Brave Little State

A conversation with poet Rajnii Eddins about using “courageous vulnerability” to navigate the darkness.Find a photo of Rajnii and the lyrics to the poems he reads in this episode at bravelittlestate.org.This is the fifth installment of Homegoings, a series from Brave Little State that features conversations about BIPOC art and experience in Vermont. 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. Myra Flynn produced and mixed this episode, and composed the music.Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

We journey into the weird world of Vermont's favorite jam band, to explore the culture of "phandom” and Phish’s early roots in our brave little state.In our 100th episode, Ethan Weinstein of South Woodstock asks: “Why do people like Phish? And how did they become such a big part of Vermont music culture?”Warning: There’s a bit of profanity in this episode, and some discussion of drugs and drug culture.To see photos of Phish from their early Vermont days, check out our web feature. We’ve also got a whole Phish starter kit with links to other great resources to further your Phish education.Music featured in this episode, in order of appearance: “Gotta Jibboo” by Phish “Ghost” by Phish “Hardboil” by Blue Dot Sessions “Sargento” by Blue Dot Sessions “Halley’s Comet” by Phish “Trois Gnossiennes 3” by Blue Dot Sessions “Wilson” by Phish “The Queen of Cones” by Blue Dot Sessions “Tyrano Theme” by Blue Dot Sessions “The Curtain With” by Phish “Maldoc” by Blue Dot Sessions “Auld Lang Syne” covered by Phish “Leaves” by Phish “Cran Ras” by Blue Dot Sessions 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! Josh Crane reported and produced this episode, with editing and digital production from Myra Flynn and Angela Evancie. Mix and sound design by Josh Crane. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music. Thanks to Phish Inc. for permission to use some of the band’s music. Special thanks also to Jonathan Heller, Billy Glassner, Paul Brill, Stephanie Jenkins, Jay Curley, Anne Rothwell, Jenn Moore, Beth Montuori Rowles, Anna Van Dine, Mary Engisch, Peter Engisch, Laura Schoenfeld, Steve Zind, Patti Daniels, Chris Albertine, John Van Hoesen, Mitch Wertlieb, Alex Burns and everyone who left a voicemail on our Phish hotline. That’s Chris, Chris, Christina, Jonathan, Jim, Antonia, Ron, Philip, Andy, Stephanie, Molly, Robb, Shannon, Bryant and Nina.Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

Question-asker Chris Jacobsen of Norwich grew up eating the renowned pancakes at Eaton’s Sugar House in Royalton. Brave Little State reporter Myra Flynn did too. They team up for our first true crime episode to explore the mysterious circumstances surrounding the fire that burned down a delicious Vermont institution. See photos of the Eaton's fire — and remains — in our web feature.If you have any information about the Eaton’s fire, you can call the Vermont Arson Tip Award Program at 1-800-32-ARSON. That’s 1-800-322-7766.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! This episode was reported and produced by Myra Flynn. Mix and sound design by Myra Flynn. Editing and digital production by Angela Evancie and Josh Crane. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. A very special thanks to Mark Davis.Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

A joint investigation into a growing rental empire finds a pattern of neglect — and reveals how ill-equipped Vermont is to oversee the quality and safety of some of the state's most affordable housing.VPR's Liam Elder-Connors and Seven Days' Derek Brouwer join us to discuss their reporting. Read the story here: Roaches and broken locks: Mark and Rick Bove’s growing empire of affordable rentals vexes code enforcers Read Mark Bove's letter to the editor in Seven Days: Bove Family Responds 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 produced by Angela Evancie, with help from Josh Crane and Myra Flynn. The investigation was edited by VPR's Mark Davis and Seven Days' Matthew Roy. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

As we enter the darkest season of the year, you may be wondering: Why do we have to fall back and spring ahead? And is there anything that can be done about it?That’s what Olga Ardova of Georgia asked us.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 Bob Kinzel and produced by Matthew Smith, and our BLS team: Josh Crane, Myra Flynn and Angela Evancie. Special thanks to Mitch Wertlieb. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

To answer this question from Dean Lehrke of Kansas, reporter Elodie Reed travels to the Northeast Kingdom to explore the ways that isolated Amish families have become fixtures in their Vermont community.Elodie also draws on her own experiences growing up in Christian Science — a different culturally isolated community — to better understand Amish practices and Amish beliefs that go against convention. 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 Elodie Reed and produced by Josh Crane. Mix and sound design by Myra Flynn. Editing and digital production by our team. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

To answer this question from Robert Small of Stannard, we take stock of not one, not two, but three pharmaceuticals currently in development.This episode features reporting from Sue Halpern, who coincidentally answered Robert’s question for The New Yorker in August: Why It Took So Long to Develop a Vaccine for Lyme Disease. More recommended reading: The Lyme Vaccine That Got Away (from The New Republic’s podcast The Politics of Everything) Where’s My Lyme Vaccine? (from Slate) Finally, a Shot to Prevent Lyme Disease Could Be on Its Way (from Outside — heads up, this one’s behind a paywall) 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 and produced by Angela Evancie, with help from Josh Crane. Mix and sound design by Josh Crane, and digital production by Myra Flynn. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions and Myra Flynn.Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

Call us rivals, or frenemies...But where does this half-serious tension come from? Ian Harding of Los Angeles asked us to break it down.Check out our 2017 episode about how some of the differences between Vermont and New Hampshire stem from our geology, and go back literally hundreds of millions of years. As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it! Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for our free BLS newsletter Make a gift to support people-powered journalism

In the latest installment of a Brave Little State tradition, we journey to the back roads of Vermont to learn about three mystifying road and place names: Cow Path 40 in Marlboro, Agony Hill Road in Reading, and Texas Falls in Hancock.Check out bonus content, including maps and photos of the roads in question, at bravelittlestate.org.As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it! Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for our free BLS newsletter Make a gift to support people-powered journalism

A listener's request about the legacy of Tropical Storm Irene prompted us to tell three stories about resilience — personal, entrepreneurial and spiritual. Check out bonus content, including photos of the Graham-Frock family, the Woodlawn Cemetery project, and other people and places from this episode, at bravelittlestate.org.As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it! Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for our free BLS newsletter Make a gift to support people-powered journalism