Access Utah

Gina Barnett has coached C-suite executives and leaders worldwide from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, small businesses and non-profits. She has been speaker coach for TED TAlks for the past five years. In her new book, “Play the Part: Master Body Signals to Connect and Communicate for Business Success, Barnett is distinguished from other communication experts with her understanding of embodiment: how the body affects our thoughts and emotions and, in turn, how we engage and are perceived.

On March 12, 1990, activists with disabilities pulled themselves up the 83 stone steps at the Capitol Building to demand equal rights. “The Capitol Crawl” symbolized the barriers confronting people with disabilities and helped propel the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. The bill passed on July 26, 1990.

Today, August 10th, marks the debut of many new programs on Utah Public Radio. Bringing more news, talk and culture to the station, we sit down with Utah Public Radio Station Manager Peg Arnold, to discuss the programming changes, and the exciting new content you can now find on UPR.

Thursday on Access Utah we revisit a conversation from March of 2011 with singer-songwriter Janis Ian. Her song “Society’s Child” about an interracial romance placed her right at the flash point of the racial tensions of the sixties. She writes in her autobiography about at least one experience performing the song: “I was having a hit record. I was singing for people who wanted me dead. I was fifteen years old.” Janis Ian’s songs including “At Seventeen” still resonate with audiences. We’ll talk with her about her autobiography, Society’s Child, her love of science fiction, and her current work. Janis Ian on Thursday's Access Utah.

I’ve had conversations with scientists that go like this: I say: “A significant percentage of Americans/Utahns don’t believe in human-caused climate change.” They say: “But they should, the science is overwhelming.” “But they don’t, and if effective political action is going to happen, they’ll need to be convinced.” “Well they should.” “But they don’t.” “But they should.” And etc. While it’s not scientists’ primary job to convince non-believers, I sense frustration on the part of those who see climate change as a significant problem. On Wednesday’s AU we talk with two marketing expert about how to effectively sell climate change, or reframe the discussion. How should we talk about climate change and sustainability?

Tuesday's interview with James Anderson is an encore presentation.

Today's broadcast of AU is an Encore presentation which originally aired earlier this year.

“This summer Congress finds itself once again driving full-speed toward the ‘highway cliff,’ the moment when our transportation law expires and Washington suddenly can't meet its promises to help states build highways, fix their bridges, and keep the nation's cars and trucks moving.”

In 2005, historian James Whiteside bought a Harley Davidson Heritage Softail, christened it “Old Blue,” and set off on a series of motorcycle adventures. Over six years he traveled more than 15,000 miles. In his new book “Old Blue’s Road” Whiteside recounts his travels to the Pacific Northwest, Yellowstone, Dodge City, Santa Fe, Wounded Knee, and many other places and considers the ongoing struggle between Indian and mainstream American culture, the meaning of community, the sustainability of the West's hydraulic society, the creation of the national parks system, the Mormon experience in Utah, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and more. Whiteside reflects on the processes of change that made the American West what it is today and the complex ways in which the West's past and present come together.

Should Spanking Children Be Forbidden in the U.S.? Renowned criminologist Christian Pfeiffer from University of Hannover, Germany recently presented the European experience as a of the USU Provost’s Series on Instructional Excellence, and he joined us for AU. We’ll revisit that conversation today.