In his new book, "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation," Michael Pollan explores how cooking involves us in a web of social and ecological relationships: with plants and animals, the soil, farmers, our history and culture, and, of course, the people our cooking nourishes. Michael Pollan, author of several previous best-selling books such as "The Omnivore’s Dilemma," joins Tom Williams for the hour on Monday’s Access Utah at 9:00 a.m.

The UPR staff is down in St. George for our StoryCorps reception tomorrow. Who will be joining us??

Vegetarian and vegan culture on Access Utah Thursday 9:00 a.m. Should we eat meat? Why are you vegetarian or vegan? Or why do you eat meat? Do you think about where your food comes from? How does this affect your eating decisions? Do you feel a connection to the food you eat? If you are a vegetarian or vegan how far do you go and why? (Some vegans don’t use leather or eat honey, for example.) How do these two cultures (meat eaters and vegetarians) accommodate each other? Are conflicts likely to increase? Do members of either culture seek to impose their views on the other? What are the likely environmental and economic effects of an increase in vegetarianism/veganism?

The United States’ rate of incarceration is the highest in the world. Why and how did this happen? Marc Mauer’s “Race to Incarcerate,” first published in 1999, has become an important text for understanding the growth of the U.S. prison system. Now, Sabrina Jones, a member of the World War 3 Illustrated collective and an author of politically engaged comics, has collaborated with Mauer to adapt and update the original book into a comics narrative designed to reach new audiences. Marc Mauer and Sabrina Jones join Tom Williams for Wednesday’s Access Utah at 9:00 a.m.

Utah prairie dogs: Out of control pests or deserving of protection? Also UPR’s Kerry Bringhurst with southern Utah stories. Access Utah Tuesday 9:00 a.m.

It's time for the great outdoors in Utah- hiking, camping, swimming, backpacking... bugs... Inform yourself about Lyme disease:Lyme disease in Utahwww.upr.orgSpring is the season for hiking, biking, camping, and for ticks. Lyme disease is the most common tick-born disease in the U.S., but is it in Utah? Kim

Are you coming? RSVP to Shalayne by tomorrow. 435-797-0320

StoryCorps on KUTV 2 tonight! Come share YOUR story!http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_4912.shtmlwww.kutv.com

KUTV 2News is doing a story on the StoryCorps booth we're sponsoring down in St. George. Keep your eye on the news folks!!

Access Utah Thursday 9:00 a.m. What is the proper balance between privacy and security? Are you willing to give up some privacy rights for increased safety? Do you worry your rights will be eroded? What should the rules be regarding these new technologies?

Remember the "Where's Waldo" game?

Have you checked out the StoryCorps Booth in the St. George Town Square yet? You can interview someone there by calling 1-800-850-4406. Do it!StoryCorps Booth Now Live in St. George Town Square: Reserve Your Spotupr.orgUPR and Dixie Regional Medical Center are sponsoring the StoryCorps recording booth in St. George happening now to June 1 in the St. George town square.

In the first test in the nation of an “Ag Gag” law, a Utah woman was recently charged for using her cell phone to film a slaughterhouse. Charges against Amy Meyer were subsequently dropped. Under Utah’s law (H.B. 187) passed in 2012, it is illegal to film an agricultural operation while trespassing or entering the premises on false pretenses. Access Utah Wed. 9:00 a.m. What do you think? Do surreptitious whistle blowers at farms and slaughterhouses provide a needed service or are they public nuisances? Do you think Utah’s “Ag Gag” law is a necessary protection or an infringement on citizens’ rights?

On Tuesday’s Access Utah at 9:00 a.m. we’ll revisit a conversation from January with journalist Ioan Grillo, who has written about Mexican narcotraffickers for the past decade, even interviewing members of the cartels and their death squads. He says that “El Narco is not a gang; it is a movement and an industry drawing in hundreds of thousands from bullet-ridden barrios to marijuana-growing mountains.” Grillo believes these cartels “have transformed into a criminal insurgency that threatens the nation’s democracy and spirals into the United States.”

Here's the list our Access Utah guests gave us on the show this morning. Check them out!The Summer Reading List on Access Utahupr.orgAs we head towards summer, we’re talking books on Monday’s Access Utah. What are you reading now? What’s on your summer reading list? We look forward to

Toxicologist Roger Coulombe says he feels like the Mayor of Amity Island, from the movie Jaws, when he tries to convince people that it’s safe to come to Cache Valley. If anyone knows the dangers of air pollution to human health, it’s him. Have you ever told someone not to come to your town because of pollution?Watching Disease Happen: the Pathology of Air Pollutionupr.orgFor Air Quality Awareness Week, Jennifer Pemberton has been asking local experts to help explain Cache Valley’s air pollution problem to residents. In

Competitor in the St George Ironman.

Lisa Polito, StoryCorps Mobile Site Supervisor and UPR friend Martha Ham.

Thanks Lucinda Nay for visiting us from Monroe!!

Congrats to our 4 seniors walking in Commencement today!! Go take on the world. :)

Utah Public Radio with StoryCorps in St. George, UTStoryCorps seeks residents' storieswww.thespectrum.comThe art of storytelling continues to be passed down from generation to generation, including stories of family history, close friendships, personal hardships and more.

What are you reading now? What’s on your summer reading list? We're looking for your suggestions for children, young adults and adults. Tell us why you're excited about these books. We'll share your suggestions on Monday's Access Utah at 9:00 a.m.

Rob Verhelst and Kerry BringhurstStoryCorps: St. George

Fireman Rob - Rob Verhelst and Nicole MalyStoryCorps: St. George

The NPR program StoryCorps comes to St. George!StoryCorps: St. GeorgeThe NPR program StoryCorps comes to St. George!

Kerry interviewing the first people to enter the StoryCorps booth in St. George.StoryCorps: St. George

St. George Mayor McArthur and his wife, Bunny.StoryCorps: St. George

Got a story, St. George, UT? StoryCorps MobileBooth still has reservations available! Make yours today—call 800-850-4406 or visit:St. George, UTstorycorps.orgStoryCorps is partnering with Utah Public Radio to record, preserve, and share the stories of communities in St. George, Utah from May 2 – June 1, 2013.

The Boy Scouts of America is proposing a compromise. They are prepared to allow gay youths to join, while continuing to bar gay leaders. BSA is preparing to vote on the proposal later this month. The plan has received the backing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BSA’s top sponsoring organization. Thursday on Access Utah at 9:00 a.m. we’ll ask you what you think. Is this a good compromise? Should BSA keep its current policy in place? Should they lift their ban on gay leaders? What about the previous proposal to allow local charter organizations to decide what to do?

Ok, so NPR's Planet Money is going to follow the entire process of making a T-shirt- from the growing of the cotton to the sewing of the shirt, to the printing. Want one?(P.S. They've already reached their goal of $50,000 and it's been less than a day since they announced the project...)NPR Program Follows the Creation of a T-Shirtwww.upr.orgPlanet Money, a collaboration between NPR and This American Life, is making a T-shirt – and taking listeners along on the complicated global odyssey behind

From the deadly 1948 inversion in Donora, Pennsylvania, to the latest EPA standards for cleaner gasoline, learn about the fight for clean air at the American Lung Association’s Clean Air Timeline, and keep listening to UPR for special reports during Air Quality Awareness Week.American Lung Association State of the Air 2013 - Clean Air Timelinewww.stateoftheair.orgAmerican Lung Association State of the Air 2013: How healthy is your air? Learn how your city measures up when it comes to air pollution, smog and soot. The American Lung Association released its annual report on air pollution across the U.S. Find out if you live in one of the cleanest cities in Ame...

We're here!!

Hunter Lovins, President of Natural Capitalism Solutions, will make the business case for sustainability on Wednesday’s Access Utah at 9:00 a.m. In the second half, we’ll revisit a conversation with photojournalist Scott Wallace, author of "The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes."

It's a bit quiet in the studios today- all of our interns are taking finals for their classes! Good luck you guys!!

Dr. C. Arden Pope’s research on air pollution and human health is one of the main reasons we have PM2.5 regulation in the U.S. Jennifer Pemberton reports on the Cache Valley Air Quality Summit, where Dr. Pope, whose research has roots in Utah and influence worldwide, was the keynote speaker.The Cleanest and the Dirtiest: C. Arden Pope on Why Utah is the Best and Worst Place to Study Airwww.upr.orgThis week is Air Quality Awareness Week. Today Jennifer Pemberton takes us on a summarized visit to the Cache Valley Air Quality Summit in Logan to hear

In the late 1930s Helmuth Hubener, a Mormon teenager, decided to leave Hitler’s Youth and confront the Nazi regime and his church leaders. Eventually, he was excommunicated from his church and became one of the youngest opponents of the Third Reich to be executed. We’ll examine the conflict of conscience occasioned among Mormons by the extreme circumstances of the Third Reich; and consider the question articulated by German novelist Gunther Grass: Why did [Hubener] know and I didn’t know? Our guest for the hour will be Alan Keele, professor emeritus of German studies at Brigham Young University, who gave a talk at USU as part of a recent symposium series on the Holocaust presented by the USU Religious Studies Program. We’ll also hear excerpts from a documentary film on the subject, “Truth and Conviction”

Thank you all so much for contributing to UPR. We really appreciate it- and here are some lucky ducks who received prizes over the weekend:Pledge Drive Winners Announced: Not too Late to Plant your Pledgeupr.orgThank you for your pledges of financial support during UPR’s Spring 2013 Pledge Drive. Our listeners' pledges will plant more than 2,500 ponderosa pine

Air pollution is not just hard on your lungs. It can be really hard on your heart too. Learn about the cardiovascular effects of bad air through the EPA’s Green Heart Initiative and tune in to Utah Public Radio this week for reports on local research on air pollution and human health.Green Heart Initiative | US Environmental Protection Agencywww.epa.govFebruary is American Heart Month. EPA is raising awareness of heart disease and its link to air pollution and other environmental factors.

It's the last day of pledge drive, but not too late to become a member! If you pledge today, you'll be entered into a drawing for an iPad mini, plant some trees, and support your public radio station! Head on over to our website and pledge your support.UPR Utah Public Radioupr.orgPublic Radio from Logan, Utah. Your source for news and culture.

the last day of pledge drive, but it's not too late to become a member and support the station, this facebook page, and more. Plus, you'll be entered into a drawing for an iPad mini if you fill out our online form or call in today! (We're also still planting trees.) Head on over to our website.UPR Utah Public Radioupr.orgPublic Radio from Logan, Utah. Your source for news and culture.

It's the last day of pledge drive (you excited?) but for you holdouts, we have a special offer. Pledge before 11 a.m. this morning, and be entered into a drawing for the iPad mini.http://ow.ly/ktiusow.ly

Questions from our listeners were asked at the Bear River Health Department’s Air Quality Summit today and answered by Utah’s finest air quality and health experts. Add your bad air stories and ask your air quality questions and we’ll make sure they get heard.Having a bad air day? Tell Utah Public Radio about it.www.publicinsightnetwork.orgWe've heard from the doctors. We've heard from the activists. We've heard from the Governor. Now we want to hear from you! What are the health effects of Cache Valley's air pollution? How does it look, taste, and feel to live in Cache Valley during winter inversions? Tell us your experience with the...

Garrison Keillor — the voice and creator of public radio’s“A Prairie Home Companion — and Katharine Coles — Utah’s former poet laureate. They are UPR!!

Twice a year, staff at your local public media stations go live on air to ask for your support. At Utah Public Radio, we have spent the last five days asking for your help to keep our station running the best it can, to help us continue providing the services of news and information and programming. There are many reasons to support Utah Public Radio. -We provide quality news and features reporting from across the world, the country, and across the state. Each program we play on air costs money- the program itself is often bought from NPR, APM, or other organizations. The hosts must be paid, the studio needs to be lit. Our locally produced shows need the help of a producer, interns, and hosts. Our locally produced shows need the help of a producer, interns, and hosts. Becoming a member and contributing what you can helps us give our listeners quality. -We help you interact with your community and world. Whether you are giving your input on Access Utah about legislative policies, books, or music, we are listening and so are others. Pledging your financial support showcases your appreciation. -We give you more bang for your buck. This week, we're offering some love back to you for your contribution. Each pledge made will result in a tree planted in the "Public Radio Forest" we're trying to build in Manti La-Sal National Forest in Utah. Sustaining members who contribute a little bit each month, will have more trees planted, based on the amount of their monthly contribution. Utah Public Radio offers a way for you to be involved in your community- whether in Hurricane and Provo or Brigham City and Logan. We've reached our 60th anniversary, and it is only because of the support we've received from our listeners. Make a pledge to support UPR by giving whatever you can to help us through the next year. Stand with Utah Public Radio, and announce that you are UPR. Pledge by going to upr.org/make-pledge

April and Teri talk about ponderosa pine trees. Each pledge this drive plants a tree. Want to learn more? Go to our website at upr.orgPledge Drive Spring 2013

April Ashland operated the controls today during pledge drive. Did you hear her?Pledge Drive Spring 2013

Our volunteers are bored! Call in and pledge now... 1-800-826-1495 or go online at upr.org

Access Utah Thursday 9 a.m. Arthur Brooks, author of the “The Road to Freedom" says that: >The American traditions of entrepreneurship, personal responsibility, and upward mobility have been weakened by an explosion in the size of government and a move towards redistributing wealth rather than rewarding merit. >Free enterprise requires a moral defense based on the ideals of earned success, equality of opportunity, charity & basic fairness. >At least for some, the best path through higher education does not lie in the traditional classroom experience. DO YOU AGREE?

Maximilian Werner joins Tom Williams Wednesday on Access Utah at 9:00 a.m. to talk about his new memoir "Gravity Hill."Hill :: University Press Catalogcontent.lib.utah.eduThis item is only available through the the University of Utah Press secure online store. Please note, this online store is unrelated to the shopping cart on our site. If you wish to make a purchase from this store, items must be paid for separately and will ship separately from items in your shoppi...