Access Utah

Latest Episodes:

What Are You Reading? On Wednesday's Access Utah Jul 20, 2016

Show notes

It’s been several months since we got together as a community and compiled a UPR book list. Public radio listeners are famous as avid readers. We want to know what you’re reading. What’s on your nightstand or on your device right now? Fellow listeners may not know about it and may love it.

Wildfires And Drones On Tuesday's Access Utah Jul 19, 2016

Show notes

In several cases this summer, efforts to fight wildfires have been hampered because of drones in the area. Utah lawmakers recently voted to allow authorities to disable or damage unauthorized drones near wildfires. The bill would also impose harsher penalties on people caught flying the aircraft. Tuesday on AU we’ll discuss this legislation, and talk about fighting wildfires in general. We’ll also look into the future of fighting wildfires. We’ll be joined by Scott Bushman who is a former hotshot who trains firefighters. We’ll also speak with Sam Ramsey, Regional Aviation Officer U. S. Forest Service Intermountain Region, about this year’s wildfires in the west.

Brad Watson and "Miss Jane" on Thursday's Access Utah Jul 13, 2016

Show notes

Award-winning author Brad Watson is a native of Mississippi who now teaches at the University of Wyoming. In his new novel “Miss Jane,” drawing on the story of his own great-aunt, Watson explores the life of Miss Jane Chisolm, born in rural, early 20th-century Mississippi with a genital birth defect that would stand in the way of the central “uses” for a woman in that time and place—namely, sex and marriage.

The Passion of Dolssa: Julie Berry on Wednesday's AU Jul 12, 2016

Show notes

Julie Berry was inspired to write her new historical novel, “The Passion of Dolssa,” while listening to a college lecture she found online about medieval France. Fascinated, Berry began a two-year dive into research on the era, learning about the lives of several medieval female mystics like Clare of Assisi, Marguerite Porete, and Catherine of Siena, women who rejected marriage, almost unheard of at the time, and bucked the authority of the church with their own religious visions. “The Passion of Dolssa” is set during the 13th Century in southern France (the area now known as Provence), in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade.

Cory Doctorow on Technology, Privacy, Intellectual Property on Tuesday's Access Utah Jul 11, 2016

Show notes

Science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist Cory Doctorow joins us for Tuesday’s AU. In a recent column, Doctorow says that “all the data collected in giant databases today will breach someday, and when it does, it will ruin peoples’ lives. They will have their houses stolen from under them by identity thieves who forge their deeds (this is already happening); they will end up with criminal records because identity thieves will use their personal information to commit crimes (this is already happening); … they will have their devices compromised using passwords and personal data that leaked from old accounts, and the hackers will spy on them through their baby monitors, cars, set-top boxes, and medical implants (this is already happening)...” We’ll talk with Cory Doctorow about technology, privacy, and intellectual property.

NPR's Kirk Siegler on Monday's AU Jul 10, 2016

Show notes

NPR reporter Kirk Siegler recently visited UPR while in Logan working on a story for the NPR elections desk. He sat down with Tom Williams for a wide-ranging conversation including discussion of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s Mormon problem; the potential designation of a Bear’s Ears National Monument; Seigler’s interview with Cliven Bundy and reporting on the stand-off at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge; how Seigler got started at NPR and his life as a reporter for NPR’s national desk; and parallels between Australia and the American West.

Revisiting A Conversation On The Sonic Sea And Sound Pollution On Monday's Access Utah Jul 06, 2016

Show notes

“Oceans are a sonic symphony. Sound is essential to the survival and prosperity of marine life. But man-made ocean noise is threatening this fragile world.” So say the producers of a documentary film, “Sonic Sea,” which takes us beneath the ocean’s surface to uncover the consequences of increased ocean noise pollution, including the mass stranding of whales around the planet, and looks at what can be done to stop it.

Last Chance Byway: The History Of Nine Mile Canyon On Wednesday's Access Utah Jul 06, 2016

Show notes

"Nine Mile Canyon's role in the Old West--a story of fur trappers and miners, ranchers and homesteaders, cattle barons and barkeeps, outlaws and bounty hunters Nine Mile Canyon is famous the world over for its prehistoric art images and remnants of ancient Fremont farmers. But it also teems with Old West history that is salted with iconic figures of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Last Chance Byway lays out this newly told story of human endeavor and folly in a place historians have long ignored. The history of Nine Mile Canyon is not so much a story of those who lived and died there as it is of those whose came with dreams and left broke and disillusioned, although there were exceptions. Sam Gilson, the irascible U.S. marshal and famed polygamist hunter, became wealthy speculating in a hydrocarbon substance bearing his name, Gilsonite, a form of asphalt. The famed African American Buffalo Soldiers constructed a freight road through the canyon that for a time turned the Nine Mile Road into one of the busiest highways in Utah. Others who left their mark include famed outlaw hunter Joe Bush, infamous bounty hunter Jack Watson, the larger-than-life cattle baron Preston Nutter, and Robert Leroy Parker (known to most as Butch Cassidy)"

Republican Party Resignation On Tuesday's Access Utah Jul 05, 2016

Show notes

Two leaders in the Cache County Republican Party have resigned from the party over presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump. In a letter to members of the Cache County Republican Party Executive Committee, Andy Rasmussen and Jonathan Choate say, "The decision by the Executive Committee to take no public action disavowing our presidential nominee has left us in a difficult position...Donald Trump is directly antithetical to nearly every traditional Republican value...His unapologetic racism, xenophobia, and misogyny disqualify him from consideration as a precinct chair, let alone the presidency.”

Revisiting Paul Ford's "What Is Coding" on Wednesday's Access Utah Jun 29, 2016

Show notes

When Bloomberg Businessweek told him it was going to give him the whole magazine to write a single article about computer programming, Paul Ford, a soft-spoken programmer and writer, sat on his couch with a pillow over his head and just let out a long “aaaaaaahhhhh,” like he had just stuck his finger on the ‘A’ key. Ford’s piece started out as a 2,000-, then 4,000-word piece. It grew much longer from there, demanding the efforts of a team of editors, graphic artists and web developers to make it what it is now: An interactive primer that not only teaches how computers process code, but commits code as part of its narrative. This turned into “What Is Code?”

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected