Access Utah

Carrie Sheffield grew up with a violent, mentally ill, street-musician father who believed he was a modern-day Mormon prophet destined to become U.S. president someday.

We talk with Margaret Brucia, author of "The Key to Everything: May Swenson, A Writer’s Life." May Swenson was one of the most important and original poets of the twentieth century.

On this episode, we talk about the benefits of nature. Our guest is Marc Berman, founder and director of the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Chicago.

On this episode, we talk with artist and author Teresa Jordan and musician, composer, and writer Hal Cannon.

As a professor of peacebuilding, a conflict mediator, and a follower of Jesus, Chad Ford offers perspectives on how to avoid or reconcile contention when life’s inevitable disagreements arise.

Emma Martins and Austin Knuppe recently attended the Diplomacy of the Heart Conference in Uzbekistan, an international gathering dedicated to intercultural understanding and peacebuilding.

On this episode, we remember writer Brad Watson, who we interviewed in July 2016 about his novel "Miss Jane." Brad Watson died in 2020.

Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, 12 have rejected or refused to vote, and one last state is needed. It all comes down to Tennessee.

In Simon Tolkien's new historical novel, a young man comes of age and crosses continents in search of an identity at the dawn of the Spanish Civil War. We also talk about his grandfather, J.R.R. Tolkien.

After years of exploration and research in Utah’s remote Nine Mile Canyon, Verlicia Perez wrote a guidebook titled "Echoes of the Ancestors," blending practical guidance with thoughtful historical interpretation.

The Utah Foundation released a report on social capital in Utah in 2021 and they are preparing an update. We talk about social trust and cohesion, civic engagement, community, family health, and more.

In 1917, in Fatima, Portugal, three shepherd children claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared before them and spoke the words, “Do not be afraid.”

On this episode, we talk about dementia ahead of the second annual health fair focused on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia awareness and prevention on June 21.

Homeowners insurance is getting more expensive, AND harder to keep. In our region, one of the most important causes is climate change-fueled wildfires. Some state leaders are trying to pass reforms.

On this episode we talk with Bonnie Moore about her new novel "Buried Bones: A Maggie Anderson Mystery."

We talk with Freeman Ng, author of "Bridge Across The Sky," a young adult novel in verse based on the Chinese immigration experience through Angel Island in the early 1900s.

For decades at the end of the 1800s, the American West was a crucible of change, with the highest murder rate per capita in American history. The reasons behind this boil down to one word: Texas.

Laura Tohe is a poet, writer, librettist, scholar of Indigenous American literature, and former Navajo Nation Poet Laureate.

The Trump administration is proposing a nearly 25% cut to NASA’s budget as well as deep cuts to space technology funding. We talk about it with Casey Dreier and Christopher Cokinos.

We talk with critically acclaimed MacArthur genius, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Tony Award–nominated playwright and author Sarah Ruhl about her new book.