Access Utah

Utah’s path to statehood was the most tortuous in U.S. history, due in no small part to the Mormon practice of polygamy. Frank J. Cannon, newspaperman, Congressional delegate, and senator, guided Utah toward becoming the forty-fifth state in the Union in 1896. But when he lost favor with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his contributions fell into obscurity.

Many wildfires continue to burn across Utah, with the threat of more fire with the persisting hot and dry conditions. We’ll talk about wildfires in Utah today. Our guests will include Staci Olson, who has fought wildfires in the western U.S. for 10 years; Kait Webb with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands; and Moab Mayor Emily Niehaus.

The Monarch and Other Winged Wonders Festival will happen on Thursday in Nibley. We’ll preview the event next time on Access Utah. We’ll learn about Monarch butterflies, bats, bees, fireflies, night pollinators, dragonflies and birds. We’ll talk about the decline in some of these species and how we can help. And we’ll discuss how being in nature can improve our health and well-being.

History isn’t always written by the victors. 19th century America saw a series of high-profile court cases that stripped civil rights from Black Americans following the Civil War. John Marshall Harlan was the only U.S. Supreme Court justice to stand in dissent, and his blistering, passionate rebuttals inspired future justices, such as Thurgood Marshall, who said that Harlan’s writings were his “Bible” and his blueprint as he helped to tear down Segregation a century later.

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.”

The Mountaintop by Katori Hall is a gripping two-person drama about the last day of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the play, King is alone in his hotel room when he is joined by Camae, a maid who works for the Lorraine Motel. What follows is a reflective, often funny, often touching conversation in which Dr. King examines his achievements, his failures, and his unfinished dreams.

A few months ago we talked with several Covid-19 long haulers. They said that some continued to suffer debilitating effects of the disease months after being infected with the virus. Many long haulers say they had active lifestyles prior to getting sick, but they are nowhere near getting back to normal. Today we’re going to check back in with Lisa O’Brien, founder of a Utah COVID-19 Long Haulers group. We’ll also be talking to Dr. Brayden Yellman of the Bateman Horne Center and Dr. Jeanette Brown, Director of the new post-COVID care clinic at the University of Utah.

Utah residents are facing a housing shortage in virtually every community and a segment of our population struggles with housing insecurity on a regular basis, partially associated with stigma and shame. Some don't fully understand the obstacles many have overcome. On the next Access Utah we’ll present another live episode of the podcast Debunked. We’ll be debunking the myth: Homeless people are lazy and don’t want to work.

On Sunday, Israel’s parliament (Knesset) voted in favor of a new government, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year reign as prime minister. The vote ushered in a “change government”—a coalition of eight different political parties that plan to use a rotation system to fill the prime minister’s seat. Naftali Bennett, leader of the New Right Party, will initially serve as prime minister for two years, followed by Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid for two years. For the first time in Israel’s history, an Israeli Arab party will be part of the government.

Conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department to prevent a highway from being built through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in Southwest Utah. The groups claim that paving over the protected land would be a violation of environmental laws which require agencies to analyze potential environmental harms before making decisions. Red Cliffs was established as a conservation area in 2009 to help recover a threatened species - the Mojave desert tortoise.

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?”

Bryan, Ohio's hospital, is losing money, making it vulnerable to big health systems seeking domination and Phil Ennen, CEO, has been fighting to preserve its independence. Meanwhile, Bryan, a town of 8,500 people in Ohio’s northwest corner, is still trying to recover from the Great Recession.

UPR broadcasts a weekly interview with Utah State University President Noelle Cockett, checking in on whatever is happening at the university that week. Earlier you heard the condensed version of this conversation. Today on Access Utah we’ll hear the full interview. We’ll talk about new rules at USU regarding face masks, vaccination rates, transitioning to a more-normal life, and we’ll look ahead to the fall.

Elinor Cleghorn became an unwell woman ten years ago. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after a long period of being told her symptoms were anything from psychosomatic to a possible pregnancy. As she learned to live with her unpredictable disease she turned to history for answers, and found an enraging legacy of suffering, mystification, and misdiagnosis.

Almost one year ago in the midst of a global pandemic, we watched the death of George Floyd. Americans responded, protesting the realities of racial injustice in cities across the country. For many individuals, this may have been the first time they recognized the depth and breadth of discrimination in the United States, in their communities, and in their classrooms.

Gary Paul Nabhan is an Agricultural Ecologist, Ethnobotanist, Ecumenical Franciscan Brother, and author whose work has focused primarily on the interaction of biodiversity and cultural diversity of the arid binational Southwest. He is considered a pioneer in the local food movement and the heirloom seed saving movement.

On the eve of the Civil War, three American businessmen launched an audacious plan to create a financial empire by transforming communications across the hostile territory between the nation’s two coasts. In the process, they created one of the most enduring icons of the American West: the Pony Express.

When the state of Colorado ordered its residents to shelter in place in response to the spread of coronavirus, writers Pam Houston and Amy Irvine—who had never met—began a correspondence based on their shared devotion to the rugged, windswept mountains that surround their homes, one on either side of the Continental Divide.

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. We’ll also be talking with Sara Freeman, USU Assistant Professor of Biology, and Sojung Lim, USU Assistant Professor of Sociology. We’ll also hear sound clips from the film.

In a recent article for Terrain.org titled “In Defense of Pinon Nut Nation,” writer and photographer Stephen Trimble says “Piñons and junipers are the size of humans. We don’t look down at them, casually, and we don’t gaze up in awe. We are equal in scale. ‘Tree’ usually means tall, vertical, but these trees often are round. They have the reserved warmth of a Native grandmother. When you live in piñon-juniper woodland, you live with the trees, not under them. You participate, you reside."