(Fairly) True Stories

Guest: Liesl Shurtliff, author, "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstiltskin" and other children’s novels

It’s a big world out there and it’s changed a lot since the Brothers Grimm first recorded their fairy tales. Liesl Shurtliff adapts these well-told stories to modern audiences and their problems.

Storytelling Secrets

Guest: Sam Payne, Host, The Apple Seed, BYUradio

A storytelling challenge. How to make fairy tales real to kids today. 

Trials of the Season

Guest: Tim Slover, Professor, Theatre, University of Utah

An original poem that will inspire you if Christmas leaves you feeling jaded and exhausted.

A Fierce Ermine Teaches Lessons of Love

Sy Montgomery, "How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals"

One Christmas Day, naturalist Sy Montgomery lost a beloved chicken, but she was inspired to forgive her mother. All thanks to a determined ermine. 

Proteins that Solve Many Problems

Guest: Dominic D’Agostino, Associate Professor, Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine

Oxygen is what allows us to live. However, breathing 100-percent oxygen can have dangerous side effects, like seizures. Dominic D’Agostino is doing research to prevent these side effects by using special organic molecules called ketones. These ketones might solve even more problems such as diabetes, epilepsy and even specific types of cancer.

Snowflake Science

Guest: Kenneth G Libbrecht, Professor, Physics, Caltech

Look out your window during a snowstorm and you’ll see billions and billions of snowflakes falling from the sky. The snowflake has long been a symbol of chilly winters and the holiday season, but the science behind these little frozen pieces of art provides interesting insight into why snowflakes end up looking the way that they do.