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Iditapod

by Alaska Public Media

The Iditapod is a podcast following the Last Great Race, from Alaska Public Media. Daily episodes during the Iditarod Sled Dog Race take you out on the trail -- into checkpoints, down along the sea ice, and across the finish line in Nome. Hear interviews with mushers, behind the scenes news, and in-depth race analysis you won't find anywhere else.For episodes from past seasons of the Iditapod, visit www.alaskapublic.org/iditapod

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Episodes

  1. Ryan Redington in Nome

    This bonus Iditapod episode features the full recording of a press conference with 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion Ryan Redington, right after he and his dogs crossed the finish line in Nome on Tuesday, March 14. This was recorded by Alaska Public Media's Lex Treinen, and you’ll hear…

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  2. S7E11: The all-Indigenous Iditarod podium

    Alaska Native mushers took the podium in the 2023 Iditarod, with the Knik Kid, Ryan Redington, winning his first championship and Bethel's Pete Kaiser and Aniak's Richie Diehl mushing into second and third place. The race's top 10 were all into Nome by Wednesday morning, and we have an update on...

  3. S7E10: An Iditarod champ from the founding family

    The 40-year-old Ryan Redington has won his first Iditarod and the first championship for the Redington family, on his 16th try (and after six previous scratches). "I've just been on pins and needles," said his mom, Barb, at the finish line. We'll hear Redington's finish itself in this episode…

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  4. Live call: Ryan Redington wins 2023 Iditarod

    Ryan Redington claimed his first Iditarod championship a little after noon Tuesday with six dogs in harness and an official race time of 8 days, 21 hours, 12 minutes and 58 seconds. We have a whole bunch more coverage of Redington’s finish and the rest of the race at alaskapublic.org, and we’re...

  5. Morning report: Ryan Redington poised to win

    We have a quick bonus episode here for you, as Ryan Redington is on the home stretch to Nome, looking like he's going to claim his first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race championship. This is our morning Iditarod report, it has some different theme music, but it’ll set things up for the finish.

  6. S7E9: Hanging onto a lead and an Iditarod dream

    Ryan Redington has a secure hold on first place in the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, heading into the final 100 miles of trail. Meanwhile, one rookie musher had some trouble holding onto his dog sled, after falling asleep, falling off and getting a fortuitous lift. We have a listener…

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  7. John Suter in Anchorage

    In this extended interview, we hear more from John Suter, an Iditarod finisher who famously had a team that included poodles. Suter ran the Iditarod with poodles in 1988, '89, '90 and '91, finishing each year ahead of other teams racing more traditional sled dogs.

  8. S7E8: The champ has scratched. Long live the champ.

    Reigning Iditarod champion Brent Sass has scratched from this year’s race, due to what race officials described as “periodontal health” issues. So 31 teams remained in the race Saturday, and in this episode we hear from the chase pack-turned lead pack about how they were feeling about heading up...

  9. S7E7: Rollin' on a river (the Yukon, that is)

    Iditarod teams are passing through the village checkpoint of Anvik and onto the Yukon River. We have that, as well as stories from earlier on the trail about how mushers were setting their teams up for these runs earlier in the checkpoint of Iditarod and about the tiny village of Takotna…

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  10. Jessie Royer in Takotna

    Iditarod veteran and frequent top 10 finisher Jessie Royer talks to Alaska Public Media's Lex Treinen in Takotna.

  11. S7E6: Run, rest, eat and repeat

    In this episode, we hear from Iditarod mushers in the midst of their required 24-hour layovers and from our current Red Lantern musher. We also have a chat with a former top 10 musher who’s returning to the race and running a team of mostly rookie dogs, plus a look at the Iditarod's new pilot...

  12. S7E5: The dog days of Iditarod

    Iditarod mushers are making decisions about where to stop for their mandatory 24-hour rests, some opting to take that break earlier than planned, as the teams continue to contend with warm weather. The village of Nikolai is also fully open to visitors for the first time in three years of COVID-19...

  13. S7E4: Hot doggin' and leapfroggin'

    Iditarod teams are contending with warm weather in the thousand-mile race, many choosing to run in the cool of night as much as possible. We'll talk about that in this episode, plus a little about what other sports some mushers have participated in outside of mushing. We have another Dog of the…

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  14. S7E3: One paw in front of the other

    Iditarod sled dog teams are into the first 200 miles of trail, after the race clock started ticking Sunday. Mushers are pacing their dogs and there's a lot of leapfrogging going on out there, as they follow their own run-rest schedules. In this episode, we have a look at the competitiveness of…

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  15. Brent Sass interview in Fairbanks

    In this extended, pre-Iditarod interview, reigning Iditarod and Yukon Quest 550 champion Brent Sass talks to Iditapod reporter Lex Treinen about Sass's hectic life at his homestead north of Fairbanks, in Eureka, about his newfound confidence going into this year’s Iditarod and his philosophy…

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  16. S7E2: Iditarod kicks off with a chilly start

    Iditarod mushers took their sled dog teams on an untimed, celebratory fun run from downtown Anchorage on the city’s trails, with hundreds of fans cheering along the way. We hear from mushers and fans – maybe the pitter patter of little dog feet – as well as a joyful bride, a grumpy bear, a…

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  17. S7E1: Springing back as Iditarod begins anew

    That's right, it's Iditarod time, and we're back with another season of Iditapod. In the first episode of our seventh season, host Casey Grove and trail reporters Lex Treinen and Ben Matheson discuss the smallest field in race history and how a quarter of the mushers in the 2023 Iditarod are...

  18. Aaron Burmeister interview in Nome

    Veteran Iditarod musher Aaron Burmeister talked to Alaska Public Media’s Jeff Chen at the Nome radio station, KNOM, roughly a day after Burmeister finished his 21st Iditarod. Burmeister talks about stepping away from the Iditarod, about how his race went this year, and how much dog mushing has...

  19. Brent Sass interview in Nome

    In this hour-long interview, we hear more from 2022 Iditarod champion Brent Sass about how he’s forged a unique bond with his dog team, how he draws inspiration from his idols like Susan Butcher, and how his life in his remote homestead has made him the musher he is. Alaska Public Media’s Lex...

  20. S6E10: Bringin' it home to Nome

    Since the Iditapod left off, after Brent Sass's epic first Iditarod victory, teams have continued to arrive in Nome, including a fun race for 3rd and 4th place, two Yukon-Kuskokwim mushers in 5th and 6th, an impressive 7th place finish for a second-year musher and a Nome local coming home to…

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  21. S6E9: The fresh prince of Iditarod

    Iditapod goes on a deep dive talking about "old school" Eureka musher Brent Sass, who won his first Iditarod championship early Tuesday in Nome. That was despite howling wind that almost caused him to stop in the final miles, with five-time champ Dallas Seavey still in pursuit, just about an hour...

  22. Morning report: Brent Sass wins his first Iditarod

    The 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has a new champion, as you'll hear in this morning Iditarod report from Alaska Public Media. Dog musher Brent Sass and his team of 11 dogs pulled into Nome early Tuesday, passing under the famed Burled Arch finish line just before 5:40 a.m. to win the...

  23. Brent Sass interview in White Mountain

    Alaska Public Media's Lex Treinen caught up - just in the nick of time - with Brent Sass, who mushed into White Mountain and a mandatory eight-hour rest in the lead, in a great position to win his first Iditarod.

  24. S6E8: A new Iditarod champion?

    The Iditarod - and Iditapod - are heading into the Nome stretch, as Eureka's Brent Sass has maintained his lead, aiming for his first win with five-time champ Dallas Seavey still on his tail. We’ll have more about the race at the front, as well as more about musher mistakes, how things are going...

  25. Hanna Lyrek interview with Lex Treinen

    In this extended interview from before the 2022 Iditarod, 22-year-old Norwegian musher Hanna Lyrek told Alaska Public Media's Lex Treinen about competing in Norway's biggest sled dog race, the Finnmarksløpet, how she got her dog team to Alaska, her goals for the Iditarod and... about her dogs, of...

  26. S6E7: March to the coast

    Well, we’ve got a race, folks. Obviously, with 45 mushers out on the Iditarod Trail vying for positions, we’ve got a race. But at the very front, it’s looking like a real battle setting up between Brent Sass and Dallas Seavey for first place. As the frontrunners head for the Bering Sea coast…

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  27. S6E6: Yukon do it

    With the northern lights dancing above, we talked to Iditarod leader Brent Sass as he danced through the Ruby checkpoint and onto the Yukon River, skipping a gourmet five-course meal in favor of more comfortable cold temperatures for his dogs. We'll also hear more from Sass and his fellow...

  28. S6E5: Halfway there, fully committed

    Iditarod mushers and their dog teams are now either in the middle of their mandatory 24-hour layovers or back out on the trail, if they opted to do that earlier. We've got the frontrunners at the Cripple checkpoint, as well as a chat with the folks who 24ed in McGrath, now making up the chase…

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  29. Apayauq Reitan interview with Shady Grove Oliver

    Kaktovik dog musher Apayauq Reitan, the first out trans woman to compete in the Iditarod, talks to Iditapod colleague and Alaska Public Media contributor Shady Grove Oliver - originally for a piece in the Guardian newspaper - about Reitan's goals for this year's race, what it's like to mush dogs,...

  30. S6E4: Playing catch up

    Our Iditapod crew gets caught up - to get you caught up - as sled dog teams in the 2022 Iditarod race through the third full day of mushing the 1,000-mile trail. We'll hear about some of the most technically difficult sections and get an update on who is where... for now. We'll also hear from...

  31. Bridgett Watkins interview with Lex Treinen

    **Warning: This extended interview discusses a violent encounter with a moose and might not be suitable for all listeners. Alaska Public Media's Lex Treinen gets all the details of rookie Iditarod musher Bridgett Watkins' run-in with a moose while on a training run near Salcha, in Interior…

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  32. S6E3: Different strokes for different folks

    As Alaska Public Media reporters Jeff Chen and Lex Treinen head out on the trail, Iditapod host Casey Grove updates some of the early Iditarod standings. Plus, we have a story of an ER nurse whose training for the Iditarod helped him cope with the trauma of working on the front lines of the...

  33. S6E2: A joyful, more normal Iditarod start

    The 2022 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicked off Saturday in Anchorage with its usual fanfare, after not holding a ceremonial start in 2021. Alaska Public Media reporters Casey Grove, Tegan Hanlon, Lex Treinen and Jeff Chen were out in the snow with the mushers, dogs and race fans, including…

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  34. S6E1: Iditarod gets back on track

    Iditapod is back for the 50th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Host Casey Grove and fellow Alaska Public Media reporters Tegan Hanlon, Lex Treinen and Jeff Chen discuss last year's pandemic-altered Iditarod, some of the mid-distance sled dog races this season, as well as COVID-19...

  35. S5E4: A familiar champ for a unique Iditarod

    Dallas Seavey has won the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, tying Rick Swenson's five first-place finishes for the most ever. Will he be back next year to vie for a sixth? That is the question... Also, a sleepless but not tired Alaska Public Media reporter Tegan Hanlon fills us in on the scene…

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  36. Raymie Redington interview with Quince Mountain

    **Note: this interview is from 2020. Dog musher Quince Mountain sat down with Raymie Redington, son of Iditarod founder Joe Redington Sr., to talk about dog mushing, the history of the race and a lot more.

  37. S5E3: Bouncing back to Willow

    Since we left off, an Iditarod musher has tested positive for COVID-19 and been withdrawn, Dallas Seavey has taken the lead in his return to the race and, instead of leaving problematic sections of trail behind, mushers are heading back over them, on a modified, out-and-back trail. We talk to...

  38. Talkeetna interview with Dallas Seavey

    Alaska Public Media's Tegan Hanlon talks with four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey in February in the dog lot at his Talkeetna-based kennel. Seavey is back in the Iditarod this year after taking three years off following a scandal in 2017's race, after which the Iditarod said two of Seavey's...

  39. S5E2: Slip slidin' away

    We rejoin the Iditarod something like 48 hours in, and, on what sounds like a hard and fast trail, mushers are pacing themselves for the shorter 850-mile race. There've been a total of three scratches so far, none bigger than Aliy Zirkle, who suffered a concussion and upper body injury in the...

  40. S5E1: Mission Iditarod: COVID Protocol

    The 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is going to look a lot different, one year into a global COVID-19 pandemic. (The Iditapod’s going to be pretty different this year, too, as we'll explain). The ceremonial start is canceled, so the race begins Sunday in Willow under strict COVID-19 protocols,...

  41. Anchorage interview with Katherine Keith

    Alaska Public Media's Zachariah Hughes talks with veteran long-distance dog musher and past Iditarod competitor Katherine Keith about her book, "Epic Solitude." It chronicles her journey from a teenager in Minnesota, falling in love with rugged wilderness adventures, while simultaneously…

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  42. S4E15: The newest Norwegian champ

    The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has another new Norwegian champion: 46-year-old Thomas Waerner. His team arrived in Nome at 12:37 a.m. Wednesday to an enthusiastic, if smaller, crowd. And Waerner still has to figure out how to get home, what with travel restrictions from the coronavirus…

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  43. Update on Thomas Waerner win in 2020 Iditarod

    This is a quick report from our morning radio coverage of the Iditarod. It's called a radio module, and it details Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner winning the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at 12:37 a.m. Wednesday, March 18. Waerner's team logged a time of 9 days, 10 hours, 37 minutes and 47...

  44. S4E14: Hitting close to Nome

    It’s Tuesday, and we have a two-fer on dog profiles here on the Iditapod. And as we anticipate Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner winning the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Nome early Wednesday -- barring any unforeseen changes -- we have a story about the modified Shaktoolik checkpoint, a...

  45. S4E13: A Norwegian coasts up the coast

    As front-of-the-pack Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race mushers head up the Bering Sea coast from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik and Koyuk, Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner has put his sled dog team solidly out front. There's still a group of competitive mushers behind him, though, and as we like to say…

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  46. Cripple Creek interview with Lance Mackey

    Four-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey talks with Alaska Public Media's Zachariah Hughes at the Cripple Creek checkpoint about having a more successful race in 2020 than some recent years.

  47. S4E12: Whistlin' to Shaktoolik, and some mid-pack collegiality

    Norway's Thomas Waerner was the first to Unalakleet and the coast of Alaska in the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. But there's a storm coming and several good teams behind him. Meantime, back up the trail in Galena, Alaska Public Media’s Zachariah Hughes observed the collegial bonds among two...

  48. S4E11: Iditarod CEO says 'things can change minute by minute'

    While Iditarod sled dog teams continue to mush toward the coast, the Iditapod is at home hiding under a table, in a makeshift recording studio. But we still have a report from the trail about how the mushers are learning about changes at checkpoints due to concern from coronavirus. Also in this...

  49. S4E10: The last sport standing

    Welcome to the Iditapod, a podcast about - what else? - the Iditarod, which is, perhaps the only major sporting event still happening -- anywhere. Yep, hanging out by yourself with a pack of dogs is starting to seem better and better every day. It’s Friday the 13th, and there’s plenty of scary…

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  50. Update on Iditarod coronavirus concerns and Royer first to Yukon

    This is a brief report from our morning radio coverage at Alaska Public Media. We call it a radio module, it’s only five minutes, and it'll sound a little different. But as we’re working on a full episode of the Iditapod for Friday, which will include talking to Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach about...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

The Iditapod is a podcast following the Last Great Race, from Alaska Public Media. Daily episodes during the Iditarod Sled Dog Race take you out on the trail -- into checkpoints, down along the sea ice, and across the finish line in Nome. Hear interviews with mushers, behind the scenes news, and in-depth race analysis you won't find anywhere else.For episodes from past seasons of the Iditapod, visit www.alaskapublic.org/iditapod

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Alaska Public Media

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Iditapod have?

Iditapod currently has 117 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Iditapod about?

The Iditapod is a podcast following the Last Great Race, from Alaska Public Media. Daily episodes during the Iditarod Sled Dog Race take you out on the trail -- into checkpoints, down along the sea ice, and across the finish line in Nome. Hear interviews with mushers, behind the scenes news, and...

How often does Iditapod release new episodes?

Iditapod publishes regularly with 117 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.

Where can I listen to Iditapod?

You can listen to Iditapod 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 Iditapod?

Iditapod is created and hosted by Alaska Public Media.
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