RadioWest

Chickens, Now and Then

Doug Fabrizio — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:46:32 +0000

Wednesday we’re talking about chickens, an unassuming animal that emerged from the jungles of Southeast Asia to become a global food, often raised by the millions under industrial conditions. But more and more, people in urban settings are keeping small poultry flocks in their backyards as pets and for eggs and meat. We’ll trace the chicken’s natural history with the help of journalist Andrew Lawler. Urban farmer Novella Carpenter will join us to share the joys and challenges of urban chickens, and we’d like to hear your stories.

Chronicles of a Pleistocene Mind

Doug Fabrizio — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:48:38 +0000

Tuesday, Doug's guest is Utah author Maximilian Werner. Werner is a poet, a novelist and an essayist whose newest book asks how the forces of evolution still shape our everyday lives. From choosing which bedroom to sleep in to the way children play hide-and-seek, Werner says that our Pleistocene mind is at work. We'll talk about the strategies we use to survive and what those can teach us about the human animals we are. His memoir-infused book is called "Evolved."

What to Expect When No One's Expecting

Doug Fabrizio — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:30:00 +0000

Monday, be prepared for a challenge to the conventional wisdom on worldwide population problems. Our guest is the conservative journalist Jonathan Last, who's worried we're not having enough babies. Fertility rates have been dropping for decades with some quirky results: adult diapers are out-selling baby diapers in Japan and in America, pets now outnumber children more than four to one. We'll reach a population peak in about 85 years, but after that, Last says we'll begin an inexorable decline that could have serious consequences. He joins us to talk about what he thinks we can expect when no one's expecting.

Gulp

Doug Fabrizio — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Everybody eats, and we more or less know what that’s about. What happens after we eat – the transformation of food as it passes through our bodies – that’s more of a mystery, and a gross one at that. In her latest book, the science writer Mary Roach explores the interesting and kind of disgusting science and stories of our digestive tracts. Roach joins us Friday to answer some age old alimentary questions: Why is crunchy food so appealing? How much food can you eat before your stomach bursts? And of course, did constipation kill Elvis? (Rebroadcast)

An Inner History of the New America

Doug Fabrizio — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:41:20 +0000

Thursday, the journalist George Packer joins us to talk about his new book, The Unwinding. It tells the story of America’s economic transformation since the 1970s through the stories of four average citizens and one average city. It also profiles famous Americans who built their own false empires by selling us promises of prosperity, fame and convenience. All the while, Packer says the structures that shored up the middle class were eroded, only to be replaced by a society of organized money where “winners win bigger than ever…and losers have a long way to go before hitting bottom.”

2013 Summer Reading

Doug Fabrizio — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:35:57 +0000

There's good news for lovers of local, independent bookstores: people still want books. Yes, there are many choices for readers these days, but across the country book sales at neighborhood shops seem to be on the rise. And who better to give advice on the best summer reads than local, expert booksellers? Wednesday, we're asking Salt Lake's own Betsy Burton of The King's English, Ken Sanders of Ken Sanders Rare Books, and Catherine Weller of Weller Book Works for their top picks in fiction and non-fiction for both kids and grown-ups.

We Steal Secrets

Doug Fabrizio — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 23:05:26 +0000

Army Private Bradley Manning recently went on trial in military court for turning over thousands of classified documents to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. It was the largest security breach in US history. The filmmaker Alex Gibney profiles Manning and Wikileaks’ enigmatic founder Julian Assange in a new documentary, We Steal Secrets. It explores the peculiar nature of whistleblowers and also that of the Internet: a free-information machine for the public, but a spying machine for governments. Gibney joins us Tuesday.

Bunker Hill

Doug Fabrizio — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 00:06:10 +0000

Monday, Doug is joined by author and historian Nathaniel Philbrick for a grassroots look at the American Revolution. His new book takes to the streets of Boston during the British occupation of 1775 and follows the merchants, farmers, artisans and sailors – the vigilantes and the sober citizens on their march towards rebellion. The tension climaxed in June with the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was the bloodiest engagement of the war and the moment, Philbrick says, that set the course for Revolution.

A Clockwork Orange

Doug Fabrizio — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:50:17 +0000

Last year, fans celebrated the 50th anniversary of the ultra-violent novella A Clockwork Orange. Author Anthony Burgess said the work should have been forgotten, but because of Stanley Kubrick's film, it seemed destined to live on. It's the story of the barbaric passions of a British teen and the state's attempt to impose a mechanistic morality over his free-will. Friday, we're rebroadcasting our conversation with the scholar Andrew Biswell about A Clockwork Orange and about why Burgess said the point of the book has been widely misunderstood. (Rebroadcast)

An Atheist in the FOXhole

Doug Fabrizio — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:05:54 +0000

For almost eight years, Joe Muto worked for Fox News Channel. He spent much of that time as a producer for conservative talk show host Bill O’Reilly. But Muto didn’t share the political opinions of his boss or his employer. He was an Obama-loving, godless, bleeding-heart liberal. In a new book, Muto takes us behind the scenes at Fox News to reveal the inner-workings of one of America’s most popular media outlets, how it drives a message and how fair and balanced its approach really is. Muto’s book is called An Atheist in the Foxhole, and he joins us on Thursday to talk about it.