RadioWest
Public Radio
KUER’s award-winning interview show explores the world through deep thinkers who host Doug Fabrizio asks to think even deeper. Join writers, filmmakers, scientists and others on RadioWest: A show for the wildly curious.
Location:
Salt Lake City, UT
Description:
KUER’s award-winning interview show explores the world through deep thinkers who host Doug Fabrizio asks to think even deeper. Join writers, filmmakers, scientists and others on RadioWest: A show for the wildly curious.
Language:
English
Website:
http://radiowest.org
Email:
radiowest@kuer.org
Episodes
The Lingering Guilt and Lessons Learned from the Challenger Disaster
1/29/2026
Forty years ago, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch. According to NPR's Howard Berkes, the lessons learned from the disaster are as critical as ever.
Duration:00:58:10
The Metamorphosis of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
1/28/2026
Journalist Michael Scherer had a lofty goal for his profile of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He wanted to “help narrow the political divide” separating the country.
Duration:00:50:30
An Environmental Horror Story About Great Salt Lake
1/22/2026
In a new documentary premiering at Sundance, local filmmaker Abby Ellis follows two scientists and a government official fighting to stave off environmental disaster and save Great Salt Lake.
Duration:00:50:30
The Ute Leader Who Helped Found the West
1/21/2026
In a new biography, the historian Max Perry Mueller argues that Wakara, a Timpanogos Ute leader, should be considered one of the founding figures of the American West.
Duration:00:50:30
What to Expect From the 2026 Utah Legislative Session
1/15/2026
“Affordability” is a buzzword of the current political moment, and it’s top of mind for Utah lawmakers as they gear up for the general legislative session.
Duration:00:50:30
Drawn to the Ghastly and Gruesome? This Psychologist Can Tell You Why
1/14/2026
Coltan Scrivner is a psychologist who studies why some of us are drawn to look at gruesome things. He calls it morbid curiosity, and he says it’s not a bad thing.
Duration:00:50:30
Is Utah's Ski Boom Going Bust?
1/8/2026
In recent years, Utah has seen a surge in winter visitors to its world-class ski resorts. Sam Weintraub, a ski industry observer, isn’t the only one who’s noticed that as more and more people come here to ski, the more it reshapes the skiing experience.
Duration:00:50:30
Greg Lukianoff on why Free Speech Matters
1/7/2026
On Sept. 10, 2025, political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University. The very next month, Greg Lukianoff gave a lecture there, about why free speech is an antidote to violence.
Duration:00:50:30
The Lives of Rivers with Robert Macfarlane
1/1/2026
Is a river alive? That’s the animating question in Robert Macfarlane’s latest book. And if the answer is yes, and rivers are living things, what do we owe them?
Duration:00:50:30
Dame Judi Dench on a Life With Shakespeare
12/31/2025
If you’ve ever wanted to share a room with two great actors talking about Shakespeare, here’s your chance — with Dame Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea.
Duration:00:50:30
The Making of Handel’s Messiah
12/25/2025
In 2021, protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol and tried to overturn the presidential election. In that moment, author Charles King turned to Handel’s Messiah.
Duration:00:50:30
The Viking Age and Hidden Histories
12/24/2025
If the word “Viking” conjures for you a braided warrior raiding a village in the north of Europe, you’re not exactly wrong. But there’s a lot more to the story.
Duration:00:50:30
How America was Shaped by Multilevel Marketing
12/18/2025
Multilevel marketing is something of an American tradition. Journalist Bridget Read tells the story of the money-making schemes that continue to ensnare people today.
Duration:00:50:30
James Tabor on the Real Mother of Jesus
12/17/2025
Jesus’s mother Mary likely lived for over 40 years, but many believers only think of her in two places, the Nativity and the Crucifixion. The scholar James Tabor wants to change that.
Duration:00:50:30
Can Christianity Fix the Country?
12/11/2025
Author and journalist Jonathan Rauch is a Jewish atheist. And yet, he’s calling on Christians to remember their faith — and practice it the way Founding Father James Madison might have done.
Duration:00:50:30
RadioWest’s 2025 Holiday Book Show
12/10/2025
What do books say about us? This week, Catherine Weller, Ken Sanders and Anne Holman join us to talk about their favorite winter reads — the titles they recommend that we can all gift to each other or curl up with while the snow (hopefully) falls and the fire crackles.
Duration:00:51:00
Stefan Fatsis on the New Dictionary Decades in the Making
12/4/2025
What weighs five pounds, hasn’t been seen in print for 20 years, but still shapes the way we think about language? Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary — and author Stefan Fatsis is here to tell us why it matters.
Duration:00:50:30
Through the Lens: 'Sovereign'
12/3/2025
Jerry Kane and his teenage son Joseph were men of no nation. Their lives — and their violent ends — are the subject of the new feature film “Sovereign,” directed by Christian Swegal, who joins us to talk about it.
Duration:00:43:57
Craig Childs on the Darkest of Dark Skies
11/27/2025
For many people, the night sky is an afterthought, especially if you live in a big city, where all the artificial light drowns out the stars. But the nature writer Craig Childs wants to help us rediscover the dark heavens and consider what they show us about who we are and where we fit in the universe.
Duration:00:50:30
Michael Shaikh on How War Changes Food
11/25/2025
Of the many casualties of violent conflict, food is yet another. Michael Shaikh’s new book explains how war and genocide change what we eat.
Duration:00:51:03