Crude Conversations

Professional snowboarder Mark Landvik discusses his struggles with mental health, including a manic episode and depression. He shares insights on reconnecting with joy, challenges during filming, navigating mental health struggles, and rekindling passions. The episodes also touch on the importance of community, personal growth, and fostering meaningful connections.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with spatial ecologist Ben Sullender. Spatial ecology is the study and understanding of a landscape using maps. Meaning, scientists like Ben use topography to look at how small differences in landscape affect every part of life. From the migratory patterns of birds, to the melting of the Arctic Ocean sea ice and how it significantly changes our ability to live on land. They also talk about coastal environments, the affects of ship traffic in the Bering Strait, the ability for fish and animals to seasonably access the habitats they need, and how climate change affects all of it. 

In this episode of "lost anchorage," we look at domestic violence in Anchorage, Alaska from the perspective of Heidi Hill, the Grants and Program Director at Abused Women's Aid In Crisis (AWAIC). AWAIC services about 1,600 people across all of its programs, including shelters, legal advocacy, case management, transition housing, and substance abuse management. Heidi has worked at AWAIC, the only emergency domestic violence shelter in Anchorage, for almost 15 years, helping to build a culture of non-violence in Anchorage. More information can be found at awaic.org, and their 24-hour crisis support hotline can be reached at (907) 272-0100.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Evan Philips, the creator and host of The Firn Line, a podcast about the lives of mountain climbers. Evan's path to becoming the storyteller he is today began when he was a teenager learning the basics of a sport that would, in time, define him. He was an avid mountain climber as a teenager and well into adulthood until a recurring injury led to multiple surgeries, which inevitably meant climbing less and less. They talk about how mountain climbing is inherently dangerous and reconciling that with the desire to pursue it, making meaningful and healthy changes in your life, and what it's like to interview people you look up to.   They also talk about Evan's upcoming true crime podcast, Alaska Unsolved, which focuses on the disappearance of Erin Marie Gilbert, who vanished from a festival in Girdwood, Alaska on July 1, 1995.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with longtime Alaska beer columnist Jim Roberts, better known as Dr. Fermento. Jim's been writing about and involved in the Alaska craft beer scene for over two decades. Back then, there were only about eight breweries in Alaska, today there are over forty. In an article he wrote for Crude last year, he called Alaska "the Beer Frontier."  They talk about how Jim is "a beer drinker with a writing problem," some suggestions for the curious and the uninitiated beer drinker, how there's a niche for every beer drinker in the world in Alaska, and the time Dr. Fermento was invited to the Playboy Mansion.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Jason Borgstede, owner of the Anchorage-based snowboard and skateboard shop Blue & Gold Boardshop. They talk about how he went from being a professional snowboarder to a professional poker player to a waiter and now the owner of a local snow and skate shop. Jason's history with the Alaska snow and skate scene goes back twenty some odd years and includes some pretty wild stories. They get into that (story time) as well as what it means to be a local retail business pushing a culture. 

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Andy Elsberg, an emergency room doctor at Providence Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. They talk about how he went from being a ski bum to an ER doc, the idea of wilderness medicine, the pervasiveness of alcohol and opiate addiction in Anchorage, what a gunshot actually does to a human body, and the short but aggressive spice epidemic that hit Anchorage a few years back. They also discuss how the urban/wilderness split doesn't exist in Alaska, meaning things like bear maulings and ATV accidents exist alongside things like inner-city gun violence and drug overdoses. 

Introducing Crude's new podcast, lost anchorage, where Crude investigates the mechanisms of crime and violence in Anchorage, Alaska. Through research and interviews with professionals, law enforcement and those affected by crime, we hope to build a better understanding of whether or not Anchorage is, in fact, becoming more dangerous.   In this episode of lost anchorage, we look at how childhood trauma shapes future behavior from the perspective of a social worker. Laura Norton-Cruz works as the director of an Alaska Children's Trust initiative called Alaska Resilience Initiative, which focuses on reducing childhood abuse, neglect and trauma by building resilience in healthy communities around Alaska. Her experience includes work involving domestic and sexual violence, reproductive coercion and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Introducing Crude's new podcast, lost anchorage, where Crude investigates the mechanisms of crime and violence in Anchorage, Alaska. Through research and interviews with professionals, law enforcement and those affected by crime, we hope to build a better understanding of whether or not Anchorage is, in fact, becoming more dangerous.  In this episode of lost anchorage, we look at crime in Anchorage from the perspective of a criminologist. Allan Barnes is a professor of justice at the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center. He's been teaching for over 35 years. His students have gone on to become police officers, lawyers and judges. As a criminologist, Allan focuses on why people commit crime. 

Introducing Crude's new podcast, lost anchorage, where Crude investigates the mechanisms of crime and violence in Anchorage, Alaska. Through research and interviews with professionals, law enforcement and those affected by crime, we hope to build a better understanding of whether or not Anchorage is, in fact, becoming more dangerous.  In this episode, we look at crime from the perspective of a retired police officer. Aaron Roberts was an officer for the Anchorage Police Department for over 20 years. He patrolled downtown Anchorage, was a detective in robbery, assault, and metro with a focus in narcotics. At the time of his retirement, he was the team lead negotiator and worked closely with SWAT.