Access Utah

Salt Lake Tribune religion reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack writes that “[s]ome Mormons — and plenty of others — were appalled to witness their church build a $1.5 billion mall in downtown Salt Lake City and hear their prophet proclaim, “Let’s go shopping.” Isn’t religion, they argued, supposed to be about feeding the hungry and clothing the poor? How is selling Tiffany jewelry, Nordstrom cocktail dresses and luxury condos any part of a Christian faith?” That’s the introduction to her report on historian Michael Quinn’s book “The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth and Corporate Power.” Quinn, by the way, says that the LDS church sees its mission as serving both the spiritual and physical needs of its people.

A formerly homeless man tries to help young people in Southern Utah. A transgender person in Brigham City finds community in a coven of witches. A gay Navajo man finally decides to leave the reservation to escape the loneliness. And in a suburb of Salt Lake City, a family turns a Mormon tradition on its head to find fellowship. Those are descriptions of episodes from the UPR original series “LGBTQ: Off the Grid,” broadcasting through mid-March. The series explores the often unseen and unaddressed aspects of rural life for LGBTQ individuals and their families.

In 2012, photographer Matika Wilbur sold everything in her Seattle apartment and created Project 562, which reflects her commitment to visit, engage with and photograph all 562 plus Native American sovereign territories in the United States. With this project she has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, many in her RV (which she has nicknamed the “Big Girl”) but also by horseback through the Grand Canyon, by train, plane, and boat and on foot across all 50 states.

“I began my writing career by exploring the tracks humans have left in nature. Now I’m mostly interested in the tracks nature leaves in us.” That’s author Gary Ferguson. He says that nature provides beauty, mystery and community, traits that each of us very much needs. He is the author of 25 books. We talked with Gary Ferguson a few months ago about his latest “Land on Fire.” Today we’ll talk with him about “The Carry Home” a haunting meditation on wilderness, conservation, and grief, written following the death of his wife in a canoeing accident. We’ll also talk about “Shouting at the Sky: Troubled Teens and the Promise of the Wild.” And we’ll talk about the Yellowstone wolves, which Gary Ferguson has written about in two books “Yellowstone Wolves: The First Year,” and “Decade of the Wolf.”

Lyndon Johnson's towering political skills and his ambitious slate of liberal legislation are the stuff of legend: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start and environmental reform. But what happened after the bills passed? One man could not and did not go it alone. Bill Moyers, Jack Valenti, Joe Califano, Harry McPherson and the other staff members who comprised LBJ's inner circle were men as pragmatic and ambitious as Johnson, equally skilled in the art of accumulating power or throwing a sharp elbow.

The Culture & Mental Health Lab, Merrill-Cazier Library, and Cache Refugee & Immigrant Connection have partnered to host a college and community screening of “Whose Streets?,” a documentary about the Ferguson uprising. The event is made possibly with funding from Utah State University's Diversity Council. Following the screening will be a panel discussion with scholars, organizers, and community leaders. Please join us for this important event and panel discussion. Copied below is some important background on the documentary. Watch the trailer HERE.

Several Utah-based organizations including the Rape Recovery Center and Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault recently hosted a town hall conversation focusing on the impact and future of the #MeToo movement. Organizers say “It is time for Utahns to come together to discuss the future of our community. To give survivors an opportunity to define what progress looks like for our community.” They hope to provide forums where the concerns of sexual assault and harassment survivors would be heard.

It’s time again to compile our UPR community book list. We want to know what you’re reading. Maybe something for Valentine’s Day or Black History Month? Whatever’s on your nightstand or device, you can send us your list right now by email to upraccess@gmail.com. Or you can email us or call us during the program, next time on Access Utah. Elaine Thatcher, our usual co-host for these episodes, is always reading something interesting. She’ll share her list with us. We’ll also get recommendations of interesting new books from various booksellers.

From the University of Utah:

It’s been six months since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The hurricane is regarded as one of the worst natural disasters in Puerto Rican history. Some Puerto Ricans expressed the worry at the time that the news cycle would turn and the island’s needs will be forgotten. We’ll try to counteract that tendency today. We’re going to focus on Puerto Rico and try to point you to good ways you can help. We’ll also seek context and look at some history.

Renowned American political activist, scholar and author Ibram X. Kendi visited USU last fall for a keynote presentation on “How to be an Anti-Racist.” The presentation was sponsored by the USU Access and Diversity Center. Kendi, an award-winning historian and New York Times best-selling author, is professor of history and international relations and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. His second book, “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” won the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction. At 34-years-old, Kendi was the youngest ever winner of the NBA for Nonfiction. Ibram Kendi argues that racism in America has grown from deliberate policies rather than from emotional responses like fear or hatred. Kendi joins Tom Williams for Tuesday’s Access Utah.

Today we preview Utah State University's Guitar, Bass, and Drum Festival which happens in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall on the USU campus today and tomorrow.

Salt Lake City resident Gabriel Tallent’s debut novel “My Absolute Darling” has been getting rave reviews. Here’s a synopsis:

Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) is a consortium of public power agencies (Logan is a member). UAMPs reportedly is considering building a small modular nuclear reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls. It would likely be one of the first small modular reactors (SMR) in the country. Proponents say that SMRs are small, scalable, flexible and dramatically safer and less expensive than the traditional gigantic reactors. They also say that SMRs could replace coal-fired electrical generation and would complement wind and solar because they can ramp up and down quickly, providing c

David Yokum is Director of The Lab @ DC. Under his leadership, The Lab conducts applied research projects to generate evidence that informs the District’s decisions. Yokum was previously a founding member of the White House’s Social & Behavioral Sciences Team and Director of its scientific delivery unit housed at the U.S. General Services Administration. President Obama further institutionalized the work in Executive Order 13707, “Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better Serve the American People.”

On her Twitter account, which by the way is @LindaHyphen, Linda Shaver-Gleason describes herself as a “musicologist, mother, cancer patient. Recently adopted by a cat.” She writes a blog, Not Another Music History Cliché, in which she debunks music history myths and offers commentary on many aspects of classical music culture, from snobbery to composer hero-worship to the question: Is music a universal language?

On the day President Trump is set to deliver his first State of the Union Address, we’ll talk politics with Deseret News columnists LaVarr Webb and Frank Pignanelli.

What do the following have in common? Ghost beads, biotic communities, gin, tree masticators, Puebloan diapers, charcoal, folklore, historic explorers, spiral grain, tree life cycles, spirituality, packrat middens, climate changes, wildfire, ranching, wilderness, and land management policies. The answer is the juniper tree.

110 independent films from 29 countries will be presented at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, which is hosting screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort, through Sunday.

Ben Jones, is a single, 38-year-old truck driver on the verge of losing his small trucking company. Ben's route takes him back and forth across one of the most desolate and beautiful regions of the Utah desert where he meets a mysterious cellist and the embittered owner of a small diner. That’s the plot, in brief, of James Anderson’s debut novel, “The Never-Open Desert Diner.”