There's No "A" in Creemee

Post-election edition! Joanna and Andy crack open beers at a brewery in the Islands to unpack a huge night for Vermont Democrats: a House supermajority regained, four Senate pickups, and Molly Gray winning LG by 26. We score our election predictions (Andy wins), check how this season’s guests fared, and debate whether Democrats won or Republicans lost, and why gloating won’t hold voters in 2028. P...

Our pre-election season finale is a West Wing style Big Block of Cheese episode! Joanna and Andy hand the mic to six downballot candidates who aren’t getting the coverage they deserve: Phoebe Tucker, Caroline Bright, Rep. Jonathan Cooper, Orange County Sheriff candidate Jacob Held, Kim Gleason, and Dylan Morse. Each one takes our speed round on school mergers, universal primary care, second home t...

We head to Danville to sit down with David Roth , Democratic candidate for Caledonia's State Senate seat, in his sugar shack on one of George Cary’s historic sugarbushes. Over rum-barrel-aged syrup, David makes the case against forced school closures, calls for getting school funding off the property tax, and talks maple co-ops, community pharmacies, Act 181, and the St. Johnsbury Reset. In our op...

Addison County Senate candidate Hannah Sessions of Blue Ledge Farm joins us to talk about why she finally said yes to running, how her Unitarian Universalist faith keeps her grounded, and why farmers need a seat at the table. We dig into Act 181 and land conservation, current use, distributor consolidation and the rise of food hubs, tariffs, small schools, town nurses, and universal primary care....

Molly Gray returns to the pod for the home stretch of the Lt. Governor’s race. She talks growing up on her family’s vegetable and dairy farm, the crisis facing Vermont dairy, universal primary care, a model zoning code for rural towns, and why she still shakes her milk. Plus: flannel on Statehouse Style and gas station pickles. In our opener, a new poll shows a dead heat for governor, Bernie final...

Attorney General Charity Clark returns for an exclusive conversation on why prosecutors can't play favorites, and the backlash from fellow Democrats over the decision to prosecute ICE protestors. She also breaks down the historic $92.7M Meta settlement, 73 lawsuits against the Trump administration, and a new know-your-rights guide for protesting legally. In our opener: sheep invade Burlington High...

Lieutenant Governor John Rogers joins us to talk about growing up on a dairy farm, his masonry business, and his journey from Democrat to Republican. We dig into affordability, net metering, Act 250, the trades workforce, supervisory unions, universal health care, and the secret behind his "maroon" blazer. In the opener: a Creemee shortage (thanks, ICE), Andy finally gets his moose and goes to war...

Season 3 is here! Andy and Joanna open with Andy's up-close bear encounter before digging into this election season’s big questions and why they're stepping back from a strictly partisan lens. Then Franklin County Democratic Chair and House candidate Zach Scheffler joins to talk about the challenges of running in a district dominated by the opposing party, what's different from his 202...

We are back next week with the best, and most fun, political coverage in Vermont. New guests, new takes, Andy & Joanna’s classic camaraderie — and this time we're going all in on the election. Here’s a fall preview of Vermont’s hit political podcast, There’s No “A” in Creemee. Don’t forget to like & subscribe here and on Substack at open.substack.com/pub/theresnoaincreemee .

Joanna and Andy drop in the booth fresh off the Vermont Democratic primary. She and Andy get into the strange grief of running for office: the sleepless nights, the dehumanization, the artificial turf question that wouldn't die, and the freedom of being a private citizen again. They cover the results, Republican infiltration of the Democratic primary, the numbers and more. Plus: a Free Press h...

It's hot in the Skate Shack, Joanna's glasses are fogging up, and we're running on fumes — welcome to our last episode before the primary. Andy takes the agenda for once and Joanna delivers a much-needed PAC 101 : what an IE PAC actually is, how coordinating PACs differ, and how independent expenditures can sometimes backfire on the very candidates they're boosting. Plus: a campaig...

Joanna and Andy are back in the Skate Shack for early voting stickers, a discouraged electorate, and an honest look at how the same propaganda tactics that fueled MAGA are now creeping into the left. Plus: AG Charity Clark's 50th birthday bash for Joanna (with mandatory singing), a full recap of the summer creemee tour and a rebroadcast of Joanna's original campaign launch episode. #Theres...

Joanna and Andy open with rescue stories, cross the 3,000-doors mark, and get real about the exhausting world of how special interests can monopolize candidate time. Plus: fresh UNH poll numbers, journalism vs. content, and a look into the equity issues baked into lawn signs. Then, as part of our pre-primary top races rebroadcast series, we revisit our conversation with Lieutenant Governor candida...

Andy and Joanna kick off giggly as ever, fresh off Andy hosting Lt. Gov. candidate Molly Gray for an islands tour — bagels, senior housing, a 1820s meeting house, and a proud town clerk's vault. Joanna opens up about the South Burlington forum blowup and reflects on the gap between voters fighting for basic needs and a loud minority fixated on issues far from the district. Then it's a fiel...

Description: Back in the Skate Shack, video and all! Andy and Joanna talk about their bucket-list campaign retreat hike up Mount Mansfield (bad birders, great views) and a few more key takeaways from the UNH poll. Joanna also shares a candid take on a forum that went off the rails and why librarians should moderate every debate. Plus, a visit to the Morning Drive studio. Then, as part of our prima...

Andy and Joanna recap a Fourth of July full of Williston parade antics (ice-flinging Nordic skiers included), Andy's strong approval rating with dogs and children, and meeting campaign trail royalty in Richmond. They dig into the new UNH poll shaking up the Governor and Lt. Governor races — plus this week's best troll comeback. Since time is short on the trail, we're rebroadcasting our...

Joanna and Andy continue their Chittenden County State's Attorney series with incumbent Sarah George, who makes the case for re-election after nine-plus years in the role. Sarah demystifies what a state's attorney actually does, then digs into the perception gap on public safety downtown, the local response to ICE, and the new accountability docket that finally cleared Burlington's COV...

Chittenden County's race for State's Attorney is heating up. Bram Kranichfeld, current Franklin County State's Attorney, joins us to dig into what the job actually entails, his case for better criminal justice outcomes, cash bail, accountability court, and where prosecutors must draw the line on ICE and politicized charging decisions. In the opener, Joanna opens up about a missed endor...

Joanna and Andy welcome Megan Metzler, chair of the Champlain Valley School District Board and vice president of the Vermont School Board Association, for a deep dive into Vermont's education funding crisis. Megan unpacks the foundation formula, why it doesn't work for Chittenden County, the $60 million that could be pulled from the county's schools, and why school boards have had to b...

Joanna and Andy welcome Ryan Kriger — former Vermont and FTC privacy attorney, now Deputy Chief of Privacy at the Massachusetts AG's office — for a deep dive into one of the defining issues of our digital age. Ryan breaks down what data brokers actually are, why HIPAA doesn't protect as much of your health data as you think, how states like Vermont are stepping up where the federal governm...

Anika Heilweil from the Public Assets Institute stops by to break down Vermont's Fair Share campaign — a push to recapture a portion of the massive federal tax cuts headed to the wealthiest Vermonters under HR-1. Anika explains why 80% of Vermonters support increased taxes on the wealthy, why the bill stalled in the statehouse, and what the data actually show on tax flight. In our opener, Joanna g...

Joanna and Andy sit down with Maura Collins, Executive Director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, for a deep dive into Vermont's housing crisis. Maura explains how VHFA moves Wall Street money to Vermonters, why Vermont median home prices are nearly 5x median income, and why $450 million in tax-exempt bond money sits unused while 850 apartments could be built today. Plus: the post-2008 ru...

The mic takeover continues as Owen Foster and Charity Clark take the wheel and put Joanna and Andy through a delightfully rigorous Vermont quiz — dairy cows, state mottos, switchel, the Vermont wave, and a pronunciation segment that exposes who truly drops their T's. Before the buzzer sounds, the group digs into Vermont's most stubborn challenges — education, housing, healthcare, and affor...

It's our podiversary! For this special anniversary episode, we hand the mics to two fan favorites — Attorney General Charity Clark and Green Mountain Care Board Chair Owen Foster — who turn the tables and interview Joanna and Andy. We cover the podcast's scrappy origin story (yes, the bike shop), the thinking behind the name, Vermont's shrinking media landscape, the cultural problem of...

On this Double Scoop episode, Joanna and Andy catch up on all the political and policy news fit to podcast. We survived another week on the doors — rained on, recognized by a fan, and mourning two beloved pod mascots: Chester and Chuck. Then it's statehouse time. We ponder if legislators can handle devices better than high school students. Also, the governor is threatening to shut down Vermont...