Instead of hiding in our cozy little radio studio at Alaska Public Media or out on the sparsely populated Iditarod Trail, we took the Iditapod to the Beartooth Theatrepub in Anchorage on Monday, March 2 for a live, onstage event, where about 300 people joined reporters Zachariah Hughes, Tegan Hanlon and Casey Grove for a wide-ranging discussion with Iditarod mushers Jessica Klejka, Matthew Failor and Jeff King.

We laughed, we didn’t cry somehow, and we did our best to explain some of the intricacies of dog mushing.

Also, an update: Shortly after this recording, Jeff King was rushed to a hospital to undergo emergency surgery that likely saved his life. He will not be racing in this year's Iditarod. We will have a more complete story about that soon here on the Iditapod.