Crude Conversations

Introducing Chatter Marks, a podcast of the Anchorage Museum, hosted by Cody Liska. Chatter Marks is dedicated to exploring Alaska’s identity through the creative and critical thinking of ideas—past, present and future.  In this episode, Cody talks with Sebastian Garber, the Senior Designer at the Anchorage Museum. Sebastian has been a graphic designer for about 12 years now, and in that time he’s worked for large companies, small firms and a magazine. He says that the most important things he’s learned in those 12 years is being able to adapt to changing trends in design and communication, and the importance of a strong team.  Sebastian is currently working on designing a typeface that includes Alaska Native languages. It will be a typeface stripped of geographic references and that will encompass all the necessary diacritics. Diacritics are accent marks that indicate pronunciation. And when finished it will become the official font of the Anchorage Museum.

In this Special Conversation, Cody talks with Joshua Albeza Branstetter about the controversy currently surrounding Anchorage Christian Schools (ACS). At the time of this recording, 180 alumni had shared their experiences of racism at ACS. Joshua is one of those alumni.  Follow Anchorage Christian Schools alumni speaking out against the historical racism at ACS on Instagram @a.christian.school.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with his mom, Sharon Liska. For the past 13 years, she has worked as a nurse at a neonatal intensive care unit at an Anchorage hospital. While she worked as a nurse, she continued her education and eventually moved to a Clinical Nurse Specialist position. To her, it’s more than a job. It’s a calling and a privilege to be welcomed into those sacred places of tragedy and happiness. From owning a gym in the 80s to being a stockbroker in the 90s, her working life has been a series of careers, many of which have been in male-dominated professions. To be successful in that atmosphere, she had to navigate the sexism and male egos of the time. Which, a lot of the time, meant having to temper her intelligence.  From 1989 to 2007, she was an integral part of Boarderline Alaska Snow and Skate. Boarderline was founded by Cody's dad, Scott Liska, and his uncle, Jay Liska, in 1989. Sharon's job was damage control. Whenever there was trouble with the business or Scott had personal issues, she came to the rescue. She was routinely responsible for keeping track of and contributing to the financials of the business, even when it took precedence over her family. She says that to create a successful business, everything takes a backseat. And that “a business owns you, you don’t own that business.”

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Mike Ward, the co-owner of The Pioneer Bar. The Pioneer Bar, better known as Pio, is a classic Alaskan bar located in downtown Anchorage. It’s been around since the 1950s, before Alaska became a state. Back then, it was a working class bar with a regular crowd of blue collar workers and barflies. It eventually began to attract a younger crowd in the late 1990s. That trend has continued to this day, where crusty sourdoughs and weekend warriors drink side-by-side. Mike’s relationship with The Pio goes all the way back to his childhood, when his dad was a regular there and he would bring Mike with him. That was around 1980. Mike and his business partner Dave Croffut bought the bar in 2013, and they quickly learned that the idea of owning a bar is much different than the reality of it. In reality, you have to deal with controlling crowds, local politics, and all the repairs that come with owning a 100-year-old building.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Julie Decker, the Director and CEO of The Anchorage Museum. When she took the job, Julie made a radical shift in the way museums typically function. Rather than just collecting and displaying artifacts, she decided to transform the Anchorage Museum into a living museum, focused on local issues by examining present themes in order to look at Alaska's cultures and traditions in a contemporary way. Ultimately, this shift was meant to answer one fundamental question: how does the museum and its network make Alaska a better place? Julie is uniquely qualified for the position she's in, having grown up around her dad Don Decker, a prominent Alaskan artist whose work goes back to the 70s. When she was a kid, she watched as he did the artist thing—struggle and appreciate the creative process and then learn to let his art exist outside of himself. She understands this dance between the indefinable creative process and its payoff because she's an artist as well. Today, she talks about how she finds things like the sound of pencil on paper soothing because of what it represents: a quiet and contemplative meditation.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with tattoo artist Deb Yarian. Deb started tattooing in New York in 1979. Back when tattoo culture was reserved for outsiders, or what Deb calls “carnival people.” The tattoo culture then was predominately male, and women usually found their way into the culture through a man, because men were the gatekeepers. More recently, those barriers have been broken down, making the culture more equitable. Today, Deb and her husband Don own and operate Eagle River Tattoo.  Early in Deb’s career, her mom told her that she didn’t want Deb getting tattoos because she didn’t want people to judge her by the way she looked. Deb responded by saying, “If people are going to judge me by the way I look, then those aren’t the kind of people I want in my life.” Deb says that the difference between tattooers today and tattooers in the past is that their journey is different. When Deb entered the scene, there was a lot of inequality and even violence. Deb has a history with domestic violence. One that she tries to talk about as openly and honestly as possible. She talks about those seedier origins of the tattoo culture, the sanctity of the tattoo shop and how people with tattoos need to be responsible for their actions if they don’t want to be mislabeled.

In this episode, we look at crime from the perspective of a retired police officer. Aaron Roberts was an officer for the Anchorage Police Department for over 20 years. He patrolled downtown Anchorage, was a detective in robbery, assault, and metro with a focus in narcotics. At the time of his retirement, he was the team lead negotiator and worked closely with SWAT.

In this Special Conversation, Cody talks with Tim Davis about teaching during COVID-19. Tim has coached high school football for 20 years, and has taught at West High School in Anchorage, Alaska for 12 years.   Full disclosure: Cody and Tim are friends.

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Alaskan artist Duke Russell. Growing up in Anchorage in the 1970s, Duke would draw everything he could in downtown Anchorage. At that time, he and his dad were living in an apartment above a bar called Ruthie’s 49er—which would later become Darwin’s Theory. Duke would sell his paintings in downtown Anchorage for a dollar, in addition to working and going to school. A lot of his youth was also spent taking care of his alcoholic father. It was this upbringing, in a past version of Anchorage, that continues to influence his art. Today, Duke’s art can be seen all over the city of Anchorage. From restaurants to banks to local theaters and the Anchorage Museum.    Duke has been in the Alaska art scene for over 50 years now. In that time, he’s experienced a lot of failures, growth and success. He’s not afraid to voice his frustrations, and he’s not afraid to talk about the lessons he’s learned. In fact, he’s able to find humor in most things. In this conversation, we get a glimpse of how Duke’s mind works. It considers everything—the importance of telling the truth and the transient nature of life. How life is constantly in flux and the more we accept that, the more we’re in rhythm with it. 

In this Special Conversation, Cody catches up with Dr. Andy Elsberg for an update on where Alaska is with COVID-19. The last time they talked, Alaska had been in quarantine for over a month. Since then, many businesses have re-opened and many non-essential employees are back at work, but social distancing and wearing masks is encouraged. Andy is an emergency room doctor in Anchorage, Alaska.