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David Bigler, Revisionist Historian

"Mountain Meadows massacre (Stenhouse)" by Stenhouse, T.B.H. (1873) from "The Rocky Mountain Saints"

Wednesday, our guest is David Bigler, a “revisionist historian” of the 19th century Utah and Mormon story. For nearly 50 years, Bigler has been a prolific writer and iconoclast, bringing insight to controversial events like the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the Utah War. David Bigler and editor Will Bagley join Doug to talk about what we learn from clear-eyed history and an openness to “revision” as new sources are uncovered. They’ll also tell us a few good stories from Utah’s past.

Confessions of a Revisionist Historian: David L. Bigler on the Mormons and the West [Amazon] is a collection of David Bigler's scholarship, edited by Will Bagley.

Wednesday, September 16 at 7:00 p.m., David Bigler will give a reading at Ken Sanders Rare Books, 268 S 200 East in downtown Salt Lake City. He will also be joined by Will Bagley. [Details]

Correction

Everett Bassett presented his discovery of the mass grave sites at Mountain Meadows to the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation, not to the separate group the Mountain Meadows Association as referenced in the broadcast. A third group, the Mountain Meadows Massacre Descendants, also focuses on memorializing the 1857 event.

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
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