Access Utah

On Tuesday’s AU we’ll look at the problem of homelessness with author Elaine Taylor, who writes in her new book "Karma Deception and a Pair of Red Ferraris" of how she came to find her self dedicated to helping the homeless. Previously Taylor wrote on her blog, “the best of my life is behind me. I’m entering the period of throat wattles and colonoscopies every five years … and uselessness. Irrelevance.”

From their earliest days on the American frontier through their growth into a worldwide church, the spatially expansive Mormons made maps to help them create idealized communities, migrate to and colonize large parts of the American West, visualize the stories in their sacred texts, and spread their message internationally through a well-organized missionary system. This book identifies many Mormon mapmakers who played an important but heretofore unsung role in charting the course of Latter-day Saint history. For Mormons, maps had and continue to have both practical and spiritual significance. In addition to using maps to help build their new Zion and to explore the Intermountain West, Latter-day Saint mapmakers used them to depict locations and events described in the Book of Mormon.

“Many scientists say it’s impossible to study thought and emotion in non-humans. Animals, they say, don’t communicate their inner turmoil through spoken word, which is why any attempt to understand their psyche is typically sneered at as ‘anthropomorphism’ (transferring your own experiences and emotions onto the animals you study) and deemed ‘unscientific,’” writes Becca Cudmore on www.audobon.org.Marine Biologist Carl Safina says that scientists who watch wild animals realize the absurdity of not addressing an animal’s inner life. In his new book “Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel” he takes us inside the lives and minds of animals, witnessing their profound capacity for perception, thought and emotion.

On Tuesday's Access Utah we're airing interviews conducted in Vernal, while the Utah Public Radio team visited the Utah StoryCorps Booth. Vernal, and much of the Uintah Basin, are a community very much tied to oil and gas development, so we talk about the issues the area faces as their economy depends on oil industry. We speak with Vernal City Council member JoAnn Cowan, Vernal City Manager Ken Bassett about the future of Vernal and the Uintah Basin. Then later in the program we hear from Danielle Anderson, from StoryCorps.

In Lucy Sana's newest novel, "The Cherry Harvest," she outlines a memorable coming-of-age story which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II, when German POWs were put to work in a Wisconsin farm community. In the novel, the war has taken a toll on the Christiansen family. With food rationed and money scarce, the protagonist Charlotte, struggles to keep her family well fed. When their upcoming cherry harvest is threatened, strong-willed Charlotte helps persuade local authorities to allow German war prisoners from a nearby camp to pick the fruit.

So what do men really want when it comes to choosing a mate? Apparently the answer to that question is complex and part of it comes down to population size. A recent study conducted by anthropologists provides clues to why and when men will seek long-term relationships. Today on the program Sheri Quinn talks to Ryan Schacht, anthropologist at the University of Utah and co-author of the study, who breaks down sexual stereotypes.

This broadcast of "Access Utah" is an encore presentation. Our interview with Paul Vanouse originally aired in April, 2015 on Utah Public Radio.

This broadcast of "Access Utah" is an encore presentation. Our interview with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe originally aired in March, 2015 on Utah Public Radio.

We waste 2.8 trillion pounds of food every year, worldwide. Meanwhile, 805 million people don’t have enough to eat. There is no one simple solution, but Dr. Eric Handler, Orange County Public Health Officer, is trying something new–Using Yellow Cabs deliver the food. Dr. HAndler proposes using cabs to connect the dots between gathering extra food, identifying those in need, getting it to them, making it easy for food service folks to participate. He’s the co-chair of the Waste Not OC Coalition (WNOC), which he hopes can serve as a model elsewhere. He was recently featured in National Geographic’s “The Plate,” where he discussed his work with using cabs to help the hungry. Later in the program we speak with Matt Whitaker, Director of the Cache Valley Food Pantry.

Today's broadcast of "Access Utah" was an encore presentation. Our interview with Dr. Gary Weitzman originally aired in March, 2015 on Utah Public Radio.