Northern Journal

Behind the scenes at the Anchorage Trump-Putin summit

Two of the most powerful political leaders in the world met in Anchorage last week. Northern Journal staff was out of town, but Anchorage Daily News reporter Zach Hughes was on site. In this episode, he gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how the Trump-Putin summit developed, and how it all went down — from reporters assembling on school buses to stealth bomber flyovers.

Lisa Murkowski: 'The problem with standing on principle is when your constituents get hurt'

Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has been in the news in recent weeks for her decisive vote on President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill." She's also been featured prominently on national television shows, radio and podcasts, as part of a promotional tour for her new book: Far From Home [https://sites.prh.com/farfromhomebook]. In this episode, Murkowski stops in to the Northern Journal podcast. We start by talking about her new book and her style of politics, and then, around 17:55, we get into her 'yes' vote on Trump's legislation. The episode includes some discussion of an opinion piece by Murkowski's U.S. Senate colleague from Kentucky, Republican Rand Paul; that piece is here [https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/contributors/2025/07/03/trump-rand-paul-big-beautiful-bill-vote-congress-debt/84461567007/]. A reminder: If you like what you hear on the Northern Journal podcast, the best way to support it is through a paid membership; you can sign up at northernjournal.com [https://www.northernjournal.com/]. We're also always looking for advertisers on the podcast and website — you can reach publisher Nat Herz at nat@northernjournal dot com. Thanks for listening.

What happens when the trans-Alaska pipeline shuts down? And who pays to remove it?

This episode delves into a secret corner of Alaska's oil and gas industry — an obscure, complicated but important realm where there are billions of dollars at stake. Our two guests have written a newly published paper [https://alr.law.duke.edu/article/making-alaskans-whole-rocchi-vol41-iss2/] for the Alaska Law Review that examines the future of the trans-Alaska pipeline — what happens when it's ready to be decommissioned, who's going to pay, and how the state could work to make sure it's not left holding the bag. Catherine Rocchi is regulatory lead at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group, a watchdog organization that includes the oil and gas industry in its portfolio. Phil Wight is an energy historian and an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Captain Cook's name is everywhere in Alaska. A new book retells his story.

If you live in Alaska, you likely have some awareness of Captain James Cook — at least because his name is on one of Anchorage's largest hotels, along with the body of water just offshore of the city, Cook Inlet. A new biography, The Wide Wide Sea [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191746386-the-wide-wide-sea], recounts the entirety of Cook's expedition that took him to Alaska, and puts the explorer in a new context that I think many Northern Journal listeners will appreciate. In this episode, we hear from the book's author, Hampton Sides, who conducted some of his research in Anchorage.

Is there light at the tunnel for Alaska's fishing industry?

It's been a rough few years for Alaska's fishing industry. Oversupply, competition from farmed and Russian salmon, inflation and rising interest rates — all of these things have combined to put a real hurt on fishermen and processing companies. As the summer salmon season kicks off, there are some glimmers of hope that things are turning around. But there are also still some big questions and challenges looming over the industry. We break them down here, courtesy of an all-star group of guests: • Norm Pillen, president of a processing company in Sitka that's cooperatively owned by fishermen, the Seafood Producers Cooperative [https://www.spcsales.com/]. (You can buy fish directly from there, here [https://alaskagoldbrand.com/].) • Erick Sabo, a Bristol Bay skipper and board president of a regional fisheries marketing group called the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association [https://www.bbrsda.com/]. • Rachel Sapin, a longtime reporter for industry publication Intrafish [http://intrafish.com/] who covers Alaska processing businesses and other stories. Feedback? Email host Nat Herz at nat[at]northernjournal.com. We're also recruiting advertisers for this podcast; if you're interested, drop Nat a line.