
East Anchorage Book Club with Andrew Gray
The East Anchorage Book Club is an interview podcast where Alaskan leaders discuss politics and community issues.
Episodes
193 episodes
Nat Herz: Journalist & Founder of Northern Journal
Nathaniel Herz is a freelance reporter who’s spent over a decade working in Alaska, including stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. A few years ago he started his own newsletter "
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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1:07:12

UPCOMING SPECIAL SESSION EXPLAINED by AK Senate Rules Chair Bill Wielechowski
Sen. Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) is chair of the rules committee in the Alaska State Senate. He discusses the upcoming legislative special session called by Governor Mike Dunleavy to begin at 10 am, on Saturday, August 2. Sen ...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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32:17

Gabe Rottman: VP of Policy at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Gabe Rottman is the Vice President of Policy for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. A practicing attorney with a focus on the novel issues at the intersection of press freedom, new...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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43:49

Pat Dougherty: former editor of the Anchorage Daily News
Former editor of the Anchorage Daily News Pat Dougherty worked at that paper for 34 years. Born in 1950 as the eldest son of an Air Force pilot father, Pat never found a long term home till he landed in Anchorage in 1975 to take...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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58:12

Genevieve Mina Revisited
This interview was originally published in March of 2023.Anchorage born Representative Genevieve Mina talks about growing up as part of a unique family business and how those experiences helped her when challenged with her own childhood ...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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24:13

Will Stapp Revisited
This episode originally aired in March of 2023.Will Stapp tells of his childhood being raised by his grandparents, going to war in Iraq and moving to Alaska to raise a family and ultimately become a member of the Alaska House of Represen...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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35:46

Tom Hewitt: former Opinions Editor at the Anchorage Daily News & special assistant to Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins
Journalist Tom Hewitt is the former opinions editor of the Anchorage Daily News from 2018 to 2024. He previously was editorial page editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and news director of KTVF and KXDF in Fairbank...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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1:18:17

Mara Kimmel: Director of the ACLU of Alaska discusses ICE detainees held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex
Dr. Mara Kimmel is the Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska and former first lady of Anchorage. Prior to taking the helm of the ACLU of Alaska, She had a long career in Alaska public policy focus...
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Season 4
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Episode 60
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1:00:28

PRIDE 2025: Rose O'Hara-Jolley, AK state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates
Rose O’Hara-Jolley is the Alaska State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. Planned Parenthood is a network of 600 health clinics across the country -- Alaska has two (one in Fairbanks and one in Anchorage) -- that p...
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Season 4
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Episode 59
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56:37

PRIDE 2025: JJ Harrier, Chair of the Anchorage Pride Parade
JJ Harrier is the 2025 chair of the Anchorage Pride Parade. After a childhood in Girdwood, he traveled around the lower 48 and Europe trying to find himself ultimately ending up homeless on the streets of Portland in his early...
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Season 4
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Episode 58
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40:41

Rep. Zack Fields (D-Anchorage) discusses the US Congressional Budget Reconciliation Act of 2025
Alaska State House Representative for Downtown Anchorage Zack Fields explains the budget reconciliation bill recently passed in the US House by a single vote. That bill is now in the US Senate, where if it is not substantially amended, i...
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Season 4
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Episode 57
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28:04

Tessa Hulls: 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner for her graphic memoir, "Feeding Ghosts," & Alaska Legislative Lounge Staff
Tessa Hulls is the 2025 Pulitzer prize winner for her graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts. Tessa is only the second graphic novelist to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize, the first being Art Speigleman for Maus in 1992. Tessa...
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Season 4
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Episode 56
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52:42

Rep. Ky Holland (I-South Anchorage/Girdwood/Whittier): on entrepreneurship & elections
Alaska State House Representative for South Anchorage, Girdwood & Whittier Ky Holland was born and raised in Anchorage. He is the eldest son of Federal Judge Russ Holland who was the judge in the case against Exxon after the E...
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Season 4
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Episode 55
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1:06:18

Rep. Carolyn Hall (D-Anchorage): Emmy award winning television journalist & communications director for Gov. Bill Walker & Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz
Alaska State House Representative for West Anchorage Carolyn Hall got an internship with the Boston Red Sox during her senior year of college in New Hampshire. This led to her dream job working for the team as a videographer during their...
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Season 4
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Episode 54
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54:48

Josh Revak: Former Alaska State Senator & Iraq war veteran
Former Alaska State Senator and Iraq war veteran Josh Revak was born and raised in Minnesota. While serving in the Army in the early 2000s, a mortar blast in Iraq blew a quarter-sized hole through the back of his foot. He then got his fi...
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Season 4
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Episode 53
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1:36:13

Foster Care in Alaska 2025: Deko Harbi, Shannon Smith, & Tali Stone
Deko Harbi, Shannon Smith, and Tali Stone are former Alaska foster youth. All three recently visited the Capitol in Juneau as part of a trip organized by Facing Foster Care in Alaska....
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Season 4
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Episode 52
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57:46

Rep. Kevin McCabe (R-Big Lake): Alaska State House Representative
Alaska State House Representative Kevin McCabe of Big Lake landed in Kodiak with the Coast Guard in 1981. He raised his three sons there before he began work as a pilot. That work took him to East Anchorage and eventually to Big Lake. He...
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Season 4
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Episode 51
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40:03

Mindy O'Neall: Chair of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly & the Director of Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Mindy O’Neall is the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Chair and the Executive Director of the Cold Climate Housing Research Center. CCHRC is a non-profit organization located near the Univerity of Alaska Fairbanks that for the past ...
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Season 4
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Episode 50
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47:35

Rep. Andrew Gray (D-Anchorage) interviewed by his staff Kyle Johansen at the request of his staff Claire Bredar
Rep. Andrew Gray is the usual host of this podcast, but in this episode he is the guest. He is interviewed by his Legislative Aide Kyle Johansen at the request of his other legislative aide Claire Bredar in honor of her bir...
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Season 4
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Episode 49
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1:12:51

Reed Stoops: Lobbyist & Co-Founder of the Juneau Community Foundation
Legislative Lobbyist Reed Stoops moved to Alaska in 1971 after his youth on the East Coast. He worked as a Committee Aide to Kay Poland in the State Senate and then took a job in the Department of Natural Resources in Gov. Jay ...
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Season 4
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Episode 48
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43:02

Rep. Jubilee Underwood (R-Wasilla): Former President of the MatSu School Board
Alaska State House Representative Jubilee Underwood of Wasilla lost the August 2024 primary to the incumbent Representative David Eastman. Few folks thought that she had a chance of winning that race, but come November, Und...
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Season 4
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Episode 47
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1:12:42

Michael Rovito: Deputy Director of Alaska Power Association (APA) & former Chief of Staff to Sen. Linda Menard (R-Wasilla)
Michael Rovito is the deputy director of the Alaska Power Association (APA). The Alaska Power Association is the statewide trade association that represents the electric utilities that supply power ...
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Season 4
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Episode 46
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37:57

Sen. Rob Yundt (R-Wasilla): MMA Fighter, former MatSu Borough Assemblyman & AK state Senator
Alaska State Senator Rob Yundt was born and raised in Wasilla and stumbled into wrestling as a 7th grader. Little did he know that wrestling would change his life ultimately leading to a career as a professional Mixed Martial Arts f...
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Season 4
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Episode 45
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53:48

Sen. Matt Claman (D-Anchorage): Alaska Senate Judiciary Chair & former Anchorage Mayor
Alaska State Senator Matt Claman first laid eyes on Alaska while working as a cook for a mining company the summer before his senior year of college. After law school, he made his way back to Alaska settling in Anchorage. In the mi...
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Season 4
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Episode 44
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46:39

Brock Wilson, PhD: Labor Economist at UAA's Institute of Social & Economic Research (ISER)
Dr. Brock Wilson is the newest faculty at UAA’s Institute of Social And Economic Research (ISER). Brock recently earned his PhD in Economics from the University of Oregon where his primary area of study was labor economics. His most impo...
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Season 4
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Episode 43
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34:17
