January 5

• Environmental historian from the University of Kansas, Department of History, Donald Worster joins us for the entire hour for a discussion on his new book "A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir." Worster is also author of "A River Running West: The Life of John Wesley Powell."

January 6

• In the garden segment Bryan Earl talks with Demetrius Agethangelides, owner of Mountain Valley Seed in Salt Lake City, joins us in the first half to give advice on ordering seed from catalogs and planning for the upcoming planting season.

• Lee Austin talks with Greer Chesher about her recent book "End to End UK." Chesher's author of numerous books and plans her next project in the U.K.

January 7

• We feature a full hour previewing the upcoming Utah Legislative Session with guests William Sederburg, Utah Commissioner of Higher Education, Patti Harrington, Utah Superintendent, Senate President Michael Waddoups, and House Majority Whip Brad Dee.

January 8

• Kerry Bringhurst examines Utah's literacy rate and issues surround funding on the state and federal level. Guests include Debra Young from the Literacy Action Center in Salt Lake City, Danielle Bird from the Bridgerland Literacy Organization in Logan, and literacy tutor Kara Huggard.

• We examine the controversial issue of compressed natural gas. Recently, the Utah Public Service Commission issued an order to increase the price of compressed natural gas for vehicles by 188 percent. Kerry Bringhurst discusses the issue with Randy Lieber, a member of Utah Clean Cities.

January 9

• Tom Williams hosts an entire issue focusing on book clubs and reading groups. Why do people join reading groups and what are the dynamics that make a functional book club? These questions and more are discussed with guests Esther Bushell, book group facilitator, Jennifer Sinor from USU's English Department, Kathleen Rooney, founder of Rose Metal Press, and Rona Kaufman, professor of English at Pacific Lutheran University.

January 12

• Lee Austin talks with New York writer David Ebershoff about his book "The 19th Wife." The historical fiction novel explores the life of Brigham Young’s wife Ann Eliza Young and her crusade to end polygamy in the United States.

• This month celebrates the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. Bob Gallimore and Diane Sigfried of the Utah Scottish Association join Lee Austin to discuss upcoming celebrations on the USU and BYU campuses and Scottish traditions including the food dish haggis.

January 14

• Brent Black, USU Extension Fruit Specialist, joins Bryan Earl in studio in the first half for a discussion on ordering from catalogs and preparing for the upcoming spring gardening season.

• Lee Austin talks with Niger Innis, National Chairman from CORE, Congress of Racial Equality. The organization is staging a protest in Salt Lake City against Robert Redford and his views on oil and gas drilling. CORE believes that blocking natural gas production in Utah will hurt a lot of people, especially low-income families.

January 16

• Kerry Bringhurst hosts a conversation with Catherine Goodman, National Marketing Manager for Summit Financial Resources. Utah State University's college of HASS welcomes Goodman as part of the Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series. She will present "Career Path/Life Path: Getting There from Here" taking place Friday, January 16 from noon to 1:00 p.m. at the David B. Haight Alumni Center.

• The Sundance Film Festival kicks off this weekend in Park City. Reporter Sheri Quinn talks with festival director Geoff Gilmore about the weakened economy and its effect on this year’s festival as well as the featured films and documentaries that were selected for 2009. For a complete schedule of movies and events visit their web site at http://festival.sundance.org/2009.

January 21

• Sheri Quinn brings us an hour exploring The 2009 Sundance Film Festival in Park City. Festival founder Robert Redford joins us in the first segment followed by Festival Programmer Carolyn Lebresco. We conclude with an interview featuring documentary filmmaker Rupert Murphy whose film, The End of the Line, explores the world's commercial fishing industry.

January 22

• Tom Williams talks with Alice Hirai about her presentation taking place on campus entitled "Internment to Empowerment." Ms. Hirai and her family were forced to move to a concentration camp in Topaz, 16 miles from Delta, Utah.

• Computer Specialist Jonathan Choate from Logan answers computer and technology questions and talks about the latest in technology trends.

January 23

• Kerry Bringhurst features a full hour discussing John Singer's death and the societal implications on polygamist communities. Wife Vicki Singer talks about the 30 year anniversary of his death and how it has impacted her life. Later, the conversation on polygamy continues with Mormon scholar Jan Shipps and University of Utah Psychology Professor Irwin Altman.

January 27

• The Utah Legislative session opened Monday and lawmakers are required to pass a balanced budget. Access Utah goes on the road recording a broadcast from the Senate Chambers in Utah State’s Capitol in Salt Lake City. Lee Austin visits with Utah Senate leadership, Republican Greg Bell and Democrat Pat Jones in the first segment. Later, reporters Jeff Moss from the Ogden Standard Examiner and Sheena McFarland and Robert Gehrke from the Salt Lake Tribune join us in a reporter round table discussion on legislative issues.

January 28

• USU Extension Vegetable Specialist Dan Drost joins Bryan Earl in the first half to give gardening advice for the upcoming season.

• Lee Austin visits with USU students Jackson Olsen and Dani Babbel about the student rally taking place Friday at the Capitol protesting higher education budget cuts.

January 29

• Access Utah broadcasts live from Vernal at the USU Uintah Basin campus with Kerry Bringhurst. Wes Holley, Dean of the Uintah Basin Campus and Bob Peterson, Student Services Director at Uintah Basin Campus will be our guests in the first half. They will discuss distance education, the new Vernal facility, legislative issues (possible cuts), enrollment and student services.

• Rob Behunin, Special Assistant to USU President & member of the Uintah Basin Impact Mitigation Special Services Board (board assigns money received from Mineral Lease and Royalties will talk about concerns about the mineral lease program.

January 30

• Lloyd Pendleton, director of the Utah Homelessness Task force talks with Tom Williams about the homeless rate in Utah and goals to reduce homelessness significantly by 2014.

• Duane Smith, President of Habitat for Humanity, David Frandsen and Kim Datwyler, from Utah Nonprofit Housing, talk about the services they offer locally and across the state for low income families.

February 2

• Snow College President Scott Wyatt joins us in the first half for a discussion on budget cuts to higher education. We also feature excerpts from a student rally last Friday at the state Capitol.

• Robert Steensma, Stephen Trimble, and Peter Koyote talk about the new documentary on writer Wallace Stegner. KUED airs a documentary on the Stegner legacy Monday, February 2.

February 3

• Rick Heflebower, USU Extension Horticulture Specialist from Washington County, joins Bryan Earl in the first half. They discuss gardening issues in Southern Utah and answer general listener questions.

• Utah State University President Stan Albrecht talks with Lee Austin about legislative budget cuts to higher education and about the mandatory furlough required of all USU employees. The furlough states that employees are required to take leave without pay for five work days during spring break, March 9-13.

February 4

February 5

February 6

• Tom Williams hosts a program on innovative garbage treatment methods in the first half with Gary Laird from Weber County Waste and Nathan Rich from Davis County Waste.

• In the second half Kerry Bringhurst addresses proposed changes to Utah's alcohol laws. Governor Huntsman hopes to loosen Utah's laws in order to encourage tourism to the state. Guests include Senator John Valentine and Lisa Marcy from the Utah Hospitality Association.

February 9

• Lee Austin hosts a conversation with Los Angeles based artist Sean Duffy. Duffy’s work is being featured at USU’s Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art and focuses on the sculptural transformation of objects such as filing cabinets, cars, and audio equipment.

February 10

• USU Extension Horticulture Agent from Weber County, Jerry Goodspeed, joins host Bryan Earl in the first half to give advice on preparing for the upcoming spring gardening season.

• Award winning writer and poet Julia Alvarez joins Lee Austin in the second half for a look at her new book about illegal immigration "Return to Sender." Alvarez is also author of the 1994 novel "In the Time of Butterflies."

February 11

• Grammy award winning country artist Kathy Mattea talks with Tom Williams about her new album "Coal." Mattea performs in Logan sponsored by the Bridger Folk Music Society. Information is at bridgerfolk.org.

• Logan architect and co-chair of Envision Cache Valley Tom Jensen joins us in the second half. Envision Cache Valley is hosting a summit on growth issues in the area.

February 12

• Tom Williams talks with Dr. Jeffrey Bennion about Cache Valley's new allergy clinic.

• Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, talks about plans to encourage the National Republican Party to address health care coverage. Utah's former Governor is also working on a book about his years of service to the state and the United States. Host Kerry Bringhurst talks with Mr. Leavitt about his political past, his first month as an unemployed American, and plans for his future.

February 13

February 17

• Actors of the London Stage join host Kerry Bringhurst to talk about their traveling production of Shakespear's Much Ado About Nothing. Then, during the second half of the program host Tom Williams interviews poet Juan Felipe Herrera about his featured work "187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border: Undocuments 1971-2007".

February 18

February 19

February 20

February 23

• During World War II, more than 110,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry were uprooted and interned in 10 hastily built camps in remote areas of the American West. One of them was Topaz, near Delta Utah. Once a largely ignored chapter of Utah History, the movement to remember Topaz has gained momentum. Rick Okabe, a volunteer with the Topaz Museum, will explain.

• Historian and author Jan Shipps, often called the leading non Mormon scholar of the LDS faith, is a guest on the USU campus this week. Giving an address on the Mormon trajectory since World War II. We'll also talk about Mitt Romney and California's Proposition Eight.

February 24

• Bryan Earl hosts a gardening show discussion with Master Gardner Golden Reeves, known to his friends as the "Tomato King."

• Wade Davis has degrees in Anthropology, Biology and Ethnobotany, but perhaps more interesting is his current job title: Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. In recent years, his work has taken him to East Africa, Borneo, Nepal, Peru, Polynesia, Tibet, New Guinea and Greenland. One of his projects was a study of African religions. Closer to home, Wade Davis has explored the Grand Canyon, and he's giving a presentation Friday at the University of Utah entitled "Grand Canyon, a River at Risk."

February 25

• Most of the opposition to wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rockies centered on fears the predator would harm agriculture and other wildlife. Cat Urbigkit says she fought the original reintroduction proposal, not out of hatred for wolves, but out of concern for the possible extinction of a native wolf species. Urbigkit is the author of "Yellowstone Wolves: A Chronicle of the Animal, the People, and the Politics."

• Why do we crave junk food? Part of it is biology, part of it is marketing by the food industry. We'll speak with the coordinator of Utah State University's Be Well Program, Caroline Shugart.

February 26

• UPR Live from Delta, UT

February 27

• Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, jr. and Chairman of the North West Band of the Shoshonee Tribe, Bruce Parry.

• National Eating Disorder Awareness Month

March 2

• Pruning petulant pears. . .and other unruly fruits. Access Utah host Bryan Earl is joined by USU Extension Fruit Specialist Brent Black. Do you want more apples, cherries, and peaches? Learn how to prune, not only for shape but also for optimum fruit production.

March 3

• The National Economic Recovery Bill includes two and half billion dollars in stimulus funds for Indian Country. Health, education, water and transportation projects for Indian tribes are expected to have a direct impact on the economy of reservations throughout the nation. Beginning at 9 a.m. on Access Utah we will outline the stimulus package and funding for Indian affairs. We will also touch on the announcement by President Barack Obama that he will name a senior White House adviser for tribal issues. Chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshoni Nation, Bruce Parry, and representatives from the Navajo Nation Council will join me to discuss the relationship between the new administration and Indian affairs.

• It is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. During the second half of our program we will take your questions on how to deal with the emotional and medical aspects of annerxia, bulemia, and other eating disorder. My guests will include a women recovering from an eating disorder who is receiving treatment from a Northern Utah based program.

March 6

• We speak with young adult novelist Boston based author, Julie Berry, who is among a growing number of wholesale writers.

• Tom Williams talks with author Kevin Stoker of the Brigham Young Department of Communications about his research on past and present relationships between political opposites.

March 9

March 10

March 11

• Science Questions

March 12

March 13

• Utah lawmakers wrapped up business last night, mostly pleased with their budgeting and policy decisions. What looked like draconian cuts for public school, higher education and state agencies were eased a bit,thanks in large part to Federal Stimulus money. But a lot of one time money in the budget means hard choices are still pending. Lawmakers passed several ethics bills, approved the first steps in health care and State liquor law reform.

• First we talk with Utah Senate majority leader, Shelden Killpack, and his counterpart on the Democratic side, Senator Pat Jones. Later we move to the house and speak with Minority Leader, Representative David Litvack, and with House Speaker, David Clark.

March 16

• Uranium, once considered an unwanted byproduct of mining, has changed the course of history. The Cold War Arms Race changed many things, including the economy of Moab, Utah. Headquarters of the Uranium Boom. Tom Zoellner once worked in Utah without knowing that story, but does now and is the author of "Uranium, War Energy and the Rock that Shaped the World."

• We talk with Tony Weller, about last week's announcement that Salt Lake Bookstore Landmark is leaving Main Street.

March 17

• Bryan Earl is in with gardening specialist Mark Anderson with answers to your questions on getting started in lawn and garden.

• Reporter Sheri Quinn is with the film documentary that was screened this year at the Sundance Film Festival called Big River Man. The man in question is Martin Strel, an endurance swimmer who has challenged some of the world's most polluted waterways, including the Amazon.

March 18

• Dismal Science is a hot topic today, despite current financial circumstances. John Watkins is an economics professor from Westminster College in Salt Lake City and offers some of his own forecasts at a recent forum.

• Lavard Skou Larsen is Artistic Director of the Salzburg Chamber Soloists. They will perform twice in Logan next week. Definitely Mozart is in the program, but they will also be playing the music of Astor Piazolla. Listen in and find out why.

March 19

March 20

March 23

March 24

• Bryan Earl is joined by William Varga, Director of the Utah Botanical Garden, and USU Extension Horticulture Specialist.

• At age 17 Kenner participated in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, and finished tenth. Ten years later he returned to take the top prize. The wasserman Festival continues this week at Utah State University where Kenner will perform the music of Chopin, and others. He joins us live in the studio.

March 25

• Today we're on the road at USU's Regional Campus in Brigham City on the occasion today of a naming ceremony for the campus' main building. Campus Director Andrew Shinkle and faculty members Camille Fairbourn and Nathan Straight will talk about Regional Campuses and innovative technologies in distance education.

• We speak with Brigham City Economic Development Director, Paul Larsen, and by Patrick Overton, author of "Rebuilding the Front Porch of America." We discuss community cultural development, restoration projects across the U.S., and the restoration of the Christensen Brothers Dance Academy.

March 26

• Folk Music Artist Arlo Guthrie

• David Lancy

March 27

• Host Kerry Bringhurst talks about Environmental Ethics and Energy Alternatives for the Twenty-First Century with Energy Adviser to Governor Huntsman for the State of Utah, Dianne Nielson.

March 30

April 1

• A lot has changed at National Public Radio since Howard Berkes was hired as a Salt Lake City based Regional Correspondent in 1981. Berkes Provides us with an insider's view of NPR.

• Fred Child joins us in Studio to reflect on the state of classical music. Child will be part of a chamber music performance tonight at Utah State University.

April 2

• Box Elder County has been classified as non-attainment when it comes to Federal Air Quality Standards after being included with the Wasatch Front for the monitoring of particulate matter. During the legislative session a resolution asking that Box Elder and Tooele Counties be removed from the Wasatch Front Air Quality monitoring district was approved. Joining me to discuss Federal Air Quality Standards will be Cheryl Heying, Director of the Utah Division of Air Quality and Grant Koford, Bear River Health Department Health Scientist.

• Tom Williams talks with Cambridge University Professor Charles Moseley, visiting St. George this week to discuss humanities education. During Thursday's Access Utah.

April 3

April 6

April 7

April 8

April 9

• 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and we talk about astronomy in the first half of today's Access Utah with Tyler Allred, President of Allred Restoration and an avid astronomer and astrophotographer, Shane Larson, Assistant Professor of Physics at USU and avid astronomer, and with Mike Murry, Programs Manager at Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City.

• Our guest is folklorist Polly Walker, who is giving the 28th Annual USU Fife Folklore Honor Lecture today titled "Urban Pioneers: Utah's Homegrown Fold Music Revival of the 1960's."

April 10

April 13

April 14

April 15

April 16

• Out guest today is USU Associate Professor of English, Kristine Miller, talks about her new book British Literature of the Blitz: Fighting the People's War.

• Sexting is a current phenomenon among some teenagers, in which nude or sexual images are sent via cell phone to friends and acquaintances. We talk about what parents, school administrators, and prosecutors' response to this and other uses and misuses of new technology.

April 17

• Utah State University Student Station HD3 marks the one year anniversary with guest Don Quayle, USU Alum and first president of NPR. Tom williams interviews Mr. Quayle during the first half of Access Utah.

• Sheryl Aguilar of the USU Center for Advanced Nutrition discusses the center's role in a national children's health research project.

April 20

April 21

April 22

April 23

April 24

April 27

April 28

April 29

• The Rev. France Davis of the Salt Lake City Calvary Baptist Church has served Utah for the last 35 years. Access Utah host Tom Williams talks with Mr. Davis during the first half of the program.

• Kerry Bringhurst hosts the second half of Access Utah. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is surveying Utah farmers and ranchers as part of a nationwide assessment of those who grow and market organic products. Kerry McBride is with the Utah Office of the U.S.D.A. Agriculture Statistics Services. His office is conducting the survey to be used by agencies, including the Utah Department of Agriculture, to help with the monitoring and promoting of organic products (www.agcensus.usda.gov). Clair Allen oversees aspects of the state's organic certification program. David Bell is owner/operator of Bell Organic Farms in Draper, Utah. He explains the production and marketing of his organic food products.

April 30

May 1

May 4

• Status update of the State's financial future with Well Fargo Chief Economist, Kelly Matthews, and Kendell Oliphant of Zions First National Bank.

• KUED 7 Producer, Nancy Green, and Northwestern Shoshone Band Chairman, Bruce Parry, discuss the documentary We Shall Remain: The Northwestern Shoshone.

May 5

• Diane Alston, USU Extension Entomologist, is in studio to talk about insects, both beneficial and harmful, are what are the best control methods, including the latest organic controls.

May 6

• We start out with an insider's view of the current Swine Flu out break. Tom Williams will host a conversation with retired Utah State University Professor Robert Sidwell, who founded USU's Institute for Antiviral Research.

• We speak with Christopher McDougal, author of the new book Born to Run, A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen.

May 7

• Lynn Blodgett is a Utah native and CEO of Affiliated Computer Systems, a Fortune 500 company, and an avid photographer. For three years, in his travels around the United States, he took photographs of homeless people. In the process he became an advocate for the homeless. His recent book of photographs is: Finding Grace—The Face of America’s Homeless. He tells some stories of the people he’s met, gives us an idea of who is homeless in America, and tells us what we can do to help (http://findinggracehomeless.org). At the end of the hour we talk with Lloyd Pendleton, Director of Utah’s Homeless Task Force.

May 8

• U.S. Senator Bob Bennett is the guest during the first half of Access Utah. Then, during the second half of the program Fair Boundaries Coalition member and former state representative Merrill Nelson talks about his group's petition to establish an independent redistricting commission. Utah House Speaker David Clark joins us to defend the legislature's right to redistrict.

May 11

• How do you prune raspberries? How and when should you thin the fruit on your trees? Can you really grow boysenberries in Utah? These and other questions will be answered by USU Extension Fruit Specialist Brent Black joins host Bryan Earl for the entire hour.

May 12

• Lee Austin speaks first with guitar virtuoso Dan Crary, a veteran recording artist, musical collaborator and educator. Crary will be performing in Logan this weekend.

• A conversation with Salt Lake City lawyer Aaron Tarin, who specializes in immigration law. He's representing several people who helped a criminal investigation and now face deportation.

May 13

May 14

May 15

• During the first half of the program Tom Williams talks with Pennsylvania Author and Naturalist Scott Weidensaul about his most recent book Of A Feather:A Brief History of American Birding.

• During the second half of the program, Land Use, Transportation, and Economic Development plans for Cache Valley will be presented during a series of community workshops sponsored by Envision Utah.

May 18

• Two guests join host Bryan Earl for the entire hour. USU Extension Plant Pathologist Kent Evans and Extension Soils Specialist Grant Cardon will discuss the diseases and pathogens, both air and soilborne, that can attack vegetables, fruits, and landscaping plants.

May 19

• Deseret News political columnists La Varr Webb and Frank Pignanelli discuss the weekend announcement that Governor Huntsman is leaving Utah to become ambassador to China.

• Nick Wilkes, Larry McKown and Rebecca Heal talk about the 30th anniversary celebration for Z-Arts, one of the state's oldest community arts organizations, in Springdale.

May 20

• Richard Davis, a Professor of Political Science at BYU talks about his new book: Typing Politics, the Role of Blogs in American Politics.

• Host Lee Austin speaks with three guests about the future of the College of Eastern Utah: CEU President Mike King, Utah Commissioner of Higher Education William Sederburg, and former CEU President Mike Petersen.

May 21

• Civil Disobedience as an act of opposition to federal land issues during the first half of the program with USU Philosophy Professor Richard Sherlock and Shawna Cox who organized a group of ATV riders in Kane County. She, along with Representative Mike Noel, will discuss why they chose to ride in protest on BLM land they say should be accessible to the public.

• The federal government has awarded the state of Utah with nine hundred thousand dollars for programs to help law enforcement officers better identify and support human trafficking victims. U.S. Attorney for Utah, Brett Tolman and Susan Ritter and Jeana Bellazatin of the Utah Health and Human Rights Project during the second half of Access Utah.

May 22

• Graduate students are learning how to design and build a sustainable house, often using scavenged materials for Navajo families on the Navajo Indian reservation near Bluff, Utah. The program is called DesignBuildBluff. Founder Hank Lewis believes exposure to the Navajo people and their culture provides one of the most valuable lessons of the program, compassion. Guests in this show include Hank Lewis, Professor of Architecture at the University of Utah, Brenda Sheer, Dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Utah, Ella Daizey, Director of the Indian Walk-In Center in Salt Lake City, and Michael Dietz, Assistant Professor in the College of Natural Resources, Utah State University.

May 25

• Memorial Day

May 26

• Brent Jeffs, a nephew of imprisoned FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs, talks about his new book Lost Boy.

• Two candidates to become the next Utah Republican Party Chair, Dave Dave Hansen and Steve Harmsen, discuss the future of the G.O.P in Utah. Republican delegates will select their next leader at the party’s annual convention June 13 in Layton.

May 27

• University of Utah Law Professor Amy Wildermuth and BYU Associate Professor of Law RonNell Andersen Jones talk about the nomination of federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Salt Lake Tribune reporter Matt Canham talks about his recent story concerning a potential new direction in the contentious debate over BLM wilderness in Utah.

May 28

• During the first half hour, Gary Straquadine, new Dean and Executive Director of Utah State University’s Tooele Regional Campus joins host Kerry Bringhurst as well as Susan Egbert and LaShawn Williams who are faculty members in the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology.

• In the second half of the program, Colleen Johnson, Tooele County Commissioner, Christopher Thomas of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, and State Representative James R. Gowans discuss issues regarding storage of nuclear waste in Utah’s West Dessert.

May 29

• Science Unwrapped: "The Superhero's Universe: Observing The Cosmos with X-Ray Vision and Beyond" with USU Physics Professor Michelle Larson.

• During the second half of the program Dr. David York, Director of the Utah State University Center for Advanced Nutrition discusses obesity.

June 1

• Marion Murray, project leader for USU Integrated Pest Management, discusses the IPM advisories and plant diseases.

• Extension Soil Specialist, Grant Cardon, returns to discuss the benefits of backyard composting. For more tips go to garden.usu.edu

June 2

• A full hour examining the impacts of the economic downturn on the arts in Utah, including the recently announced request by Utah Festival Opera for an additional 400 thousand dollars in taxpayer support. Guests include Scott Philips and Michael Bar of the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Heather Farrell of the Salt Lake Art Center, Michael Ballam of Utah Festival Opera, Lynette Hiskey of the Utah Arts Council, and George Wanlass of the Katherine Wanlass Foundation.

June 3

• A discussion about Islamic culture and practices with Ghulam Hasnain. Hasnain will give a presentation on the topic this weekend at the Utah State University Museum of Anthropology.

• Mick Fleetwood, drummer and co-founder of the legendary rock group Fleetwood Mac. He arrived early in Salt Lake City, the day before the groups concert, promoting one of his other businesses: wine. Fleetwood also spoke with Lee Austin.

June 4

• New credit card rules soon go into effect. Tom Williams talks about the new rules and credit cards in general with Jan Andersen, Family Resource Management Extension Specialist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Consumer and Human Development at USU.

• Kerry Bringhurst’s guest is Kelly Hubbard. Their subject is laser dermatology.

June 5

• The creator of the Franklin Day Planner and member of Northern Utah's Festival Opera Advisory Board, Hyrum W. Smith, talks with Tom Williams.

• Logan City Marks One Hundred and Fifty Years with Sesquicentennial Celebration. Local historians Kenneth Godfrey and Darrin Smith join Logan City Councilman Jay Monson during the second half of the program.

June 8

• Diane Alston, Extension Entomologist, is in studio for the entire hour. Integrated Pest Management (IPM for short) is the hot topic. Both chemical and natural controls for aphids, ants, coddling moth and raspberry horntail wasps (among other insects) are discussed.

June 9

• Eric Westervelt, NPR’s European Correspondent, Foreign Desk, live in studio. Eric joins host Lee Austin for the full hour. Westervelt recently wrapped up a multi-year assignment in the Middle East covering Israel and the Palestinian Territories. He took up his new position as a Berlin-based European Correspondent for NPR in May 2009.

June 10

• A new study commissioned by the National Parks Conservation Association shows the link between Southern Utah’s Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, and Hovenweep and Natural Bridges National Monuments, and the economies of Grand and San Juan Counties. Lee Austin discusses the study with the NCPA’s David Nimkin.

• Lee Austin speaks with writer and traveler Lavinia Spalding. She combines her passions in the new book: Writing Away: A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal Writing Traveler.

June 11

• State public health officials are reaching out to users of legal drugs in an effort to reduce the number of addictions and prescription overdose deaths. Utah Representative Brad Daw and Erin Johnson of the Utah Health Department join Marjean Searcy of the SLC Police Department to discuss what the state is doing to curb the number of overdose deaths in Utah.

• Suzanne Pierce-Moore has been named chair of the USU Board of Trustees. Moore and Vice President for University Advancement Ross Peterson discuss fundraising at the university's during the second half of the program.

June 12

• Research at the University of Utah suggests addiction is a disease in the brain and the treatment paradigm is starting to shift. In the program we find out how drug addiction changes the brain. Guests include, Glen Hanson, director of the Utah Addiction Center, Patrick Flemming, director of Salt Lake County Substance Abuse Services, and an addict in the throes of addiction.

June 15

• Utah State University Weber County Horticulture Agent Jerry Goodspeed joins Bryan Earl for the entire hour to offer advice on late spring gardening issues.

June 16

• Live from the Stein-Erickson Lodge in Deer Valley where governor's from the western states are gathered for the Western Governor's Conference, this is Access Utah. For the next hour Utah Public Radio provides an overview of issues discussed by western governor's including thier ideas on ways to produce clean and diversified energy. Lt. Governor Gary Herbert and Utah Governor Jon Huntsman's Energy Advisor, Dianne Neilson, join us this morning to outline policy recommendations by Western Govenor's to promote energy effeciency. During the second half, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the U.S. Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Dr. Susan Shirk, is this morning's keynote speaker at the conference. She joins us to discuss ways national governments can foster international cooperation on energy and environment. Access Utah is live in Park City during the Western Governor's Conference.

June 17

• Today we are joining Sheri Quinn live at craters of the moon national monument and preserve in south central Idaho. The park is an ocean of lava flows that first erupted 15,000 years ago and Apollo astronauts trained here in 1969 to prepare for their trip to the moon. Joining us to talk about the park, our relationship to the environment and global climate change from a western and a Native American perspective are geologist Scott Hughs from Idaho State University, Ed Galindo, a scientist from the University of Idaho in Moscow, and James Johnsen, a geoscience graduate from the University of Montana.

June 18

• In 1937 Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier is Drawn into a world of abduction, betrayal and intrigue, in Alan Furst’s latest novel The Spies of Warsaw. Alan Furst is acclaimed as one of the foremost writers of historical espionage fiction and he’s traveling in support of the paperback release of The Spies of Warsaw. He’ll be at The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City this evening at 1900 and he’s our guest in the first half today.

• Kerry Bringhurst’s guest in the second half is Carlos Licon, assistant professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at USU. He’s giving the HASS hour timepiece today titled: The Elusive Concept of Sustainability: Can we find it along the U.S. Mexico border?

June 19

• From our downtown studios, we preview the 2009 season of Utah Festival Opera in the first half, with Michael Ballam, Vanessa Ballam and Karen Keltner. And we hear music from Camelot, Carmen, The Mikado, Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci.

• Kerry Bringhurst takes Access Utah to downtown Logan where the city's art's celebration, Summerfest, continues through Saturday. Joining her at the Logan Tabernacle site will be Summerfest featured artist and Cache Valley native Sean Wallis. Then she talks with photographer Alan Huestis. Strolling through the sites and sounds of Summerfest during Friday's Access Utah.

June 22

• First, Master Griller and author of The Barbecue Bible, Steven Raichlen and the ultimate grilling menu.

• With all the rain our lawns have received, it should be doing well, right? Yes, it’s green but other problems come along with the moisture. Kelly Kopp, USU Extension Water Conservation and Turfgrass Specialist discusses turfgrass issues in the 2nd half hour.

June 23

• This program originated from the Utah State University Education Center in Moab. Our first guests are Emily Niehaus, President, and Delite Primus, Board Member, of the group "Community Rebuild." Then a conversation with Grand County Extension Director and Agent Michael Johnson. Lastly, an update on Moab news from the Managing Editor of the Times Independent of Moab, Lisa Church.

June 24

• We are coming to you again from Moab hosted by the USU Moab Education Center. May Utahns live in communities or areas remote from the USU campus but still want the benefits of higher education…that’s what they are doing here and they have plans to expand. We’ll talk with the southeast region executive director Steve Hawks at the start of the program. Later, beetles attack…the work to biologically control the invasive Tamarisk along the Colorado River has been very effective and now what comes next. Kara Dohrenwend addresses the issue. Lastly, we’ll wrap up our Moab visit with Mayor Dave Sakrison, also known as "Mayor Dave.

June 25

• Our guest in the first half is singer Maureen McGovern. Her hits include The Morning After and Can You Read My Mind. Her latest CD is a collection of classic songs from the 60s and 70s called A Long and Winding Road. Maureen McGovern will appear with Craig Jessop and the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra in concerts in Logan, Idaho Falls and Sun Valley on July 1-3.

• In the second half our guests are James Aton and Brad Miller author and photographer, respectively, of the book: The River Knows Everything—Desolation Canyon and the Green about a canyon that is deeper at its deepest than the Grand Canyon and better preserved than most of the Colorado River system.

June 26

• Astronomer Mark Sykes joins host Tom Williams to discuss planet classification.

• This month's nutrition segment includes details about changes to the federal Women, Infants, and Children program. Kerry Bringhurst will also talk with USU Nutrition and Food Science Researcher, Korry Hintze, about dietary supplements and the supplement industry.

June 29

• Mark Anderson, owner of Anderson Seed and Garden in Logan, spent the entire hour with UPR’s Bryan Earl. Items discussed included fertilization of vegetables and flowering containers, and current insect problems and their control, including the safety and effectiveness of the biological control agent, Spinosad.

June 30

• A conversation with Michael Spooner of Logan, author of the new book: Entrapment: A High School Comedy in Chat published by Simon & Schuster.

• The Utah Shakespearean Festival opened its summer season this week in Cedar City. We’ll hear from Scott Phillips, since 2007, the festival’s Executive Director.

July 1

• Utah’s controversial Senate Bill 81, an attempt to discourage illegal immigration, officially took effect today. We spend the full hour talking about immigration policy and the new Utah law. Our guests are: Eli Cawley-Utah Minutemen Project Leo Bravo-Director, Logan Multicultural Center Victor Rodriguez-Missionaries for Compassion Toward Immigrants Former State Senator Bill Hickman Ignacio Garcia-BYU History Professor Dee Rowland-Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City

July 2

• Radio Lab is part of some program changes set to go into effect next week on Utah Public Radio. Utah Public Radio General Manager Cathy Ives joins us to talk about program changes, the results of the latest online survey, some upcoming events, and plans for new stations and signals.

• In the second half Utah health officials say the swine flu outbreak in the state may have reached its peak at least for now. Kerry Bringhurst talks with USU Anti-viral researcher Dr. Donald Smee about efforts to prepare for the spread of the virus which is expected to increase in the fall and winter.

July 3

• July 4th Holiday. No new Access Utah.

July 6

• Ticks and grasshoppers and aphids. . .Oh, my! Host Bryan Earl is joined by Extension Entomologist, Diane Alston, for the entire hour. Learn how to control aphids and grasshoppers, and how to keep this year’s abundant tick population from hitching a ride on you.

July 7

• Utah State University Professor of Political Science William Furlong discusses the recent military – backed coup in Honduras.

• Hal Cannon, Founding Director of the Western Folklife Center talks about cowboy poetry, and the new exhibit at the USU Merrill Cazier Library: Books and Buckaroos.

July 8

• John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Authority joins us in the first half to discuss new findings from their scientific survey of Utah small businesses and their attitudes about health care reform and rising costs.

• World acclaimed composer and arranger Patrick Williams is participating in this years Salt Lake City Jazz Festival. Mr. Williams is the recipient of numerous Emmy Awards, Academy Award nominations, and Pulitzer Prize nominee. He is our guest in the second half.

July 9

• Kerry Bringhurst talks with Sally Keller about Fair Trade practices in Nepal and to Utahn John Collinson, the youngest westerner to have ever climbed Mt. Everest.

• Later Tom Williams talks with NPR Science Correspondent Robert Krulwich about our new program “Radio Lab.”

July 10

• Science Questions with Sheri Quinn. This episode takes a look at some successes and failures of space travel. In the first half Sheri talks with former Thiokol Rocket Engineer Allen McDonald about the 1986 Challenger disaster. Later, NASA Astronaut James Newman discusses the successes of the NASA Space Shuttle program.

July 13

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• In the second half of Access Utah Roger Kjelgren, USU Professor of Landscape Horticulture and a contributing author to the new book Landscaping on the New Frontier, talks with host Bryan Earl about how to plan an implement a waterwise landscape. See more information about Roger's book here.

July 14

• This morning on Access Utah, UPR's engineer Friend Weller speaks with recreational astronomer Lyle Johnson about what there is to see in the summer sky - both at night AND during the daytime. They are joined by astro-physics professor Shane Larson who will talk about what we can learn from the sky by listening. Larson is actually building a radio telescope in his backyard which he hopes to complete later this summer.

• Lee Austin speaks with historian and author Jan Shipps, described as the leading non-Mormon scholar of the LDS faith. Shipps recently published a book entitled Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years Among the Mormons.

July 15

• Deseret News columnist Ray Grass discusses his recent article Top Ten Recreation Opportunities in Utah. Commentary by Thad Box

• Bill Brunson of the Internal Revenue Service talks with Kerry Bringhurst about summertime tax tips.

July 16

• First a conversation with one of the world’s great opera singers, American mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade , who is singing with the Symphony on Friday. Ms. Von Stade has sung in the great opera houses of the world, recorded more than 30 albums, and has been involved in some fun projects such as a recording with Garrison Keillor.

• In the second half today we talk with Camila Hedren from Stockholm. She is a founding member of the Abba tribute band Waterloo. They are performing with the Symphony on Saturday.

July 17

• A bottle of Tylenol and a spiritual experience at the Saddleback Church in California launched NPR religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty on a personal and professional journey to examine the intersection of science and faith. The result is her new book: Fingerprints of God: the Search for the Science of Spirituality. In the book she wrestles with such questions as: can science explain God? Is spiritual experience real or delusional? Can thoughts and prayers affect the body? Are there realities that we can experience but not necessarily measure? Along the way she met some fascinating people: scientists and seekers, mystics and recovering addicts, sat through an all-night Navajo Peyote ceremony, donned a "God Helmet" and lay in a brain scanner while a minister prayed for her. Through it all she shares with us her own journey of faith. Barbara Bradley Hagerty is our guest for the entire hour today.

July 20

• Do I need roosters for eggs? How do I keep my chickens happy, healthy, and laying? How do I keep them comfortable during the winter? David Frame, USU Extension Poultry Specialist, is in studio for the entire hour to discuss all things chicken.

July 21

• Tom Williams talks with Pat Mulroy, Director of the Southern Nevada Water Authority about climate change and water in the West.

• Lee Austin hosts a discussion about the growing number of farmers markets in Utah. Cache Valley alone now has three different markets.

July 22

• On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Tom Williams talks with former NASA Astronaut and Utah native, Don Lind. Essayist Gina Wickwar recalls where she was during the first Moon landing - Alaska.

• Lee Austin hosts a discussion on the dispute between radio broadcasters, and the music and recording industry, over a proposed new "performance rights fee."

July 23

• Friend Weller speaks with Dr. Bryce Fifiled from the Center for Persons with Disabilities at USU and undergraduate research student Kimberli Harrison on Disabilities Amongst the Pioneers.

July 24

• Members of the International Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum Maureen Smith and Diane Wheeler tell stories from the pioneer trail as revealed from museum treasures such as historic buttons and pianos.

• Carol Pia talks about pioneer medicine and how it continues to influence herbal remedies in Utah today.

July 27

• Cache Valley Dermatologist Kelly Hubbard discusses summer skin care and the latest in clothing and other products useful in helping prevent sun damage and disease.

• Your name may not be Mary, but your garden may be growing contrarily. Host Bryan Earl speaks with Weber County Horticulture Extension Agent, Jerry Goodspeed. Learn about leaf scorch, ground covers, and listen to other listener’s questions in the second half of Access Utah

July 28

• Friend Weller talks with members and staff of the Casper Troopers Drum and Bugle Corp during rehearsal at the Mountain Crest High School football field prior to competing at the Corps Encore competition in Ogden.

• Lee Austin talks with two Utah law professors, Amy Wildermuth of the University of Utah, and RoNell Anderson Jones of BYU, about the pending Senate vote on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

July 29

• Zion National Park is celebrating "A Century of Sanctuary." A variety of activities take place this week to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the park. Lee Austin hosts the discussion.

• Then, a preview of the new PBS TV series "Time Team America." This week's episode takes place at Utah's "Range Creek" archeology site.

July 30

• There were two things Art Williams never had enough of growing up poor on Chicago’s South Side: his father, who left the family when he was 11, and money. His quest for both would merge at the age of 16, when his mom’s boyfriend—a master counterfeiter—instructed him in the age-old criminal craft. Art would go on to become one of the most skilled counterfeiters of the last 25 years, creating a near-perfect replica of the most secure US bill ever made: the 1996 New Note. The success brought him a lifestyle he had only dreamed about as a child, but he risked everything in an attempt to reconnect with the father who had left him long ago. We'll talk with Jason Kersten author of The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter. Mr. Kersten will be appearing at the King's English Book Store.

• Last year there were more than 13 million new refugees in the world. The United States is resettling more refugees from war-torn Burma (some ten thousand) than from any other country except Iraq. Dozens of them are in Utah facing severe culture shock, language barriers, and readjustment after years in refugee camps. We'll talk with Hser Doh also known as "Chapter," and with Alex Mortensen, who volunteers with Cache Valley's English Language Center, one of the organizations helping the refugees.

July 31

• In the summer of 2008, MIT announced a breakthrough in solar-power technology: Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is expensive and inefficient. MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy. This discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31, 2008 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon." Daniel Nocera was in Logan in August for a lecture at USU. We talked with him then and we'll hear that conversation again on today's Access Utah.

• Robert Ward, from the Center for Advanced Nutrition and assistant professor of nutrition and food science at USU, is our guest in the second half. We'll talk about essential and non-essential nutrients, dietary supplements, and unique sugars found in breast milk. How is mother's milk different from cow's milk and from infant formula?

August 3

• Keeping good insects around is a lot easier than trying to get them there in the first place. Bryan Earl spends the entire hour with USU Extension Entomologist, Diane Alston, discussing the different ways to encourage beneficial insects, like lady beetles and lacewings, to spend more time in your garden.

August 4

• Friend Weller speaks with micro-housing builder Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company about the advantages and benefits of living in an entire house not much bigger than an average bathroom.

• Lee Austin talks about the controversial Lionsback Resort development in Moab. Moab City Councilman Rob Sweeten supports the project, John Weisheit from the group “Living Rivers” opposes it.

August 5

August 6

• Christopher Cokinos traveled to Greenland and Antarctica for his new book: The Fallen Sky-An Intimate History of Shooting Stars which is travelogue and memoir, a meditation on obsession and meaning. Fallen Sky introduces us to some fascinating people: a famous polar explorer who risked the lives of his crew in a quest for a massive iron meteorite, a mining engineer who popularized the idea that craters could be caused by meteors, a professor who opened the first meteorite museum, a Kansas farming family whose land seemed like a magnet for meteorites, and a man who stole a 15-ton meteorite. Cokinos says in the book: “We go out hunting meteorites, and some of us find ourselves as well.” We learn about his personal journey.

August 7

August 10

• A tree “fruiting” itself to death? It is possible given the genetics of today’s fruit trees. Through the years, varieties have been selected for their ability to bear fruit; too much fruit and not enough roots can kill the tree. Brent Black, USU Extention Fruit Tree Specialist, discusses this and other topics in addition to your questions.

August 11

• Tom Williams speaks with NPR's rural affairs correspondent, Howard Berkes.

• Lee Austin talks with Pamela Perlich, senior research economist with the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

August 12

• Lee Austin talks with Dan Skyler, from the Utah Office of Consumer Health Services, and Norm Thurston, policy analyst with the Utah Department of Health, for the entire hour about Utah's health exchange, which is going to be launched next week.

August 13

• In the first half of the program today our guest is one of the speakers at today’s Health Disparities conference in Salt Lake City, Jann Jackson from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Her talk is titled Emerging Health Disparities Policies and Their Effect on Children and Families.

• Today UPR began broadcasting Integrating Islam, the latest program in PRI’s foreign affairs series America Abroad. And we’ll talk with a host of the program: Ray Suarez. Ray Suarez is also a senior correspondent for PBS’ The Newshour and was the first host of Talk of the Nation on NPR.

August 14

• In light of the recent visits to Africa by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, host Tom Williams revisits a conversation he had in March 2008 with Stephen Lewis, expert on Africa. He is currently Social Science Scholar-in-Residence at McMaster University, having recently completed his term as United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

August 17

• Lee Austin fills in for Bryan Earl and hosts the gardening portion of Access Utah. His guest for the first half of the program is Jerry Goodspeed, Weber County Horticulture Agent for USU Extension.

• In the second half, Lee speaks to, Sid Perks, former USU Theater Department Head and director Caine Lyric Theater. Sid is also the author of a new book, Silent Passing.

August 18

• In the first half of the program Lee Austin speaks with Jacqueline Berger, author of a new book Loves, Lies, and Tears An Intimate Look At America's First Ladies. The book uncovers the true individuals behind the public faces of the women who became Presidential spouses.

• In the second half author David Ebershoff joins Lee via telephone, from his home in New York City, to discuss his new book The 19th Wife.

August 19

• In the first half hour Dianne Siegfreid, president elect of the Utah Scottish Association and one of the chief organizers of the inaugural Cache Valley Celtic Festival, joins Lee Austin.

• In the second half Corey Milne, from the Great Salt Lake Minerals Corporation, and Scott Dwire, president of the board of directors of Friends of the Great Salt Lake, offer differing points of view on the proposed project to expand the solar evaporation ponds of the northwest shore of the Great Salt Lake.

August 20

• Helen Thayer, one of the world’s great explorers, has faced arctic storms and polar bears, observed wolves in the Northwest Territories and overcome injuries sustained in a car accident to walk across the Gobi desert. When she was nine years old she climbed Mt. Taranaki in her native New Zealand with her parents and a girlhood neighbor: Sir Edmund Hilary. Helen Thayer was the first woman to travel alone to the magnetic North Pole. She was the first woman to walk across the Sahara and Gobi deserts, and has been honored by the White House, National Geographic and NPR. With her husband Bill, Helen Thayer instituted a program called Enduring Cultures in which they traveled from village to village in Alaska gathering information about Native cultures in Alaska. She was in Salt Lake City recently as a part of her Adventure Classroom project, talking to children about her adventures and teaching lessons about goal-setting, planning and perseverance.

August 21

• Elva Treviño Hart says that in her whole childhood she never had a bed. As the youngest of six children born to migrant farm workers she was always on the cot or pallet. Her book Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child tells the story of the family’s travels between south Texas and Minnesota in search of work, work in which the entire family engaged, seven days a week. It is also the story of a girl’s passion for learning which would eventually lead her to a very different life: college and a career with IBM. Elva Treviño Hart is at USU today and tomorrow as a part of USU’s Common Literature Experience.

August 24

• Does your turf have the summer blues? Hot temperatures, insects, pathogens...and mowing too low, can all combine to alter the look and health of your lawn. Kelly Kopp, USU Extension Water Conservation and Turfgrass specialist is our guest for the entire hour.

August 25

• Access Utah in Moab. Lee Austin speaks with Michael Barrett, pianist, co-founder, and music director of the Moab Music Festival. Now in its 17th year, the Festival opens next week with concerts at a variety of locations in and around Moab, including outdoor "Grotto" performances. Also, Karla VanderZanden, President of the Moab-based Canyonlands Field Institute talks about her organization's 25th anniversary celebration. The program originates from Utah State University's Education Center in Moab.

August 26

• In the first half today we talk with Senator Bob Bennett about health care reform. Sen. Bennett hopes that when Congress returns from recess the Wyden-Bennett bill will become the template for the debate. Wyden-Bennett, which Sen. Bennett sponsored with Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, attracted some bi-partisan support last year and has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office as revenue-neutral. We’ll talk about Wyden-Bennett and health care reform in general.

• In the second half, Lee Austin talks with Department of Energy Federal Project Director Donald Metzler about relocation of the Atlas uranium tailings pile near Moab. That effort has been accelerated by Federal economic stimulus funds and is now estimated to be completed by 2025 and maybe even by 2022.

August 27

• In the first half today we’ll preview a National Geographic channel program called the Human Family Tree. We’ll talk with the program host, population geneticist Spencer Wells. He’s also director of National Geographic’s Genographic project, which is seeking to chart the migratory history of humans, using DNA.

• In the second half today we’ll meet Peruvian shaman and curandero or healer Oscar Miro-Quesada. He’s the founder of the Heart of the Healer Foundation and will be leading a workshop called Sacred Space, Urban Grace in Logan September 5 through 7.

August 28

• Two University of Utah biologists started a drug discovery program in Panama in the 1990s to search for new pharmaceuticals in the jungle. But their main goal was to save the rapidly disappearing rain forests where they collected their plant samples. They’ve accomplished both. Their team of researchers has now identified a potential novel cancer drug which helped protect a small biologically diverse island called Coi-ba. Sheri Quinn reports.

August 31

• Weber County Extension Horticulture Specialist Jerry Goodspeed will cover the basics of installing a lawn, whether it be by seed or sod. We will also talk about various groundcovers.

September 1

• Today on Access Utah, Tom Williams speaks with performance artist Jose Torres-Tama, who is the first participant in Crossing Boundaries, a year-long project at Utah State University.

• Then, Lee Austin speaks with Jay Jacobson, M.D., about the important but difficult art of apologizing. Jacobson has developed a presentation for the Utah Humanities Council entitled: The Anatomy of Apology.

September 2

• Lee Austin speaks with Bradley Cook, the new Provost at Southern Utah University, about higher education in Utah in a time of budget cuts, and about his recent work as Director of the Abu Dhabi Women's College in the United Arab Emirates.

• Laurie Collins and Jen Sadoff talk about a partnership in Moab that involves an October writing conference, and the Moab Youth Garden Project.

September 3

• Japanese voters have elected to end fifty four years of party rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. Tom Williams talks with BYU Associate Professor Ray Christensen and University of Utah Professor Ronald Hrebenar about the shift in Japanese politics.

• Access Utah Host Kerry Bringhurst shares details of her recent trip to Japan. She introduces us to Tetsu Miyazaki who did an exchange to Logan, Utah 27 years ago before establishing the UTREK Japanese Exchange program.

September 4

• Cell phone distractions cause 2,600 traffic deaths every year according to a 2003 Harvard study, and a 2007 NHTSA study found that at any time during daylight hours, 11 percent (1.8 million) drivers were using a cellphone. A recent series of articles in the New York Times, under the title of Driven to Distraction has shone a spotlight on the problem of distracted driving, including texting and talking on a cell phone while driving. And in Utah, we have had several recent tragic cases which have focused our attention on the problem. On the program today we talk about distracted driving with the author of the New York Times series, reporter Matt Richtel. Our guests also include University of Utah Professor David Strayer, who has done studies on the effects of using a cell phone while driving, Terryl Warner, Coordinator of Victim Services for Cache County, Anne McCartt, Senior Vice President for Research with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and Brent Wilhite, Program Director for Zero Fatalities. And we hear some audio from a video produced by Zero Fatalities which warns of the dangers of texting while driving.

September 7

• Labor Day - No Access Utah

September 8

• This week marks the one year anniversary of the collapse of the venerable Wall Street firm Lehaman Brothers and the start of a national and international economic crisis. Lee Austin opens the program with State Senator Lyle Hillyard of Logan, Co-Chairman of the Utah Legislature’s Executive Appropriations Committee, looking down the road to next year’s Utah Budget. Will there be more job cuts and furloughs, tax hikes, or both?

• Then Richard Erb, Ph.D, will discuss “The Global Financial Crisis: Toward Sustainable Recovery.” Erb is a professor at the University of Montana, and is giving a presentation next week in Salt Lake City.

September 9

• Alan Ormsby, director of the Utah Division of Services for People with Disabilities discusses changes in the way the organization delivers services and how they are dealing with budget cuts from the Utah Legislature.

• Later, N1H1 Swine flu is the topic up for discussion. Dr. Ed Redd and Keith Larsen from the Bear River Health Department talk about prospects for the fall, how schools are preparing, and the vaccine.

September 10

• In the first half our subject is writing family history from artifacts. That’s the title of a workshop to be given by USU associate professor of English, Evelyn Funda in Brigham City on the 19th. We’ll also talk with professor Funda about her forthcoming memoir: Weeds: a Farm Daughter’s Lament.

• Utah-based singer-songwriter Kate MacLeod’s new CD Blooming will be released later this month and she’ll perform as a part of the Bridger Folk Music Society Series at Crumb Brothers bakery in Logan on the 19th. She is our guest in the second half today.

September 11

• On this September 11th and with Constitution Day next week we’ll talk about constitutional issues today. In the first half our guests are two Salt Lake City based lawyers who represent detainees at Guantanamo Bay. They are Betsy Haws who works for Snell & Wilmer in Salt Lake City and Scott Wilson who is an assistant federal defender.

• In the second half we’ll talk about the difference between the constitution as a text and the constitution as a living culture. We’ll talk with Ken Kersch, director of the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College. He’s giving a lecture at BYU next week.

September 14

• Thrips, mites, and girdlers. . .while sounding like the latest names for rock groups, there's nothing musical about the damage these insects can exact on your plants. Diane Alston, USU Extension Entomologist spends the entire hour with host, Bryan Earl.

September 15

• Lee Austin talks with freelance reporter John McChesney about his many assignments at National Public Radio. McChesney began at NPR before most people had heard of the network.

• Later, Marian Wardle, curator of American Art at the BYU Museum of Art talks about the western-themed paintings of her grandmother Minerva Teichert. One of those paintings can be found at the Cache County Courthouse.

September 16

• Utah Symphony Concertmaster Gerald Elias has long been a fan of the mystery novel. Now he’s authored one. It’s called Devil’s Trill, and the story involves classical music, greed, lust, power, and a missing Stradivarius. Elias is our guest in the first half of our program.

• Then Lee Austin talks with Utah State University President Stan Albrecht about his "State of the University" address yesterday. Albrecht outlines USU’s plans to deal with an expected 13 million dollar budget shortfall.

September 17

• With the health care reform debate heating up, we’ve been talking to some of the major players and today we’ll talk with Rob Ence from AARP of Utah.

• In the second half my guest is Japanese American artist Roger Shimomura whose experience in a World War II internment camp informs some of his work. He was also involved in a documentary film called The Cats of Mirikitani, which will be shown Friday evening at USU.

September 18

• Toilets have been around since prehistoric times. They are a critical chapter in the history of human hygeine. Lack of a clean public toilet system can lead to health hazards and epidemics. Diarrhea is the main culprit killing children around the world everyday. Underdeveloped countries suffer the most from poor sanitation. On today’s show, Science Questions explores the history of toilets and travels to New Delhi in India and talks to Dr. Bindeswar Patahk who invented a sustainable public toilet system now in use throughout the world. Author Rose George joins us from the UK to discuss her book The Big Necessity, The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters. Back at home, we hear about something called “poogloo” and Utah State University enginner Ron Sims tells us about Logan’s green wastewater treatment project and how engineers are turning sewage waste into biofuel.

September 21

• Does that patch of field bindweed have you down? If you haven’t had success with suppressing it in the past, it may be your timing. Now is the season to control it. Ralph Whitesides, USU Extension Weed Specialist, is our guest for the entire hour.

September 22

• Adolf Hungry-Wolf is our guest in the first half. He has written a four-volume history of the Blackfoot Indian people, called the Blackfoot Papers. And he has not only written about the Blackfoot, he has lived among them for decades, married a Blackfoot woman, and raised his family according to their traditions. He’ll be at Ken Sanders rare books in Salt Lake City tomorrow.

• In the second half Friend Weller talks with four USU students who help operate Fusion HD3 the USU student radio station. Friend will talk with station manager Jon Allen, program director Jordan Allred, music director April Larsen, and engineer Dave Hall.

September 23

• Shane Graham writes in his new book: South African Literature After the Truth Commission—Mapping Loss that the truth commission’s final report "rather than allowing South Africa to close the book on the past…helped make possible the continued writing and re-writing of that book." Shane Graham is associate professor of English at USU and will give a lecture tomorrow at USU on this topic. And he’s our guest for the hour. We’ll talk about apartheid, the truth commission and South Africa today.

September 24

• In the first half we’ll talk with Handcart winner William B. Smart about the biography of his ancestor titled Mormonism’s Last Colonizer—The Life and Times of William H. Smart. The elder Smart was instrumental in the settling of the Uintah Basin in the early 1900s.

• In the second half we’ll talk to Evans Biography award winners Janet Chapman and Karen Barrie. Their book is Kenneth Milton Chapman—A Life Dedicated to Indian Arts and Artists. Kenneth Chapman went to New Mexico as a young man seeking to improve his health, stayed on, and was involved in the founding of many New Mexico institutions including the Laboratory of Anthropology, the Indian Market, and the Museum of New Mexico.

September 25

• Documentary film-maker Ken Burns’ films have included The Civil War, Jazz, and Baseball among many others. His new series The National Parks—America’s Best Idea begins on Sunday on many PBS stations including KUED. Ken Burns talks with Lee Austin in the first half today.

• My guest in the second half is former USU and Detroit Lions quarterback Eric Hipple, who is in Logan to participate in several homecoming activities. Eric Hipple’s recent book Real Men Do Cry talks about his son’s suicide and his own battle with depression.

September 28

• Today is the first of five special Access Utah programs on Utah’s National Parks, running the same week of the Ken Burns PBS special The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Today, Lee Austin has three interviews from Capitol Reef National Park. Cindy Micheli takes us on a tour of the park’s historic fruit orchards, Riley Mitchell talks about Capitol Reef geology, and Lee Kreutzer explores the area’s history.

September 29

• Today’s program features Zion National Park. Lee Austin takes a park "field trip" with Adrienne Fitzgerald, discusses park history with J.L. Crawford and Lyman Hafen, and photographer Michael Plyler offers suggestions for picture taking in Zion and other Utah National Parks. The Ken Burns Documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea continues this week on KUED at 7 and 11 p.m.

September 30

• Today's stop in our continuing series on Utah's national parks is Bryce Canyon in southwestern Utah. Bryce Canyon was designated a national park in 1928 and is now well known for a thriving astronomy program, spiral rock formations called hoodoos, and a growing crowd of international visitors. Guests include Bryce Canyon Park rangers Jan Stock and Kevin Poe and nearby rancher Charlie Francisco, who grew next to the park.

• During the second segment State Climatologist and Director of the Utah Climate Center, Robert Giles, shares his insight into world climate issues and comments on the human impacts on climate change.

October 1

• Lee Austin visits Arches National Park in Southeastern Utah. Paul Henderson, Asst. Superintendent for the Southeast Utah Group (Arches, Canyonlands, Hovenweep and Natural Bridges) talks about early visitors and more recent residents in the Moab area. Park guide Rob Lorenz leads a tour to the site of "Wall Arch," which collapsed last year and proves that geology in the park, "still happens." Also, Interpretive Ranger Lee Ferguson talks about the Wolfe Ranch, at the trailhead to Delicate Arch.

• In the second half Tom Williams speaks with Kathleen Flake, associate professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt University. She will give the fifteenth annual Arrington Mormon History Lecture this evening in Logan titled: The Emotional and Priestly Logic of Plural Marriage.

October 2

• In the last installment of our series on Utah's national parks, Lee Austin learns about one of the more unusual jobs in Canyonlands National Park, that of "River Ranger." Kyler Carpenter is one of those who patrols the Green and Colorado Rivers, monitoring park resources and helping boaters who get into trouble. Also, we learn how an early park superintendent at Arches, Bates Wilson, helped win designation of Canyonlands National Park.

• In the second half our guest is Michael Snyder, National Park Service Intermountain Regional Director. We’ll talk about the possibility of Cedar Breaks National Monument becoming a national park, encouraging minorities and people with disabilities to visit our national parks, and how climate change may affect the parks, among other topics.

October 5

• Kerry Bringhurst speaks with Mark Anderson of Anderson Seed and Garden about fall gardening activities, including how to have the most sweet, crisp carrots in the middle of winter, straight from the garden.

• In the second half, Kerry has a chat with Michael Lefevre, USTAR professor in the Center of Advanced Nutrition at Utah State University. He answers questions about the possible health benefits of drinking red wine.

October 6

• Friend Weller is first up, speaking with astrophysicist Shane Larsen and astronomer Lyle Johnson about the possible discovery of water on the moon, the "LCROSS" lunar orbiter, and this Friday’s scheduled impact with the lunar surface.

• Then Lee Austin speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo, about his new novel: That Old Cape Magic.

October 7

• Lee Austin speaks with Steve Curwood, executive producer and host of Living on Earth. Steve is our guest for the entire hour.

October 8

• Are you sniffling and sneezing with fall allergies? We’ll talk about it in the first half today with Dr. Jeffrey Bennion of Cache Valley ENT and The Allergy Clinic.

• Stem cells and medical ethics are two of our subjects in the second half. We’ll talk with Dr. Jeffrey Botkin, Chief of the University of Utah School of Medicine’s Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities. He has been appointed chairman of a new federal committee that will review requests for government funding for research using embryonic stem cells.

October 9

• Our guest in the first half is NPR Senior Analyst Daniel Schorr. He’ll be in Salt Lake City tomorrow along with journalist Roxana Saberi to give the annual McCarthey Family Foundation Lecture, speaking to the subject: Freedom of the Press: At What Cost? We’ll talk about the state of journalism and the latest news.

• In the second half our computer and technology expert Jonathan Choate will be here to answer your questions. We’ll talk about data security and what to consider when buying a new computer or deciding whether or not to keep your old computer.

October 12

• Spiders, grasshoppers, aphids, ants... they’re all discussed today on Access Utah. Extention Entemologist Diane Alston joins us for one last time before the winter snow flies.

October 13

• Lee Austin speaks with Sherman Alexie who is the author of numerous books of poetry, three story collections, and four novels. Alexie wrote and directed the film The Business of Fancydancing and also wrote the award-winning screenplay for Smoke Signals. He recently published a new book, War Dances.

October 14

• Lee Austin speaks with NPR's Carl Kasell for the entire hour.

October 15

• During the first half of our program Kerry Bringhurst talks with Egypt’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Sameh Shoukry, about Egypt and U.S. Relations. Ambassador Shoukry will also outline some of the challenges facing the U.S. and Egypt in dealing with issues in the Middle East.

• Utah’s Director of Veterans Affairs has been chosen to work with VA officials nationwide. Terry Schow discusses programs for veterans, the treatment of women in the military, and projects providing care for Utah’s aging servicemen and women.

October 16

• October is breast cancer awareness month. Science Questions explores the science of breast cancer, treatment strides and survivor stories. Our guests include oncologist Dr. Saundra Buys and researcher Phil Bernard from the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute, Chicago filmmaker Joanna Rudknick with clips from her PBS documentary called In the Family, and breast cancer survivor Mary Lyn Linford.

October 19

• From dividing perennials to wrapping fruit trees, USU Extension Horticulturist Jerry Goodspeed discusses the important tasks to complete to winterize your garden in the first half of the program today.

• In the second half today Tom Williams talks with Jimmy Santiago Baca, whose just-published novel: A Glass of Water is a tale of immigration, family, ambition, loyalty and revenge, set in the southwest borderlands. He'll be at the Utah Humanities Book Festival in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

October 20

• Lee Austin speaks with two writers who will be featured at this weekend’s Utah Humanities Book Festival in Salt Lake City. Seattle writer Jason Whitmarsh is the author of Tomorrow’s Living Room, a poetry collection published by Utah State University Press and winner of the 2009 May Swenson Poetry Award. Michael Cunningham received the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Hours. He’s also the author of A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, and most recently, Specimen Days.

October 21

• Lee Austin hosts two more interviews connected to this weekend’s Utah Humanities Book Festival in Salt Lake City. First up is Canadian journalist Mark Richardson, author of Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

• Later, Isaiah Sheffer, Host and Director of Selected Shorts will preview the special live performance of the show that will take place Sunday afternoon at the Salt Lake City Library (and which will be broadcast live on Utah Public Radio).

October 22

• We’ll begin today’s program with the legacy of Ronald Reagan. My guest is Steven Hayward from the American Enterprise Institute, who has written a two-volume biography of the former president. Hayward will be giving a talk at USU today titled: "Liberty and Limited Government in America: Lessons from the Reagan Experience."

• Later...A three-pronged approach (medical, psychological, and dietary) for the treatment of medical and mental disorders such as obesity, eating disorders, and diabetes. Kerry Bringhurst talks with Brian Jensen, Licensed Clinical Child/Pediatric Psychologist and Registered Dietitian Alyssa Anderson from the Cache Valley Community Health Center in Hyrum.

October 23

• Today we’ll talk about the role of communication in creating and solving health care inequities in the first half. My guest is K. Viswanath from Harvard who gave a lecture at the University of Utah last night titled: "Health at the Margins: Poverty, Communication and Health." He’ll give another lecture today.

• USU will host the Restoring the West Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. We’ll preview the conference in the second half today with Mark Brunson from USU’s College of Natural Resources. His presentation on Tuesday will be: "Myth, Metaphor and the Social Dimensions of Restoration in the Great Basin."

October 26

• Bryan Earl talks with Mark Anderson about preparing and planting bulbs for spring blooms.

• Utah State University researcher Ron Munger and nutritional and genetic factors for cleft lip and cleft palate joins Kerry Bringhurst during the Center for Advanced Nutrition segment.

October 27

• When J.K Rowling wrote her Harry Potter series, she created a new culture....so says Denver Olmstead, a USU Folklore graduate and presenter at a Harry Potter Convention in London. "Finding the Folk in Harry Potter" is the title of her paper... where she shares how the Harry Potter Christmas Tree has become a family tradition in her home and explains how the books about a boy wizard battling evil have inspired a generation of social do-gooders. Denver Olmstead is Kerry Bringhurst’s guest in the first half today.

• Then, Tom Williams is at our downtown studio with members of the King’s Singers, one of the world’s great vocal ensembles. They’ll be giving a concert tonight in Logan. We’ll be hearing some of their recordings along with the conversation, in the second half today.

October 28

• Kerry Bringhurst discusses climate change with two scientists, Julio Betancourt with the U. S. Geological Survey and Connie Millar with the U. S. Forest Service, who are giving presentations at the Restoring the West Conference at USU. In each case they talked about climate change.

October 29

• Long term health care options can include in-home care or professional care at a facility. Health Care Facilities Administrator Sara Sinclair talks with Tom Williams about caring for our aging population.

• Seasonal skin care is the subject of the second half of the program. Dermatologist Kelly Hubbard shares ways to protect and treat dry skin.

October 30

• We begin with percussionist and multimedia artist Andrea Centazzo and USU assistant professor of physics Shane Larson. They’ll present "Whispers from the Cosmos: Listening to Gravity’s Hidden Message" as a part of the Science Unwrapped series from USU’s College of Science this evening. We’ll talk about gravitational waves that emanate from outer space. Einstein called these "ripples in space-time" clues to the fundamental nature of gravity. And we’ll hear some of Andrea Centazzo’s multimedia presentation "Einstein’s Cosmic Messengers."

• Then, we talk with BYU associate professor of philosophy David Grandy. In his new book The Speed of Light: Constancy + Cosmos, he considers the nature of light and says that we understand that the speed of light is constant for all observers. He asks, what does that mean for the universe and for us?

November 2

• Pruning roses, thinning brambles, and planting bulbs. . .these are all gardening tasks that can still be done this fall. Mark Anderson from Anderson Seed and Garden is in for the entire hour to discuss these and other questions.

November 3

• The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce will be taking the unusual step of advocating targeted tax increases next year to offset an 850 million dollar budget deficit facing the state of Utah. Lee Austin speaks with Chamber President Lane Beattie, a former Utah Senate President, in the first half of the program.

• In the second half, a conversation with writer Alice Fulton. She’s the author of several poetry collections, including "Cascade Experiment: Selected Poems," and "Sensual Math," and a new book of short fiction, "The Nightingales of Troy: Connected Stories." Fulton is the featured poet at this week’s Utah Symposium in Science and Literature in Salt Lake City.

November 4

• Our guest for the hour is Krista Tippett, host of the weekly program "Speaking of Faith." Krista will be in Utah on Tuesday to deliver the annual University of Utah McMurrin Lecture on Religion and Culture. (7:00 p.m. at the Salt Lake City main library, free and open to the public) She was raised in Oklahoma and studied at Brown University then spent most of her twenties in divided Germany, and became a journalist and later a diplomat. We’ll explore her journey of faith from that life to a divinity degree from Yale and the creation of "Speaking of Faith". Krista Tippett is author of Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters--and How to Talk About It, and the upcoming Einstein's God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit (to be published in February 2010).

November 5

• We continue our occasional series of conversations on health care and health care reform in the first half today with Utah native and New York State Commissioner of Health, Richard Daines. We’ll talk with Dr. Daines about what he expects to emerge from congress and what that will mean. We’ll also talk about the H1N1 virus, preventive medicine, and Dr. Daine’s support of a proposed tax on sugary beverages.

• Then Kerry Bringhurst talks with University of Utah anthropology professor Dennis O’Rourke. He’ll be at USU on Saturday to talk about tracing heritage through DNA.

November 6

• During the first half of the program founder and president of the nationally recognized non-profit river clean-up organization "Living Lands & Waters" ,Chad Pregrakee, talks about his latest effort to plant one million trees in the next five years.

• Classical music performers "The 5 Browns" are in Southern Utah where their concert at the Tuacahn Amphithearer will be the setting of a PBS special. Kerry Bringhurst talks with Gregory and Deondra Brown about their success in multiple piano performing.

November 9

• Amaryllises, poinsettias, and Christmas cactus. . .all are mainstays of the indoor holiday garden. But consider growing other plants such as the lenten rose or a bromeliad. Craig Aston, Senior Lecturer in USU’s Department of Plant, Soils and Climate joins us during the next two weeks for the first half of Access Utah.

• Lee Austin has a preview of a new Utah documentary airing tonight on KUED TV entitled "Green River: Divided Waters." Guests include KUED Producer Nancy Green, and Jack Schmidt, a river restoration specialist and Professor in the Department of Aquatic, Watershed and Earth Resources at Utah State University.

November 10

• Lee Austin talks first with Utah State Climatologist Robert Gillies. He’s the lead author of a new study on Northern Utah weather cycles, and their connection to sea surface temperatures in a portion of the Pacific Ocean. The study was published recently in two peer-reviewed journals.

• Finally, Lee speaks with free lance writer, activist and motivational speaker Patrice Gaines. The former Washington Post reporter has written an autobiography: "Laughing in the Dark: From Colored Girl to Woman of Color – A Journey from Prison to Power." Gaines will be speaking tonight in Salt Lake City.

November 11

• Former Salt Lake City Mayor and life-long Democrat Ted Wilson has a new job. He was named last week by Republican Governor Gary Herbert to be a senior adviser on environmental issues. Wilson has also been Executive Director of the Utah Rivers Council and Vice Chairman of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. His appointment by Herbert has surprised many observers. Wilson talks with Lee Austin about his new position.

• Tom Williams speaks with NPR reporter Adam Davidson and Alex Blumberg of This American Life about their award winning collaboration: "Planet Money." They won a Peabody Award for their reporting on the global financial crisis. Davidson and Blumberg were in Salt Lake City recently.

November 12

• Best Friends Animal Sanctuary near Kanab is the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary, sheltering dogs, horses and cats among other animals. Part of the sanctuary is known as DogTown, housing hundreds of dogs in need. DogTown became famous for taking in the Michael Vick dogs and as the subject of a National Geographic series. Now there’s a companion book, called “DogTown: Tales of Rescue, Rehabilitation and Redemption.” We’ll talk with Sherry Woodard, Best Friend’s resident animal behavior consultant, in the first half.

• Then, a conversation with Peter Kareiva, chief scientist with the Nature Conservancy. He’s in Logan to give lectures for the USU Ecology Center. Peter Kareiva says that conservation to date has largely been viewed as a luxury for those countries that can afford it and that now conservation needs to fundamentally change how it goes about its business.

November 13

• The H1N1 pandemic has caused alarm throughout the world. Utah resident Vera Putman and her two young daughters were quarantined for eight days in Dusseldorf, Germany. In today's show, we will hear their story, explore the science behind the flu and the flu vaccine and we visit a vaccination in progress at a homeless shelter in Salt Lake City. The homeless are at the greatest risk for contracting H1N1 and developing complications.

November 16

• Amaryllises, poinsettias, and Christmas cactus. . .all are mainstays of the indoor holiday garden. But consider growing other plants such as the lenten rose or a bromeliad. Craig Aston, Senior Lecturer in USU’s Department of Plant, Soils and Climate joins us, continuing last week's conversation, in the 1st half of Access Utah.

• Instructors with Utah State University's Family, Consumer, and Human Development program have formed a partnership with family and parenting experts Linda and Richard Eyre. Kerry Bringhurst talks with the Eyres about the "Balancing Work and Family" initiative.

November 17

• Lee Austin speaks with Utah writer and activist Terry Tempest Williams for the full hour. Her most recent book: Finding Beauty in a Broken World has just been released in paperback. Tempest Williams is the Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah, and she’s currently teaching a course entitled: "Art, Advocacy, and Landscape."

November 18

November 19

• Steven Shively grew up in Nebraska and was aware of the works of the great Amercian writer Willa Cather, but it wasn’t until his years teaching high school that he became intensely interested. He’s now at USU as associate professor of English where, among other things, he teaches educators how to teach the works of Cather. He’ll give the timepiece at the HASS hour in Logan today titled: "Willa Cather: From Nebraska to Utah State to the World." We’ll talk with Steven Shively about teaching high school and about Willa Cather.

• In the second half, our guest is Jeni Stepanek, who had four children before she and the children were diagnosed with a rare disease. Three of the children died very early. The fourth, Mattie, lived just 14 years, but became a best-selling author, publishing several collections of his Heartsongs Poetry, gave inspirational talks, and became friends with his heroes, including Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Carter and Maya Angelou. Jeni Stepanek’s new book is Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J. T. Stepanek and Heartsongs.

November 20

• Today we’re at the Utah Farm Bureau Convention in Layton. We’ll begin with Brent Hagland, president of the Sand County Foundation which presents a 10,000 dollar prize each year in several states called the Leopold Conservation Award, designed to recognize landowner achievement in voluntary conservation. We’ll talk with members of the Butch and Jeannie Jensen family from Carbon and surrounded Counties, winners of this year’s Leopold Award, about their operation and how they put the conservation ethic into practice. We’ll also talk about Range Creek. Jeannie Jensen grew up near Range Creek and the Jensens are one of three groups authorized to lead tours there. Then we’ll talk with the finalists in a competition for young farmers and ranchers called a discussion meet. We’ll talk about the challenges facing agriculture today from the perspective of young farmers and ranchers.

November 23

• The United States Ambassador from Japan, Ichiro Fujisaki, made a visit to Utah. Kerry Bringhurst speaks with the ambassador about President Obama's visit to Japan.

• Lee Austin interviews artist Adrian Van Shushtelen about his drypoints and etchings from the series "100 Impressions of Cache Valley."

November 24

• Friend Weller speaks with the author of The Autism and ADHD Diet: Living Gluten-Free and Casein-Free, Barrie Silberberg.

• Representatives from China have donated a bronze statue of Utah native and journalist Helen Foster Snow to Cedar City. Historian Kelly Long has written a book about Foster-Snow and her time spent in China. Kerry Bringhurst talks with Ms. Long and Cedar City Mayor Gerald Sherratt about her legacy.

November 30

• Utah Republican Vice Chairman Morgan Philpot explains why the party's central committee is opposing a proposed ballot measure to reform legislative ethics.

• USU Nutrition and Food Science monthly AU program features work by Dr. Silvana Martini and USU's food sensory facility. Dr. Martini discusses the importance of making food that tastes good and is healthy.

December 1

• Utahns for Ethical Government visit Logan to gather signatures supporting a ballot initiative to establish a non-partisan citizen ethics commission and a strict code of conduct to govern ethical behavior of Utah Legislators. Lee Austin interviews UEG Chair Kim Burningham and attorney Alan Smith who are working to garner support for the initiative.

• During the second part of the program Bureau of Land Management Paleontologist Alan Titus tells about efforts to remove dinosaur bones in Kane and Garfield counties.

December 2

• Lee Austin speaks first with Brandie Balken, executive director of "Equality Utah," about the Salt Lake City Council’s unanimous vote last month to extend anti discrimination protections in housing and employment to gays and lesbians. Balken predicts other cities in Utah will be adopting similar ordinances.

• Lucinda Scala Quinn, Senior Vice President and Executive Director for Food and Entertaining with Martha Stewart Omnimedia, talks about her new book Mad Hungry. She’s also one of the co hosts of the PBS program Everyday Food, and she’ll be stopping in Salt Lake City Friday night.

December 3

• NPR correspondent Corey Flintoff’s assignments have taken him to more than 45 countries. Since 2005 he has been part of the NPR team covering the Iraq war. He has embedded with U.S. Military units fighting insurgents and hunting roadside bombs and his recent stories from Iraq have dealt with U.S. military preparations to leave, a popular call-in TV show which holds officials accountable, troubles with election plans, the restoration of a theme park, and economic development. Corey Flintoff joins us from Iraq for the hour to talk about the election struggle, the security situation, reconciliation between Shias and Sunnis, the economy, and other topics.

December 4

• Utah hosts a thriving supplement industry with about a hundred and fifty companies doing sales of over 4 billion dollars a year. The natural healing here first started in the 1950s with a famous herbalist who started the "school of natural healing" in Springville, Utah, now managed by his son David Christopher. In part one of a two part series Science Questions explores the supplement industry in Utah and how it is impacting the medical community. Guests include Dr. Ted Stanley who developed the fentanyl lolli pain medication and founder of pharmaceutical companies in Utah, Tim Woods, executive director of research and development at USANA, and University of Utah clinical pharmacist Laura Shane-McWhorter.

December 7

• Utah Public Radio Station Manager Cathy Ives celebrates three years with UPR. She marks the event with a year-in-review and shares what is up and coming at the station.

• Utah Valley University professor Susan R. Madsen is conducting a study to determine why women in Utah are less interested in higher education than their national peers.

December 8

• Lee Austin spends the entire hour with National Public Radio Health Care correspondent Julie Ravner. They discuss the current debate over health care reform in the U.S. Senate.

December 9

• Hundreds of Sarah Palin fans lined up on the coldest night of the year outside a Salt Lake Costco Store for the chance to have the former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential candidate sign a copy of her book "Going Rogue," this afternoon. Lee Austin talks about the Sarah Palin phenomenon with Dave Hansen, Chairman of the Utah Republican Party, Michael Lyons, Associate Professor of Political Science at Utah State University, and Kevin Cambell, manager of the Salt Lake Costco store.

• Later, a discussion of Christmas holiday food ideas with local Caterer Liz Fallis and Jan Tucker of Crumb Brothers Artisan Bread.

December 10

• Today we’ll revisit one of my favorite interviews from earlier this year. It’s a conversation with Lynn Blodgett, CEO of a Fortune 500 company, who wanted to improve his photography skills. That led to a project: photographing homeless people in various cities, and that led to a book: Finding Grace—The Face of America’s Homeless. Lynn Blodgett has become an advocate for the homeless and has raised a lot of money through sales of the book and an initiative. We’ll talk about his experiences, about some of the extraordinary people he’s met, and about how we can help.

• At the end of the hour we’ll have a live conversation with Lloyd Pendleton, Utah’s Homeless Task Force Director for the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development.

December 11

• Science Questions explores the pharmaceutical industry in Utah. It started around 20 years ago in the state and is continuing to grow led by a small group of talented entrepreneurs. We hear from local industry leaders, and learn where one Utah scientist searchers for new drug discoveries in far away coastlines teeming with life.

December 14

• Cache Valley residents Dave Liddel (USU Geology Dept.) and Paul Bowman (USU Outdoor Recreation Center) are avid cavers. Friend Weller discusses the "in's and out's" of exploring caves.

• Our Nutrition program features research on how the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) can also help maintain cognitive function in late life with Registered Dietician , Heidi Wengreen.

December 15

• Today, Lee Austin speaks first with Utah Governor Gary Herbert, about his proposed State Budget for the next fiscal year. Herbert says it's a responsible budget that meets the state's needs during difficult financial times without raising any taxes.

• Later, we hear from Salt Lake Tribune reporter Julia Lyon about her assignment reporting on the resettlement of refugees from Burma, and the murder of one 7 year old refugee in Salt Lake City.

December 16

• First, Lee Austin talks about the development of a state budget for next year with State Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack of Syracuse, and State Senate Minority Leader Pat Jones of Salt Lake City. They both agree the Legislature needs to be cautious as they review Governor Herbert's proposed budget, but disagree on whether to raise the state’s tax on tobacco products.

• Later, recommended books to consider as holiday gifts. Lee speaks with Catherine Weller of Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore in Salt Lake City and Jean Cheney, Associate Director of the Utah Humanities Council.

December 18

• Utah Public Radio's holiday listener gift featuring the folk music group Sassafras. USU Theatre Arts Department students perform a series of Christmas reader theater programs.