

City Cast Salt Lake
City Cast
City Cast Salt Lake is Salt Lake City’s daily news podcast. Host Ali Vallarta and a bevy of smart and entertaining locals will bring you conversations about the issues that matter most to SLC. Some days City Cast will make you proud; other days it’ll make you angry. It will celebrate Salt Lake’s triumphs, (try to) solve its mysteries, and explore its history. City Cast will help you feel more connected to the Wasatch Front – whether you’ve lived here for 6 months or 6 generations.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 19, 2023 • 17min
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Your Wardrobe
It’s time for spring cleaning, and we know you’re headed to the thrift store with your donation pile in tow. Thrifting has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years, with more people hitting up the Goodwill bins or the local DI to find hidden treasures. Producer and thrifting enthusiast Ivana Martinez joins lead producer Emily Means to share her tips and tricks for shopping second hand in Salt Lake. This episode first aired August 31, 2022.Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 18, 2023 • 19min
Did You Blink and Miss This Change to How We Choose Judges?
A new law changing how Utah officials pick judges takes effect on May 3. It was one of those “blink and you’ll miss it” decisions made by the Republican supermajority Legislature this year. But the ripple effect could touch some of our most hot-button issues. Simón Cantarero, a professor of legal ethics at Brigham Young University, joins host Ali Vallarta to explain his concerns about the law’s potential consequences.Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 17, 2023 • 20min
To Share or Not To Share Our Outdoor Spaces
You’ve found it: your special outdoor spot. But if you let people in on the secret, do you run the risk of drawing too much traffic to paradise? And if you don’t share those spaces, what kind of legacy are you enabling? Western Desk founder Madeline McGill joins host Ali Vallarta to examine gatekeeping of our natural lands and who writes the rules for navigating them.Take the Trails Are Common Ground quiz. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 14, 2023 • 26min
Salt Lake’s MLB Pitch, the Mayor Runs For Mayor, and Gripefest
A group of influential Utahns have a big pitch for Salt Lake’s Fairpark neighborhood: a Major League Baseball team and a shiny new ballpark to house it. Plus, SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall has officially announced her re-election campaign and the Sugar House Kum & Go proposal gets shot down. Lead producer Emily Means joins host Ali Vallarta to break down the stories of the week and have a little gripefest together.See which Salt Lake neighborhoods are experiencing flood danger.Our one-on-one interviews about homelessness with Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and current challengers Rocky Anderson and Michael Valentine. Background on the Kum & Go drama.Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 13, 2023 • 19min
Spring Fashion Trends From Indigenous Creators
Salt Lake’s first Indigenous Fashion Week kicks off this weekend, and every designer and model on Saturday’s catwalk will be Native. Diné model and designer Sahar Khadjenoury tells host Ali Vallarta what an event like this can accomplish in the face of federal threats to tribal sovereignty. And, of course, Spring’s hottest trends.Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 12, 2023 • 15min
Dare To Leave Salt Lake and Visit Provo
Salt Lakers hate crossing our county lines to the south. Provo? Never heard of her. But as one of the fastest growing cities in the country, producer Ivana Martinez thinks you should give her hometown a chance. She makes her case for venturing outside of Salt Lake County to host Ali Vallarta.Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 11, 2023 • 15min
Would Eliminating Golf Courses Save the Great Salt Lake?
It’s easy to look at golf courses in our drought-stricken state and wonder if they’re doing their part to conserve water. We’re over here xeriscaping the heck out of our yards to save the Great Salt Lake, and they just get to be lush and green all summer long? But new data show our ire might be a little overblown. Salt Lake Tribune water reporter Leia Larsen digs into the numbers with host Ali Vallarta and explains what impact golf courses really have on our dwindling namesake.Browse Leia’s golf course water use data map and read her analysis for the Salt Lake Tribune.Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 10, 2023 • 21min
Mythbusting Salt Lake’s Air Quality
Salt Lakers tend to think of our city’s battle with air quality as recent history –– but that’s not really true. In fact, this might be the cleanest our air has been in a while. Dr. Logan Mitchell, a climate scientist and analyst with Utah Clean Energy, helps host Ali Vallarta understand some of the myths around the air you can chew, where we go from here, and how to keep our lungs safe.Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 7, 2023 • 30min
Flood Plans, New Homeless Shelters, and Downtown Getting Taller
The Salt Lake City Council was busy this week with all sorts of land-use proposals. Lead producer Emily Means joins host Ali Vallarta to try to make sense of the municipal stuff. Plus, will we ever get more buses up the Cottonwood Canyons? And if you’re worried about flooding, Ali shares some action items to ease your anxiety.Listen to our episode on ADUs.Browse proposed changes to height requirements downtown.Adopt a storm drain.Check Salt Lake County’s floodplain map.Empanada Fest, Baby Animal Celebration, and the Bunny Hop!Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.

Apr 6, 2023 • 16min
The Problem With Too Much Snow
It’s been fun to watch this winter’s snowfall break state records — most recently the all-timer at Alta Ski Area. But you know what they say about too much of a good thing? Meteorologist and forecaster Evan Thayer tells host Ali Vallarta why he is of two minds on all this snow and whether we could see another winter like this in our lifetimes.Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC.Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.