Vermont Edition

Tomorrow evening, neighborhoods across our region will be infiltrated by ghosts, witches, princesses, superheroes and Louvre jewel thieves. It's almost Halloween!Halloween brings out our crafty, creative sides. This time of year can also create a slight panic if you've waited too long to put together a costume for yourself or your kid. Thankfully, we've got a bunch of experts in the creative arts of dress up, crafting, and costuming.Jennifer LaCasse, clothing supervisor for the ReSOURCE in Williston, gives us the scoop on costumes that have come through the store. We also heard from Sarah Bush, the costume shop supervisor for the University of Vermont's Theater Department, and Luke Hungerford of Rail City Fan Fest in St. Albans, for a professional point of view and tips on experimenting with new materials. 

On Saturday, Oct. 18th, the world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma sat down on a folding chair in the grass near the banks of the Connecticut River. It was dawn in Hanover, New Hampshire, and mist was rising off the water. He took a deep breath, then began to play.This was "We Are Water," a special series of performances inspired by the waterways of the north. It was part of the reopening celebrations for Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts, which just completed a three-year renovation.Yo-Yo Ma is a fellow at Dartmouth and the founder of the Silk Road Ensemble, a Grammy-winning group that plays music from all over the world. For "We Are Water," he teamed up with Chris Newell, a Passamaquoddy musician, educator and Dartmouth graduate whose work is closely tied to the lands and waters of New England. Newell and Ma were joined for the sunrise ceremony and evening concert by a diverse group of Indigenous and local musicians: Jeremy Dutcher, Andri Snaer Magnason, Mali Obomsawin, Nance Parker, Roger Paul, Lokotah Sanborn, Lauren Stevens, and Ida Mae Specker, a fiddler from Andover. Their performances combined music, poetry and storytelling.Then; a discussion of "Along the River's Way," a new multimedia exhibition and oral history project about elder artists in the Mad River Valley. We hear from Christopher Wiersema, the executive director of Mad River Valley TV, and Tracy Brannstrom, a local journalist and the primary interviewer for the project. The exhibition will be open to the public at Mad River Valley Arts from Nov. 6 through Dec. 13 in Waitsfield.Broadcast on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Windham County author explores how the ultra-rich shape everyday life

Vermont and Maine are the only two states that allow incarcerated people to vote. A new report tells us what is and isn't working about ballot access in Maine and Vermont prisons.Kristen Budd, a senior research analyst at the Sentencing Project, authored the report. Tim Burgess, executive director of VT CURE, voted in the 2006 and 2008 elections while he was incarcerated in Vermont. And Vermont's Secretary of State, Sarah Copeland Hanzas, is assembling a new task force to increase voter participation in four underserved populations, including the incarcerated. Then: October is Substance Use Prevention Month. The Turning Point Center of Rutland runs a peer recovery coaching program for people in Vermont's prisons who struggle with addiction. We'll hear how the program's going from Tracie Hauck, executive director of the Turning Point Center of Rutland.Broadcast live on Monday, October 27, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

The signs are all there – stick season is almost upon us. The skies are gray, the wind's a blowin', and the leaves are dropping. Despite the changing seasons, the gardeners among us are still busy, trouble shooting garden falls from the summer, prepping beds for the winter and bringing potted plants indoors. For anyone with turnip trouble or potato problems, it's Vermont Edition's annual fall gardening show with Charlie Nardozzi, gardening consultant and host of All Things Gardening on Vermont Public.

October 30th marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most pivotal and divisive moments in Quebec history. On that day, Quebeckers held a referendum on whether or not to secede from Canada.The votes against independence won out by a tiny margin — 50.6% voted "no," while 49.4% voted yes.A new Léger poll shows that Quebecers' attitudes on sovereignty have shifted significantly in the last 30 years. Sixty five percent of respondents said they'd vote 'no' on separating from Canada if asked to vote today. Fifty five percent said they do not believe Quebec has the economic means to become a sovereign nation.On Vermont Edition, two Canadian political science professors shared their memories of the 1995 referendum. Luc Turgeon was a college student at the time at McGill University in Montreal. He is now a professor at the University of Ottawa in Ontario. Antonia Maioni was Turgeon's professor; she still teaches at McGill. Callers from the U.S. and Canada also joined the conversation.

Both the University of Vermont and Middlebury College have new presidents: Marlene Tromp at UVM and Ian Baucom at Middlebury. These new leaders entered their role at a time of heightened federal scrutiny on higher education.Today on Vermont Edition, we'll talk with these two new presidents of leading higher education institutions. We'll hear about town-gown relations in both Burlington and Middlebury, and discuss the schools' role in building housing, employing locals and more. The White House has threatened to take away federal funding from colleges and universities if they don't fall in line around DEI and other issues. Marlene Tromp and Ian Baucom will weigh in on that delicate balance between protecting free speech and following White House dictum.

Vermont state senator Sam Douglass has resigned, effective today. He participated in a Young Republicans group chat that included racist, misogynist and antisemitic messages.Today on Vermont Edition: the fallout of the group chat in our region. Vermont GOP chair Paul Dame will comment on Douglass's reputation as a lawmaker, his decision to resign, and political rhetoric in the state at large.Then, the federal government has changed eligibility for food stamps programs like 3SquaresVT. Some previously eligible immigrants, refugees and asylees no longer qualify. The federal government shutdown could also affect food stamps and heating assistance. Reporter Pete Hirschfeld will share what he knows.

For Vermont Edition's new monthly series, Town by Town, we'll hone in on one of Vermont's 252 towns or cities and talk to residents, share local history and lore, and learn about what it's like to live there. At the end of the hour, a guest will help us randomly select our next town by spinning a big Wheel of Fortune style spinner.Today's show focused on Belvidere, in Lamoille County. At the time of the 2020 census, Belvidere had just over 350 residents. It was chartered in 1791 to an Irish lawyer from New York by the name of John Kelly. The theory is that he named Belvidere after a beautiful lake in Ireland. The word itself comes from the Italian for “beautiful view.”A trio of longtime Belvidereans gave us insights into the town and its history: Cathy Manders-Adams, Belvidere's town clerk, her husband Ken Adams, a select board member who has lived there his entire life, and Neal Brown, who grew up in Belvidere and is the organizer of the Belvidere Bluegrass Festival. Tyler Barber, one of the town's newest residents, is helping create a community hub out of the old schoolhouse.We also heard passages from the diary of the late Lena Eldred Rich, a Belvidere resident who recounted details from her life there in the early 20th century.Broadcast live on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Nearly 13,000 Vermonters aged 65 and older had Alzheimer's disease as of 2020 — 10% of the state's over-65 population. Around each of those people orbits nurses, doctors, home health aides and family members who devote their lives to care. The documentary "Walk With Me" by filmmaker and casting director Heidi Levitt tells the story of her husband Charlie Hess's early-onset Alzheimer's. The film screened earlier this year at the Middlebury International Film Festival, and it will screen again this Saturday at the Vermont International Film Festival in Burlington. Levitt and Hess split their time between Stowe and southern California.While Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease with no cure, there is a lot of positive news right now in terms of research, medications and health guidance that can slow cognitive loss, and supports for caregivers. We discussed these bright spots with Rhonda Williams, the public health program director for the Vermont Department of Health and the director of the Alzheimer's and Healthy Aging program, and Meg Polyte, policy director for the Vermont chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.The Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline is a free service of support for people living with dementia, caregivers, families and the public. Connect with a live person who can provide information, local resources, crisis assistance and emotional support at 800.272.3900.

Censorship, imagination and healing with Vermont's literary community

Birds to look out for this fall migration season

After nearly two weeks on the picket line, St. Albans dairy processors have signed a new contract with their employer, Dairy Farmers of America, based in Kansas. The St. Albans plant processes Vermont milk for vendors like Ben and Jerry's, Cabot, and Kate's Butter. We speak with Curtis Clough, president of Vermont Teamsters Local 597 union, tells us about the negotiations, strike and return to work.About one in ten workers in the United States is part of a union. That's not a lot, if you're comparing it to the height of union membership in the 1950s. One third of the American workforce used to be unionized. In the northeast, the most prominent unions have changed along with the economy. Labor organizers from three different sectors — public school teaching, mental health work, and farm labor — join Vermont Edition to discuss the state of today's labor movement. Nolan Rampy is a clinician at the Baird School, part of the Howard Center in Burlington, and the vice president of AFSCME 1674, a union representing mental healthcare workers. Will Lambek is an organizer with Migrant Justice, which supports immigrant farm workers in Vermont. And Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver is a Winooski High School teacher and a member of the Winooski Education Association, an affiliate of the Vermont-NEA. She was named Vermont's 2025 Teacher of the Year.

The federal government shutdown is entering its second week. Democrats say they'll hold the line until health insurance subsidies are renewed.Today on Vermont Edition, Senator Peter Welch will share his perspective on the negotiations underway on Capitol Hill and why Democrats picked this moment to fight. Senator Welch says it's because millions of Americans could see their health insurance premiums double next year.Then, most of Vermont is experiencing severe to extreme drought. State leaders are asking for federal aid for farms. We'll hear what it's been like for two farmers, one in West Corinth and the other in Orwell. Plus, a state forester will explain how drought affects fall foliage and forest fire risk.

'It's an equity issue': Gov. Phil Scott defends his return-to-office order

The New England Sacred Harp Convention is coming up in Burlington on Oct. 4th and 5th. Hundreds of singers will come together to celebrate one of the country's oldest Christian music traditions. But Sacred Harp goes beyond Christianity — all are welcome to sing. And this year, sacred harp aficionados are celebrating a brand new edition of their songbook.Anya Skibbe and Anna Mays share the history and culture of Sacred Harp, and why it still feels relevant and resonant today. They also demonstrate four songs from the new songbook, alongside Colleen Hayes, Sarah Galper Maika, Jim, Linda, and Dan Coppick, Nicandra Galper, and Sage Chase-Dempsey.Broadcast live on Tuesday, October 2, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Americans pay more for health care–as a nation and individually–than citizens of any other nation on earth, even as access to health insurance continues to dwindle. And as a state, Vermont's per-person health care spending and health insurance costs are among the highest in the country.We delve into one of the reasons there's so much sticker shock–the behind-the-scenes influence of lobbyists on health care legislation as we speak with UVM professor Alex Garlick about his new book Pre-Existing Conditions: How Lobbying Makes Health Care More Expensive.Then, former Vermont Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Amestoy has written a new legal thriller based on a murder trial in the Green Mountain State from the 1920's. We hear about Winters' Time: A Secret Pledge, a Severed Head, and the Murder That Brought America's Most Famous Lawyer to Vermont. 

Ever drive past a park n ride full of cars and wonder, what happens there? What are all those people using that giant parking lot for? The team at Brave Little State recently spent 12 hours at the Richmond park and ride, all to answer a listener's question.The whole Brave Little State team — Josh Crane, Sabina Poux and Burgess Brown — shared some insights from their reporting.

Vermont developers try to keep building houses, amid new tariffs and rising costs

Betty Smith is known as Vermont Public's founding mother. She's been with the station since its very first day, and this year, she celebrates her 50th anniversary in public radio. She'll tell us stories from the early days of VPR, when they weren't sure the station would survive, and her thoughts on public media's future. Then: a new film about the melting ice of Greenland features a University of Vermont professor. 

Lawmakers respond to controversial Israel trip

It's the fourth installment of our annual fall series, School Stories. Every Tuesday this month, we've focused on issues related to Vermont schools. For this edition, we discuss pre-kindergarten.In 2014, Vermont's governor Peter Shumlin signed a universal pre-K bill into law. Thereafter, 3 and 4-year-olds could get free pre-K for 10 hours a week through their public school system, or through subsidy on tuition to a private or home-based childcare centers. We're about a decade into the implementation of this law, and there have been some big wins. But the pre-K world in Vermont is far from some stable, done deal. Our guests this hour are helping to shape the vision for pre-k education in Vermont. We're joined by Vermont Secretary of Education, Zoie Saunders, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, Janet McLaughlin, executive director of the nonprofit Building Bright Futures, Morgan Crossman, and Executive Director of Turtle Island Children's Center in Montpelier, Jocelyn York.Broadcast live on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Some Vermont towns are adopting a new strategy to help people in crisis. It's called situation tables.We'll learn about this initiative that's underway from Bennington to Burlington. Police and social services groups come together for weekly meetings to help specific community members with housing, addiction and other stressors. We'll hear from a Vermont Public reporter, and a retired police chief-turned-situation table trainer.Then: some communities offer a program that pays repeat offenders not to do drugs. It's funded with settlement money from opioid manufacturers. We'll hear from a UVM psychiatrist who helped develop this controversial approach.

Over the next year, some of Vermont's hospitals are going to see less money coming in than they wanted. Their budgets for the year are now set, and they know exactly how much they can charge insurance companies for patient care. Green Mountain Care Board chair Owen Foster joins us for the hour. The Board is in charge of approving budgets for Vermont's 14 hospitals. He explains this year's decisions, including some major cuts to UVM Medical Center's rate requests. That's the state's largest hospital.The Green Mountain Care Board also approves insurance premiums in Vermont. All these choices the board makes affect how much you will have to pay for health care. It's a complicated knot we'll untangle together.Broadcast live on Thursday, September 18, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

There are two new record holders for fastest supported and unsupported Long Trial hikes. One athlete, Tara "Candy Mama" Dower, is a professional ultramarathoner from Colorado. The other, Tori "Chewy" Constantine, is a nurse from Waterbury. They'll tell us about the mental and physical preparation it takes to hike the spine of the Green Mountains at top speed.Plus: Investigators have identified the last remaining victim in the Bear Brook murder case. New Hampshire Public Radio's Jason Moon hosted a blockbuster podcast about the case. He's just released an update about this final twist in the story.

It's the fourth installment of our annual fall series, School Stories. Every Tuesday this month, we've been focusing on issues related to Vermont schools. On this episode we focus on AI in the classroom.Tech companies are investing billions of dollars in data centers to power artificial intelligence, and some of the biggest users of AI are students. Are they using generative AI to cheat, or to enhance their learning?First we focus on higher ed when we speak with Hector Vila, an associate professor in Writing & Rhetoric at Middlebury. He teaches a first-year seminar at Middlebury College called “AI, Writing and Creativity" and is one of the organizers of the upcoming Clifford Symposium about AI.Then, we hear from educators in the Essex Westford School District who are monitoring and regulating the use of AI in their district. Peter Drescher is the director of technology and innovation, and Renee Langevin is the digital learning leader. She's also the co-host of ExplAIned, a podcast about AI and education.Broadcast live on Tuesday, September 15, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Vermont state employees react to Gov. Scott's return-to-office order

Vermont has a special history with horses. The Morgan horse is our state animal and some of the most famous endurance horses come from this state. There are also therapeutic benefits to horseback riding that can help people build their confidence too. To learn about what it takes to raise healthy horses, a panel of experts with personal equine connections will share their insights. Mary Fay leads the Whispering Pines 4-H Club and helps coordinate the Vermont 4-H Program. She lives in Westford and has been a 4-H leader for 55 years. We also spoke with Ripton resident Molly Witters, an equine veterinarian with Vermont Large Animal Clinic and Hospital in Milton, and Margaret Bojanowski, farm manager and riding director at the Eddy Farm School in Middlebury.

Town by Town: Elmore

Vermont schools are required to provide comprehensive sex education. Classes cover everything from STIs to consent. Jenna Emerson, a certified sex educator and stand-up comedian, and Celia Bird, a family nurse practitioner and comprehensive sex educator, share how they create age-appropriate lesson plans, and embrace the awkward humor of the human body. At a national level, the Trump administration cut sex ed funds for California after the state refused to remove references to gender identity from its curriculum. If the same thing happens in Vermont, the state could lose more that $650,000 dollars in federal funds. We'll learn more from Carter Sherman, reproductive health and justice reporter with the Guardian US who's been following this story. She's also the author of The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation's Fight Over Its Future.

Can you get the latest COVID vaccine? The answer might depend on how old you are, what state you live in or whether you have a prescription. Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is undergoing a period of upheaval marked by firings and resignations. Kennedy also fired the members of the CDC's immunization panel, and the new panel hasn't met in weeks.Weighing in on Vermont Edition is: Dr. Anne Schuchat, a former deputy director at the CDC; Julie Arel, the interim head of Vermont's Department of Health; and Dr. Timothy Lahey, an infectious disease physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Plus, Vermont Public senior political reporter Bob Kinzel talks about the CDC and RFK, Jr. with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt).Broadcast live on Monday, September 8, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

The Vermont alt weekly Seven Days is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Every week, they publish a print paper, and every day they share local news and stories online. We'll hear from the paper's co-founder and deputy publisher about their favorite memories from the past 30 years, and what it'll take to keep the paper going for 30 more.Plus, a check-in with Vermont Public's two newest music hosts, Tad Cautious and DJ Llu. They'll tell us stories from their radio roots, explain how they come up with playlists, and share some favorite new songs. If you're sick of listening to the same five albums over and over, they have some great ideas for you on how to diversify your musical tastes. 

Will Vermont's drought leave leaf peepers high and dry?

When we talk about schools, we usually focus on what happens inside the classroom, but what happens in the cafeteria also plays an important role in learning.In the second installment of our fall series School Stories, we're talking school meals. Food services coordinators Susan Grabowski of the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union and Kathy Alexander of the Mount Abe and Addison Northwest school districts discuss menus, how federal funding cuts could affect school meals and the pros and cons of following the USDA's rules.We'll also hear from a school district in southern Vermont, where a team of Afghan refugees cook up food in the cafeteria, including halal meals for Muslim and vegetarian students.Broadcast live on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Vermonters are very particular about our ice cream. It makes sense — we live in the land of milk and maple syrup. Chances are that if you stop a person in the street, they'll be able to quickly rattle off their favorite creemee spot and classic order.On Vermont Edition's annual creemee show, we talk with the purveyors of some of your favorite frozen treats in the region. This year we hear from Hannah Connor, the café and kitchen manager at Red Hen Baking Company in Middlesex, Jess Yates, owner of Yates Family Orchard in Monkton (creators the Dreamee), and Amanda Ellis Thurber of Lilac Ridge Farm in West Brattleboro.Plus: Asa Waterworth eats an eye-popping number of creemees every year — upwards of 50, she estimates. She takes photos of her cones and offers up recommendations on her instagram account, @creemeechronicles. Asa and Mikaela got a cone together and talked about what makes a perfect creemee down at Ice Cream Evan's at the Burlington Waterfront.

Varsity bass fishing hooks Vermont high school students

School Stories: Redistricting and consolidation

For four decades, a statue dedicated to an Abenaki Chief stood in Burlington's Battery Park. The wooden statue was recently removed due to decay and rot. Deciding how to honor a complex part of history is never easy. We'll talk with a Norwich professor about Northeastern Indigenous history, the director general of Odanak First Nation in Quebec, and a state representative for Burlington.City leaders in Burlington continue to debate how to address illegal activity in public spaces like drug use and sleeping outside. Ahead of a key city council meeting tonight, Seven Days reporter Courtney Lamdin updates us on a proposal to increase police presence in Burlington's City Hall Park.

Vermont Edition At Home: Gesine Bullock-Prado

Winooski author Maggie Hersokvits loves the hardy little plants that grow through the cracks of our cities. Her new book is an urban field guide to the plants, trees and herbs you might find in a North American city, like pokeweed, ground ivy, yellow rocket and hackberry.Plus, we'll listen back to our conversation from June with the state's Historic Preservation Officer about the state's newest historic markers.

Let's get physical with records, film photography, and more

In Vermont author Amy Klinger's new novel, unlikely connections abound between softball players, migrant farm workers, an experimental art sculptor--and a Scarecrow Jesus.Klinger joins guest host Mitch Wertlieb to talk about about her book Ducks on the Pond. At turns darkly comic and dramatically poignant, it's a story of people from wildly different backgrounds and circumstances trying to find a sense of community and belonging in a fictional Vermont town...one that will feel very real to folks that have been here for generations, or are just arriving now.Then: For more than a decade now, the Middlebury New Filmmakers festival has provided a haven for cinephiles in Vermont to gather together and get a first look at a wide range of new movies. Documentaries, dramas, comedies, experimental films — there's pretty much something for everyone who loves movies to watch and talk about. But this year, the festival will also be hosting speakers who specialize in other forms in which narrative and story play an important role, such as poet Bianca stone and New York Times journalist David Sanger. They're going to apply their knowledge from their respective fields and how they relate to movie making. The Middlebury New Filmmaker's Festival starts this Wednesday and runs through Sunday. Joining us is local filmmaker and the festival's artistic director, Jay Craven, and executive director Caitlin Boyle. Broadcast live on Monday, August 18, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.