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RadioWest

English, Human interest, 1 season, 89 episodes, 3 days, 1 hour, 21 minutes
About
KUER’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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Through the Lens - The Eternal Memory

“There is pain here,” “But there is also a lot of nobility.” From the book “The Forbidden Memory” by Augusto Góngora.
2/21/202449 minutes, 35 seconds
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Through the Lens - The Eternal Memory

“There is pain here,” “But there is also a lot of nobility.” From the book “The Forbidden Memory” by Augusto Góngora.
2/21/202449 minutes, 35 seconds
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The Alien Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill

On September 19, 1961, Betty and Barney Hill claimed they were abducted by “beings that were somehow not human.”
2/15/202449 minutes, 16 seconds
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Spirit World Encounters in Mormon Utah

Growing up in Northern Utah, the scholar Erin Stiles often heard stories from her Mormon friends about visits from spiritual beings. In a new book, she explores just how common these experiences happen to be.
2/14/202447 minutes, 45 seconds
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The Golden Era of Hijacking Planes

If you were born in post-9/11 America, the idea of a plane getting hijacked is terrifying. But once upon a time hijackers seemed more interested in the thrill than instilling fear. And one of them even became a kind of folk hero.
2/7/202449 minutes, 9 seconds
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The Plan to Save Great Salt Lake

A new plan to protect Great Salt Lake was recently released. This one has the endorsement of Utah’s most powerful political leaders. But does it have what it will take to save the lake?
2/1/202450 minutes, 11 seconds
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How the Road Crossed the Land

Roads are such a common feature of the landscape that you can forget that they aren’t natural at all — that is, unless you’re an animal trying to cross one.
2/1/202449 minutes, 40 seconds
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The Future of D.E.I.

Lawmakers are rushing an anti-D.E.I. bill through the 2024 Utah Legislature.
1/25/202450 minutes, 12 seconds
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Sundance Film Festival 2024: ‘Sugarcane’

In 2021, unmarked graves were discovered at several residential boarding schools in Canada. Then, investigations began.
1/24/202449 minutes, 9 seconds
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A New History of Mormonism

Upstate New York, 1830: self-proclaimed prophets are creating new faiths. Joseph Smith was one such man, and it was his new religion that would endure.
1/18/202449 minutes, 30 seconds
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Budget, Housing and DEI — It’s the 2024 Legislative Session

The controversial bills — including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — will kick off the 2024 Utah Legislative Session.
1/17/202448 minutes, 50 seconds
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The Offensive Magic of Swearing

A good swear is like a bomb, shocking and offensive to all in the blast-radius. Except for those times when swears don’t quite go off. So, what’s the difference?
1/11/202449 minutes, 42 seconds
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Mary Beard On The Emperors of Rome

Mary Beard is an expert on the Roman Empire, and her latest book is about the rulers who presided over it — 30 emperors in nearly three centuries.
1/10/202449 minutes, 55 seconds
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How the Female Body Drove Human Evolution

In biological and medical research, the majority of studies that use mice are only using males. Why? Because female mammals’ estrous, or sexual, cycle means that their bodies are more “messy” than their male counterparts.
1/4/202449 minutes, 43 seconds
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The Films of 2023

You’ll find plenty of lists of the best films of 2023 out there. But only ours includes the tenth installment of a notoriously grisly horror franchise.
1/3/202448 minutes, 44 seconds
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Habits — Good and Bad

For the new year, we’re sharing our conversation with psychologist Wendy Wood, who told us that changing habits and keeping goals isn’t about willpower — it’s about tapping into our unconscious selves.
12/28/202349 minutes, 28 seconds
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Exploring the Sonic World with ‘Sounds Wild and Broken’

Our planet is filled with sound — birdsong, music, speech. Even the earth itself makes noise. That sonic diversity is in danger.
12/27/202349 minutes, 23 seconds
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Nigella Lawson on What Makes a Good Meal

If you’re into food writing or follow celebrity chefs, the chances are good that you've run across British food star Nigella Lawson. But how much do you actually know about her work?
12/20/202349 minutes, 7 seconds
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The LDS Church's Playbook for Hiding Child Sexual Abuse

A recent report from the Associated Press tells the story of Chelsea Goodrich, who alleges that her father, a former Mormon bishop, sexually abused her as a child. He’s since been excommunicated from the LDS Church, which sought to keep Goodrich’s allegations under wraps.
12/20/202349 minutes, 56 seconds
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Nigella Lawson on What Makes a Good Meal

If you’re into food writing or follow celebrity chefs, the chances are good that you've run across British food star Nigella Lawson. But how much do you actually know about her work?
12/20/20230
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RadioWest’s 2023 Holiday Book Show

It’s our favorite time of year – when we indulge in gathering piles of books and gifting them to our family and friends.
12/20/202350 minutes, 27 seconds
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Through the Lens: ‘Subject’

Being featured in a documentary changes your life — and not just during the filming. Being a participant can often also mean public scrutiny, maybe trauma, for years and years.
12/13/202350 minutes, 18 seconds
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The End of Craving

In recent years, many Americans have cut carbs and sugar, reduced fat and tried every diet. Yet millions of us still have high blood pressure, are pre-diabetic and obese. Why?
12/7/202349 minutes, 46 seconds
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The Real Life of Napoleon Bonaparte

With Ridley Scott’s film “Napoleon” in theaters, we’re talking today about the real "Petit Caporal," a normal man who lived a life that was anything but small.
12/5/202349 minutes, 28 seconds
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The Perfect Fence

In 1874, a farmer named Joseph Glidden patented what became known as “the perfect fence:” two wires lined with sharp, metal barbs.
11/29/202349 minutes, 4 seconds
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The (Previously) Untold Story of the Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon

When you think of the Grand Canyon, you probably think of rocks and, of course, the Colorado River. But in the summer of 1938, two women risked their lives to study another feature of the canyon: its plants.
11/29/202349 minutes, 41 seconds
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The Secret of Cooking

For many of us, cooking is an annoying, boring chore. But the food writer Bee Wilson says there’s a simple secret to an easier life in the kitchen, and it begins with the person who cooks.
11/21/202348 minutes, 46 seconds
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RadioWest Films: ‘A Sister Must Sacrifice’

Miranda couldn’t wait to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She just didn’t know her weight would be a problem.
11/16/202349 minutes, 47 seconds
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A People’s History of the Nuclear West

In 1951, the U.S. government began test detonations of nuclear bombs in the Nevada desert. It wasn’t long before people started getting cancer.
11/15/202349 minutes, 28 seconds
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The 2023 Salt Lake City Mayoral Election

The race for Salt Lake City mayor comes down chiefly to two people, and both are, in a way, seeking re-election.
11/9/202349 minutes, 30 seconds
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Through The Lens: ‘Body Parts’

During the silent film era, women directed, wrote scripts and had a lot of say over how they were portrayed on screen. Fast forward a hundred years to the #metoo movement, and that dynamic has entirely changed.
11/7/202349 minutes, 52 seconds
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How the Ocean Works

The oceanographer Helen Czerski wants you to think of the ocean as a vast, planet-spanning engine. And what it drives is no less than life itself.
11/1/202349 minutes, 35 seconds
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The Reckoning of Mitt Romney

When Mitt Romney was 17 years old, he attended the 1964 Republican national convention with his dad, then-governor of Michigan. George Romney, disgusted by the extremes he saw in his party, delivered a scathing rebuke. Years later, his son found himself in a very similar situation.
10/31/20231 hour, 19 minutes, 40 seconds
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Radio Hour Episode 17: ‘Sherlock Holmes and The Final Problem’

Plan B Theatre and “RadioWest” are back with a new hour of live radio — and a live audience — with “Sherlock Holmes and the Final Problem.”
10/30/202350 minutes, 29 seconds
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The Man Who Tasted Words

It’s through the senses of taste, sight, hearing, smell and touch that we perceive the world around us. But just how reliable, really, are those senses?
10/26/202349 minutes, 16 seconds
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The Case Against the Gondola

The Utah Department of Transportation received more than 35,000 comments about its plans to build a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon. According to one count, more than 60% of commenters opposed the idea.
10/23/202349 minutes, 57 seconds
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The Disastrous Voyage of the Wager

In 1740, the Wager set sail from England in search of Spanish treasure. Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
10/19/202349 minutes, 31 seconds
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The Scariest Movie of All Time

In 1973, moviegoers were seen fleeing from theaters. Some fainted; others threw up. That was the year that “The Exorcist” was released.
10/13/202348 minutes, 4 seconds
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How to Cure Your Craving for More

If you find yourself fixating on something you want but know you don’t need, it’s not your fault; it’s the “scarcity brain” at work.
10/12/202349 minutes, 22 seconds
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Through The Lens: ‘A Run For More’

In 2018, Frankie Gonzales-Wolfe, a transgender woman, ran for a city council seat in San Antonio, Texas — just as a flurry of anti-trans legislation was kicking up.
10/6/202348 minutes, 53 seconds
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The Unraveling of Tim Ballard

In July, Tim Ballard stepped down as CEO of Operation Underground Railroad, just as “Sound of Freedom,” the movie based on his work, was released. Since then, a series of strange stories about Ballard have emerged.
10/6/202349 minutes, 39 seconds
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"Sluffing School" and Other Utah-isms

Wanna talk like a real Utahn? Well, pour yourself a glass of “melk” and head on up to the “ruf.” We’ve got some “explainin’” to do.
9/29/202349 minutes, 54 seconds
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Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America

Navied Mahdavian had always been a city guy. He had never fished, gardened, hiked, hunted or lived in a snowy place. Then he, his wife and dog moved from San Francisco to an off-the-grid cabin in rural Idaho.
9/29/202349 minutes, 44 seconds
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A Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism; The September Six

Thirty years ago, in September of 1993, six prominent intellectuals were disciplined and excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
9/21/20230
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The World’s Most Successful Art Thief with Michael Finkel

Between 1995 and 2001, Stéphane Breitweiser stole 239 works of art from more than 100 museums around Europe. He never sold a single one.
9/21/202349 minutes, 38 seconds
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The Case for the Gondola

More than fifty years ago, there was a proposal to build a gondola from the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon to Snowbird Ski Resort. What if it was the right idea all along?
9/16/202349 minutes, 17 seconds
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How Parking Explains the World. Seriously.

Here’s a way in to understanding what author Henry Grabar wants to tell you about parking: it’s one of the reasons we’ve got a housing crisis in America.
9/14/202350 minutes, 14 seconds
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The New Science and Enduring Mystery of Owls

Look into the eyes of an owl and what do you see? Is there any way to know what’s hidden behind those eyes? Thanks to new research, there might be.
9/8/202349 minutes, 31 seconds
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Oliver Burkeman: How to Spend Four Thousand Weeks of Life

If each of us lives to be 80, we’ll have spent about four thousand weeks being alive on this planet — which isn’t really much time at all. So, how should we spend it?
9/7/202349 minutes, 51 seconds
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What Happens to the Group When the Individual Tops All?

American culture promotes a strong sense of individualism. But, what happens when individualism trumps community?
9/1/202349 minutes, 22 seconds
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Clint Eastwood: The Man with No Name

Clint Eastwood has been a constant in American cinema for more than 60 years. But if you think it’s all Westerns and machismo, you’d be wrong.
8/31/202349 minutes, 35 seconds
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Is a Gondola the Silver Bullet for Little Cottonwood’s ‘Red Snake’?

By now you’ve probably heard about the gondola, the one that’s slated to go up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It’s still decades away, but debate over the plan is holding steady at a fever pitch.
8/25/202346 minutes, 40 seconds
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The Whales of the Great Salt Lake

In 1888, the daily Salt Lake Herald-Republican reprinted a story from a Canadian paper. The headline? That a family of whales was flourishing in the Great Salt Lake.
8/24/202350 minutes, 5 seconds
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Kelsy Burke on America’s Pornography Obsession

In 2016, Utah Republicans declared pornography a public health crisis. But their resolution was merely a modern salvo in the ongoing pornography wars.
8/21/202349 minutes, 46 seconds
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Timothy Egan on the KKK’s Plot to Take Over America

At the height of its power, the Ku Klux Klan was run by a depraved charlatan named D. C. Stephenson, until a woman's deathbed confession brought him down.
8/21/202349 minutes, 20 seconds
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Searching for Paradise with Pico Iyer

Religions and myths tell us of paradise — where there is no suffering and bliss abounds. But can a real paradise ever be reached or made?
8/14/202349 minutes, 29 seconds
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Alvin Hall Drives the Green Book

In 2019, author and broadcaster Alvin Hall drove from Detroit to New Orleans, using the same guide that was used during the height of segregation, The Negro Motorist Green Book.
8/11/202348 minutes, 47 seconds
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Through the Lens: '32 Sounds' with Sam Green

Filmmaker Sam Green is obsessed with sound. After you see his documentary, you might feel the same way.
8/3/202349 minutes, 30 seconds
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Ramesses II: The King of Kings

The first known peace treaty was negotiated by Ramesses II, a pharaoh who came from a line of commoners and was the only Egyptian king known as “the Great.”
8/3/202350 minutes, 22 seconds
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The Mountain Meadows Massacre, Pt. 2: Blood, Blood, Blood

“Did Brigham Young order the Mountain Meadows Massacre?”
7/27/202348 minutes, 23 seconds
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The Mountain Meadows Massacre, Pt. 1: Too Late, Too Late

On September 11, 1857, a Mormon militia attacked a wagon train of California-bound emigrants. They killed more than a hundred men, women and children.
7/27/202349 minutes, 33 seconds
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Web Extra: Revisiting Operation Underground Railroad

With the release of the new film, “The Sound of Freedom,” Operation Underground Railroad and its founder, Tim Ballard, are back in the news, so we are reposting our 2022 episode about the organization and the realities of child-sex-trafficking. This episode mentions an investigation into Operation Underground Railroad, which has since been dropped.
7/27/202351 minutes, 28 seconds
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David Remnick on the GOATs of Pop Music

As the longtime editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick has profiled many of rock n’ roll and pop music’s greatest performers, often later in their lives.
7/21/202347 minutes, 47 seconds
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The Alien Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill

On September 19, 1961, Betty and Barney Hill claimed they were abducted by “beings that were somehow not human.”
7/20/202348 minutes, 51 seconds
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David Grann on the Disastrous Voyage of the Wager

In 1740, the Wager set sail from England in search of Spanish treasure. Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
7/14/202349 minutes, 10 seconds
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Never Heard of Scrupulosity? Neither Have Many Who Suffer From It

Even if you aren’t afflicted by it, you probably know about obsessive compulsive disorder. But even if you have it, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of scrupulosity.
7/14/202350 minutes, 20 seconds
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Through The Lens: Users

After the birth of her son, documentary filmmaker Natalia Almada asked herself: Will technology be a better mother than me?
7/7/202349 minutes, 56 seconds
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Awe and the Science of Wonder with Dacher Keltner

You know that feeling you get when you see something so incredible that it transcends understanding? That’s awe. But, really, what is awe?
7/6/202348 minutes, 33 seconds
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Michael Finkel on the World’s Most Prolific Art Thief

Between 1995 and 2001, Stéphane Breitweiser stole 239 works of art from more than 100 museums around Europe. He never sold a single one.
7/1/202350 minutes, 1 second
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Pico Iyer's Search For Paradise

Religions and myths tell us of paradise — where there is no suffering and bliss abounds. But can a real paradise ever be reached or made?
4/7/202353 minutes
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Through the Lens: All That Breathes

Out of the polluted skies over New Delhi, India, birds of prey known as Black kites fall to the ground. Two brothers care for and rehabilitate them.
3/31/202353 minutes
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Society's Obsession with Women’s Butts

We’ll forgive you for laughing at the headline of this episode. But the thing is, butts have a serious cultural history.
3/30/202353 minutes
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Defining Christian Nationalism

Last month, a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) poll gauged the rising influence of Christian nationalism among religious Americans. Its findings were eye opening.
3/28/202353 minutes, 1 second
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Dacher Keltner on the Science of Awe

You know that feeling you get when you see something so incredible that it transcends understanding? That’s awe. But, really, what is awe?
3/23/202353 minutes
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LDS Church and the GSL, Part II

On Wednesday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that it will donate a permanent yearly transfer of 20,000 acre feet of water to the Great Salt Lake.
3/17/202353 minutes
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Open Season on Utah’s Mountain Lions

Early this month, the Utah Legislature passed a bill that would make it legal to kill mountain lions year-round. All you’d need is a basic hunting license.
3/17/202352 minutes, 23 seconds
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LDS Church and the GSL, Part II

On Wednesday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that it will donate a permanent yearly transfer of 20,000 acre feet of water to the Great Salt Lake.
3/17/202353 minutes
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LDS Church and the GSL, Part II

On Wednesday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that it will donate a permanent yearly transfer of 20,000 acre feet of water to the Great Salt Lake.
3/17/202353 minutes
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The State and Fate of the Great Salt Lake, Part V

A report released earlier this year declared that, if it continues to dry up at its current rate, Great Salt Lake “as we know it will disappear in five years.” So, what can be done to prevent that?
3/13/202353 minutes, 2 seconds
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Through the Lens: ‘The Right to Read’

37% of American fourth-graders read at “below basic” levels, which really means they can hardly read at all. A new film asks why.
3/10/202353 minutes
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Wrapping up the 2023 Utah Legislative Session

The 2023 Utah Legislative Session concludes at midnight on March 3rd. We’re processing what lawmakers did—and didn’t—get done this time around.
3/3/202352 minutes, 56 seconds
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A Nine Page Report on Hiding LDS Church Investments

Last week, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with a $5 million fine.
3/3/202353 minutes, 3 seconds
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Stacy Schiff on ‘The Revolutionary Samuel Adams’

The role that Samuel Adams played in fomenting the American Revolution once made him the most wanted man in the country.
2/24/202353 minutes
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A Living History of the Green Book with Alvin Hall

In 2019, author Alvin Hall drove from Detroit to New Orleans, using the same guide that was used during the height of segregation, The Negro Motorist Green Book.
2/24/202353 minutes, 2 seconds
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LDS Church and the GSL

The rapid decline of Great Salt Lake has happened within easy eyesight of the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, leading some to ask what responsibility the church has to help.
2/17/202352 minutes, 23 seconds
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Jamie Kreiner on What Monks Teach Us about Distraction

Today, it’s received wisdom that screens ruined our ability to concentrate. But Medieval monks were obsessed with distraction, too — and the stakes were higher.
2/16/202353 minutes
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John Hendrickson on Making Peace with a Stutter

In 2019, The Atlantic published a story by John Hendrickson about Joe Biden’s struggle with stuttering. And it forced John to reconcile with his own stutter, too.
2/9/202353 minutes
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Through the Lens: Hidden Letters

For thousands of years, women in China shared a secret language — a code only women could read, that bonded them together in solidarity and sisterhood.
2/3/202353 minutes
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Lake Bell: The Human Voice

A true multi-hyphenate, writer-director-actor Lake Bell is obsessed with how we sound. Her new audiobook celebrates that “least-appreciated” trait: our voices.
2/3/202351 minutes, 30 seconds