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 A broken engine, a borrowed wheel, and a room packed with glossed-over facts—sometimes the biggest turns come from the smallest moments. We sit down with Gershon Cohen, longtime Haines resident, potter, scientist, and environmental advocate, to trace a path from North Philadelphia to the Bering Sea and into the hearings that reshaped Alaska’s cruise ship standards.

Gershon shares how a NOAA observer stint in Dutch Harbor opened his eyes to Alaska’s scale, how pottery became both livelihood and meditation, and why a single community meeting changed his career. He walks us through the “magic pipes” era of cruise ship dumping, the fairy-tale logbooks exposed in federal court, and the hard policy work of closing loopholes, winning a ballot measure, and proving that clean water and strong tourism can live together.

We also dig into Haines’ economic puzzle: why big ships favor Skagway, how small ships can outspend per person, and where a one-ship-a-day model fits. Then we switch from critique to construction—tiny homes built with local wood, year-round jobs in milling and trades, tidal power to cut diesel and power winter greenhouses, and entrepreneurship that already ships worldwide from small shops. The throughline is practical: diversify income, reduce reliance on extraction, and design growth we can actually sustain.

Underneath it all is a challenge to how we talk as a town. Three-minute comments were built to quiet people, not solve problems. We make the case for real town halls with shared facts and civil debate across differences—because the pace of change from AI to climate won’t slow down for us. What we can control is Haynes. If we want good schools, steady work, and a place our kids choose to stay, we’ll need to build it together.

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