It's Worth Mentioning

Sugar beet harvest is in full swing across Idaho and Duane Grant, a longtime sugar producer from Rupert, says this season got off to one of the roughest starts he’s seen in the 45 years he’s been in the industry. This week on “It’s Worth Mentioning,” we’re taking a closer look at Idaho’s sugar market. Idaho potatoes may be world-renowned, but sugar beets have a long and important history in the Ge...

Bill Whitaker may not be a household name today, but for a brief time during his childhood, he was part of Hollywood. His biggest claim to fame? Voicing a character in Disney’s animated classic “Robin Hood.” Bill’s older brother, Johnny Whitaker, was a household name in the 1960s and ’70s, starring as Jody Davis on the CBS sitcom Family Affair from 1966 to 1971. Earlier this year, Johnny joined us...

For more than 20 years, Scott Hammond has gone looking for people who are lost. As a member of the Utah County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team, Hammond has taken part in more than 400 rescue missions. Along the way, he and his search-and-rescue dog, Boo, have traveled thousands of miles, met people on some of the worst days of their lives, and experienced moments that have stayed with him...

More than three decades after the release of the New York Times bestselling book “The Christmas Box,” Richard Paul Evans is excited to release his first historical fiction novel. “Mercy’s Child” — which  hits store shelves on Oct. 20 — tells the story of Etta Wheeler, a missionary in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, in the late 1800s whose efforts to help an abused child sparked a movement that forever c...

Amid one of the worst water years on record, reservoirs are at an all-time low and stakeholders are exploring ways to stretch the water supply. RELATED | Idaho’s reservoirs hit historic low as winter outlook raises more water worries This week on “It’s Worth Mentioning,” Nick Banish joins us to discuss the expansion of Idaho’s Collaborative Cloud Seeding program. During a public meeting in Rexburg...

A terrorist attack, a political assassination and a one-year anniversary. “It’s Worth Mentioning” is turning 1 and we’re taking a moment to reflect. This week, the nation commemorated the 25th anniversary of 9/11. This episode begins with a look back at that horrific day. RELATED | Tragedy may endure for a night, but morning in America will always come RELATED | Don’t be stuck in Sept. 10 Two othe...

NOTE:  This episode  originally aired on  Nov. 23, 2025. Jim Bridger was an early mountaineer and explorer of the Pacific Northwest. He explored areas that now include Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Throughout his life, he had friendly associations with many groups, including members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He settled the Salt Lake Valley before the Latter-day Saint...

Ezra Taft Benson was a high-ranking leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was tapped by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. The eastern Idaho Republican’s eight-year stint in Ike’s cabinet set the stage for decades of political involvement that would make him one of the most polarizing figures of the 20th century. This week on “It’s...

Fifty years after the collapse of the Teton Dam, a new book shows how this iconic moment in eastern Idaho is connected to other historic events. Nathaniel Gee, author of “Faith and Fortitude: How Faith, Politics and Power Shaped the Teton Dam Disaster,” returns to the podcast for a fascinating discussion. RELATED | Remembering the Teton Dam collapse: Inside the failure and fight to rebuild In this...

More than a decade after the end of World War II, President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded Sister Cities International, a program aimed at promoting peace, cultural understanding, educational exchanges, and economic cooperation. It was 1956. The war came to an end in 1945 after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, but American hostility towards the Japanese remained. T...

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This episode  originally aired on  Dec. 7, 2025. Gold had been discovered in the Sawtooth Mountains. It was 1879, thirty years after the California Gold Rush, and dozens of people from the southern United States had come to central Idaho seeking their fortune. Samuel Holman was an attorney who filed one of the first gold claims in the area. He laid out the plots for a community to...

Although the state of Idaho is involved in a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice about noncitizen voting concerns, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane says they have a great relationship with the Trump Administration. Earlier this year, Idaho was one of 29 states that was sued by the Justice Department. It’s part of the Trump Administration’s agenda to crack down on election fraud. The g...

Singing in the Tabernacle Choir is a multi-generational tradition for Leslie Johnson. The Utah woman, who grew up in Rexburg, represents the fourth generation of her family to be part of the world-renowned singing ensemble. She’s been a member of the Choir since 2022 and was part of the Choir’s recent “Songs of Hope” concert at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater in Los Angeles, California, which incl...

After eight years as the Idaho State Brand Inspector, Cody Burlile says he gets to work with "the best people in the country," and that’s what makes the job worthwhile. In Idaho, the state brand inspector helps verify cattle ownership and investigates cattle thefts and mutilations. Several active cases are going on right now. RELATED | Cattle ‘suffered’ after being shot, left to die on Idaho range...

EDITOR’S NOTE: This episode  originally aired on  Feb. 22, 2026. Despite losing a bid for Idaho governor with less than one percentage point and failing twice to represent Idaho in Congress, David Leroy says he doesn’t have any “political work left undone.” The 78-year-old Boise man is a longtime Idaho attorney who’s had an extensive political career in Idaho. It began in the 1970s. Leroy is also...

IDAHO FALLS – National Radio host Glenn Beck made a public appearance in Preston on Saturday to help raise funds for two historic buildings. The part-time eastern Idaho resident gave a presentation at the Franklin County Event Center at three different times. He spoke about America’s beginnings and brought multiple historical artifacts from his personal collection, which will soon be part of a new...

Jeral Williams is one of the proud farmers in eastern Idaho, but he’s one of the few who raise camels. The 74-year-old Idaho Falls man owns Williams and Sons Farm, an 80-acre spread off Yellowstone Highway. In addition to growing wheat and alfalfa, he owns cattle, bison, and camels, which he takes to community events throughout the year. His farm has been in operation since 1891, and Jeral and his...

On June 6, 1933, Richard Hollingshead opened the first drive-in movie theater in New Jersey. Fourteen years later, on May 14, 1947, Hugo Jorgensen and Ed Moran opened Motor Vu Drive-in at 2095 North Yellowstone Highway in Idaho Falls, the first venue of its kind in Idaho. Weeks after Motor Vu began its 79th year, we’re doing a deep dive on its history and the industry itself. This week on “It’s Wo...

EDITOR’S NOTE: This episode  originally aired on  Nov. 16, 2025. Stewart Petersen has no regrets about living out of the spotlight. The 64-year-old Cokeville, Wyoming, man was cast as Billy Coleman in the 1974 film, “Where the Red Fern Grows.” He was only 13 at the time and went on to appear in half a dozen family-friendly films over the next six years. He left the film industry for good at that p...

Fifty years ago today, on June 5, 1976, the Teton Dam collapsed and spilled 80 billion gallons of water into eastern Idaho. The historic disaster buried Rexburg under 5 feet of water at one point and resulted in the death of 11 people. More than 13,000 head of livestock were killed, and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or heavily damaged. The estimated cost of the damage was around $2 bil...

Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, more than 700 people have flown in space, according to  whoisinspace.com . Of those, 250 people have walked in space. In 2002, John Herrington became the first Native American to walk in space as part of a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. The 67-year-old retired astronaut with ties to Idaho recently spoke to locals at the Shoshone-Bannock Hote...

Johnny Whitaker was 6-years-old when he landed the part of Jody Davis in “ Family Affair ,” a sitcom that ran on CBS from 1966-1971. It told the story of a wealthy Manhattan bachelor, played by Brian Keith, who suddenly becomes the guardian of his late brother’s three orphaned children. Whitaker, who has ties to eastern Idaho, was one of the three children in the cast. From there, he went on to st...

Friends and colleagues are remembering Dirk Kempthorne as “a man who truly loved our state” and who could help people “feel uniquely and genuinely seen.” Former Governor Butch Otter compared him to fictional characters Atticus Finch from “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Jefferson Smith from “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Idaho’s 30th governor passed away on April 24 after a battle with colon cancer. H...

After seeing a wall of water pummel Rexburg, Brian and Brent Gibson, along with nine of their friends, congregated on the corner of Main Street and North 2nd East for a now-iconic photo. It was around 3 p.m. on June 5, 1976 — hours after the collapse of the Teton Dam. This summer, the Gibson brothers and the rest of the gang will reunite to retake the photo 50 years later. Today on “It’s Worth Men...

Jess Johnson has had a meaningful long-distance friendship with a man on the other side of the country for about a year, and it all started with an inconsequential decision. The Mackay High School history teacher was traveling with his wife last summer. On a whim, they found an audiobook about the USS Indianapolis, a battle cruiser during World War II that hauled components of the atomic bomb that...