Access Utah

The USU Center for Anticipatory Intelligence (CAI) looks across all disciplines to spot threats posed by emerging technologies and other threats. CAI is an interdisciplinary nexus fusing expertise in national security and geopolitics with cutting-edge instruction in cyber threats, data analytics, and emergent technology. CAI students predicted a novel zoonotic outbreak last year.

During this pandemic we rely on frontline workers to provide essential and important services even when they may be at increased risk. We’ll talk to some of them next time on Access Utah.

UPR has been presenting special programs that we’re calling COVID-19 CONVERSATIONS, answering your questions about the pandemic. We’re going to resume our conversation on the next Access Utah.

Retired USU professor Richard Ratliff has developed what he calls the theory of Relationism, which he hopes will help us bridge the many divides we’re experiencing in our increasingly polarized society. He’ll join Tom Williams to explain.

The Atlantic magazine recently “asked photographers in 24 locations around the globe to point their cameras up to the sky at precisely the same moment—1 p.m. GMT, April 25. At a time when the world is so isolated, these photos are a reminder of what we share.” The resulting article is We Are All Living the Same Moment, written by Gretel Ehrlich.

You swab your cheek or spit into a vial, then send it away to a lab somewhere. Weeks later you get a report that might tell you where your ancestors came from or if you carry certain genetic risks. Or the report could reveal a long-buried family secret and upend your entire sense of identity.

A while back on Access Utah, Michael Sowder, USU professor of English and affiliated professor of religious studies, helped us learn some of the history and current practice of yoga. On Tuesday’s Access Utah he’ll lead us in an exploration of mindfulness and meditation, which may be of special interest during these times of pandemic.

From social distancing to new levels of anxiety and distress, the coronavirus pandemic has rapidly transformed our lives. On Sunday morning at 10:00, tune in to UPR to hear an interfaith program featuring messages of hope tailored to this particular moment.

Sadie Hoagland’s new book “American Grief in Four Stages,” a collection of short fiction, asks the question: why does our country do so little for the bereaved? Why do we have only empty cliché to address the grief of others? Why do we expect people to just "get over" insurmountable tragedy?

This time on Access Utah, a public lands cooperation success story. A while back, the aspen on Monroe mountain in Central Utah were in serious need of restoration. The situation could easily have descended into a blame game with wildlife advocates saying that livestock were eating all of the young aspen and grazing advocates saying that wildlife were eating all of the young aspen. Instead all sides launched an innovative project: the Monroe Mountain Working Group. Individuals and groups that in other circumstances might have been fighting came together to solve the problem.

A couple of weeks ago, UPR presented a special program called COVID-19 CONVERSATION, answering your questions about the pandemic. We’re going to resume our conversation on the next Access Utah. As the state moves from Red to Orange level, we’ll ask what that means and how it affects you.

Today, as a part of our series: Stopping Sexual Harassment, we’ll talk with Susan Madsen and Robbyn Scribner of the Utah Women and Leadership Project at Utah Valley University. We’ll talk about sexual harassment and sexual assault. We’ll also talk about voting, leadership, body image and other topics.

Several years ago, writer Paisley Rekdal created a digital community project that mapped the people, places, buildings and events that defined Salt Lake City. When she became Utah’s poet laureate, she decided to build on this idea and create a literary map for the entire state.

While artist Chris Terry is known for his contemplative interior landscapes, a new exhibition at the USU Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (NEHMA) features the experimental work he was able to create during four sabbaticals throughout his tenure at USU.

Douglas Tallamy’s first book, “Bringing Nature Home,” awakened thousands of readers to an urgent situation: wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are fast disappearing. His solution? Plant more natives. In this new book, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation. “Nature’s Best Hope” shows how homeowners everywhere can turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats. Talllamy says that because this approach relies on the initiatives of private individuals, it is immune from the whims of government policy. Even more important, it’s practical, effective, and easy.

Andrew J. Russell is primarily known as the man who photographed the famous “East and West Shaking Hands” image of the Golden Spike ceremony on May 10, 1869. He also took nearly one thousand other images that document almost every aspect of the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Conservationist and historian Betsy Gaines Quammen and journalist David Quammen have been on a virtual book tour, conducted from their home in Bozeman and including special guest Boots the Python.

Every year for Earth Day, we check in with writer and photographer Stephen Trimble, author of “Bargaining for Eden: The Fight for the Last Open Spaces in America,” and many other books. This time, Stephen Trimble suggested we also reach out to his friend, ecologist, ethnobotanist and writer, Gary Paul Nabhan.

On Tuesday's Access Utah, we check in with Utah legislators about the historic special session that began last week in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Corey Flintoff is a former NPR foreign correspondent whose assignments included Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Haiti, Ukraine and Russia.