PRI: RadioWest

11/20/09: Waiting for Hockney

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

For 10 years the aspiring artist Billy Pappas worked on one life-sized portrait. He had set out to reinvent realism - to invent a new art form. Doug talks to filmmaker Julie Checkoway about her new documentary "Waiting for Hockney." Checkoway followed Pappas through what some might call his compulsive, eccentric process - and on his quest to meet the one person he felt could validate his work. (Rebroadcast)

11/19/09: Stephen Fry in America

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

The British comedian Stephen Fry has always loved America. It began to figure largely in his imagination when he learned a shocking secret from his mother: he was almost born in New Jersey. His curiosity about the country led him on a journey through all 50 states, talking to people and experiencing the music, the food and the landscape that make it unique. In this prerecorded interview, Fry shares with Doug the experience of America through the eyes of an Englishman.

11/18/09: Daniel Pinchbeck and 2012

radiowest@kuer.org — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

NASA's David Morrison has received thousands of letters from people who are terrified over what 2012 may bring. Morrison says there's nothing to worry about, but websites dedicated to surviving a coming doomsday and a new feature film have some panicked. For Daniel Pinchbeck the predictions of the Mayan calendar give us an opportunity for a transformation of human consciousness. Wednesday, Doug talks to Pinchbeck, whose book helped introduce the Mayan Calendar to the world.

11/17/09: Until it Hurts

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Sports writer Mark Hyman admits he was once one of them. You've probably met over-zealous sports parents who seem more interested in bragging rights at cocktail parties and dreams of college scholarships than in how sports are impacting their kids. Hyman joins Doug for a look at how adults have taken over the world of kids sports and what it means for the health - and happiness - of children. (Rebroadcast)

11/16/09: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

radiowest@kuer.org — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Monday on RadioWest, we're talking about the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy which prohibits gay service members from serving openly in the US armed forces. The policy is meant to promote good order and discipline, but some say it's had just the opposite effect. Now President Obama says he wants to end the rule. The Salt Lake Tribune's Matthew LaPlante guest hosts for a look at "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

11/13/09: High Crimes on Everest

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

When the journalist Michael Kodas went to climb Mount Everest in 2004, he envisioned the project as an adventure piece. By the time he returned he had a crime story. Kodas discovered an atmosphere of corruption on Everest: petty thieves and con men, prostitutes, extortionists. Michael Kodas joins Doug to talk about the book he's written on the experience. It's an expose of a culture that exploit the grand impulse for adventure. (Rebroadcast)

11/12/09: The Chaos Scenario

radiowest@kuer.org — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Media critic Bob Garfield says that "the digital revolution" isn't just an abstract idea. It's an actual revolution, like fire or the wheel. Those ones and zeros have changed the way we consume news and entertainment, which means the whole system - programming, marketing and commerce - has to respond. Garfield has written a book called The Chaos Scenario, but it's not just a requiem for traditional media. He joins Doug to talk about solutions and how the new world could look. (Rebroadcast)

11/11/09: Back Home

radiowest@kuer.org — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

When soldiers return from the battlefield with severe injuries, life is forever changed - not only for the veterans but for those closest to them. In her new novel, author and journalist Julia Keller writes about the complicated journey one family makes after their disabled father returns home. Wednesday on RadioWest - the impact of war on spouses, extended families and children.

11/10/09: Speaking of Faith's Krista Tippett

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

The sociologist Peter Berger once said that religion is "something done in private between consenting adults." And that's the way things were in polite American society for much of the late 20th century according to Krista Tippett. Tippett is the host of the public radio program "Speaking of Faith," and Tuesday, she's giving the University of Utah's McMurrin Lecture in Religion and Culture. She'll join us in studio to talk about the role of religion in public life and public conversation today.

11/9/09: Crazy - America's Mental Health Madness

radiowest@kuer.org — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Pete Earley had been a journalist for 30 years when his work on crime and punishment became personal. His son Mike was declared mentally ill, and in one episode, he damaged a neighbor's house when he broke in to take a bubble bath. Mike was arrested and the ensuing journey led Pete into the maze of the mental health care system. Pete Earley is coming to Utah and Monday he joins us to explain how U.S. prisons have become the new mental asylums and what it means for those suffering from illness.

11/6/09: The Shape of Imagination

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Where do you let your imagination take you? It's a different journey for each person, so to get at the question of what imagination is, you would need to talk a variety of people. This week is the annual Science and Literature Symposium at the University of Utah, and Friday, we're talking to the keynote speakers. Mathematician Barry Mazur, Poet Alice Fulton and Composer Fred Lerdahl will join us to explain the similarities and the differences of their creative processes.

11/5/09: Planet Money

radiowest@kuer.org — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

TARP, TALF, Toxic Assets. Listening to a conversation about the upheavals in the American financial landscape can be like listening to a foreign language. Enter Planet Money, NPR's multimedia project that's just trying to make sense of it all. Correspondent Adam Davidson and Editor Alex Blumberg are in Salt Lake City, and Thursday, they join Doug to talk about their coverage of our rapidly changing economy.

11/4/09: Resolved

radiowest@kuer.org — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

400 words per minute. It may not sound like the best way to make an argument, but in the world of competitive debate, it's how you cram as many facts as possible into the allotted time. Filmmaker Greg Whiteley was a high school debater and he knew he could find some interesting characters in the debate world. The result is his Emmy nominated film "Resolved." It follows one of the best teams in the nation - and an inner-city team that decided to break all the debating rules.

11/3/09: Fact Checking the Health Care Debate

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Have the arguments over health care reform left you scratching your head? Politicians and pundits from left to right throw around poll results, dollar figures and tax projections to make their cases, but how's a voter to know what to believe? Tuesday, Doug is joined by Angie Drobnic Holan, who follows health care for the fact checking website Politifact.com. We'll ask Holan to tease out the truth of health care reform and to explain why it's been such an emotional debate.

11/2/09: The Fallen Sky

radiowest@kuer.org — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

To say that Utah State English professor Christopher Cokinos' new book is about meteorites is to tell only part of the story. His 8-year quest to learn about space rocks and the people who have studied them took Cokinos from Greenland to Kansas to Antarctica. Along the way though, he says he discovered new things about himself and about home. Monday, our conversation with Christopher Cokinos about his book. It's called "The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars." (Rebroadcast)

10/30/09: Radio Hour - Alice

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

In 1862, Lewis Carroll created a tale to delight a little girl. That girl of course was named Alice, and 3 years later the story was published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Since then, the journey down the rabbit hole has become a favorite - reproduced in silent films, Walt Disney animation, television, comics and even video games. Now, for our fifth and final Halloween drama, Plan B Theatre Company and RadioWest bring you Radio Hour - Alice, a dark reimagining of Carroll's enduring tale.

10/29/09: Fingerprints of God

radiowest@kuer.org — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Thursday, Doug talks to NPR reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty about her book Fingerprints of God. It's an exploration of the science behind spirituality, but it is not just a third person telling. The book is quite personal - the story of her own quest to understand faith. There are some big questions here: Is spiritual experience real or delusional? Can prayer affect the body? Mostly it gets at this one - Is there more than this? (Rebroadcast)

10/28/09: Autism's False Prophets

radiowest@kuer.org — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Parents facing the challenges of a child with autism are of course looking for answers, and that quest has led to treatments like stringent diets, high-temperature saunas and magnetic clay baths. It's also led many parents to withhold vaccines from their children. Vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit says that many of the people offering cures are "modern-day false prophets." Wednesday, he joins Doug to talk about autism research and why so many are susceptible to bad science.

10/27/09: And Here's the Kicker

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

What does it take to be funny? If you've ever had to sit through a painful wedding toast or an awkward business luncheon, you know it's not as easy the pros make it look. The journalist Mike Sacks wanted to get to the bottom of it, so he set out to talk to some of the world's great comedic geniuses. In his new book, Sacks interviews the likes of Marx Brothers writer Irving Brecher to Borat co-creator Dan Mazer and NPR favorite David Sedaris, and he learned that it's not all fun and games.

10/26/09: The History of American Health Care

radiowest@kuer.org — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Today's attempts to change health care in the United States aren't the first. There were efforts in the early part of the 20th century to create compulsory health insurance plans. So how is it that while some 16 European nations had nationalized insurance by 1920, the United States developed a private system centered around employment? Monday, we'll talk to economist Melissa Thomasson about the history of health care in America - and how we got where we are today.

10/23/09: Painter Douglas Snow

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Most of us know the paintings of the artist Douglas Snow through his public installations - at the airport and the lobby of the Pioneer Theatre. His pieces are often shocking when you first come upon them and they prompt a strong reaction. That reaction must have delighted Snow, who never created his works to simply blend in. Doug Snow died this week at the age of 82, and Friday, we're rebroadcasting our 2004 conversation with him about his connection to place.

10/22/09: Maurice Sendak and the Wild Things

radiowest@kuer.org — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

If you were born any time after 1963, there's a very good chance you know Where the Wild Things Are. Of course it's Maurice Sendak's classic children's work, the story of the naughty boy Max and his adventure to an island of monsters. The scholar John Cech says that it's a book that refused to play by the rules and that is part of what accounts for its enduring appeal. The book is now a movie, and we're talking with Cech as well as NPR film critic Bob Mondello about the world of Maurice Sendak.

10/21/09: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much

radiowest@kuer.org — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

What would drive you to steal? Hunger? Greed? For John Charles Gilkey, it's a sort of love that led him to his crimes. Gilkey is obsessed with books and stole them to satisfy his lust. The journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett has just published a book about Gilkey, and about Utah's own self-described "bibliodick" Ken Sanders, who hunted the thief plaguing his trade. Bartlett joins Doug to talk about the romance of books and the lengths some will go to possess them.

10/20/09: Devil's Trill

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

A man set-up for a crime he didn't commit, a theft, and a murder may not sound like a story set in Carnegie Hall, but violinist Gerald Elias knows the darker side of classical music. His debut novel is a mystery and it introduces readers to backstabbing teachers and performers, corrupt patrons, and shady violin dealers. But it's not just a whodunit. Elias takes on issues like how we connect to music and where we find its real beauty. He joins us with his violin to talk about "Devil's Trill."

10/19/09: The Case for Killing Granny

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

We're taking the title of today's program from a cover article in Newsweek last month. It was called "The Case for Killing Granny." The article gets at one of the critical reasons for spiraling health care costs - over treating patients, particularly those in the final days of life. Just how do you decide which treatments to cut out? And if you have a loved one in pain or afraid, how do you know when enough is enough?

10/16/09: The Big Necessity

radiowest@kuer.org — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Some topics - no matter how common they are to all of us - just leave people a little uncomfortable. But one of these - practiced behind closed doors and talked about in euphemisms - is central to clean water and health throughout the world. Monday on RadioWest, we're talking about - well, human waste. The journalist Rose George will join us for a look at something as natural as breathing and yet so unmentionable. (Rebroadcast)

10/15/09: The Case for Make Believe

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

It may sound like the plot of a children's fantasy story - but could the land of make-believe be disappearing? Harvard psychologist Susan Linn says that imagination is crucial for human development, but that the toys we buy for our kids and the media they consume have created an over-scripted world. Linn joins Doug to make the argument for make-believe, which she says is at the heart of a healthy childhood. (Rebroadcast)

10/14/09: The Art of Making Money

radiowest@kuer.org — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

When Jason Kersten sat down to interview convicted counterfeiter Art Williams - he remembered one of the crucial lessons from journalism school. "Don't get too close to your source." But to really understand how and why Williams applied his genius to printing millions of dollars in fake but nearly perfect $100 bills - Kersten had to get close. Jason Kersten joins Doug to talk about the rise and fall of a modern-day criminal mastermind. (Rebroadcast)

10/13/09: God is Back

radiowest@kuer.org — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Intellectuals of the Enlightenment imagined a world changed by modernization. They thought it would mean the decline of religion, and for a time, it looked like that might be the case. But now, world events are shaped by religious revival and according to The Economist's John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, faith will continue to have a dramatic impact on our century. Adrian Wooldridge joins Doug to discuss their new book "God is Back." (Rebroadcast)

10/12/09: Pleasurable Kingdom

radiowest@kuer.org — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

As our relationship with animals has developed over the course of time, we've generally come to recognize that creatures experience pain and stress. But what of pleasure and happiness? Dr. Jonathan Balcombe argues that positive feelings are evolutionarily adaptive, and he says that contrary to popular myth, survival and pleasure are actually quite compatible. Balcombe joins us to talk about how animals enjoy themselves, and what that means ethically for both science and society. (Rebroadcast)

10/9/09: Sister Dottie S Dixon

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Friday on RadioWest we're experiencing The Passion of Sister Dottie S Dixon. Sister Dottie is the long-time alter-ego of Charles Lynn Frost. His creation is a Mormon mom from Spanish Fork with a gay son and a mission to bridge the divide between Mormons and the gay community. The play is being re-staged this month - so we're talking about the show and its ideas. To be sure this is a parody of religious culture, but there's more here than comedy. (Rebroadcast)

10/8/09: The Dalai Lama

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

This year marked the 50th anniversary of the exile of the Dalai Lama from Tibet. Thursday, we're rebroadcasting our conversation about the world's most charismatic and popular spiritual leader. Our guest is the journalist Mayank Chhaya who has said he was never in awe of the Dalai Lama, until he interviewed the leader, and spoke with hundreds of people connected to his story. His biography views the Dalai Lama from three distinct standpoints. As a man, a monk and a mystic. (Rebroadcast)

10/7/09: The Legendary Porch Pounders

radiowest@kuer.org — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

It's Wednesday - so to help you combat the middle-of-the-work-week blues we're bringing in another Utah band. This time, it's Ogden's own Legendary Porch Pounders. Dan Weldon and Bad Brad Wheeler will be in studio to talk about O-town's music scene and about the blues. They'll also be armed with guitar, harmonica and porchboard to get low-down and dirty.

10/6/09: American Casino

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

When Leslie and Andrew Cockburn started making their documentary in January of 2008, they didn't know the story would become one of the most important of our time. American Casino is about the subprime lending scandal and the wagers that Wall Street was placing on real people. It also follows homeowners who bore the brunt of the collapse - from foreclosure to bankruptcy to homelessness. American Casino is being screened in Utah next week, and Tuesday, the filmmakers join us to talk about it.

10/5/09: Cheap - The High Cost of Discount Culture

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

You've probably heard stories of people standing in line for an amazing sale or fights breaking out over a bargain table. Chances are - you may have gone to some great lengths for a rock-bottom price yourself. "Cheap" has become part of the American way, but journalist Ellen Ruppel Shell says it comes at a cost. She joins Doug for a look at discount culture and what it means for our homes and our economy. (Rebroadcast)

10/2/09: Shouting Fire

radiowest@kuer.org — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Friday, we're talking about the film "Shouting Fire" from director Liz Garbus. The documentary explores the state of free speech in this country. Among the stories in her film is the case of Ward Churchill, who was fired as a tenured professor at the University of Colorado after he made provocative comments about the attacks on 9/11. Garbus asks questions about the limits of free speech in free society, but she also gets at the nature of fear. (Rebroadcast)

10/1/09: Extreme Ice Survey

radiowest@kuer.org — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Environmental photographer James Balog says that people assume geological change is something that happened in the distant past. But the truth is these processes are happening around us every day. Balog heads the Extreme Ice Survey - a project which uses time-lapse photography to capture melting glaciers around the world. He's in Utah this week and joins Doug to talk about the shocking speed of these changes and what it teaches us about our global climate.

9/30/09: The Caretaker

radiowest@kuer.org — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The playwright Harold Pinter was known as much for what he said in a play as for what he didn't say. His work is famous for what is now known as the "Pinter Pause" - directions for an actor to be silent. The Salt Lake Acting Company is currently in production of "The Caretaker," Pinter's 1960 breakout play, and actor Daniel Beecher says that the trick is to embrace Pinter's careful constraints. Wednesday, we're talking about Harold Pinter and his dark, absurd world.

9/29/09: The Sonosopher

radiowest@kuer.org — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Orem-based Alex Caldiero is a poet and a performance artist, but he has very different ways of describing himself. He's called himself a "word shaker" and more recently a "sonosopher." Caldiero is the focus of a new film. It's about his life from Italy to New York to Utah, but also about words and sounds as only Caldiero can express them. Tuesday, Alex Caldiero and filmmakers Torben Bernhard and Travis Low join Doug to talk about "The Sonosopher."

9/28/09: The Story Behind the Story

radiowest@kuer.org — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

In the world of investigative reporting, the goal is to seek out the truth of a story - to set the record straight. But in the new media landscape where newspapers are folding and journalists are being laid off - who's willing to do that hard work for free? In the new Atlantic Monthly, correspondent Mark Bowden says it's increasingly being done by political operatives and ideologues. Bowden joins Doug to talk about their "post-journalistic" approach, and how it's shaping the national debate.