Caroline Ballard
Assistant News DirectorCaroline Ballard is a central Virginia native and a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School. Ever since 2014 – to her delight and the dismay of her East Coast family and friends – she has steadily moved further west. For five years she served as Morning Edition host at Wyoming Public Radio, as well as its newsroom editor and host of the podcast HumaNature. She earned two PRNDI (Public Radio News Directors Inc.) awards for Best Podcast for her work as lead producer on episodes of the show. In 2016, her reporting project Women Run the West, which examined the representation of women in western politics, was selected to be a part of the first NPR Story Lab. Caroline became KUER’s All Things Considered host in August 2019. When she’s not behind the mic, you can find her spending time with her husband and her rescue pup Scrappy, and cooking recipes that are far too complicated for her skill level.
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Around 30 athletes at this summer’s Olympics had ties to Utah. Reporter Shara Park was part of the KSL team following their journey in Tokyo. She said she’ll mostly remember the empty seats and generosity of the Japanese people.
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For kids obsessed with princesses, being deeply engaged with those stories can have long-term effects. A new study from BYU researcher Sarah Coyne followed a group of kids for years, and found that those who loved “princess culture” had more positive body image and more equal views of men and women as they approached adolescence.
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Presidential and Congressional elections are a big draw for voters. This year is an “off-cycle” election, though, when municipalities across Utah will hold local elections. New research from Brigham Young University finds that can result in outsized influence of special interest groups.
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In 2019, Michael Chad Breinholt was shot by a West Valley City police officer while in custody at the station. A new investigation by The Salt Lake Tribune and PBS Frontline found that it wasn’t Sgt. Tyler Longman’s first fatal shooting, and that he’s not the only Utah officer who has been involved in multiple shootings.
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A new study out of Brigham Young University shows the children of America’s founding fathers had a big influence on their views on how strong the federal government should be.
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Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is mourning the discovery this week of another 751 bodies of Indigenous children at a former residential school in Canada. And he’s bracing for the Department of the Interior’s investigation into what happened at schools here in the U.S. — including one in Utah.
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One in five Generation Z members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual — or any other sexual orientation besides heterosexual, according to analysis of a national survey conducted ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Jana Riess and Benjamin Knoll analyzed the data for Religion News Service. They discussed their findings with KUER.
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The White Roller Coaster. Lagoon Dipper. Giant Coaster. It’s been known by many names, but these days just goes by “Roller Coaster.” It’s one of Lagoon Amusement Park’s most popular and enduring rides, and this week, the Utah landmark celebrated its 100th birthday.
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The Utah Jazz wrapped up their regular season with the best record in the NBA for the first time since the late ‘90s. Next up is the playoffs.
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Natasha Helfer has been “excommunicated” from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. KUER’s Caroline Ballard talked with her about her experience.
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A new meta-analysis of more than 70 studies looks at what impact religion can have on the mental health of gender and sexual minorities. The answer? It varies. Psychologist Tyler Lefevor explains the research.
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In February 2020, Caroline Ballard sat down with Utah-based epidemiologist Dr. Andrew Pavia to talk about COVID-19. Since then, the state has seen more than 385,000 infections and more than 2,100 Utahns have died from the virus. Pavia joined KUER again to talk about what he got right — and wrong — about the pandemic last year.