End of The Road – Détails, épisodes et analyse

For this episode, we picked stories and poems that intimately professed our individual relationships with grief and loss. Storytelling has always been an intrinsic part of processing grief. It allows us to recollect the memories of a loved one, to learn about the parts of ourselves that maybe we hadn’t given much attention to. It allows us to build emotional connections with our listeners, who- I believe- will always be able to see themselves in the story being shared.
We hear from Colin Warren sharing a poem honoring a departed local, Jason Esler; Jeremy Pataky sharing a poem reflecting on the loss of our glaciers; Sabrina Simon shares a story in prose about losing her son Jude; and Katy Etterman shares a story about the grief she experienced during her professional career as an acrobat.

Quotes by Martin Prechtel (Grief as Praise), Francis Weller (The Wild Edge of Sorrow) and poem by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer (For When People Ask).

Special thanks to Cole Pampe and Richard Atmo for contributing their original music. You can hear Richard's original track here as well as hear more of his music on Bandcamp.

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This episode tells stories of injury, embarrassments and debacles all with a comedic twist. Why are injuries and mistakes so funny? Maybe we'll never know for sure, but in the meantime, we'll keep laughing.
We hear from Julie Truskowski, Monte Montepare and Jon Erdman.
Special thanks to Cole Pampe for contributing his original music. 

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In this episode, we talk with Jenny Rosenbaum about how she found McCarthy, why she made a home here, and we also asked her to give us the scoop on the cannabis shop that she is opening in McCarthy next summer.

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In this episode, we talk with local climate and social activist, Cassidy Austin-Merlino about climate and social justice issues, working to stop the Pebble Mine, how to make the outdoors more inclusive, and the steps our remote community can take toward solutions.

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Dr. Margot Higgins, Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse shares thoughts and ideas from her research and writings challenging our conventional story about the presence or absence of the Ahtna-Athabascan people in the Kennicott River Valley. She explains why radical empathy may be the way forward to relating with this story in a new way.

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Steve Edwards tells the story of his mom’s pride and joy 49 Chevy, and the epic journey it took getting it to McCarthy in 1963. His father, Jim Edwards, was renown for his feats of daring, but the story of Jim getting this car to McCarthy when there was only a railroad bed, is truly one for the history books! 

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Professional storyteller Jack Dalton talks about The Other Side of Storytelling with WMC’s Executive Director, Jon Erdman. This is Part Two of a lively discussion on the inner experience of being a storyteller, the power stories have to deliver tough messages in difficult places, and the wider definition of storytelling. 

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In this episode, professional storyteller, Jack Dalton, talks with WMC’s Executive Director, Jon Erdman, about the art of storytelling and the power of story. Jack has traveled the world telling stories and competing in storytelling events. In this interview, he discusses what makes a good story, how stories come to him sometimes right as he’s walking on stage, and shares his perspective on our town and Tall Tales event. His hearty laugh and keen perspectives make this conversation lively and enlightening. 

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In this episode, Tom Kizzia takes us into the 1983 shootings in McCarthy that killed six of the town’s 22 residents. He focuses on Amy Ashenden, a lesser known victim of the shootings. We continue our conversation with author, Tom Kizzia, discussing his new book titled, Cold Mountain Path: The Ghost Town Decades of McCarthy-Kennecott, Alaska. In his book, Tom preserves the  “Lost Years” of 1938-1983, and creates an opportunity to talk about these stories and how they impact the community. In our interview with Tom about his book, two themes emerged: how we approach and process the past (Part One), and in this episode we tie it together with reflections from Tom on Amy Ashenden’s life journey and her discoveries of impermanence.

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In our first episode of Season Two we explore the Ghost Town decades of our Kennecott-McCarthy community in remote Alaska by way of an interview with author Tom Kizzia and his new book, Cold Mountain Path: The Ghost Town Decades of McCarthy-Kennecott, Alaska. We discuss ghost towns and what that means as a metaphor, not just about the past but about how we process the past. Along the way we explore the harrowing stories and reflections of Jim Edwards as well as our community's relationship with the Ahtna people and culture that predate the arrival of white development by millennia. 

Visit our website at wrangells.org, or stay connected to us through facebook.com/wrangells or Instagram @wrangellmountainscenter.