Utah Thrives (Podcast of Utah Foundation)
Listen to Utah Thrives on Spotify
Listen to Utah Thrives on Apple Podcasts
Listen to Utah Thrives on Google Podcasts
Listen to Utah Thrives on Audible
Listen to Utah Thrives on Stitcher
Listen to Utah Thrives on Tune In
Listen to Utah Thrives on Castbox
Listen to Utah Thrives on iHeartRadio
The Utah Thrives Podcast Feed

Utah Thrives: Drug Rehab — In Jail and Out

Written by: Dan Bammes

Going to jail for a drug-related crime might not seem like an opportunity for the person who’s incarcerated. But while they’re locked up in Utah’s prisons and jails, inmates addicted to drugs might find treatment programs that could help them escape the addiction. A research report from Utah Foundation shows those programs vary widely from state prisons to county jails, but for those who get help, the likelihood of going back to jail is reduced … Continued

Utah Thrives: Utah’s State Budget and Board Chair Elizabeth Hitch

Written by: Dan Bammes

The most important job for Utah’s state legislature as it prepares to go into its general session is to pass a balanced state budget. The governor provides legislators with a budget outline in December, and the day it was released, Utah Foundation hosted a breakfast with special guests Kristen Cox, the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, along with Phil Dean, the office’s Budget Director and Chief Economist. We’ll hear some … Continued

Utah Thrives: 2018 Election and Utah Politics

Written by: Dan Bammes

Utah has just completed a remarkable midterm election, with high levels of voter participation. Some hotly contested candidate races and strong interest in several ballot initiatives helped to drive that high turnout. We’ll hear from Justin Lee, the elections chief in the office of Utah’s lieutenant governor. Brigham Young University’s Adam Brown, Associate Professor of Political Science, was the featured speaker at Utah Foundation’s annual luncheon in October. We’ll hear his thoughts on what makes … Continued

Utah Thrives: Quality of Life, Relationships, and Suicide

Written by: Dan Bammes

Every few years, Utah Foundation surveys Utahns about their quality of life. Their responses allow us to look back and see how their perceptions have changed over time. And we also recently published a research report on suicide, looking at how Utah compares to other states in the Mountain West and the nation. We’ll hear from Utah Foundation President Peter Reichard about those reports. In this edition of Utah Thrives, we’ll look closely at one … Continued

Utah Thrives: The Cost of Health Care

Written by: Dan Bammes

For the voters surveyed for the Utah Priorities Project in 2016, no concern ranked higher than health care – and its cost. Utah Foundation responded with a three-part series looking at what we have to pay for health care. The series was honored with the 2018 Most Distinguished Research Award by the Governmental Research Association. And we’ve also invited Leavitt Partners CEO Andrew Croshaw, a leading thinker in the area of health care, to comment … Continued

Utah Thrives: Funding for Utah’s At-risk Students

Written by: Dan Bammes

When the Education Excellence Commission convened by Governor Gary Herbert looked at ways to improve Utah’s public schools, it spent a lot of time talking about students at risk of academic failure. How to pay for the extra help they need to catch up to their peers, what programs are in place and who pays for them, is the subject of a new research report from Utah Foundation. In this episode of Utah Thrives, we … Continued

Utah Thrives: Farming in Utah’s Urban Counties

Written by: Dan Bammes

For several generations now, the most profitable crop grown on farmland in Utah’s urban counties has been new houses. Farmland has been disappearing and with it the lifestyle that was once a big part of Utah’s culture. But through the years, farming has survived and adapted, sometimes taking advantage of that urban growth. In this edition of Utah Thrives, we’ll hear about the agricultural protection status that farmers in Wasatch Front communities are able to … Continued

Utah Thrives — The Future of Transportation

Written by: Dan Bammes

What if the public transit system worked more like Uber? What if we could keep the air cleaner in Utah’s national parks by driving electric cars? And how would our society change if our cars were better at driving than we are? Those are among the questions explored by a panel of experts at a recent Utah Foundation event on the Future of Transportation in Utah. We’ll hear from David Christensen, Executive Director of USU’s … Continued

Utah Thrives — Addressing Ozone Pollution

Written by: Dan Bammes

Changes in federal regulations are bringing new attention to the problem of ozone air pollution in Utah. It’s more of a summertime problem for Utah’s urban areas, but it’s also a significant problem in the Uintah Basin of eastern Utah, where most of the state’s oil and gas drilling takes place. In this edition of Utah Thrives, we’ll hear from Whitney Oswald with the Utah Division of Air Quality, environmental scientist Seth Lyman from Utah … Continued

Utah Thrives – Income Tax Changes

Written by: Dan Bammes

It was called the Jones-Mascaro bill, after Democratic State Representative Pat Jones and Republican Representative Steve Mascaro. The idea was to limit the income tax break that large families were getting under Utah law. Over a dozen years, the legislature rejected the idea time after time. But now, thanks to the tax reform enacted by Congress and the response of the Utah legislature to those changes, a policy similar to Jones-Mascaro is in place – … Continued