Alaska Interrupted

In this Alaska, Interrupted episode, we hear from two high school students about what it's like to be stuck at home without classes or classmates. Sam Snyder is finishing his junior year at Eagle River High School, where he's a competitive soccer player, and Katie McKenna is a senior, track team member and student council president at Juneau-Douglas High School in Southeast Alaska.

Zink, 42, has a Facebook fan page, a #ThinkLikeZink hashtag and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski counts her as a role model. Zink is a world traveler, snow biker, emergency room doctor and mother of two who spoke from the yurt where she works on her family’s property in Palmer.

Miriam Aarons was taking serious precautions against COVID-19, wiping down grocery deliveries and only handling mail with gloves. When she tested positive nonetheless, she faced some dark moments, drafting goodbye letters to her children -- but she pulled through with help from her father, a retired doctor.

This week on Alaska, Interrupted, we hear from Julia O’Malley. O’Malley is holding down her high-pressure job as an editor at Alaska’s Energy Desk while stuck in her house with her two young boys. And while dealing with all the anxiety that comes with a global pandemic.

In this first episode, we hear from John Wros, an Anchorage adventurer who left on a week-long wilderness trip in Interior Alaska just as elected officials began instituting some of the most serious efforts to counter coronavirus. Then, we talk with Rita Aleck, a cocktail server who lost her job at a downtown Anchorage pub when Mayor Ethan Berkowitz closed bars and restaurants to in-person service.