There's No "A" in Creemee

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...

Andy returns from his birthday moose expedition to the Northeast Kingdom. Joanna makes a shocking confession about creemees. Plus, a teaser of the all-star cast for the upcoming pod-iversary. On the policy front: the Vermont ticket scalping bill hits snags in Senate Economic Development (even with a Noah Kahan endorsement), Act 181's Road Rule and Tier 3 look headed for full repeal, and H-955...

Joanna kicks off the episode fresh from the campaign trail — and with a fresh set of trolls. Meanwhile, there's a big win to celebrate: the Act 250 commission has ruled in favor of the community again in the fight against Amazon. Then, Joanna and Andy sit down with Dr. Steve Leffler , the brand-new CEO of UVM Health and President of UVM Medical Center about the future of UVM medical. #TheresNo...

This week we kick things off with a holiday double-header — Passover at the Grossman/Cramer house and an epic Easter egg hunt at the Julows new addition. Joanna also shares what it felt like to finally be the candidate at the mic for the first time on Kurt Wright's show. Then things get a little more serious: the ongoing fight over Democratic Party neutrality in primaries, the memo, the apolog...

Joanna and Andy are back in double scoop mode — just the two of them — digging into a packed post-crossover moment at the Vermont Statehouse. They open with dispatches from the No Kings Rally, where Joanna emceed, Senator Becca White airdropped in and owned the mic for three minutes flat, and Joanna's 15-year-old Isa Cramer delivered a speech that brought down the house — and handled an interr...

Joanna and Andy open with a candid conversation about Democratic Party neutrality in primaries — and why the Vermont coordinated campaign's "buy-in" model undermines voter trust. Then Alex LeClair , CEO of Essex Physical Therapy, joins the pod to pull back the curtain on what it's actually like to run a small healthcare business in Vermont. Alex unpacks the authorization gauntlet that delays patie...

Joanna and Andy open with a St. Paddy's Day debrief — cement trucks, cold wind, and Andy's complicated relationship with foundation construction. Then it's into Act 73 territory: a CVU legislative breakfast where school board members laid out the math showing the foundation formula could slash Chittenden County school funding by 14% . Plus: Mets heartbreak, fantasy baseball drafts, and...

Joanna and Andy welcome Alison Novak , Seven Days education reporter and soon-to-be Reporter of the Year from the New England Newspaper and Press Association, for a deep dive into Vermont schools during a pivotal crossover week. They unpack the stalled implementation of Act 73, the fight over school choice and independent school funding, the lawsuits already in the pipeline, declining enrollment,...

We've got big news here on There's No "A" in Creemee.

We sit down with Ryan McLaren , longtime behind‑the‑scenes force in Vermont politics and now a candidate for Lieutenant Governor. We talk about what shaped him (including growing up in a 900‑square‑foot house in Essex Jct), what he's hearing from voters, and why he's running. Ryan digs into affordability, rebuilding trust with working Vermonters, the soft‑power weirdness of the LG’s office...

This week’s episode centers on a deep-dive conversation with Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak . We talk about: The intertwined crises of homelessness, mental health, and substance use—and why Burlington’s challenges are really Vermont’s challenges Community safety, media narratives, and what it actually means for Burlington to be ranked among the safest communities in the country Preparing fo...

This week Joanna and Andy start with a hard look at Vermont’s relationship to the federal government: the illegal detainments of Steven Tendo and Hussein Noor Hussein, the senate's confirmation of Michael Drescher to the Vermont Supreme Court, and what it means when federal power collides with Vermont values. They also spotlight the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund and why “every purchas...

We sit down with two incredible young organizers — Taylor Garner and Natalie Julow — for a conversation that’s equal parts inspo, reality check, and reminder that Vermont’s future is already rolling up its sleeves. Taylor and Natalie talk candidly about why they stepped up, what younger Vermonters are actually struggling with, and how affordability, voting access, democratic identity, and represen...

This week is a vt-poli sampler pack: three interviews, three locations, and at least three questionable wardrobe choices. We kick things off with friend of the pod Peter Booth , fresh from a nonviolent sit‑in at the Williston ICE facility. Peter walks us through what happened that day, and what it means that ICE’s East Coast targeting runs out of Chittenden County. Then we shift gears for some leg...

This episode of There’s No “A” in Creemee takes you back to the Vermont State House for a crash course in how the money actually moves. Joanna and Andy sit down with Representative Robin Scheu and Representative Tiffany Bluemle , the Appropriations Chair and Ranking Member whose committee keeps Vermont’s budget standing even when the federal government… doesn’t. From budget surpluses to spreadshee...

Welcome to our inaugural State of the Creemee State address! We break down Governor Scott’s speech, why Act 73 dominated the conversation, and what got left out—like housing, healthcare, and the future of Vermont’s young people. Andy shares a roof update, Joanna dreams of a Darn Tough sticker, and we ask: does Vermont still have its small-town magic? Plus, Last Licks serves up the goofy side of le...