RadioWest

There’s a mismatch between what people say about marriage and what they really do about it. Stephanie Coontz’s book explains how we got here and where we could go.

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2026

Lewis and Clark’s expedition is the stuff of American legend. Craig Fehrman’s new book highlights the people who helped make the journey possible.

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2026

Justin R. Garcia is the director of the Kinsey Institute, the famed sex research institution. He’s joining us to talk about his new book, “The Intimate Animal.”

Transcribed - Published: 27 May 2026

There are 48 data centers currently in operation across Utah. Few of them received public attention as they went through the public planning process. But the data centers currently in development are being put under the public’s microscope. Deseret News reporter Art Raymond and New York Times reporter Karen Weise join us to help understand why that is.

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2026

These days, we take the polarization of faith in America for granted: Christians are mostly conservative, and liberals are hardly religious at all. But it wasn’t always this way.

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2026

The Stratos Project, a massive data center planned for Box Elder County, has run up against equally massive public opposition, even as state officials champion its benefits. A panel of local journalists joins us to help make sense of the debate.

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2026

The chronically-online young men pushing Republicans further right are called “Groypers.” The journalist Antonia Hitchens explores their extremist agenda.

Transcribed - Published: 13 May 2026

As big freighters go, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the biggest, the best and the most profitable ship on the Great Lakes. Then, on Nov. 10, 1975, facing gale-force winds and 50-foot waves, the ship sank, taking all 29 men aboard her down into the icy depths of Lake Superior.

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2026

This week, Box Elder County commissioners gave the green light to a 40,000-acre data center in remote Hansel Valley, Utah. Matteo Wong, a staff writer for The Atlantic, says the immense scale of the planned development is hard to wrap your mind around.

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2026

As big freighters go, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the biggest, the best and the most profitable ship on the Great Lakes. Then, on Nov. 10, 1975, facing gale-force winds and 50-foot waves, the ship sank, taking all 29 men aboard her down into the icy depths of Lake Superior.

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2026

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints filed a lawsuit in April against “Mormon Stories Podcast” host John Dehlin, alleging trademark and copyright infringement. We’ll talk with Dehlin about the case, as well as with LDS scholars Matthew Bowman and Patrick Mason about what the suit tells us about the LDS Church and the influence of “Mormon Stories.”

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2026

Coltan Scrivner studies why some of us are drawn to look at gruesome things. He calls it morbid curiosity, and he says it’s not a bad thing.

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2026

If you grew up along the Wasatch Front, you’ve seen rapid change: farms to housing, low-rise to high-rise, more people. Taylor Anderson wants to know what that means, and for whom.

Transcribed - Published: 29 April 2026

If you grew up along the Wasatch Front, you’ve seen rapid change: farms to housing, low-rise to high-rise, more people. Taylor Anderson wants to know what that means, and for whom.

Transcribed - Published: 29 April 2026

Nate Blouin, a Utah State Senator and leading progressive Democratic contender for Utah’s new congressional seat, faces a setback as vulgar online comments he made years ago recently came to light. The controversy also raises questions about the clout of the progressive wing of the party in the lead-up to the Democratic State Convention.

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2026

The linguist Valerie Fridland says everyone has an accent, whether they think so or not. Her new book is about how the different ways we talk shape our lives.

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2026

Great Salt Lake normally doesn’t reach peak water level until late May. But after a record-low snowpack, the lake has already topped out, and experts warn it will likely brush up against its own record low. Could a sizable influx of federal dollars help save it?

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2026

There’s emerging evidence of the health benefits of getting hot and working up a sweat. Author Bill Gifford’s book makes the case.

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2026

Daryl Lindsey is a sustainable landscaping expert. With spring here, and a worrisome winter in the rearview, she joins us to talk about this year’s growing season.

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2026

The hunt for critical minable resources is heating up in Utah, and would-be extractors have found a legal loophole to get around federal mining laws. Journalist Lauren Steele shares her findings.

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2026

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement recently purchased a warehouse on Salt Lake City’s west side, but the agency doesn’t intend to use the site for goods or merchandise: It will be a detention facility, part of the agency’s efforts to round up and deport a million people every year.

Transcribed - Published: 2 April 2026

With Easter weekend approaching, we’re revisiting our 2025 conversation with Elaine Pagels about the real Jesus of Nazareth.

Transcribed - Published: 1 April 2026

The Wild West has been the subject of much mythologizing in American culture. But for all the fantasy, at least one figure was real: the gunfighter.

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2026

It may seem like Mars is just a modern-day obsession, but we earthlings were nuts for the Red Planet more than a century ago. David Baron’s new book tells the story.

Transcribed - Published: 25 March 2026

What weighs five pounds, hasn’t been seen in print for 20 years, but still shapes the way we think about language? Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary — and author Stefan Fatsis is here to tell us why it matters.

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2026

The journalist McKay Coppins wasn’t a gambling man. But when his employer The Atlantic staked him $10,000 to bet on the 2025 NFL season, he couldn’t say no.

Transcribed - Published: 18 March 2026

Justin R. Garcia is the director of the Kinsey Institute, the famed sex research institution. He’s joining us to talk about his new book, “The Intimate Animal.”

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2026

The 2026 Utah Legislative Session concluded last week. We’re gathering a trio of reporters to talk about what passed and what failed.

Transcribed - Published: 11 March 2026

Filmmaker Penny Lane’s 2023 documentary is about giving away one of her own kidneys. Although she didn't like the idea of calling herself a "good Samaritan," she eventually came around to the idea of calling her film “Confessions of a Good Samaritan.”

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2026

In 1856, Mary Ann Patten became the first woman to captain an American merchant vessel. She was only 19 years old. Historian Tilar Mazzeo’s book tells the remarkable story.

Transcribed - Published: 4 March 2026

David Archuleta became famous at 17 years old, when he was a finalist on “American Idol.” He joins us to talk about his new memoir, coming out as gay and about leaving the LDS Church.

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2026

As plans take shape for an extensive homeless campus in Salt Lake City, a divide has emerged between those who support the current system of homeless services and a new guard that wants to take a more punitive approach to the problem.

Transcribed - Published: 25 February 2026

LDS President Dallin H. Oaks has chosen a new apostle. His name is Clark G. Gilbert, and his appointment is raising controversy among the faithful. Scholar Benjamin Park joins us to explain why.

Transcribed - Published: 19 February 2026

Lots of people dream about leaving it all behind, but Maurice and Maralyn Bailey really did it. They bought a boat and set sail in June of 1972.

Transcribed - Published: 18 February 2026

Eight years ago, Utah voters approved Proposition 4, a ballot initiative that, after a long legal battle, resulted in newly drawn congressional boundaries. Now, a group backed by the Utah Republican Party is trying to get a new initiative on the ballot, one that would eliminate Prop 4, and it has raised a lot of controversy.

Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2026

Jack Kerouac published “On the Road” in 1957, and it became the defining novel of the Beat Generation. Today, a new documentary explores the book’s legacy.

Transcribed - Published: 11 February 2026

Latter-day Saint temple garments are the subject of a new book. The authors surveyed thousands of Church members for their project.

Transcribed - Published: 5 February 2026

As big freighters go, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the biggest, the best and the most profitable ship on the Great Lakes. Then, on Nov. 10, 1975, facing gale-force winds and 50-foot waves, the ship sank, taking all 29 men aboard her down into the icy depths of Lake Superior.

Transcribed - Published: 4 February 2026

Forty years ago, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch. According to NPR's Howard Berkes, the lessons learned from the disaster are as critical as ever.

Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2026

Journalist Michael Scherer had a lofty goal for his profile of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He wanted to “help narrow the political divide” separating the country.

Transcribed - Published: 28 January 2026

In a new documentary premiering at Sundance, local filmmaker Abby Ellis follows two scientists and a government official fighting to stave off environmental disaster and save Great Salt Lake.

Transcribed - Published: 22 January 2026

In a new biography, the historian Max Perry Mueller argues that Wakara, a Timpanogos Ute leader, should be considered one of the founding figures of the American West.

Transcribed - Published: 21 January 2026

“Affordability” is a buzzword of the current political moment, and it’s top of mind for Utah lawmakers as they gear up for the general legislative session.

Transcribed - Published: 15 January 2026

“Affordability” is a buzzword of the current political moment, and it’s top of mind for Utah lawmakers as they gear up for the general legislative session.

Transcribed - Published: 15 January 2026

Coltan Scrivner is a psychologist who studies why some of us are drawn to look at gruesome things. He calls it morbid curiosity, and he says it’s not a bad thing.

Transcribed - Published: 14 January 2026

In recent years, Utah has seen a surge in winter visitors to its world-class ski resorts. Sam Weintraub, a ski industry observer, isn’t the only one who’s noticed that as more and more people come here to ski, the more it reshapes the skiing experience.

Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2026

On Sept. 10, 2025, political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University. The very next month, Greg Lukianoff gave a lecture there, about why free speech is an antidote to violence.

Transcribed - Published: 7 January 2026

Is a river alive? That’s the animating question in Robert Macfarlane’s latest book. And if the answer is yes, and rivers are living things, what do we owe them?

Transcribed - Published: 1 January 2026

If you’ve ever wanted to share a room with two great actors talking about Shakespeare, here’s your chance — with Dame Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea.

Transcribed - Published: 31 December 2025

In 2021, protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol and tried to overturn the presidential election. In that moment, author Charles King turned to Handel’s Messiah.

Transcribed - Published: 25 December 2025