Crude Conversations

Special Conversation: Teacher Abby O'Neill on COVID-19

In this special conversation, Cody talks with teacher Abby O'Neill about the Anchorage School District shutdown as a result of COVID-19. Abby is a kindergarten teacher in Eagle River, Alaska. 

Special Conversation: Dr. Andy Elsberg on COVID-19

In this special conversation, Cody talks with Dr. Andy Elsberg about COVID-19. Andy is an emergency room doctor at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska. 
Andy would like to thank the Alaska Emergency Medicine Associates management team. Dan, Sami, and Ben, and all the folks in the back hall of the ED, Jaime, Brenda, Liana, Karen, Matt and everyone else who has put countless hours into making their team and facility as ready as it can be. Also, a shout out to the parallel teams at the other Alaska hospitals as well.

065 with Malcolm Harris

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with journalist and author Malcolm Harris. Malcolm writes essays and books that are analytical of the establishment and the status quo. His first book, “Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials,” deconstructs many myths associated with being a millennial. Including the idea that millennials are lazy and entitled. His second book, “Shit Is Fucked Up and Bullshit,” is a collection of essays that are critical of modern day North American society. In it, he examines, explains, and even demystifies cultural and political movements and events. Speaking about the millennial experience in this conversation, he says that we’re in a crisis moment and that is going to characterize more and more of our experience in this world.
Malcolm was born in 1988, so he’s part of the generation that he writes about. His work is probably best described as academic and contemplative. Malcolm is what Cody's friend Aurora Ford would call a patient thinker. He works from research, historical precedent and statistics to understand how the world is changing.
Although Malcolm isn’t from Alaska, his reporting and his perspective on millennials is universally important.

EP 064 with Peter Wallack

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with professional stuntman Peter Wallack. Peter jokes that he just kinda fell into being a stuntman. After pursuing a number of different majors in college, he eventually decided to focus on technical theatre at the University of Alaska Anchorage. There, a mentor suggested that he become a stuntman. Not giving it too much thought, Peter went on with his life. It wasn’t until he was almost hit by a truck while biking to work did he really start to consider it. He realized that despite falling face-first into a curb, he innately knew how to fall in a way that protected his body. Today, working as a professional stuntman, Peter believes that you have to fully commit to an action. He says that you can’t do half a flip, you can only do a whole flip, or no flip at all.
Peter grew up in a family of explorers who pushed the limits of what it means to adventure. His mom Tandy founded Circumpolar Expeditions, a business that curates and leads personalized adventures in the Arctic. Peter’s first tour was at 8 years old. He walked a group of Russian dancers all over downtown Anchorage and set them up with a Russian translator. A more recent adventure that Peter points to happened in 2016 and involved reuniting a family that had been separated since the Cold War.
Thank you to Carrie Hambach and Whitney Branshaw for help with questions.

EP 063 with Carrie Hambach

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with his wife, Carrie Hambach. This episode was Carrie’s idea. She’s an avid listener of the podcast, and she’s been telling Cody that he needs to put himself out there more, that he needs to reciprocate more with guests. For the record, Cody says the reason he doesn't usually put himself out there in these conversations, is because they aren’t about him, they’re about the guests and their stories and their experiences. At any rate, he was all for having a conversation with Carrie.
Carrie has been there since the beginning of Crude, and is just as much responsible for any of its success as Cody is. She has always been on the Crude masthead as Managing Editor, because, as they joke, she manages him, the editor. But realistically, she does so much more. She has always proofread and given feedback on his articles, she helps with business decisions, and she’s always there to suggest questions, and give praise and constructive criticism about the podcast. Everything she does adds more perspective and ultimately makes the content better. 
On October 25th, 2013, she packed Cody a lunch and wrote him a letter on the day he was quitting his job at the time, so that he could work on Crude full-time. In that letter, she said, “Happy Friday, Codeman. I know it’s a bit scary for both of us to be so financially unstable at the moment, but I know deep down this was the right thing for you to do. No matter what, we will get by, and we won’t have to look back and wonder, what if? I love you and trust in our futures. Love, Carrie. P.S. We’re out of zip lock bags.”

EP 062 with Callan Chythlook-Sifsof

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Olympian and climate activist Callan Chythlook-Sifsof. Callan’s life has been a mixture of snowboarding, social justice, and climate activism. She was raised in Aleknagik, Alaska, a village of about 300, just outside Dillingham. Aleknagik, like Dillingham, is a community that relies on fishing, and is located near Pebble Mine. So, Callan has been around the Pebble Mine controversy since it began, which led to her early involvement in activism. Alongside that activism, she’s worked as a professional snowboarder, competing in the Olympics, as well as medaling in many endemic competitions. In 2011, she started working with Protect Our Winters, also know as POW, as a climate ambassador. Since then, she has presented on climate awareness, and spoken to congress about climate awareness. In 2014, she unofficially retired from professional snowboarding after three back-to-back knee surgeries leading up to the Sochi Olympics, and then injured her knee during the qualifying Olympic season. She is currently the Head Coach for the Park City Boardercross Team.
Looking at Callan’s life, she’s always fought against injustice. She’s always been on the side of the under-represented and the disadvantaged. She knows that to achieve success, you need to be mindful of all the small decisions along the way. She understands that change can be slow and meandering, which is why patience is important. She says that “as humans we can get very narrow and very linear, and the reality is you can’t do anything if you have a linear perspective because it’s just not the truth of our world.”

EP 061 with John Stallone

In this episode, Cody and guest host Mike Dempsey have a conversation with John Stallone. John comes from a military family—his grandfather served in World War II, and his dad and his uncle served in Vietnam—so enlisting in the military was a no-brainer for him. He joined the US Air Force at 18. From 1998 to 2002, he served as a security forces member and was deployed four times in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. In 2002, at the age of 22, he joined the Alaska Air National Guard. After he left the Guard in 2009, he took a number of jobs where he was in a position to promote and encourage safety, namely as a safety officer for OSHA, and a bouncer in downtown Anchorage. The common thread that links these jobs is John's sense of duty. He says that one of the core values of the Air Force is, "service before self," which is something he continues to live by.
For a good portion of this conversation, John talks about his struggle with depression and PTSD. He talks about the psychological aftermath of spending 8 months in active war zones. How it was a continuous evolution of “hurry up and get ready” or “hurry up and get used to this.” But by the time you acclimated to that environment, it was time to go home. And then once you were home, you were forced to deal with everything you had been through—among civilians who have no frame of reference for war. In 2011, everything kind of came to a head and John had a mental breakdown. He called the Veterans Crisis Line and they helped him work through it and also directed him toward local mental health resources.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and Veterans Crisis Line is 1-800-273-8255.

"lost anchorage" EP 07 with Joe Rambur

In this episode of "lost anchorage," we look at addiction through the perspective of a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. Joe Rambur took his first drink of alcohol at 13. Although his first experience getting high on opiates was at 14, it wasn't until adulthood that he became addicted. He smoked heroin for 12 years. He's been sober for the last 9 months, and for that he credits a program and turning his will over to his higher power.
He says that if telling his story can help somebody else get sober and stay alive, then it's worth telling.

EP 060 with Laura Cole

In this one, Cody has a conversation with chef Laura Cole. Laura grew up with a strong sense of duty to community, and a refined palate. Both were instilled in her by her parents, and continue to influence her taste and her actions to this day. In 2019, Laura was a contestant on Top Chef, an experience that she says gave her some of her closest friends. Today, she splits her seasons between her restaurant near Denali National Park, called 229 Parks Restaurant and Tavern, and Muse, the restaurant at the Anchorage Museum. She says that in all her professional endeavors, she has a mantra, which is “To nourish and nurture all those who come to our table.”
 
When Laura talks about food, she talks about it in relation to memories. How a certain food or meal can leave an indelible impression; how a good meal, with good company, and good conversation can be remembered forever. Laura calls these “food memories,” and she’s constantly trying to create them.

EP 059 with Micah Hollinger

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with professional skateboarder turned videographer Micah Hollinger. Micah grew up skateboarding with a tight-knit crew in Anchorage, Alaska. At the same time, he was learning his way around a camera—filming everything he could. From skateboarding to parties to neighborhood fights, nothing was off limits. Micah’s 40 now, he’s a videographer, and as far as skateboarding goes, he says that “if you wanna keep skating as you get older, you have to adapt.”
 
If you were skating or snowboarding in Alaska in the 90s and early 2000s, then you’re probably familiar with Micah. He’s the skater that everyone in Alaska looked up to, he’s the guy who hit rails on his skateboard that snowboarders thought were too big, he’s one of the guys who showed us that the Alaska snow and skate scene was relevant, and could hold its own.
Lately, Micah’s been working with Jesse Burtner—the creator of Think Thank films—on a documentary about the old Boarderline Alaska Snow and Skate days. From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, Boarderline was a major figure in the Alaska snow and skate scene. Through interviews and archival footage, Micah and Jesse are working to capture that era.