RadioWest

02/22/2025

A wilderness survival trainer from Utah goes undercover with American militias. Joshua Kaplan tells his story — this morning at 11 a.m. on RadioWest.

In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, John Williams, a wilderness survival trainer from Utah, embarked on a dangerous mission to infiltrate American militias. Posing as an ally, Williams spent years undercover within groups like the Oath Keepers.

02/20/2025

“Immediately after January 6, Trump condemned the rioters in incredibly harsh terms, but within a few months, he and other prominent political figures started to change their tune and started to embrace the rioters as patriots — as political prisoners. That had a very concrete, measurable impact on militias. Suddenly you started having people, rather than quitting the group because they were disgusted by January 6, joining because January 6 inspired them.”

ProPublica reporter Jonathan Kaplan tells Doug Fabrizio about the hidden world of American militias.

📅 Airdate: Thu. Feb. 20, 2025 at 9 a.m. and Sat. Feb. 22, 2025 at 11 a.m. 🎙️ Guest: Joshua Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize winner and Investigative Reporter for ProPublica.

02/20/2025

A liberal society stands on the proposition that we should all take seriously the idea that we might be wrong. This means we must place no one, including ourselves, beyond the reach of criticism; it means that we must allow people to err, even where the error offends and upsets, as it often will.” Jonathan Rauch

02/20/2025

📻 Tune in to RadioWest! 📻
Join us for a discussion on the role of Christianity in America's democracy. Author and journalist Jonathan Rauch’s new book, "Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy," explores the powerful strain of Christianity that seeks power and sees itself as under attack. Rauch charts a course forward for American Christians that could renew the faith and save the nation.

📅 Airdate: Wed. Feb. 19, 2025 at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. 🎙️ Guest: Jonathan Rauch, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Catch the replay on our website or wherever you get your podcasts.

👉 Share your thoughts and join the conversation! What role do you think Christianity should play in America's democracy? Comment below.

11/09/2024

First Lady Grace Coolidge and Rebecca the raccoon.

When Rebecca the raccoon arrived at the White House, she was supposed to be Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, the first family fell in love with her and kept her as a pet.

Raccoons may be nuisances to some but, author Rebecca Rundell asks you to see how clever and intelligent they are.

More stories of wild, intelligent animals today at 11 a.m. on RadioWest or wherever you get your podcasts.

https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2024-11-05/katherine-rundells-bestiary-of-vanishing-treasures

11/08/2024

Need a break from all the political talk? Need to pop on the headphones, head out on a walk / hike / bike / yard work / day of chores and escape? RadioWest has your back with 20+ years of conversations. We put together a weekend playlist of some of our favorites.

11/07/2024

"We so rarely discover that we have overstimated the intelligence of something. We are almost always discovering that something is more complex, more strange, more vivid, more instinctive, more remarkable than we knew." Katherine Rundell today at 9 a.m.

The author Katherine Rundell didn’t believe in love at first sight until she met a pangolin. The encounter with the anteater-like creature made her curious about other endangered animals, and now, she wants us to notice more of these exquisite creatures.

11/07/2024

Still emerging from the fog of Election Day? Still trying to make sense of what happened?

Our panel has you covered. Dr. David Magleby, Robert Gehrke, Sean Higgins and Saige Miller explain what happened in Utah on 2024.

Find our episode: Election 2024: The Morning After wherever you get your podcasts.

https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2024-11-05/election-2024-the-morning-afer

When you read this, it’s likely either Election Day or the morning after. We’re going live to talk about what we know and what’s still to come.

10/26/2024

“It’s Only Life After All” is about the Indigo Girls, an 80’s folk rock band. Come check out the documentary this Saturday at the Utah Q***r Film Festival, with a Q&A hosted by Doug Fabrizio and director of the film Alexandria Bombach after. Click below for more details and to listen to our new episode on this topic!

https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2024-10-22/through-the-lens-its-only-life-after-all

10/26/2024

Are you a believer in manifestation and the power of your mind? Then this RadioWest episode is for you! Doug Fabrizio talks with Amanda Montell, author of “The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality”, about the power of the mind, and why our minds are currently on overdrive.

Listen to the episode at the link down below!

The author Amanda Montell says magical thinking is everywhere. If you’ve ever wondered if you could manifest your way to wealth, this one’s for you.

10/26/2024

Take a trip back in time with the Indigo Girls! “It’s Only Life After All” is the first film for our Fall 2024 Through the Lens with the Utah Film Center. Director Alexandria Bombach inspects the career of the Indigo Girls, the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, and where they are now. Listen to our new episode about the Indigo Girls documentary with Doug Fabrizio by clicking the link below!

Everyone knows the Indigo Girls — or at least they think they do. The indie rock duo hit the music scene in the early 80’s, and people were quick to try to categorize them.

09/18/2024

Utah Senator Mike Lee was once part of the “Never Trump” crowd. Now, he may become Trump’s attorney general.

At the 2016 Republican National Convention, the senator tried to prevent Donal Trump from becoming the party’s nominee. In 2020, he tried to help Trump overturn the election.

Tonight at 7 p.m. on RadioWest, we are talking to Tim Alberta, a staff writer for The Atlantic, about his new profile of Utah Senator Mike Lee.

In 2016, Utah’s Senator Mike Lee tried to stop Donald Trump from becoming the president. Today, he might become Trump’s attorney general.

08/02/2024

Today would have been the 100th birthday for one of the most important voices of the 20th Century, the writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin.

Revisit our RadioWest Book Club conversation for Go Tell It On the Mountain and the discussion about the Baldwin / Buckley debate.

On a February night in 1965 at England’s prestigious University of Cambridge, two well-known intellectuals, James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr.,…

07/31/2024

New to SLC and want to plant a garden that thrives in this (hot, cold, hotter, arid) climate?

Been here for generations and want to adapt your garden?

Need a garden that reflects your lifestyle? A dog, or kids, or simply your personality?

Drop in on our conversation with Yard Farmer founder Daryl Lindsey. Available wherever you get your podcasts and on KUER at 9 a.m. Thursday morning.

This one’s going out to all the local green thumbs — the Utahns who want beautiful gardens that actually thrive in the West. Our guest says it’s totally possible.

07/31/2024

On May 14, 2022, Trevor Bellaccomo was stabbed to death in Salt Lake City, shocking the local punk rock community. The man who killed Trevor was found guilty. But Ally, Trevor's wife, is a prison abolitionist. Yet she also believes that Trevor’s killer is a real threat to her community. Meanwhile, the sentencing hearing approaches—where Ally will face the man who murdered her husband.

Honored to present our latest RadioWest film, Sentenced, on PBS Utah.

Ally Goddard's husband was killed in 2022. Now she prepares to face his murderer in court.

07/31/2024

Jeff Goodell knows a thing or two about the climate crisis. He’s been writing about it for years. But it didn’t become personal until the heat nearly killed him.

It was on a hike in Nicaragua that Goodell experienced the real danger — the bodily danger — posed by extreme temperatures. His heart rate shot up; he was expelling sweat at an alarming rate. He felt like his body was out of control. Thankfully, he was with a guide who got him to some shade. But it was a close call, and it changed the way he thought about global warming. For one thing, Goodell says, “warming” is way too gentle a way to put it. Jeff Goodell’s new book is about just how deadly heat itself can be, and what we can still do to slow down rising temperatures around the planet.

On RadioWest or wherever you get your podcasts.

07/17/2024

The Real Origins of the 10 Commandments

Louisiana just passed a law that puts the Ten Commandments in public classrooms. That got us thinking: Where do the 10 Commandments really come from?

Our guest is the scholar Dan McClellan. He told us all about the biblical origins of the 10 Commandments, as well their historical beginnings. The short version is: It’s complicated. There were publicly displayed laws in the ancient world, and many of those found their way into the Bible. There’s also a lot more than just 10 commandments, depending where you look, and some of them say some pretty wild things — like you should sacrifice your firstborn. Oh, and the actual movie “The Ten Commandments” plays a big part in this story, too.

07/16/2024

The journalist Sebastian Junger is no stranger to death. He covered the war in Afghanistan for years. But it was a medical emergency that brought him face to face with dying—and an afterlife.

He joins RadioWest tomorrow at 9 a.m. to talk about his new book “In My Time of Dying,” — a meditation on his own experience and the nature of reality.