Essays, Reporter’s Notebooks & Audio Post Cards
Why I'm A Vaccine Volunteer: Doing What Needs To Be Done, December 13, 2020
'It Seemed Apocalyptic' 40 Years Ago When Mount St. Helens Erupted, May 18, 2020
The Iceman Swimmeth, Chanting 'F Cancer', June 7, 2013
The Cruelest Month: Boston Blasts Join List Of Dark Incidents, April 16, 2013
Spotting An 'American Idol' Moment At The Olympics, July 23, 2012
Romney To Relive Olympic Glory As Campaign Grasps For Gold, February 17, 2012
10 Years Later, Remembering One Of The Nation's Worst Mine Disasters, September 23, 2011
Mass Medical Clinic's Sobering Message, August 8, 2009
A Moment Of Loss For Women's Water Polo Team, August 23, 2008
Polygamy Cafe Feeds the Hungry and Curious, May 16, 2008
Acceptance Still Elusive for Committed Polygamists, May 10, 2008
Repaying a Christmas Favor, December 25, 2007
A Shooting in Utah Without Easy Explanations, February 17, 2007
Courtroom Testimony Opens Window into Polygamy, November 26, 2006
Polygamist Held in Purgatory, September 6, 2006
A Block of Wood and the Tools of Independence, June 17, 2006
How Turin Got the Games, February 7, 2006
Starting from Scratch in Waveland, Miss., September 12, 2005
Mount St. Helens: Memories of a Mountain Explosion, May 18, 2005
Ecologist's Dream: A (Safe) Volcanic Eruption, October 24, 2004
Changing Seasons Spark Autumn Memories in Utah, September 21, 2004
Team NPR Gets Settled — in the Maternity Ward, August 9, 2004
Remembering Columbine, April 20, 2004
Internet Postcard, January 15, 1996
In the early days of internet search engines, writers were hired to produce millions of short and quick summaries of websites. This audio postcard captures the assembly line task for a veteran reporter making more money doing this than writing for her former newspaper.
Snowblower, November 29, 1994
It snowed just about every day in Salt Lake City in November 1994. The neighbor's snow blower became an early morning nuisance, at first. Then I realized what it meant to him and the neighborhood. This essay became one of my most popular and remembered stories. Some listeners still ask about it.