City Cast Salt Lake

Cuffing season is in full motion, and in the wise words of Olivia Rodrigo: “It’s brutal out here.” It’s been 10 years since the launch of online dating apps, and the people are over it. Host Ali Vallarta talks to gender and sexuality researcher Lisa Diamond about how to combat dating app burnout.   This episode first aired on Sept. 19, 2022. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find...

Before you sled home for the holidays, lead producer Emily Means joins host Ali Vallarta to talk about the shipwreck at the Great Salt Lake, the latest update on homelessness and some inspo for your movie-watching enjoyment.  Volunteer at the Overnight Movie Night. Sign-up for the Great Salt Lake shipwreck stroll on Jan. 1, 2023. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instag...

The Utes are going to the Rose Bowl (again)! Can they win this time? KSL University of Utah Athletics beat reporter Michelle Bodkin tells host Ali Vallarta how this team’s heartbreaking story keeps making for unusual — and emotional — football. Plus, will U of U athletes ever get on the state’s payroll? Buy tickets to Utah PAC-12 women’s basketball. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You c...

We all hate flu season. But there’s a lot of other stuff going around right now, too. So, host Ali Vallarta wants to know which virus is worrying Dr. Angela Dunn, executive director of the Salt Lake County Health Department, most during the holidays: Covid-19, the flu, or RSV? Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC. Looking to...

Santa, #takenote. TikTok’s own Queen of SLC, Kendall Rodriguez, joins host Ali Vallarta to count down who was good and who is getting coal this year in Salt Lake.  Plus, were you recently laid off? Check out this brand new job board for Utahns.  Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC. Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake...

Cheers to a snowy weekend, baby! Lead producer Emily Means joins host Ali Vallarta to round out this week’s news, including air quality on Salt Lake’s west side, vacant houses coming down in the Ballpark neighborhood, and some good news for the Great Salt Lake. Oh, and hanukkah sameach! Listen to our episode on U.S. Magnesium. Share your west side pollution story with KUER & The Salt Lake Tribune....

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services aka the DABS aka our state alcohol regulator are out of bar licenses for 2022, leaving some business owners out of luck. When will the Utah Legislature start to get with the times on liquor laws? Fox 13 reporter Ben Winslow tells host Ali Vallarta why 2023 could be the year we start to see real policy changes. Subscribe to our daily morning newsle...

Happy birthday, City Cast Salt Lake! For our first anniversary celebration, host Ali Vallarta and lead producer Emily Means throw down some hot predictions for the next year of city news –– from rooftop bars and this Jazz team, to our mayoral race and the future of the Great Salt Lake. Take the Guiding Our Growth survey. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @City...

Nothing says the holidays like the bustle at City Creek mall, where last-minute shoppers and casual mall walkers unite on the shopping center’s iconic sky bridge. But the story of City Creek and its place in our skyline goes deeper than American consumerism. As architectural designer CJ Hellige tells host Ali Vallarta, it’s about a vision for a beautiful and grand Salt Lake City — and the power an...

Oddly beautiful or beautifully odd? How do we best describe Ralphael Plescia’s Christian School on State Street? Salt Lake Tribune culture reporter Palak Jayswal joins host Ali Vallarta to chat about the future of this iconic Salt Lake sculpture project, now that its beloved founder has died and left the city without a clear direction. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter here. You can find u...

It’s the most wonderful time of the week — its end. Lead producer Emily Means joins host Ali Vallarta to recap the news, including elementary school closures, Salt Lake City’s investment in permanent supportive housing, and the IOC’s wild idea that could bring the Olympics to Utah a lot more often. Plus, newsletter editor Terina Ria lays out a whole weekend of festive festivities. Sign-up for the...

Depending on who you are, you either love shopping for gifts or find it demoralizing. Don’t know what to get your co-worker or girlfriend’s dad? Fret not, because the annual City Weekly Holiday Gift Guide has you covered with thoughtful local gifts for Salt Lakers. Editor Benjamin Wood joins host Ali Vallarta to swap ideas for gleefully finishing your shopping list long before Dec. 24. Subscribe t...

It’s that time of year when your uncle tries to small-talk with you about sports at your grandma’s holiday party. Yikes. But don’t let the dread settle in just yet — we have the tools to help you succeed. Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen joins host Ali Vallarta to get us up to speed on Utah’s favorite NBA team. Plus, Ali gives a rundown on University of Utah football. Subscribe to ou...

There are few people in this world who feel a fiery passion for salads: Michelle Obama, rabbits, and our very own Shireen Ghorbani. Shireen, a community health director for Intermountain Healthcare and greens enthusiast, joins host Ali Vallarta to make her case for why salads are sexy meals and the best spots in Salt Lake to grab a bite — or a fistful. Peruse the Kem C. Gardner Institute populatio...

Ready for more construction on I-15? The Utah Department of Transportation is making plans to widen the section between Salt Lake and Farmington to as many as 23 lanes (with shoulders). But who pays the price for all this urban sprawl? Host Ali Vallarta asks Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, how he’s thinking about this controversial project, because the Utah Legislature has already appropriated $1...

Hello weekend, my old friend. Lead producer Emily Means joins host Ali Vallarta to talk about Rocky Anderson’s rebrand as he launches his mayoral campaign (again) and whether the value of alfalfa is worth the water it uses. Plus, Ali is vindicated in her analysis that yes, it is actually really cold. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter here. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twit...

If you saw Donny Osmond in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, you may have had, oh, we don’t know –– a queer awakening! More than 20 years later, Provo-based theater director Kacey Spadafora has a technicolor dream of his own: to revive this story as the big gay musical he always knew it could be. He tells host Ali Vallarta what it would take to make it happen. Read Wes Long’s piece abo...

There are a lot of things city slickers need in this life: a good hairstylist, a credit score, a cell phone. How about a will? It’s a bit morbid, we know. But what will happen to your belongings (or your pet) if you don’t have one? Host Ali Vallarta talks with Candace Waters, a cool young estate lawyer, about why you should write a quick will — even if it’s just on a napkin.   Subscribe to our dai...

Have you heard about Mongo? His story brought Utah’s wild horse conundrum close to home and served as unusually good press for the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse roundups. Growth, land use, and the good old fashioned “way of life” question are all at stake in Utah’s wild horse debacle — which host (and horse girl) Ali Vallarta and Salt Lake Tribune reporter Brian Maffly try to unravel. See...

Utah is known for a lot of things: the greatest snow on earth, fry sauce, national parks — and getting scammed. Year after year, Utah is named one of the top states for fraud and is even one of the first to set up a white collar crime registry because of this. Deseret News Features Editor Meg Walter joins host Ali Vallarta to categorize Utah’s various scammers and figure out who’s to blame.  Subsc...

This week has been tough — and it’s only Wednesday. From the Club Q mass shooting in Colorado Springs to a senseless shooting in our own city this weekend, our community is on edge. Host Ali Vallarta and lead producer Emily Means tackle those feelings, plus the food news you need to know before logging off for a few days. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter here. You can find us on Instagram...

Some would argue that the affordability crisis in Park City has been raging since the ‘02 Olympics, making housing out of reach for many local workers. That means a lot of them are actually our neighbors in Salt Lake! Last week, host Ali Vallarta talked to journalist Gloria Liu about how to save a ski town. Today, we zoom in on Park City with KPCW reporter Parker Malatesta –– because there are som...

As we round out yet another dry year in Utah, our neighbors in Vegas have made Salt Lake news recently for their strict water policies.  It’s not the first time we’ve eyed them with conservation envy. When John Oliver railed on Utah’s water consumption this past summer, he told us he wished we were more like our sister: Las Vegas. When did the city of excess become the city of conservation? And wh...

It’s the week after the election, but there’s no rest for the wicked in this town! Lead producer Emily Means joins host Ali Vallarta to debate bigger highways, tie up loose ends from the election, and lament the closure of some beloved restaurants. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter here. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC. Looking to advertise on City Cast S...

Artist Ruby Chacón is a self-proclaimed “Utahna.” The Chicana artist and founder of Salt Lake’s Mestizo Institute of Culture and Arts has spent her career challenging the mostly white art world with her portraits and murals. As Salt Lake’s gallery scene is embroiled in a controversy of racial representation, arts journalist Bianca Velasquez joins host Ali Vallarta to examine how Ruby Chacón’s lega...