Small Lake City
Small Talk, Big City
Join host Erik Nilsson as he interviews the entrepreneurs, creators, and builders making Salt Lake City the best place it can be. Covering topics such as business, politics, art, food, and more you will get to know the amazing people behind the scenes investing their time and money to improve the place we call home.
Follow along for more!
Episodes
238 episodes
S2, E31: How Altra Went From a Toaster Oven to a Global Running Brand With Founder Brian Beckstead
How did Altra go from experimenting with running shoes in Utah to becoming a global running brand?Brian Beckstead, co-founder of Altra, joins me on Small Lake City to tell the story behind one of Utah’s most recognizable companies...
Utah's Care System is Failing — Deaths, Abuse & No Accountability + Pro Football is Coming to SLC
Salt Lake City's weekly news update is here — and this week hit different.The Disability Law Center just dropped a damning report called "Profits Over People" — detailing how three Utahns with disabilities died in the care of a state-lic...
S2, E30: Amanda Warren on Bookish, Building Community & the Salt Lake Book Festival
What if reading could be one of the best ways to meet people and build community in Salt Lake City?In this episode of the Small Lake City Podcast, I sit down with Amanda Warren of Bookish SLC to talk about how a love of books grew into a...
Trump's DOJ Targets Utah's Own Lt. Governor, SLC is Getting an MLB Team & Schools Are Closing
A sitting Utah lieutenant governor says no to handing over private voter data, and the Trump administration’s DOJ responds with a formal investigation. I break down what the federal government is asking for, why Deidre Henderson argues it viola...
S2, E29: How Salt Lake City Lost Its Japantown with Kelyn Ikegami
A single street sign downtown can be a trapdoor into a whole erased world. When we see “Japantown Street” near the Delta Center, it’s easy to assume it’s just a name. It isn’t. Today we sit down with filmmaker Kelyn, creator of the PBS short do...
Bears Ears Protections End And Rent Deals Surge In Salt Lake City
At 6 a.m., Utah’s public lands story changes in a very real way. I’m walking through what it means as the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument cuts officially take effect, putting nearly 3 million acres into a new legal re...
S2, E28: This Salt Lake City Park Used to Be a Prison
If you’ve spent any time in Salt Lake City, you’ve probably been to Sugar House Park. But about 75 years ago, instead of runners, sledders, playgrounds, and soccer fields, you would have found something very different:A prison.
Vault Episode 16: Why Everyone Should Make Art with Micah Christensen
What if getting good at art has less to do with talent—and more to do with learning how to see?Micah Christensen is an art historian, educator, painter, and the owner of Anthony’s Fine Art and Antiques in Salt Lake City. His path to the ...
.png)
SLC’s 999 Ride Has a Problem + Gen Z Is Leaving the LDS Church
Southern Utah got hammered by monsoon storms, and the footage doesn’t fully capture how fast things can turn. We walk through the Bryce Canyon flash floods that stranded hikers across multiple trails, the rescue delays caused by lightning, and ...
S2, E27: Josh Rosenthal, The “Worst 100-Miler” Who Built Borderlands
Josh Rosenthal: Borderlands, Ultra Running & DFL Before DNFJosh Rosenthal is the founder of Borderlands, a trail running media company built around the people, stories, and culture that make the sport special.But Josh...
Utah Gave Them Tax Breaks. Now 723 Jobs Are Gone.
Utah gave Tyson Foods tax breaks to bring jobs to Eagle Mountain. Now the plant is closing, 723 workers are losing their jobs — and the tax incentive agreement is still active.Welcome to the Small Lake City Weekly Update covering the bi...
Vault Episode 15: Utah Food Finds With Amber, Mile High Food Fairy
Utah’s restaurant scene isn’t “all chains” anymore, but you have to know where to look and that’s where Amber (Mile High Food Fairy) comes in. We sit down with a pediatric dentist who somehow also became one of the most useful guides to Salt La...
Mystery Cameras And False Alarms
A surveillance camera shows up at a busy Mill Creek park, quietly scanning every passing license plate, and when someone asks who approved it, the answer is chillingly simple: nobody. We walk through what happened, why the camera was removed, a...
S2, E26: Marti Wymer Turned a Personal Loss Into Spoonful of Comfort
A single question sits at the heart of this conversation: what do you send when someone you love is hurting and you can’t get on a plane? Marti, founder and CEO of Spoonful of Comfort, shares the true origin story behind her comfort food delive...
S2,E25: Bringing Millions to Salt Lake with Visit Salt Lake's Kaitlin Eskelson
Salt Lake City keeps getting compared to other Western cities, but the closer you look, the more the comparison breaks down. The mountains aren’t a weekend trip from here, they’re a backdrop you can touch, and that single detail changes how peo...
New Trains, New Hospital
A downtown eyesore locals jokingly called “Sears Lake” is finally turning into something real, and that’s only the start of a packed week. We break down the long-awaited redevelopment of the former Sears site near 300 West and 400 South, where ...
S2, E24: Why Would Anyone Run 100 Miles, with Jesse Rich
You can be fit, tough, and motivated and still get wrecked by a simple mistake like the wrong breakfast. We sit down with ultra runner and nutrition coach Jesse Rich to trace the real path from “I don’t like running” to finishing and competing ...
Record Heat, Flash Floods, And What To Do For Pioneer Day
109 degrees. That’s not a hot day, that’s a line in the history books, and Salt Lake City just crossed it. We recap a week where Utah breaks its all-time heat record, watches foothill fires flare up under extreme conditions, and then gets hit w...
S2, E23: Angie Amundsen Risked Everything to Build Utah's Most Instagrammable Brunch Spot
A pink, flower-filled brunch cafe in Woods Cross sounds like it came from a mood board, but the real story starts with something way less glamorous: an 18-year-old handing out flyers and landing 27 house cleaning clients. Angie, the founder of ...
Your Salt Lake City Guide To Pioneer Day And Pie And Beer Day
Pioneer Day week is almost here, and Salt Lake City is about to hit that uniquely Utah blend of tradition, chaos, and genuinely great summer energy. We’re one week out from July 24, so I’m laying out a clear game plan for the Days of 47 Parade ...
S2, E22: Detroit-Style Pizza Done Right with Sean Ladle
Detroit-style pizza doesn’t just travel well, it exposes weak restaurant habits fast. If the dough is off, if the timing slips, if the team phones it in, the whole thing falls apart. That’s why I wanted to sit down with Sean from Via 313 and ta...
.png)
Wildfires Surge As Salt Lake Preps For July 24
Utah summer can feel like two stories happening at once: the mountains and red rock are calling, while wildfires and heat keep raising the stakes. We start with a clear update on the state’s biggest blazes, including the Babylon Fire in San Jua...
S2, E21: More Than Dinosaurs, Inside Utah's Most Fascinating Museum with Jason Cryan
A museum director who still gets asked “What’s your favorite dinosaur?” might sound like a dream job, but Jason Cryan’s story is more surprising than that. Jason leads the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City, and his path runs from...
Cottonwood Fire Updates And What To Do Before July Fourth
The biggest story in Utah right now is fire, and it’s changing how all of us should think about summer. We break down the latest on the Cottonwood Fire near Beaver, now stretching across an area that puts it in the conversation with the most si...
S2, E20: How Eli McCann Became Utah's Favorite Story Teller
A lot of people leave a high-demand religion and end up with either a scorched-earth break or a lifetime of quiet resentment. We wanted a third option, so we called up Eli: a gay, ex-LDS writer and lawyer who somehow keeps deep, loving ties wit...
