Access Utah

It’s time again to build a UPR reading list. We want to know what you’re reading, whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, classic literature, young adult or children’s books.

Michelle Nijhuis writes in the April edition of National Geographic (“Can Coal Ever Be Clean?”) that “During the next two decades several hundred million people worldwide will get electricity for the first time, and if current trends continue, most will use power produced by coal...Coal, to use the economists’ euphemism, is fraught with “externalities”—the heavy costs it imposes on society.

Are you interested in learning your genealogy and researching your family's history? Have you already traced your lineage back hundreds of years? Or are you just beginning?

Are you Vegan? Vegetarian? Meat-eater? We’d love to hear from you on Thursday’s AU. We’re going to examine the vegan diet and lifestyle.

On Wednesday’s AU we revisit a conversation from December: Alyson Hagy’s novel "Boleto," explores the themes of men and horses, the American West, and the dream of a ticket out. The protagonist Will Testerman is a young Wyoming horse trainer determined to make something of himself.

Two Utah Valley University professors who describe themselves as similar to hosts Click and Clack from NPR’s "Car Talk," set out to repeatedly bike the Great Western Trail, observing and writing about its variations with every season. The accounts of their adventures, however, refuse to be limited to flora and fauna.

A couple of years ago we took a fascinating look at zombies with Kyle Bishop, author of “American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture.” Bishop says that zombie movies reflect our cultural anxieties.

The 2014 Utah legislature closes Thursday night. Medicaid expansion, air quality, education, the budget...these are just some of the topics we’ll talk about on Friday’s AU.

Rep. Lynn Hemingway’s (D- Salt Lake City) “Living Wage” bill (HB 73) would raise the minimum wage in Utah from $7.25/hour to $10.25/hour. According the Poverty in America Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for a Utah family with two adults and two children is $18.54/hour. That same family would need to earn $10.60/hour to hit the poverty line. President Obama is pushing for a higher federal minimum wage, saying that "nobody who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty."

Tim Medvetz is a former member of the Hells Angels and host of the National Geographic Wild series “Going Wild.” After a horrible motorcycle accident and still not fully recovered from his extensive injuries (he was not expected to walk again) he decided to fly to Nepal, live with Sherpas, and summit Mt. Everest. He eventually created The Heroes Project, with the mission of taking veterans who suffered catastrophic injuries on climbs to the world’s seven tallest summits. Medvetz’ goal for these climbs is to mirror the mental, physical and emotional challenges it takes to overcome losing limbs in battle.