East Anchorage Book Club with Andrew Gray

Send us a text Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration in December 2025 revealed a Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) that omitted nearly $19 million that Anchorage officials expected to use for projects that would make our city's most dangerous roads safer.The Alaska Department of Transportation (DOT) allocated just $9 million for Anchorage projects out of the $77 million total for the state's program. On the show to comment is Alaska State House Representative Zack Fields whose district includes downtown Anchorage. 

Send us a textDr. Shauna Birdsall is a naturopathic doctor with over 25 years of experience in integrative oncology. She got her naturopathic medical degree in Oregon and then did her residency in oncology in Illinois. She later practiced in Arizona and then from there ventured to Alaska in 2019 where she practiced in several oncology practices along allopathic providers in the MatSu, Soldotna, and here in Anchorage. Allopathic medicine is the medicine that most of us think of as traditional medicine; MDs, DOs, nurse practitioners and physician assistants like myself are part of the allopathic medical tradition while naturopaths are an alternative medical tradition. But as you will hear from our guest today the two are not mutually exclusive. During the course of today's conversation we will reference House Bill 147 sponsored by Representative Mike Prax of North Pole. This legislation would grant Alaska naturopaths the ability to write prescriptions for certain allopathic medications, among other things.

Send us a textKirk Rose is the CEO of the Anchorage Community Land Trust (ACLT). ACLT started in Mountain View in 2003 and has supported new housing, public spaces, and businesses ever since. Kirk began as an intern at the organization 15 years ago and has never left. We discuss his journey to this work and the specific role that ACLT plays in supporting foreign-born entrepreneurs here in Anchorage.

Send us a textDebbie Corbett is an archeologist who has been working in Alaska for over 40 years. After 7 years in the 1980s scouting ancient burial grounds all across Alaska for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, she got her master's degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where she specialized in Aleutian archeology. She had already spent time in the Aleutian islands and knew that this region and its people was her passion. Forty years later she and fellow archeologist Diane Hanson have written the definitive textbook on the Aleutian islands and its people, Culture and Archeology of the Ancestral Unangax/Aleut of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, published by Springer in 2025. 

Send us a textBill Hill is the former superintendent of the Bristol Bay Borough School District. Raised in Kokhanok, his family moved to Naknek when he was a sophomore in high school. After earning his teaching credential, Bill returned to Naknek before moving with his wife and 4 kids to Juneau where he taught middle school. After his oldest two kids graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School, the family returned to Naknek where Bill became an administrator in the Lake and Peninsula School District (which had been founded by his uncle Frank Hill). In 2013, Bill became the superintendent of the Bristol Bay Borough School district, a post he held until his retirement in 2023.  

Send us a textHarriet Drummond was first elected to the Anchorage School Board in 1994 where she served for nine years. She then represented West Anchorage on the Anchorage Assembly, leaving that post when she was elected to the Alaska State House in 2012 to represent Spenard, North Star, Forest Park, Huntington Park, north Midtown, Rogers Park and Geneva Woods for ten years. She chaired or co-chaired the House Education Committee for six years.In 2022, she lost her seat due to redistricting which left her in a largely new district and challenging another incumbent, Representative Zack Fields. Now, three years out of office, Harriet offers her reflections on her career and insight into issues that matter most to her, primarily public education. Her husband of 22 years, rural economic development consultant Elstun Lauesen, was yesterday's podcast guest; they have been integral members of the Alaska Democratic Party for many decades.

Send us a textElstun Lauesen grew up in Alaska and after dropping out of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1970, he managed former Alaska State Senator Joe Josephson's campaign for the US Senate to replace Bob Bartlett who had died in office; ultimately Joe lost the Democratic primary to Wendell Kay, and Republican Ted Stevens won that seat. After time at Harvard University (where he lived in Constitutional Law Professor Laurence Tribe's basement), Elstun returned to Alaska where he made a career in rural economic development. We discuss some of his projects on Saint Lawrence Island off the coast of western Alaska. Elstun is known to many listeners as a progressive firebrand; he and his wife of 21 years, former Alaska State House Representative Harriet Drummond, have been at the heart of Alaska Democratic circles for decades. Elstun has a pulmonary disorder that requires him to use supplemental oxygen and makes extended conversation challenging.

Send us a textSteve Williams is the director of Diversions Programming at the Anchorage Police Department. The Diversion Program allows officers to offer offenders a path to drug treatment instead of charges at the point of arrest. Previously, Steve was the CEO at the Alaska Mental Health Trust. And. prior to that, he worked for the mental health court. We discuss all three of those roles in detail on today's episode.To listen to APD Chief Sean Case's podcast episode, click here.

Send us a textAnna Taylor is the executive director of the Alaska Institute for Justice which is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the rights of everyone living in Alaska regardless of immigration status. Anna is the daughter of a Vermont State House Rep father and a veterinarian mother. Anna got interested in law while living in Ghana, West Africa, and initially wanted to work in international law, but an experience in law school convinced her that she could do more good by helping folks navigate the American immigration system. Her work at AIJ has largely revolved around helping survivors of abuse acquire legal status in the United States. Read: "ICE shift in tactics leads to a soaring number of at-large arrests," by Mairanne Levine, Emmanuel Martinez, & Alvaro Valino, here.

Send us a textDr. Michael Livingston is an Unangax̂ historian. The Unangax̂ are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, also known by the Russian-given name Aleut. For many years it was thought that Benny Benson designed the Alaska state flag when he was 13 and that, because he had been born in Chignik, that he was Alutiiq. But thanks to the research and persistence of our guest today, Benny Benson's birth certificate was posthumously corrected; we now know he was 14 when he designed the Alaska state flag. We also know that Benny's maternal ancestors are from Unalaska making Benny Unangax̂, not Alutiiq. We discuss Dr. Michael Livingston's own story, Unangax̂ history, and Benny Benson.

Send us a textToday, New Year's Eve 2025, I thought I'd take a look back at a few episodes from the last year. I am in my 5th year of the East Anchorage Book Club podcast and last year I released 78 episodes. This podcast is extremely meaningful to me as both as a legislator and as a person: I learn about issues that I am unfamiliar with, I create relationships with unexpected people, and it really is through editing the conversations that I internalize them and come out of them changed. Alaska needs foster families. Click here to learn how to become one.Today's episodes includes excerpts from the following interviews:Hollis French: former AK Senate Minority Leader, gubernatorial candidate, and AOGCC CommissionerRep. Jubilee Underwood (R-Wasilla): Former President of the MatSu School BoardJosh Revak: Former Alaska State Senator & Iraq war veteranMara Kimmel: Director of the ACLU of Alaska discusses ICE detainees held at the Anchorage Correctional ComplexPRIDE 2025: JJ Harrier, Chair of the Anchorage Pride ParadeRep. Zack Fields (D-Anchorage) discusses the US Congressional Budget Reconciliation Act of 2025AK MEDIA: Dan O'Neill: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Columnist 1998-2002LEAVING AMERICA: Aaron Poe on relocating his family to Ireland in 2025Margaret Stock: Immigration attorney, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, & 2016 AK US Senate CandidateLes Gara & Amanda Metivier: Audit of the Office of Children's ServicesFoster Care in Alaska 2025: Deko Harbi, Shannon Smith, & Tali Stone

Send us a textToday's episode is part of a series called "Leaving America," about folks who have decided to move outside the country and how they did it. Our guest is Joanna Keenan. Jo and I worked together in Santa Cruz, California. We were both physician assistants in the same emergency department at the local hospital there. Eight years ago Jo and her spouse Kelly retired to Mexico. Five years ago, Joanna came out as a trans woman. We discuss our shared experience working in American healthcare, and her and Kel's decision to retire to Mexico and the logistics of that move. We also talk about her experience coming out as a trans woman in Mexico, and her and Kel's move back to the United States this year in large part because they have turned 65 and now qualify for Medicare which gives them access to better health care than what they had in Mexico.  Other episodes in the "Leaving America" series:Aaron Poe (Ireland)Tashina Duttle (Spain)Daniel Gundlach (Germany)Kathy McCue (New Zealand)

Send us a textAs a 13-year-old, former Alaska State House Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins headed Vermont Governor Howard Dean's 2004 Presidential campaign in Alaska. He immersed himself in all things political as a high school student, but gave up politics when he got to college at Yale. During his junior year, he was contacted by several people encouraging him to return home to Sitka to run against the incumbent Republican serving in the state house seat, co-chair of the powerful House Finance committee Bill Thomas. Jonathan ran, won, and served for 10 years in the House where his proudest achievement was getting his HB 216 signed into law in 2014 which made 20 Native languages official Alaska state languages. Much of this interview draws from a 2018 Politico story that profiled three young Alaskans: Forrest Dunbar, John-Henry Heckendorn, and our guest Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.  

Send us a textThis Christmas morning US Senator Lisa Murkowski discusses her book that came out last summer, Far From Home: An Alaskan Senator Faces the Extreme Climate of Washington, DC. And, although much of what we speak about is from the book, we also discuss her vote on HR 1 (referred to by President Trump as the "One Big Beautiful Bill"), her concerns about the use of the National Guard, and the insurrection that happened on January 6, 2021. The co-writer of Far from Home is Charles Wohlforth; listen to his podcast episode here.Listen to Beth Kerttula's podcast episode here.Listen to Andrew Halcro's podcast episode here.

Send us a textAfter a childhood in east Anchorage, Andrew Halcro worked his way up in his family's Avis Rental Car business eventually becoming CEO in 2002 after leaving the state house where he had served for four years representing the Sand Lake district of west Anchorage. After an unsuccessful gubernatorial run in 2006, he continued a popular political blog until he became the president of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce in 2012. In 2015 he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Anchorage losing to his friend Democrat Ethan Berkowitz. Mayor Berkowitz appointed Halcro to be director of the Anchorage Community Development Authority. Through a collaboration with the Anchorage Daily News in 2021, he started a podcast called "With All Due Respect," which became extremely popular for its biting criticism of Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. Andrew continues to host "With All Due Respect," which you can find wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Send us a textMinnesota State House Representative Rick Hansen was first elected to represent South St. Paul in the Minnesota State House in 2004 along with his colleague Melissa Hortman who represented northern Minneapolis and went on to serve as Speaker of the Minnesota House for 6 years. On June 14, 2025, Melissa and her husband Mark were assassinated when they opened their front door to a man impersonating a police officer. The man had come from Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman's home where he had shot Senator Hoffman and his wife multiple times; their daughter called 911 and saved her parents. The assassin had a list of lawmakers to assassinate, and our guest was on that list. We discuss his experience and his thoughts about the future.  

Send us a textJohn Heilman is a West Hollywood city council member and former mayor. West Hollywood was incorporated as a city in 1984, and John was elected to the first city council and has been serving almost continuously ever since. He is a lecturer at the University of Southern California's law school where he was voted adjunct professor of the year in 2008, 2010, and 2016. He is also a professor at Southwestern Law School where he has been elected a professor of the year for the past 5 years. I met John at the 2025 Victory Institute LGBTQ+ International Leadership Convention held in Washington, DC, where he was inducted in to the LGBTQ+ Hall of Fame. In 2026, he will become mayor of West Hollywood for the 9th time.

Send us a textLaura 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 highlighted the dire lack of childcare in that community. The second, released in April 2025, was called, “ILP,” and focused on the infant learning program in the Mat-Su Valley. Her most recent, “Growing the Kenai: childcare licensing,” illuminates the obstacles to licensed childcare in Alaska. Last week she published an op-ed in the Mississippi Free Press entitled, “Raising teens in the era of the Epstein Files,” and that will frame our discussion for the second half of today's interview. Laura supports my House Bill 101 which would raise the age of consent in Alaska from 16 to 18 helping prevent the sexual victimization of young people by predators who take advantage of our low age of consent. For a timeline of all sexual misconduct allegations against President Donald Trump, click here.This is the Politico article I referenced about Katie Johnson, "Woman suing Trump over alleged teen rape drops suit, again."To watch Megyn Kelly's full comments about Jeffrey Epstein, click here.

Send us a textDr. 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 survive. Dr. McCue moved her family in 2021 to New Zealand for an 18 month adventure. Then, in August of 2025, she and her family moved back to New Zealand permanently. They live in a small town on the northeast coast of the North Island where they are renovating an old farm house and growing their own vegetables. We discuss why they moved, the challenges involved, and their thoughts on their decision.

Send us a textThe 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 Thomas Baker, as well as the former mayor of Kotzebue Saima Chase who had won the primary. Today we talk about her childhood, her journey into politics, and her experiences during her first year in the legislature.

Send us a textRabbi 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 in the Anchorage Daily News from Thursday, November 20, 2025: “US Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas and nooses as hate symbols,” by Tara Coop and Michelle Boorstein.  After recording and editing the podcast, there was an update posted by one of the authors of the Washington Post story, Tara Copp. I will read her tweet from about 8:00 PM on Thursday night: "Late this evening, the Coast Guard published a new policy dated November 20th that reestablishes, swastikas and nooses as hate symbols, not as just, "potentially divisive," and states that they are expressly prohibited. Importantly, it says the new guidance published tonight would supersede any other policies out there."Click here to read The Hill's article, "Coast Guard denies report it won't classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols."

Send us a textToday, 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 cash.Cryptocurrencies are essentially digital money. From the very start, crypto has been an attractive investment for drug dealers. This is for several reasons: 1. Its pseudo-anonymity – cryptocurrency wallets are identified by a string of numbers and letters, not names. 2. Their decentralization – crypto transactions don't rely on banks and those transactions can be performed without receipts – this reduces oversight from traditional financial institutions and law enforcement. 3. Large scale International transfers are much faster than through traditional banks. This enables criminal enterprises, like drug cartels, to move huge sums of money anywhere in the world almost immediately. 4. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are the primary mode of payment for dark web market places where folks can purchase hacked personal information, drugs, and other illegal goods. Alaska Congressman Nick Begich is a big fan of Bitcoin. And according to reporting by Liz Ruskin at Alaska Public media he's made a lot of money from it, turning a small investment into an asset now worth around $760,000. he's the  sponsor of a bill in congress that would make the United States a crypto owner. Begich's Bitcoin bill is similar to an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March, creating a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.” Begich has described it as a place to store wealth that would be similar to the U.S. gold reserves.The Trump family created a crypto business in 2024 called World Liberty Financial. In April of this year, President Trump ordered the disbanding of a Department of Justice crypto crime investigations team. In May, Binance, the largest cryptoexchange in the world, invested $2 billion in the Trump crypto enterprise. And just 3 weeks ago, Trump pardoned Changeng Zhao the founder of Binance who was serving a sentence after pleading guilty to money laundering charges – his company has laundered huge sums of money for Hamas and Al-Quaeda.

Send us a textThe 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 became the Alaska Municipal League in 1962 when boroughs joined the League. Nils grew up in Washington State, earned a degree in Peace and Development studies from the University of Bradford in Great Britain, and served as the executive director of the Institute of the North prior to moving to AML in 2018.

Send us a textPhysician 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 Alaska State Medical Association (ASMA). Outside of the legislature I, too, am a PA, and I know Christi through our professional organization the Alaska Academy of Physician Assistants. Our American professional organization (AAPA) has officially changed the name of our profession to Physician Associates. Alaska PAs have voted to officially change our name to physician associates as well, but the name change has not happened at the regulatory or statutory level yet. The PA profession in Alaska needs modernizing beyond a name change, and although we do not speak about it directly, we will reference Senate Bill 89 sponsored by Sen. Löki Tobin, which would modernize Alaska laws governing PAs. 

Send us a textLibby 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 featured on CNN, CBS, and the Associated Press. Her music has been featured at the U.N. Conference on Women, with Coretta Scott King and Walter Cronkite in Washington D.C., and played on Mars by NASA. Libby has also been the director of the University of Alaska Anchorage's Difficult Dialogues Initiative since 2006; through that initiative she has helped reinforce and protect civil discourse at centers of higher learning and beyond. According to former UAA Chancellor and governor of Alaska Sean Parnell: “Libby's work is a critical keystone in the university's service to students and to Alaska. The democracy-threatening polarization of the American public, social media's influence on our inability to find common ground, and the difficult but necessary discussions related to human dignity and educational access have combined to maker her leadership paramount to meeting the mission to the university.” 

Send us a textAttorney 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 recipient of the Alaska Press Club's First Amendment Award, and in 2011 on the 40th Anniversary of the ACLU of Alaska, he was recognized as one of the “40 Heroes of Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties.” He is the author of a legal guidebook for Alaska news reporters, and of publications on privacy law and open government law.John has two sons both in their mid-30s, whose mother, the late Suzan Nightingale McKay, was a beloved columnist and opinions editor at the Anchorage Daily News.To read John's "Open Government Guide" for the state of Alaska, click here.

Send us a textChloe 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 News website on Tuesday Sept. 23. Rep. Vance objected to the article and wrote a letter to Carpenter Media which owns not only the Homer News but also the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai and the Juneau Empire. By Thursday Sept 25, Chloe's story had been taken down, rewritten, and then re-published online without Chloe's byline and without a note stating that the story had been changed. Neither Chloe nor her editor Erin Thompson were informed that the story had been taken down, edited, and republished.  Ultimately, both Chloe and her editor resigned from the paper because of the incident. Joining them in their resignation were the entire staff of the Peninsula Clarion in Homer Jeff Helminiak and Jake Dye, who appeared on this podcast the day after the resignations. You will hear Chloe and I reference Jake and also Michael Armstrong who was the former editor of the Homer News who was a guest on this podcast around the same time as the resignations. To read more about the incident, check out this article by Eric Stone from Alaska Public Media, "Homer newspaper revises Charlie Kirk memorial coverage after pressure from Republican lawmaker."To listen to Jake Dye's episode, click here.To listen to Michael Armstrong's episode, click here.

Send us a textToday'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. Tetyana immigrated to Anchorage herself from Kharkiv, Ukraine, over 20 years ago when she married her husband Mike Robbins. With her Masters degree in accounting and auditing, she was a natural fit for her husband's business ventures where she tracked the finances and kept the books. When war broke out in her home country in 2022, she and her husband founded the Ukraine Relief Program which helped Ukrainians escape to Alaska, contributing to one of the biggest waves of foreign resettlement our state has ever seen. Now, as the legal status of those recent refugees is called into question, she is advocating the federal government to find a path to citizenship for the over 2,000 Ukrainians who are vital to our state's workforce.

Send us a textSeveral 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 deserved. Daniel is a countertenor which is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice type. Today we talk about his life and career, but we will also discuss the trials and tribulations of being an American emigrant in Germany. Musical Excerpts:Leontyne Price, "O patria mia," from Verdi's AidaJoan Sutherland, "Eccola," from Donizetti's Lucia di LammermoorAnna Moffo, "Sempre Libera," from Verdi's La TraviataGilda Cruz-Romo, "O mio babbino caro," from Puccini's Gianni SchicchiDaniel Gundlach, "O Lord, whose mercies numberless," from Handel's SaulDaniel Gundlach, "O fatal day," from Handel's SaulDaniel Gundlach, "On a dit sur Venise tant et tant de choses," from Gualtiero Dazzi's Le Luthier de VeniseDaniel Gundlach, "Danny Boy," Irish Folk Song

Send us a textMargaret 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 in Alaska losing to the incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Today we discuss her life, but also her concerns about the politicization of the US military, the change in the way our country treats its immigrants, and the illegal extra-judicial killings of Venezuelans by the US military in the Caribbean Sea.

Send us a textTashina 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 company which eventually merged with two of her friends' companies to become DeerStone. In May of this year, she moved her family, including her husband and three kids, to northern Spain. This episode is part of a series on why some people are leaving America permanently, and how they did it. 

Send us a textRachael 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 life. She first visited Alaska 16 years ago to commercial fish. She has worked on food policy in Benin, West Africa, taught at Alaska Pacific University for 9 years, and has been the Chief Advocacy Officer at the Food Bank since January 2024. 

Send us a textThe 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, and then Representative Alyse Galvin last year. We discuss Lisa's childhood in Anchorage, the value sports have played in her life, her battle with breast cancer, and her time as host of the Alaska Public Media Radio Show Outdoor Explorer.

Send us a textThe 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 Police in 2024 by Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.

Send us a textThis 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 United States permanently. We will be talking about their reasons for leaving as well as the practical matters of how one can move themselves or their families to another country. To contact the Irish Diaspora Center, click here.

Send us a textDoug 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 was reappointed last year by Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.Learn more about becoming an Anchorage Firefighter by clicking here.

Send us a textRep. 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 legislating. The "revisited" series features interviews previously recorded for the East Anchorage Matters podcast. 

Send us a textToday 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. Senate Bill 113 would have modernized our corporate tax structure and the additional revenue was to be directed to public education. Alaska State House Representative for downtown Anchorage Representative Zack Fields explains the veto and its implications. Read more here.

Send us a textJake 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 this past week, and his decision to resign.Context for today's episode:On September 10, conservative political organizer Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University. On September 17, hundreds of mourners gathered on the beach in Homer to remember the slain activist at a memorial service partially organized by Alaska State House Representative Sarah Vance. Homer News journalist Chloe Pleznak attended that outdoor memorial service, live streamed parts of it, and wrote a story about it that appeared in the September 25th edition of the paper. Rep. Vance took offense to the coverage provided by Pleznak. In a September 25th letter to the Executive Vice President of Sound Publishing John Carr and the CEO of Carpenter Media Tim Prince, the corporate owners of Homer News, she expressed her outrage, calling out the use of terms such as "far right" and "Christian nationalist" as prejudicial labels. She went on to highlight what she considers to be the “historic bias” of the Homer News and stated that: “this article represents the peak of a long-standing pattern of left-wing slant.” She concluded by warning that if the paper continues its partisan spin, “the consequence will be financial as well as reputational.”The result was that Carpenter Media removed Pleznak's article from the Homer News website and later replaced it with an edited version that removed Pleznak's byline. The social media commentary in both conservative and progressive circles was fierce, with folks on the right arguing that the Homer News should be ashamed of its biased coverage, and with those on the left arguing that the unauthorized editing of Pleznak's article without input from either her or her editor Erin Thompson was un-American censorship. On Monday, September 29, Chloe Pleznak, Erin Thompson, and our guest Jake Dye resigned from their papers.EXCERPTS FROM REP. VANCE LETTER (read full letter here):'Dear Mr. Carr,'I am writing to express my outrage over the article, "Homer holds vigil for Charlie Kirk," published in the Homer News on Tuesday, September 3, 2025.'The piece is not journalism, but rather it is hate-baiting at its worst . . .'From the opening paragraphs, reporter Chloe Pleznac branded Charlie Kirk with prejudicial labels such as "far-right" and "Christian-Nationalist icon," while smearing his views as "racist," "controversial," and "conspiracy theories." These are not facts; they are editorial judgements and political talking points. . . .'And let me be clear, this is not an isolated lapse. The historic bias of the Homer News is widely recognized in the community, and this article represents the peak of a long-standing pattern of left-wing slant. . . .'If the paper continues to treat community events as opportunities for partisan spin, the consequence will be financial as well as reputational. . . .'I urge you to take immediate corrective action.'

Send us a textFormer 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 “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” as well as numerous anthologies. His novels include After the Zap, Agvik, Bridge over Hell, The Hidden War, and Truck Stop Earth.   Context for today's episode:On September 10, conservative political organizer Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University. On September 17, hundreds of mourners gathered on the beach in Homer to remember the slain activist at a memorial service partially organized by Alaska State House Representative Sarah Vance. Homer News journalist Chloe Pleznak attended that outdoor memorial service, live streamed parts of it, and wrote a story about it that appeared in the September 25th edition of the paper. Rep. Vance took offense to the coverage provided by Pleznak. In a September 25th letter to the Executive Vice President of Sound Publishing John Carr and the CEO of Carpenter Media Tim Prince, the corporate owners of Homer News, she expressed her outrage, calling out the use of terms such as "far right" and "Christian nationalist" as prejudicial labels. She went on to highlight what she considers to be the “historic bias” of the Homer News and stated that: “this article represents the peak of a long-standing pattern of left-wing slant.” She concluded by warning that if the paper continues its partisan spin, “the consequence will be financial as well as reputational.”The result was that Carpenter Media removed Pleznak's article from the Homer News website and later replaced it with an edited version that removed Pleznak's byline. The social media commentary in both conservative and progressive circles was fierce, with folks on the right arguing that the Homer News should be ashamed of its biased coverage, and with those on the left arguing that the unauthorized editing of Pleznak's article without input from either her or her editor Erin Thompson was un-American censorship.EXCERPTS FROM REP. VANCE LETTER (read full letter here):'Dear Mr. Carr,'I am writing to express my outrage over the article, "Homer holds vigil for Charlie Kirk," published in the Homer News on Tuesday, September 3, 2025.'The piece is not journalism, but rather it is hate-baiting at its worst . . .'From the opening paragraphs, reporter Chloe Pleznac branded Charlie Kirk with prejudicial labels such as "far-right" and "Christian-Nationalist icon," while smearing his views as "racist," "controversial," and "conspiracy theories." These are not facts; they are editorial judgements and political talking points. . . .'And let me be clear, this is not an isolated lapse. The historic bias of the Homer News is widely recognized in the community, and this article represents the peak of a long-standing pattern of left-wing slant. . . .'If the paper continues to treat community events as opportunities for partisan spin, the consequence will be financial as well as reputational. . . .'I urge you to take immediate corrective action.'

Send us a textABC/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 young, Trill left TV news and went to work as an elementary school teacher and later as a school librarian in the Anchorage School District. In 2022, she returned to ABC/Fox to anchor the evening news. We talk about how TV news has evolved and where it's headed. We also discuss her recent trip to DC to interview Alaska's federal delegation in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Send us a textThis 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 discuss his early life as well his path to IT and Alaska, but we also offer specific actions that Alaskans can take to make themselves more cybersecure. Leon Jaimes is the chair of the House District 20 Democrats and is the treasurer of the Anchorage Democrats.Check to see if your email address has been part of a data breach here at "Have I been Pwned?"

Send us a textLisa 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. PA Alexia has become a subject matter expert on circadian rhythms, time zones, and the health risks of the sleep disruptions associated with time zone displacement, something that happened in 1983 when Alaska consolidated four time zones into one. She will explain today that what would be best for Alaska's health would be for our clocks to fall back and never spring forward again.For questions about eating disorders, visit AKEDA.

Send us a textTomorrow, 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 their episodes here: Joe Josephson Lisa Parker.Happy 50th birthday to the municipality of Anchorage!Anchorage Charter Commission member Jane Angvik ran for the Anchorage Charter Commission not too long after she had moved to Anchorage in 1973. What she had learned during her time working for the Greater Anchorage Borough Planning Department was that the City of Anchorage and the Borough of Anchorage hated each other – they couldn't stop suing each other, and the State of Alaska had grown weary of the drama. The ridiculous conflict even resulted in the loss of life. This is Jane Angvik's recollections of her time serving on the Charter Commission. 

Send us a textRep. 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 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 Alice Rogoff, the former CFO of US News & World Report. In 2014 Rogoff purchased the Anchorage Daily News and merged it with the Alaska Dispatch. Dermot stayed on as a columnist until 2017 when the ADN declared bankruptcy and was sold to the Binkley family. Dermot was let go and shortly afterwards started his own blog which continues to this day: "Reporting from Alaska." He is the author of 6 books including, North to the Future: the Alaska Story 1959 – 2009. 

Send us a textJames 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 unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2024, but he remains an active member on the council and is a founding member of their housing committee. Although Jimmy and I discuss the absolute destruction that cuts in federal funding will have on KCHU, much of the first part of today's episode will be about Jimmy's late grandfathers: John Devens Sr. who gained national fame in 1989 as mayor of Valdez during the Exxon Valdez oil spill and Jim Robison who was the president of the Alaska AFL/CIO and served as the Alaska Labor Commissioner from 1982 to 1987. We conclude our conversation with a discussion of housing policy.This interview was recorded while I was in Valdez on a walk with Jimmy, so you will hear occasional background noise including a very angry raven.

Send us a textSen. 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 to limit access to abortions later in pregnancy. The second makes up the bulk of Sen. Tobin's and my discussion today. It is also a statement drafted by board member Heilala declaring practitioners who prescribe gender affirming care in minors as “grossly negligent and therefore subject to disciplinary sanctions.” Gender-affirming care for adolescents, when indicated and provided in partnership with families, is evidence-based medicine. It is recognized by every major medical association—including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the Endocrine Society—as the standard of care.  There are currently less than 100 youth in Alaska prescribed hormonal treatment as part of gender affirming care. There are no gender affirming surgical procedures being performed on minors in Alaska. Here are links to the Transgender series on the podcast from 2024:1. Wildlife biologist Aaron Poe discusses being a father to a trans daughter in Anchorage2.  Retired Army 1st Sergeant Jessica Kalarchik on being trans3.  A 15-year-old trans boy and his mom4.  David Leslie, an Inupiaq Sipiniq (Two-Spirit)5.  Becca Bernard, a lawyer, minister, and mom to a trans girl6.  Dr. Joshua Safer, author of the Endocrine Society Guidelines for the medical care of transgender patients7. Dr. Marci Bowers, president of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH)8.  Rose O'Hara-Jolley, AK state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance AdvocatesTo learn more about Sen. Löki Tobin, listen to her first appearance on the podcast.To learn more about today's resolutions, read Iris Samuel's ADN article.Alaska Provider Sign-On Letter: Defending Evidence-Based CareOpen Letter from Alaska Health Professionals to the Alaska State Medical Board Re: Proposed resolution labeling gender-affirming care for minors as “unprofessional conduct” To the Alaska State Medical Board, We, the undersigned Alaska health professionals, write to strongly oppose the Board's proposal to classify gender-affirming care for minors as “unprofessional conduct.” Earlier this year, the legislature declined to act on similar recommendations from the Board—rejecting interference in standards of care as inappropriate. By now advancing a resolution, the Board is disregarding that decision and overstepping its proper role. Even more concerning, in the same discussion the Board raised abortion as another area for punitive action, signaling an alarming trend of politicizing medicine across multiple domains. Gender-affirming care for adoles

Send us a textJeff 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, and was appointed to the commission on judicial conduct by Governor Bill Walker, but that appointment was withdrawn due to a scandal involving photos of Jeff in a speedo. As you heard at the start, he is considering a gubernatorial run in 2026. This is Jeff's second appearance on the podcast – on his previous appearance in 2022 we discussed his early life and journey to Alaska. You can find a link here. Note: this episode contains profanity.

Send us a textAlaska 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. In 2019 he became the news director at KOTZ, the public radio in Kotzebue, and spent two years covering arctic climate change, subsistence,  Iñupiaq culture, and the region's response to Covid 19. Since returning to Anchorage in 2021, he has covered city government. Today we discuss the devastating impacts to public radio, particularly to rural stations, of the elimination of federal funding.

Send us a textToday 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 our state, such as access to our rare earth minerals or to oil in the Bering Sea. On March 5, 2025, I gave a speech on the House Floor about the leader of Russia and attempts to normalize him. I, Rep. Andrew Gray, stand by my words. Here is that speech.