Access Utah

In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, titled “America’s Brutal Racial History Is Written All Over Our Genes,” Libby Copeland writes: “The debate around race consuming America right now is coinciding with a technological phenomenon — at-home genetic testing kits — revealing many of us are not who we thought we were. Some customers of the major DNA testing companies, which collectively have sold 37 million of these kits, are getting results that surprise them.” We talked with Libby Copeland, author of The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who We Are, last year. The book is coming out soon in paperback. We’ll check back in with Libby Copeland today.

In her new book, “Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage,” Anne Lamott explores the tough questions that many of us are grappling with. How can we recapture the confidence we once had as we stumble through the dark times that seem increasingly bleak? As bad news piles up—from climate crises to daily assaults on civility—how can we cope? Where, she asks, “do we start to get our world and joy and hope and our faith in life itself back . . . with our sore feet, hearing loss, stiff fingers, poor digestion, stunned minds, broken hearts?” We begin, Lamott says, by accepting our flaws and embracing our humanity. Drawing from her own experiences, Lamott shows us the intimate and human ways we can adopt to move through life’s dark places and toward the light of hope that still burns ahead for all of us. “Yes, these are times of great illness and distress,” she says. “Yet the center may just hold.”

Vaccines are being rolled out and warmer weather is approaching. Those are hopeful developments. What else should we know about Covid-19 in Utah right now?

On Monday’s Access Utah we’ll broadcast a full episode from This Is Her Place, a podcast that tells the remarkable stories of Utah women past and present, in all their diversity. Podcast co-host Naomi Watkins will also join us.

Today we’ll talk with Sharon Shattuck, director and producer of the documentary film Picture a Scientist, which offers a sobering portrait of struggles women face in pursuing studies and careers in science. UPR is among several organizations sponsoring a virtual film screening of Picture a Scientist (March 5-7) and a panel discussion (March 8). We’ll also be talking with Sara Freeman, USU Assistant Professor of Biology, who is coordinating the USU events; and Sojung Lim, USU Assistant Professor of Sociology, who is participating in the panel discussion. We’ll also hear sound clips from the film.

The pandemic is coming up on the year mark. More than 500,000 have died in the U.S. and millions have been or are sick. The need for caregiving has increased. Many of us are tired, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Stress and isolation and worry are taking a toll. Today we’re going to talk about mental health during the pandemic.

Last summer, amid the protests demanding police reform following the death of George Floyd, we spoke with Darlene McDonald, of the Utah Black Roundtable and a member of the then newly-created Salt Lake City Commission on Racial Equity in Policing. She said at the time: “Once the protests end and the streets become quiet, it is imperative that we not lose focus. We must redefine a new normal in policing.”

Today our guest is Cache Valley resident Maren Johnson. She’ll tell us some fascinating stories from the world of dog sledding. For the past five years she worked for dog sledding businesses in Alaska. She lived on a glacier with 280 sled dogs. She also worked for four-time Iditarod winner Jeff King in his tourist business and assisted him in the 1,000-mile Iditarod race.

Today our focus is on rural Utah and the legislature. What issues are especially important to residents outside of the Wasatch Front? What legislation is being proposed? Our guests will include Sen. Chris Wilson, R-Logan; Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City; Rep. Christine Watkins, R-Price; Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan; and Sen. Ronald Winterton R-Roosevelt. We would love to hear from you. What is the most important issue where you live? Email us to upraccess@gmail.com

In a commentary published recently at Mongabay.com, Paul Rogers, a forest ecologist and Director of the Western Aspen Alliance at Utah State University, argues that forest managers’ “goal should not be to stop wildfire but to reduce conflicts with it.” The headline for the piece is:

The Utah Women’s Giving Circle presented their “Resilient 2020 Speaker Series | From Susan B. Anthony to RBG: The history, resilience and call to community.” The concluding event in the series was held in November 2020, and was titled “New Possibilities Amidst the Unraveling.” Sara Jones, CEO of InclusionPro talked about how to identify opportunities in the midst of turmoil. She reminded us that unraveling our expectations gives us space, freedom, and clear eyes to see things differently.

How do we properly define cultural appropriation, and is it always wrong? If we can write in the voice of another, should we? And if so, what questions do we need to consider first? In her new book, “Appropriate: A Provocation,” creative writing professor and Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal addresses a young writer to delineate how the idea of cultural appropriation has evolved—and perhaps calcified—in our political climate. What follows is an exploration of fluctuating literary power and authorial privilege, about whiteness and what we really mean by the term empathy, that examines writers from William Styron to Peter Ho Davies to Jeanine Cummins. “Appropriate” presents a new framework for one of the most controversial subjects in contemporary literature.

Sara Freeman is an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at Utah State University. She studies the neurobiology of strong social bonds. Last year, during the height of the pandemic, her mother died. Sara Freeman wrote recently about science and grief and love in Utah State Magazine, in an article titled “Love and Loss During a Pandemic.” She’ll join us for the hour next time on Access Utah.

Jim Robbins has written recently about pandemic-related overcrowding on Montana’s rivers; the connection between the growth of deadly viruses and the destruction of nature; the effects of public lands policy during the Trump Administration; geothermal energy; and an internet of animals. We’ll talk with him about public lands and related topics as the Biden Administration gets underway.

The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins in the U.S. Senate today. We'll provide a preview on the program today. We'll talk about procedure, recent history and all things related. We'll be talking to USU Political Science Professor Damon Cann. And I’d love to know what you’re thinking about this. Is impeachment of a former president constitutional? Should President Trump be convicted or acquitted? What would you advise Senators Lee and Romney? If President Trump is acquitted does that mean the impeachment process is broken? What will the outcome of the trial mean going forward for our national divide? You can send us your comment or question now to upraccess@gmail.com

The film Downwinders and the Radioactive West has been airing on PBS Utah. Today we’re going to review a different part of America’s nuclear history. Susan Dawson and Gary Madsen are retired Utah State University professors whose research and Congressional testimony contributed to passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. In addition to providing financial compensation to downwinders and uranium miners and others, RECA also acknowledged that Congress "apologizes on behalf of the nation" to individuals who were "involuntarily subjected to increased risk of injury and disease to serve the national security interests of the United States." Professors Dawson’s and Madsen’s research from 1988 to 2010 focused on radiation exposures to underground and above ground uranium miners, uranium millworkers, and uranium transportation workers.

This special is part of UPR’s ongoing series Project Resilience. Project Resilience is made possible with support from the Utah State University Center for Persons With Disabilities.

On Wednesday’s Access Utah we’ll broadcast a full episode from This Is Her Place, a podcast that tells the remarkable stories of Utah women past and present, in all their diversity. Podcast co-host Naomi Watkins will also join us.

President Biden has issued an executive order placing an indefinite moratorium on new leases for oil and gas development on federal lands. Proponents of the moratorium say it’s a positive step and that previous lease sales on federal lands have harmed some of the West’s most cherished landscapes and slowed the nation’s shift to clean energy. Opponents argue that the moratorium will further harm already hard-hit economies with an outsized impact on rural areas. We’ll talk about it on Tuesday’s Access Utah. Our guests will include Sen. Ronald Winterton, R-Roosevelt; and Steve Bloch, Legal Director with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

At the request of the Utah Legislature, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute – with the assistance of a 37-person Technical Advisory Committee – has prepared a Utah Roadmap to help legislators make policy to improve air quality and address causes and impacts of a changing climate. We’ll ask legislators and others how the Roadmap is being implemented this legislative session. Our guests will include Rep. Steven Handy, R-Layton and Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City. Representatives Handy and Briscoe are among the co-chairs of the Clean Air Caucus. We’ll also be talking with Thomas Holst, Senior Energy Analyst with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute; and Josh Craft, Government and Corporate Relations Manager with Utah Clean Energy.