Crude Conversations

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with UFC fighter Lauren Murphy. Lauren was introduced to combat sports in 2009 when she dropped her son off at jiu jitsu class. She ended up taking the class alongside him so that he wouldn't  be afraid. He wasn't afraid, but she did get hooked. The following year, Lauren competed in her first MMA fight in Wasilla, Alaska. She knocked her opponent out in 17...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with his friend Mike Dempsey. Mike is a videographer and visual storyteller. It's a hard-won career that not everybody succeeds at, and Mike's well aware of this, which is why he got a degree in computer science—so that he could work remotely. The computer science degree has allowed him to work from anywhere in the world, while he pursues his real passion o...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Julie Decker, the Director and CEO of The Anchorage Museum . When she took the job, Julie made a radical shift in the way museums typically function. Rather than just collecting and displaying artifacts, she decided to transform the Anchorage Museum into a living museum, focused on local issues by examining present themes in order to look at Alaska's c...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with professional snowmachiner Cory Davis. Cory's been riding a sled since before he could walk. At least that's what his parents tell him. And it's an easy thing to believe if you've ever seen him on a snowmachine. Dude's a natural. Fast forward to 2007, and he's competing in the X-Games at 18-years-old. Today, he holds six X-Games medals in Long Jump and...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Stephanie Wonchala, the Executive Director of Pulse Dance Company and the owner and operator of Studio Pulse Center for Dance. Stephanie started Pulse Dance Company in 2010. Back then they rehearsed wherever they could find space. At one point they held rehearsals on the second floor of a massage studio, with carpet, low ceilings, and no mirrors. Altho...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Pastor Kent Redfearn. Kent has been the pastor of Muldoon Community Assembly in Anchorage for over thirty years. In that time, he's watched the perception of organized religion change—for the better in some situations, and for much worse in others. And while the fundamental job of a pastor has not changed, their methods have. Meaning, because of the in...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Fairbanks skate legend Josh Poe. Josh got a taste for skate culture as an army brat in Germany in the mid-90s, where he spent a lot of time skipping school to skate with friends. He got to Alaska in 2005 by way of the Air Force and caught the tail end of the Boarderline era, years that were marked by substantial growth in the Alaska snow and skate scen...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Alice Glenn, the host of Coffee & Quaq, a podcast that explores Native life in urban Alaska. If you live in Alaska, then you're aware of racism toward Alaska Native people. It can be casual, or it can be abrasive. Either way, it's detrimental to an entire group of people who have lived in Alaska for thousands of years. Long before the Russians or the E...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with professional snowboarder Mark Landvik, better known as Lando. Lando has been instrumental in snowboard videos that raised the bar in the progression of the sport, as well as the way action sports are filmed. Specifically, " The Art of Flight ," " That's It, That's All ," and " The Fourth Phase ." In 2015, at the height of his career, Lando left the fil...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with spatial ecologist Ben Sullender. Spatial ecology is the study and understanding of a landscape using maps. Meaning, scientists like Ben use topography to look at how small differences in landscape affect every part of life. From the migratory patterns of birds, to the melting of the Arctic Ocean sea ice and how it significantly changes our ability to l...

In this episode of "lost anchorage," we look at domestic violence in Anchorage, Alaska from the perspective of Heidi Hill, the Grants and Program Director at Abused Women's Aid In Crisis (AWAIC). AWAIC services about 1,600 people across all of its programs, including shelters, legal advocacy, case management, transition housing, and substance abuse management. Heidi has worked at AWAIC, the only e...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Evan Philips, the creator and host of The Firn Line, a podcast about the lives of mountain climbers. Evan's path to becoming the storyteller he is today began when he was a teenager learning the basics of a sport that would, in time, define him. He was an avid mountain climber as a teenager and well into adulthood until a recurring injury led to multip...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with longtime Alaska beer columnist Jim Roberts, better known as Dr. Fermento. Jim's been writing about and involved in the Alaska craft beer scene for over two decades. Back then, there were only about eight breweries in Alaska, today there are over forty. In an article he wrote for Crude last year, he called Alaska "the Beer Frontier."  They talk about ho...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Jason Borgstede, owner of the Anchorage-based snowboard and skateboard shop Blue & Gold Boardshop. They talk about how he went from being a professional snowboarder to a professional poker player to a waiter and now the owner of a local snow and skate shop. Jason's history with the Alaska snow and skate scene goes back twenty some odd years and include...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Andy Elsberg, an emergency room doctor at Providence Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. They talk about how he went from being a ski bum to an ER doc, the idea of wilderness medicine, the pervasiveness of alcohol and opiate addiction in Anchorage, what a gunshot actually does to a human body, and the short but aggressive spice epidemic that hit Ancho...

Introducing Crude's new podcast, lost anchorage, where Crude investigates the mechanisms of crime and violence in Anchorage, Alaska. Through research and interviews with professionals, law enforcement and those affected by crime, we hope to build a better understanding of whether or not Anchorage is, in fact, becoming more dangerous.   In this episode of lost anchorage, we look at how childhood tr...

Introducing Crude's new podcast, lost anchorage, where Crude investigates the mechanisms of crime and violence in Anchorage, Alaska. Through research and interviews with professionals, law enforcement and those affected by crime, we hope to build a better understanding of whether or not Anchorage is, in fact, becoming more dangerous.  In this episode of lost anchorage, we look at crime in Anchorag...

Introducing Crude's new podcast, lost anchorage, where Crude investigates the mechanisms of crime and violence in Anchorage, Alaska. Through research and interviews with professionals, law enforcement and those affected by crime, we hope to build a better understanding of whether or not Anchorage is, in fact, becoming more dangerous.  In this episode, we look at crime from the perspective of a ret...

In this episode, we have a conversation with local filmmaker and King Technical High School teacher Jeremy Blake. We talk about how he first got into filmmaking and evolved into being one of the most sought-after sound guys in the local community, the short-lived film tax incentive, and how Alaska’s unique landscape is represented and often underutilized in movies.   With guest host John Kendall o...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Cliff Groh, a former Alaska Revenue Department official and longtime advocate for the Permanent Fund Dividend. Cliff was instrumental in the creation of the PFD in the early 1980s. From 1987 to 1990, he served as special assistant to Hugh Malone, the Commissioner of Revenue in the administration of then-governor of Alaska Steve Cowper. He was also invo...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with his uncle, Jay Liska. Jay was the first professional snowboarder from Alaska to get his own pro-model. He also started Boarderline Alaska Snow and Skate with his brother, Scott Liska, and went on to start his own shop, Northern Boarder. They talk about the snowboard scene in the 80s and 90s, and Jay shares some of his most memorable stories from back i...

In this episode, we have a conversation with Keon McMillan, better known as Keezy, an Alaskan rapper and producer. We talk about the history and impact of the hip hop collective Sky Division—how it was the first large posse of young Alaskan rappers and producers—the influence hip hop music and culture has on society and political change, the implications of selling out, the responsibility that com...

In this episode, we have a conversation with Mike Thompson, a longtime high school teacher at East High in Anchorage, Alaska. We talk about moving from Chicago to rural Alaska—from a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood to one where he was the first black person they met—the lessons he learned about race and integrity from his dad, how civility is a leadership skill, the students who have made an i...

In this episode, we have a conversation with longtime Alaska journalist Julia O'Malley. We talk about being raised in a family of storytellers, how overcoming dyslexia got her into writing, the importance of local news and digital newspaper subscriptions, media literacy—being able to differentiate between false sources and credible sources—that being a journalist in Alaska doesn't mean resigning y...

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Mike Gordon, the former owner of Chilkoot Charlies, a famous bar along Spenard road in Anchorage, Alaska. They talk about Mike's travels—the ones he did for work and the ones that have made the biggest impact on him — he explains the early days of Koots, the prevalence of cocaine in Alaska during the 70s and how the late night scene has changed since t...