When my aging terrier started slowing down last year, I took it in stride. She was twelve, and according to an online calculator, old enough to collect doggie Social Security. But just one year later, I knew she’d hiked her last Vermont mountai

Holvino: Racist Or Racism

Aug 8th, 2019 2m 36s

Browsing in my favorite social change bookstore, I overheard two customers talking. One asked, ‘Have we ever had a more racist president than this one?’ And the other replied, 'Maybe Andrew Johnson?'

Albright: OK, No Spring Chicken But ...

Aug 5th, 2019 2m 36s

We often hear state leaders lamenting the so-called brain drain – meaning young people who move away - and the burden of caring for the Medicare crowd. Our demographics are a problem, they say, while credit agencies insist that in order to keep

Ram: Countries Of Origin

Jul 23rd, 2019 2m 35s

For many Americans, where we came from is both a source of great pride and pain. My own family fled the city of Lahore in 1949 with just the clothes on their backs, leaving behind the land that my great great grandfather helped build. During th

Slayton: Working In Journalism

Jul 22nd, 2019 2m 37s

I've been reading Robert Caro's latest book, Working , detailing how he researched and wrote his magisterial, vividly detailed biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. Caro began his career as a newspaper reporter. Though his books are h

Vogel: Low Income Housing Tax Credits

Jul 18th, 2019 2m 35s

Trying to rent an apartment in Vermont can be frustrating, given the shortage of apartments and the high monthly rents. And once people discover how expensive housing in Vermont has become, some potential employees turn down otherwise attractiv

Moats: Growing Vermont

Jul 17th, 2019 2m 24s

Most Vermonters know by now that ours is the second oldest population of all the states — after Maine's — and the need to keep young people here and attract new ones is widely understood and accepted. We're also a small state where growth is re

Craven: Remembering Actor Rip Torn

Jul 16th, 2019 2m 15s

The first time I saw Rip Torn, he was wearing flippers, a facemask and snorkel. I'd written to him in January 1992 – and sent him the script for my first feature film, Where the Rivers Flow North . I said I thought he'd be great as Noel Lord, a

Oppenheim: The Russian Exchange

Jul 15th, 2019 2m 22s

Sometimes, you just know you're having a life-changing experience. In my case, it was a chance in early July to teach Russian college students about media in the U.S.A. It all started when a Vermont-based company, Project Harmony International,

Spencer Rendahl: World Cup Lessons

Jul 12th, 2019 2m 19s

My nine year old son plays soccer for his Plainfield, New Hampshire team, which makes me a soccer mom by default, even though I've never played the game myself. Normally we try to limit screen time during school vacation and spend our free time

Garner & Drufovka: Teachers Talk About Guiding Students Through The Vt. Statehouse

Jul 11th, 2019 4m 1s

Walt Garner teaches fifth through eighth grade English at Tunbridge Central School, while Barbara Drufovka teaches humanities at Woodstock Middle School. This spring, both teachers took groups of students to visit the Vermont Statehouse to see

Watts: One Less Car

Jul 10th, 2019 2m 38s

I live on a country road in Hinesburg, with a walkability score of zero - meaning there is nothing within walking distance of my house, except a very nice walk - no stores, jobs, or other necessities of daily life. Despite our remote location,

Albright: Looking Both Ways

Jul 9th, 2019 2m 32s

Norwich is a talkative community – on sidewalks, in the Post Office, around kitchen tables, and especially on the town’s email listserve, where thorny issues get thrashed out in public on a daily basis. This summer, what’s got people riled up i

Ram: Girls State

Jun 27th, 2019 2m 21s

There's a summer leadership and government-in-action learning program for high school juniors sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary in which young women become knowledgeable in the practice of freedom, democracy and citizenship. It's calle

Greene: Patiently Waiting

Jun 26th, 2019 2m 16s

I grew up VT style, where the virtues of patience were constantly extolled. We waited for recess, we waited for snow, we waited Santa, and we waited for summer. 'It's something to look forward to,' was the cheerful and infuriating parental expl

Oppenheim: Debate Season Begins

Jun 25th, 2019 2m 16s

Over time, broadcast television has lost some of its power. Except for the Super Bowl , we simply don't gather in front of our TV sets like we used to. But debates are still a big deal. In 2016, one of the Trump-Clinton debates was viewed by mo

Weis: Graduation Inspiration

Jun 24th, 2019 2m 26s

We've known about climate change for some time now. Yet we still can't seem to address the issue effectively. Witness the group of young protestors who disrupted the Vermont House this spring, in an effort to spur our representatives to greater

Kelsey: Swimming Toward Mental Health

Jun 20th, 2019 2m 10s

I took up swimming to get my body in shape, and only later discovered that it would also exercise my mind. I struggle with anxiety and depression, and exercise is known to lift moods by releasing endorphins in the body. Whether I'm ruminating o

Levin: Naming Honors

Jun 19th, 2019 2m 30s

At the top of my recommended summer reading list is a book called Mrs. Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names , by Stephen Moss. For a life-long naturalist like me, it's a treasure trove of linguistic history and trivia.

Vogel: The F-35 Noise Dispute

Jun 18th, 2019 2m 32s

In 1787, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison wrote a series of articles called the Federalist Papers in order to persuade citizens in the newly formed United States to adopt the U.S. Constitution. Madison argued passionately that ad

Mares: The Running Mate Game

Jun 17th, 2019 2m 21s

While co-authoring a recent book about Vermont and presidential politics, I come up with an idea that could neatly shorten the Democratic selection process for 2020 – and it merely involves a simple change in the nominating procedure. It would

Watts: Autonomous Vehicles

Jun 13th, 2019 2m 33s

One of the most important bills that passed this session - S-149 – is probably one you never heard of. It's the new law that sets out guidelines for testing autonomous or driverless vehicles.

Albright: Muddy Roads

Jun 12th, 2019 2m 23s

In summer, our road up Jewell Hill fits the name. It's a gem of a path running along a meadow – and to my eye, it's much more attractive than any strip of blacktop. But last winter, for a time I literally couldn't get home. The nasty brew of sn

Markowitz: A View From Above

Jun 11th, 2019 2m 19s

When I fly into Vermont I enjoy having a birds-eye view of the landscape. We can learn a lot about the health of the environment from that height. But, this May when I looked out the window, I was alarmed. From thousands of feet up, it was easy

Henningsen: Each One Teach One

Jun 10th, 2019 2m 38s

Vermont's mountains were in tough shape. Delicate ecological areas like the arctic-alpine zones on Mansfield and Camel's Hump were being pounded by tens of thousands of Vibram-soled boots or devastated by indiscriminate camping and fires. Fifty