How Art Helped Establish the National Parks Guests: Joni Kinsey, PhD, Professor of American Art History at the University of Iowa and Author of “Thomas Moran and the Surveying of the American West”; Ashlee Whitaker, Curator Religious Art at the Museum of Art at BYU We’ve heard a lot this week about how the National Park Service came about 100 years ago and some of the forces that led to the preservation of magnificent landscapes like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite. But think back to the late 1800s. This was before planes and cars and cable TV. Most Americans and politicians in Washington had never been out West. Aside from the occasional report of a surveying expedition and a grainy photograph or two, what could they really understand about the depth of the Grand Canyon, the grandeur of Half Dome or the magic of Old Faithful?  Had it not been for intrepid artists willing to venture into the wild with their sketchbooks and paintbrushes, it’s likely our most iconic National Parks would not have captured the imagination of Americans as powerfully as they did. What You Think You Know About Surviving a Bear Encounter is Probably Wrong Guest: Tom Smith, PhD, Professor of Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation at BYU We snuggle our teddies as kids and think of bears as cuddly, lovable creatures. But also a bit terrifying, judging from all the “what-to-do-if-you-meet-a-bear” tips you can find online. A lot of what you think you know about bears is probably flat wrong, as we’re going to learn this hour from someone who’s spent more than two decades studying human/bear encounters.