Crude Conversations

In this episode, we have a conversation with Jana Weltzin, an Alaskan attorney with a focus on recreational marijuana business law and regulation compliance. We talk about moving back to Alaska and her newfound, intimate relationship with the community, the importance of independently owned businesses, and the Alaska weed industry—licensing, permits and regulations. Crude weed columnist Whitney Branshaw sat in on the conversation.

In this episode, we have a conversation with long time Alaska journalist Craig Medred. We talk about the purchase of the Alaska Dispatch and the Anchorage Daily News by Alice Rogoff, Baby Boomers versus Millennials, news in a post-truth era, and the time he was attacked by a bear. 

In this episode, we have a conversation with Lyn and Lacey Hoffman of @the_hoffman_life, an Instagram account dedicated to hunting, snowmachining and the Alaska outdoors. We talk about being influencers on social media, death threats, moving to Alaska and living in the middle of nowhere, hunting—how it's a lifestyle, but there are inherit politics and controversy that come with it—and what it means to pose with your kill. 

In this episode, we have a conversation with Dr. Alex James, an economics professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, with a research focus on resource economies. We talk about Alaska's economy—economic growth and our dependence on oil—whether or not we suffer from a "resource curse," and everybody's new favorite Alaskan, Chad Brad.

In this episode, we have a conversation with freelance reporter Michael Downey. We talk about reporting on war and revolutions in the middle east for New York Times, BBC, PBS NewsHour and Rolling Stone, what it means to be a millennial—how all generations look down on previous generations—and how artificial intelligence will soon take all our jobs. 

In this episode, we have a conversation with Aaron Leggett, the Curator of Alaska History and Culture at the Anchorage Museum. We talk about the identity of Alaskans—the history of the land and its people as a way to lend perspective to the present and the future—and the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, the history of it and why we have such a sense of entitlement about it.

Before Dustin was a host!    In this episode, Cody and Tubby have a conversation with Dustin H James of Tailgate Alaska, a freeride festival in the heart of Thompson Pass. They talk about how Dustin is currently "living in an 80s ski movie," what it really means to be successful and his life after recently taking the reins of Tailgate. This episode was recorded with a USB mic.

In this episode, we have a conversation with longtime alt-weekly journalist and documentarian David Holthouse. Holthouse has worked for the Anchorage Daily News, the Anchorage Press, and the Village Voice in Phoenix. This episode was recorded in a studio.