Back Channel Utah
Back Channel is a Utah politics, policy, and business podcast hosted by Marty Carpenter.
Every episode is a one-on-one conversation with someone who matters in Utah — an executive, a policymaker, a lobbyist, a community leader. Someone who's in the room when things happen.
The conversation has four parts: who they are before they're a title, the issue they're closest to right now, their read on what's happening in Utah, and a few lighter questions at the end. It's candid, it moves fast, and it doesn't sound like a press release.
Marty's been the one in the room too — as a governor's spokesman, his job was to take complex policy and make it clear, make it compelling, and keep it on message. That's still the job.
Back Channel. Off Script. On Record.
Back Channel Utah
Latest Episodes
Redistricting, Rural Utah, and Playing the Long Game on Water with Celeste Maloy
Congresswoman Celeste Maloy joins Back Channel for a candid conversation about the behind-the-scenes work that actually makes the job possible: building a congressional office from scratch, assembling a team, and learning the parts of ...
Education policy, COVID decision-making, and coalition-building with Karen Peterson.
Education policy does not move through a single decision-maker. It moves through a system.In Episode 7 of Back Channel, Marty Carpenter talks with Karen Peterson about what most people misunderstand about how education policy ge...
Lime rickey, digital twins, and a quiet giant with Johnny Ferry
Johnny Ferry is President and CEO of the Utah Manufacturers Association. Manufacturing matters more in Utah than most people realize, and Johnny breaks down why. Manufacturing is the whole process, from R&D and supply chain to q...
One River, Seven States, No Snow. Water update with Gene Shawcroft
Utah just came through its worst winter for water in recorded history. What happens next — and who decides?Utah River Commissioner Gene Shawcroft breaks down Lake Powell’s “3,500-foot line,” the storage and infrastructure Utah relies on,...
Wall Street, Capitol Hill, and How Utah Builds with Rep. Cal Roberts
Utah is growing fast. Can our infrastructure and institutions keep up?In this episode of Back Channel, Rep. Cal Roberts breaks down how Utah politics works when you zoom in on budgets, incentives, and the unglamorous mechanics t...
