Listen again to your favorites, or discover a gem from yesteryear. Click the READ MORE link and listen up!
Mike Ford and I close out our 16th season with a fun-filled show featuring clips from past shows with interviews, skits, tall Alaska Tales and outtakes.
Guests include, Dr. Gordon Snyder with the Snot-Bot. Vic Fischer, Charles Wohlforth and Willie Hensley voice "creative" Big Alaska Show commercials. Plus, outtakes and a Tall Alaska Tale help fill out the show.
Check out the podcast!
This show has become a traditional favorite for the Big Alaska Show. Not only does it showcase Alaskan talent , it allows co-host, Mike Ford, and me to enjoy listening to our own show at home on Christmas Eve morning! Kurt Riemann hosts and features one of his "Merry Christmas From Alaska" CD series with Christmas music performed by Alaskan musicians. His wife, MJ, also performs in it. Plus, it includes a couple of "hands-on" performances by Uncle Steve that has audiences rising from their seats and heading for the exits!
Listen to the podcast!
Dick Van Dyke had a birthday this week and we dug out an interview from 2009 with our Big Alaska Show Guest Tourist. Mike Mendyke sings with Dick Van Dyke's quartet, the Vantastix, and shares stories meeting Dick and singing with America's favorite entertainer and comedian.
Then our Deadliest Catch Myth Buster, Mike Ferris, shares another Close Call and talks about the crab closures in Alaska.
Mike Ford, starts the show off with a good laugh!
Check out our podcast, sans commercials!
Ruben Gaines defined Alaska for local Alaskans through his broadcasts, writings, poetry and cartoons. Ruben created a mythical icon, Chilkoot Charlie, who gained notoriety when it became name of a world renowned rustic saloon in Anchorage, Chilkoot Charlie's, owned by Mike Gordon. Mike wrote a book, DAGNABIT!, that talks about Ruben Gaines and 25 year friendship. You'll find Mike's books and interviews on our Big Alaska Show Book Review section!
Ruben's son, Phil Gaines, also joins us to share stories about his dad and entertaining stories about Ruben Gaines!
Check out the podcast!
From Sourdoughs to Seawolves is an award-winning sports gem! Plus, two chapters make for a fun Big Alaska Show: The Great Alaska Shootout, a cutting-edge men's basketball tournament, and the Sourdoughs, the first University of Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team. (if not the worst, at least the most unique team in collegiate history ... I was there!)
Author Sara Juday, graphic artist Dave Freeman, photog Clark Mishler, UAA basketball coach, Rusty Osborne and Sourdoughs teammate of mine, Dan Sullivan, joins us for lots of laughs and an interesting look at a college sports program as wild as the Last Frontier! Listen to the podcast!
Former CEO of Credit Union 1, Leslie Ellis's vision for CU1 was to become actively involved in the community. With employees' boots on the ground volunteering their time to non-profits and other community causes, and with the support of financial contributions from Credit Union 1, Leslie's vision came to fruition leaving a legacy of the past and a bright future to make Alaska a better place.
Leslie Ellis also left a shining example what good stewardship looks like to CU1 employees, mostly young.
Today's show takes us into Leslie's story including her passion for Bean's Cafe, who feeds the hungry www.beanscafe.org and they are seeking donations and volunteers this holiday season!
Oh, and did we mention Leslie Ellis likes to have fun while doing it?
Check out our fun podcast!
Today's Veteran's Day Show features VIPER Transitions and veterans in the air mechanics program.
VIPER helps transition veterans to civilian life and the mission to end the suicide epidemic in our military. www.vipertransitions.org
Their training included working on old technology, the type plane my dad flew in WWII!
Check out the podcast!
With the passing of Ed Koontz, we aired an interview in his honor that we conducted in 2018 when Ed and his wife, Brenda, were part of an Honor Flight.
Ed was an Air Force veteran and Brenda had been in the Navy service. I first met Ed in1990 when I joined the Midnight Sons Barbershop Chorus. Ed was a Charter Member of the chorus and started singing barbershop with his first quartet in Japan in 1951 - almost 40 years before I joined! Ed was a wonderful lead and taught me a ton about a cappella/barbershop singing. We shared many barbershop memories filled with music, laughter and tons of fun!
Listen to Ed and Brenda's podcast!
Training Better Artists (TBA) knows Halloween! The patriarchs, Shane and Wayne Mitchell, join us for Halloween stories and fun!
One of Alaska's most decorated non-profits, TBA specializes in theatrical/performance/educational arts for all ages. From fine Shakespearean performances to vaudeville slapstick, Shane and Wayne do it all, and do it well. And they make it fun, like today's show! Halloween stories, antics and even Inappropriate Product Placement Theatuh! So much fun, it's almost scary!
For more information about TBA, visit www.tbatheatre.org.
Check out the show podcast sans commercials!
Chad Carpenter Tundra Comics Celebrate 30 Years!
Inspired by Garfield's creator, Jim Davis, Chad Carpenter set out on his own cartooning path with Tundra Comics.
Decades later with over 10,000 cartoons and punchlines, Chad and Tundra celebrate 30 years with his Anniversary Special Edition of Tundra, including the foreward penned by Jim Davis! Check out Chad's podcast interview!
PFD Travel Deals with Scott McMurren!
Alaska's travel guru, Scott McMurren, joins us to share travel deals that are cheaper than him!
Be sure to sign up for Scott's newsletter at www.alaskatravelgram.com.
Listen to Scott cover a lot specials in and outside Alaska!
Alaska's travel expert, Scott McMurren, knows how to pick them. Meet Robert Peterkin and his daughter, Elisabeth, owners of Kasilof Dock. For RVing, dipnetting, fishing and camping enthusiasts, this is the best seat in the house! Plus, it comes with amenities! And at this price, are you kidding me?! See for yourself! (www.kasilofdock.com).
In the meantime, enjoy our podcast interview above with Alaska's travel expert, Scott McMurren, and his guests, Robert and Elisabeth Peterkin!
Vic Fischer’s life story reads like a real-life Forrest Gump, with appearances by Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Saul Alinsky and many more, together with everyone in the whole history of Alaska from statehood to the present day. A great read by a great Alaskan. (Brian Rogers, Chancellor, University of Alaska Fairbanks)
Co-author, Charles Wohlforth, joins Vic to talk about his book.
Hummingbirds were never a big thing during my growing up in Alaska. That's changed. Our Science Guy, Dr. Gordon Snyder, explains why and why he finds them so interesting.
Check out this podcast interview with Gordon. We even have a Tall Alaska Tale!
Gordon shares some cool hummingbird links!
It's Gold Nugget Saturday, where we dig out a gold nugget interview from a past Big Alaska Show.
This interview features Bill Bacon, a filmmaker who worked for Walt Disney 20 years before Walt sent Bill to Alaska when it became a state. Bill specialized in wildlife films where millions saw them.
Then Steve Rychetnik, co-owner of Sprocketheads a film production company, joins me to reflect on Bill's film legacy.
There's pure gold in this podcast!
Our Big Alaska Book Club interviews author, Eric Wade, about his books, Cabin and Upstream. Eric and his wife, Doylanne, came to Alaska in the late 70's and for the last 35 years travel over 200 river miles twice per year to live in a remote cabin Eric built.
These books tell the story of those experiences surrounded by Alaska's wildlife, wilderness and solitude from the time as a young couple raising their young family to a time facing the challenges of aging.
Check out our Big Alaska Book Review section for links and to hear the interview podcast with Eric Wade.
Podcast interview with Eric and our Big Alaska Show Book Club panel:
We celebrate Mother's Day the Big Alaska Show way! Dana DeBernardi, owner of Moose Mamas, and her assistant, Erica Lapham. Moose Mamas rescues orphaned moose calves, nurtures them to health and then releases them to help populate rural Alaskan areas where the moose populations are thin. Plus, our Deadliest Catch Myth Buster Mike Ferris and co-host, Mike Ford, have has a special Mother's Day message for their mothers!
A fun way to enjoy Mother's Day!
Listen to the podcast now!
Today's show deals with transitioning veterans to civilian life. President of VIPER, Kyle Kaiser, and Jason Wall with Alaska Works join us to share their experiences of the do's and don'ts when transitioning from veteran life to civilian. We also discuss the transition after being in combat and returning to life as a civilian.
Listen to our special VIPER edition podcast!
Alaska's Beloved Balladeer, Hobo Jim, passed away last October. But his legacy is forever etched in the Iditarod through his music and his The Iditarod Trail Song, referred to as the Iditarod Anthem. Today's show features broadcast friends Terry Burge, Eddie Parker (Eddie P) and Steve Rychetnik who share Hobo Jim Iditarod memories and reminders why Hobo Jim will be forever in our hearts!
- PLUS -
Close Calls with Mike Ferris
Our Deadliest Catch Myth Buster, Mike Ferris, is back to share another CLOSE CALL and the true reality show of commercial fishing in Alaska!
I love getting our iditarod Press Passes and swag! That means Iditarod fun is right around the corner!
Today's show is a prelude to our upcoming Big Alaska Show with the 2022 Iditarod Educators' Conference, March 4, 2022. Director of Education, Jane Holmes, is back to remind us what the conference is about. A major aspect of the education is "Teacher on the Trail". Jane gives us an update on the competition for the 2023 TOT. We also have the 2015 Teacher on the Trail, Erin Montgomery, joining us to talk about her experience and her podcast for her students, Husky Talk. Plus, Iditarod CEO, Rob Urbach, shares some behind the scenes work that goes on working around a Pandemic!
Hi Ho Hi Iditarod Trail!! Tune in!
Iditarod Director of Education, Jane Holmes, is back to fill us in on the Iditarod 2022 Educator's Conference, March 1-4, 2022, www.iditarod.com/edu.
Jane also updates us about the 2023 Teacher on the Trail, www.iditarod.com/edu/category/teacher-on-the-trail.
Plus, from our archives we bring back an interview with the 2019 Teacher on the Trail, Brian Hickox, who shares what it's like to be Teacher on the Trail!
Be sure to check out our podcast from August 2021 when we first met Jane. She provides insight to the depth and value the Iditarod brings to education.
It means something extra when Kim Carlson has attendst he annual Polar Bear Jump Off in Seward, AK, as she has done for ten years—raising tens of thousands of dollars. She has dedicated her jumps, first to her mother, who was lost to cancer, and subsequently to other victims and their families.
It was a packed house and a packed show of fun! Alaskans and Texans- in the same room! Only on the Big Alaska Show can such a combination co-exist in the same room.
©2023 The Big Alaska Show™
All Rights Reserved
Website Design: ACM Initiatives
