Mike Fright

My first foray into AM talk radio won't be my last. I subbed at Anchorage's progressive AM radio station, KUDO, this afternoon. I was excited about the opportunity, but very nervous about how I'd do. My thousands of hours of radio experience, which ended about 31 years ago, had very little live repartee. In Seattle, at KRAB-FM, I introduced classical music, interviewed artists, and did some public affairs and news segments. When I worked at KLAM-AM, in Cordova, I did a lot of news interviews and public affairs programs, but they were all pre-recorded. So this was different.

That's right. I went from KRAB to KLAM. If there had been a KODD or KELP to go to, I might have stayed in radio.

I went into the studio almost scared. As I was announcing the day's program, I spilled a cup of water on the console. I surprised myself, as I reached for tissues, paper towels, today's Anchorage Daily News, my spare shirt and other stuff, to wipe up the mess before it shorted out and the station went off the air. And, I kept talking. My guest, Alaska progressive icon, Jim Sykes helped me clean it up.

I can't thank Jim enough for his help keeping the subject matter on track too. He's a pro when it comes to sound studios, and has been interviewed hundreds of times on Alaska radio and TV.

They've asked me back to sub the same 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. slot on Friday. I hope to do then what I had initially planned for today - interview plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez class action lawsuit coming before the U.S. Supreme Court this winter. Anyone out there who is a plaintiff and can genuinely say that even with the possible award of the so-called "punitive damages" you would have been far better off without Joe Hazelwood screwing up your life, get in touch. We need to let Alaskans know that the award being reviewed is just.