Send us a text Laura Norton-Cruz is a licensed master social worker, former teacher & victim advocate, artist, and mother of two elementary-aged children. Over the past two years, she has co-produced three documentaries with filmmaker Joshua Albeza Branstetter. The first, “At Home/In Home: Rural Alaska Childcare crisis,” was based in Kotzebue and h…

Send us a text Dr. Kathy McCue is an emergency medicine physician who first visited Alaska as a medical student in 1999. For 2 decades she staffed Anchorage ERs, mainly at the Alaska Native Medical Center but also at Providence, where she famously took care of Dan Bigley, author of Beyond the Bear, after a mauling left him blind and unlikely to sur…

Send us a text The representative for the northernmost state house district in the United States is Rep. Robyn Frier (D-Utqiagvik). Robyn was born and raised in Utqiagvik. She served on the North Slope Borough School Board for four years, the last two as President. In 2024, she ran to represent House District 40, and won, defeating the incumbent Th…

Send us a text Rabbi Abram Goodstein was raised in Anchorage where he graduated from Service High School. After graduating from Rabbinical School, he moved back to Anchorage where he has served as rabbi at Beth Shalom, home to the largest Jewish community in Alaska, for over 7 tears. Today, we are discussing the Washington Post article republished …

Send us a text Today, Alaska state house Representative Zack Fields published an op-ed in the Alaska Current called: “Look at the Criminals who Donald Trump is pardoning.” The article explores pardons related to cryptocurrency. In Anchorage we have at least 3 crypto ATMs where folks can deposit cash and purchase crypto or sell crypto and withdraw c…

Send us a text The Executive director of the Alaska Municipal League is Nils Andreassen. The Alaska Municipal League (AML) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, statewide membership organization of 165 cities, boroughs, and unified municipalities, representing over 97 percent of Alaska’s residents. Originally organized in 1950, the League of Alaskan Cities …

Send us a text Physician Associate Christi Froiland spent a decade as an athletic trainer in the lower 48 before she went to PA school. She then returned to her hometown of Anchorage where she has practiced at both a dermatology clinic and an urgent care for over 18 years. She has also served for the last decade as the PA representative to the Alas…

Send us a text Libby Roderick is a singer, songwriter, and recording artist, who was born in Anchorage just before statehood. Her father Jack Roderick was the last mayor of the borough of Anchorage prior to the unification of the municipality in 1975. Libby recorded her first album in 1990 which included the song, “How could Anyone,” which has been…

Send us a text Attorney John McKay has practiced media law in Anchorage for almost 50 years. He has represented Alaskan and national news organizations, photographers, artists, and others on libel, privacy and copyright issues, access to government proceedings and records, subpoenas to journalists, secret settlements by public agencies, cameras in …

Send us a text Chloe Pleznac is a former reporter for the Homer News. After six years working in public radio, Chloe got her first newspaper job at the Homer News in January of this year. After the right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10, the Representative for Homer Sarah Vance co-organized a vigil for Kirk in Homer…

Send us a text Today's guest is the executive director of Project Alaska, Tetyana Robbins. Project Alaska is an organization that helps Ukrainian refugees find meaningful employment in Alaska. From helping improve their English language skills, to navigating the American immigration system, to helping with certifications and even transportation, Pr…

Send us a text Several friends and neighbors have moved out of the United States over the past year, and many more Alaskans are talking about it. Today's guest is an opera historian who has been living in Berlin, Germany, for the past 13 years. Daniel Gundlach is a former professional classical singer and accompanist who today hosts a podcast calle…

Send us a text Margaret D. Stock is an immigration attorney, and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve. She is a recognized expert on immigration law as it applies to U.S. military personnel and veterans. In 2013, she was a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as a "genius grant." She has taught law at the U…

Send us a text Tashina Maasac Duttle is the chief operating officer and co-owner of DeerStone Consulting. DeerStone is a company focused on improving the infrastructure of Alaska's rural and Tribal communities by managing projects that upgrade energy systems, improve water and sanitation facilities, and expand broadband access. Tashina earned her b…

Send us a text Rachael Miller is the chief advocacy officer of the Food Bank of Alaska. The Food Bank of Alaska was founded in 1979 by a group of Anchorage churches and community volunteers; it operates under the belief that no one should go hungry. They partner with over 150 organizations and provide food to nearly 20,000 Alaskans a week. From Oct…

Send us a text The Executive Director of Running Free Alaska is Lisa Keller. Running Free Alaska is a structured running program for incarcerated women at Highland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River. Today we discuss how that program came about, what it entails, and the types of support that the organization is trying to provide to women a…

Send us a text The Chief of the Anchorage Police Department is Sean Case. As a 7th grader at Hanshew Middle School in Anchorage, he decided he wanted to be a police officer. He got his bachelor’s degree in Justice at UAA. At age 20, Alaska wouldn’t hire him because he was too young, so he got his first job in law enforcement with the Los Angeles Po…

Send us a text This is wildlife biologist Aaron Poe's second appearance on this podcast. His first appearance was 18 months and was part of a series on Transgender youth in Alaska. Aaron is the father of a trans daughter and when Donald Trump was elected to his second term, Aaron after 27 years in Anchorage decided with his family that they needed …

Send us a text Doug Schrage is the Chief of the Anchorage Fire Department. After a childhood in Anchorage, Doug went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks where he thought he'd begin his studies to become a dentist. After a friend persuaded him to become a student firefighter, though, he quickly realized that being a firefighter was his calling. 20…

Send us a text Today is a brief bonus episode explaining Governor Dunleavy’s recent veto of Senate Bill 113 which would have required internet companies to pay corporate income taxes based on the location of their sales rather than the location of their offices. This bill would have put Alaska in alignment with 36 other states and would have levele…

Send us a text Jake Dye had been the lone news reporter at the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai for three years until his resignation last night, September 29. He is the great-grandson of the former mayor of Kenai James Dye and has deep roots in the city on both sides of his family. He graduated from UAA's journalism program in 2022 and shortly thereafte…

Send us a text Former editor of the Homer News Michael Armstrong moved to Alaska from Florida in 1979. After over a decade in Anchorage working as a freelance reporter at the ADN and as an adjunct English professor at UAA, he and his wife Jenny Stroyek moved to Homer when Jenny became co-owner of the Homer Bookstore. In 1999, Michael began work at …

Send us a text ABC/Fox Your Alaska Link’s evening news anchor Trill Gates began her education as a broadcast journalist as a junior at Bartlett High in the late 1980s. While in high school, she did an internship at the Fox news station on Tudor Road where she still is today. Trill became famous in the early '90s as "Kiddie Fox" on the "Fox 4 Kids C…

Send us a text This month a data breach at Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center allegedly exposed 60,000 patient records to hackers (ANHC has approximately 15,000 patients). Today on the show we talk about that case specifically, but also Alaska’s cybersecurity more generally. Our guest is Leon Jaimes, an Anchorage-based network security profession…

Send us a text Lisa Alexia is a psychiatric physician assistant in Anchorage specializing in eating disorders. Today we talk about her entrance to the health care field as a community health aide in Nikolai, Alaska, her decision to go back to school to become a physician assistant, and her work with eating disorders. But the last half of our conver…

Send us a text Tomorrow, September 16th, 2025, Anchorage will celebrate 50 years as a unified municipality. In honor of that anniversary I am re-releasing an episode from last year with Charter Commissioner, Jane Angvik. This episode is almost exclusively about the charter commission. I have another episode with Jane about her life; here's that lin…

Send us a text Rep. Ted Eischeid is the Alaska state house representative for North Muldoon in Anchorage, and his wife Hedy Eischeid is President of the Anchorage Democrats. Both Ted and Hedy were public school teachers in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where they met. We will hear their stories and how they ended up in Alaska. Much of their episode revol…

Send us a text Dermot Cole is a longtime Fairbanks newspaper reporter, columnist and author who began his career at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in the late 70s while he was still a student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He stayed with that paper until 2013 when he became a columnist at the Alaska Dispatch, an online news blog funded by A…

Send us a text James Devens is the director of KCHU public radio which serves the communities around Prince William Sound and Wrangell-St Elias National Park. At the time he became director five years ago, he was the youngest director of a public radio station in America. Jimmy was elected to Valdez city council in 2020 and re-elected in 2023. He u…

Send us a text Sen. Löki Tobin (D-Anchorage) discusses the resolutions up for a vote today, August 22, 2025, by the Alaska State Medical Board. The first, listed on the agenda as "Board Statement/New Regulation Project: Late Term Abortion," is a statement drafted by board member and Republican candidate for governor Dr. Matt Heilala that would seek…

Send us a text Jeff Landfield is the founder and editor of The Alaska Landmine Blog and podcast. Since the Landmine’s founding in 2017, Jeff, with no formal training in journalism, has written and published investigative new stories often providing close coverage of municipal and state government. He was a state Senate Candidate in 2012 and 2016, a…

Send us a text Alaska Public Media Reporter Wesley Early moved to Anchorage in 2008 and began his freshman year at Bartlett High School. He stayed in Anchorage for college earning a degree in journalism and public communications at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He started working in public radio his senior year of college and has never left. …

Send us a text Today in Anchorage the world’s eyes are on us as President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin meet to discuss the fate of Ukraine. Although President Trump has lowered expectations by referring to the summit as a mere “listening exercise,” there is anxiety that illegitimate concessions might be made to Russia that may affect o…

Send us a text Author Dan O'Neill has lived in Fairbanks for 50 years. During that time he has published editorials and op-eds in all of Alaska's major newspapers. From 1998 to 2002, he had a weekly column in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. He compiled his best work from his almost half century of newspaper work into his most recent book, The Imper…

Send us a text The third part of a legislative audit of the Alaska Office of Children's Services (OCS) was made public on June 30, 2025. In 2018 an omnibus bill was signed into law that completely overhauled the way foster care in Alaska should work. That bill -- House Bill 151 -- passed the Alaska State House and the Alaska State Senate unanimousl…

Send us a text James Brooks is a reporter for the Alaska Beacon. James is a longtime Alaska journalist, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner -- although as we will learn today initially more as an editor than as a journalist. He has laid down roots in Juneau where he a…

Send us a text Larry Persily is the Anchorage-based owner and publisher of the weekly newspaper the Wrangell Sentinel. Larry and his wife Leslie Murray first purchased that newspaper in 1976 when they moved to Wrangell from Chicago. After almost 50 years as an on-again off-again journalist at various publications such as the Anchorage Times, the As…

Send us a text President and publisher of the Anchorage Daily News Ryan Binkley is the oldest son of former state Senator John Binkley (R-Bethel). When John ran for governor in 2006, Ryan, at 27, took over the Binkley family tourism business based in Fairbanks. That business includes the Riverboat Discovery, a gold mining tour, a partnership with a…

Send us a text Open Enrollment is an education priority of Gov. Dunleavy that would allow any Alaska student to enroll in any Alaska school. To better understand the consequences of this proposal, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, the rules chair in the Alaska State Senate, and Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, the co-chair of the House Education committee appear in t…

Send us a text Nathaniel Herz is a freelance reporter who’s spent over a decade working in Alaska, including stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. A few years ago he started his own newsletter "Northern Journal," where he is supported by individual subscribers and grant funding to do his own projects in collaboration with vari…

Send us a text Sen. Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) is chair of the rules committee in the Alaska State Senate. He discusses the upcoming legislative special session called by Governor Mike Dunleavy to begin at 10 am, on Saturday, August 2. Sen Wielechowski explains the way special sessions generally work, why this one is different, and discusses f…

Send us a text Gabe Rottman is the Vice President of Policy for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. A practicing attorney with a focus on the novel issues at the intersection of press freedom, newsgathering, and technology, Gabe is the perfect person to discuss the media environment in America today and what resources are available to…

Send us a text Former editor of the Anchorage Daily News Pat Dougherty worked at that paper for 34 years. Born in 1950 as the eldest son of an Air Force pilot father, Pat never found a long term home till he landed in Anchorage in 1975 to take a job as a sports reporter at the Anchorage Times. Once transferring over to the ADN in 1980, he worked hi…

Send us a text This interview was originally published in March of 2023. Anchorage born Representative Genevieve Mina talks about growing up as part of a unique family business and how those experiences helped her when challenged with her own childhood trauma. She also touches on forging her own professional path against cultural norms.…

Send us a text This episode originally aired in March of 2023. Will Stapp tells of his childhood being raised by his grandparents, going to war in Iraq and moving to Alaska to raise a family and ultimately become a member of the Alaska House of Representatives.โดย Andrew Gray

Send us a text Journalist Tom Hewitt is the former opinions editor of the Anchorage Daily News from 2018 to 2024. He previously was editorial page editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and news director of KTVF and KXDF in Fairbanks. He is currently special assistant to Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins. This interview is part of …

Send us a text Dr. Mara Kimmel is the Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska and former first lady of Anchorage. Prior to taking the helm of the ACLU of Alaska, She had a long career in Alaska public policy focused on rights and justice in northern communities. She has served on the faculty at the Seattle University School of Law, the University …

Send us a text Rose O’Hara-Jolley is the Alaska State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. Planned Parenthood is a network of 600 health clinics across the country -- Alaska has two (one in Fairbanks and one in Anchorage) -- that provide reproductive and sexual health care including birth control, sexually transmitted infection testi…

Send us a text JJ Harrier is the 2025 chair of the Anchorage Pride Parade. After a childhood in Girdwood, he traveled around the lower 48 and Europe trying to find himself ultimately ending up homeless on the streets of Portland in his early 30s. His mother got him into rehab in Alaska and from there his life took a different direction. JJ is the f…