John Palfrey, founding president of the Digital Public Library of America and a director of Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, told the Deseret News that he has “been struck by the number of times people tell [him] that they think libraries are less important than they were before, now that we have the Internet and Google. He says he thinks “just the opposite: Libraries are more important, not less important, and both as physical and virtual entities, than they’ve

Artist, researcher, and writer Jonathan Bailey is out with a new book: "Rock Art: A Vision of a Vanishing Cultural Landscape"

Imagine a blackout lasting not days, but weeks or months. Tens of millions of people over several states are affected. For those without access to a generator, there is no running water, no sewage, no refrigeration or light. Food and medical supplies are dwindling. Devices we rely on have gone dark. Banks no longer function, looting is widespread, and law and order are being tested as never before. In his New York Times bestselling book “Lights Out,” longtime Nightline host Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United States is shockingly unprepared. Koppel reports that, the federal government, while well prepared for natural disasters, has no plan for the aftermath of an attack on the power grid. In the absence of a government plan, some individuals and communities have taken matters into their own hands. Among the nation’s estimated three million “preppers,” Koppel introduces us to one whose doomsday retreat includes a newly excavated three-acre lake, stocked with fish, and a Wyoming homesteader so self-sufficient that he crafted the thousands of adobe bricks in his house by hand. Koppel also reports on the unrivaled disaster preparedness of the Mormon church, with its enormous storehouses, high-tech dairies, orchards, and proprietary trucking company – the fruits of a long tradition of anticipating the worst. But how, Koppel asks, will ordinary civilians survive? Ted…

Commemorating twenty years since the wolf’s return to the American West, “Howl” explores passions and controversies surrounding nature’s most fascinating predator. Susan Imhoff Bird travels the West, journeying from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah, through Yellowstone and Montana. Along the way, she interviews ranchers and park personnel, wolf watchers, biologists, and families, uncovering a range of emotions—from admiration and reverence to vitriol and anxiety—toward wolves and all that they have come to signify. Drawn to wolves’ resilience and innate sense of place, Bird discovers important personal truths and desires as she learns more about these often-misunderstood creatures.

When Michael Copperman left Stanford University for the Mississippi Delta in 2002 - recruited by Teach for America - he imagined he would lift underprivileged children from the narrow horizons of rural poverty. Well-meaning but naïve, the Asian-American from the West Coast says he soon lost his bearings in a world divided between black and white. Trying to help students, he often found he couldn’t afford to give what they required―sometimes with heartbreaking consequences.

In the wake of U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell’s recent visit to the area being proposed by some for designation as Bear’s Ears National Monument, we’ll consider anew public lands issues in Utah. Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz have released their Public Lands Initiative legislation for consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Chris Stewart has introduced an amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill that would restrict the president’s ability to create national monuments in Utah and other areas, under the Antiquities Act. And the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition is pushing for President Obama to create a national monument in southern Utah.

In December 2015, Paramount and CBS sued the producers of a proposed fan-supported feature length movie called "Axanar" which was to be set in the Star Trek universe. Included in the issues at dispute was the question: who owns the Klingon language and can a language, albeit an invented one, be copyrighted?

The banjo is emblematic of American country music. It is at the core of other important musical movements, including jazz and ragtime, and has played an important part in the development many genres, such as folk, bluegrass, and rock. The instrument has been adopted by many cultures and has been ingrained into many musical traditions, from Mento music in the Caribbean to dance music in Ireland. Virtuosos such as Bela Fleck have played Bach, African music, and Christmas tunes on the five-string banjo, and the instrument has had a resurgence in pop music with such acts a Mumford and Sons and the Avett Brothers.

It’s been several months since we got together as a community and compiled a UPR book list. Public radio listeners are famous as avid readers. We want to know what you’re reading. What’s on your nightstand or on your device right now? Fellow listeners may not know about it and may love it.

In several cases this summer, efforts to fight wildfires have been hampered because of drones in the area. Utah lawmakers recently voted to allow authorities to disable or damage unauthorized drones near wildfires. The bill would also impose harsher penalties on people caught flying the aircraft. Tuesday on AU we’ll discuss this legislation, and talk about fighting wildfires in general. We’ll also look into the future of fighting wildfires. We’ll be joined by Scott Bushman who is a former hotshot who trains firefighters. We’ll also speak with Sam Ramsey, Regional Aviation Officer U. S. Forest Service Intermountain Region, about this year’s wildfires in the west.