Brave Little State

Vermont has been a popular destination for those who’ve relocated during the pandemic. But, how are they doing? We check in with some who made the move to see how they’re adjusting to their new lives. Check out our website for photos of the newcomers featured in this story.This episode was reported by Myra Flynn, who also did the mix and sound design. Additional production and editing from the rest of the BLS team: Angela Evancie and Josh Crane. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions, Jay Green and Myra Flynn.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.bravelittlestate.org

We’ve been hearing a lot about the housing shortage in Vermont, and how hard it is for people to buy homes right now. For this episode, we’re flipping the script. Imagine that you’ve not only found your dream house, but you’ve lived in it for years and made it just so. Maybe it’s even paid off. Now, as you get older and more comfortable in your house, the looming question becomes … How long can you stay there? To access the many resources we mention in this episode, check out our web feature. Some highlights: The Community of Vermont Elders' “aging-in-Vermont” resource guide AARP's Long-Term Care Cost Calculator Vermont's Senior Help Line: 800-642-5119 This episode was reported by Nina Keck, and produced by Josh Crane. Mix and sound design by Josh Crane; editing and digital production by the rest of the BLS team: Angela Evancie and Myra Flynn. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.If you have story tips for Nina as she continues covering aging in Vermont, you can leave her a voicemail at 802-552-8899. Or send a letter to: PO Box 321, Pittsford, Vermont 05763.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.bravelittlestate.org

A question from Sam Leveston about a religion, and a people, who have often been overlooked. An answer in five chapters.To see photos from Josh Crane’s reporting and lots of additional resources about past and present Jewish life in Vermont, check out our web feature here. Special thanks to Bruce Post, Paul Carnahan, Kate Phillips, Sue Halpern, Rabbi Linda Motzkin, Rabbi Jonathan Rubenstein, Stacie Gabert, Mikaela Lefrak, Mary Engisch, and Robert Resnik. Thanks also to everyone who reached out to BLS on this topic: Thomas Hudspeth, Marc Estrin, Alison Novak, Alex Venet, Rachel Stoll, Selene Hofer-Shall, Jonah Ibson and Suzie Felber.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Josh Crane reported and produced this episode, and did the mix and sound design. Additional production and editing from the rest of the Brave Little State team: Angela Evancie, Myra Flynn and VPR News Fellow Marlon Hyde. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Myra Flynn, Blue Dot Sessions and the Nisht Geferlach Klezmer Band. Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.bravelittlestate.org

It’s a scary thought, to be sure. We discuss a few different apocalyptic scenarios, including some that have already begun. And, we test our social fitness: Just how neighborly would we be, really, if the world were ending?Check out the web version of this story here.Also recommended: In a food shortage, could Vermont farms feed the whole state? This episode was reported by VPR’s news fellow Marlon Hyde, and produced and mixed by Myra Flynn, with additional editing and support from the rest of the BLS team: Josh Crane and Angela Evancie. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Call our BLS hotline at 802-552-4880 Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.bravelittlestate.org

This year’s mud season is full-on. So, we compiled your questions about dirt roads and put them to Keith Gadapee, road foreman in Danville — the town with the most “dirt mileage” in Vermont.Also: How bad is it out there? You sent us photos from your own impassable roads. Check them out here.Thanks to everyone who recorded a question for this episode: Geoffrey Bok, Michele Morris, Coco Moseley, Jackie Spain, Rich Grogan, Amanda Scull, Nancy Wilson, Steve Gladstone and Ed Green.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Lead production, mix and sound design by Angela Evancie, with support from the Brave Little State team: Josh Crane, Myra Flynn and VPR news fellow Marlon Hyde. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.bravelittlestate.org

A conversation with three teenagers about history and hope, featuring your questions about being young, Black and new American in Vermont in 2022. These teens performed in “The Listen Up Project,” an original musical based on interviews with hundreds of teenagers across Vermont. The show toured across the state in summer 2021.Find music, original artwork and video related to this episode here.This is the sixth installment of Homegoings, a series from Brave Little State that features conversations with Vermont artists of color. Find the full series here. Have a recommendation for a future Homegoings interview? Get in touch with our team by emailing hello@bravelittlestate.org.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Vote on which question we should answer next Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Homegoings is a production of Vermont Public Radio, created by the Brave Little State team: Josh Crane, Angela Evancie and Myra Flynn, with help from Elodie Reed, Marlon Hyde and Peter Engisch. Myra Flynn produced and mixed this episode, and composed the theme music. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Thanks to Bess O'Brien & Kingdom County Productions.Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

Amanda Calder of Winooski asked us what it would look like if we raised money for our schools in a totally different way. It’s a hypothetical some lawmakers want to turn into a reality.Amanda asked: “What would it look like if the taxes we had to pay for education were based on income rather than property value, with an equal tax on capital gains income?”Check out the web version of this story here, featuring photos and further reading.ICYMI: Check out VPR’s feature from 2018: The Shift: Collecting School Taxes From Paychecks Instead Of Property.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Peter Hirschfeld reported this episode. Lead production, mix and sound design by Angela Evancie, with additional production and editing from the Brave Little State team: Josh Crane, Myra Flynn and Marlon Hyde. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to everyone who reached out to share their thoughts on this topic, including Maggie, Jonathan, Bob, Caleb and Michael.Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.bravelittlestate.org

A question from Dani Gagnon of Montpelier leads VPR’s Mikaela Lefrak to find out why Vermont’s housing crunch has become a crisis — and what people are doing about it.Check out the web version of this story here, featuring photos and further reading.ICYMI: Our 2019 episode about Vermont’s housing crunch.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! This episode was reported by Mikaela Lefrak who’s also the host of VPR’s Vermont Edition, with editing by Josh Crane, Angela Evancie and Myra Flynn. Myra Flynn produced and mixed this episode. Digital production by Josh Crane. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Liam Elder-Connors and to all the Vermonters who shared their housing stories with us, including Emily, Sam, Dennis, Molly, Shane, Ross and Joslyn.Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

When question-asker Kate Phillips moved to Vermont, she was surprised to find three different food co-ops within driving range of her place. She then received a notice from her new electric company – yet another co-op. So, she started to wonder: What is the history of co-ops in Vermont? Why are they so successful here?VPR reporter (and former co-op manager) Howard Weiss-Tisman visits the oldest food co-op in the country and digs into the Vermont Historical Society archives to get to the bottom of Vermont's co-op boom. Check photos from our reporting here.Mentioned in the episode: “Everyone Welcome? Personal Narratives about Race and Food Co-ops” (from Columinate) The Rochdale Pioneers (from the International Cooperative Alliance) The Co-op Movement, 1919 (from the Vermont Historical Society) “Turning on the Lights: Electricity Comes to Rural Vermont, 1943” (from the Vermont Historical Society) This episode was reported by Howard Weiss-Tisman and produced by Josh Crane. Mix and sound design by Josh Crane. Editing and digital production by Angela Evancie and Myra Flynn. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Alex Burns, Regina Thompson and Elise Graeves and Kate Phillips. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Vote on which question we should answer next Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio. bravelittlestate.org

Food scraps have been banned from Vermonters’ trash since July of 2020. Question-asker Bella Fearn wants to know: How’s that going?To answer Bella’s question we check out one of the biggest composting operations in the state, and one of the smallest. And for those of you who need a confidence boost to try backyard composting, we get a pep talk from an urban homestead in the heart of Winooski.Check out a video and photos from our reporting here.Mentioned in the episode: Learn about Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law: vtrecycles.com Contact your solid waste district: 802recycles.com From the BLS archive: What happens to Vermont’s recycling? From Seven Days: Market to Farm: A New Food Waste Disposal Method Raises Fears That Microplastics Will Taint Fields This episode was reported, produced and mixed by Angela Evancie and Myra Flynn, with editing help from Josh Crane and engineering support from Peter Engisch. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music, other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Matt Stuart, Krystyna Oszkinis, Ham Gillett, Mary O’Brien, Lexi Krupp, Bob Kinzel, Kyle Ambusk, Mike Dunn and Brian Stevenson.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Vote on which question we should answer next Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Twitter, Instagram and reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio. bravelittlestate.org