Radio West (KUER)
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The First Muslim
The journalist Lesley Hazleton says that early sources on the prophet Muhammad are infuriatingly vague. He’s described as “neither tall nor short,”
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The World's Strongest Librarian
Josh Hanagarne stands 6 feet 7 inches tall and can bend horseshoes with his bare hands. He has Tourette’s syndrome and is given to noisy verbal tics. It
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Teaching Chastity Podcast
Repost for audio podcast. For full show details, click here
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Joseph Smith's Mummies
Wednesday, Doug's guest is researcher S.J. Wolfe who joins us to tell the story of Mormon founder Joseph Smith and the four mummies he bought in 1835.
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The Great Gatsby
Tuesday, the literary scholar Kirk Curnutt joins us to explore F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. It’s been called the American masterwork, but
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Who Protects Farm Animals?
A Utah woman was recently the first person in the country charged for violating a so-called ag-gag law. The ordinances are aimed at preventing undercover
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Why Does the World Exist?
Few questions could ever be as vexing or confounding: why is there something instead of nothing? Faced with that inquiry, most people would just shrug
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Joshua James
Thursday on RadioWest, we continue our Local Music series with singer-songwriter Joshua James. A Nebraska native, James found both his musical inspiration
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Cheryl Strayed, "Wild"
Tuesday, we're talking to the writer Cheryl Strayed about her memoir Wild. Strayed was 22 years old when her mother died of cancer, and she says the loss
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Does Jesus Really Love Me?
Monday, Doug’s guest is journalist Jeff Chu, author of the book “Does Jesus Really Love Me?” Chu calls himself a gay Christian. He was raised deeply
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The Authentic Animal
Dave Madden has never gone hunting. He's never mounted an elk hide on a plaster cast of a trophy bull. And yet, he's fascinated by taxidermy. His
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Top of the Morning
On their surfaces, the morning network TV shows are all smiles and perkiness. But behind the sets, there’s a cutthroat competition for the best guests and
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Cooking with the Elements
Fire, water, air, and earth – these are the classical elements of cooking. According to food journalist Michael Pollan, they help us transform stuff from
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The Shrinking Jungle
In the early 1980s, Utah anthropologist Kevin Jones was part of a team studying the Aché Indians in eastern Paraguay. The Aché lived as hunter-gatherers
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Eco-activist Tim DeChristopher
Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher was recently released after serving a two-year prison term for an infamous act of civil disobedience.
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Searching for Sugarman
In the early 1970s, Sixto Rodriguez, a poet-musician from inner-city Detroit, produced two albums. His producers thought they would be hits, but they were
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The Shelter Cycle
Thursday, the writer Peter Rock joins us to talk about his newest novel, The Shelter Cycle. It’s inspired by the true story of a Montana-based New Age sect
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The God Damn Particle
For scientists, the discovery of the Higgs boson -- dubbed “the God damn particle” by one scientist because it's so elusive -- was one of the most
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Through the Lens: Valentine Road
Tuesday, we continue our Through the Lens series as Doug is joined by filmmaker Marta Cunningham for a look at her documentary VALENTINE ROAD. It tells
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Present Shock
Monday, we're joined by renowned media theorist Douglas Rushkoff. His new book is a look at "presentism," a state he describes as our new relationship with
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The Legend's Daughter
In his new collection of short stories, the Utah-based writer David Kranes tests contemporary settlers into the crucible of Utah’s neighbor to the north.
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Salt Sugar Fat
Salt, sugar and fat are the most prevalent ingredients in the processed foods that now dominate American appetites. According to investigative reporter
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Bird Sense
Who hasn’t watched a bird soaring on high, swooping through the sky, and wondered what it would feel like to fly on feathered wings? In his book Bird
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Ira Flatow & Science Friday
Monday on RadioWest, Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Science Friday, will be our guest. Flatow was an influential and pioneering reporter back when NPR was the
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Which Way Is the Front Line From Here?
Tim Hetherington preferred "image-maker" over photographer to describe what he did in war zones. He wanted to capture personal moments in the midst of
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Bad Astronomy
When the astronomer Phil Plait goes outside on a clear night, he can’t help but look up at the stars. It’s a habit he wishes more people had. He also
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Our Favorite Toys
What was your favorite toy as a kid? Do remember the excitement of finally getting that one you wanted or playing with it for hours on end? Tuesday, we're
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Suffrage
Monday, we’re talking about a new work by local playwright Jenifer Nii. It’s called “Suffrage,” and it looks at the complicated history between women’s
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Chasing Ice
When photographer James Balog first headed to the Arctic for National Geographic in 2005, he says he was a skeptic about climate change. What he saw there
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Protecting Snake Valley
Wednesday, Governor Gary Herbert announced he would not sign the Snake Valley Water Agreement. The agreement was the result of 4 years of negotiations
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Finding Oz
Wednesday, we're telling the story behind one of America's most enduring tales. Our guest is the journalist Evan Schwartz, author of a book about L. Frank
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Gulp
Everybody eats, and we more or less know what that’s about. What happens after we eat – the transformation of food as it passes through our bodies – that
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Hamlet's Blackberry
There's a conflict in the era of emails, texts, tweets, tags, pokes and posts. It's our struggle between that desire to be connected and the impulse to be
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Through the Lens: The Central Park Five
Friday, Doug is live with filmmakers Sarah Burns and David McMahon for a conversation about their new PBS documentary "The Central Park Five." In 1989, a
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The Earth Is Not Flat
Poet Katharine Coles has pushed the boundaries of her known world since she was a child. Three years ago, she left the comfort of the Wasatch Front to
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Spillover
Wednesday, Doug’s joined by the science writer David Quammen. Twelve years ago, Quammen began researching the concept of “spillover,” the sudden transfer
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The Journal of Best Practices
A few years ago, David Finch’s marriage was on the skids. Moments of joy and affection between he and his wife, Kristen, had become rare. One day, Kristen
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Arguments for the Uncoupled
In America, the single life is seen as a sad, anti-social and temporary state, lasting only long enough for us to find the right partner with whom to
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Do the Movies Have a Future?
New Yorker film critic David Denby asks a blunt question with the title of his latest book: Do the Movies Have a Future? Denby points out that some 600
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Adoption Nation
There was a time when adoption was a closely guarded family secret. Author Adam Pertman says that’s partly because people made the mistake of trying to
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The Fairy Tale World of the Brothers Grimm
Few stories are tied so closely with childhood as the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. But as the scholar Maria Tatar notes, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm didn
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2013 Legislative Wrap-up
Monday, we're looking back at Utah's 2013 legislative session. It wasn't full of fireworks and brawls, but there were some interesting debates. A freshman
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The Music and Mysticism of La Monte Young
Friday, we're talking about one of the most enigmatic and fascinating characters in American music. La Monte Young was a pioneer of the minimalist movement
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Clearing the Air: The Road Ahead
Thursday, we’re wrapping up our series on Utah’s bad air. A lot has changed in Northern Utah in the last couple months. Our air is a lot cleaner, and
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The Fate of Utah's Antidiscrimination Bill
Proponents of a bill that would protect LGBT Utahans from discrimination are touting the progress they made in the Utah Senate. Republican Stephen Urquhart
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Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Tuesday, Doug is joined by Pulitzer prize-winning author Lawrence Wright whose latest book investigates the Church of Scientology. Wright says that he's
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A Clockwork Orange
Author Anthony Burgess once said that his 1962 novella "A Clockwork Orange" should have been forgotten, but because of Stanley Kubrick's film, it seemed
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Through the Lens: The Crash Reel
Friday, we continue our Through the Lens documentary series with Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker's latest film. It's the story of champion snowboarder
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How Games Can Change the World
More than half of all Americans supplement their experience in the real world with excursions into the virtual worlds of videogames, and they spend
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The Cost of Higher Education
The increasing cost of a college education concerns people regardless of their income level or politics. It’s the subject of congressional hearings,
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John Warnock: Higher Ed and High Tech
Tuesday on RadioWest, we continue our discussion about innovation at colleges and universities with Dr. John Warnock. Warnock was a student at the
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The Innovative University
Monday, we begin a weeklong series of shows, in partnership with the Hinckley Institute of Politics, about the future of higher education. Pressures from
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The Innovative University
Monday, we begin a weeklong series of shows, in partnership with the Hinckley Institute of Politics, about the future of higher education. Pressures from
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The Best Care Possible
Friday, we're rebroadcasting our conversation with end-of-life care expert Ira Byock, who says that the one thing worse than having someone we love die is
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Clearing the Air: Industry's Contribution
Thursday, it’s another installment in our "Clearing the Air" series and we’re talking about industry’s contribution to Utah's dirty air. There's a lot of
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Why? An Atheist Answer
Wednesday, we offer the second in our series of conversations aimed at this age-old question: why do bad things happen to good people? Our guest is the
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Considering Guns on Utah's Capitol Hill
Tuesday we're asking this question: should we be limiting gun rights or protecting them? Last year, the US experienced two of the deadliest mass shootings
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The Rx for Technology
David Strayer has known for a long time that there's a restorative power in nature. The University of Utah psychologist is an avid hiker, but his latest
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Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History
When science writer Florence Williams was breastfeeding, she decided to have her milk tested for environmental contaminants. Her results were average for
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The Hour of Peril
Monday, we're telling the astonishing story of a plot to kill Abraham Lincoln on the way to his first inaugural. Our guest is biographer Daniel Stashower,
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The Killing of Osama bin Laden
When a U.S. Navy SEAL team killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year, the journalist Mark Bowden says it was the final chapter in a long and
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The Transit Solution
Thursday on RadioWest we’re kicking off a series examining Utah’s air quality. With the majority of the region’s seasonal smog coming from automobiles,
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Mummies of the World
Biological anthropologist Heather Gill-Frerking says there's a mummy in the Leonardo's new exhibit that doesn't get much attention. It's a three-year-old
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Moonbird
Every year, flocks of Rufa red knot shorebirds migrate from the southern tip of Argentina to the Canadian Arctic. That's about 9,000 miles. One
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Why? A Mormon Answer
Why would a loving God allow horrible tragedies to happen? It's an age-old question and one that gets revisited whenever stories of mass shootings and
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Dreamland
Humans spend nearly a third of their lives sleeping. Most of us love sleep, and yet we have little idea how it affects us. Indeed, sleep is largely a
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Superman
Seventy-five years after his creation, Superman remains one of America’s most cherished cultural icons. His legend laid the bedrock of the comic book
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Utah's Bad Air
Thursday on RadioWest we’re talking about northern Utah’s perennially poor air quality. While people have no control over the weather and geography that
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The Ethics of Having Babies
Monday, we're talking about the ethical arguments for and against having children. The world's population is expected to reach eight billion by 2025 and
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Meat Eater
Steven Rinella says his book has a lot going for it, simply because it tells one of the oldest human stories. Rinella is a writer and a television host,
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Slamdance 2013: The Institute
A missing girl, a cult-like organization and its guru, a well-meaning public agency no one has ever heard of, and the actual brick-and-mortar cities of
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Sundance 2013: Google and the World Brain
In 2002, Google began to scan millions of books in an effort to generate a giant global library, containing every book in existence. Their true purpose
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Sundance 2013: Anita
Anita Hill was a young law professor in 1991 when the Senate Judiciary Committee invited her to testify about the behavior of then-Supreme Court nominee
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Sundance 2013: Who Is Dayani Cristal?
Friday, we continue our coverage of Sundance with the filmmakers of the documentary Who Is Dayani Cristal? Every day, immigrants from Central and South
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Sundance 2013: The Crash Reel
RadioWest begins its Sundance coverage with Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker's latest documentary. It's the story of champion snowboarder Kevin Pearce
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Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
When Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" came out in 1960, author Stephen Rebello says that American culture was on the verge of a seachange. Hitchcock knew the public wanted something different and he was ready to push the limits to deliver. Rebello captures the era and the genius of Hitchcock's filmmaking in his book "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho." It's the basis for the movie "Hitchcock" out now in theaters. Tuesday, Rebello joins Doug to talk about the man that changed the way we...
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The Psychopath Test
It's estimated that 1 in every 100 people is a psychopath: manipulative, callous and lacking remorse. It's not just serial killers that fit the description though. Psychopaths are also CEOs, politicians and religious leaders. When journalist Jon Ronson learned to be a psychopath-spotter, he started seeing them everywhere. The problem he says, is that the psychology industry does too. Ronson joins Doug to explain why he says we should be defined by our sanity and not our madness....
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Do the Movies Have a Future?
New Yorker film critic David Denby asks a blunt question with the title of his latest book: Do the Movies Have a Future? Denby points out that some 600 movies open every year in the States, but the majority of viewers will never see the documentaries, the independent films or the oddities. What's playing at your local multiplex is shaped by the business side of movies – and Denby says it's strangling both art and entertainment. Wednesday, he joins us to talk about the strengths and...
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The Big Business of High School Sports
Last year, Granite School District put an end to a wealthy benefactor’s significant financial support of and involvement with Cottonwood High School’s football program. A state audit later found widespread problems with how Utah’s high schools managed booster funds for their athletic programs. These and other revelations have shed some light on what surprisingly big business high school sports can be. Tuesday, we’re talking about what role sports should play in our kids’ education and what...
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Far from the Tree
In his new book Far From the Tree, the writer Andrew Solomon tells the stories of children whose profound differences -- dwarfism, schizophrenia, Down syndrome, genius, and others -- have made them the subjects of intense prejudice. He also writes about the families who often have to profoundly rearrange their lives around the life of a child who alter their view of the world. At its heart, Solomon's book contends with the readiness to conflate "illness" with "identity." He joins us on...
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Book on Tape Worm
Provo-based band Book on Tape Worm’s music has been called "slumber-pop," but not because it will lull you to sleep. Their songs are lush and melodic, and, like the best dreams, they sweep from soothing tranquility to energetic grandeur. Book on Tape Worm released their eagerly anticipated first album late last year, and they’ll join us on Thursday to talk about their music and about their Slumber Party concerts. We’ll also talk to Austen Diamond of City Weekly and Velour Gallery’s Kaneischa...
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Through the Lens: The Revisionaries
Wednesday, we begin the 2013 Through the Lens documentary film series with THE REVISIONARIES. It's the story of one battle in the American culture war fought on the powerful Texas State Board of Education. The film follows the efforts of creationist, Sunday school teacher and board chair Don McLeroy as he tries to change science books to reflect his views on evolution and as he fights to retain his seat. Director Scott Thurman joins us to talk about the politicization of education and the...
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Pioneer Prophet
When historian John Turner decided to write a book about Mormonism, it didn't take him long to settle on Brigham Young as his object of study. Turner says that the LDS Church's second leader was a colossal figure not just in American religion, but also in the history of politics and westward expansion. His new biography reveals a complicated man: blunt, aggressive and sometimes profane, but also charismatic and a fierce protector of his people. Friday, Turner joins us to talk about the...
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Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That?
Modern American manners leave much to be desired. People answer their cell phones in the middle of meals, they shush loudly in movie theaters and even clip their toenails on the train. Henry Alford wanted to learn a little more about21stcentury etiquette, so he went to Japan, AKA the Fort Knox of good manners, interviewed etiquette experts and even played a game called "Touch the Waiter." On Wednesday, Doug will talk with Alford about how we behave and how we could behave better....
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Best Music of 2012
BobBoilenof NPR's All Songs Considered joins us on Thursday to run down his list for the best music of the past year, the records he comes back to over and over again, the songs he loves to sing along with. There are some canonical artists on his list – Leonard Cohen and Neil Young – and some critically-acclaimed indie acts – Cat Power, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors – but the band that came out on top debuted their first album this year. Tune in to hear that band and a lot of other great...
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Radio Hour: Sherlock Holmes and the Blue Carbuncle
After six episodes and a year off, RadioWest and Plan-B Theatre Company's Radio Hour returns with "Sherlock Holmes and the Blue Carbuncle." Holmes Watson must discover how the Countess of Morcar’s stolen jewel came to be inside a Christmas goose. The mystery begins with a street fight and ends with a full confession. Join us for wild goose chase of a holiday whodunit, performed as radio drama.Tune in live on Tuesday, December 18 at 7:00 p.m. from the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in...
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Bunch of Amateurs
You probably know some amateurs, people driven by a singular passion for whatever, birdwatching, maybe, or home brewing or space elevators. The writer Jack Hitt certainly knows the type. He’s written a book about semi-professional people in the grip of passion, and he argues that they've powered America’s success and innovation. From Benjamin Franklin to a young Bay Area woman trying to splice a fish’s glow-in-the-dark gene into yogurt, Hitt has documented American amateurs, and he joins...
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The Rx for Technology
David Strayer has known for a long time that there's a restorative power in nature. The University of Utah psychologist is an avid hiker, but his latest research quantifies the benefits of turning off your technology and getting outdoors. After 4 days in the wilderness with no cell phones, laptops or gadgets, people were 50% better at creative problem-solving. On Monday, Doug talks to Strayer and Stanford's Clifford Nass about how technology may be rewiring our brains and what we can do...
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A Christmas Carol
In the fall of 1843, Charles Dickens was in something of a mid-life crisis. His marriage was troubled, his career tottering, his finances on the verge of collapse. He even considered giving up writing. He didn’t, of course. Instead, he wrote his most famous work, A Christmas Carol, in just six weeks, and then self-published it. As the historian and writer Les Standiford notes, Dickens’ famous Christmas tale didn’t just change his life, it reinvented the way we celebrate the holiday. We’ll...
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Deadline Artists
John Avlon is passionate about newspaper columns. He should be: he’s a columnist himself. But with newspapers on the wane, Avlon was worried that the best examples of his craft could be forgotten. So he and some friends have collected the best reported columns from America’s newspapers in a series of books. Deadline Artists showcases short stories that actually happened, written with the urgency of news and the precision of poetry. Avlon joins us on Wednesday to explore the art of great...
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Doubting Bigfoot
When we spoke last year with anthropologist Jeffrey Meldrum about his research on Bigfoot, not all of our listeners were impressed. Among them was science writer Brian Switek who says that focusing on fantastic tales comes at a cost: it blurs the line between belief and scientific method and it distracts us from the astonishing species that do exist. Well, Sasquatch is in the news again and Tuesday, Switek joins us to explain why rumors of Bigfoot DNA don't impress him either.Also with us is...
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Mormons and Gays
Last week, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched a website that explores its position on "same-sex attraction." Some in the LGBT community see it as a baby step in the right direction: it calls for love and compassion, it asks Mormon families to support their LGBT sons and daughters and it invites gays and lesbians to remain in the church as long as they're not "yielding" to their sexuality. Monday, we invite you to react to the website and share what you think it means...
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Sherlock Holmes and The Blue Carbuncle
Friday, we're previewing our latest partnership with Plan-B Theatre Company: the radio drama "Sherlock Holmes and the Blue Carbuncle." Holmes expert Leslie Klinger and playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett will join us. Klinger says part of Holmes' appeal is his dedication to justice, not legality. In this holiday whodunit, Holmes solves the crime of course, but reminds us that Christmas is the season of forgiveness. We'll talk about the story and perform a scene from the play which premieres...
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Bedfellows, with Bob Garfield
Bob Garfield, co-host of NPR’s On the Media, is no stranger to advertising. For years, he critiqued TV commercials for the magazine Advertising Age. He is, however, a greenhorn when it comes to mob life. So it’s an exciting surprise that Garfield has written a book that involves both worlds. His new novel, Bedfellows, is about a Madison Avenue refugee thrust into a mob war between the Russians and a Brooklyn crime family making some changes because of the global recession. We’ll talk with...
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Berlioz's "Symphonie fantastique"
What's the most remarkable thing you've done for passion? Composer Hector Berlioz was "hardly able to breathe" when he saw the actress Harriet Smithson on a Paris stage in 1827. But his love was unrequited and turned to disgust when he heard scandalous rumors about her. The experience was the inspiration for his Symphonie fantastique, which Harvard scholar Thomas Forrest Kelly calls "the opening salvo" of the Romantic era. Wednesday, Kelly joins Doug to talk about Berlioz's passion, his...
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2012 Holiday Book Show
Tuesday, Doug is joined by area book sellers Ken Sanders of Ken Sanders Rare Books, Catherine Weller of Weller Book Works and Betsy Burton of The King's English with their suggestions for this year's best titles. Sure, you could get that special someone a package of socks or an ugly Christmas sweater – but finding just the right book will kick your holiday gift-giving up a notch. We've got fiction and poetry – non-fiction and illustrated books and of course new and classic children's...
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American Manufacturing Rises, Again
American manufacturing has long been on the decline. It was known as a “sunset industry” when the journalist James Fallows covered the subject in the 1980s. Increased globalization and the rise of China made matters worse. But now Fallows sees hope for manufacturing in America. New tools that greatly speed up development from idea to final product are encouraging start-up companies to locate here, not in Asia. Fallows joins us on Monday to explain why global trade winds may again be blowing...
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Paper Promises
For the past 40 years western economies have splurged on debt, but it’s hardly a new phenomenon. Financial journalist Philip Coggan says that economic crises have a time-worn place in history. Governments fall, currencies lose their value and new systems emerge. In his book Paper Promises, Coggan traces our attitudes towards money and debt through history. He joins us to explain what these debt cycles can teach us about our current situation and how our attitudes might be about to change...
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Through the Lens: Chasing Ice
When photographer James Balog first headed to the Arctic for National Geographic in 2005, he says he was a skeptic about climate change. What he saw there though put his career on a new course. Balog is the founder of the Extreme Ice Survey – a project that captures visually dramatic manifestations of climate change. Thursday, Balog and filmmaker Jeff Orlowski join us to talk about the stunning documentary "Chasing Ice," which follows James Balog as he risks his life to document the impact...
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Gay Conversion Therapy
A lawsuit was filed in New Jersey on Tuesday against groups that say they can help gay people be straight. A University of Utah student and LDS Church member is among the four plaintiffs who claim they were defrauded and endangered by conversion therapy. Proponents of “reparative therapy” insist that it can help reverse homosexuality. Critics say it can lead to severe depression, anxiety and even suicide. Wednesday, we’re asking whether gay conversion therapy is “quackery” or a legitimate...
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The Killing of Osama bin Laden
When a U.S. Navy SEAL team killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year, the journalist Mark Bowden says it was the final chapter in a long and significant story. That story began soon after 9/11, when America went to war with evasive and opportunistic enemies and had to develop innovative fighting tactics. Bowden's latest book chronicles the decade of intelligence gathering, mission planning and strategies that finally led to "The Finish." Tuesday, he joins Doug to talk about what he...
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A Clockwork Orange
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the ultra-violent novella "A Clockwork Orange." Author Anthony Burgess said the work should have been forgotten, but because of Stanley Kubrick's film, it seemed destined to live on. It's the story of the barbaric passions of a British teen and the state's attempt to impose a mechanistic morality over his free-will. Monday, we're talking with scholar Andrew Biswell about "A Clockwork Orange" and about why Burgess said the point of the book has been...
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Spencer Tracy - A Biography
Frank Sinatra called Spencer Tracy “The Gray Fox.” Some actors called him “The Pope.” The biographer James Curtis calls Tracy the greatest actor of his generation. Through the years, Tracy’s legacy has faded, eclipsed by that of Katharine Hepburn, one of his great loves. Curtis has written a biography of Tracy that refurbishes his story, detailing his relationship with his wife, Louise, his love affair with Hepburn, his drinking problem and his inimitable acting chops. (Rebroadcast)Books and...
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Bird Sense
Who hasn’t watched a bird soaring on high, swooping through the sky, and wondered what it would feel like to fly on feathered wings? In his bookBird Sense, the behavioral ecologist TimBirkheadtakes an inside look at the life of birds. He details the extraordinary senses, emotions and abilities of robins, finches, ducks, chickens and other avian friends.Birkheadjoins Doug on Thursday to examine what it’s like tobea bird and what it's like to share a planet with such utterly different and yet...
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Why Does the World Exist?
Few questions could ever be as vexing or confounding: why is there something instead of nothing? Faced with that inquiry, most people would just shrug their shoulders. The writer and reporter Jim Holt took a much different approach. He went on an epic journey to uncover past and present attempts to tackle the biggest of questions, and to find out ifwe’re just a fewEinsteinsshort of getting our origins straight. Holt joins us on Wednesday to help us wrap our minds around an infamously knotty...
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The 2012 Third Coast International Audio Festival
Every year, the Third Coast International Audio Festival seeks out the best new audio stories from around the world. The winning entries in the competition exhibit radio’s ability to provoke, entertain and transport us with little more than the sound of the honest human voice. Tuesday on RadioWest, we’re featuring a few of the winning stories from this year's contest and talking with some of their producers. We’ll spy on the world below from the vantage of a red-eye flight, investigate a...
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The Table Comes First
As you're planning your Thanksgiving meal, we're talking to The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik about his latest book, "The Table Comes First." Gopnik says that every human group that's ever been ritualizes its food. Indeed, the way we approach the table defines who we are. The book is a journey from eighteenth-century France to our modern-day obsession with gastronomy. Monday, Gopnik joins us to answer this question: what is the true meaning of food in our lives?GUESTAdam Gopnik is a long-time...
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The Aleppo Codex
Around 930 CE, the most perfect copy of the Hebrew Bible was written. Over the centuries, it was stolen by Crusaders, ransomed to Egypt and eventually found a home in Syria, where it was protected by the Jewish community in Aleppo. Today it's in Jerusalem, but how it arrived there with nearly half the pages missing is a story of subterfuge, state cover-ups and even greed. Doug is joined by journalist Matti Friedman to talk about "The Aleppo Codex" and the role it played in creating modern...
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How Children Succeed
The journalist Paul Tough says that for decades, we’ve educated our kids under the assumption that their success depends on how much information they can cram into their brains. But in recent years, new research is demonstrating that what matters most in a child’s development are qualities like persistence, grit and curiosity. In a word: character. Tough joins Doug on Thursday to talk about this new way of thinking and its implications for how we raise our children. (Rebroadcast)GUESTPaul...
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The Agony and Ecstasy of Online Comments
Wednesday, we're talking about the comment sections at the end of online articles or posts. Comments can be insightful or hateful and there are those like the writer Jack Hitt who see them as a democratizer for a new era of journalism. Others feel more like Bob Garfield of NPR's "On the Media." Philosophically he is a huge believer, but as a practical matter, he says "I hate them more than mere words can describe." (Rebroadcast)Note to Listeners:KUER News will interrupt RadioWest to air...
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Dreamland
Humans spend nearly a third of their lives sleeping. Most of us love sleep, and yet we have little idea how it affects us. Indeed, sleep is largely a mystery. Even scientists don’t know why, exactly, we need to sleep. The reporter David Randall tours the Land of Nod in a new book, exploring the odd, sometimes disturbing and often fascinating things that happen when we’re in dreamland. That’s actually the name of the book—Dreamland—and Randall joins Doug on Tuesday to talk about it....
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Through the Lens: Bidder 70
Monday, we continue our Through the Lens documentary series with a film about a unique, crafty and effective act of civil disobedience. In 2008, environmental activist Tim DeChristopher made bogus bids for 22,000 acres of federal land up for auction. Some people found his actions inspiring, but after the courts finished with him, he found himself in jail. The film Bidder 70 follows DeChristopher’s growth as an outspoken activist even as the criminal case against him intensified.RadioWest and...
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Concert Pianist Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard has performed throughout the world. He is perhaps best known for his recording of the complete piano music of Liszt. It's the largest recording project ever undertaken by a solo musician. Joining Doug in the studio (complete with piano), Howard talks about his career and his passion for music. (Rebroadcast)On Wednesday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m., Leslie Howard will be in concert at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark in Salt Lake City. He'll perform Beethoven's "Eroica" Variations,...
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Hallucinations
In his new book, the neuroscientist Oliver Sacks writes about his own history using psychoactive drugs. He’s said that apart from being both pleasurable and dangerous, those experiences gave him empathy for his patients suffering from hallucinations. Sacks says hallucinations are far more common than we realize, and his new book is filled with bizarre encounters with the unreal brought on by disease, syndromes and disorders. Doug talks to Oliver Sacks on Thursday about the many and...
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2012 Post-Election Roundup
Wednesday, we're taking a look at the results of the 2012 elections. Among our guests are Quin Monson of BYU's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy and Salt Lake Tribune government reporter Robert Gehrke. We'll break down some of the principal state races and ask what role Utah and the "Mormon factor" played on the national stage.Guests:Quin Monson, Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy and Utah Data Points, Brigham Young UniversityRobert Gehrke, Salt Lake TribuneKirk...
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Meat Eater
Steven Rinella says his book has a lot going for it, simply because it tells one of the oldest human stories. Rinella is a writer and a television host, but more than anything he’s a hunter. His book is called Meat Eater, and it tells the story of our relationship to nature and the food we eat through his life as a hunter. Tuesday, Rinella joins Doug to break up all the political talk with a discussion about the responsibilities that human predators have to their prey and the near...
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The Electoral College
Election Day is Tuesday and the most recent Washington Post poll shows President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney in a dead heat among likely voters. But it's not the popular vote that decides the presidency; it's the Electoral College. So what happens if Romney wins the popular vote but Obama wins the electoral vote? What if there's a tie? Monday, we're talking about the Electoral College: its origins, its relevance in a modern democracy and what happens if there are ambiguous...
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Arguments for the Uncoupled
In America, the single life is seen as a sad, anti-social and temporary state, lasting only long enough for us to find the right partner with whom to strike up a loving relationship. In his book Single, Michael Cobb rallies to the defense of single people and goes on the attack against the dominion of coupledom. He detects a "wound" at the base of romantic relationship and writes that our negative attitude towards singles is toxic to both our culture and our relationships. Cobb joins Doug to...
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Of Mice and Men
Thursday on RadioWest we’re talking about John Steinbeck’s classic novel Of Mice and Men. Many people are familiar with the story of George and his simple-minded friend Lennie, two itinerant ranch hands looking out for each other during the Depression. They and the other characters they encounter all seek their own “little place” in a difficult world, and who can’t identify with that? Well known and simple as it may be, Of Mice and Men’s frank engagement with issues such as racism, sexism...
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The Punditocracy
It seems that wherever you look these days, there’s a journalist or pundit opining on the day’s political action, recycling the rhetoric, interpreting the polls and telling you who’s right and who’s wrong about what. But just how influential and how helpful is America’s chatty punditocracy? Do its members control and shape public opinion or merely reflect it? Thursday, NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and Daily Beast commentator John Avlon join us to discuss who shapes our ever...
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Meet the Candidate: General Peter Cooke
It's been nearly 30 years since Utah elected a Democrat as Governor, but retired Major General Peter Cooke told The Salt Lake Tribune that democracy doesn't work without a two-party system. He says it's the chance for an open discussion about the issues. General Cooke is challenging Republican incumbent Governor Gary Herbert. Wednesday, Peter Cooke joins us at the Hinckley Institute of Politics to talk about the issues he says call for new leadership.RadioWest will speak with Governor Gary...
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Love, An Index
Three years ago, the award-winning poet Craig Arnold went missing in Japan. Few clues were ever found, leaving his family and his longtime partner, the poet Rebecca Lindenberg, to conclude the worst. Lindenberg has written a new book of poetry, an extended elegy really, to Arnold. As poets, words and conversation united Arnold and Lindenberg, and she says that writing the poems in her new book helped her both continue the conversation and let it go. Tuesday, Lindenberg joins us to talk about...
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The Righteous Mind
Monday, our guest is the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, whose latest book sets out to explain the root causes of the divisions in our society. At the heart of his argument is the idea that the human mind is designed to "do" morality. But when we separate into tribes – say political affiliations or religious denominations – we focus on different moral foundations. Haidt joins us to explain why he says we need the insights of liberals and conservatives to flourish as a nation.Jonathan...
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Congressman Ron Paul
Friday, we're broadcasting our conversation with Ron Paul. The congressman and former presidential candidate joined us yesterday on the campus of Utah Valley University. Paul's dogged adherence to his basic tenet – that government impedes liberty – has garnered him a passionate and diverse following. Ron Paul is currently serving the last of his 24 years in the House and we spoke with him about his philosophy for an ideal society. For Paul, that means as little government as possible.Books...
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Hamlet
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is staging Hamlet in Cedar City and it's giving us the chance to talk about the Bard's great tragedy. Among our guests is the scholar Eric Rasmussen, who says the play has not lost any relevance over 400 years. Even as he watches the Presidential debates, Rasmussen sees the question that faces Hamlet: which do you value more - action or measured contemplation? We'll talk about how Hamlet has been understood over time and what it still has to teach us today.Utah...
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Spillover
Tuesday, Doug’s joined by the science writer David Quammen. Twelve years ago, Quammen began researching the concept of “spillover,” the sudden transfer of disease from one species to another. He traveled around the world, investigating the science, history and human impact of diseases like AIDS, SARS and Ebola. In his newest book, Spillover, Quammen says that what he’s learned makes clear “the old Darwinian truth that humanity is a kind of animal, inextricably linked with other animals: in...
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Meet the Candidate: Orrin Hatch
Monday, Doug sits down with Senator Orrin Hatch at the Hinckley Institute of Politics. Senator Hatch is the longest-serving Republican member in the upper chamber, having represented Utah since 1977. Though colleagues like Utah's own Bob Bennett and Indiana's Richard Lugar lost the nomination to tea-party challengers, Hatch handily won his GOP primary race. We'll ask Senator Hatch what his vision is for a seventh – and what he has said will be his final – term in office.We spoke with Senator...
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Searching for Sugar Man
In the early 1970s, Sixto Rodriguez, a poet-musician from inner-city Detroit, produced two albums. His producers thought they would be hits, but they were utter flops – in America, that is. In South Africa though, Rodriguez was bigger than Elvis or The Rolling Stones, and his albums provided the soundtrack for white opposition to apartheid. Filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul has documented Rodriguez’ unlikely fall and rise, and he’ll talk with Doug about it on Friday.Searching for Sugar Man opens...
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Pioneer Prophet
When historian John Turner decided to write a book about Mormonism, it didn't take him long to settle on Brigham Young as his object of study. Turner says that the LDS Church's second leader was a colossal figure not just in American religion, but also in the history of politics and westward expansion. His new biography reveals a complicated man: blunt, aggressive and sometimes profane, but also charismatic and a fierce protector of his people. Thursday, Turner joins us to talk about the...
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Meet the Candidate: Jim Matheson
Wednesday, we're back at the Hinckley Institute of Politics for a conversation with Democratic Representative Jim Matheson. He's running for his seventh term in Washington, though this time it's in Utah's new 4th Congressional District. In a decidedly red state, it's little surprise that a Democrat would stand some tough competition, but many observers were shocked when the latest poll showed a 21-point swing in favor of challenger Mia Love. Doug talks to Matheson about the issues and why he...
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Through the Lens: Lemon
Tuesday, we continue our documentary series with hip-hop poet Lemon Andersen and the directors of a film about his life and art. Lemon grew up on the streets of Brooklyn and by 15 had lost both of his parents to drugs and AIDS. He was serving time in prison when he discovered poetry and made the improbable journey from three-time felon to Tony Award-winner. But when the lights went down, he was soon back to the hustle. LEMON chronicles his struggle to leave the past behind and stage a...
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The World Columbus Created
Millions of years ago, geological forces ripped the world to pieces. Christopher Columbus changed all that though. When he sailed across the Atlantic, he began a process that knit the world back together ecologically and economically. It meant there would be tomatoes in Italy and coffee in Brazil. The journalist Charles Mann says while the costs and benefits are inseparable, 1493 marked the birth of the world we live in today. We spoke with Mann earlier this year about his book called...
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God's Jury
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. But not everybody really knows what it is, either. In his book, the writer Cullen Murphy sets the record straight about the Catholic Church's 700-year persecution of its enemies, both real and imagined. And he says the "inquisitorial impulse" lives on - in America's massive surveillance and routine use of torture in the wake of 9/11, for example. Murphy joins Doug to remind us the Inquisition isn't something safely relegated to the past....
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Secret Abilities
The Layton-based band Secret Abilities has some creative descriptions for its brand of pop punk. They say it’s like a bowl of mac ‘n cheese with cut-up hot dogs and a glass of Kool-Aid. Or they say they play “spooky, broken rock ‘n roll for lovers.” Whatever they play, lead singer Davin Abegg wants his band’s music to be fun and catchy. He also says it’s a kind of therapy, not unlike religion. On Wednesday, Abegg and Secret Abilities are in-studio to talk about their music and what it means...
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The End of Men
Journalist Hanna Rosin acknowledges that the title of her new book "The End of Men" may seem obnoxious and she wants to be clear she's not trying to do away with masculinity. What Rosin is documenting is a shift in our culture: a rise of women that can be seen in college graduation patterns, the work force and even marriage statistics. Women are no longer gaining on men, they have pulled decisively ahead. Tuesday, Doug talks to Rosin about what this means for all of us – men and women...
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Food Preservation / Mormon Pioneer Foodways
The growing season may almost be over, but many people have more tomatoes, cucumbers and other veggies than they know what to do with. Monday, we’re discussing a solution to that problem: food preservation. We’ll be talking about the joys, traditions and methods of putting food by when the harvest is heaviest, and we want to hear about your family recipes and customs. We’ll also explore Mormon pioneerfoodwaysand uncoverthe culinary challenges and delights of settling the Great Salt Lake...
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The Psychopath Test
It's estimated that 1 in every 100 people is a psychopath: manipulative, callous and lacking remorse. It's not just serial killers that fit the description though. Psychopaths are also CEOs, politicians and religious leaders. When journalist Jon Ronson learned to be a psychopath-spotter, he started seeing them everywhere. The problem he says, is that the psychology industry does too. Ronson joins Doug to explain why he says we should be defined by our sanity and not our madness....
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Religion for Atheists
Is any religion true? The popular British philosopher Alain de Botton opens his latest book by declaring this the most boring and unproductive question a person can ask. de Botton is himself a resolute non-believer, but by setting that debate aside, he says we can look at the really good ideas religions offer about how to live and how to arrange society. Alain de Botton joins Doug for an exploration of his "Non-believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion." (Rebroadcast)Alain de Botton writes...
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The Obama White House and the Supreme Court
Tuesday on RadioWest we’re talking with legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin about the fraught relationship between America’s highest justice and its commander-in-chief. Toobin says that when Chief Justice Roberts flubbed newly-elected President Obama’s inaugural oath in 2008, a very important relationship got off to a very tense start. Not much has changed in four years. In a new book, Toobin examines the uneasy rapport of two of the world’s most powerful men, both determined to change the course...
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Meet the Candidate: Scott Howell
Tuesday, we begin a series of candidate profiles at the Hinckley Institute of Politics. First up is former Democratic state legislator Scott Howell, who is challenging Orrin Hatch for his US Senate seat. This is Howell's second attempt at defeating the six-term Republican and polling predicts a repeat of that 2000 race, when Hatch won 66-31. But Howell told the Deseret News he's no sacrificial lamb. He says he's always wanted a rematch and that it's time for fresh representation in...
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
Many people likely saw the shootings in Aurora, Colo., earlier this year as another symptom of an increasingly violent world. And yet, there were no violent reprisals in the aftermath, no mobs out for vengeance. Instead there were candle-light vigils and memorial services. In his latest book, cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker explains that despite such acts of violence, we’re actually living in a period of extraordinary peace. Thanks to the spread of government, literacy, trade, and...
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The Sonosopher
Alex Caldiero is apoet and a performance artist, but he has very different ways of describing himself. He's called himself a "word shaker" and more recently a "sonosopher." Caldiero is the focus of a documentary film released in 2009 called The Sonosopher. It's about his life's journey from Italy to Brooklyn to Orem, Utah, and also about words and sounds as only Caldiero can express them. A few years ago, we spoke with Caldiero and filmmakersTorbenBernhard and Travis Low about the film, and...
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A Thousand Voices
Thursday, Doug is joined by Utah author Jeri Parker for a conversation about her memoir "A Thousand Voices." Parker taught high school and university for many years, but Carlos Louis Salazar is the student she says haunted her dreams. He was 10 when she met him: wild-hearted, a bit of a hellion and without language. Salazar was born deaf, but Parker says he was the one who taught her to hear. We'll talk to her about the compassion she learned from the adventure, confusion and sorrow of his...
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Sherlock Holmes and The Blue Carbuncle
Wednesday, we're previewing our latest partnership with Plan B Theatre Company: the radio drama "Sherlock Holmes and the Blue Carbuncle." Holmes expert Leslie Klinger and playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett will join us. Klinger says part of Holmes' appeal is his dedication to justice, not legality. In this holiday whodunit, Holmes solves the crime of course, but reminds us that Christmas is the season of forgiveness. We'll talk about the story and perform a scene from the play which premieres...
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The Life of David Foster Wallace
The writer David Foster Wallace is regarded by many as the most important novelist of his generation. His door-stopper tome Infinite Jest made him a literary rock star, and his writing probed the very nature of what it means to be human. Sadly, he took his own life in 2008. New Yorker staff writer D.T. Max has written a biography of Wallace, revealing him as a restless soul who dealt with agonizing depression and addiction even as he created work of immense artistic import. Max joins us on...
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The Religious Test
Monday, we’re broadcasting live from the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, where we'll be discussing a wide range of political issues facing Mormons during the "Mormon Moment." Twenty percent of Americans say they wouldn’t support a Mormon presidential candidate, and a new documentary called The Religious Test exploresthe issues informing their bias. They range from polygamy to the LDS church's efforts to repeal California's Proposition 8, and its historic refusal to...
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Why Read Moby Dick?
Friday, we're talking about why you should read "Moby-Dick." Our guide is the historian NathanielPhilbrick, whose award-winning book "In the Heart of the Sea" told the story of the real-life shipwreck that inspired Melville's novel.Philbricksays "Moby-Dick" is as close to an American Bible as we have. It's eloquently written, it's full of wisdom and you can return to it again and again. NathanielPhilbrickjoined Doug last year to share his passion for one of our nation's great literary...
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The Black Rhinos of Namibia
In the desolate deserts of Namibia, the esteemed nature writer Rick Bass espied glints of hope in a time of ecological disaster. He writes in his new book that people in that nearly waterless land are pursuing new solutions to pressing problems, and they’re drawing inspiration from an incredible animal: the critically endangered black rhino. Bass joins Doug on Thursday to discuss what one country is doing to deal with one problem, “with a near-eternity of problems still remaining,” and what...
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Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei
Wednesday, Doug is joined in studio by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei served three terms as the general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency. During that time, he addressed Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear program, worked to keep nuclear arms out of terrorists’ hands and disputed the U.S.’s claim that Saddam Hussein was producing nuclear weapons. ElBaradei is in Utah this week to speak about global security and the need for an alternative to nuclear weapons,...
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It's Even Worse Than It Looks
Tuesday, Doug talks to Norman Ornstein of the conservative American Enterprise Institute and Thomas Mann of the left-leaning Brookings Institution. Mann and Ornstein have been studying Congress for some 40 years and say they've never seen it this dysfunctional. In their latest book, they make no bones about their central thesis: the Republicans are the problem. Mann and Ornstein are in Utah and join us to explain how gridlock has become the status quo and why they say the problem will likely...
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Bunch of Amateurs
You probably know some amateurs, people driven by a singular passion for whatever,birdwatching, maybe, or home brewing or space elevators. The writer JackHittcertainly knows the type. He’s written a book about semi-professional people in the grip of passion, and he argues that they've powered America’s success and innovation. From Benjamin Franklin to a young Bay Area woman trying to splice a fish’s glow-in-the-dark gene into yogurt,Hitthas documented American amateurs, and Monday we're...
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How Children Succeed
The journalist Paul Tough says that for decades, we’ve educated our kids under the assumption that their success depends on how much information they can cram into their brains. But in recent years, new research is demonstrating that what matters most in a child’s development are qualities like persistence, grit and curiosity. In a word: character. Tough joins Doug on Thursday to talk about this new way of thinking and its implications for how we raise our children.GUESTPaul Tough's articles...
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Der Ring des Nibelungen
When Richard Wagner premiered his epic, 4-night work The Ring of the Nibelungen in 1876, he didn't think of it as an opera. He called it a total work of art that combined drama, poetry, music and staging. Harvard musicologist Thomas Forrest Kelly says that even then it was considered one of the most important artistic events of its time. Next week, PBS will air a new production of the masterpiece, so we've asked Dr. Kelly to join us to talk about Wagner and about the power of music and...
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Through the Lens: Hot Coffee
In our latest Through the Lens documentary, Doug is joined by trial lawyer-turned-filmmaker Susan Saladoff. Her film “Hot Coffee” uses the infamous 1994 lawsuit against McDonald’s to reveal what Saladoff sees as big business’ influence over our civil justice system. Though the McDonald’s case became a symbol of frivolous lawsuits, much of what the public thinks about the case is inaccurate. We’ll talk to Saladoff about justice for the average person and why she decided to use film to tell...
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SUPERMAN
Seventy-five years after his creation, Superman remains one of America’s most cherished cultural icons. His legend laid the bedrock of the comic book world and precipitated the very idea of the superhero. In his new biography of the man of steel, LarryTyechronicles Superman’s creation story and the adventures of the men and women who have ushered the red-and-blue-clad titan through changing eras and evolving incarnations. Monday, we're rebroadcastingour conversation with Tye about America’s...
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Summer's Iconic Crops
Wednesday, we're paying homage to a few of summer's iconic crops.We'll start off withpeaches—those gorgeous, fuzzy flavor bombs, erupting with juice at the slightest bite. The writer and farmer David "Mas" Masumoto and Steven Rosenberg, the Chief Eating Officer at Salt Lake's Liberty Heights market, will tell us how to discern a great peach, and when and how to pick them. We'll also be joined by Amy Goldman,the renowned gardener and author, to worship at the altar of the incredibly diverse...
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Larry Wilmore on Race, Religion and Sex in Utah
You may know Larry Wilmore from his role as the Senior Black Correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, and if you do, you’re probably familiar with his insightful satire that lays bare America’s difficult dealings with race. Wilmore was in Salt Lake City recently, and he put together a television program that examined—with equal parts intelligence and humor—race, religion and sex in the Beehive State. Tuesday, Wilmore will talk with Doug about his “passionate centrist” point of view,...
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Book of Love
When the Hindu philosopherVatsayanawrote theKamasutrasome 2000 years ago, he said that he did so in a spirit of chastity and meditation – not for the sake of passion. So how is it that the treatise has become synonymous with sexual ecstasy and acrobatic positions? Friday, we'rerebroadcastingour conversation with the writer JamesMcConnachie. He joined us earlier this year to tell the story of theKamasutra’sjourney from India to Victorian England and the role it has played in the West’s...
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Ai Weiwei's Art of Dissent
Thursday, we’re profiling China’s first global art star, Ai Weiwei. He’s also the country’s most outspoken domestic critic. His work blurs the lines between art and politics, and it tests the boundaries of free speech in a country infamous for censorship and crackdowns on dissent. In a new documentary, the filmmaker Alison Klayman chronicles three years in Ai’s life, capturing his run-ins with the Chinese authorities, his development as an artist and the spirit of an artistic activist. Doug...
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Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash
It would be foolish to make assumptions about singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash. She's the eldest daughter of country icon Johnny Cash, but her music, writing and curiosity about the world defies genre. She's inspired not only by country, rock, folk, pop and blues, but also literature and theoretical physics. Rosanne Cash is coming to Utah next week and Wednesday, she joins us to talk about the power of art, tradition and the place music holds in her life.Friday, August 31st at 8:00 p.m.,...
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Through the Lens: Knuckleball!
The late baseball Hall-of-Famer Willie Stargell once described the knuckleball as being like "throwing a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbors mailbox." Its a pitch so slow and so unpredictable that no one wants anything to do with it. Wednesday, we continue our Through the Lens documentary series with the directors of the film Knuckleball! Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern join us to talk about the craft, tradition and beauty of baseball as expressed through this one...
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The High Price of Multi-Level Marketing
Looking for financial independence? Part-time work from home? In the August issue of Harpers, Virginia Sole-Smith puts Mary Kay cosmetics under the microscope, and she says its a business that preys on desperate housewives with the promise of glamour and extra income. The reality of network marketing though is often sub-minimum wage, escalating debt and the pressure to recruit more people. Tuesday, Sole-Smith joins us, along with Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones, for a look at the high...
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Arguments for the Uncoupled
In America, the single life is seen as a sad, anti-social and temporary state, lasting only long enough for us to find the right partner with whom to strike up a loving relationship. In a new book, Michael Cobb rallies to the defense of single people and goes on the attack against the dominion of coupledom. He detects a "wound" at the base of romantic relationship and writes that our negative attitude towards singles is toxic to both our culture and our relationships. Cobb joins Doug on...
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The Journal of Best Practices
A few years ago, David Finchs marriage was on the skids. Moments of joy and affection between he and his wife, Kristen, had become rare. One day, Kristen sprung a 150-question quiz on David. It was an informal test for Asperger syndrome, and David aced it. The diagnosis explained Davids long list of quirks and compulsions, and set him on a quest to better understand himself and to become a better husband. His book is calledThe Journal of Best Practicesand hell talk with Doug about it.Check...
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Bird Sense
Who hasnt watched a bird soaring on high, swooping through the sky, and wondered what it would feel like to fly on feathered wings? In his book Bird Sense, the behavioral ecologist Tim Birkhead takes an inside look at the life of birds. He details the extraordinary senses, emotions and abilities of robins, finches, ducks, chickens and other avian friends. Birkhead joins Doug on Thursday to examine what its like to be a bird and what its like to share a planet with such utterly different and...
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The Agony and Ecstasy of Online Comments
Wednesday on RadioWest, were talking about the value of online comments. Some see listener or reader comments as the great democratizer of journalism. Others feel more like Bob Garfield of NPRs "On the Media" who calls them "frustrating, maddening and extremely discouraging." Appropriately enough, were hoping to hear from you: do you read online comments? Do you throw your opinion in the mix? Do you learn something when you read the comment section or are you spoiling for a fight?Guests:Bob...
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Fooling Houdini
In the insular world of magic, the ability to deceive is the most prized attribute of all. It takes training and skill, but it also relies on exploiting human psychology. Science journalist Alex Stone has been obsessed with magic since he was five, but when he wrote a revealing article about the Magic Olympics, he was kicked out of his society. Now hes written a book and joins us to talk about the subculture of magicians and how the mechanics of our brains make us susceptible to...
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Elna Baker
Three years ago, the comedienne and storyteller Elna Baker published her memoir, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. Its about being a twenty-something Mormon virgin in a town New York City that doesnt take kindly to that type. A lot has changed for Elna Baker since 2009: now shes an ex-28-year-old virgin and ex-Mormon comedienne. Elna joins Doug to talk about leaving the church, her journey to Siberia and the challenges of honest storytelling. (Rebroadcast)Listen toElna...
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The Best Care Possible
Friday, were rebroadcasting a conversation Doug had earlier this year with end-of-life care expert IraByockabout his book "The Best Care Possible." Dr.Byocksays that the one thing worse than having someone we love die is having them die badly. Thats why his work has steered clear of the "more-is-always-better" philosophy that results in so many Americans experiencing painful and dehumanizing deaths. Well talk about practical solutions for reforming our health care system and whyByockis...
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The Aleppo Codex
Around 930 CE, the most perfect copy of the Hebrew Bible was written. Over the centuries, it was stolen by Crusaders, ransomed to Egypt and eventually found a home in Syria, where it was protected by the Jewish community in Aleppo. Today its in Jerusalem, but how it arrived there with nearly half the pages missing is a story of subterfuge, state cover-ups and even greed. Thursday, Doug is joined by journalist Matti Friedman to talk about "The Aleppo Codex" and the role it played in creating...
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Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History
When science writer Florence Williams was breastfeeding, she decided to have her milk tested for environmental contaminants. Her results were average for American women and included chemicals found in flame-retardants and jet-fuel. Its not, she says, what her daughter had in mind for dinner. It set her off on a journey to study the history of breasts: how they evolved and what modern life is doing to them. Wednesday, were talking to Williams about what she calls her natural and unnatural...
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Gunfight
Gun sales surged in the wake of the Aurora shooting massacre as some began to question the need for stricter gun control laws. The debate over gun rights has generated controversy throughout our nations history, whether at the time of the Founding Fathers, the genesis of the Ku Klux Klan, the struggle for civil rights or in 2008 when the Supreme Court ruled on the landmarkHeller case. On Tuesday, Doug speaks with the law scholar Adam Winkler, who reminds us in his book Gunfight that guns are...
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The Future of Medicaid in Utah
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that states can choose for themselves whether to expand Medicaid. In Utah, that would mean coverage for 50,000 uninsured people. Governor Gary Herbert has called federal health care reform "bad policy," but Utah is waiting until the 2013 legislative session to decide. Monday, KUER begins a series on the future of Medicaid in Utah and reporters Terry Gildea and Andrea Smardon join Doug to explore these questions: Can Utah afford to expand Medicaid? Can it...
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Spencer Tracy - A Biography
Frank Sinatra called Spencer Tracy The Gray Fox. Some actors called him The Pope. The biographer James Curtis calls Tracy the greatest actor of his generation. Through the years, Tracys legacy has faded, eclipsed by that of Katharine Hepburn, one of his great loves. Curtis has written a biography of Tracy that refurbishes his story, detailing his relationship with his wife, Louise, his love affair with Hepburn, his drinking problem and his inimitable acting chops. (Rebroadcast)Books and...
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The Battle for the American Idea
Political commentator E.J. Dionne Jr. says that at the center of Americas political dysfunction are two competing ideas our love of individualism and our deep affection for community. Its a push and pull that Dionne traces back to the earliest days of our country, and hes written a new book that traces the history of that tension. Thursday, he joins Doug to make the case that America is at its best when these core values are in balance.Guest:E.J. Dionne Jr. is a columnist for The Washington...
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Matteo
After serving his LDS mission in China, Eric Chipman shipped a great big Chinese zither harp, or guzheng, home to Salt Lake City. He didnt exactly know how to play it, but he ended up incorporating the guzheng into the folky bluegrass he writes. Chipman then rounded up some musician friends, got a hold of some more traditional Chinese instruments and formed the band Matteo. The bands four members recently returned from a trip to China, where they learned to better play their instruments and...
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The Utah War
In the spring of 1857, President James Buchanan appointed a non-Mormon governor for the Utah Territory and sent troops to enforce the order. Armed skirmishes between the Mormon militia and the U.S. Army followed, and the roughly year-long conflict is now known as the "Utah War." Doug speaks with LDS Church Historian Richard Turley as well as independent historians Will Bagley and David Bigler about this pivotal moment in Utah history. (Rebroadcast)Guests:Richard Turley is Assistant Church...
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Kill or Capture
In his new book, Kill or Capture, the journalist Daniel Klaidman takes a behind the scenes look at the Obama administrations shadow war on terror. Klaidman conducted hundreds of interviews with White House staff in an effort to document how President Obamas inner circle has wrestled with life or death decisions and debated the price of liberty and national security. Klaidman joins us on Monday to talk about his book and examine Obamas profound personal transformation into a decisive and...
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The Invisible War
There are 1.5 million active-duty personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces. Sexual assault is an increasing problem within those ranks. In many, if not most cases, its swept under the carpet: only 8 percent of sexual assault cases are prosecuted in the military, and only 2 percent of those cases result in convictions. The filmmaker Kirby Dicks new documentary, THE INVISIBLE WAR, sheds light on the suffering of thousands of military rape victims, and hell join Doug on Friday to talk about it....
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The Life of Martha Hughes Cannon
Thursday, were profiling a new KUED documentary that explores the life of a remarkable woman, Martha Hughes Cannon. Women in 19th-century Utah enjoyed rights unprecedented in other states: they could divorce their husbands, own their own property and vote. Cannon made the most of these opportunities. She was a practicing physician and in 1896 she became the first woman in the US to serve as a state senator. She was also a polygamist wife though, a role that would eventually destroy her...
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Dead Man Walking - Too Much for High School?
In March, Bingham High School staged an edited production of "Dead Man Walking." The play is based on the experiences of a nun who became spiritual advisor to death row inmates. Its a difficult topic to be sure and the conservative Eagle Forum says the play went too far. They object to violence, language and what they see as sacrilegious themes. Wednesday, were asking what the values and the risks are of exposing students to sensitive issues through art and were hoping to hear from you. How...
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Nothing to Envy
North Korea has long been in the dark, both literally and figuratively. Little if any light glows in the country at night, and little light has been shed on the lives of ordinary people living under the worlds cruelest totalitarian regime. In her bookNothing to Envy, journalist Barbara Demickgoes deep inside the secretive country and documents the lives of six North Koreans over 15 years, revealing the reality of everyday life there. Its a dark place, to be sure, but not dark enough to quell...
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Lucky Peach - American Food
On Monday, Dougs chatting with Peter Meehan and Chris Ying, the editors of Lucky Peach magazine, about American food. Its an admittedly hard topic to nail down. Theres diner food, of course. Fried chicken, sandwiches and sausages. But well also consider the All-American cast-iron pan and Native American food, and foods prominent place in American film and the oeuvre of Andy Warhol. Doug, Peter, Chris (and, just maybe, a special guest) will try to get to the bottom of what makes American food...
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New Music of 2012
When NPRs Bob Boilen created All Songs Considered, he wanted it to be a resource for music discovery. That was some 12 years ago and Boilen continues to introduce listeners to new music of all styles. Among his top picks of 2012 (so far) are songs ranging from feel-good pop and rich, complicated tunes to tracks for quiet reflection. Friday, Bob Boilen joins Doug to explain his list of new songs worth a listen.Bob Boilens Picks for 2012 (so far):Kishi Bashi, Bright WhitesSpiritualized, Hey...
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Through the Lens: The Man Nobody Knew
Thursday, Doug is back in the studio with the latest installment of our Through the Lens documentary series. Our guest is Carl Colby, whose latest film is about his father William Colby, spymaster and former head of the CIA. The film is Carls search for an authentic portrait of his father, a man whose life was obscured even to those closest to him. Its part memoir, part history of the CIA. Really, its about the costs of what a country does in secret.RadioWest and the Utah Film Center will...
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In the Shadow of the Buddha
Last month, guest host Bill Allred traveled through the Himalayas. He was profoundly affected by the peace-loving people he encountered there and by their stories of the destruction of the Buddhist way of life by the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He wondered: how is it possible for pacifists to stop the assimilation of their way of life. On Wednesday, Bill talks with author and activist Matteo Pistono, author of In the Shadow of the Buddha, about the troubled history and the future of Tibetan...
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The Mark Inside
The quest to make a fortune may be as old as America itself, but so are the con-men who prey on that dream. J. Frank Norfleet learned this the hard way. In 1919, the Texas rancher lost his life savings in a stock market scam, but he didnt take it lying down. With a revolver and a suitcase of disguises, Norfleet set out on a four-year pursuit of his swindlers. Tuesday, guest host Christy Karras is joined by Amy Reading, whose new book follows Norfleet on his journey from victim to folk...
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Van Gogh: The Life
For 10 years, writers Gregory White Smith, Steven Naifeh and a team of researchers delved deeply into the life of Vincent van Gogh. They read the books he read in his day, dissected his numerous letters and scoured every text and record they could find on him. Their new biography of the fabled artist lays bare van Goghs deeply troubled, fanatic and passionate soul, and it offers a revisionist history of his death. Gregory White Smith joins Doug on Monday to talk aboutVan Gogh: The Life....
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Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?
In the world of Facebook, youve got immediate access to a large circle of people - from your best friend in third grade to your sister-in-laws mother. New research suggests though that we have never been lonelier or more narcissistic. In the May issue of The Atlantic, writer and culture critic Stephen Marche takes on the epidemic of loneliness in the digital age. Friday, he joins us for a conversation about the effect its having on our physical and mental health. (Rebroadcast)Read Stephen...
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Barefoot Running
Journalist Christopher McDougall points out that there is only one other animal on the planet that wears shoes, and thats just because we "grab them by the legs and hammer them on." McDougall is the author of "Born to Run" and his book is at the center of the barefoot running trend. Thursday, he joins us to explain why so many people are ditching their sneakers and reconnecting with the way he says our bodies were built to run. (Rebroadcast)
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Homesickness - An American History
Susan Matt, a professor at Weber State University, laughed when she first read of someone actually dying of homesickness. Nowadays, homesickness is regarded as a childish affliction that Americans, with our penchant for frequent relocation, are immune from. But as Matt writes, nostalgia has long distressed Americans--we leave to college, move for a new job, or migrate to a new country. She joins us to talk about homesickness and how weve managed to cope with it. (Rebroadcast)
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God vs. Gay?
Some people make a case against LGBT equality in religious terms, quoting the Bible to argue homosexuality is a sin. Religion scholar and activist Jay Michaelson has a different reading though. Hes an observant Jew, but he says its an oversimplification to choose between God and being gay. Michaelson has written a book that explores what the Bible says about compassion, love and relationships. Tuesday, he joins guest host Joanna Brooks to make his case for equality because of religion, not...
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Vampires in America
The movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was recently released in theaters. Its an inventive take on the vampire mythos -- and on American history. Historian Scott Poole isnt crying foul, though. In the film, and the book its based on, he sees a creative take on the horrors of history, as well as its mutability. He joins guest host Matthew LaPlante on Monday to explore Americas obsession with vampires, when they entered the national psyche and how we continually reinvent them in our own...
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Rin Tin Tin - The Life and the Legend
A canine orphan of World War I, Rin Tin Tin was rescued from a French battlefield and went on to become one of the most renowned names of 20th century entertainment. Susan Orlean wrote about the life and legend of the famous German shepherd, his descendants and their owners,tracing in the rise of dogs in American life and the cinema and exploring the bond between humans and animals. Orlean talks with Doug about the legacy of Rin Tin Tin. (Rebroadcast)
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Mind Your Gray Matter
Severe head trauma in sports was once a minor concern. Athletes got dinged, or got their bells rung. Now the discussion is serious: concussions can result in brain injuries, especially for young people. Scientists are documenting the risks of extreme shocks to the head, leading the NFL and the NHL to crackdown. Even little leagues are changing their rules to better protect players. Tuesday on RadioWest guest hostJohn Daleyexplores changes in the understanding and treatment of sports-related...
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Truck Food
Monday, guest host Benjamin Bombard is joined by food writer and cultural historian John T. Edge for a look at the burgeoning food truck scene in the U.S. Its a cuisine Edge calls "the culinary equivalent of the Great American Novel." Chefs are creating adventurous foods on city streets where diners can get a great meal without a dress code or exorbitant prices. John T. Edge is coming to Utah as a guest of Weller Book Works and hell take us on a tour of Americas best restaurants on wheels.
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The Ethics of Having Babies
Friday, were talking about the ethical arguments for and against having children. The worlds population is expected to reach eight billion by 2025 and The New Yorkers environmental journalist Elizabeth Kolbert says that when we make decisions about how many kids to have were "determining how the world of the future will look." Kolbert will be our guide through the debate. Well then be joined by economist Bryan Caplan who says there are a lot of good reasons to be having more kids....
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Bullets & Belles
Thursday weve got the Salt Lake trio Bullets & Belles in studio to chat and play some tunes as part of our Local Music series. Its hard to pin down the bands unique sound, but neo-doo-wop-folk isnt far from the mark. Bullets & Belles music features sparse instrumentationlittle more than guitar and hand percussionmarried to sublime three-part vocal harmonies and deeply-felt poetic lyrics that reflect on subjects like the brevity of youth, the war in Afghanistan and a mysterious California...
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The Legacy and Legitimacy of the Roberts Court
The journalist and legal scholar Jeffrey Rosen says that the defining test of Chief Justice John Robertss leadership is to avoid partisan polarization on the US Supreme Court. No test of that leadership could be more crucial than the Courts forthcoming decision on the Affordable Care Act. Much is at stake: Robertss legacy as Chief Justice, the future of American healthcare, and possibly a presidential race. Rosen joins us on Wednesday to examine the Roberts court and the ramifications of its...
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How Creativity Works
Tuesday, science writer JonahLehreris with us for a look at what the latest research can teach us about our imaginations. Creativity isnt the special purview of artists and inventors; its an impulse thats hard-wired into our brain and we can all learn to use it more effectively. Well talk about how techniques like daydreaming, perseverance and channeling the inner seven-year-old can help us re-imagine the world. (Rebroadcast)
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- Current Affairs, Public Radio
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