Access Utah

According to a BBC report from July 16, “a new interim Egyptian government has been sworn in, with army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the ousting of Mohammed Morsi, becoming deputy PM as well as defence minister. ... The swearing in followed another night of violence between security forces and Morsi supporters that left seven dead. A spokesman for Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood called th...

Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman was recently acquitted of all charges in the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. More than 150 people marched in protest of the verdict in Salt Lake City. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, some of the protesters said that the trial’s outcome will increase racial profiling and open the door for “trigger-happy” vigilantes. We’re going to open up...

Paul Bogard, author of the new book, “The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light,” spent his childhood summers in a cabin on a lake in northern Minnesota, where shooting stars cut across swaths of countless stars, the Milky Way reflected off the lake, and the woods were so dark he couldn’t see his hands in front of his face. In our modern world of nights as brig...

Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon and Imam Jamal Rahman -- known as the Interfaith Amigos --are co-authors of “Getting to the Heart of Interfaith:The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Pastor, a Rabbi & a Sheikh.” Known for their unique blend of spiritual wisdom and humor, they openly address the usual taboos of interfaith dialogue — the “awkward” parts of each tradition — in order to c...

We continue a series of conversations with authors whose books are featured on our UPR Book List. Today: Kevin Fedarko talks about his new book, “The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon.” Here’s how the publisher, Simon & Schuster, describes the book: “In the spring of 1983, a massive snowmelt sent runoff racing down the Colorado River...

Award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney says “forgiveness is elusive, mysterious, primal...an idea and an ache that is rooted in existential concerns.” PBS describes her film Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate this way: It “provides an intimate look into the spontaneous outpouring of forgiveness: from the Amish families for the 2006 shooting of their children in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvani...

Physicist and climate change & sustainability educator, Dr. Robert Davies responded to Monday's Access Utah (about the new book: "What to Expect When No One's Expecting") by saying that the author, Jonathan Last, “was throwing out one piece of misinformation after another, contradicted by the data, utterly unchallenged." Robert Davies asked for rebuttal time, and we're happy to continue our discus...

For years, we have been warned about the looming danger of overpopulation: people jostling for space on a planet that’s busting at the seams and running out of oil and food and land and everything else. In his new book “What to Expect When No One’s Expecting” Weekly Standard senior writer Jonathan Last says it’s all bunk. The “population bomb” never exploded. Instead, he says, statistics from arou...

Last week our UPR community compiled an impressive book list. Now, we want to know what movies & television shows you’re watching. What’s in your Netflix queue right now? Is there a movie or show that has had a big impact on you? Which shows and movies are you looking forward to seeing? Maybe you’d like to tell us a personal story connected to a favorite movie. We’d love to hear about movies and s...

The U. S. Supreme Court has struck down a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, declaring that same-sex couples who are legally married deserve equal rights to benefits under federal law. The court also has sent California’s Proposition 8, which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman, back to the appellate court. What do you think of these rulings? Did the Supreme Court...

As we head into summer we want to know what you’re reading. What’s on your nightstand right now? Is there a book that has had a big impact on you? What are you looking forward to reading? Perhaps you’d like to tell us a personal story connected to a favorite book. We’d love to hear about books in the adult, young adult & children’s categories. One suggestion or many are welcome. Post your list on...

Pictured is the Bringhurst family's new addition, Poseidon. His next project is loose-leash walking training. A recent survey shows that pet ownership is at its highest level in two decades. We're going to talk about your pet on Access Utah. We'll have a Petsmart Utah area pet trainer Marc Ellis with us to answer your questions. Post a picture of your pet on the Utah Public Radio Facebook page alo...

The immigration debate has raised some of the most difficult questions our nation has ever faced. How can we preserve the integrity of sovereign borders while also respecting the dignity of human beings? How should a border be humanely and effectively maintained? To understand the experience of those directly impacted by the immigration crisis, Ananda Rose traveled to the Sonoran Desert - a border...

On Tuesday we will have Maximilian Werner, author of "Evolved, Chronicles of a Pleistocene Mind."

Victor S. Navasky former editor and publisher of The Nation, and at The New York Times Magazine is on Access Utah.

Yesterday on Access Utah we talked with members of a modern-day polygamous community. Today, in part two of our series, we’ll learn how polygamy began in America. When Joseph Smith began to reveal and teach the doctrine of plural marriage in 1841, even stalwart church members like Brigham Young were shocked and confused. In her new book, “Revelation, Resistance, and Mormon Polygamy--The Introducti...

In Utah we often have occasion to talk about polygamy. But it is rarer to be able to talk with people who practice it. Wednesday we'll talk with members of the Centennial Park community near the Arizona/Utah border. They are being featured on National Geographic Channel’s Polygamy USA series and recently recorded their stories when UPR hosted StoryCorps in St. George.

CEO Marissa Mayer’s recent decision to require Yahoo! workers to come to headquarters for work has provoked a vigorous discussion about telecommuting. On the other end of the spectrum, some suggest that in today’s world, employees shouldn’t have set hours just clear goals. And no matter what else may change, we’ll likely always have to deal with office politics. How is your workplace changing? Is...

Utah Attorney General John Swallow is the subject of a federal and state investigation into a series of allegations, including that he helped broker deals to assist a businessman suspected of fraud and that he promised protection to potential campaign donors to his predecessor, Mark Shurtleff. House Democrats are calling for his impeachment and point to the case in renewing their call for ethics r...

More than 800 movies have been filmed in Utah since filmmaking began in the state in the 1920s with the Parry brothers near Cedar City. Utah has played host to all manner of moves from potboilers on lean budgets to some of the most memorable films ever made, including The Searchers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Planet of the Apes, Footloose, and Thelma & Louise. Through the years millions o...

Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings has been a guest on NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! but last week he appeared as a panelist. Wednesday we’ll revisit an Access Utah conversation with Ken Jennings from January. His latest book is “Because I Said So! - The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, & Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids.” Many of these myths and warnings are culture-specific. We’ll t...

Angelina Jolie’s recent announcement that she’d received a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of cancer, highlights a series of decisions we all may be facing in this age of genetic testing: Do I want to know? Whom should I tell? What should I do with the information? Should I take a chance on passing on genetic problems? What about privacy and insurance? Dr. Robert Klitzman addresses these c...

When the national park system was first established in 1916, the goal "to conserve unimpaired" seemed straightforward. But Robert Keiter, author of a new book, To Conserve Unimpaired: The Evolution of the National Park Idea, argues that parks have always served a variety of competing purposes, from wildlife protection and scientific discovery to tourism and commercial development. He says that par...

Last year, in a surprising development, more than 300 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints marched in the Utah Pride Parade. The group Mormons Building Bridges predicts that with Mormons for Equality also involved, church members will turn out in record numbers to march in this year’s parade on Sunday. Are you planning to march in the parade this year? What do you think of th...

As National Bike Month comes to a close, we’re talking bicycling on Wednesday’s Access Utah. Is biking a legitimate form of everyday transportation? Should more of us park our cars in favor of our bicycles? Could you get by without owning a car? Is your community bike-friendly? How can you stay safe while cycling? How can we better accommodate each other as drivers and bikers?