Access Utah

In a commentary published recently at Mongabay.com, Paul Rogers, a forest ecologist and Director of the Western Aspen Alliance at Utah State University, argues that forest managers’ “goal should not be to stop wildfire but to reduce conflicts with it.” The headline for the piece is:

The Utah Women’s Giving Circle presented their “Resilient 2020 Speaker Series | From Susan B. Anthony to RBG: The history, resilience and call to community.” The concluding event in the series was held in November 2020, and was titled “New Possibilities Amidst the Unraveling.” Sara Jones, CEO of InclusionPro talked about how to identify opportunities in the midst of turmoil. She reminded us that unraveling our expectations gives us space, freedom, and clear eyes to see things differently.

How do we properly define cultural appropriation, and is it always wrong? If we can write in the voice of another, should we? And if so, what questions do we need to consider first? In her new book, “Appropriate: A Provocation,” creative writing professor and Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal addresses a young writer to delineate how the idea of cultural appropriation has evolved—and perhaps calcified—in our political climate. What follows is an exploration of fluctuating literary power and authorial privilege, about whiteness and what we really mean by the term empathy, that examines writers from William Styron to Peter Ho Davies to Jeanine Cummins. “Appropriate” presents a new framework for one of the most controversial subjects in contemporary literature.

Sara Freeman is an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at Utah State University. She studies the neurobiology of strong social bonds. Last year, during the height of the pandemic, her mother died. Sara Freeman wrote recently about science and grief and love in Utah State Magazine, in an article titled “Love and Loss During a Pandemic.” She’ll join us for the hour next time on Access Utah.

Jim Robbins has written recently about pandemic-related overcrowding on Montana’s rivers; the connection between the growth of deadly viruses and the destruction of nature; the effects of public lands policy during the Trump Administration; geothermal energy; and an internet of animals. We’ll talk with him about public lands and related topics as the Biden Administration gets underway.

The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins in the U.S. Senate today. We'll provide a preview on the program today. We'll talk about procedure, recent history and all things related. We'll be talking to USU Political Science Professor Damon Cann. And I’d love to know what you’re thinking about this. Is impeachment of a former president constitutional? Should President Trump be convicted or acquitted? What would you advise Senators Lee and Romney? If President Trump is acquitted does that mean the impeachment process is broken? What will the outcome of the trial mean going forward for our national divide? You can send us your comment or question now to upraccess@gmail.com

The film Downwinders and the Radioactive West has been airing on PBS Utah. Today we’re going to review a different part of America’s nuclear history. Susan Dawson and Gary Madsen are retired Utah State University professors whose research and Congressional testimony contributed to passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. In addition to providing financial compensation to downwinders and uranium miners and others, RECA also acknowledged that Congress "apologizes on behalf of the nation" to individuals who were "involuntarily subjected to increased risk of injury and disease to serve the national security interests of the United States." Professors Dawson’s and Madsen’s research from 1988 to 2010 focused on radiation exposures to underground and above ground uranium miners, uranium millworkers, and uranium transportation workers.

This special is part of UPR’s ongoing series Project Resilience. Project Resilience is made possible with support from the Utah State University Center for Persons With Disabilities.

On Wednesday’s Access Utah we’ll broadcast a full episode from This Is Her Place, a podcast that tells the remarkable stories of Utah women past and present, in all their diversity. Podcast co-host Naomi Watkins will also join us.

President Biden has issued an executive order placing an indefinite moratorium on new leases for oil and gas development on federal lands. Proponents of the moratorium say it’s a positive step and that previous lease sales on federal lands have harmed some of the West’s most cherished landscapes and slowed the nation’s shift to clean energy. Opponents argue that the moratorium will further harm already hard-hit economies with an outsized impact on rural areas. We’ll talk about it on Tuesday’s Access Utah. Our guests will include Sen. Ronald Winterton, R-Roosevelt; and Steve Bloch, Legal Director with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

At the request of the Utah Legislature, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute – with the assistance of a 37-person Technical Advisory Committee – has prepared a Utah Roadmap to help legislators make policy to improve air quality and address causes and impacts of a changing climate. We’ll ask legislators and others how the Roadmap is being implemented this legislative session. Our guests will include Rep. Steven Handy, R-Layton and Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City. Representatives Handy and Briscoe are among the co-chairs of the Clean Air Caucus. We’ll also be talking with Thomas Holst, Senior Energy Analyst with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute; and Josh Craft, Government and Corporate Relations Manager with Utah Clean Energy.

Today we’ll talk with David Quammen about viruses in general and the SARS-CoV-2 virus specifically.

On Wednesday’s Access Utah we’ll talk about the situation in Russia with former NPR Moscow Bureau Chief Corey Flintoff.

Today on Access Utah we’ll continue our coverage of the 2021 Utah Legislature by checking in with several advocacy and research groups. We’ll ask them what their priorities are and what they hope emerges from this session of the legislature. We’ll be talking to representatives from Sutherland Institute, Libertas Institute, Utah Health Policy Project, Utah Foundation, Utah League of Cities and Towns, and Crossroads Urban Center.

Today we’ll revisit our conversation from April 2019 with Mark Obmascik.

Gary Ferguson’s books include “Land on Fire: The New Reality of Wildfire in the West.” We’ll talk with Gary Ferguson about the wildfires burning now in the west. We’ll also talk about his latest book “The Eight Master Lessons of Nature: What Nature Teaches Us About Living Well in the World.”

Join us for Access Utah on Tuesday: the opening day of the 2021 session of the Utah Legislature. We’ll be talking to Governor Spencer Cox and legislative leaders, including House Assistant Minority Whip, Rep. Angela Romero; and Senate Majority and Minority Whips, Sen. Ann Milner and Sen. Luz Escamilla, respectively. And we hear some of the priorities of our listeners as we head into this legislative session.

Welcome to a special edition of Access Utah on Utah Public Radio. In this hour we’ll be highlighting L.A. Theatre Works, which can be heard on UPR on Friday evenings at 9:00. Susan Albert Loewenberg, founder, host and Producing Director of L.A. Theatre Works will join me to talk about producing theatre for radio and the role the arts play during these pandemic times and other topics. We’ll also hear sound clips from several productions.

The 2021 session of the Utah Legislature begins on Tuesday and we’re going to get a preview of possible priorities, key legislation and the key players today on Access Utah. The Utah Capitol building will be closed to the public on opening day due to security concerns. Issues likely to be addressed by the legislature include tax cuts, education, and the economic effects of the pandemic.

Our guest today on Access Utah is Selina Gallo-Cruz, Associate Professor of Sociology at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester Massachusetts. We’ll talk about the women’s suffrage movement, women's resistance in civil war, civics education and the ongoing movement for voting rights.