Crude Conversations

In this episode of Chatter Marks, Cody talks with four artists and musicians about their work on the Anchorage Museum’s new exhibition titled Listen Up: Northern Soundscapes. The exhibition explores and considers northern soundscapes to better understand humans’ relationship with, understanding of and impact on the natural world.  A soundscape is made up of all the sounds of a given environment. Artists and musicians were given a soundscape that they remixed using their distinctive styles. Their music styles range from acoustic and classical to hip-hop, ambient and electronica. Chatter Marks is a podcast of the Anchorage Museum, and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Podcasts. Just search "Chatter Marks."

In this conversation, Cody talks with King of the Hill competitors Julie Zell and Steve Klassen. King of the Hill was a legendary snowboard competition held in Thompson Pass back in the 1990s that hosted a number of different perspectives. There were the partiers, the general participants and the competitors. Julie and Steve were competitors. They were the ones who got up early and made conscious notes of their surroundings and snow conditions. If they partied, they did so sparingly, knowing full-well that the next day they could be deep in the Chugach Mountains, surrounded by variable conditions. For their skill and preparation, Julie and Steve both won King of the Hill multiple times. Steve won twice and Julie won three times. For both of them, Thompson Pass—during those nascent years of snowboarding—was an outlaw world of guideless backcountry runs, heavy partying and the criminality that King of the Hill attracted. It was far from the world Julie and Steve had come from. In many ways, it represented a more primitive order to life, where everyone was able to adhere to their baser instincts. Today, you can see the lasting impression King of the Hill made on more modern day snowboard competitions like the Verbier stop in the Freeride World Tour and Kings and Queens of Corbet's in Jackson Hole. Although the extracurriculars of those competitions are much more tame and less primitive.

Rejoy Armamento says that she’s always been interested in art, ever since she was a kid, but that it took her a while to reconnect with it in a serious way as an adult. As she got older, her attraction and affinity for it was stifled by feelings of ambivalence about whether being an artist was a realistic occupation. That was until she went to college in San Francisco, which she describes as a formative experience that re-introduced her to art. She says that she loves the sense of movement that comes with the energy of an active city. And it’s that energy that is present in her murals and in her art. Today, she’s able to look back on her childhood and realize that she’s always been the person that she knew she was—she’s always been an artist. Chatter Marks is a podcast of the Anchorage Museum, and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Podcasts. Just search "Chatter Marks."

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Alaskan author Don Rearden. Don attributes being an author to his experiences and upbringing in rural Alaska. When he was  a kid, he and his family moved to a number of small communities in Southwest Alaska. There, he dealt with the loss of friends to suicide, drug and alcohol abuse and going missing. As a youth and as an adult, he made sense of this real-life horror and tragedy by turning to creativity. He says that that has allowed him to explore and embrace the darkness—both figuratively and literally. In addition to his fiction work, Don has also co-authored two non-fiction books—Never Quit with Jimmy Settle and Warrior’s Creed with Roger Sparks. Both Jimmy and Roger are former pararescuemen—or PJs—with stories of perseverance, wisdom and heroism. Both books detail the path that led Jimmy and Roger to become PJs and the extraordinary experiences that made them who they are today. Don says that when people have experienced that kind of high-level, intense trauma, we have to listen and learn from it.

When Meda DeWitt was in her early 20s, she began her journey as a traditional healer—she was pursuing a degree in nursing when she says that Spirit had other plans for her. She was having health events that couldn’t be explained by western medicine, so she sought and found answers in holistic medicine. She says that people have a tendency to think of traditional healing as antiquated or obsolete. However, traditional healers of the past and the present are in constant pursuit of knowledge and understanding. And for over 10,000 years, they have focused on a culture of wellness that promotes mental, physical and emotional health.  Chatter Marks is a podcast of the Anchorage Museum, and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Podcasts. Just search "Chatter Marks."

Ash Adams' work tends to focus on people and stories about humanity, and elevating the voices and experiences that have historically been underrepresented. In her work, this includes actively dismantling stereotypes by highlighting Indigenous voices and advocating for gender equity. She says that one role of photojournalism is to show what inequity feels like so that others may understand. And that if we diversify the voices that are telling the narratives and are writing history, then we’re going to have a documented history that is more reflective of what actually happened. Chatter Marks is a podcast of the Anchorage Museum, and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Podcasts. Just search "Chatter Marks."

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with radio host and comedian Matt Collins. Matt got his start in radio at 17 years old at 87.7 The End in Anchorage. He was the overnight jockey and intern there, learning the ropes and getting used to being on-air. From there he went on to work as a producer and board op at 100.5 The Fox. But then after the Bob and Mark Show moved from The Fox to 106.5 KWHL in 2004, so did Matt. At KWHL, he continued to produce the show, as well as host his own afternoon show, Alice in the Afternoon. He says that he got the nickname Alice because Bob Lester—of the Bob and Mark Show—said he looked like Layne Staley of Alice in Chains if he was into donuts instead of smack. Throughout his life, Matt has been drawn to live performances. When he was a teenager, he performed in local plays. From 18 to 26, he played the drums in a number of bands. And then from 26 on he’s done stand-up comedy. When he was younger, Matt says that he was a basement dweller and that he was intimidated by the world. But as he got older and more involved in stand-up comedy, he became more comfortable with the world and his place in it.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Anchorage Assembly member and Anchorage mayoral candidate Forrest Dunbar. Forrest’s introduction to local politics came in 2002, right after he graduated high school, when he interned for Frank Murkowski—who, at the time, was a United States Senator from Alaska. Before becoming a member of the Alaska Assembly, he was the Vice President of the Scenic Foothills Community Council. In 2016, Forrest joined the Anchorage Assembly. Since then, he has served as a member, Vice Chair and Chair. More recently, he’s been gearing up to run for the mayor of Anchorage. If elected, he says that his focus will be on economic recovery and economic development. Forest points to his grandmother as his biggest inspiration. She survived the Holocaust and then went on to get a PHD in chemistry despite the gender barriers of the time. In her 50s, she went back to school to become a nurse, which is what she worked as for the next 20 years. Her life story—her determination, her intelligence and what she went through and ultimately became—continues to guide Forrest in all aspects of his life.

Jeroen Toirkens is a documentary photographer based out of The Hague in The Netherlands. He mainly works on long-term projects that can take years to complete. His most recent project, Borealis, took six years to complete. It’s a book that documents the Boreal Forest and the people who live in it. To accurately tell the story of the Boreal Forest—which is the largest land-based vegetation zone and makes up around 29 percent of the total forested area on earth—he and co-author Jelle Brandt Corstius immersed themselves in the culture and in the environment.  In pursuing a project, Jeroen feels that it’s his responsibility to tell a story in the most accurate way he can. This involves patience and experience and letting the story tell itself, rather than molding it to a narrative of your own. Chatter Marks is a podcast of the Anchorage Museum, and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Podcasts. Just search "Chatter Marks."

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Jerremy Santacrose, who’s also known by his rap alias, AKream, from back in the Arctic Flow days. Arctic Flow was an Alaskan rap group that started in 1999, and went on to influence and define what authentic Alaskan rap should sound like. The group consisted of Jerremy, Josh Boots, Soiled Seed, Nauseous and Alkota—four rappers and a beatmaker. Jerremy says that a defining characteristic of the group was that everyone and everything they did was so sincere. They were living in the moment, often caught up in illicit activity, and producing music that mirrored their lives. Arctic flow unofficially disbanded in 2010. Jerremy says there was no big falling out, the group had just become stagnant and everyone wanted to go their separate ways. He also acknowledges that some of his actions most likely caused the disintegration of the group. And while it may be unlikely that we’ll ever hear an Arctic Flow reunion, the albums they put out and the shows that they did will forever be etched into the history of the Alaskan rap scene. Jerremy doesn’t go by AKream anymore, his new rap alias is Kream Soda. Recently out of prison, he’s now on the path of clean living, self-discovery and self-awareness. He’s working on new music and he’s putting out a new episode of The Kream Soda Podcast every week. When Cody originally contacted him about being on the podcast and talking about potentially sensitive things like Arctic Flow, drug addiction and prison, he said he was an open book because otherwise, what’s the point?