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Author Keri Ladner, PhD, is an expert on fundamentalist politics in America and the radicalization of the conservative movement. She specializes in the religious beliefs of the American right, and her work illuminates how those beliefs have become part of American power structures. Today she discusses her newest book: American Dominion: The Rise and Radicalization of a New Christendom. This is her second appearance on this podcast. Her first was two years ago after the publication of her book, End Time Politics: From the Moral Majority to QAnon.

Previous episodes regarding fundamentalist Christianity in Alaska and America:

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Samu El Bayani Neek was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. At 12 his parents divorced, and he had to drop out of middle school to begin working as a barber. During this tumultuous period in his life, he discovered a church in Tehran and converted to Christianity. Under Iran's Islamic Regime, a Muslim who abandons Islam can be punished by death. At 20, Sam fled to Turkey where he lived for about 5 years waiting for his refugee application with the United Nations to be processed. In 2009 he was relocated to Anchorage as a refugee where he had to learn English, his sixth language, and where he has remained ever since.

This interview took place on Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Anchorage, and was recorded with a phone. The quality is therefore suboptimal.

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The Alaska State House Representative for East Fairbanks is Will Stapp. This is his second appearance on the podcast. To learn more about Will's early life and military service (including his Purple Heart), check out his first appearance. Today, Will and I talk about the chance for increased public education funding this year, Alaska's therapeutic court system, and the elections bill (Senate Bill 64) that just passed the Alaska State House and Senate.

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Wil Courtney is a Political Reporter and Multimedia Journalist for KTUU Channel 2 Alaska's News Source and host of the station's Political Pipeline podcast. This interview is part of the Alaska Media series. Wil never planned to work in Alaska but in less than a year's time our state has had a profound impact on him, particularly his reporting from Kipnuk and Kwigillingok shortly after Typhoon Halong.

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Nebraska State Senator John Fredrickson was first elected in 2022 by a margin of only 82 votes. He is the first openly gay man to be elected to the Nebraska state legislature. We discuss Nebraska's unicameral non-partisan legislature and its term limits. We also talk about John's youth, how he and his husband adopted their son, and his journey into politics.

This conversation was recorded in Chicago at the Council of State Governments Convention in December 2025.

This is part of a series on the first gay men elected to state legislators around the country. To listen to the episode with Glen Maxey, the first elected to the Texas state legislature, click here.

Upcoming episodes will include the first gay man elected to South Dakota's state legislature and to Iowa's state legislature.

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The Alaska State House Representative for Ketchikan is Jeremy Bynum. We discuss his childhood growing up in a devout Pentecostal household, his escape to the Air Force, and his struggles being accepted as a newcomer to Ketchikan. We also talk about the drama of the Juneau Capitol, specifically his fraught relationship with my chief of staff Kyle Johansen (a previous Representative of Ketchikan) and the heated rhetoric around recent attempts to draw from the legislative savings account. We address a podcast episode from last week with Rep. Zack Fields of downtown Anchorage where inappropriate language was used to describe the House Minority.

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Laura Booch and Dr. Ingrid Johnson both appeared at the Alaska State House Judiciary Committee's informational hearing on Civil Protective Orders that happened on Monday, March 9th. Civil protective orders are also called restraining orders and there are several types, but the most common type is the Domestic Violence Protective Order, and that's what today's episode is about. Right now a long term domestic violence protective order is good for one year, and then the petitioner needs to file for an extension. At each extension, the respondent can appear in court and make the case for why the protective order should not continue. For someone leaving an abusive relationship, this revisiting of that relationship every year can be traumatizing.

Laura Booch is a brave survivor of Domestic Violence who is sharing her story today. Dr. Ingrid Johnson is a criminal justice professor at The University of Alaska Fairbanks who specializes in gender-based violence. She will discuss the alarming statistic that 70% of adult women in Alaska report having experienced domestic violence at some point in their life.

To apply for a civil protective order, click here.

If you need help with an abusive relationship, call Alaska's 24 hour crisis & support line at 907-272-0100, someone is waiting for your call.

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Representative Zack Fields of downtown Anchorage explains the Alaska State House's failed vote to draw from our legislative savings account yesterday. In order to receive a 9 to 1 match from the federal government for our state transportation projects -- a potential investment of almost $700 million -- we needed to fully fund the match yesterday. The Alaska State Senate had earlier this week voted unanimously to draw from our savings account and receive that match, but yesterday the House failed; we needed a 3/4 vote (30/40) and we came up very short (22/40).

This podcast also addresses Rep. Fields behavior during a speech by Congressman Nick Begich earlier this week.