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 courts, and many other matters. He taught Media Law at the University of Alaska Anchorage for more than 30 years. In 2007, John was the first recip...
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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 courts, and many other matters. He taught Media Law at the University of Alaska Anchorage for more than 30 years. In 2007, John was the first recip...
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 courts, and many other matters. He taught Media Law at the University of Alaska Anchorage for more than 30 years. In 2007, John was the first recip...
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 which was held on Sept. 17. Chloe decided to cover the vigil for the paper and posted her story online along with video of the event to the 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, Project Alaska does everything it can to make sure Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country can quickly achieve self-sufficiency here in Alaska. Tet...
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 called Countermelody. The Countermelody Podcast is focused primarily on opera singers of the past century that may not have received the attention they ...
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 United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. She ran for the United States Senate as an Independent candidate in the 2016 Senate election...
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 bachelors degree in Sustainable Resources Management from UAF and her masters in project management from UAA. During covid, she started her own comp...
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. 20-26 is Anchorage Restaurant week. Learn more here. Rachael grew up in Ohio, and food & food policy have always been front and center in her...
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 after their release from prison. I got to know Lisa when she took a job as legislative staff, first to Representative Andy Josephson two years ago, ...
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 Police Department. After just a couple years there, he came back to Anchorage and has been with APD ever since. Sean Case was appointed Chief of Poli...
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 to moveto Ireland so that his trans daughter could finish high school safely. This episode is the first in a series about folks who have left the U...
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. 2025 marks 40 years since his first with the Anchorage Fire Department. He was initially appointed Chief in 2021 by Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. He ...
Send us a text Rep. Julie Coulombe represents Anchorage's hillside in the Alaska State House. First elected in 2022, this interview was recorded on March 16, 2023, at the Capitol in Juneau, shortly into her first session as a legislator. She discusses her childhood in Illinois & Georgia, meeting her husband, moving to Alaska, and raising their four kids. She also discusses her business background, her involvement with the political group Save Anchorage, and her collaborative approach to l...
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 leveled the playing field our local mom-&-pop businesses which are forced to pay taxes while companies such as Amazon, Hulu, or Netflix are not. Sena...
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 thereafter began work at the Clarion. We discuss the difficulties of being a new reporter isolated in such a small newsroom, what happened at the Homer News...
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 the Homer News, where he remained until 2022 retiring as editor of that paper. Michael has published many short stories in publications like ...
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 Club" TV show. We talk about that experience and how unlikely it would be for that type of broadcast to thrive today. When her four kids were y...
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 professional who has done security consulting in the healthcare, financial services, state and local government, telecommunications, and retail sectors. We d...
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 conversation is the reason why she is on the show. Back in May, she authored an editorial in the ADN calling for an end to daylight saving time in Alaska...
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 link. I have also interviewed the other two living members of the Anchorage Charter Commission: Joe Josephson and Lisa Parker – you can find links to ...
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 revolves around union work; Hedy is the current state-wide organizer for NEA-Alaska, which is the Alaska affiliate of the National Education Association...
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 courts, and many other matters. He taught Media Law at the University of Alaska Anchorage for more than 30 years. In 2007, John was the first recip...
