Send us a text Dr. Mara Kimmel is the Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska and former first lady of Anchorage. Prior to taking the helm of the ACLU of Alaska , She had a long career in Alaska public policy focused on rights and justice in northern communities. She has served on the faculty at the Seattle University School of Law, the University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University. Most relevant to our conversation today, Dr. Kimmel worked for over a decade as an immigration att...
Jun 21, 2025•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 60
Send us a text Rose O’Hara-Jolley is the Alaska State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. Planned Parenthood is a network of 600 health clinics across the country -- Alaska has two (one in Fairbanks and one in Anchorage) -- that provide reproductive and sexual health care including birth control, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, cancer screenings, well-woman exams and mental health care. Planned Parenthood is the only provider of abortions in Alaska. Planned ...
Jun 17, 2025•57 min•Season 4Ep. 59
Send us a text JJ Harrier is the 2025 chair of the Anchorage Pride Parade. After a childhood in Girdwood, he traveled around the lower 48 and Europe trying to find himself ultimately ending up homeless on the streets of Portland in his early 30s. His mother got him into rehab in Alaska and from there his life took a different direction. JJ is the former Vice President of Marketing for the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the former Director of Development for Alaska Addiction Rehabilitation Servic...
Jun 09, 2025•41 min•Season 4Ep. 58
Send us a text Alaska State House Representative for Downtown Anchorage Zack Fields explains the budget reconciliation bill recently passed in the US House by a single vote. That bill is now in the US Senate, where if it is not substantially amended, it would adversely affect Alaska in many ways. One is cutting funding for SNAP – which is the federal food stamp program. About 70,000 Alaskans receive SNAP benefits. The bill would also significantly affect Medicaid – which is government health ins...
Jun 05, 2025•28 min•Season 4Ep. 57
Send us a text Tessa Hulls is the 2025 Pulitzer prize winner for her graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts. Tessa is only the second graphic novelist to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize, the first being Art Speigleman for Maus in 1992. Tessa was kitchen staff for this past legislative session in Juneau. She worked in the legislative lounge every day making legislators' breakfasts and lunches. No one knew she was an author and certainly no one expected the woman serving us our soup to be announced as the 2025...
May 26, 2025•53 min•Season 4Ep. 56
Send us a text Alaska State House Representative for South Anchorage, Girdwood & Whittier Ky Holland was born and raised in Anchorage. He is the eldest son of Federal Judge Russ Holland who was the judge in the case against Exxon after the Exxon Valdez Oil spill. Ky left Alaska for college in Oregon and stayed away for over a decade. Returning in the late 90s, he continued his work as a mechanical engineer, but expanded into academia and eventually into entrepreneurship. Lack of state invest...
May 19, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 55
Send us a text Alaska State House Representative for West Anchorage Carolyn Hall got an internship with the Boston Red Sox during her senior year of college in New Hampshire. This led to her dream job working for the team as a videographer during their World Series win in 2004. In 2008 she branched into TV journalism getting her first job with a small local market: KTUU in Anchorage. She covered the Iditarod, Gov. Sarah Palin , Sen. Ted Stevens ' trial from DC, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski 's 2010 wr...
May 05, 2025•55 min•Season 4Ep. 54
Send us a text Former Alaska State Senator and Iraq war veteran Josh Revak was born and raised in Minnesota. While serving in the Army in the early 2000s, a mortar blast in Iraq blew a quarter-sized hole through the back of his foot. He then got his first job in politics back in Minnesota working on John McCain 's 2008 presidential campaign. Then, while visiting the Alaska family of a fellow soldier who had been killed in Iraq, Revak met Congressman Don Young 's staff who suggested he apply for ...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 36 min•Season 4Ep. 53
Send us a text Deko Harbi , Shannon Smith , and Tali Stone are former Alaska foster youth. All three recently visited the Capitol in Juneau as part of a trip organized by Facing Foster Care in Alaska . Facing Foster Care in Alaska is a nonprofit organization that provides foster youth and alumni opportunities to share their lived experience about life in foster care to raise community awareness and promote improvements in the system. This is this podcast’s third episode featuring former foster y...
Apr 21, 2025•58 min•Season 4Ep. 52
Send us a text Alaska State House Representative Kevin McCabe of Big Lake landed in Kodiak with the Coast Guard in 1981. He raised his three sons there before he began work as a pilot. That work took him to East Anchorage and eventually to Big Lake. He and his wife Linn entered politics as supporters of Sarah Palin for governor in the mid-2000s. During his initial political awakening he adhered to a version of purity politics that he no longer avows. We discuss his life and the evolution of his ...
Apr 13, 2025•40 min•Season 4Ep. 51
Send us a text Mindy O’Neall is the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Chair and the Executive Director of the Cold Climate Housing Research Center. CCHRC is a non-profit organization located near the Univerity of Alaska Fairbanks that for the past 25 years has advanced building solutions for healthier, more resilient homes in cold climates. Prior to her current roles, Mindy was the director of the coordinated campaign for the Alaska democratic party. She worked as staff for Senator Johnny El...
Apr 07, 2025•48 min•Season 4Ep. 50
Send us a text Rep. Andrew Gray is the usual host of this podcast, but in this episode he is the guest. He is interviewed by his Legislative Aide Kyle Johansen at the request of his other legislative aide Claire Bredar in honor of her birthday. Gray was first elected to the Alaska State House in 2022 to represent the U-Med district. Outside the legislature, he is a physician assistant at an Anchorage Urgent Care....
Mar 30, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 49
Send us a text Legislative Lobbyist Reed Stoops moved to Alaska in 1971 after his youth on the East Coast. He worked as a Committee Aide to Kay Poland in the State Senate and then took a job in the Department of Natural Resources in Gov. Jay Hammond 's Administration. During Gov. Bill Sheffield 's Administration, he began legislative lobbying, and in 2000, he co-founded the Juneau Community Foundation. The Juneau Community Foundation gives away millions of dollars each year to improve the capita...
Mar 24, 2025•43 min•Season 4Ep. 48
Send us a text Alaska State House Representative Jubilee Underwood of Wasilla lost the August 2024 primary to the incumbent Representative David Eastman. Few folks thought that she had a chance of winning that race, but come November, Underwood defeated Eastman. She is now here in Juneau forging a new path for her community. Prior to running for the House she served three years on the MatSu School Board, the last as President. We talk about her journey into politics as well as her early life on ...
Mar 17, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 47
Send us a text Michael Rovito is the deputy director of the Alaska Power Association (APA) . The Alaska Power Association is the statewide trade association that represents the electric utilities that supply power to more than a half-million Alaskans. As part of his duties with APA, Michael hosts a podcast called, "Alaska Powerline," which talks about issues facing Alaska’s electric utilities. He trained as a journalist and moved to Alaska in 2006 to take a job at the MatSu Valley Frontiersman ....
Mar 10, 2025•38 min•Season 4Ep. 46
Send us a text Alaska State Senator Rob Yundt was born and raised in Wasilla and stumbled into wrestling as a 7th grader. Little did he know that wrestling would change his life ultimately leading to a career as a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter with a professional record of 9 wins and five losses – his UFC match against Ricardo Almeida in 2008 (which is available on YouTube) was a pay-per-view event streamed live from the Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas and was watched by millions of p...
Mar 03, 2025•54 min•Season 4Ep. 45
Send us a text Alaska State Senator Matt Claman first laid eyes on Alaska while working as a cook for a mining company the summer before his senior year of college. After law school, he made his way back to Alaska settling in Anchorage. In the mid 2000s he was elected to the Anchorage Assembly and was elevated to Chair at the start of his second year. This meant that when Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich was elected US Senator, Matt Claman as the Assembly Chair assumed the role of acting mayor. This ...
Feb 24, 2025•47 min•Season 4Ep. 44
Send us a text Dr. Brock Wilson is the newest faculty at UAA’s Institute of Social And Economic Research (ISER). Brock recently earned his PhD in Economics from the University of Oregon where his primary area of study was labor economics. His most important published work is on pension generosity and its effect on hiring and keeping workers. It was his time spent as a wildland firefighter in Oregon that initially got him interested in recruitment and retention policy. Read Dr. Wilson's paper on ...
Feb 17, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 43
Send us a text Alaska State House Representative Bill Elam of Kenai and Nikiski served for almost six years on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly before running for the open House seat created when former Rep. Ben Carpenter ran for the Alaska State Senate. It wasn’t an easy race: Carpenter endorsed Elam’s opponent, and Elam lost the August primary, although just barely. We talk about all of that and more....
Feb 10, 2025•46 min•Season 4Ep. 42
Send us a text Representative Frank Tomaszewski of Fairbanks got his start in local politics opposing a plan by North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins to build a parking lot near Frank’s home. He ran for the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly in 2019 and served until 2022. He then ran against Luke Hopkins' son Grier Hopkins who was serving in the Alaska State House, and Frank defeated him. Frank and I were freshmen together in 2022, and now as we start are second terms together, we sit next to...
Feb 03, 2025•39 min•Season 4Ep. 41
Send us a text Anchorage Attorney Pat Galvin grew up in southern California and hoped to be a sports agent. He never intended to be an attorney, to live in Alaska, nor work in state government. But as a relatively young lawyer he got a job in Governor Tony Knowles'’s administration as the Director of Governmental Coordination in the Office of the Governor before moving into the Department of Natural Resources . He stayed at DNR through Gov. Frank Murkowski's administration, and then with the ele...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 53 min•Season 4Ep. 40
Send us a text Sarah Vance spent her early life in north Texas and Oklahoma before moving to Homer, Alaska, at age 10. She had not paid much attention to politics until a 2017 Homer City Council resolution to make Homer a sanctuary city for immigrants. Sarah helped mobilize against the resolution and led a recall election against the three city councilmembers who had brought forth the resolution. In 2018 she challenged longtime incumbent Paul Seaton for his seat and won. After four years serving...
Jan 13, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 39
Send us a text Alaska State Refugee Coordinator Issa Spatrisano does her work through Catholic Social Services' Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services (RAIS), which is the resettlement agency for the state of Alaska. RAIS connects newly arrived refugees with housing, jobs, and other services that weave them into the Alaska community. A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her home because of war, violence or persecution, often without warning. They are unable to return home...
Jan 09, 2025•55 min•Season 4Ep. 38
Send us a text Former Alaska State Senate Minority Leader Hollis French moved to Alaska from Colorado when he was 20 to work in the oil industry. After earning a law degree, he worked as a prosecutor and then, when the opportunity presented itself, ran for the state Senate, winning on his second try in 2002. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010 and in 2014. Governor Bill Walker appointed him to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) 2016-2019. Now retired, Hollis spends muc...
Jan 06, 2025•44 min•Season 4Ep. 37
Send us a text Bronson Frye is the Alaska representative for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, local 1959. At age 19, he apprenticed in Anchorage with the union as a painter after growing up in Homer. Bronson became the union rep in 2007 and has remained deeply involved in workers' rights and politics ever since, which is a surprising turn for someone raised a Jehovah’s Witness. We talk about that journey as well as his discovery of yoga. Bronson is the yoga teacher for the ...
Jan 01, 2025•45 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Send us a text Dr. Mimi Benjamin has been a family practice physician for over 35 years, the last 14 in Juneau. She is the former Medical Director and creator of the Bartlett Regional Hospital Hospitalist program, which started in 2017. She is the 2018 recipient of the Golden Stethoscope award from the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA) for her relentless advocacy for patient safety, for serving as the physician champion of the electronic medical record, and for cofoundi...
Dec 30, 2024•38 min•Season 4Ep. 35
Send us a text After 29 years at the Alaska Literacy Program, Lori Pickett recently retired and handed off the executive director responsibility to Deepika Ramesh Perumal . Both women are interviewed on the show today where we discuss their lives and what brought them to ALP. The Anchorage Literacy Program started 50 years ago in 1974 as an all-volunteer organization to teach people to read. Over the years it has metamorphosized into predominantly an English language school that enables immigran...
Dec 23, 2024•35 min•Season 4Ep. 34
Send us a text Megan Edge is the Prison Project Director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska. At age 19, Megan got her first job in a newsroom, and she worked as a journalist for seven years covering local Anchorage issues, state politics, military affairs, the Iditarod, and most relevant to today’s conversation, crime and courts. In 2017, she left the news business to work in Governor Bill Walker’s administration as the Department of Corrections Public Information Officer. Her eyes ...
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 33
Send us a text Writer and former Anchorage Assembly member Charles Wohlforth is the author of more than ten books and numerous articles about science and the environment, politics and history, medicine, travel, and as-told-to biography including his 2012, To Russia with Love, with Vic Fischer. His book, The Whale and the Supercomputer, won the L.A. Times Book Prize in 2004. His three-times-weekly column for the Anchorage Daily News in 2019 won the western U.S. states’ most prestigious journalism...
Dec 09, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 32
Send us a text Former Alaska State House Representative Kyle Johansen was first elected to represent his hometown of Ketchikan in 2006. Two years later he became the Majority Leader in the Republican-led House. After being re-elected as Majority Leader in 2010 he left the caucus in protest of a committee leadership decision which he now sees as a huge mistake – a mistake he continues to pay for years afterward, ultimately driving him in 2019 to relocate to Hawaii. In the 34th Legislature which s...
Dec 02, 2024•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 31
