fun utah podcasts

Episode 246 Utah’s Premier Funeral DJ

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Episode 246 brought to you by the color red, the letter J, and the number 7. This week we talk with special guest John “Jarvis” DJ/FX Designer for Evermore.

Photo by Radiodjs.com

Jarvis grew up in Kearns ‘GO Cougars.’ He then went directly into radio marketing and promotions. “The intersection of radio…the people who get things done” is where he wanted to be.

Parallel to his radio career Jarvis has been DJ’ing since he was about 16. DJ’ing has given him the opportunity to work in many exciting markets. From New York to California, to Louisiana you can hear Jarvis’s mix lists on the air. Jarvis has also done many live shows through the western united states and even Tijuana Mexico. ‘Touring as a DJ is really, really exciting’….

Jarvis recently took over as the FX Designer for the Evermore Park in Pleasant Grove. A call out of the blue from Evermore’s owners has opened a whole new chapter in his life. From lighting effects to set design Jarvis was hired to ‘Create Magic and disbelief left and right”.

Reach out to Jarvis if you would like him to DJ your funeral, swingers, and birthday party’s. You can find him on Facebook, his website, and Instagram.

We recap the lackluster Super Bowl, we talk about dirty pollution snow, and Jess fills us in on the season finale of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Episode 244 Utah Rail Dreams

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Episode 244 we talked to Mike Christensen who is Founder and Executive Director of Utah Rail Passengers Association.  URPA is a not for profit that works toward advocacy and education to make people aware of transportation issues.

Mike was born in the East Bay in California but when his parents divorced, he moved to Malad, Idaho at the tender age of 10.  Mike calls Malad ‘Home to the Utah Lottery’ because it’s so close to the border.  Malad is a really small town and they had to travel to Pocatello, Idaho or Logan, Utah for anything more than groceries and basic healthcare.  Anything special required a trip.

Mike went to Rick’s College, now known as BYU Idaho and received his associated degree, then he transferred to BYU in Provo and received his bachelor’s degree in geography.  He made maps and managed data with that degree but as that became more automated, Mike went back to school and obtained his master’s degree in City and Metro Planning.  His degree inspiration:  two trips to Germany.  One was as a high school exchange student and one was as an LDS missionary.

Once he had his degree, he was ready to research how Utah can better their public transportation and one of his case studies during his master’s degree program was DayBreak’s adherence to new urbanism.  His class gave them a C- (which Chris thinks is generous).  Mike goes on to explain that the population density of the area is not enough to support corner markets and people end up having to drive to the store, which defeats the purpose DayBreak was built for.

Listen to our interview with Mike to hear some of his ideas, some of our ideas and plans he has for the future of rail lines in Utah that could make it easier to travel to other states!

Mike’s has two interesting things about Utah:

  1. Utah has a toll road in South Ogden called the Adams Avenue Parkway and it’s 1.6 miles long.  The road connects I84 with US Route 89.
  2. Utah has a Ferry at Lake Powell.  It is a refurbished ferry formerly known as the Charles Hall Ferry and it goes between Bullfrog and Hall’s Crossing Marina’s.  the drive from one Marina to the other is considered part of SR276.  The ferry makes a 90-minute drive a 15–18-minute ride.

You can find out more about the Utah Rail Passengers Association at www.utahrpa.org or contact mike at mike@utahrpa.org.  Mike is active on Twitter: @mrc_slc

This month also marks our new feature on historically significant locations in Utah. Our first feature is Topaz Relocation Camp.

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Episode 235 Local is Always First

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In addition to our Famous Utahn this month, we were joined by Kristen Lavalett of Local First!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is always Shop Small Saturday. Small Business Saturday was an idea created by the credit card giant American Express on November 27, 2010. The campaign launched in order to help small businesses gain additional exposure and to change the way consumers shop within their own community during the holiday season. It is always the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Now that the history is out of the way, we had Kristen Lavalett the executive director of Utah’s Non-Profit, Local First, joined us to talk about their mission and their newly minted Localist Project. Kristen is also part of the business advisory board for Salt Lake City which includes Urban Food Connections and she is the VP of the Granary District Alliance. From the Salt Lake City government page, “A former journalist, curriculum developer and playwright, Kristen now leads the “buy local” movement in Utah, advocating for independent businesses on state, county, and city levels in both urban and rural communities. Her expertise in branding, campaign coordination, and collaborative enterprises have spurred economic development through place making in her hometown of Salt Lake City, and across the state of Utah.“

One of the important aspects of supporting local is buying into the buy local food movement. A couple of questions to ask when shopping and eating out includes, but not limited to, Where does food come from and am I supporting people I want to. When you analyze food connections and wonder how it gets to your plate you also wonder how other items you use in your daily life come from.

Local First is a unique non-profit with three audiences they are working to connect with. First is public education to help people understand the value of locally owned business. Culture, community, and economy. Creating a shift in community behaviors. Work with the economic development divisions in multiple counties to build relationships with the people that are making the decisions. Business owners they are able to do marketing on behalf and offer training to create local messaging.

The Localist program started fall of 2020 out of an idea that had been rattling around for a while. This was the year that it needed to be launched. It is for non-business owners, “localist”, people that care about the local businesses and supporting them. Like a public radio subscription, contribute a monthly donation starting $10 and provided with a field guide, online magazine, that is a member directory. Once COVID is under control, the idea is to start up tours and more interactions with local businesses.

Are you a Localist?

You may be asking what is a local business. Kristen defined what a “true” local business is in Utah. 51% owned and operated in Utah. No franchises, unfortunately.

This year Local First launched the Shop Small Digital crawl. It was an event that could be done in person or online. 120 businesses signed up. Offering specials, fun products, sugarhouse, 9th and 9th, Murray, Sandy, Ogden, Park City, Cedar City, Moab, Springdale, etc. They put their Shop Small crawl guide on their Instagram @LocalFirst. All businesses had QR code at check out and customers could scan the code and get to entered into a prize drawing. It was a great way, during COVID, to support local businesses.

Shift Your Spending in 2020

Some of Kristen’s most patronized businesses in Utah are King’s English, equal to Ken Sanders. She also loves Fisher Beer and Thyme and Place. You can keep up to date with what Local First is doing on Facebook and Instagram. You can visit the website for more information on the Localist subscription.

Kristen’s most unique thing that she has found about Utah is a first for us! She is a little bit of a history buff and she really loves ghost towns! She enjoys finding off the beaten path places. One of the more intriguing places she’s been to is Helper, Utah. The history museum in Helper talks a lot about the mining culture, local strikes, and Mother Jones. Kristen told us that you get stories you don’t hear anywhere else but in those small towns.

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.

Episode 232 Reinventing the Food Wheel Every Week.

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Episode 232 We are celebrating Utah for election night! How you ask? By not talking about the election!! Instead we had one of the founders of Utah Taste Off , Lacey Page, join us to talk about the food movement they started here in Utah!

Utah Taste Off was formed by Lacey’s business partner, Kristy Stoner, just about a year ago! Kristy threw a sugar cookie party for her friends in the fall of 2019 to find the best sugar cookie in Utah. The party was a hit! So much a hit that they decided throwing these tasting parties should continue to happen.

Then COVID happened.

COVID didn’t slow these women down! Utah Taste Off has grown out of a necessity to support local business.

What is Utah Taste Off? 6 different treats, either sweet or savory, from 6 different places. You pick up your treats at a designated spot. The treats come with instructions and a placemat for each item during the taste off. The qualifications to win are taste, texture, and appearance. You put votes in online and wait to see who won the week’s box! Utah Taste Off is a way to find new places you’ve never heard of, as well as compare what you thought you loved and get surprised by a new place.

The company grew from 2 people on staff to now 20. They have turned this idea, that started with a simple cookie, into a super fun business. Due to the immense feedback and enthusiasm of the community, they are now offering kits once a week. Each week is an element of surprise. It gives a feeling of you have got to buy it cause you don’t know what is going to be in it. Utah Taste Off is reinventing the food wheel every week.

What are some of the food items they’ve competed over the last year? Cheese, salsa, macarons, mac and cheese, hand pies, rice krispie treats, donuts, cinnamon rolls, cookies, BBQ, soup, and MORE!

There are 3 pick up days as well as several pick up locations. Wednesday before pick up is when the next taste off is announced. Pre-order Sunday-Monday. Pick up’s are Wednesday-Friday depending on where you are in the valley.

When Utah Taste Off started they were delivering, in the range of, an average 100 kits and not as often. Now they are preparing and selling an average of 600+ kits. Each kit is $45 for two people. Right now they are offering a week by week box pick up, however with the success of each week they are looking at a subscription schedule!

What is the best part of doing Utah Taste Off? Lacey said it is finding new businesses. Both big and small names.

If you haven’t done a box yet, we highly suggest getting the upcoming New Years “Best of” Taste Off. Follow them on Instagram and Facebook for the announcement.

Something else that is incredible about Utah Taste Off is that they have given over $200k dollars back to over 200 local businesses with their program.

We asked Lacey what the most interesting thing she has discovered about Utah has been. The uniqueness of Utah Mountains, desert, lakes, red rock and such a variety of things to do outdoors is what she loves about Utah the most. She said skiing, being at Lake Powell, all the things!

Visit Utah Taste Off on Instagram, all of their links are on Link Tree, and on Facebook to see what the upcoming boxes are, give away’s, and Utah Taste Off Asks!

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.

Episode 223 Spirit Machines Feel Better when they’re Zober.

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We had such a pleasure for episode 223 to sit down with the entire crew of the local band, Spirit Machines. We asked them how they would describe the sound and influence of the band and their answer was a mix of space rock, dream punk with a little bit of metal. Take that and then add a bit of 90’s emo and you have their sound.

Pepper (lead vocals), Dave (guitarist), Sergio (bassist), and Mike(drummer) took some time to talk to us about their viral success, and recognition by Tool, of Zober, their first studio album release, and how they came together from corners of the country to make a home in Utah. Pepper has adventured outside of Utah, clear to Boston, and back again. Dave is an import from Boston. Mike made his way around any different places but landed back to Salt Lake, and Sergio is missing his sandy beaches from the OC in California.

If you follow indie music you may have heard of them from their first video release. They found a way to mash up Led Zeppelin and Tool. It found them going viral and even being mentioned by Tool! With 135k views on YouTube and national attention by music publications such as American Song Writer, Loud Wire, and Revolver just to name a few this mash up is definitely one for the ages!

Watch it Burn is their first video and single off their official release, Feel Again. Releasing a first album during a pandemic wasn’t what any of them had on their bingo card, but just like their meeting and forming this band, it was in the cards. Feel Again made it’s debut in April 2, 2020.

We asked Pepper, Dave, Sergio, and Mike what the most unique thing they found about Utah was and here was what they said.

Pepper told us that she loves the pioneer intensity that brings an intense energy to everything Salt Lake does. Seeing Salt Lake grow as a city we are starting to hit stride.

Mike told us the most unique thing is how perfect the environment is. The all around weather. He said it’s small but there is a lot of activity. Of all the places he’s lived Utah seems the most perfect.

Sergio said that going to Lake Powell for the first time was definitely life changing. Knowing it takes 12 hours in a speedboat from one side to the other is mind blowing.

Dave said the most unique thing is simply fry sauce. He said no one else does this. Utah has their own food pyramid and categories.

You can follow what they are up to on their Facebook and Instagram. Purchase their album, but one of Pepper’s hand printed shirts, and show this incredible band some love!

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.

Episode 221 Rising Tides Lift All Ships

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Well, Jessica made it back from star-gazing for episode 221! She spent a few days in Capitol Reef for her first time doing some hiking, visiting Torrey, watching the Perseid’s Meteor Shower, and Hell’s BackBone Grill, in Boulder, for a lovely dinner. In case you didn’t know, Capitol Reef is a dark sky park and Torrey was the first designated town in Utah to be a dark sky location. As of 8.28.2020 Utah now has 17 with East Canyon State Park being announced in August.

You may have heard Budweiser has been campaigning to be Utah’s state beer. We vote a huge, fat… NO! And you should too.

Utah has so many incredible local brewer’s and the list is growing. Utah Ale Trail has a comprehensive list of Utah Brewers.

Our guest this week knows about local! Matt Eau Claire, the owner and creative mind, of Clear Water Distillery Co. joined us to talk about Utah County’s FIRST *yes you read that correctly* distillery! Three years ago Matt was working in software and never knew that he would be owning his own distillery. It is also Utah’s first distillery to offer up community ownership.

They took a huge risk and opened at the beginning of COVID-19 and so far are seeing success! Located in Pleasant Grove, Utah Matt wanted to create something very unique. Armed with a curious mind, he wanted to know if you could create a distilled sangria. From there they started vapor infusing liquors. Sounds pretty cool, huh? Something really awesome about Clear Water is that there are 8 different categories of spirits, and they don’t fit into any of them.

Matt and his team decided to have their bottlings’ named after historical figures. So far Lorenz and Josephine have made their home at Clear Water. Lorez is named after the Danish explorer known for his Arctic exploration. Josephine is the name sake of the Josephine Baker. Not only was she an entertainer she was also an incredible civil rights activist.

It was also important for Matt to be able to give to charity. International Art Foundation and the Ocean Conservancy hold a special place for him and Clear Water.

Photo: Clear Water Distilling Co.

We asked Matt what the one thing that make’s Utah so special. He said that being indoors in Utah is a SIN! Matt said he loved Utah so much he moved back. He said it is so special because it is 80% public land. You get to relax and enjoy the diversity in the wilderness.

You can follow Clear Water Distilling on their website to set up a time to visit their store to purchase their liquors/hand sanitizer and take a tour! You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram for upcoming news on new flavors and events!

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.

Episode 218 Utah Pioneers that changed the World.

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Welcome to your monthly feature on a famous Utahn! Episode 218 we featured the Marriott family. Yes, the famous hoteliers. They were from a little tiny town in Northern Utah, with their name-sake, and created a world-wide empire, in addition to being philanthropists. We learned a lot about their pioneering restaurant business and their impressive almost 100 year legacy in hospitality.

The impact that the Marriott’s have had because of J. Willard’s dedication to customer service is much greater than we ever imagined!

“You’ve got to make your employees happy. If the employees are happy, they are going to make the customers happy.” – J. Willard Marriott.

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.

Episode 215 Dr. Lewis is NOT Kaiser or WebMd.

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We know, we know… you’re tired of being told to wear your mask. Sorry not sorry, we’re going to tell you again. Well, we’re going to let our episode 215 guest tell you. And then we will tell you again.

We brought on Dr. Mark Lewis, a Utah GI Oncologist, who has been very vocal on Twitter about the importance of wearing masks. In June he went viral for a tweet (posted below) from the physiology of why mask wearing won’t cause you issues with your C02.

Dr. Mark Lewis hails from the beautiful land of Scotland. His family immigrated to America when he was the wee age of 8. Sadly the family arrival to Texas would be where his family would find out that his father had lung cancer. This started his journey and passion into medicine. After 10 years of studying and practicing medicine in Texas, he and his wife moved up to Utah and have been taking care of the health of Utahn’s for 4 years. *His wife is a pediatrician* Not only is Mark a doctor, he has also been a patient. In 2017 he allowed for his own cancer surgery to be recorded where he also live tweeted. Dr. Lewis has written extensively about that journey on the Journal of Clinical Oncology titled, Gain of Function: Empathy for the Uncertain Patient with Cancer.

Dr. Lewis uses his medical knowledge, and common sense, to show to the anti-maskers and mask slackers, that you cannot have it both ways. He reminded us that physics says the body will do it’s best to keep us alive and thank heavens for 1847 germ theory. Fortunately in his battle to get the word out, his employers at IHC have been incredibly supportive.

In addition to talking about the importance of mask wearing, his journey to Utah, and his passion for hereditary cancer research, we talked about what is happening to the medical community *you know those people you are calling heroes right now* during COVID. We talked about the mental health issues they are facing and how Twitter has become a community for them.

If you want to follow more of what Dr. Mark has to say, @MarkLewisMD is his Twitter handle.

We ask our guests what their one thing they couldn’t part with in Utah would be. Dr. Lewis said that he is amazed and the variation of landscape in Utah from the coral sand dunes to the mountains.

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.

Episode 196 Oregon Trail Generation

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We were happy to have former Utah Democratic Party leader, Daisy Thomas, sit down with us prior to Super Tuesday. This is the first time that Utah will be taking part in the primary for the Presidential election. Does it matter? Perhaps?

We wanted to give you some definitions of things that you will hear during our interview with Daisy. What is a super-delegate vs. a delegate? History.com has a great write up, and each party uses them differently. TheWeek.com has also broken down how super-delegates work, How are super-delegates different from regular delegates? Super-delegates are free to support whichever candidate they choose, even if that candidate is not the voters’ pick. As for normal delegates: Each state has a different system for selecting who they’ll send to the convention as a delegate. But unlike superdelegates, delegates are allotted to candidates in proportion to their share of the vote in the state’s primary or caucus and are then pledged to vote for that candidate.

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photo: swarthmore college

Daisy was an implant to Utah and as soon as she moved here she knew she needed to get involved. She spent 2 years as the head of the Utah Democratic party. Now her political energy is being spent in the grassroots effort in Utah for Bernie Sanders campaign. Daisy speaks about the importance of being involved, why getting our young adults involved is important for the long term, and why turning Trump’s base shouldn’t be the focus. During Daisy’s two year term she really focused on making sure minority groups in the party gained a voice. Native American/Indigenous voices and creating a Latino outreach was a main focus.

You can follow what Daisy is up to and ways to get involved on her Facebook page.

This week we also did our monthly Famous Utahn segment. February was an important month for voting and women’s rights! We decided to highlight Utah’s first voter, Seraph Young. We also feature Martha Hughes Cannon who was the first female Senator in Utah.

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.

Episode 186 Your Guide to Utah’s Spirit Trail

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Before getting started we must note, for Charles, that he was referring to a Tyler at Ogden’s Own, but it’s actually Tim. Apologies Tim.

Now that is corrected, Episode 186 we had the absolute joy of being joined by the founder and creator of Utah’s Spirit Trail Guide, Charles Johnson. We couldn’t have said it better than his press release in describing what the Utah Spirit Trail guide accomplishes, Over the past 10 months I have been writing, designing, planning, and coordinating with all of the area distillers/owners in the construction of Utah’s Spirit Trail. In just a few short days I will be launching a whole new way for Utahn’s, and visitors to our state, to explore these amazing destinations and meet with the people that are actively shaping the culture of distilling in Utah.

Charles has spent months building relationships with local distillers and creating an interactive guide for visitors and locals to discover Utah’s distilleries. What is the Utah’s Spirit Trail Guide? You can pick it up for $5 at local distillers as well as on the website, Utah Spirit Trail, and inside has 12 distilleries (with more to come each year). After you visit each of those, you get your passport/guide stamped and at the end you mail it back to Charles and you get one of the beautiful glasses in the picture (on the right). What is the purpose of this? Well, everyone has a story. Utah distillers have some of the best and this gives a chance for people to chat with them and find out their origins.

With Utah distilleries from Eden, to Park City, to South Salt Lake it also gives you a good road trip through our beautiful Wasatch Front. We look forward to seeing the other distilleries jump on board! You can follow the Utah Spirit Trail on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN.

Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.