Access Utah

What’s on your Utah bucket list? What adventure have you always wanted to do? What activities have you crossed off your Utah Bucket List and can suggest to us? We’d love to share your list with others. We’d also love to share your photos. You can share your list & photos on our Utah Public Radio Facebook page and call 1-800-826-1495 Monday 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. A film, “The Utah Bucket List,” premieres August 1 on KUED and is hosted by Salt Lake Tribune outdoor writer Brett Prettyman and produced by KUED’s Nancy Green. Prettyman has featured several of the adventures on the list in a series of articles in the Tribune.

According to a BBC report from July 16, “a new interim Egyptian government has been sworn in, with army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the ousting of Mohammed Morsi, becoming deputy PM as well as defence minister. ... The swearing in followed another night of violence between security forces and Morsi supporters that left seven dead. A spokesman for Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood called the interim government ‘illegitimate’. Mr Morsi was ousted on 3 July in what many have said was a military coup.The army said it was fulfilling the demands of the people after mass anti-Morsi protests.”

Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman was recently acquitted of all charges in the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. More than 150 people marched in protest of the verdict in Salt Lake City. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, some of the protesters said that the trial’s outcome will increase racial profiling and open the door for “trigger-happy” vigilantes. We’re going to open up Wednesday’s Access Utah to you to talk about this case.

Paul Bogard, author of the new book, “The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light,” spent his childhood summers in a cabin on a lake in northern Minnesota, where shooting stars cut across swaths of countless stars, the Milky Way reflected off the lake, and the woods were so dark he couldn’t see his hands in front of his face. In our modern world of nights as bright as day, most of us no longer experience true darkness. Eight out of ten Americans born today won’t ever live where they can see the Milky Way.

Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon and Imam Jamal Rahman -- known as the Interfaith Amigos --are co-authors of “Getting to the Heart of Interfaith:The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Pastor, a Rabbi & a Sheikh.” Known for their unique blend of spiritual wisdom and humor, they openly address the usual taboos of interfaith dialogue — the “awkward” parts of each tradition — in order to create a more authentic conversation -- a conversation about the real issues that make interfaith dialogue and cooperation difficult.

We continue a series of conversations with authors whose books are featured on our UPR Book List. Today: Kevin Fedarko talks about his new book, “The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon.” Here’s how the publisher, Simon & Schuster, describes the book: “In the spring of 1983, a massive snowmelt sent runoff racing down the Colorado River toward the Glen Canyon Dam. Worried federal officials desperately scrambled to avoid a worst-case scenario: one of the most dramatic dam failures in history. In the midst of this crisis, a trio of river guides secretly launched a small, hand-built wooden boat, a dory named the Emerald Mile, into the Colorado just below the dam’s base and rocketed toward the dark chasm downstream, where the torrents of water released by the dam engineers had created a rock-walled maelstrom so powerful it shifted giant boulders and created bizarre hydraulic features never previously seen.

Award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney says “forgiveness is elusive, mysterious, primal...an idea and an ache that is rooted in existential concerns.” PBS describes her film Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate this way: It “provides an intimate look into the spontaneous outpouring of forgiveness: from the Amish families for the 2006 shooting of their children in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania; the struggle of '60s radicals to cope with the serious consequences of their violent acts of protest;

Physicist and climate change & sustainability educator, Dr. Robert Davies responded to Monday's Access Utah (about the new book: "What to Expect When No One's Expecting") by saying that the author, Jonathan Last, “was throwing out one piece of misinformation after another, contradicted by the data, utterly unchallenged." Robert Davies asked for rebuttal time, and we're happy to continue our discussion on population and the environment on Tuesday’s Access Utah. We received comments from Peter, and from Dell in Minneapolis which we'll share and discuss as well.

For years, we have been warned about the looming danger of overpopulation: people jostling for space on a planet that’s busting at the seams and running out of oil and food and land and everything else. In his new book “What to Expect When No One’s Expecting” Weekly Standard senior writer Jonathan Last says it’s all bunk. The “population bomb” never exploded. Instead, he says, statistics from around the world make clear that since the 1970s, we’ve been facing exactly the opposite problem: people are having too few babies.

Today we begin a series of conversations with authors featured on our UPR Booklist. Julia Corbett's new book, "Seven Summers: A Naturalist Homesteads in the Modern West" (University of Utah Press) is the story of a naturalist-turned-professor (Corbett) who flees city life each summer with her pets and power tools to pursue her lifelong dream: building a cabin in the Wyoming woods. With little money and even less experience, she learns that creating a sanctuary on her mountain meadow requires ample doses of faith, patience, and luck. The task also involves a gradual and sometimes painful acquisition of flexibility and humility in the midst of great determination and naive enthusiasm.

Last week our UPR community compiled an impressive book list. Now, we want to know what movies & television shows you’re watching. What’s in your Netflix queue right now? Is there a movie or show that has had a big impact on you? Which shows and movies are you looking forward to seeing? Maybe you’d like to tell us a personal story connected to a favorite movie. We’d love to hear about movies and shows in any and all genres. What’s on your all-time top ten list?

The U. S. Supreme Court has struck down a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, declaring that same-sex couples who are legally married deserve equal rights to benefits under federal law. The court also has sent California’s Proposition 8, which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman, back to the appellate court. What do you think of these rulings? Did the Supreme Court get it right? What does this mean for Utah? For you? What comes next? Are you in favor of gay marriage? Why or why not?

As we head into summer we want to know what you’re reading. What’s on your nightstand right now? Is there a book that has had a big impact on you? What are you looking forward to reading? Perhaps you’d like to tell us a personal story connected to a favorite book. We’d love to hear about books in the adult, young adult & children’s categories. One suggestion or many are welcome. Post your list on the Utah Public Radio Facebook page, email us or use the comments section below.

Pictured is the Bringhurst family's new addition, Poseidon. His next project is loose-leash walking training. A recent survey shows that pet ownership is at its highest level in two decades. We're going to talk about your pet on Access Utah. We'll have a Petsmart Utah area pet trainer Marc Ellis with us to answer your questions. Post a picture of your pet on the Utah Public Radio Facebook page along with a brief message bragging about him/her and we'll share your message on Thursday's Access Utah. Or your can post a message in the comments section below.

The immigration debate has raised some of the most difficult questions our nation has ever faced. How can we preserve the integrity of sovereign borders while also respecting the dignity of human beings? How should a border be humanely and effectively maintained? To understand the experience of those directly impacted by the immigration crisis, Ananda Rose traveled to the Sonoran Desert - a border region where the remains of 2,000 migrants have been recovered over the past 10 years. There she interviewed Minutemen, Border Patrol agents, Catholic nuns, humanitarian aid workers, ranchers

On Tuesday we will have Maximilian Werner, author of "Evolved, Chronicles of a Pleistocene Mind."

Victor S. Navasky former editor and publisher of The Nation, and at The New York Times Magazine is on Access Utah.

Yesterday on Access Utah we talked with members of a modern-day polygamous community. Today, in part two of our series, we’ll learn how polygamy began in America. When Joseph Smith began to reveal and teach the doctrine of plural marriage in 1841, even stalwart church members like Brigham Young were shocked and confused. In her new book, “Revelation, Resistance, and Mormon Polygamy--The Introduction and Implementation of the Principle, 1830-1853” (USU Press) historian Merina Smith considers the ideological, historical, and psychological elements of the process and captures the emotional and cultural detail of this exciting and volatile period in Mormon history.

In Utah we often have occasion to talk about polygamy. But it is rarer to be able to talk with people who practice it. Wednesday we'll talk with members of the Centennial Park community near the Arizona/Utah border. They are being featured on National Geographic Channel’s Polygamy USA series and recently recorded their stories when UPR hosted StoryCorps in St. George.

CEO Marissa Mayer’s recent decision to require Yahoo! workers to come to headquarters for work has provoked a vigorous discussion about telecommuting. On the other end of the spectrum, some suggest that in today’s world, employees shouldn’t have set hours just clear goals. And no matter what else may change, we’ll likely always have to deal with office politics. How is your workplace changing? Is telecommuting working for you? What are your company's rules? Are you able to manage a good work/life balance?