Welcome back to The End of The Road!

This episode features hand-picked stories and poems told by McCarthy locals and visitors throughout our 2023 summer programming including The Wrangell Mountains Storytelling Festival and our bi-weekly Word Jam events. These poems and stories speak to the profoundly integral relationship we humans each have with mother nature. We hear from Katy about her love of the natural world; from Mike about his relationship with mountains; from Krista on her love of trees; and from Luis about how he views the reciprocity of putting love into the Universe. 

Available on Spotify and other podcast platforms

Episode 5 is our last episode of the season in this storytelling series and features two stories told at the West Side venue. Madz shares a poignant, vulnerable story about a friend.

Nik Merlino our host and sponsor for the West Side event - owner of McCarthy River Tours & Outfitters and The Glacier View Campgound - tells a story about a sitcom-like moment in life with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.

This episode features two stories from the west side during the twilight time of night as the light was starting to dim on that glorious evening in August at the Glacier View Campground. Folks began stepping up to the mic and sharing stories about sex, love, romance…and Justin Bieber. It was quickly dubbed “The Blue Hour.”

West Side resident Sophie Littee shares a story about a solo outing in Anchorage one winter evening that led to an intriguing opportunity crossing her path. And Brooke Harrington tells of a serendipitous experience in a Los Angeles sex shop with Justin Bieber.

Everyone loves a good Alaska bear story, and local McCarthy resident Dianne Milliard delivers a series of short stories that speak to the theme of Carnivore Karma, from our outdoor venue on McCarthy’s west side - the Glacier View Campground.

Also in this episode, visiting storyteller Madz, opened the storytelling festival at the Old Hardware Store with a story about her father and the San Fransisco Zoo, setting the tone for the entire 3-day event.

This episode features a story told by Amy Holonics in tribute to her father and their shared family roots in Hungary. She shares an experience from a time when life took her to the land of her ancestors where her father’s past was uncovered and an unfortunate twist of fate ends up having some unexpected happy consequences.

And Emma Stimpson takes us to a Popeye's Fast Food Drive-thru where some strange circumstances make for a very entertaining story. This is a story from the lockdown, a pandemic parable, if you will, with a twist at the end.

In this episode, storytelling contest winner Bill Mann brought the house down and had us in stitches with his animated rendition about a Copper River fishing trip with his brother-in-law, our very own, Howard Mozen.

And Nancy Cook captivated the Old Hardware Store audience with her distinctive Nancy Cook style, telling of a magical Riversong trip with fellow artists down the Copper River.

Available on Spotify and other podcast platforms

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.

Listen to Episode 8: McCarthy’s First Retail Cannabis Shop with Jenny Rosenbaum

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.

Listen to Episode 7: Diversity Is Our Strength with Cassidy Austin-Merlino

Dr. Margot Higgins talks about her time with the Ahtna people and the impact the McCarthy-Kennicott community has had on local Indigenous communities. She shares her views of the world, her connection to place, and explains why the current narrative of the Kennicott River Valley may not be accurate.

Listen to Episode 6: The Ahtna & The Valley - Exploring the Story with Margot Higgins

The vehicles of McCarthy have their own stories to tell. In this episode, we hear about life in the old ghost town era McCarthy through the eyes of a 49 Chevy, Maxine Edwards’ pride and joy. Maxine’s son Steve Edwards talks about his mother’s love of traveling, the time his dad took 60 days getting the 49 Chevy down the McCarthy railroad bed, and other adventures.

Listen to Episode 5: The 49 Chevy - Steve Edwards

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. 

Listen to Episode 4: The Other Side of Storytelling – Jack Dalton (Part Two)

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.

Listen to Episode 3: Confidence In Storytelling – Jack Dalton (Part One)

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 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 thoughts 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.

Listen to Episode 1: Ghost Town — Tom Kizzia on Cold Mountain Path

Note: Podcasts are audio only; this video is only a visual preview

episode 4

Conflict and Community: The Story of Sally Gibert, Part 2

When Papa Pilgrim came to town, back in the early 2000s, tensions flared, bringing to a head decades of conflict between the National Parks Service and the community of private land holders in the Wrangell Mountains. With SWAT teams descending on the tiny town of McCarthy, the Pilgrim fiasco grabbed national headlines and ignited a nation-wide political mobilization. Behind the scenes, though, Sally would work with patience and collaboration to help bring about a shift that would change the perspective and culture of the National Parks Service and the community

Listen to Episode 4: Conflict and Community with Sally Gibert (Part Two)

Note: Podcasts are audio only; this video is only a visual preview

episode 3

abandoned alaska: through the lens of Paul Scannell

In the face of great personal loss, Irish photographer Paul Scannell leaves London and eventually finds his way to the Wrangells in remote bush Alaska. Skipping his flight home, Paul is drawn to the crumbling, abandoned places in the Wrangells and the stories that these remains suggest.

We discuss Paul’s journey. We talk iPhones and photography, and we hear readings from Paul’s new book, Abandoned Alaska: Copper, Gold, and Rust (2020).

Listen to Episode 3: Abandoned Alaska

episode 2

Shaped by the wild: The Story of Sally Gibert

Shaped by the wilderness and the lawless town of McCarthy Alaska in the 1970s, Sally Gibert lived the frontier life in Alaska then went on to found a significant and impactful nonprofit and eventually helped shape the map of the state of Alaska. This is part one of two parts, exploring Sally's early adult life in the frontier town of McCarthy as she navigates local culture, faces the challenges of keeping warm during one of McCarthy's coldest winters, and engages with the grief of a town in the aftermath of a violent shooting. Part two explores Sally's state-wide impact through her work on land policy.….

Listen to Episode 2 with Sally Gibert

Note: Podcasts are audio only; this video is only a visual preview

episode 1

perspective, with ben shaine

Ben reflects on the ongoing natural cycles of catastrophe, regrowth and regeneration that he discovers as he walks through two stories from the Wrangells: an epic story of dinosaurs and deep time, and a story about the last hundred years in the McCarthy community. Ben's insights and contemplative cadence provide a much-appreciated perspective, a perspective that opens up a space for hope during times of tension and turmoil.

Listen to Episode 1 with Ben Shaine