Access Utah

From social distancing to new levels of anxiety and distress, the coronavirus pandemic has rapidly transformed our lives. On Sunday morning at 10:00, tune in to UPR to hear an interfaith program featuring messages of hope tailored to this particular moment.

Sadie Hoagland’s new book “American Grief in Four Stages,” a collection of short fiction, asks the question: why does our country do so little for the bereaved? Why do we have only empty cliché to address the grief of others? Why do we expect people to just "get over" insurmountable tragedy?

This time on Access Utah, a public lands cooperation success story. A while back, the aspen on Monroe mountain in Central Utah were in serious need of restoration. The situation could easily have descended into a blame game with wildlife advocates saying that livestock were eating all of the young aspen and grazing advocates saying that wildlife were eating all of the young aspen. Instead all sides launched an innovative project: the Monroe Mountain Working Group. Individuals and groups that in other circumstances might have been fighting came together to solve the problem.

A couple of weeks ago, UPR presented a special program called COVID-19 CONVERSATION, answering your questions about the pandemic. We’re going to resume our conversation on the next Access Utah. As the state moves from Red to Orange level, we’ll ask what that means and how it affects you.

Today, as a part of our series: Stopping Sexual Harassment, we’ll talk with Susan Madsen and Robbyn Scribner of the Utah Women and Leadership Project at Utah Valley University. We’ll talk about sexual harassment and sexual assault. We’ll also talk about voting, leadership, body image and other topics.

Several years ago, writer Paisley Rekdal created a digital community project that mapped the people, places, buildings and events that defined Salt Lake City. When she became Utah’s poet laureate, she decided to build on this idea and create a literary map for the entire state.

While artist Chris Terry is known for his contemplative interior landscapes, a new exhibition at the USU Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (NEHMA) features the experimental work he was able to create during four sabbaticals throughout his tenure at USU.

Douglas Tallamy’s first book, “Bringing Nature Home,” awakened thousands of readers to an urgent situation: wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are fast disappearing. His solution? Plant more natives. In this new book, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation. “Nature’s Best Hope” shows how homeowners everywhere can turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats. Talllamy says that because this approach relies on the initiatives of private individuals, it is immune from the whims of government policy. Even more important, it’s practical, effective, and easy.

Andrew J. Russell is primarily known as the man who photographed the famous “East and West Shaking Hands” image of the Golden Spike ceremony on May 10, 1869. He also took nearly one thousand other images that document almost every aspect of the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Conservationist and historian Betsy Gaines Quammen and journalist David Quammen have been on a virtual book tour, conducted from their home in Bozeman and including special guest Boots the Python.

Every year for Earth Day, we check in with writer and photographer Stephen Trimble, author of “Bargaining for Eden: The Fight for the Last Open Spaces in America,” and many other books. This time, Stephen Trimble suggested we also reach out to his friend, ecologist, ethnobotanist and writer, Gary Paul Nabhan.

On Tuesday's Access Utah, we check in with Utah legislators about the historic special session that began last week in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Corey Flintoff is a former NPR foreign correspondent whose assignments included Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Haiti, Ukraine and Russia.

On Thursday's Access Utah, we check in with our arts community. How has COVID-19 affected local arts organizations? How can audiences support the arts?

In CONFLUENCE: NAVIGATING THE PERSONAL & POLITICAL ON RIVERS OF THE NEW WEST, paddler and journalist Zak Podmore takes readers down Western rivers and deep into some of the most pressing environmental and social justice issues of our time.

“Unselfish: Love Thy Neighbor as Thy Selfie” compiled by Paul Parkinson, features 99 inspiring stories of people putting others before themselves. Everyone is trying to get noticed. Selfies are taking over the internet. We live in a world where success and achievement seem to be determined by how many “likes” or “followers” one has on social media. Selfish behavior seems to be at an all–time high.

How do survivors of sexual trauma overcome the mental health issues that often accompany these kinds of experiences? On Monday’s Access Utah we will talk to survivors about their healing journeys, as well as a wide variety of healers, who help people overcome trauma in many different ways .

Patty Rayman was born with the ability to communicate with animals and has helped thousands of people resolve many types of behavior, health, attitude and relationship issues with their animal companions. In working with all types of animals, she has developed techniques to help people move from conflict to cooperation in their relationships.

We know that the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting the economy as well as the obvious health effects. How is all of this affecting small businesses in Utah?

Jodi Byrd joined Tom Williams to discuss the next lecture in the USU College of Humanities’ Tanner Talks series: “Digital Animus in the Age of Liberation.”