PODCAST · society
Crude Conversations
by crudemag
Each week ”Crude Conversations” features a guest who represents a different aspect of Alaska. Follow along as host Cody Liska takes a contemporary look at what it means to be an Alaskan.Support and subscribe at www.patreon.com/crudemagazine and www.buymeacoffee.com/crudemagazine
Episodes
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Chatter Marks EP 144 The AlCan
The Alaska Highway—better known as the AlCan—was built during World War II as a strategic military supply route connecting the continental United States to Alaska. Construction began on March 9, 1942, just three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor heightened fears of Japanese expansion in the...
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EP 175 Reviving the Anchorage Press with Nat Herz and Veri di Suvero
In this one, Cody talks to Nat Herz and Veri di Suvero, the editor and publisher behind the revived Anchorage Press. Nat is a longtime Alaska journalist. He spent years reporting for Alaska Public Media and the Anchorage Daily News before he founded Northern Journal—an independent…
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Chatter Marks EP 143 More than a game with Kyle Worl
Kyle Worl is an Alaska Native athlete, coach, and cultural advocate who has spent most of his life competing in, and helping pass on, Arctic Sports and Traditional Games. He’s earned more than 100 medals, been named an Outstanding Athlete multiple times at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, and...
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Chatter Marks EP 142 The Notorious Bars of Alaska with Doug Vandegraft
For nearly 30 years, Doug Vandegraft has been writing about bars in Alaska. In his book, “A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska,” he uses the state’s longtime watering holes as a way into its broader social history. Doug spent decades traveling throughout Alaska during his career as a federal...
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Chatter Marks EP 141 The Politics of Nature with Jonathon Keats
Jonathon Keats is an artist, writer, and experimental philosopher, and his work uses imagination to question some of our most basic assumptions about how the world works. His new book, “A Field Guide to More-Than-Human Governance,” looks beyond human societies for new ways of thinking about...
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Chatter Marks EP 140 The Architecture of Mycelium with Joseph Dahmen and Isobel McLean
Joseph Dahmen is an architect and the founder of the Biogenic Architecture Lab at the University of British Columbia. The lab’s lead designer, Isobel McLean, also joins this conversation. She works at the intersection of architecture, microbiology, and biofabrication. And together, Joseph and...
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Chatter Marks EP 139 Ways of seeing the world with Lily Tuzroyluke
Author Lily Tuzroyluke is from Tikiġaq, also known as Point Hope, a community on Alaska's northwest coast that has been home to generations of people for thousands of years. It’s widely regarded as one of the oldest, continuously lived-in settlements in North America. As a writer, Lily often…
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Chatter Marks EP 138 Searching for answers, one essay at a time with Corinna Cook
Corinna Cook is an essayist whose writing follows the stories embedded in the borderlands of Southeast Alaska, northern British Columbia, and the southern Yukon. Drawing from history, natural science, and personal experience, she asks what the landscape can teach us—how it preserves memory, how...
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Chatter Marks EP 137 Impact Through Wonder with Fillip Studios
Tom Kortbeek and Roos Meerman are the founders of Fillip Studios, a Netherlands-based interdisciplinary design studio whose work sits at the intersection of art, science, technology, and human experience. Together, Tom and Roos have spent more than a decade exploring what happens when artists,...
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Chatter Marks EP 136 Anchorage history in fragments with David Reamer
Anchorage Historian David Reamer has spent years digging through archives, newspapers, and forgotten corners, recovering stories that might otherwise disappear. From his early days of sharing historical stories on social media to his long-running Histories of Alaska column in the Anchorage Daily...
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EP 174 The Sharp End with Ashley Saupe
In this one, I talk to Ashley Saupe. She’s the host of the Sharp End Podcast, a show built around firsthand accounts of accidents, near misses, survival, and the complicated psychology of risk in the outdoors. But before she started the podcast, she was studying the mistakes of others, reading...
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EP 173 The warden of Kavik River Camp with Sue Aikens
In this one, I talk to Sue Aikens — the warden of Kavik River Camp, a remote, self-sufficient outpost on Alaska’s North Slope. A collection of bunkhouses, fuel tanks, generators and equipment set against a wide, treeless, and unforgiving landscape defined by wind, cold, and distance. Just open...
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Chatter Marks EP 133 Where science meets story with Caroline Van Hemert
Caroline Van Hemert is a wildlife biologist, writer, and researcher whose work moves between science, story, and the lived experience of wild places. She’s based in Alaska, where she’s spent years studying migratory birds and the shifting ecosystems they move through, paying close attention to…
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Chatter Marks EP 132 Haunted by Alaska with Don Rearden
Don Rearden is an author and an educator whose work is rooted in Alaska—its landscapes, its communities, and the complex realities shaping life across the North. His writing—both fiction and nonfiction—blends elements of survival, culture, and environmental change. Whether he’s exploring a…
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Chatter Marks EP 131 An Alaska made for TV with Sam Davenport
Sam Davenport writes the AK IRL newsletter. It dissects Alaska reality television as entertainment and as a cultural lens that shapes how Alaska is perceived from the Outside — an idea often signaled right from the start in show titles filled with buzzwords like wild, survival, and frontier. As…
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Chatter Marks EP 130 Cold War cakes with Julia O’Malley
Julia O’Malley is a journalist, a cook, a baker, and lately she’s been researching and re-creating Cold War cakes. During the Cold War era—roughly the decades between the end of World War II and the early 1990s—cake mix transformed a food once associated with luxury into something democratic,...
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Chatter Marks EP 129 Branding the Arctic with Jeremie McGowan and Amund Sjolie Sveen
Jeremie McGowan is an artist, designer, and researcher. Amund Sjolie Sveen is an artist. And together, they created Real. Arctic., an exhibition that examines how the word “Arctic” is used in branding, institutions, geopolitics, and everyday consumer products — and how the use of that word shapes...
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EP 172 The Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest with Paul Koberstein
In this one, I talk to journalist Paul Koberstein, whose recent book, “Canopy of Titans,” explores one of the most overlooked ecosystems on Earth: the Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest. Stretching roughly 2,500 miles from just north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge to the western Gulf of...
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Chatter Marks EP 127 Shaped by land with Emily Sullivan
Emily Sullivan is a writer, a photographer, and a director whose work is grounded in questions of land, community, and responsibility. Throughout her work, she focuses on uplifting Indigenous perspectives — not by speaking for communities, but by listening to what people are already saying and...
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Chatter Marks EP 126 Cooking Alaska with Kevin Lane
Kevin Lane is the executive chef and co-owner of The Cookery and The Lone Chicharron Taqueria in Seward, and he was recently named as a James Beard Award semifinalist. Reflecting on that recognition, he says it wouldn’t have been possible without his team at The Cookery, or the kitchens and crews...
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EP 171 Art and illness with Peter Dunlap‑Shohl
In this one, Cody talks to cartoonist Peter Dunlap‑Shohl. His career traces a remarkable arc, from daily newsroom deadlines to personal, long-form storytelling. For 27 years, he worked for the Anchorage Daily News, drawing editorial and political cartoons. He produced thousands of comics focused...
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Chatter Marks EP 124 The sound of remote places with Charles Stankievech
Charles Stankievech is an artist, a writer, and an academic. He teaches at the University of Toronto, and his art takes him into some of the most remote landscapes on earth. Places like CFS Alert, the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world. He describes the Arctic as occupying two...
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Chatter Marks EP 123 The Athlete's Mindset with Kikkan Randall
Kikkan Randall is a five-time Olympian and an icon of U.S. cross-country skiing. But before all the medals and podiums, she was a high schooler with dyed hair, face paint, and a nickname that captured her energy: “Kikkanimal.” Her teammates gave it to her as a nod to the edge, spirit, and unity…
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EP 170 Winning with grace and gratitude with Alev Kelter
In this one, Cody talks to Alev Kelter. She grew up in Eagle River, Alaska, playing varsity boys' hockey because there wasn’t a girls’ team. That drive to compete at the highest level has carried her through a career that spans multiple sports. She played soccer and hockey at the University of...
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EP 169 Living with nature in a digital age with Ben Weissenbach
In this one, Cody talks to Ben Weissenbach. He’s an environmental journalist and the author of “North to the Future.” It’s a book about Alaska, but also about uncertainty, responsibility, and the quiet, sometimes uncomfortable process of learning how to see. Ben spent time in the Brooks Range and...
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EP 168 What the wilderness teaches us with Luc Mehl
In this one, Cody talks to Luc Mehl. He’s an adventurer, educator, and the author of “The Packraft Handbook.” He’s traveled over 10,000 miles across Alaska using only human power — by foot, ski, paddle, bike, and even ice skate. He’s traversed all of the state’s major mountain ranges, competed in...
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EP 167 Family, trauma and the stories we inherit with Tessa Hulls
In this one, Cody talks to author and multi-disciplinary artist Tessa Hulls. She recently won the Pulitzer Prize for her graphic memoir, “Feeding Ghosts.” It’s about three generations of women in her family — her grandma, her mom, and herself — and the ways their lives were shaped by political...
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Chatter Marks EP 118 Art rooted in activism with Nicholas Galanin
Nicholas Galanin is a Tlingit and Unangax̂ artist and activist whose work includes sculpture, installation, music and performance — and it’s always in conversation with history, land and power. He creates art that honors Indigenous traditions and confronts the structures that have sought to erase...
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Chatter Marks EP 117 Museums in a Climate of Change Part 2: Futures thinking with Elizabeth Merritt
Elizabeth Merritt is the founding director of the Center for the Future of Museums at the American Alliance of Museums. It’s her job to track cultural, technological, environmental, political and public health trends — and figure out what they might mean for museums and the communities they…
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Chatter Marks EP 116 Museums in a Climate of Change Part 2: The Museum as a Collaborator with Julie Decker
Julie Decker is the director and CEO of the Anchorage Museum. But before that she practiced as an artist and ran her own art gallery. Since then she’s fostered a belief in the power of museums to spark action — whether that means picking up a paintbrush, reading a new book, or seeing the world...
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EP 166 Winning the Arctic Man with Eric Heil
In this one, Cody talks with Eric Heil. He’s an educator and a legendary Arctic Man competitor. Alongside his longtime snowmachine partner, Len Story, Eric won five times. He started competing in Arctic Man in 1990 at the age of 30, and from the beginning, he immersed himself in the event — not...
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Chatter Marks EP 115 Museums in a Climate of Change Part 2: A borderless museum with Annesofie Norn
Annesofie Norn is the Head of Communications and Lead Curator at the Museum for the United Nations, or UN Live for short. With a background in placemaking and art practice, she specializes in designing experiences that resonate across borders and mediums. Her work often explores how art and...
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Chatter Marks EP 114 Museums in a Climate of Change Part 2: I am because we are with Mike Radke
Mike Radke is the co-founder and executive director of The Ubuntu Lab, a global education nonprofit that teaches people how to navigate cultural differences with curiosity, humility and empathy. Mike approaches the world with a learner’s mindset, believing he almost always has more to learn than…
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EP 165 The NN Cannery History Project with Katie Ringsmuth
In this one, I talk to Katie Ringsmuth. She’s the Alaska State Historian, the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer and the creator of the NN Cannery History Project, a seven-year effort to preserve and interpret the stories of the people who powered one of Alaska’s most historic salmon...
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Chatter Marks EP 113 Museums in a Climate of Change Part 2: Imagining the future, together with Dr. Stefan Brandt
Dr. Stefan Brandt is the Director of Futurium in Berlin, a hybrid museum experience and public platform dedicated to exploring the future. With a background in literature, philosophy, cultural studies — and a lifelong interest in music — Dr. Brandt has worked at the intersection of culture…
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EP 164 The Fairbanks Four with Brian Patrick O’Donoghue
In this one, Cody talks to journalist and retired professor Brian Patrick O’Donoghue, whose decades-long investigation into the wrongful convictions of four young men of Alaska Native and Native American descent — known as the Fairbanks Four — helped reshape one of the most important criminal…
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Chatter Marks EP 112 Frozen Frontlines: Alaska’s Cold War Legacy
In this episode of Chatter Marks, we explore the lingering impact of the Cold War on Alaska, a state that stood on the frontlines of a global standoff. Through perspectives rooted in art, journalism, history, and geopolitics, we trace how Cold War-era decisions reshaped Alaska’s communities,...
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Chatter Marks EP 111 Rockets, clean energy and the future of Alaska with Ben Kellie
Ben Kellie is an entrepreneur, a writer and someone who’s spent a lot of time thinking about how to build things that matter. He grew up in Alaska, learning to fly planes with his dad. It was a hands-on education in problem-solving, resilience and staying calm under pressure. That mindset carried...
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Chatter Marks EP 110 From professional baseball player to mentor with Jamar Hill
Jamar Hill is a coach now, but before that, he was a pro baseball player in the Mets organization. He grew up in Anchorage, where playing baseball wasn’t always easy: limited facilities, long winters and not much opportunity to play year-round. He says that in Alaska, you get about a quarter of…
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Chatter Marks EP 109 Photographing exploration and innovation in Alaska with Roman Dial
Roman Dial is a scientist, educator and pioneering adventurer. For more than four decades, he’s charted paths through Alaska’s most remote and unforgiving landscapes — sometimes alone, sometimes with students, friends or family. He came to Fairbanks in the 1970s, a place he says was a hotbed of...
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Chatter Marks EP 108 Monitoring Alaska’s volcanoes with Dr. Matt Haney
Dr. Matt Haney is the Scientist-in-Charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, where he leads the charge to monitor and communicate the activity of Alaska’s volcanoes — some of the most closely watched in the world. He explains that there are several ways to count Alaska’s volcanoes, but one of the...
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EP 163 Calm, technical and driven with Adrian Williams
In this one, co-host Micah Hollinger and Cody talk to Adrian Williams. Both of them grew up skating the streets of Anchorage, at spots like Hanshew Middle School and Abbott Elementary. Those two spots in particular were important to their upbringing and their skating. It’s where they met up with...
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EP 162 History, power and the Bering Strait with Bathsheba Demuth
In this one, Cody talks to author and historian Bathsheba Demuth. She grew up in Iowa, a place she describes as having an extremely cultivated landscape — shaped and managed by people at nearly every turn. Her first exposure to the North came through the writings of Jack London, books her parents...
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EP 161 Finding truth in fiction with Éowyn Ivey
In this episode, Cody talks to author Éowyn Ivey, whose debut novel, The Snow Child, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. It captivated readers with its blend of folklore and the Alaska wilderness. Raised in Alaska, Éowyn’s connection to the land is woven into her storytelling, creating atmospheric and...
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EP 160 Dogsledding, The Iditarod and making history with Libby Riddles
In this one, Cody talks to dog musher Libby Riddles. She was the first woman to win the Iditarod. Back in 1985, she made the decision to push through a storm — a choice that would cement her place in history. While others hunkered down, she bet on her team’s strength and her own resilience…
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EP 159 The Arctic Man with Howard Thies
In this one, Cody talks to Howard Thies, the founder of Arctic Man, a winter race that combines snowmachines, skiers and snowboarders. It takes place at Summit Lake in Paxson, Alaska and it pairs a snowmachiner and a skier or a snowmachiner and a snowboarder. It’s one of the fastest and most…
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Chatter Marks EP 103 Northern Boarder’s presents: A Conversation with Local Legends
Jason Borgstede is one-half of JB Deuce, a local snowboard and skateboard video that ran from the late-1990s to early-2000s. It was funded by Boarderline Alaska Snow and Skate shop — a retail business host Cody Liska's dad owned — and featured snowboarders and skateboarders from Alaska. Jesse...
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EP 158 Avoiding unnecessary risks with Merrick Johnston
In this one, Cody talks to Merrick Johnston. The best way to describe her is that she’s an athlete. Rock climbing, ice climbing, snowboarding, mountain biking, gymnastics, surfing, whitewater kayaking. You name it, she’s probably at least tried it. But professionally, she’s a skier and a...
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EP 157 Teamwork and compromise in Alaska politics with Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
In this one, I talk to Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. Ever since he was a kid he’s been interested in politics and sports. Electoral politics and baseball, to be specific. But when it came to politics, he was a prodigy. He could recite groups of politicians — the 50 state attorneys general and all 100...
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Chatter Marks EP 100 Conservation and decolonization with Monica Shah
Monica Shah is the Deputy Director of Collections and Conservation at the Anchorage Museum. She’s interested in the things that we surround ourselves with, the things that bring us comfort, familiarity and memories. Manifestations of culture and identity. These materials are important to us…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Each week ”Crude Conversations” features a guest who represents a different aspect of Alaska. Follow along as host Cody Liska takes a contemporary look at what it means to be an Alaskan.Support and subscribe at www.patreon.com/crudemagazine and www.buymeacoffee.com/crudemagazine
HOSTED BY
crudemag
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Crude Conversations have?
Crude Conversations currently has 319 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Crude Conversations about?
Each week ”Crude Conversations” features a guest who represents a different aspect of Alaska. Follow along as host Cody Liska takes a contemporary look at what it means to be an Alaskan.Support and subscribe at www.patreon.com/crudemagazine and www.buymeacoffee.com/crudemagazine
How often does Crude Conversations release new episodes?
Crude Conversations publishes regularly with 319 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Crude Conversations?
You can listen to Crude Conversations on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Crude Conversations?
Crude Conversations is created and hosted by crudemag.
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