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Spenard Jazz Fest: What Exactly IS Jazz?
What exactly IS jazz? We get some help from the experts when Spenard Jazz Fest founder Yngvil Vatn Guttu and keyboardist Dan McElrath join us in the studio. They'll demonstrate jazz conversation and share the roots of what some have called America's own classical music. We especially invite local musicians to join the discussion on if and how Alaska makes space for jazz.
KSKA: Wednesday, June 5 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
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Understanding Alaska’s Gas Line Options
Sometimes the news you hear and read gets so complicated and insider you want to tune out, but when it comes to the Alaska gasline, that would mean ignoring one of the most important issues that could determine the state's future for generations. On the next Hometown Alaska, we hold a clarifying discussion about gasline options and issues, a gasline 101 to get up to speed and form our own opinions.
KSKA: Wednesday, 5/29, at 2 pm and 7 pm
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What’s growing in your garden?
No, that’s not meant as a cruel joke. Spring has been cool and summer warmth is slow to arrive. Still, our long days will make for good growing – soon. And if you're behind, you have time to catch up. This week on Hometown Alaska, we’ve invited garden experts to the studio mic to tell us what’s new in garden plants, culture and attitudes. Bring your questions.
KSKA: Wednesday 5/22 at 2:00 pm and 7 pm
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Marine Highway Dropping Discounts To Save Money
Say so long to summer drivers riding the ferry for free. Wave goodbye to the winter roundtrip discount. And printed schedules? Those are on their way out too. They won’t happen for a while. But the changes are some of the ways the Alaska Marine Highway will address a $3.5-million spending cut mandated by the Legislature.
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How healthy is the water in Anchorage creeks, streams and lakes?
Ready to pull out the canoe? Take the dog for a game of swim-and-fetch? Dip your toes in a local lake? Let's find out how healthy the water in our backyard playgrounds—the creeks, streams and lakes around Anchorage—really is. Two savvy water scientists join host Kathleen McCoy to discuss what's helping and what's challenging the health of our local waterways. Creek Cleanup this year is May 18, so how are we doing?
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KSKA: Wednesday 5/15 at 2:00 pm and 7:00pm
Bragaw Extension / North Access to UMed District
The extension of Bragaw south into the university medical area has been a controversial idea for decades. Now the legislature has funded a project to connect the north side of UAA to Northern Lights Boulevard, and design is going ahead. We'll learn about the Bragaw extension, how it was approved, the routes under consideration, and the pros and cons of each, balancing the need to move traffic and the need to preserve the university campus.
KSKA: Wednesday 5/8 at 2:00 pm and 7:00pm
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Anchorage Music Co-op = Musicians + Audiences + Venues
What makes for the good life? Sure, we need jobs and an economy and a vision for the future. But we also need self expression, beauty, music and the solace of fellow travelers. The Anchorage Music Co-op is a grassroots nonprofit that exists to nurture local musicians by getting them in front of a listening audience. Meet cofounder Laura Oden and learn how the co-op navigated its fledgling status to settle into a viable support system for local musicians. And we'll also hear a few tunes from Laura and Kevin Worrell.
KSKA: Wednesday 5/1 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 pm
Leigh Newman
Leigh Newman author of the just published Still Points North: One Alaskan Childhood, One Grown-Up World, One Long Journey Home spent some of her early teenage years hanging out at a local bookstore. She said, "It was my refuge. I loved that place. I used to sit and read and dream that I'd grow up to be....no, not a writer...but a bookstore owner." But Leigh did grow up to be a writer. We shall explore how that happened and other fascinating adventures along the way including her Alaskan training, which taught her to pack light, survive scares aboard her father's Cessna and elude marauding bears in rising flood waters.
KSKA: Monday 4/29 at 1:00 pm
Still Points North
Writing well is not an easy task and writing about painful family breakups is even harder. On the next Hometown Alaska, Lori Townsend hosts guest Leigh Newman, author of the new book Still Points North: One Alaskan Childhood, One Grown up World and one long journey home. Leigh's riveting story tells of her struggles growing up between two homes; her father's in Anchorage and her mother's in Baltimore.
KSKA: Wednesday 4/24 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
The Small, Small Business of Market Vendors
Outdoor markets foster a grassroots economy in Anchorage of tiny businesses, often with one person creating work by hand and selling it directly to the public. But these tiny businesses can add up to big money, and some of them take off. We'll be talking about the markets, craft fairs, and other homegrown shopping forums with a market manager and an artist who uses the markets to sell her work.
KSKA Wednesday, 4/17, 2 pm and 7 pm
After the Grizzly: Surviving, and Thriving
The prologue alone is enough to make you bolt the door and bar the window, lest some wayward grizzly find you quivering there, come this June or July. But Dan Bigley's "Beyond the Bear" is much more than a sensational bear attack white-knuckler. It takes the long walk to a recovery made possible only because of Bigley's bone-deep resilience and uncrushable drive to recover. Find out who he is today, a decade after the attack, and how he got there. Lessons for us all.
KSKA: Wednesday 4/10 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Thinking Clearly About Economic Choices
Economics is a way of applying math and logic to the decisions we make. And when you do it, you find out a lot of the decisions we make don't make much sense, not only the little stuff, also the big choices we make as a state. On the next Hometown, Alaska our guest is UAA Professor Kyle Hampton, who has studied that mysterious gap between how we behave, and how we think we behave.
KSKA: Wednesday 4/3 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Cohousing: What Exactly IS It?
Cohousing. Maybe you've heard the term, but wonder what it really means. This housing trend began in Denmark in the 1960s as some Danes realized they felt lonely in their single family homes. These are communities of private homes with shared common areas that are planned, owned and managed by residents who may share chores like cooking, childcare or yard work. How do they work? If there are conflicts, how are they managed?
KSKA: Wednesday 3/27 at 2:00 PM and 7 PM
Grassroots Inspiration with TEDx Anchorage
Where will the next great idea come from? Founders of TED think it might be from you. Hence, they created a platform for local advocates to gather and share their inspiration. Anchorage's next TEDx is March 30. Find out who's speaking, and what they're talking about. Maybe you've got a TED-worthy idea?
KSKA: Wednesday 3/20 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Planning the Future of the Chugach National Forest
The Chugach National Forest, as the 2nd largest Forest in the nation, serves as the backyard to half of Alaska's population and receives 500,000 visitors every year. The Chugach is one of only eight forests currently revising their 15-year Forest Plan under a new Forest Service Planning Rule. Join host Kathleen McCoy and her guests from the Chugach National Forest when they discuss how the new rule aims to actively engage Alaska communities on the next Hometown, Alaska.
KSKA: Wednesday, 3/13 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Culturally Relevant Learning
Two plus two equals four no matter where you come from, but how you learn math or the other core subjects may be different for each of us depending on the world in which we live. For Alaska Native students, curriculum and methods developed for city kids may not work as well as lessons that are culturally relevant. On the next Hometown, Alaska Charles Wohlforth hosts educators working to make learning work across cultures discuss these challenges on today's show.
KSKA Wednesday 3/6 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Urban Wildlife
Urban wildlife are a part of living in Anchorage. Having a moose at your front door makes a good facebook post for your relatives outside, but it's not fun if you're trying to get somewhere. Moose can be dangerous. We'll talk about the pleasures and hazards of living with moose and bear in Anchorage, and explore ideas for how we can co-exist better. Whose habitat is this, anyway?
KSKA Wednesday 2/27 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Photos mentioned by caller: Moose Calf Birth in yard
Honoring Black Soldiers Who Helped Build the ALCAN Highway
Last fall, a memorial was installed at Cuddy Family Park in remembrance of the African American Army Engineers who built the Alaska-Canada Highway, or ALCAN, during World War II. Of the 10,000 soldiers assigned to the project, four were regiments of African American Engineers from the 93rd, 95th and 97th Engineer General Service Regiments, and the 388th Engineer Battalion. Join host Shelly Wade and her guests Jean Pollard and Bishop Dave Thomas of The Alaska Highway Project when we celebrate Black History Month and this interesting chapter of Alaska history on the next Hometown, Alaska.
KSKA: Wednesday 2/20 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Raven Stories
They perch on light poles and chastise you for parking too close. They harass your dog and tear in to your trash bags. They hunt with wolves. They save snacks for later. They make up to 30 distinct calls. They are our winter-in-Anchorage urban companions. Join host Kathleen McCoy and experts and fans of local ravens to share stories about their antics, their intelligence and their big personalities on the next Hometown, Alaska.
KSKA Wednesday 2/13 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Anchorage Reads: The Snow Child
Anchorage Reads is a program that gets the whole town reading and talking about the same book. This time around, the book is by an Alaskan author-- one who has received international honors and best-seller status. Eowyn Ivey, author of "The Snow Child," will be with us on Hometown Alaska to take your questions about the book and share in a community discussion with readers.