Conversations /

EP 017 with The Spenardian

In this episode, we have a conversation with Victoria Petersen and Sam Davenport of The Spenardian, a hyperlocal zine dedicated to Anchorage's Spenard neighborhood. We talk about the history of Spenard, when it was its own town during Anchorage's infancy, and how now it's considered Anchorage's "hipster neighborhood." We discuss how a quarter of the small businesses in Anchorage are located in Spenard, why their favorite stories to tell are the ones that best represent the neighborhood, the importance of not selling out, and the challenges of reporting on a microcosm of the city. We also talk about the difference between how people who grew up here view Alaska versus those who moved here.