Eric Schulzke

Family

Dying with disease, not from it

A son grapples with his father’s dementia, and learns the meaning of life.

By Eric Schulzke

Illustration of man sticking head into portal

InDepth

The new fight against pornography

For the first time since the dawn of the internet, the porn industry is on defense. Here’s how it happened.

By Eric Schulzke

Health

The new prohibitionists

Some Americans are rethinking the alleged health benefits of alcohol.

By Eric Schulzke

Politics

The frightening truth behind the ‘big lie’

Voters on the left and right are doubting election results. But while democracy itself hangs in balance, some citizens and activists say they know what might save it.

By Eric Schulzke

Health

Essential oils conquered medicine cabinets across the West. But do they work?

Loyal customers keep buying products while essential oils skeptics scoff. But the question lingers: What does the science say?

By Eric Schulzke

Emily Horton, behavioral health therapist, shows the contents of a harm reduction kit at Fourth Street Clinic in Salt Lake City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017.

InDepth

Carbon County to enforce needle exchange law, but officials at odds over health and safety concerns

Dirty needles are only half the battle, health experts say: the other dirty equipment used with heroin is just as dangerous, and just as costly to the health system.

By Eric Schulzke

Marine One carrying President Donald Trump away from the White House to start his summer vacation, passes the U.S. Flags around the Washington Monument on a hot summer day in Washington, Friday, Aug. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

InDepth

This solution to the retirement crisis may be in your future

As worker retirement savings rates languish, Oregon becomes the first state to make IRAs an automatic option for all workers.

By Eric Schulzke

Salt Lake police officer Stone writes a homeless man a citation for trespassing as part of "Operation Diversion" in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. The operation is a coordinated effort between Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City and drug treatme

InDepth

Is Utah’s prison reform working?

Nearly two years into Utah’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative — the ambitious reform aimed at curbing the march of drug offenders to the state prison by offering treatment — policymakers and prosecutors remain divided on whether the law is work

By Eric Schulzke and McKenzie Romero

FILE - In this July 24, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump waves to the crowd after speaking at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in Glen Jean, W.Va. The Boy Scouts are denying a claim by President Donald Trump that the head of the youth organization

InDepth

Is it a problem when elected officials lie?

Voters on both sides of the aisle are likely to discount untruths told by politicians they like in defending objectives they share, a University of Chicago study finds.

By Eric Schulzke

Aerial view of Salt Lake City, Wednesday, March 9, 2016.

InDepth

Who is unemployed in America? The answer might surprise you

New study says 14 percent of the working age population is out of work and breaks them into seven major groups, outlining specific pathways to employment.

By Eric Schulzke

A screenshot from The Oregonian. Oregon's case raises questions about parental rights, child needs, and the limits of state power.

InDepth

This couple may have lost custody of their kids because they weren’t smart enough

An Oregon case raises questions about parental rights, child needs, and state power.

By Eric Schulzke

The Capitol stays open as the Republican majority in Congress remains stymied by their inability to fulfill their political promise to repeal and replace "Obamacare", because of opposition and wavering within the GOP ranks, on Capitol Hill in Washington,

InDepth

Poll finds near majority of Republicans support shutting down ‘biased or inaccurate’ media

If Republicans favor court action against media and Democrats favor suppression of hate speech, is the First Amendment on the ropes?

By Eric Schulzke

President Donald Trump speaks at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in Glen Jean, W.Va., Monday, July 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

InDepth

See why Trump’s speech to the Boy Scouts left one person’s stomach ‘in knots’

President’s are routinely invited to address the Boy Scout Jamboree, but usually they restrict themselves to general themes of patriotism, character and loyalty. Not this time.

By Eric Schulzke

InDepth

Why was Provo’s increase in property crime among the highest in the nation?

Property crime in Provo was up 32 percent from the first half of 2015 to the first half of 2016, the largest jump in any city reported to the FBI for the period. Provo police say numbers are real, but the jury is still out on why.

By Eric Schulzke

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill speaks during a meeting with the press at Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 1, 2017. The number of Utah criminals on parole or probation who are missing or unaccounted for has j

Utah

Utah’s paroled fugitive count increased sharply in past 2 years

The number of Utah criminals on parole or probation who are missing or unaccounted for has jumped sharply since 2014, a new study commissioned by the Utah Association of Counties finds.

By Eric Schulzke

FILE - In this May 20, 2017 file photo, U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz waves after addressing the Utah GOP Convention in Sandy, Utah. Chaffetz, a five-term Republican, says he doesn't feel compelled to talk about what he may do after leaving Congress next month

InDepth

Analysis: What Georgia and Maine could teach Utah about the Chaffetz special election

Utah’s election system is a work in progress, but other states have faced similar challenges. Here’s how two of them are dealing with them.

By Eric Schulzke

A package from Amazon Prime moves on a conveyor belt at a UPS facility, Tuesday, May 9, 2017, in New York.

InDepth

The era of sales-tax-free online shopping is nearly over. Here’s how it ended.

Whether by an act of Congress or a decision of the Supreme Court, U.S. law will likely soon change to enable states to collect sales tax on out-of-state, online purchases. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has indicated support for the change.

By Eric Schulzke

Utah

Two Utah doctors caught in spotlight of opioid lawsuits

Two Utah doctors who were among the most prominent advocates of using opioids to treat chronic pain are now entangled in a spate of lawsuits filed against opioid manufacturers in several states.

By Daphne Chen and Eric Schulzke

President Donald Trump gestures while speaking about the U.S. role in the Paris climate change accord, Thursday, June 1, 2017, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

InDepth

7 surprising graphics about Trump voters

Attitudes toward some surprising things, such as education, obesity and credit scores, drove Trump voters in 2016.

By Eric Schulzke

A letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1980 created false confidence that opioid addiction was rare.

U.S. & World

This one letter helped spark a national opioid epidemic

A letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1980 created false confidence that opioid addiction was rare. This week, Ohio has sued five pharmaceutical companies for misleading the public about the risk of opioid addiction.

By Eric Schulzke

House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., back center right, questions Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, during the committee's hearing on President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 federal budge

InDepth

This graphic explains why conservatives are so divided over Trump’s budget

Economic growth is languishing a third below historic norms, pointing to long-term fiscal crisis and slashing of services voters now expect. The new budget proposed by the Trump White House assumes that’s about to change. Will it?

By Eric Schulzke

Some common study techniques don't help as much as we think they do. Education researcher Ulrich Boser sheds light on what makes learning easier — and harder.

InDepth

Q&A: How do humans learn? That’s up for debate

Some common study techniques don’t help as much as we think they do. Education researcher Ulrich Boser sheds light on what makes learning easier — and harder.

By Eric Schulzke

Tim Walker is an American teacher living in Finland whose new book, "Teach Like Finland," translates the strategies of the highly successful Nordic country's schools in ways that, he believes, Americans can use at home and in the classroom.

InDepth

Q&A: Could less school and fewer tests be the key to better scores?

How an American teacher learned in Finland that pushing harder doesn’t necessarily lead to better results.

By Eric Schulzke

Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks to members of law enforcement Friday, April 28, 2017, in Central Islip, N.Y. Sessions discussed the violent street gang that's gripping the suburban area. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

InDepth

Why Sen. Mike Lee will be disappointed about what Trump’s attorney general said Friday

Kinder, gentler, “smart on crime” Republicans face challenge with old guard “tough on crime” Sessions, but White House position remains an open question.

By Eric Schulzke

Weldon Angelos meets with Sen. Mike Lee in Lee's office on June 29, 2016. Lee had promoted Angelos' story relentlessly since being elected in 2010 and was instrumental in his early release.

InDepth

Why some Republicans, like Utah Sen. Mike Lee, now call themselves ‘smart on crime’

After decades of being the party of “tough on crime,” a new generation of Republican leaders is pushing bipartisan criminal justice reforms that many see as smarter, cheaper and more humane.

By Eric Schulzke

Karren Cardenas, 45, right, cries while thinking of her last Christmas outside the Catholic Community Services(200 S. and 500 W.) next to the Road Home, called "The Block," in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 8, 2017. Karren has lived on the street for

InDepth

Is Utah still a model for solving chronic homelessness?

Today’s chaotic discussion leaves many wondering how the conversation on homelessness in Utah changed so dramatically so fast. Is Utah, in fact, a model for addressing homelessness — or is it in chaos?

By Eric Schulzke

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, listens to questions as many of those in attendance hold signs and yell during a town hall meeting at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017.

InDepth

The calculus behind Jason Chaffetz’s sudden decision to walk away

Jason Chaffetz rose to prominence as the chief antagonist of Democrats as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. But when Donald Trump got elected everything changed. Chaffetz now says he won’t seek re-election. Here’s why.

By Jesse Hyde and Eric Schulzke

Students from the University of Virginia's Alternative Spring Break program viewing the sunset at Canyonlands National Park, shortly after being kicked out of their campsite in Southern Utah because someone else had reserved the site. The program has been

InDepth

The alternative spring break that puts students on ‘a path to adulthood’

Helping young adults launch their lives involves giving them opportunities for problem-solving and independent risk taking — things the University of Virginia Alternative Spring Break has baked into its culture.

By Eric Schulzke

From prisons to schools to public housing and hospitals, there is a growing body of research suggesting that space, light, color, noise control and natural views can dramatically shape how an institution helps people learn, heal, reform or simply live.

InDepth

How good building design can help people heal, learn and reform

And why experts argue that good design can make a huge difference in public housing, schools, hospitals and even prisons.

By Eric Schulzke

The Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility in San Diego County, California. Designed by HMC Architects. The new Utah prison will draw on some of the aesthetic concepts in this lower security, short-term facility.

InDepth

Why Utah’s new prison design is cutting edge

The radical theory of the new prison is that inmates who live in a normal environment adjust more quickly to normal life upon release. It begins with architecture — including light, sound, color, better noise control and more natural views.

By Eric Schulzke