I had a great 40 minute conversation with Lisa Carricaburu at the Salt Lake Tribune. She was working on an end-of-the decade piece on shifting cultural values and demographics in the state. It was cool that I'd come up on her radar. Here's an excerpt of my part in the whole thing. I'm keeping company with a U of Utah research economist, a BYU polysci prof, and a Salt Lake City community activist.

Cedar City writer Todd Robert Petersen explores Utah's changing landscape in his newly published novel Rift , the story of interconnectedness, conflict and isolation in a small Sanpete County town.

He is not surprised Utahns, such as those he portrays in his novel, are upset by changes occurring around them.

"You can't blame people for being scared," Petersen says.

But slowly, with enough time to think about it, "they come to realize maybe all this change isn't as dangerous as we think it is."

He sees the promise of a more diverse Utah in the young people he teaches at Southern Utah University.

"Their attitude, whether they're what I'd call 'high faith' or already on their way out [of the LDS Church] is 'bring it on,' " he says. "Utah is amazing. I'm so interested in what's next."

Here's a link to the full article. Should be live for a while.