The Deeper Dig

We sent our politics reporter Kit Norton to D.C. for the first public impeachment hearing in the House Democrats' case against President Donald Trump. Here's what he saw.

Vermont cities and towns are deciding whether to join broad-ranging national litigation against companies accused of fueling the opioid crisis. But as Vermonters weigh their options alongside towns across the country, the stakes for local governments aren’t totally clear. Guests: Mark Latham (Vermont Law School), TJ Donovan (Vermont Attorney General), Stuart Hurd (Bennington Town Manager), David A...

A legislative task force is thinking about how Vermont should regulate the development of artificial intelligence. But no matter what they decide, groups around the state are already integrating the technology into what they do. Guests: Bruce Duncan (Terasem Movement Foundation), Grace Elletson (VTDigger), Bina48

While Vermont leaders tie themselves in knots trying to draw new people to the state, a group of Amish families has quietly left Pennsylvania and Ohio to build a new community in the Northeast Kingdom. Guests: Molly Veysey (Old Stone House Museum), Dan McClure (Century 21 Farm & Forest), Anne Wallace Allen (VTDigger) [First published 10/26/18. We'll be back with a run of new episodes starting...

The Trump administration has announced a tentative deal with China that would delay new tariffs on imported goods. But one Vermont customs broker estimates that by the end of this year, businesses across the state will have already lost half a billion dollars due to the trade war. Guests: Ben Clark (Ann Clark Cookie Cutters), Jake Holzscheiter (A.N. Deringer), Anne Wallace Allen (VTDigger).

The former U.S. diplomat and Vermont politician, who's worked with Kurdish populations for decades, says he’s perplexed by President Trump’s motivation to greenlight Turkish strikes in northern Syria.

We’ve known for a while that the state’s population is stagnating. But new data compiled by VTDigger shows us exactly where Vermonters are going — whether they’re leaving the state or migrating within its borders. Their reasons for moving, though, are harder to pin down. Guests: Nate Hibler, Jill Mudgett (historian/researcher), Paul Costello (Vermont Council on Rural Development), Erin Petenko (VT...

Cyber weaponry has dramatically changed the national security landscape, New York Times correspondent David Sanger said last week during a live interview in Manchester with VTDigger editor Anne Galloway. "We have decided that it is so useful that like the drone, it will be used all the time," he said. "But we don't really have a real sense yet of how we're going to use it." Listen to the full prog...

As news of the dealings between President Trump and the Ukraine developed this week, Vermont's members of Congress — and its Republican governor — all spoke out in favor of an impeachment inquiry. What happens next is less clear.

The Ripton-based author and activist, whose organization is helping to plan this week's Global Climate Strike, says much has changed since his landmark debut, The End of Nature, was first published in 1989: “What was then a series of warnings is now a series of bulletins from the front lines of what feels more and more like a kind of war."

The first two F-35s in the Vermont Air National Guard’s new fleet of fighter jets are scheduled to arrive in Burlington by next Friday. But a coalition of protesters who have fought the basing for years continue to press the military to change course.

Federal officials billed the Opportunity Zone program, a vehicle for huge capital gains tax breaks, as a way to drive economic development in low-income communities. It holds potential for Vermont towns — but critics question whether the benefits will mostly go to the wealthy. Guests: Lola Duffort (VTDigger), Brady Meixell (The Urban Institute)

More than three years after PFOA contamination was discovered in Bennington, and four months after the state finished negotiating with the company responsible, residents are still dealing with the long-term impacts. Now, their grievances are at the center of a class action lawsuit in federal court.

Vermont’s Catholic Church has acknowledged seven decades of allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy — and the church’s role in covering up those accusations. What happens now?

Our *100th episode*: James Adomian got national attention for his outrageous Bernie Sanders impression during the senator’s first presidential run. With a new podcast and tour, he’s gearing up for round two.

When VTDigger reported last month on FirstLight’s use of banned Huawei equipment, the telecommunications company promptly retaliated by canceling an underwriting contract with the organization. But FirstLight has also taken action against a competitor, VTel, for its role in the story — a move state regulators are now questioning.

This week’s merger with Dairy Farmers of America will keep the doors open at the St. Albans Co-op, but observers say the industry’s struggles will continue.

The author breaks down his manifesto on why Vermont needs an activist government — and an activist public.

Prosecutor Sarah George's decision to dismiss three high-profile cases tipped off a debate about gaps in the state's mental health and criminal justice systems. Will it lead to real reforms?

Locals, researchers and state officials are optimistic that a new aeration system will curb the toxic algae blooms that have plagued Vermont's fourth-largest lake. But it may take years to find out. Guests: John Tucci (Everblue Lake Solutions), Peter Benevento (Lake Carmi Campers Association), Larry Myott (Lake Carmi Campers Association), Elizabeth Gribkoff (VTDigger)

The road to 2020 starts in Vermont’s backyard — and with the first primary debate coming up, some candidates appear farther down that road than others.

Researchers say tick density in Vermont this year is going from bad to worse. But patients fighting tick-borne illnesses say they're not getting much help from the state's medical establishment. Guests: Ellie French (VTDigger), Rachel Nevitt (Full Moon Farm), Bill Landesman (Green Mountain College)

Student activists around the state are leading conversations about racism — whether or not their communities are ready to talk about it.

AnC Bio Vermont was supposed to bring Korean biotech expertise to the Northeast Kingdom. But according to new federal fraud charges, the developers knew all along that the project wasn't meant to be.

Over thirteen days in a Burlington courtroom, jurors weighed graphic accounts of the crash that killed five teenagers against a case that the driver was experiencing psychosis. VTDigger's Alan Keays and Aidan Quigley recap the trial.