AK

Every three years, always on a rainy day it seems, Ketchikan practices for a plane crash. The drill involves pretty much every emergency response agency, and a whole lot of volunteers. Listen now

A library is more than a collection of books. In a small town like Sutton in the Matanuska Valley, the library serves many functions. It’s a meeting place for people of all ages, a storehouse of information, and a door allowing a peek into the community’s past. Sutton residents have worked for years to raise funds for a new library, and last month, that dream became reality.

Dancing can be a celebration, an expression of joy or sorrow, or a way to tell a story. For one man in Sitka, it's a way to teach people about his Native culture and values, and to carry on his tradition. With elders in the community growing older or already gone, he says it's his responsibility to learn and pass along the teachings to the younger generation so they grow up proud to be Tlingit. Download Audio

A small Juneau start-up is proving that household composting works. Lisa Daugherty of Juneau Composts! is already receiving accolades for her subscription-based service that's keeping tons of green waste out of the landfill. Listen now

People have come to Fairbanks from all over the state to sell their handmade goods during the Alaska Federation of Native Conference this week. At the craft fair, you can find everything from ivory carvings and hand-made masks to mukluks, kuspuks and even kippered salmon. With few available jobs in the villages, these handicrafts and homemade foods are one of the few ways people pay their bills. Listen Now

There’s a baby boom going on with Alaska’s humpback whales. Slow-but-steady population growth is good news for the species, as well as whale-watchers. But it could be bad news for boaters, hatcheries and the herring fleet.

The Alaska Federation of Natives Convention is focused on serious issues and politics. But one of the most popular attractions at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks is a massive ten filled with Native arts and crafts. The vendors’ tent offers a lot of traditional works, with a few surprises. Download Audio

For eight years Seattle-based boylesque collective Mod Carousel blurs gender expression in Alaska. It’s newest show, Gilded makes its world premiere in Alaska. Juneau residents will be treated to the world premiere of a dance production this weekend. Listen now

Organized by Juneau Chilkat weaver and drag queen Ricky Tagan, the event helped promote inclusivity and acceptance of Two-Spirit community and may be the first of its kind. 

Most of us like to know something about our family history. And we might want to get some idea of who was here before us. Listen Now

The Dinner Party connects people grieving the loss of a loved one. On Father's Day they're sharing stories on social media from the thousands of Dinner Partiers all over the world whose dads have died. Listen now

This week on AK: Prom. Getting ready for prom can be a time-consuming process, and finding the right dress isn’t easy, especially when you live in rural Alaska.

It’s not often that cruise ships call in the far western Aleutian port of Adak, but earlier this month, one did just that. The 295-foot Caledonian Sky wound up in Adak after bad weather forced it to bypass its original destination. Download Audio

Alaska writers and naturalists Richard Nelson and Hank Lentfer are nearing the end of a two-year project recording the "Voices of Glacier Bay." The project is a collaboration between Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, University of Alaska Southeast and Cornell University, which houses the world’s largest collection of natural sounds. Nelson and Lentfer hope to change how others experience the world through a dimension beyond what we can see. They want us to listen and listen closely. Download Audio:

It’s been more than 70 years since Unalaska came under attack during World War II, but you don’t have to look hard to find the remnants. The community is littered with old gunnery installations, battered Quonset huts and bunkers – some of which are being preserved for posterity. But there’s history, and then there’s hazard, and the shells and bombs that keep washing up on Unalaska’s shores fall somewhere in between. Download Audio