Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media

Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health is a massive report looking at the $500 billion impact to the United States from alcohol and drug addiction. The Surgeon General’s office wants this report to help educate citizens and build a deeper understanding about addiction much as earlier reports on tobacco, AIDS and mental illness sought to do in the '60s, '80s and '90s.

Early this morning, long time Nome Nugget editor and publisher Nancy McGuire died. McGuire had been battling cancer and in her last editorial bid a fond farewell to her beloved Nome community and residents. Listen Now 

If you're a dedicated public radio listener than the dulcet tones of long time journalist Corey Flintoff are familiar to you. Flintoff retired in October after 27 years with NPR. Listen Now

On this Veteran's day, the nation is transitioning to a new Commander in Chief who, for the first time in history has no elected office or military experience. But that doesn't bother long time Veteran's rights advocate Ric Davidge. Listen Now

A new book by former public radio GM for KOTZ and KSKA, Dr. Alex Hills, tells the story of the early days of telecommunications in rural Alaska. What it took to connect the villages and who was doing the work. The book is called Finding Alaska’s Village: And Connecting Them and author Alex Hills will be on hand to discuss it. Listen Now

Lisa Murkowski has been one of Alaska’s U.S. Senators since she was appointed to the position in 2002. She’s a veteran of both state and national politics and is running for retention for the third time. She will be the final candidate on Talk of Alaska for this election cycle. Listen Now

Ray Metcalfe is in the mix of candidates vying for incumbent Lisa Murkowski’s U.S. Senate seat. He’s spent years working to draw attention to political corruption within state government. He worked in the legislature as a Republican and now he’s running as a Democrat, but has told the state party, he doesn’t want their help. Listen Now

Six years ago Joe Miller won the primary for U.S. Senate as a Republican but lost the general election. He's running now as a Libertarian. Why is the Fairbanks attorney running for Senate under another party? What would he focus on if Alaskans vote to send him to Congress? We'll ask when Libertarian candidate Joe Miller is our guest on the next Talk of Alaska. Listen Now

A new book called Master of Alaska portrays a side of Aleksandr Baranov that other historical writings have not considered. Roger Seiler wrote a novel based on meticulous research of Baranov's letters and other material. Seiler grew up in King Salmon and was long fascinated by Barnov's story. Seiler said Baranov was a critical figure in Alaska's early history.

Steve Lindbeck is running against Don Young for Alaska’s lone U.S. House position. Lindbeck is a first time candidate. He's worked for non-profits for decades including as General Manager of Alaska Public Media. We’ll find out what he would work to achieve if Alaskans decide to send him to Washington. Listen Now

By a margin of six votes, residents of Barrow have voted to change the name of their city back to its Inupiaq name, Utqiagvik. City council member Qaiyaan Harcharek started the process this summer. Listen Now

Museums are usually a place for appreciating art that will be around for centuries. But earlier this month, the Anchorage Museum hosted a ceremony to burn ten beautiful Alaska Native masks. The artists who created the masks wanted to inspire community conversations about illness and healing. Listen Now

Stories and poetry that celebrate the urban wilderness interface in Alaska through the lens of LGBTQ writers is brought together in a new anthology called Building Fires in The Snow. Authors and editors Lucian Childs and Martha Amore helped bring it all together. Listen Now

It started as a feminist magazine and in the last 24 years, Alaska Women Speak has grown with the times and the topics that are important to women. Carmen Davis is one of the volunteers that has kept the publication thriving. She says at a recent retreat, supporters re-imagined its mission and changed the size but maintained its print persona. Listen Now

Margaret Stock is running as an Independent for U.S. Senate. The first time candidate says she will promote a strong national defense and support military veterans. She’s also pro-choice. She is the first in a series of candidates we’ll feature on TOA over the next few weeks. Listen Now

The difficult and painful topic of sexual assault and the trauma that follows will be the discussion tomorrow evening at the Anchorage museum. The conversation be held after a staged reading of a personal essay called White Horse, about a campus rape and the aftermath, written by Elise Goldbach and featured in the current issue of The Alaska Quarterly Review. Listen Now

Child abduction is a nightmare not many parents have had to deal with, but Anchorage author Lizbeth Meredith knows first hand how terrifying it is. In 1994, her former husband kidnapped their two young daughters and took them to Greece. It took two years to get them back. Listen Now

Ilarion Merculieff, is an Aleut educator and has traveled the world working with indigenous people. He's written a book called Wisdom Keeper, that's available now, chronicling the stories of his people of the Pribilof Islands and messages from Native elders in Alaska and other countries. It also highlights the science and technology that his sea going people were adept at. Listen Now

Learning from the past helps inform the future. Clive Thomas’s new book on policy, people and the institutions that helped create the political structure of Alaska is an exhaustive examination of topics such as the state’s constitution and how it differs from others, being an owner state, the politics of lobbying, the federal relationship, transportation, economic realities, state courts and a wide range of political issues. I do mean wide range. The book is more than 1200 pages and weighs 5 pounds! Listen Now