Idaho Matters is a wonderful way to stay up to date, meet people and understand there’s much more to this great state. Hosted by Gemma Gaudette on Boise State Public Radio News, it features arts and politics, growth and education, and the interesting stories that make Idaho unique. Send us your questions, comments or story ideas by emailing idahomatters@boisestate.edu or sending us a voicemail using the “Talk To Us” feature on the free Boise State Public Radio app.
'Yinka, Where is Your Huzband?' author talks with Idaho Matters
Jun 19, 2023
Show notes( Penguin Books)
This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on February 7, 2022.
Idaho Matters spoke with author Lizzie Damilola Blackburn whose novel "Yinka, Where is Your Huzband?" tells the story of a Nigerian British woman living in London. Along the way, the protagonist grapples with society’s standards of beauty and colorism, along with the and the ever-present pressure for women to settle down.
'Raising Critical Thinkers:' An author interview with Julie Bogart
Jun 19, 2023
Show notes(JB / TarcherPerigee)
This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired in February 2022.
'Just Haven't Met You Yet:' An author interview with Sophie Cousens
Jun 19, 2023
Show notes( G.P. Putnam's Sons)
This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired in 2022.
If you believe in fate or perhaps serendipity, the book "Just Haven't Met You Yet" will be one you'll want to add to TBR list. New York Times bestselling author Sophie Cousens joined Idaho Matter to talk more about this must-read rom-com.
Idaho Matters Reporter Roundtable: June 16, 2023
Jun 16, 2023
Show notes(Jim Hickcox / Flickr)
World Refugee Day in Boise
Jun 16, 2023
Show notes(Maria Salamanca / Flickr)
There are too many days when the world feels so splintered. But there are also those rare days when the world seems a bit smaller, when there's an opportunity to recognize how much we share. So let's talk about one of those days, World Refugee Day.
Idaho's resettlement program began in the 1970s as part of a national effort to receive refugees from southeast asia after the Vietnam War. For this current fiscal year the Idaho Office for Refugees will welcome between 900 and 1,000 new refugees, according to Communications Manager Holly Beech.
A plan to raise Anderson Ranch Dam
Jun 15, 2023
Show notes In May, #CPNRegion engineers briefed representatives from the Idaho Department of Water Resources, U.S. Forest Service, Idaho Transportation Department - Division of Aeronautics, and Idaho Power on multiple engineering projects related to the Anderson Ranch Dam Raise project. (Marc Ayalin / Bureau of Reclamation)
Officials want to raise Anderson Ranch Dam by six feet to provide more room for water storage in the reservoir.
The dam, which was online by 1951, sits on the south fork of the Boise River and provides power, irrigation water and flood control.
It’s one of three dams in the Boise River Basin that stores water as it melts and flows from higher elevations. During a spring like this one too much water melts at once, filling the dams and forcing officials to release large amounts of water downstream to avoid flooding. As of today, the three dams are 97 percent full and Anderson Ranch is at 98 percent of its capacity.
If Anderson Ranch is raised it would add 29,000-acre feet of storage space which could be a boon to irrigators and fish, and it would fill a growing demand for more water.
But raising a dam isn’t easy and could affect boaters and campers and the cost of the project recently jumped up by as much as $40 million.
So how do you raise a dam? To answer that question, we asked Cynthia Bridge Clark, the Water Projects Section Manager at the Idaho Department of Water Resources, and Lanie Paquin, Area Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Snake River Office to join Idaho Matters.
Using video game monsters to teach future doctors
Jun 15, 2023
Show notesThis monster is Type One Diabetes. He’s got eyeglasses, he’s holding some donuts, and he’s being stung by strange little bees. Each one of these characteristics mean something specific in the medical world.(Medimon / University of Idaho)
You may have noticed that a lot of kids today play video games and that may be the understatement of the year.
A lot of those games involve monsters, like Pokemon, where you catch, tame and battle these creatures.
Some University of Idaho faculty members started thinking about using video games like Pokemon to teach their students.
That led to “Medimon,” a monster-taming video game that teaches health education students about things like your pancreas and the diseases that affect it, by turning them into delightfully drawn monsters. It helps the students memorize things like diabetes, Graves’ disease, ulcerative colitis, and cirrhosis of the liver.
Each "Medifamily" is based on a character, like this blue octo-monster which stands in for the kidney. Each version of the monster represents a different disease or symptom.(Medimon / University of Idaho)
The game was invented by Tyler Bland. He's an assistant clinical professor in the Idaho WWAMI Medical Education Program.
“I teach the pharmacology portion … And so I have to know a little bit about everything. And to help myself, I tried to develop mnemonics to do this. And when I first started developing them, they kind of looked like Pokemon and then it just exploded from there,” says Bland.
This is what happens with the pancreas goes bad. This monster represents pancreatitis. He's holding a bottle, because the disease can be caused by alcohol.(Medimon / University of Idaho.)
He says Medimon is similar to Pokemon but “we have this kind of underlying stealth education where we are teaching players about important aspects of the health sciences. And so all of our monsters represent a cell type or an organ system or some sort of disease."
He asked some U of I Virtual Technology Design graduates to create the colorful monsters. Ciara Bordeaux and Emma Ferguson helped design the game and the monsters.
“For me, it's like my first official character design job. So it was super fun to like, get to design them and think of unique ways to incorporate all of the mnemonics, but then also design a really cute or kind of epic character,” says Ferguson.
Her favorite monster is Pancreatitis.
Bland says the game can appeal to everyone.
“The cool thing about this is because these mnemonics are somewhat hidden inside the characters, this allows players to learn them if they so choose and if they have no interest in the health sciences or they have no background, they can play it purely on the esthetic level. So, for instance, my medical students enjoy it and my four-year-old daughter enjoys it.”
Bland says Medimon should be out soon and he’s eager to get it online so students can start learning.
This Medimon Monster has all the characteristics and symptoms of Crohn's disease.(Medimon / University of Idaho)
Indigenous art shines a new light on the Pueblo Revolt
Jun 15, 2023
Show notes A look inside the projection room at the Virgil Ortiz Revolt 1680/2180: Runners + Gliders exhibit at History Colorado. The symbol on the floor is meant to act like a portal, transporting visitors to the futuristic world.(Emma VandenEinde / KUNC)
Indigenous art is often only viewed as a relic, a historical work of the past. But that’s not the case – their art and their people are present today. One Cochiti Pueblo artist showcases that concept in his latest exhibit.
Emma VandenEinde of the Mountain West News Bureau takes us inside to witness his futuristic work. She also takes us to an Indigenous Comic Con Festival that reflects on history and culture.
Take a trip to McCall’s Cougar Island to talk about conservation
Jun 15, 2023
Show notes(billandkent / Flickr Creative Commons)
As 2022 was coming to a close, we learned of a historic conservation easement agreement for part of Cougar Island on Payette Lake right across from McCall. Cougar Island was at risk of being commercially developed, but the Payette Land Trust purchased and helped craft a conservation agreement that will limit commercial encroachment on that high profile island.
Private land conservation is something that not a lot of people have known about historically. but the Payette Land Trust is changing that.
Idaho Matters Doctors Roundtable: June 14, 2023
Jun 14, 2023
Show notesSymptoms of the monkeypox virus are shown on a patient's hand, from a 2003 case in the United States. In most instances, the disease causes fever and painful, pus-filled blisters. New cases in the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal are spreading possibly through sexual contact, which had not previously been linked to monkeypox transmission.(CDC / Getty Images)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is raising the alarm about the potential risk for new cases of Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, to emerge this summer.
Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about all of this.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
