Alaska Public Media and Alaska’s Energy Desk explores the rich history of the trans-Alaska pipeline in an eight-episode podcast and radio series, Midnight Oil. The series will narrow in on the people who built the pipeline and the way it forever changed the state, reshaped the economy and made-up the landscape of Alaska.
Midnight Oil is also a chance to consider the state’s future. Alaska faces a budget deficit almost as large as the budget itself. With oil production declining, the series takes a look at whether or not the pipeline’s days are numbered and if a new crop of oil explorers will save Alaska from financial collapse.
Alaska’s Energy Desk is a regional journalism collaborative focused on covering energy and environment in Alaska that produces in-depth enterprise reporting for radio, video and web.
Thousands have listened to the Midnight Oil podcast series and some stories have run nationally on NPR. Alaska Public Media will sponsor Midnight Oil Live, a free evening of storytelling featuring those who played a part building pipeline history. The event will take place on 
Thursday, July 20 at the 49th State Brewing Company, 717 West 3rd Avenue, Anchorage. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
Listen to Episode 1: Alaska, the Oil State that Almost Wasn’t below to learn about Tom Marshall, a geologist and a land selection officer for Alaska in the 1960s, who was the driving force behind the state’s Prudhoe Bay selection.
This series is an organization-wide project and cross platform effort for Alaska Public Media. Midnight Oil can be accessed on KAKM-TV, KSKA 91.1, Alaskapublic.org, APRN and on Podcast.
For more information, visit the series website.