Vermont Edition

Bernie Sanders is one of our country’s most famous senators. He’s run for president, has stood up to oligarchs, and even became a mitten-wearing meme. Before all that, he was Mayor Sanders, of Burlington, where he served from 1981 to 1989.A new book, Bernie for Burlington: The Rise of the People's Politician, covers that pivotal time of change in the Queen City. The author, poet and professor Dan Chiasson, is a Burlington native and weaves in many personal anecdotes about his hometown. 

Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described the U.S.'s current posture towards its trade allies as a "rupture." U.S. President Donald Trump fired back, threatening new tariffs on its northern neighbor.Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum is viewed by many as a landmark moment in the rapidly shifting relationship between the U.S., Canada, and the international community writ large.A year into Trump's second presidency, and nearly a year into Carney's leadership, we asked listeners from both Quebec and Vermont how they are feeling about the tensions between the two nations. Vermont Edition teamed up with our friends at the CBC's Radio Noon and their host Shawn Apel for this conversation. We also heard from Newport, VT Mayor Rick Ufford-Chase to hear how the Canadian boycott of the U.S. has affected his town. Broadcast live on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

During the legislative session, Vermont’s Statehouse is usually full of heated debate, gaveling and other sounds of lawmaking. But on Wednesday nights, legislators cede the dais to musicians and artists for the Farmers Night series. David Schutz, Vermont’s longtime state curator, joins Vermont Edition to look back at the origins of the series. Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone (D-Burlington) shares a preview of this year’s lineup and talks about the value of bringing the arts directly to the House Chamber. The 2026 Farmers Night series continues through April 8 and takes place on Wednesday nights at 7:30 p.m. at the Vermont Statehouse. Performances are free and open to the public.Then, noted Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye is headed to Putney’s Yellow Barn for a performance that weaves together poetry and music. Nye joins the show, along with Yellow Barn’s executive director Catherine Stephan.Naomi Shihab Nye will perform alongside musicians Daniel Chong, Jessica Bodner and Daniel Anastasio on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 3:00 p.m. Admission is free, but advance registration is recommended.Broadcast live on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Vermont’s state legislators remain divided on the need for mandated district consolidation.

More than 12,000 Vermonters make their living as farmers. 41% percent of them are women. And while you can read lots of the articles about the agricultural industry, sometimes the best way to really capture a changing industry is through a photograph. The work of our region’s female farmers has been memorialized in black-and-white by the Plymouth-based photographer JuanCarlos Gonzalez. His series, Vermont Female Farmers, has been showcased at museums and gallery spaces across Vermont and in Boston. Its next stop is the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro, where Gonzalez's photographs will be on view from late February through late March.Gonzalez and two of the women featured in the series join us to talk about the long legacy of women farmers in Vermont. Emily von Trapp owns von Trapp Flowers, a year-round flower farm in Waitsfield, and Jennifer Rodriguez owns Triple J Pastures, a livestock and vegetable farm in Irasburg.But first we talk with meteorologist Mark Breen at the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury about the upcoming weekend of extreme cold. Broadcast live on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

There are a few different types of people when it comes to winter. There are migrators — the snowbirds, the Florida folk. There's the active bunch — the ones who, when you complain about winter, they cry out, "But have you even tried cross country skiing?" And then there are the hibernators — the bookworms, stew cookers, knitters and tea drinkers.Animals' winter survival strategies fall along similar lines. On Wednesday a trio of animal experts guided Vermont Edition listeners on a tour of our ecosystem in winter. We've compiled some of their best facts about overwintering, alongside stories from listeners.The guests were: Ash Kerby-Miller, a staff naturalist at North Branch Nature Center, Sophie Mazowita, a consulting naturalist, educator, and wildlife tracker from Jeffersonville, and Gregory Pask, an insect chemical ecologist and associate professor of biology at Middlebury College."In our human experience of winter, it's a very tough time for a lot of us," Kerby-Miller said. "But for some animals, we are at the southern end, the warm end, of their range, and this is just a perfectly comfortable place for them."Broadcast live on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Mental health struggles and high suicide rates in the construction industry

Each month, Vermont Edition takes a deep dive into one Vermont town or city and learns what makes it special. At the end of the hour, a guest helps us randomly select our next location by spinning our big colorful county wheel. For the latest in our Town by Town series, we head to Swanton, in Franklin County, for a live broadcast from the Swanton Public Library. Swanton is known for the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge, its ancient history of human settlement, its close proximity to the Canadian border, its historic railroad station, and much more.

Over the past year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made many changes in federal health guidelines. Some of his biggest shakeups relate to vaccinations. Last week the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – the CDC – scaled back its childhood vaccine guidelines for six different immunizations, including flu and RSV.This hour we’re joined by Vermont’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Rick Hildebrant. He talks us through the recent federal-level changes to vaccine policy, and how those policies interact with state-level guidelines. We’ll also learn more about this year’s flu season and what you can do to keep yourself and your family healthy this winter.Dr. Hildebrant became the commissioner on Oct. 13, 2025. Formerly, he held several leadership roles at Rutland Regional Medical Center. He did his residency in internal medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock and is a clinical assistant professor at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine. Then, we'll talk with Era MacDonald, founder and director of the Merrymac Farm Sanctuary about her work saving animals and a new accreditation that will enable them to save even more. Broadcast live on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Ski season is not immune to the impacts of climate change. This seasonal activity and other outdoor leisure activities will require adaptation to withstand warming Northeast winters. Dr. Caitlin Hicks Pries, associate professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College, discusses her research on the surprising ecosystem impacts of snow loss. The Appalachian Mountain Club has also been studying how winter climate change is affecting outdoor leisure pursuits in the region, and their director of research Dr. Sarah Nelson shares what they've learned. We also hear from Dick Dreissigacker, co-director of Craftsbury Outdoor Center, on the center's unusual strategy for securing early-season snow.Broadcast live on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

This legislative session, lawmakers are working on addressing the state’s housing shortage by continuing to reform the state's permitting and land use laws.This work began in 2024 with the passage of Act 181, which made significant changes to Vermont's signature land use law, known as Act 250. Act 181 divides the state into three tiers, each with different requirements for development. The new law places more of an emphasis on the location of the project rather than the project’s size.A roundtable of guests discussed Act 181 as well as future legislative changes to spur housing development: Miro Weinberger, executive chair of Let’s Build Homes and the former mayor of Burlington; Kati Gallagher, sustainable communities program director at the Vermont Natural Resources Council; and Zeke Davisson, the chief operating officer of Summit Properties. Plus, Rep. Laura Sibilia, an Independent from Dover, discussed her concerns about Act 181's impact on rural communities. 

Plus, a conversation with Green Mountain Care Board's Owen Foster 

Publishing a book can take many forms. Some may be published with large corporations in New York City while other books are self-published. Another option for writers to consider is publishing with a small, independent press. Samantha Kolber, owner and publisher of Rootstock Publishing in Montpelier, and Dede Cummings, owner and publisher of Green Writers Press in Brattleboro, tell us about the economics of publishing a book, soup to nuts, and how they work with new authors.Former New Hampshire Public Radio host Laura Knoy published her debut historical fiction novel, The Shopkeeper of Alsace, last year with Bedazzle Ink Publishing. She shared with us her perspective as a new author and why an independent press was the best choice for her. 

Vermont’s state lawmakers are back in Montpelier for the new legislative session. They’ll pick up where they left off last June: trying to reform education, lower property taxes and make health care more affordable and accessible.Today on Vermont Edition, we're live from inside the golden dome of the Vermont Statehouse. First, we'll check in with legislative leaders Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth and Republican Minority Leader Scott Beck.We'll hear from the chairs of two powerful committees: Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, a Democrat from Brattleboro and the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes our taxes, and Rep. Alyssa Black, a Democrat from Essex, and the chair of the House Committee on Health Care. We’ll also talk with Rep. Ashley Bartley, a Republican from Franklin County who has teamed up with a Burlington Democrat to address economic issues.And we'll close the hour with two of the newest members of the legislative page program: Eilidh Corbett, an eighth grader at Main Street Middle School in Montpelier, and Liam Chase, an eighth grade student at Barre Town School.Broadcast live on Tuesday, January 6th, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Following the US attack on Venezuela and the capture of it's president and first lady, we're joined by Rep. Becca Balint to get her thoughts on what's transpired and what's ahead. We are also joined by Vermont State Rep. Troy Headrick, an Independent, who has introduced legislation related to the state's involvement in Federal deployment of the Vermont Air National Guard. We'll also hear from a political science professor of international law and counterterrorism, Stephon Boatwright of St. Michael's University, to get his take on the Trump administration's legal argument for the attack. And, Global News Canada Reporter Dan Spector tells us the reactions he's witnessed from the Venezuelan community in Montreal. 

On this last day of the year, we’re following up on three Vermont Public stories from 2025. We hear from Vermont Public’s Nina Keck about her consistent reporting on adult day programs throughout the state. We also sit down with Father Brian Cummings of Saint Anne’s Shrine. Father Brian was in Rome this past April when Pope Francis passed away. We spoke to him the very day the new conclave began, and we’ll get his thoughts on Pope Leo’s tenure thus far.But first, we revisit a story from September, not about Catholicism, per say, but involving God nonetheless. And however unlikely it may sound, an outhouse. Vermont Public reporter Howard Weiss-Tisman shares the story of a historic church in Windsor County that was built in the early 19th century. Nearly 200 years later there is still no plumbing. But now, there’s a space to relieve oneself and enjoy a service, wedding, or memorial in greater comfort.

"Decision Making in the Age of Plastics"

The city of Rutland sometimes gets a bad rap, but residents say there’s a side of the city that people often overlook. The team at Brave Little State recently solicited questions from a live event in Rutland and the winning question centers on why Rutland is made to feel like the ugly child.

The American Chestnut tree once dominated forests in the Eastern US. That is, until a blight nearly wiped it out. Now, scientists and volunteers are trying to bring back these towering trees.Today on Vermont Edition, we’ll listen back to a show from this summer about chestnut restoration efforts in the Northeast. Scientists are developing and planting blight-resistant American chestnuts around our region.Then, what’s more majestic than a tree so big you can’t even wrap your arms around it? Through Vermont’s Big Tree Program, you can search a map of the state’s largest trees, like a massive white pine in Corinth or a beautiful paper birch in Canaan.

Vermont’s Air National Guard and F-35A fighter jets have arrived in Puerto Rico. They’ve been deployed as part of Operation Southern Spear — a build-up of U.S. forces in the region targeting Venezuela and the Maduro regime.Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) joins us to weigh in on the deployment. He’s spoken out against President Donald Trump’s actions against Venezuela.Stephon Boatwright, a St. Michael’s College professor of international relations and political science, shares his perspective on the legality of recent U.S. actions in the Caribbean. And Peter Ladensack, a former guardsman, explains what it’s like when a unit mobilizes. He has firsthand experience — he was deployed to Afghanistan with the Vermont Army National Guard.