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Today's guest is the executive director of Project Alaska, Tetyana Robbins. Project Alaska is an organization that helps Ukrainian refugees find meaningful employment in Alaska. From helping improve their English language skills, to navigating the American immigration system, to helping with certifications and even transportation, Project Alaska does everything it can to make sure Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country can quickly achieve self-sufficiency here in Alaska. Tetyana immigrated to Anchorage herself from Kharkiv, Ukraine, over 20 years ago when she married her husband Mike Robbins. With her Masters degree in accounting and auditing, she was a natural fit for her husband’s business ventures where she tracked the finances and kept the books. When war broke out in her home country in 2022, she and her husband founded the Ukraine Relief Program which helped Ukrainians escape to Alaska, contributing to one of the biggest waves of foreign resettlement our state has ever seen. Now, as the legal status of those recent refugees is called into question, she is advocating the federal government to find a path to citizenship for the over 2,000 Ukrainians who are vital to our state's workforce.

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Several friends and neighbors have moved out of the United States over the past year, and many more Alaskans are talking about it. Today's guest is an opera historian who has been living in Berlin, Germany, for the past 13 years. Daniel Gundlach is a former professional classical singer and accompanist who today hosts a podcast called Countermelody. The Countermelody Podcast is focused primarily on opera singers of the past century that may not have received the attention they deserved. Daniel is a countertenor which is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice type. Today we talk about his life and career, but we will also discuss the trials and tribulations of being an American emigrant in Germany. 

Musical Excerpts:

Leontyne Price, "O patria mia," from Verdi's Aida

Joan Sutherland, "Eccola," from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor

Anna Moffo, "Sempre Libera," from Verdi's La Traviata

Gilda Cruz-Romo, "O mio babbino caro," from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi

Daniel Gundlach, "O Lord, whose mercies numberless," from Handel's Saul

Daniel Gundlach, "O fatal day," from Handel's Saul

Daniel Gundlach, "On a dit sur Venise tant et tant de choses," from Gualtiero Dazzi's Le Luthier de Venise

Daniel Gundlach, "Danny Boy," Irish Folk Song

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Margaret D. Stock is an immigration attorney, and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve. She is a recognized expert on immigration law as it applies to U.S. military personnel and veterans. In 2013, she was a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as a "genius grant." She has taught law at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.

She ran for the United States Senate as an Independent candidate in the 2016 Senate election in Alaska losing to the incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Today we discuss her life, but also her concerns about the politicization of the US military, the change in the way our country treats its immigrants, and the illegal extra-judicial killings of Venezuelans by the US military in the Caribbean Sea.

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Tashina Maasac Duttle is the chief operating officer and co-owner of DeerStone Consulting. DeerStone is a company focused on improving the infrastructure of Alaska's rural and Tribal communities by managing projects that upgrade energy systems, improve water and sanitation facilities, and expand broadband access. Tashina earned her bachelors degree in Sustainable Resources Management from UAF and her masters in project management from UAA. During covid, she started her own company which eventually merged with two of her friends’ companies to become DeerStone. In May of this year, she moved her family, including her husband and three kids, to northern Spain. 

This episode is part of a series on why some people are leaving America permanently, and how they did it. 

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Rachael Miller is the chief advocacy officer of the Food Bank of Alaska. The Food Bank of Alaska was founded in 1979 by a group of Anchorage churches and community volunteers; it operates under the belief that no one should go hungry. They partner with over 150 organizations and provide food to nearly 20,000 Alaskans a week. From Oct. 20-26 is Anchorage Restaurant week. Learn more here.

Rachael grew up in Ohio, and food & food policy have always been front and center in her life. She first visited Alaska 16 years ago to commercial fish. She has worked on food policy in Benin, West Africa, taught at Alaska Pacific University for 9 years, and has been the Chief Advocacy Officer at the Food Bank since January 2024. 

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The Executive Director of Running Free Alaska is Lisa Keller. Running Free Alaska is a structured running program for incarcerated women at Highland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River. Today we discuss how that program came about, what it entails, and the types of support that the organization is trying to provide to women after their release from prison. I got to know Lisa when she took a job as legislative staff, first to Representative Andy Josephson two years ago, and then Representative Alyse Galvin last year. We discuss Lisa’s childhood in Anchorage, the value sports have played in her life, her battle with breast cancer, and her time as host of the Alaska Public Media Radio Show Outdoor Explorer.

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The Chief of the Anchorage Police Department is Sean Case. As a 7th grader at Hanshew Middle School in Anchorage, he decided he wanted to be a police officer. He got his bachelor’s degree in Justice at UAA. At age 20, Alaska wouldn’t hire him because he was too young, so he got his first job in law enforcement with the Los Angeles Police Department. After just a couple years there, he came back to Anchorage and has been with APD ever since. Sean Case was appointed Chief of Police in 2024 by Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.

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This is wildlife biologist Aaron Poe's second appearance on this podcast. His first appearance was 18 months and was part of a series on Transgender youth in Alaska. Aaron is the father of a trans daughter and when Donald Trump was elected to his second term, Aaron after 27 years in Anchorage decided with his family that they needed to moveto Ireland so that his trans daughter could finish high school safely. This episode is the first in a series about folks who have left the United States permanently. We will be talking about their reasons for leaving as well as the practical matters of how one can move themselves or their families to another country. 

To contact the Irish Diaspora Center, click here.

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Doug Schrage is the Chief of the Anchorage Fire Department. After a childhood in Anchorage, Doug went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks where he thought he'd begin his studies to become a dentist. After a friend persuaded him to become a student firefighter, though, he quickly realized that being a firefighter was his calling. 2025 marks 40 years since his first with the Anchorage Fire Department. He was initially appointed Chief in 2021 by Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. He was reappointed last year by Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.

Learn more about becoming an Anchorage Firefighter by clicking here.

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Rep. Julie Coulombe represents Anchorage's hillside in the Alaska State House. First elected in 2022, this interview was recorded on March 16, 2023, at the Capitol in Juneau, shortly into her first session as a legislator. She discusses her childhood in Illinois & Georgia, meeting her husband, moving to Alaska, and raising their four kids. She also discusses her business background, her involvement with the political group Save Anchorage, and her collaborative approach to legislating. 

The "revisited" series features interviews previously recorded for the East Anchorage Matters podcast.