Kirsten Swanson

As part of UPR’s Project Resilience series, producer Mary Heers introduces us to a young husband and wife who are familiar with the challenges of adapting when life takes a sudden turn. 

Mary: Janelle Carter wanted to become a German teacher ever since she took her first German class in the seventh grade and was right on track. It was only supposed to be a short trip to Montana to visit her husband's family. Colton went out four wheeling with his friends. Janelle stayed home because she was four months pregnant. Then everything changed. Colton lost control of his four wheeler and hit a tree so hard it broke his back and severed his spinal cord.

One year ago, Tim savage walked into the UPR recording booth at Promontory Summit and told us how he and his father-in-law, a lifetime steam engineer, had planned to travel from England to Ogden to see the Big Boy, a magnificent steam engine that the Union Pacific had rebuilt and brought to Ogden as part of the Golden Spike Celebration. 

Sadly, his father-in-law died before the trip, but left him with a dying wish to have his ashes go into the firebox of the Big Boy engine.

As part of the Utah Public Radio series, Project Resilience, we hear from retired Northern Utah teacher Barbara Abbott, who remembers times she would take her wayward dog Cedar Bear to work with students at Hillcrest Elementary.

As we bring our One Small Step series to a close, we would like to say thank you to everyone who took this journey with us. Listening is an act of love, and saying "thank you" will never go out of style.

When she was 20, Clare Coonan stepped away from her traditional family upbringing.  When he was 50, Scott Swain took a similar big step.  

Amber Dubois is 34. Georgia Beth Thompson says she's chasing 80.  For these women, crossing the age divide ends in a resounding cheer --"Go, girl!"

While recording for One Small Step this summer, we found that crossing the divide between two strangers often began with the small step of sharing a personal story. Thirty years ago, Clare Coonan had something to tell her parents, and said she would be by at ten. 

When Steve McIntyre and Maughn Gregory sat down with One Small Step, they found their life experiences as liberals living in predominantly conservative neighborhoods had taken them down two very different paths.

While recording for One Small Step this summer, we found that two people often entered the recording booth as strangers, and left as friends.  Crossing the divide often bean with the small step of sharing a personal story.  Thanks to Linda Stay for this story, recorded in Saint George.

Clayton Long lives in Blanding Utah; Liz Ballenger lives in Moab. They met halfway in Monticello, finding common ground for their love of nature and juggling the different cultures introduced to them throughout their lives. 

A Logan art studio says, "Art is for everyone", and invites people of all abilities to jump in.  Mary Heers and Kirsten Swanson bring you the story as part of the UPR original series Diagnosed.

When the last tap pounded the Golden Spike into place, the telegraph operators standing alongside tapped out the word DONE. Whistles blew and hats flew through the air – the Transcontinental was done but railroading in Utah had really just begun. 

Tune in to Utah Public Radio on May 10 - the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad - for the premiere of the UPR original documentary "Ride The Rails: A Storytelling Exploration Uncovering The Forgotten Stories Of The Early Railroad."

As university students have headed home for the winter break, graduate student Thuy-Tien Thi Lindsay sits down with her Buddhist-Vietnamese extended family in Atlanta, Georgia, over a big plate of food -- which will certainly include a healthy helping of her auntie's abundant harvest of squash.  Thuy-Tien is studying the hibernation of bumblebees.

As part of UPR’s Women 20/20 series, we applaud the women of Utah who have chipped away at barriers to jobs previously done only by men.  

As winds of World War One raged through Europe, Utah began to feel its chill.  Adjunct Professor at Utah State University, Emily Wheeler shares the following pieces of her research into some forgotten costs and gems of World War One era Utah.   

In 1950 Byron Snyder, a young embassy consul general agreed to include his wife's new-fangled ironing board in their hand luggage on their return trip to Europe.  Traveling from California to New York, to Paris, and finally to Frankfurt proved harder than he could have ever imagined. 

Across the ocean, as the Iron Curtain was lifted 25 years ago, Ania Dabrowska and Mary Heers taught English as a second language to eager students while forging a friendship and sharing cultures.

Bret Rasmussen turns his passion for snowmobiling into a worldwide business teaching men and women to "Ride Rasmussen Style."  

Mark Grodkowski is a pastry chef. He immigrated from Poland when he was 17, crossing the borders of country and language, creating his American dream. He currently owns and operates Sweetly Divine, a pastry shop and cafe in Logan. 

In Tanzania, electricity is not a given, it's a gift.  Norman Harrison has brought this gift from Utah to Tanzania.  He recently returned from installing solar panels at the Falco Children's Village. 

A typical day for spine surgeon Brian Vernon begins at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m.

At age 81 and still farming,  Delyle Carling looks back.

As the head of Millard County's 4-H horse program, Jenna Aldrich delves into the special relationship of horse and man.

Working Midnight Sunday to  Midnight Saturday is a regular summer work week for Lonnie Hafen, a young farmer in Fillmore.

Inspired by President Kennedy, Caril Jennings sets to work, eventually landing her dream job at Weber State.

From a cattle ranch in Delta to a hospital in Cache Valley, Carolyn Jones shares her sense of fulfillment in work.

For 15 years, Glen Wall worked as a trucker, hauling crude oil out of the Uintah Basin.

Gloria Weller logs onto her computer at 8:00 am and runs a Los Angeles law office from her home in Layton.  She doesn't log off until 5:00 pm. Gloria is 86 years old.

Longtime newspaperman Charles Trentelman uses his column to rally the community and delve into the stories of Ogden's past.