RadioWest
488 episodes - English - Latest episode: 18 days ago - ★★★★★ - 711 ratingsKUER’s award-winning interview show explores the world through deep thinkers who host Doug Fabrizio asks to think even deeper. Join writers, filmmakers, scientists and others on RadioWest: A show for the wildly curious.
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Episodes
Through The Lens: ‘Coded Bias’
November 14, 2020 00:35 - 51 minutes - 3.02 KBMIT researcher Joy Buolamwini was working with facial recognition software when she encountered a problem: The robot she was programming could not detect her own female, dark skinned face.
Vivian Lee’s Long Fix For America’s Healthcare
November 13, 2020 23:53 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBWith the Supreme Court reviewing another challenge to the Affordable Care Act this past Tuesday, we turn to Dr. Vivian Lee, who says that the problem with our healthcare system isn’t the question of who is paying for what but rather, what we are paying for .
Biking America’s Great Divide
November 06, 2020 19:00 - 51 minutes - 3.01 KBWhen journalist and former KUER reporter Nate Hegyi set out to better understand America’s political divide, he decided to do it the old fashioned way: on his bike.
Processing The 2020 Election
November 06, 2020 17:00 - 51 minutes - 3.02 KBThis presidential election was the nail biter that many predicted but few were entirely prepared for.
Do Local Printed Newspapers Still Matter?
October 30, 2020 21:38 - 51 minutes - 3.01 KBEarlier this week, Utah’s two leading newspapers, The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News , announced historic changes that include the end of daily paper delivery and the break-up of their decades-long print collaboration.
Radio Hour Episode 14.5: 'Grimm'
October 29, 2020 23:20 - 52 minutes - 3.07 KBWhen a name says it all. This Halloween, RadioWest and Plan-B Theatre are bringing you a special rebroadcast of our 2014 Radio Hour Episode 9: Grimm. It's a retelling of three classic tales from the Brothers Grimm.
The Dirty Days of America's Elections
October 29, 2020 21:37 - 49 minutes - 2.92 KBWidespread unemployment, a country in turmoil and a coming presidential election that had the whole country’s attention. But this wasn't 2020 – it was 1876. So, what lessons does a presidential election that happened 144 years ago have for us today?
RadioWest Book Club | Marilynne Robinson's 'Gilead'
October 28, 2020 20:58 - 49 minutes - 2.91 KBOn Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, the RadioWest Book Club met via Zoom with Dr. George Handley to discuss "Gilead," by Marilynne Robinson. GUEST Dr. George Handley is a professor of Humanities at Brigham Young University and the author of a number of books, including If Truth Were a Child: Essays [ IndieBound | Amazon | Bookshop ] and The Hope of Nature: Our Care for God's Creations . [ IndieBound | Amazon ] RadioWest excutive producer Cristy Meiners led this disucssion.
Will Utah's Young People Vote In 2020?
October 23, 2020 22:46 - 50 minutes - 2.95 KBWe’ve heard for years that no matter how passionate young voters may speak about politics, they don’t turn out in significant numbers on Election Day.
Remembering James "The Amazing" Randi
October 23, 2020 19:33 - 52 minutes - 3.07 KBThis week, the world lost James "The Amazing" Randi, who died at the age of 92 on Oct. 20. Randi was a renowned magician and escape artist, but, as we learned in 2014, he couldn't abide charlatans.
Director Daniel Lombroso Goes Inside The Racist Right
October 23, 2020 16:03 - 53 minutes - 3.14 KBAccording to a recent intelligence report , white nationalists pose the gravest terror threat in the United States. A new documentary from The Atlantic goes inside the movement to expose the roots of its ideas and how they have reshaped the course of the country.
Through The Lens: ‘All In: The Fight For Democracy’
October 16, 2020 18:00 - 48 minutes - 2.81 KBIn 1789, when General George Washington became the first president of the newly minted United States of America, 6% of the population was eligible to vote.
Breaking Down The 2020 Utah Ballot
October 16, 2020 17:00 - 51 minutes - 2.99 KBBallots began arriving in mailboxes across the state this week, giving Utahns the chance to weigh in on one of the most pivotal presidential elections in modern memory — but that’s not the only important decision confronting local voters this year.
Podcast Extra: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
October 13, 2020 03:45 - 30 minutes - 1.81 KB"A free society is a moral achievement," Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks wrote in the preface to his most recent book. But, he says, it's a truth that many people have forgotten, ignored or denied.
Writer Bill Buford's French Odyssey
October 11, 2020 05:11 - 50 minutes - 2.95 KBThe writer Bill Buford wanted to learn the secrets of French haute cuisine. So, he went native. Buford and his family moved to Lyon, France, where he undertook a rigorous, enlightening and delectable education.
Riots, Race And Rumors In Utah, 1965
October 10, 2020 01:28 - 42 minutes - 2.52 KBAs members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prepared for General Conference in October of 1965, northern Utah was on high alert.
Guy Raz Wants You To Fail (And Then Succeed)
October 08, 2020 21:43 - 38 minutes - 2.27 KBIf you want to bring something new into the world, you’ll have to fail a few times along the way. The public radio journalist Guy Raz says failure breeds resilience.
How Political Debates Got Stumped
October 03, 2020 02:32 - 50 minutes - 2.93 KBAfter the disastrous presidential debate the country witnessed this week between Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, we're asking: Do political debates still matter?
What Trump Really Says About Religious Conservatives
October 02, 2020 17:00 - 51 minutes - 3.01 KBIn speeches and interviews, President Donald Trump plays a champion of conservative religious values. But according to McKay Coppins' recent Atlantic article , behind closed doors, Trump’s “comments about religion are marked by cynicism and contempt.”
How Could Utah Have Stopped Its Rising COVID-19 Numbers?
September 25, 2020 17:00 - 51 minutes - 3.01 KBAfter managing to flatten the curve of coronavirus infections earlier this summer, a spike in cases that curve is starting to look much more like the state’s topography of valleys and mountains.
With RBG Gone, What’s Next For The Supreme Court?
September 24, 2020 23:30 - 49 minutes - 2.9 KBOn Sept. 18, 2020, the country lost Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As millions mourn her passing, we ask: What’s next for the highest court in the land?
Maria Konnikova On ‘The Biggest Bluff’
September 18, 2020 18:00 - 51 minutes - 3.01 KBIt has all the makings of a Hollywood film: A Harvard-trained psychologist approaches a professional poker player about showing her the in’s and out’s of the world of high stakes poker as a way to study human behavior.
Through The Lens: ‘Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets’
September 18, 2020 17:00 - 49 minutes - 2.91 KBIt’s the last night of a Las Vegas dive bar. The regulars gather to say goodbye to each other and to the old place. The filmmakers turn on their cameras to see what they get. Right?
Eric Weiner’s Journey On ‘The Socrates Express’
September 12, 2020 01:13 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBMost of us think we want knowledge and information. We search online, hungrily looking for answers to our questions.
What Do We Lose When We Lose Trees?
September 11, 2020 22:59 - 49 minutes - 2.93 KBThis week, as most Utahns prepared to ease back into the work week following the long Labor Day weekend, 50-100 mile-an-hour winds ripped through northern Utah, shutting off power to large swaths of the area and toppling thousands of trees.
RadioWest Book Club: Shirley Jackson
September 11, 2020 22:12 - 41 minutes - 2.42 KBOn Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, the RadioWest Book Club met via Zoom with Laura Miller to discuss the life and work of Shirley Jackson.
Lulu Miller’s Fish Story
September 04, 2020 19:28 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBIn 1906, an earthquake destroyed scientist David Starr Jordan’s collection of newly discovered fish. His life’s work was utterly ruined. And yet he tried, very literally, to put the pieces back together.
Ted Gioia's Subversive Musical History
September 04, 2020 19:27 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBIn 1963, America was feeling good. Coming out of the post-war boom years, it was still riding a tide of optimism.
Writer Richard Powers on ‘The Overstory’
August 28, 2020 16:11 - 50 minutes - 2.95 KBIf trees could speak to us, what might they say?
‘Driving While Black’
August 28, 2020 16:11 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBWe know that automobiles revolutionized life for the average white American in the early and mid-20th century, but for the African American population, cars brought freedoms, yes, but freedoms packed with complications.
A Journey Through Teddy Roosevelt's Wilderness
August 22, 2020 03:14 - 51 minutes - 3.03 KBEarlier this summer we saw the removal of a statue of Theodore Roosevelt in front of New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. It put our 26th president back in the spotlight, but then again, he never really left it.
Olga Khazan On The Power Of Weird
August 21, 2020 22:42 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBHave you ever felt like an outsider, feeling that you don’t quite fit in with the group around you? That feeling, says science writer Olga Khazan, might actually work to our advantage.
James Nestor On How We Breathe
August 14, 2020 23:42 - 50 minutes - 2.95 KBTake a breath. Like, right now. Did you use your nose or your mouth? Turns out, that matters.
Restaurants In Crisis
August 14, 2020 17:00 - 51 minutes - 2.99 KBRestaurants have been hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic and the prognosis for their future doesn’t look good.
RadioWest Book Club: 'Go Tell It on the Mountain'
August 10, 2020 03:33 - 49 minutes - 2.91 KBOn Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, the RadioWest Book Club met via Zoom with Dr. Justin Joyce to discuss James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain .
Colin Dickey On Our Obsession With The Unexplained
August 07, 2020 18:00 - 48 minutes - 2.87 KBIn a world fully mapped and explored, a world where rational, scientific answers can be made for basically everything, some people are left disenchanted.
Utah's COVID-19 Balancing Act
July 31, 2020 17:00 - 51 minutes - 3.02 KBHow are state officials managing the delicate balancing act of protecting public health while also guarding the health of the economy?
James Baldwin Vs. William F. Buckley Jr. 1965
July 31, 2020 06:00 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBOn a February night in 1965 at England’s prestigious University of Cambridge, two well-known intellectuals, James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr., debated the question: Has the American dream been achieved at the expense of the American Negro?
Brittany Packnett Cunningham On Social Change
July 25, 2020 00:45 - 49 minutes - 2.91 KBBrittany Packnett Cunngingham comes from a family of ministers and pastors. It didn't take her long before she found her own spiritual calling as an activist, educator and writer dedicated to fighting for social justice.
The Miracle Of The Crickets And Other Utah Legends
July 22, 2020 04:19 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBOne of Utah’s many oddities is its state bird: the California Gull. But did you know that the humble gull is the hero in its own miracle tale?
The Joy Of Walking
July 17, 2020 21:45 - 49 minutes - 2.92 KBSummer is usually a time of travel and exploration, but the age of COVID-19 has brought our adventures closer to home. Instead of traveling, many of us are walking the hills and our neighborhoods, the movement and outdoors our solace.
The Debate Over Native American Mascots
July 17, 2020 17:00 - 51 minutes - 3.01 KBLast week, a Bountiful High alumna called on the school to drop its use of the "Braves" mascot, calling it “offensive, outdated and racist.” But who decides whether a mascot can or should be stripped from sports culture?
The Education Of Amb. Samantha Power
July 11, 2020 01:14 - 50 minutes - 2.95 KBSamantha Power was going to be a sports reporter. But her plans changed in 1989 when she saw Chinese protestors — students fighting for democracy — fired upon by their own government.
Gender, Sexuality And The LDS Church
July 10, 2020 23:38 - 49 minutes - 2.93 KBHave you ever thought that your gender could be a privilege? For certain leaders of the LDS church in the 1950s and ‘60s, only the very righteous would get to keep what made them a man or a woman in the next life.
The Legend Of Walter Mercado
July 03, 2020 21:04 - 48 minutes - 2.83 KBThrough the 1980s to the early 2000s, astrologer and TV personality Walter Mercado was a household name in Latinx homes – reaching, at his peak, an estimated 120 million people with his daily horoscopes. Then, in 2007, Mercado disappeared.
Director Greg Whiteley On Netflix's 'Cheer'
July 03, 2020 20:45 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBIn December, Netflix released director Greg Whiteley’s docuseries “Cheer,” where it went on to become one of their most talked about and beloved shows of 2020.
RadioWest Book Club: 'Dandelion Wine'
July 02, 2020 04:41 - 54 minutes - 3.2 KBOn Monday, June 29, 2020, the RadioWest Book Club met via Zoom with Dr. Jonathan Eller to discuss Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine."
Home Work: The History Of Working From Home
June 26, 2020 22:48 - 49 minutes - 2.93 KBFour months into the COVID-19 pandemic and plenty of us are still working from home. And when the pandemic ends, we’ll have to answer the question: Should we go back to the office?
Is TestUtah Getting The Right Results?
June 26, 2020 17:00 - 50 minutes - 2.94 KBSince it launched in April, questions have dogged TestUtah , a statewide testing initiative led by a group of Utah tech companies.
Web extra: Are You An Integrator Or Segmenter?
June 25, 2020 23:43 - 33 minutes - 1.94 KBWhen you’re at work, do you keep pictures of your family on your desk? Happily bring your spouse and kids to the summer work picnic? Or are you more inclined to keep your private life separate from your work life?