Salt Lake Speaks

Facing Utah's Hate Groups

Many consider Utah safe from the kind of aggressive hate group activity often associated with the South, but that is not the case. Dr. Rebecca Barrett-Fox, assistant professor of Sociology at Arkansas State University whose research specializes in the rhetoric and logic of hate groups, explains why there has been an extreme increase in hate group activity and visibility in the last eight years. 

John Dehlin: Mormon Excommunication and Shunning (Part 2)

John Dehlin talks about excommunication, cult vengeance, shunning and rebuilding his spiritual life. PART TWO 

John Dehlin, a psychologist best-known for his global podcasts “Mormon Stories,” was excommunicated by the LDS Church as an apostate more than a year ago. He spoke frankly with Salt Lake magazine Managing Editor Glen Warchol about the price of speaking out—being shunned by his Mormon community, having his children harassed and finally being forced to leave Logan for Salt Lake City. 

John Dehlin: Mormon Excommunication and Shunning

John Dehlin talks about excommunication, cult vengeance, shunning and rebuilding his spiritual life. PART ONE OF TWO. 

John Dehlin, a psychologist best-known for his global podcasts “Mormon Stories,” was excommunicated by the LDS Church as an apostate more than a year ago. He spoke frankly with Salt Lake magazine Managing Editor Glen Warchol about the price of speaking out—being shunned by his Mormon community, having his children harassed and finally being forced to leave Logan for Salt Lake City.

Wonder Woman - The Gender Battle Continues

Wonder Woman, It was seen as DC‘s attempt to make up for its under-performing Batman v. Superman, but most significantly, it was touted as Warner Brother’s first woman-centered superhero movie. Women—actress Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins—hold the lead roles in front of and behind the camera. Still, an argument can be made that Gadot’s Wonder Woman is just another flawlessly beautiful woman running around in a structured swimsuit. 

The Undoing of Bears Ears National Monument

President Trump is calling for rescinding of Bears Ears’ protections as a national monument. But can he do it? University of Utah legal expert John Ruple is betting against it.

Elevation causes Mental Health Issues and Depression in Utah

Life at high-altitudes. Living in Utah can bottom out mood in people who suffer depression. Renshaw says that within hours of a visitor stepping off a plane at Salt Lake International Airport, mood begins to spiral downwards. It may even contribute to Utah’s high suicide rates. Learn more about this important research and what you can do about high-altitude depression on Salt Lake Speaks.

Living Well with Less in Tiny Homes

It would seem easy to write off the Tiny Homes movement as just a Millennial trend—another way to buck the traditional American dream embodied by their parents and grandparents. But that would be an oversimplification of the Tiny Homes movement and the values of those who opt to live with less in an era of conspicuous consumerism.

Utah Liquor Laws: Tearing Down The Zion Curtain

Mary Brown Malouf, editor and long-time food writer for Salt Lake magazine speaks with Michele Corigliano, executive director of Salt Lake Area Restaurant Association. The “Zion Curtain,” the 7-foot-tall barrier to prevent restaurant patrons, especially children, from seeing alcoholic drinks being mixed, was part of a package of liquor laws introduced by Rep. John Valentine in 2010. It’s been a controversial issue ever since.

Homelessness in Utah: Sugar House Fights Back

The placement of new homeless shelters in Salt Lake City has enraged Sugar House residents and they are organizing resistance groups to push back at Mayor Jackie Biscupski.

Sex (mis) Education in Utah: The Naked Truth

No Place is less Knowledgeable than Utah. 

In our first episode, Sex (mis)Education in Utah, Managing Editor Glen Warchol grills sex therapist Kristin Hodson about the state’s mind-boggling sex-education ignorance and how it threatens our kids’ health.