The University of Alaska Fairbanks is accustomed to attracting non-traditional students – folks who return to higher education after trying their hand at mining or construction or trapping. As it happens, a celebrated Danish scientist also took a non-direct educational path. Not long ago, the UAF’s Alaska Quaternary Center invited evolutionary geneticist Eske Willerslev to … Continue reading DNA and Deep Time

I recognize local residents might want to cut right to the Radio Recall segment. Enjoy.

Climate change is a growing concern, sparking different responses. Noted portraitist and multimedia artist Brenda Zlamany is documenting its impact by capturing the likenesses and stories of residents in key communities. This summer she visited Utqiagvik and was the artist in residence at Denali National Park. She reveals the sometimes emotional bonds linking the artist … Continue reading Creative Responses

This week, Fairbanks’ human dynamo of community theatre Peggy MacDonald Ferguson is on the show. I’ve been trying to sit down with Peggy for several years. Peggy, besides serving as executive director of Fairbanks Drama Association, is also on the Alaska State Council on the Arts and so her schedule is one darned thing after … Continue reading On With the Shows

Sometimes on Northern Soundings, I can’t air an entire discussion with a guest. This was the case last episode when the artist Karen Stomberg shared about the inspiration for her exhibit at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. I found Karen’s remarks about the power of engaging in creative activity so inspiring I … Continue reading Quieting the Mind

One of the major fall social events in Fairbanks is HIPOW, the fundraising dinner and auction for the Catholic Schools of Fairbanks. This year marks the effort’s 50th anniversary. My guest this week is Nancy Cook Hanson, who recently stepped down as director of the school and Monroe Foundation. I took the opportunity of her … Continue reading The Meaning of Life… Almost

Last week millions of young people and supporters around the globe gathered to protest inaction by world leaders on climate change. This week some of those leaders are gathered at the U.N. to discuss the matter, but the United States is absent from any leadership role. Despite that my first guest says a majority of … Continue reading Science and Faithful Stewardship

I believe the physical book can sometimes be a work of art. Think of illuminated manuscripts or the works of local artist Margo Klass. As with any art object, age and usage can take their toll. How to preserve a well-loved volume can be a challenge. Enter Juliayn Coleman. As you’ll hear, the San Francisco … Continue reading Restoring Word and Volume

Poet Linda Schandelmeier has deep roots in Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, but her links to Alaska extend farther back still. She was born and raised on a 160-acre homestead outside of Anchorage, and her memories and impressions of the homestead and coming to university are captured in a recent book of verse … Continue reading Out of Nowhere

I had to name this show after Ron Smith’s provocative book title. Ron has authored three books since he retired as zoology professor emeritus from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. One is a no-fooling-around natural history of Interior and Northern Alaska; another is a thinly veiled autobiographical novel about coming of age in the SW, … Continue reading How Not to Die Hunting in Alaska