Alaska Teen Media Institute

In this episode we’re looking back on an aspect of Alaska’s history that isn’t often revisited, but lives on in the hearts of many who grew up here: TV commercials. David Reamer normally spends his time writing a weekly column in the Anchorage Daily News about the history of Alaska. He also co-authored the book “Black Lives in Alaska: A History of African-Americans in the Far Northwest.”  But rece...

Kira Buckland is a voice actor whose work mainly includes characters in English dubbed Japanese anime, cartoons, and video games. She has over 300 voice credits including the anime television series Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and role-playing video game Genshin Impact. Born and raised in Alaska, Buckland studied Japanese at UAA. When she was a student at West High School she founded Senshi-Con, an...

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation company responsible for some of the most renowned and beloved animated films of all time. Founded in 1985, it has produced hand-drawn animated classics like “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke,”  “Grave of the Fireflies,” and many more. This year, many of the films from the studio’s co-founder Hayao Miyasaki are getting a theatrical re-release in the U.S. So w...

The U.S. national emergency to respond to Covid-19 officially ended on April 10, 2023. A separate national health emergency related to the virus is set to expire on May 11th. So with the pandemic coming to a close, we’ve decided to wind down this podcast series. We just have a few stories left to share before we go. In December of 2020 we spoke with Danny Mindlin, an ER doctor at Providence Medica...

The sci-fi action movie "Slash/Back" tells the story of a group of teenage Inuit girls living in the community of Pang near the Arctic Circle in Canada. When an alien invasion threatens their town, it’s up to the girls to take them on. In this special episode, we’re hearing from the film’s director and co-writer Nyla Innuksuk. She grew up in Nunavut, the territory of Canada that Pang is in. She sp...

Glass Onion is a whodunnit murder mystery starring Daniel Craig as world famous detective, Benoit Blanc. It’s a sequel (sort of) to the 2019 whodunnit murder mystery Knives Out, where Blanc is tasked with looking into the death of a famous author. In Glass Onion, Benoit Blanc ends up on a private island in Greece owned by a billionaire tech mogul. When a weekend of catching up with old friends tur...

Nat Herz spent almost a decade as a journalist, writing for the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Then one day, last June, he quit his job and decided to strike out on his own. He created The Northern Journal, a subscription-based newsletter that reports and provides commentary on Alaska’ environment, energy industry, government and politics. ATMI producer Edison Wallace-Moyer sat down...

In this episode we return to the cinematic universe that has captivated audiences for the past two decades: The Shrek-verse.  The latest film to come out of this cultural phenomenon is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. In the new movie, a life of living dangerously has caused our hero Puss in Boots to realize he only has one of his nine lives left.  Confronted with morality in a way that he’s never ha...

Every year winter brings with it cold and flu season. You’re lucky if you make it through to break up without getting at least a little sniffle. This winter, though, things have been especially bad with Covid spiking, the flu hitting harder than most years, and RSV causing concern for the very young and old. To learn more about what many people are calling the “Tripledemic,” ATMI producer Madison...

Anchorage-based DJ Joe Brady has been a part of the local dance scene for over five years. He's been serving tunes to people at events, bars, and even high school proms. ATMI producer Tyler Felson sat down with Brady to talk about the nightlife in Anchorage, how to best play to the audience, and much more. They spoke on November 22nd, 2022. Hosted by Ormund Alaois. Music by Kendrick Whiteman. Alas...

It’s time for our holiday special. In this episode, our ATMI crew debates a very important and pressing topic: What is the best Christmas movie? Each producer in the roundtable presents their pick for best Christmas movie and plead their case as to why it reigns supreme. Prepare yourself for some classic festive film picks, but some way out there ones as well. Plus they talk about their favorite h...

In this episode we’re back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The sequel reflects real life as the people of Wakanda mourn the loss of their king T’Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman who passed away in 2020.  The future of Wakanda is again at risk with the introduction of Namor, the king of an underwater nation of people. As T’Challa’s people confront this new fo...

For this episode we're pivoting to TV, to talk about the new ABC drama "Alaska Daily." The show stars Hilary Swank as a journalist who takes a job at a newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska, after she is let go from her position at a national news outlet. It was inspired by the reporting of Anchorage Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins. His series “Lawless,” which provides the basis for some of the show’s s...

We’re doing something a little different for this show. We’re switching over to television to talk about the new ABC drama series set in our very own state. “Alaska Daily” follows an investigative journalist who loses her job at a prestigious national news outlet who then takes a job working for a newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska.  The show stars Oscar winner Hilary Swank as the journalist Eileen Fi...

For this episode we’re talking about Don’t Worry Darling, the new movie from director Olivia Wilde. The movie stars Florence Pugh as Alice, a 1950’s housewife living in an idyllic community with her husband, played by Harry Styles. But when strange occurrences involving her husband’s secretive job start happening, Alice begins to question the nature of the reality she’s living in.  Our ATMI film c...

For many Alaskans, the Covid-19 pandemic seems like a thing of the past. Life feels mostly normal again. But while recorded case counts are at their lowest in over a year, Covid is still here.  So to give us an update on where Alaska stands in the fight against Covid-19, we called up Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, and no stranger to our podcast. ATMI senior producer Quinn White spo...

For this episode we’re talking about News Media Literacy. A group of our youth producers got together on Zoom for a roundtable discussion to talk about the importance of healthy news consumption in this day and age.  They discuss how they determine if the news they are reading is trustworthy, the dangers of mis and disinformation, and how to talk with friends and family members about spreading art...

Quinn Christopherson is an Ahtna Athabascan and Inupiaq singer songwriter who grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. He gained national notoriety in 2019 when he won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest with a performance of his song “Erase Me” about his experiences as a transgender man. He went on to perform a Tiny Desk Concert, a popular video series of live shows in the offices of All Songs Considered. Quinn’s debut...

For this episode, we’re going to take a break from Covid. We’re going to talk about Monkeypox. While it may be only recently that people have heard of this virus, Monkeypox was actually first detected in 1958 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Throughout the decades, cases have been most commonly present in Central and Western Africa.  Recently, however, it has spread throughout 94 different countries with f...

For this episode we’re talking about Nope, the new movie written and directed by Jordan Peele. Known for his horror movies Get Out and Us, Peele’s new movie follows a brother and sister who own a horse ranch where they train their animals to perform in movies. When their ranch is terrorized by a mysterious thing in the sky, the siblings set out to document just what it is up there in the clouds. O...

When the pandemic started, Wendy Williams was working as a school nurse in the Anchorage School District. Since then she took a contract job with the CDC foundation as the School Nurse Consultant for the state of Alaska. In this role, Williams works with school districts, urban and rural, on health issues involving students. She provides support, resources, training opportunities to school nurses...

For this episode we’re back in the MCU, talking about the latest movie, Thor: Love and Thunder. Bringing back writer/director Taika Waititi, the movie sees Chris Hemsworth’s Thor reuniting with his ex-girlfriend played by Natalie Portman and other characters from the previous films, as they face off against Gorr the God Butcher, portrayed by Christain Bale.  ATMI producers Madison Knutson, Ormund...

For many people who have had Covid, it isn’t always over once you’ve recovered from the virus. According to a study from the Penn State College of Medicine, more than half of the 236 million people worldwide who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 will experience what is commonly known as Long Covid. In this episode we hear from Dr. Jeff Demain, an allergist and immunologist with the Allergy Asthma...

Last month Covid-19 vaccines were approved for children as young as six months old. For many parents this news brought relief, and for others continued concern. For this episode we’re going to hear from Dr. Mishelle Nace, a pediatrician in Fairbanks, Alaska who also works as a staff physician for the state health department.  ATMI senior producer Quinn White spoke with Dr. Nace about the vaccine n...

Jurassic World: Dominion, the sixth movie in the franchise, brings back the original main cast of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic Jurassic Park, and pairs them with the characters from the recent entries for a new adventure.  ATMI producers Daisy Carter and Madison Knutson discuss the latest entry and how it compares to the others in the franchise, as well as the negative reactions the movie has b...