Vermont Edition

Of all the touchy topics there are to talk about, class might be the thorniest of all. Today on Vermont Edition: Vermont Public's Erica Heilman tells us about her ongoing series examining economic differences in Vermont. New stories in her series What Class Are You drop this week. Then: we bring you a recent episode of the podcast Brave Little State/ Producer Burgess Brown explores what it’s like...

How local communities are working to save their general stores

July 1st, 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of civil unions in Vermont. This legal alternative to marriage was the first of its kind in the United States. In the Vermont Supreme Court case Baker v. Vermont , the court ruled that the state had no legal basis to discriminate against same-sex couples. If the legislature would not allow same-sex couples to get marriage licenses, lawmakers would have to...

Our region is home to celebrated poets from a wide variety of personal backgrounds. On this Vermont Edition, we revisit interviews with four local poets that we recorded in April to mark National Poetry Month.  Bianca Stone of Brandon reflects on her first year as Vermont’s poet laureate, Geof Hewitt of Calais tells us about the roots of slam poetry, Alexandria Hall explains how she carries her Ve...

What it's like being a first-term state lawmaker

Building queer community can be incredibly hard, when you’re facing forces like bigotry or intolerance. It can also be hard when you live in a place like Vermont, where there just aren’t a whole ton of people. Last week, our team went to The Barre Social Club to record a live panel discussion with Barre-area LGBTQ business owners and organizers who are trying to strengthen ties in Barre’s queer co...

Communities across our region are hosting Juneteenth celebrations this year. The federal holiday marks the end of slavery in the United States and honors Black history and culture. South Burlington recreation specialist Kate Likhite and state Sen. Joe Major of Hartford tell us about their communities' Juneteenth events. Then: two local authors share the stories behind their new books. In " The Gho...

More than 200 wildfires are currently burning in Canada. They are transforming forests, and becoming more intense and frequent due to climate change.  This hour we discuss how wildfires affect our landscapes, and how wildfire smoke affects air quality and our bodies. Our guests are David Grass , a senior environmental health manager at the Vermont Department of Health, and David Phillips , a Toron...

Navigating changes and challenges on Burlington's Church street

Rosemary Gladstar is said to be the Godmother of modern herbalism. In the latest installment of Vermont Edition At Home, Mikaela visited Gladstar at her house in Milton, Vermont. They discussed her roots in herbalism, from her childhood learning how to forage for food and medicine with her grandmother, to becoming the founder of a world renowned herbal retreat center in Vermont and founder of seve...

"The long term survival of life on earth has never really been in doubt...it's the survival of homo sapiens that has been in question." That stark reminder, or perhaps warning, comes from one of the central characters in the new novel by Vermont author Tim Weed called "The Afterlife Project." Guest host Mitch Wertlieb speaks with the Putney-based writer about what inspired his book--which blends e...

The birthrate in the United States is on the decline, and of all 50 states, Vermont’s fertility rate is the lowest. We'll listen to a recent episode of Vermont Public's podcast Brave Little State where reporter Nina Keck looks into a listener’s question about childlessness. Then, we'll be joined by sociology professor Amy Blackstone of the University of Maine, who researches why some people opt ou...

As Senate debates the budget, Vermont Sen. Peter Welch hopes "we kill the bill"

Summer reading: Ease into the season with these book recommendations

Vermont’s roadways are dotted with iconic green and gold markers. They tell stories of our region’s past. Today on Vermont Edition, the state’s Historic Preservation Officer tells us about the state’s newest historic markers, like the one for Devil’s Bowl Speedway, New England’s fastest dirt track, or another in Fayston for Ralph Waldo Ellison, author of the classic novel Invisible Man. Then, socc...

Electric vehicles – EVs – don’t emit pollutants into the air. That’s a good thing, if you’re focused on cutting emissions and curbing climate change. But they’re also often more expensive than gas cars, and the charging infrastructure along roads and highways isn’t fully built out yet. Considering these challenges, how do you get people to buy EVs? In Vermont, the Scott administration proposed a r...

Vermont’s legislative session was supposed to be over, but one massive and potentially historic bill will keep lawmakers in Montpelier longer than expected. That bill? Education reform. Today on Vermont Edition: a trio of local education reporters break down the ed reform debate. This bill seeks to fundamentally transform how Vermont schools are run and how they are funded. It could set class size...

Darn Tough. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Ben and Jerry’s. Ivy Computer. Verde Technologies. KORE Power Battery Cell Developers. What do all these businesses have in common? They either were, or still are, in the small town of Waterbury, Vermont.  Today on Vermont Edition: what makes this one town in Washington County a good home for growing companies? Our guests this hour have their theories. ...

Lake Memphremagog provides drinking water for around 200,000 Canadians, and recreation for countless Vermonters. It also faces serious environmental challenges.  Today on Vermont Edition: the fight to restore and protect the water quality of our region’s largest lakes. We’ll hear from a Quebec-based group about their effort to designate Memphremagog as a lake in crisis.  We’ll also talk with a sci...

First up, we're joined by Josh Wronski , the outgoing Executive Director of the Vermont Progressive Party to talk about his tenure there, what he learned in his nine years leading Vermont's third party, and how they should move forward. Then, Rep. Becca Balint joins us to talk about the Big Beautiful Bill, Medicaid cuts, the war in Gaza, impeachment, and U.S.-Canada relations. Lastly, it's our mon...

In the latest installment of our series, Vermont Edition At Home: The award-winning cartoonist Alison Bechdel chats with us from her home studio in Bolton. Alison Bechdel is one of the country’s most renowned cartoonists. Her graphic memoir Fun Home was turned into a Tony Award-winning musical. Her new graphic novel, Spent, is set in Vermont.

Spring is an annual rite of passage, a time of transition and regrowth. Some spend it gardening. Others reconnect with friends. And a few of us, like Vermont Edition's Mikaela Lefrak, derive actual joy from spring cleaning. Two professional home organizers joined Mikaela to share their best spring cleaning tips: Sarah Thompson of St. George and Amie Davis of Georgia, Vt. If you need an extra dose...

Sen. Phil Baruth on the state budget, property taxes, and the Trump Administration

Parts of our region are experiencing a very wet and muddy spring. For some, the rains bring up tough memories of the flooding of recent years. For some towns, the floods of 2023 and 2024 caused immense damage and upended lives. While we all hope 2025 doesn’t make this list, it’s better to be safe than sorry.  Here to to talk flood preparedness is the director of Vermont Emergency Management, Eric...

Today is Vermont Edition’s annual spring gardening show. Our guest is Charlie Nardozzi – gardening consultant extraordinaire, speaker, and TV and radio host. You can hear him on Sunday mornings right here on Vermont Public for All Things Gardening. This year's show was in front of a live audience at Vermont Public’s Colchester studio.