Utah’s lucrative wilderness therapy industry

09/09/20 • 30 min

For decades, Utah has dominated the for-profit industry to help troubled kids, with facilities there receiving millions in government funds. We spoke with Salt Lake Tribune reporter Jessica Miller about her investigation into these youth treatment centers, where some former residents said they were abused.

Also: The politicization of a covid-19 vaccine and how violence in Portland and Kenosha, Wisconsin is playing out online.

Also: The politicization of a covid-19 vaccine and how violence in Portland and Kenosha, Wisconsin is playing out online.

Previous Episode

Inequality and covid

The pandemic has highlighted and worsened inequality in the United States, where two neighborhoods in the same community can have vastly different infection rates. Also: How prison overcrowding can lead to covid outbreaks.

Next Episode

Climate grief and a blindspot in what we know about the pandemic

The American west is facing a more severe wildfire season, which comes with stress, loss and a sense of mourning for our planet called climate grief. We spoke with Wired science journalist Matt Simon about this grief many of us are experiencing and the delicate balance of covering “the apocalypse beat” while keeping readers engaged with an often bleak topic.

Later on the show: Antigen tests for covid-19 are being used more and more, especially in places like nursing homes and colleges. But a reporting team from Kaiser Health News found that 21 states don’t report the results from these tests, restricting our understanding of the pandemic and our ability to respond to it. We spoke with one of the journalists behind this report, Rachana Pradhan, about why we need more antigen testing and how the pandemic has underscored longstanding problems with our health care system.