Access Utah

Today we’ll get a view of our presidential election from journalists and academics from Ukraine and Georgia and from a journalism professor here in the U.S. We’ll talk about media independence and bias; how Mr. Trump and Secretary Clinton are viewed in eastern Europe; how the debate about Russian president Vladimir Putin is playing in Georgia and Ukraine and elsewhere; and we’ll ask our panel about vote rigging and the integrity of elections.

At the height of the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman committed a gaffe that sent shock waves around the world. When asked by a reporter about the possible use of atomic weapons in response to China's entry into the war, Truman replied testily, "The military commander in the field will have charge of the use of the weapons, as he always has." This suggested that General Douglas MacArthur, the willful, fearless, and highly decorated commander of the American and U.N. forces, had his finger on the nuclear trigger. A correction quickly followed, but the damage was done; two visions for America's path forward were clearly in opposition, and one man would have to make way.

Folklorist Jens Lund recently gave the 2016 Fife Honor Lecture at USU, presented by the USU Folklore Program and USU Department of English. His lecture was titled “‘I Done What I Could’: Occupational Folk Poetry in the Pacific Northwest.” The Fife Honor Lecture is an honorary lecture given every year in honor of Austin and Alta Fife, folklorists, documentarians, and founders of the Fife Folklore archives.

We continue our occasional series, Our Favorite Books, with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s enduringly popular creation Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is thriving on television and continues to occupy an important place in popular culture. The famous fictional detective even figures prominently in the debate over evolution vs. intelligent design. We’ll look at how the character has changed over the years (and how our response to him has changed) and we’ll ask what Sherlock Holmes means in our culture today. We’ll also explore Utah and Mormon connections and hear sound clips from radio, television and film. We’ll ask you to tell us your favorite Sherlock Holmes book, film or television series.

We continue our occasional series, Our Favorite Books, with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s enduringly popular creation Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is thriving on television and continues to occupy an important place in popular culture. The famous fictional detective even figures prominently in the debate over evolution vs. intelligent design. We’ll look at how the character has changed over the years (and how our response to him has changed) and we’ll ask what Sherlock Holmes means in our culture

Our guest for the hour today is Matthew Garrett, author of “Making Lamanites: Mormons, Native Americans, and the Indian Student Placement Program, 1947-2000” (University of Utah Press).

George Hirthler’s new historical novel, “The Idealist,” is the inspiring and tragic story of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the French visionary who founded the modern Olympic Games. When the novel opens in early 1937, Coubertin is 74, he's broke, his health is failing, and although he has created one of the most influential international movements of the 20th century, he is completely unknown outside a small circle of admirers, whose financial help he has repeatedly declined. His wife can hardly withhold her bitter animosity, his son is an insensate abyss of sadness, his daughter in and out of touch with reality, and his great creation is about to fall into the hands of a Nazi madman leading the world to war. But hope begins to rise again when a new ally appears.

This extraordinary campaign season got more so over the weekend. What is your reaction to Donald Trump’s comments from 2005? And Utah Republican’s and some national Republican’s repudiation of their presidential nominee? What did you think of the debate? What is on the top of your mind as you get ready to vote? Cache County Libertarian Party Chair, Jonathan Choate of SD7 Technologies in Logan joins us for the hour.

When San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem, he sparked a vigorous national conversation about Race, Police, Patriotism, Free Speech and other issues. We’re going to continue that conversation next time on Access Utah. We’ll be talking with Forrest Crawford, Professor of Teacher Education and former Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity at Weber State University; and Jason Gilmore, Assistant Professor of Global Communication at Utah State University.

On April 20, 2010, a blast aboard the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform killed 11 workers, critically injured others and caused a leak that spilled thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for more than three months. The Deepwater Horizon, one of worst environmental disasters in history, is now the subject of a pulse-pounding new movie. Historian and archaeologist, USU Professor of Environment and Society, Joseph Tainter will watch the film with special interest. He is author, with Tadeusz “Tad” Patzek of University of Texas-Austin, of “Drilling Down: The Gulf Oil Debacle and Our Energy Dilemma.” Tainter, also author of the influential book “The Collapse of Complex Societies,” says “It takes energy to find and produce energy and the world’s remaining, untapped petroleum reserves are in deep, dark, cold, remote and dangerous locations...Energy is becoming very costly in terms of resources, safety and environmental health.”