Utah's Timpanogos Storytelling Festival is this weekend, and Thursday, Doug is joined by featured performer Kevin Kling. Kling is a humorist, perhaps best known for his commentaries on NPR. His stories are autobiographical - funny, but deeply personal. Kling shares everything from holidays in Minnesota and performing his banned play in Czechoslovakia to living with a birth defect and surviving a near fatal motor cycle accident. He joins Doug to talk about the power in story to overcome tragedy.

Wednesday, Doug is joined by independent radio producer Scott Carrier. When the US invaded Afghanistan after the attacks on 9/11, Carrier decided to go there too. He wanted to meet the enemy himself and find out what life is like in their world. But when he returned, he also found an enemy at home. It was the fear and anger that he says Americans have towards others. Scott Carrier has just published a book of stories from the post-9/11 world. It's called "Prisoner of Zion."

There's been a lot of talk since the economy stumbled about how to get it back on track. Should the government cut taxes or spend money to get things flowing again? This debate isn't new; it's been raging since the Great Depression, when economists Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes developed theories that get to the heart of this fundamental question. Tuesday, we're talking about supply-side and demand-side economics and asking what each approach could do to make a difference today.

There's geologic evidence of 6.5 and greater earthquakes violently shaking our region. Seismologists say it will happen again in Utah, though it's difficult to say when. We do know that there could be devastating consequences for the urban landscape. As the saying goes, "Earthquakes don't kill people, buildings do." Thursday, we're talking about what scientists are learning about earthquakes, what one would mean for the Wasatch Front and what is being done to prepare our community. (Rebroadcast)

Friday on RadioWest, the psychologist Paul Bloom joins Doug to explain how pleasure works. This is more than just about the simple pleasures of food or sex. How do you account for the pleasure of seeing a painting, for example, or for some, the pleasure of getting spanked? Pleasure is complicated, and Bloom says it's grounded in a belief about the essence of a thing. It's a conversation about philosophy, neuroscience, evolution, childhood development ... about why we desire what we desire. (Rebroadcast)

This past Monday, Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz announced he would not run against six-term Senator Orrin Hatch. Many observers were anticipating a race between the two Republicans and potential candidates were waiting to see what Chaffetz might do before throwing their hats in the ring. Thursday on RadioWest, we'll talk with Congressman Chaffetz about his decision and about his goals in Washington. We'll also be joined by a panel to discuss what all of this means for Utah in 2012.

Wednesday, we're talking about Ab Jenkins, a Utah man who pushed the limits of speed. More than 70 years ago, Jenkins raced his custom-built Duesenberg Special called the "Mormon Meteor" across the Bonneville Salt Flats. Jenkins set 26 records in that car and half of them still stand today. Now, there's a new documentary about Ab Jenkins and the Boys of Bonneville. We'll talk to director Curt Wallin and others about the film and about the newly restored Mormon Meteor.

The average American kid will have some 3,000 school lunches by the twelfth grade. But what are they eating? When filmmaker and author Amy Kalafa went into school cafeterias, she found lunch trays laden with chicken nuggets and French fries, but little in the way of healthy choices. The question she kept hearing from parents though was "What do we do about it?" Kalafa has written a book called "Lunch Wars," and Tuesday, she joins us to explain how to start a school food revolution.

Texas Governor Rick Perry is shaking up the GOP Presidential race. Within 3 days of entering, a Rasmussen poll already showed him with a double digit lead over Romney and Bachmann. Perry's appealing to the Evangelical Christian vote with a massive prayer rally earlier this month and his vocal skepticism on issues like evolution. Monday, we're talking about Perry's faith and about his relationship to the New Apostolic Reformation - a conservative Christian movement with clear political goals.