Back in town after living in California for awhile, Actual Wolf, aka Eric Pollard, stops by the podcast this week to talk about his new music and a wide array of other topics.

The new dad and regular sauna goer offers sound parenting advice (“just keep ‘em alive and be nice”), the theory of adulthood, his take on social media, and the best people to come out of Hibbing (sorry Kevin McHale, not you).

She’s been teaching us about the port for the better part of a decade.

This week, Adele Yorde, recently retired marketing specialist with the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, gives us an inside look at the port and the people who work on the vessels and on the docks.

Not knowing much about the shipping industry before she started the job, Yorde says it took her “about two days” to fall in love with the port and the “characters on the waterfront.”

This week’s guest calls her recent teaching experience “faith restoring” and a good reminder that “innocence still exists.”

Back from a five month stint in Belarus, Fulbright Scholar and Lake Superior College English teacher Jocelyn Pihlaja shares her experience with us. From starting a lending library with books written in English to navigating the squat toilets in fancy shoes, Pihlaja opens our minds to what life is like in the Eastern European country.

It’s been almost a year since his team took home the gold in South Korea. This week we catch up with Olympic curler John Shuster to hear how his life has changed since his team embraced their underdog story, took out the competition and climbed to the top of the podium.

The Chisholm native tells us about his whirlwind year and how he tries not to get used to the pinch-me moments, which have included a White House state dinner and celebrity golf tournaments where he is the celebrity.

We also get answers to your top questions. Will there be a movie? Is another Olympic trial in his future?

Find firewood, carry firewood back to camp, split said firewood, place firewood in stove. Repeat. Sounds like a lot of work, but for those who enjoy winter camping it’s all part of the experience.

This week we are joined by Molly and Shannon Solberg of Duluth who started winter camping years ago by digging a hole in a snowbank and crawling inside for warmth. They’ve since graduated to a tent with Thai curry simmering on a wood stove.

The Solbergs share their tips and tricks to camping in the cold. Tip: Cotton is rotten. And what’s the main draw. Think no bugs, no people, lots of fish and lots of stars. And maybe a wolf or two.  

If you want to hang out with Jessica Rossing you better be up for something active.

The seven-time amateur Team USA triathlete turned boutique fitness studio owner did something she doesn’t normally do. She sat. She sat down with us this week to help us focus in on our fitness goals for 2019.

Rossing, owner of Movo Studio, which she described as a “high intensity complimented with yoga,” space in Duluth, shares some tips and tricks to hold yourself accountable in the new year.

No matter how you pronounce it, northern Minnesotans love their saunas. But if you don’t have one in your basement or at your cabin then you might be missing out on the Finnish steam bath. Until now.

This week on the podcast we meet Whitney and Kelby Sundquist, who own Duluth’s new portable sauna Hiki Hut. Hear about how their new business works, how they renovated an old ice house, and where you can find them around town.

We are taking a quick break, but we will be back next week with some hot new content. 

A presidential visit, a giant refinery fire, bringing home Olympic gold, winning national titles, an historic theater reopening. The list goes on and on. 2018 was a very newsy year.

This week we discuss those top stories, how they were covered, and how they affected our readers with News Tribune executive editor Rick Lubbers and managing editor Peter Baumann.

This week we are catching up with a Pressroom Podcast veteran. Duluth musician Rachael Kilgour’s new song, “Holy Are We,” recently attracted the attention of Rolling Stone magazine.

They may have spelled her name incorrectly and used the same word twice in one sentence, but Kilgour says she is pleased with the recognition.

We talk about the song, her upcoming EP and what life has been like since we last visited with her in March of 2017.

This week we talk with an adventurer who recently drove more than 6,000 miles in 28 days visiting 14 states and flying in 11 of them.

Whitney Horky is a paramotorer — she tours the sky from something she has described as a “glorified lawn mower and a bedsheet.”

When she found herself “less employed than usual” this fall she packed up her paramotor and traveled state to state on a solo “recommended trail” flying with other pilots/hobbyists she met along the way.

Whitney tells us about her trip, what it’s like up there and what she thinks about when she is flying on this week’s episode.

Whether you paddle, pole, pedal or plod (that's hiking), Jake Boyce and his team of adventurers has you covered.

Boyce, co-owner of Day Tripper of Duluth, has turned the North Shore into his playground and takes the public along for the ride. But it’s his love of surfing on Lake Superior that he keeps all to himself.

On this week’s episode, the native Duluthian shares what it’s like to surf on the big lake and what new thrill seeking ideas he has up his sleeves.

Whether you know him as Bob King or Astro Bob, everyone’s favorite photographer is retiring in December after a 39 year career at the Duluth News Tribune.

Bob tells us how a guy from Illinois with a German major got into photography. He shares some of his favorite assignments and the great lengths he has gone to in order to get the perfect shot, including the famous grave digger photo.

Zipper merge, window tint, dogs in laps, feet on the dashboard, quotas and much more. Sgt. Neil Dickenson stops by the podcast and answers your traffic questions.

The face of the Minnesota State Patrol and one of our most read columnists, Dickenson answers your pressing questions and shares stories of what he has seen while on duty.

“I’ve seen a lot of bad crashes. I've seen the devastation out there on the roads,” he said. “Ninety-four percent of the crashes that we deal with are preventable.”

Also, Christa stumps him with a question.

The Duluth Folk School is now your one-stop shop for learning how to sharpen your chainsaw, making your own foraged tea, decorating an egg Ukrainian style, and grabbing a cup of coffee and a bite to eat at the new Dovetail Cafe and Marketplace.

Director and co-founder Bryan French tells us how his vision for the handcrafting and community building school in Lincoln Park came to fruition and what big plans he has for the future.

This week’s guest is “vaguely well-known in a small part of the country.” His words not ours.

On a visit to the big city Aaron Brown, voice of the Iron Range with his blog Minnesota Brown, talks with us about his journalism background, national media descending upon the Range during the political season, and his lifelong connection to the communities there.   

We recorded this episode before the election, so there won’t be any politics on this episode. You’ll have to check out duluthnewstribune.com or his regional blog for election results.

During the month of September our guest created only a mason jar full of garbage. And it took her six days to make any trash at all.

April Hepokoski, the mind behind the Zero Waste Duluth Facebook page, shares how her journey to sustainability began, what first steps she made in eliminating plastics, and what things we can do in our own lives beyond bringing reusable bags to the grocery store. 

She also offers some zero waste insight for the upcoming holidays. You know, the season full of wrapping paper, ribbon, and bubble wrap. 

This week we have with us a famous face from Fox 21 News who recently landed in front of a national audience on NBC. Anchor Dan Hanger was involved with a moment of awkward banter during a newscast that caught the attention of Jimmy Fallon.  

We talk about that moment, but that's just the tip of the iceberg in an episode full of insight into the television news business, Hanger's personal life and how he balances his two worlds. 

Make sure you listen to the end because the "What we are into" segment goes off the rails. We're talking a total derailment and it's great. 

To some she is known as "the sticker artist," but local watercolor artist Sam Nielson is much more than that. After successfully starting her business and selling her art on Etsy.com, Nielson decided to become a full-time artist last spring.

This week, Nielson shares what Duluth scenes inspire her to create new sketches, what it's been like to fully invest in her watercolor art and how her work appeals to a wide range of art lovers. 

This week we have with us a natural-born talk show host who has been interviewing people in front of a live studio audience since he was in high school. Recently, WDSE has picked up his show "Twin Ports Tonight."

Andrew Kirov talks the writing process, pitching sketch ideas, what's funny and how he captures the "weirdness" of the Northland into a talk show meets Saturday Night Live type of local show. 

He even gets into character for us as an Eveleth men's hockey league coach whose team is losing to Babbitt. 

One of Duluth's most visible - and busiest - artists Adam Swanson recently returned from an artist residency aboard the research vessel Falkor, where he captured images of science with art. 

Swanson, who recently finished a giant owl mural in Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood, joins Christa Lawler and Barrett Chase on the podcast this week to talk about his recent assignment at sea and how that work re-energizes him once he returns to his home studio. 

It's not all ghosts and goblins, Duluth has a dark history all its own without needing to dive into stories of paranormal hauntings. Although those stories have their place, too.

During the month of October, The Duluth Experience offers a Dark History tour which explores the city's lesser-known mysteries. Dave Grandmaison and Nick Schutz stop by this week to let us know what to expect on a tour and where their favorite spooky spot is in Duluth. 

Jake and Valerie Scott discovered the craft cider scene while living out east, and decided to bring it back to Duluth - where both graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth. 

Before venturing into the cider business, the couple always enjoyed making beer together, they even made their own beer for their wedding. 

On this week's episode, the couple share their origin story, the history behind their taproom, and most importantly what type of cider they will be making - it's nothing like that sweet, carbonated stuff you find in the store. 

Abigail Mlinar and Melissa LaTour, two of the people involved with creating Femn Fest, join us this week to discuss feminism - what common misconceptions people have about feminists - and what they have in store for year two of the festival.

Billed as "an unapologetically feminist festival," the two-day event is made up of female-identifying performers, presenters, and business owners. The second annual Femn Fest is Sept. 21-22 at Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth.

This week we have with us Alexandera Houchin who, in early July, was the female winner of the 2,745 mile Tour Divide - a bike race from Banff, Alberta, to the Mexican border.

Alexandera, a senior at the University of Minnesota Duluth, tells us about the grueling race, which she completed in 23 days and three hours, and her anti-climatic finish.