of fires here. Yeah. Uh, not here in Denver, but like on the outskirts. Like there was one there was a couple like last year I think or the year before where it hit uh part of the outskirts of the suburbs and it torched a whole bunch of homes and everything cuz

6:48really uh cuz uh I think a transformer arked it fell. It just arked just it started the fire. That’s what arked means? Yeah, like an electric arc.

7:00Oh, interesting. I never seen that. Yeah. I never seen Well, the winds and everything that kind of just like Wow, that’s crazy. Yeah. Well, it’s nice to meet you.

7:10Nice to meet you. You have a good night. What was your name again? Mia. Mia. I like to say booyah at the end of some of my content, which say booya.

7:17Booyah. Three, two, one. Booya. Booyah. Hell yeah.

That was the whole tape.

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Filmed the same day.

3 March 2026

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