Access Utah

The Smithsonian Institution houses a vast collection of artifacts from across the nation and around the world. What can all of these items tell us about American culture and history? Friday on Access Utah, Richard Kurin, Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture at the Smithsonian, joins Sheri Quinn for a discussion about the stories they reveal. At 9:30 Science Questions explores marijuana policy through the lens of a theologian.

Today we recap the mid-term elections which saw control of the U. S. Senate return to the Republicans and a Republican clean sweep in Utah’s congressional races. One constitutional amendment passed in Utah and two were defeated. Several state school board incumbents were defeated.

From Farinelli, the eighteenth century castrato who brought down opera houses with his high C, to the recording of "Johnny B. Goode" affixed to the Voyager spacecraft, Elena Passarello, in Let Me Clear My Throat dissects the whys and hows of popular voices. There are murders of punk rock crows, impressionists, and rebel yells; Howard Dean's "BYAH!" and Marlon Brando's "Stella!" and a stock film yawp that has made cameos in movies from A Star is Born to Spaceballs. The voice is thought's incarnating instrument and Elena Passarello's essays are a deconstruction of the ways the sounds we make both express and shape who we are—the annotated soundtrack of us giving voice to ourselves.

In “Outlawing Genocide Denial: The Dilemmas of Official Historical Truth” (University of Utah Press) historian and political scientist Guenter Lewy scrutinizes the practice of criminalizing the expression of unpopular, even odious historical interpretations, exemplified by genocide denial. Holocaust denial can be viewed as another form of hatred against the Jews and preventing it can be understood as a form of warding off hate speech. Germany has made it a crime punishable by law. Other European countries have similar laws.

A piece of the 21st century pie--people everywhere are clamoring for their own life-sustaining morsel. But water, pesticide, distribution, and financial issues seem to conspire against assuring a hungry world there will be enough to eat. Noelle Cockett, executive vice president and provost for Utah State University, has long been researching answers to the question of how to feed 21st century populations. Dr. Cockett brought her expertise to Utah State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Tanner Talks when she kicked off the 2013-15 lecture series last month with a look into the future of food production. Her talk was titled: “Feast or Famine: Feeding a Hungry World in the 21st Century.”

A while back on Access Utah, Glen in the Uintah Basin shared this story: “I used to haul crude oil from oil wells. We have an area in central Duchesne County called the Koch Field. It was originally operated by the infamous Koch brothers' business and developed in the 1970s and early 80s. The Koch field is very remote and quite rugged. Many oilfield workers claimed to have seen a ‘headless horseman.’ I first heard about this when I was dispatched to a load out in the field probably in 1999. Legend has it that the local Natives beheaded a party of Spanish prospectors and this headless horseman is one of them. Many of my former crude haulers refuse to go into the Koch Field at night.”

In this age of smartphones, work doesn’t necessarily end when you leave the office. For many there is an expectation that you should be available after hours. Germany is considering legislation that would ban employers from contacting workers after office hours. Labor Minister Andrea Nahles says "there is an undeniable relationship between constant availability and the increase of mental illness."

On an early autumn afternoon, gay teen Zack Harrington killed himself with a gunshot to the head at his parent’s ranch in Norman, Oklahoma. One week earlier, Zack allegedly attended a local city council meeting in support of a proposal for LGBTQ History Month. When the floor opened up for public comment, some community members made controversial statements equating being gay with the spread of diseases such as HIV and AIDS.

Hal Crimmel, Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of English at Weber State University, is editor of a new book "Desert Water: The Future of Utah's Water Resources" (University of Utah Press) which brings together the results of scientific research and the voices of environmental humanists, social scientists, and policy advocates to provide a broad perspective on Utah water issues.

Logan has some of the worst air in the nation several days many years. On Friday’s AU, USU Professor of Toxicology, Roger Coulombe, talks to host Sheri Quinn about Cache Valley air and what is being done to help clean it up so we can all breathe a little easier.

In 2012, two skiers from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, noticed that snow was disappearing from the western U.S. and wondered how long it would be before it affected the mountains in their backyard. They called Porter Fox, a longtime Powder magazine editor and writer, and asked if he was interested in writing a book about climate change and snow.

Dallas Hyland, a photojournalist and resident of St. George, recently traveled to Colombia with a privately-funded organization, Operation Underground Railroad, to execute what they called Clear Hope; a mission they say proved to be the biggest child trafficking rescue operation in history.

It’s been THE topic of conversation at Utah State University for several days now as well as making the pages of the New York Times and the airwaves of NPR: After learning that USU was legally forbidden from restricting firearms at a Wednesday lecture over which she received a death threat, nationally-known feminist writer and video game critic, Anita Sarkeesian, canceled her appearance. (SLTrib) She says she won’t appear at a Utah school until guns are barred from the state’s campuses.

Friday on Access Utah host Sheri Quinn revisits her conversation with former oil executive and geologist Marc Deshowitz about the unique geology of southern Utah parks and the ancient history of oil in the area.

William Alexander is more than a Francophile. He wants to be French. There’s one small problem: he doesn’t speak the language. In “Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me, and Nearly Broke My Heart” Alexander sets out to conquer the language he loves. But will it love him back?

Technological advances seem to be accelerating. Every day we hear of something new: self-driving cars, wearable computers, factory robots, digitized medicine… Continuing advances in computers and automation can reduce workloads, increase productivity, and even imbue life with a sense of wonder. But Nicholas Carr, in his new book, “The Glass Cage: Automation and Us,” says there are hidden costs in granting software dominion over our work and leisure. Even as these programs bring ease to our lives, he says, they are stealing something essential from us.

Russell Honore came to national attention when, as a U.S. Army Lt. General, he was assigned to lead the Department of Defense’s Joint Task-Force Katrina. The hurricane hit on Monday, August 29, 2005, and he was put in charge of overseeing the federal emergency response on Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. By the time he arrived on Wednesday morning thousands of people were stranded on roof tops and in attics and more than 16,000 people were at the Superdome along with a similar number at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, according to Honore.

In her new book “The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us” Diane Ackerman writes that “our relationship with nature has changed radically, irreversibly, but by no means all for the bad. Our new epoch is laced with invention. Our mistakes are legion, but our talent is immeasurable.”

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear same-sex marriage appeals from Utah and four other states, letting stand lower court rulings that allow gays and lesbians to marry. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted the hold it had placed on same-sex marriages in Utah and four other states.

On Monday’s AU we’ll spend the hour with Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank. We’ll talk about events in Ferguson, Missouri, including issues of race and police militarization. We’ll also talk about recent shootings in Utah, police body cameras, and community policing, among other issues.