RadioWest

The writer Leslie Jamison said she had bought into the story that booze and a dark temperament were ingredients of beautiful art. So when she sobered up she had to ask herself whether you can write compelling stories about happiness.

Investigative journalist Eric Peterson recently uncovered a cold case murder that panicked Utah’s emerging LGBTQ subculture in the ‘70s and dealt a chilling blow to the area's newly organizing gay rights movement.

John Wesley Powell was more than the explorer who first navigated the Grand Canyon. Biographer John Ross says he was also a visionary who asked questions that are still relevant in the American West.

The photographer Robert Mapplethorpe wanted to be more than just a photographer. He wanted to be a modern master. A new film offers a portrait of the artist who, at the height of his craft, flirted with self-destruction.

There are death rituals around the world you might find offensive, but mortician Caitlin Doughty says they give families space to mourn. She argues that's something missing in American culture today.

Utah voters have some important decisions to make this November. From medical marijuana, to Medicaid expansion and a referendum on gerrymandering, it’s a lot to consider. A panel of journalists joins us to discuss what’s at stake.

After the show today you might just ditch everything you thought you knew about the poet Emily Dickinson. Filmmaker Madeleine Olnek’s new film tries to correct the idea a lot of us have of Dickinson as a sullen, distant recluse.

Tuesday, science writer Carl Zimmer joins us to talk about the power of heredity. The traits we share with our parents or kids, how does that work exactly? Zimmer says it can be a gift or a curse.

You might not expect it from a 94-year-old, but LDS Church President Russell M. Nelson has been shaking things up. Monday, we’re talking about what happened at General Conference and what it means.

Artificial light devours energy, disrupts our sleep patterns, and has even been linked to cancer. Yet eight in ten Americans born today won't ever live where they can see the Milky Way.