By Jenny Brundin

Salt Lake City, UT – Utah is the first state in the nation to mandate a 4 day work week for state employees. The one year pilot program is showing that goals for cutting energy use 20 percent might take longer than expected to achieve. But planners are confident that they'll get there - and save the state money. Employees, for the most part, are also on board with the new 7 to 6 p.m. hours. KUER's Jenny Brundin reports on the scorecard so far.

By Jennifer Napier-Pearce

Salt Lake City, UT – In her new book, Alexandra Fuller writes about the simple life and heartbreaking death of a roughneck working on a Wyoming oil patch. "The Legend of Colton H. Bryant" explores the impact Wyoming's stark, rugged terrain has on a person's character and the effect of the oil and gas industry on rural communities. Fuller's book is coming out in paperback later this month. She joined Jennifer Napier-Pearce to talk about one man's abbreviated life and the human costs of energy development. (Rebroadcast)

By Jennifer Napier-Pearce

Salt Lake City, UT – Air pollution, dependency on foreign oil and federal stimulus money all have commuters once-again looking to alternative fuel vehicles. And that's jumpstarting renewed interest in electric cars. KUER's Jennifer Napier-Pearce reports.

By Jennifer Napier-Pearce

Salt Lake City, UT – A select group of American journalism's luminaries gathered last week at the Library of Congress to honor one of Utah's own. Pat Bagley, political cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune, won this year's Herblock Prize for distinguished editorial cartooning. Known for his biting humor and original drawing style, Bagley has been at the Tribune for more than 25 years. KUER's Jennifer Napier-Pearce asked Bagley about the award ceremony.

By Doug Fabrizio

By Doug Fabrizio

Salt Lake City, UT – Monday, we're commemorating one tradition of the upcoming Easter season - the Easter egg. But we're not talking about just any egg; we're looking at the grandest of all - the Faberge. The writer Toby Faber has written a fascinating biography of the Faberge Egg. It's a story that begins in St. Petersburg. It's about craft - to be sure, but it's also packed with history and drama about how the eggs disappeared during the Russian revolution and then reappeared onto the world stage.

By Doug Fabrizio

Salt Lake City, UT – Most of us came to know Sarah Vowell through the radio program This American Life. She also happens to be something of an armchair historian, and she says she's a sucker for Puritan New England and the Civil War. Vowell says those events feature the central tension of American life: the conflict between the individual will and the public good. Sarah Vowell will be in Utah later this month, and today she joins Doug to talk about life, the Puritans, her father's gun obsession and radio.

By Doug Fabrizio

Salt Lake City, UT – The writer and cultural observer Juliet Schor joins Doug to talk about how the advertising industry is targeting children. Schor says ads aimed at kids are everywhere these days. One writer said the marketing effort is turning young people into oversexed, status-obsessed, attention deficient little consumers. Schor talks about the trend, and what it means to have commercialized children. (Rebroadcast)

By Doug Fabrizio

By Doug Fabrizio

Salt Lake City, UT – What's going on when a dog wants to endlessly dash after a Frisbee on the lawn. A lot of us assume that while it may look fun, for an animal there's got to be more to it than that. But the researcher Jonathan Balcombe says that in fact the animal kingdom is rich with pleasure. And we're not just talking domestic pets. Balcombe says iguanas, sparrows, even Moray eels seek out pleasure. We talked with Balcombe last May when he made the case that animal enjoy themselves. (Rebroadcast)