You Really Can See Russia From Here with Josie Stiles - TAS #24
The Alaska Show
This week on The Alaska Show Podcast Emily and Alex sit down with Josie Stiles. Josie spent her childhood in Anchorage and Unalakleet, and moved to Nome as a young adult where she has contributed to the area VPSO program, the Nome and State Arts Councils, and tourism in Nome.
info_outline
You Can Do Surgery Anywhere with Doc Sayer - TAS #23
The Alaska Show
We sit down with surgeon Doc Sayer and gold miner Emily Riedel in Nome. Doc is 82 and has been doing general surgery across Alaska for 50 years. He's asurgeon from a bygone era - performing everything from brain surgery to heart surgery - performing procedures in homes with his wife and nursing assistant Frankie and sometimes taking payment in the form of game meat instead of cash. In addition to being a medical pioneer in the state of Alaska, Doc has been a gold miner for 40 years.
info_outline
Advice from a Real Alaskan Gold Miner with Augie Krutsch - TAS #22
The Alaska Show
This week on The Alaska Show Podcast I talk to Augie Krutsch, the owner of AKAU Alaska Gold Mining Adventure Camp in Nome, Alaska, and Emily Riedel, Bering Sea gold dredger - to talk gold mining in Nome. Augie's family has been mining since the 1930s - and he paints a picture of the history of the place and his adventures in placer mining. Augie tells me how to win the mining game and why he doesn't care when guests walk out with 5 oz nuggets they find on his claim.
info_outline
Boy from the Bush Wins an Emmy with Ben Staley - TAS #21
The Alaska Show
This week on The Alaska Show Podcast I talk to Ben Staley - born and bred Alaskan, filmmaker, TV producer, and Emmy award winner. Ben tells me about growing up off-the-grid, getting his start in Hollywood, creating a documentary about F/V Starbound, stories from his time working on Deadliest Catch, and how to get your start in the entertainment business as a creative.
info_outline
Flying From Imperial Africa to Alaska with Andrew Smallwood - TAS #20
The Alaska Show
This week on The Alaska Show Podcast I speak to Andrew Smallwood, pilot and fisherman/owner of the Celtic Cross seiner in Cordova. Andrew tells me about his childhood on a coffee farm in Kenya, apartheid South Africa, being the personal pilot of the King of Lisotho, coming to Alaska, the events that have had huge impacts on Prince William Sound fisheries, and the future of seining.
info_outline
Alaskan Brewing Co with Geoff Larson - TAS #19
The Alaska Show
This week I sit down with Geoff Larson, co-founder of Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau, Alaska. Geoff and I talk trends in hard seltzer and beer, brewing Alaskan flavors into beer, how being off the road system forced him to innovate the brewing process, and what the beer shelves will look like in 15 years.
info_outline
TheAlaskaLife.com with Kyle Moffat - TAS #18
The Alaska Show
This week on The Alaska Show Podcast I sit down with Kyle Moffat, the founder of The Alaska Life social media platform and www.TheAlaskaLife.com. We talk about our shared experiences starting a content business, how he built the largest social media platform in the state, his advice for people trying to start a similar business, growing up in the interior, and where to visit to get the quintessential Alaska experience.
info_outline
Alaska's Future Blue Economy with Justin Sternberg - TAS #17
The Alaska Show
This week on The Alaska Show Podcast I talk to Alaska Ocean Cluster Program Manager Justin Sternberg. Justin and I talk about the future of Alaska's economy - which he believes involves a higher utilization of the seafood catch in processing, mariculture, and developing new products from Alaska's underexplored coastal resources.
info_outline
Alaska's Largest Oyster Farm with Weatherly Bates - TAS #16
The Alaska Show
This week I talk to Weatherly Bates, cofounder of Glacier Point Oyster Farm in Halibut Cove, Alaska. Weatherly and her husband have created a nationally-recognized product and turned their farm into the largest commercial oyster and mussel operation in Alaska. We talk about the challenges of shellfish farming, the oyster market, how Covid forced them to pivot locally, and the time She shot a bear nine months pregnant.
info_outline
Commish of ADFG with Douglas Vincent-Lang - TAS #15
The Alaska Show
This week on The Alaska Show Podcast I sit down with Commissioner of Alaska Department of Fish and Game Douglas Vincent-Lang. Doug and I discuss how many bears should be on the Kenai Peninsula, the state's relationship with the federal government, subsistence, and raising the next generation of hunters and fishermen.
info_outlineThis week we sit down with Dr. Anne Zink, emergency room physician and Alaska's Chief Medical Officer. She talks to us about how she is leading us through the Covid-19 crisis, Alaska's public health strengths, and activities she wishes Alaskans would think twice about as an emergency room physician.
www.TheAKShow.com
Interview Notes
Dr. Anne Zink has been the Chief Medical Officer for the State of Alaska - starting July 2019. Sits under the commissioner of the DHSS.
Disaster response, disease, epidemiology are their main focus. She’s the medical voice.
Dr. Zink’s day-to-day changes a lot. They stood up their disaster response structure for the Wuhan flight. It’s been escalating since thm> She helps secure PPE. Looks at protocols around travel, tourism, large groups, and businesses. Covid is the main focus but there are other health initiatives as well. Lots of conversations and talking to the Governor and commissioners and messaging and trying to understand the data behind Covid. They do a lot of calls with frontline providers to help them understand the latest data, science, and testing. She also works with the fishing industry and various businesses.
How much do we really know about Covid-19? We have come a long way in just a month. 5-6 months ago we didn’t know this virus existed. In a short time we’ve learned a lot. There are inherent things we won’t know without time, such as immunity information. That just takes time to study. This has also highlighted uncertainty in medicine and science - and how different people adjust differently to a disease. But the genetic sequencing is already uploaded. There are over 200 vaccines in different trials. We have different antivirals working. They’re doing calls with different doctors all the time all over the world.
Dr. Zink is still working from the yurt at her house - which is a guest bedroom. That gives her kids space to homeschool in her office at home.
Dr. Zink reminds her patients that medicine is an art and it’s not perfect. She brings knowledge and education through her training and it has to sit with their personal experience. Each individual person has different needs and environment and it’s a partnership and not an exact science.
How do you decide what treatment to recommend? You analyze the benefits, the effectiveness, and the downsides. For something like masks the downside is that it’s uncomfortable and not everyone has them and it’s politicized. The upside is that the data shows the disease is translated by air through micro-droplets, and a cloth face covering could significantly decrease those droplets. A mask is covering your talking like covering a sneeze or cough. There are other social norms around what we wear like “no shirt, no shoes, no service.” A study said if 60% of us wear a mask that’s 60% effective this disease would stop. How do we use rules and regulations to address preventable disease? Dr. Zink sees a lot of Covid deaths as preventable.
Dr. Zink reminds herself that changing culture and behavior is hard. You see it in drunk driving, STIs, and drug and alcohol addiction. What’s hard about Covid for her is it’s asking us to be different than our normal human experiences. People miss having large parties and holidays and hugging their friends. Dr. Zink sees other options and treatments coming soon and knows if we can hold it off we could prevent a lot of death.
What are the bright spots of public health in Alaska? We have some of the lowest infant mortality cases in the country. We have a robust public health network. Some rates like STIs and Tuberculosis have been sore spots. The community response to public health challenges has been strong, specifically around the opioid crisis. We struggle with it but aren’t the worst in the country by far. Communities have done a great job responding on a local level.
We have some of the lowest cases in the country and highest per capita testing in the country that’s because of Alaskans.
Is Dr. Zink still seeing patients? She was until 6 weeks ago. She was doing it on weekends but this job became all consuming. Her group covered her shifts for her. She misses that part of her job a lot right now.
Does she feel removed or disconnected from patients? The highlights of her week are zoom meetings with clinicians in order to stay connected. Right before the pandemic Dr. Zink took care of a young man who coded and essentially died and came back. His friends did CPR, the EMS was ready, and the hospital system worked to save his life. Even the sadness of the job - Dr. Zink appreciates being able to grieve with people who get bad diagnoses.
She has a visceral response when she sees people riding a four wheeler with no helmet and when people party with fireworks. She has the same response when people post on social media about partying with tons of people in the time of Covid. Don’t do dumb things drunk.
Dr. Zink wishes people would test more for Covid. The data says if you get tested early on they can manage it better. She also wishes people would just ask for help more as an ER doctor. Someone with a stroke can get treated right away and get something taken care of. It’s an act of kindness to be tested early.