Programs

Elizabeth Medicine Crow of the First Alaskans Institute helps Alaska address racism by promoting dialogue. Click for larger view.

As a child, Liz Hensley grew up in a household where she wasn't made aware that she was different. It wasn't until she was 15 and had moved to Anchorage that she first felt the sting of racism and made to feel like an outsider. Click for larger view.

Jesse Lee Home, in the late 1940's and early '50's, was a Methodist church sponsored home for Alaskan Native orphan children. It was located several miles outside the town of Seward, Alaska. When I was perhaps eight, in 1949, my parents were active in the Methodist church and accepted positions as houseparents in the boys' dorm of the Home. Our family moved from Anchorage to Seward, and my two older brothers and I lived with the other boys at the Home. Read more.

Join Len Goodman, a judge on “Dancing With the Stars,” as he examines the 100-year legacy of the Titanic, exploring the human stories that unfolded in the years after the ship sank. He meets descendants of passengers and crew and hears how, for the families of many on board, the sinking was just the start of the story. He visits Belfast, the city where Titanic was built, and journeys to other towns left scarred by the tragedy. KAKM: Tuesday, 4/10 at 7:00pm

In April 2011, the worst tornado outbreak in decades left a trail of destruction across the U.S., killing more than 360 people. Why was there such an extreme outbreak? How do such outbreaks form? With modern warning systems, why did so many die? Is our weather getting more extreme — and if so, how bad will it get? In this NOVA special, get a look at the science behind the last year’s outbreak, meeting those affected and the scientists striving to understand the forces behind the outbreak. Could their work improve tornado prediction in the future? Learn how we all can protect ourselves and our communities in the future. KAKM: Wednesday, 4/11 at 8:00pm

From the courtroom to the living room (thanks to the hit television series “CSI”), forensic science is king. Expertise on fingerprints, ballistics and bite mark analysis are routinely called on to solve the most difficult criminal cases — and to put the guilty behind bars. KAKM: Tuesday, 4/17 at 9:00pm

A scientist named Melanie Smith recently drew up a map of a particular tract of public land in Alaska’s far north. Look closely and you’ll see villages: Nuiqsut, Wainwright, and Atqasuk. You may notice, too, that though this map covers an area the size of Maine, there are no roads that criss-cross it. The roads and pipelines of oil developments at Prudhoe Bay lie to the east, far beyond the flat horizon of the coastal plain. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is even farther east, more than 100 miles from here. Read more.

On March 27, 1964 a 9.2 magnitude earthquake struck Alaska. The tsunami that followed killed more than 100 people and devastated many communities. The village of Old Harbor, on Kodiak Island was almost completely destroyed. Only two homes and a church remained standing. Recently, radio producers Elizabeth Meister and Dan Collison visited Old Harbor and spoke with Mary Haakanson and the Reverend Gregory Parker- of Three Saints Russian Orthodox church- about the earthquake and tsunami.

First, I’ll wear light-colored clothing. Second, I’ll bathe more often in an attempt to be as odorless as possible. Third, I won't exhale while I'm in the woods. "Snow mosquitoes," the big, sluggish mosquitoes that are the first to irritate us, survive the winter by bundling up in leaf litter or wedging themselves under loose tree bark. Read more.

Henceforth Mother always referred to it as “Ash Thursday”. It began like most other summer days. At age 11, Jack and I claimed our independence by staying away from the house as long as was possible, or as long as we could get away with it, coming in only to forage for food or some other necessity... But, as the morning wore on, sunlight went from normal to practically non-existent. Read more.

In a world where everyone seems to find their own set of facts somewhere out there on "the Internet," how can communities find common grounds around which to organize discussion, debate, and decision-making? Weaver will explore this and other questions with participants next Wednesday. The Alaska Community Foundation invites you to join us for a discussion about journalism in the 21st century with former ADN editor Howard Weaver. Read more.

Last November, Facebook made headlines when it announced plans to build a $760 million internet server farm in Lulea, Sweden. The cold climate was a factor since all those machines need to be kept cool. But access to long-term, stably priced energy from hydropower was critical. Server farms use a huge amount of energy - as much worldwide as some small countries - and knowing that its cost for energy would stay stable for the long-term played a major role in the social media giant’s decision. In Alaska we are home to vast supplies of energy, yet we have communities that pay some of the highest energy prices in the country. In some rural villages, residents pay more than five times the national average for electricity. Read more.

On Tuesday, April 3, at the 5th Mudrooms event, 7 Juneau community members shared a personal story related to the evening's theme: Transitions. Here's a sample story about the transition from youth to middle age (and being born with a second stomach) as told by Kirk Hardcastle. Read more.

Director Chris Paine takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. KAKM: Thursday, 4/19 at 9:00pm

A rare example of Aleutian petroglyphs has been donated to the University of Alaska Museum of the North’s archaeology collection and will be used in a variety of research projects to better understand the cultural roles of rock art in Unangam culture. Learn more.