Brave Little State

Right now, there are around 150 Vermonters behind bars in Tutwiler, Mississippi. Question-asker Devon Kurtz is wondering: Why does the state send these men to a private prison more than a thousand miles away — especially since there's a vacant prison in Windsor, Vermont? Click here for the web version of this episode, including photos and a full transcript. And read an in-depth dispatch from Liam’s visit to Tutwiler here. RSVP to our upcoming event in Winooski!This episode was reported by Liam Elder-Connors. Editing and production from Sabine Poux, Burgess Brown, Alicia Freese and Josh Crane. Our intern is Sarah Bokelberg. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Zoe McDonald, Catherine Hurley and Tom Marsh.This episode was made possible with support from the Vermont Public Journalism Fund.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Inside a cavernous redemption warehouse in the Upper Valley, customers come to exchange bottles and cans for coins — and to see bottle-sorter Teera “Sweet T” Paye. We visited thanks to a question from Kevin Donohue of Thetford. He asked,“Who redeems bottles and cans in Vermont? Why are there so few places to do so?”Click here for photos and a full episode transcript. And here to sign up for the BLS newsletter!This episode was reported by Burgess Brown. Editing and additional production from Sabine Poux and Josh Crane. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Catherine Hurley and Marcie Gallagher.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

We all accumulate lots of … stuff. Increasingly, we’re cramming more of that stuff into self-storage facilities: those fields of metal lockers, arranged in neat, industrial rows. Join us as we explore the stuff — and stories — we usually keep stored away.Thanks to Chris Robbins of Middlebury for the great question.JOIN US! We’re headed to Northern Stage in White River Junction to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the show. We hope to see you there.Click here for photos and a full episode transcript.This episode was reported by Mikaela Lefrak. Editing and production from Sabine Poux, Josh Crane and Burgess Brown. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Carly Berlin. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Fire departments across the country are struggling to find volunteers. But in Norwich, new recruits are lining up. We spent a weekend at the firehouse to find out why.You can find the web version of this story here.This episode was reported by Josh Crane. Additional editing and production from Burgess Brown and Sabine Poux. Angela Evancie is our executive producer. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music from Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Camila Van Order Gonzales, Alex Warner, Chris Pike, Prescott Nadeau, Gerald Levesque, Ronald Morse and Michael Skaza.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Vermont has among the weakest forms of county government in the United States, placing a big burden on towns. Is there a better way forward?You can find the web version of this story here.Thanks to everyone who submitted questions about counties, including Gary Novosel of Addison County, Paul Hochanadel of Chittenden County and Michael Moser of Lamoille County.This episode was reported by Howard Weiss-Tisman and produced by Burgess Brown. Editing and additional production from Josh Crane and Sabine Poux. Angela Evancie is our executive producer. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music from Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Becca Golden, Alicia Freese, Catherine Hurley, Ted Brady, Cheryl Morse, Dona Brown, Chris Campany, Austin Davis, Carolyn Partridge, Grant Reynolds, Joyce McKeema and Peter Gregory.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Today, the origin story of the Appalachian Trail, which stretches more than 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia. But it was a peak in southern Vermont that inspired the idea of the trail in the first place. Thanks to one of our favorite podcasts, Off the Path, for sharing this story with us. Here’s a link to the original web post.For more stories from the trail, check out our episodes, “What’s it like to hike the Long Trail?” and “What’s the deal with Vermont’s fire towers?”This episode was reported and produced by Davis Dunavin at WSHU Public Radio. The Brave Little State team is Josh Crane, Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our Executive Producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Instagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Question-asker Manny recently got out of prison. He wants to learn about his options for transitional housing — a place where he could stay sober while readjusting to life outside a prison cell. It turns out, those options look very different today than they would have even a few years ago.To see photos from our reporting, check out the web version of this story here. This episode was reported by Carly Berlin and produced by Burgess Brown. Editing and additional production from the rest of the BLS team: Sabine Poux and Josh Crane. Our intern is Camila Van Order González. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Phil Edfors, Liam Elder-Connors, April McCullum, Susan Pullium, Glenn Russell, Paul Dragon, Tiffany Rich, Brenna Bedard, Jeff Moreau, Mary Verner, Jess Kirby, Jim Curran, and all the residents of the Burlington Dismas House.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Leave your grocery store apples at home and join our search for this most unusual Vermont fruit.For photos from our journey, check out the web version of our story here. And if you want to read up on apples, here are three books that were helpful in our research: Apples of Uncommon Character by Rowan Jacobsen (2014) The Illustrated History of Apples in the US and Canada by Daniel J. Bussey (2017) The Apples of New York by Spencer Ambrose Beach (1905) Thanks to Ben St. James of Barnet for the great question.This episode was reported by Sabine Poux. Editing and additional production from Burgess Brown and Josh Crane. Our intern is Camila Van Order González. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Catherine Morrissey, John Bunker, Ryan Yoder, Erin Robinson, Dan Bussey and Paige Heaverly.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

“There was this huge divide in, like, social grouping and connection … No one really talked to each other.”“Making friends at the high school wasn't really my priority because I felt like I had nothing in common with them at all.”“I think the closer we got to graduation, the more it kind of came out.” “Financial class absolutely affects everything beyond financial class in the classroom. Absolutely it does.”In this episode, a series of recent grads from Middlebury Union High School in Addison County wrestle with class differences among classmates — and how those differences shaped their experiences there.One of those grads is winning question-asker Ari Graham-Gurland from Middlebury, who asked the question at the heart of this story: “How does socioeconomic diversity affect classroom dynamics in high school?”Find the web version of this story here.This episode was reported by Sabine Poux, with editing and production from the rest of the BLS team: Burgess Brown, Camila Van Order González and Josh Crane. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Stephanie Sherman and Ariell Slater.As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

We took a full-day detour to answer this question from Heather Channon of South Burlington: "Who is using all of the park-and-ride lots?"We spent 12 straight hours (yes, you read that correctly) at one of the busiest park and rides in the state, on one of the busiest travel days of the year, to find out. This is the story of our day — and all the people we met along the way. Check out photos from our experience, and a full episode transcript, in our web post. A big shoutout to a little-known podcast called This American Life, which has done two all-day (and all-night) episodes that inspired this piece: “24 Hours at the Golden Apple” and “Rest Stop.”This episode was reported and produced by Josh Crane, Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our intern is Camila Van Order González. Our Executive Producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Elodie Reed, Amy Tatko, Tricia Roy, Jessica Fay, Betsy LeBlanc, Sara Walker, Robert Blandon, Terrance Sayers, Glenn Varricchione, Tricia Roy, Cliff Mix, Minda Stridsberg, Brendan Grahn, Jean Koegler, Brenda Rose, Pete Niarchos and everyone else we spoke to at the Richmond park and ride on Labor Day 2025. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Starting this summer, Vermont farmers are some of the first in the nation to face major restrictions on neonicotinoids — a kind of pesticide widely used to treat corn and soy plants. In part, that’s because neonics are killing honeybees.Quebec has had a similar law on the books for years. So we head north of the border to see what we can learn from our Canadian neighbors and answer this question from Curtis Mraz, of New Haven:“What is Vermont doing to protect our pollinators?”For a full transcript of this episode and photos from our reporting, check out our web post.This episode was reported by Sabine Poux. Editing and production from the rest of the BLS team: Burgess Brown and Josh Crane. Additional support from Ainslie McClellan, journalist at CBC Montreal and the host of a podcast called This is Montreal. Our intern is Lucia McCallum. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Abagael Giles, Howard Weiss-Tisman, Andrea Laurion, Laurie Kigonya, Todd Mallory, Seth Bedard, Noah Villamarin-Cutter, Valérie Fournier and Steve Dwinell. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

July in Vermont means hot dogs and peanuts and Cracker Jacks… and summer baseball. A few summers ago, reporter Liam Elder-Connors joined question-asker Emma Ramirez-Richer in the stands at Centennial Field to share some Dippin’ Dots, root for the Lake Monsters and chat with fans about Emma’s winning question. The team had just been sold the year before and Emma wanted to know: “What does the sale of the Vermont Lake Monsters mean for the team, and what does minor league baseball mean to Vermonters?”We’re revisiting that episode this baseball season. Find the web version of this episode here.This episode was reported by Liam Elder-Connors and produced by Angela Evancie. Editing and additional production from Myra Flynn and Josh Crane. Engineering support from Peter Engisch. The encore was produced by Burgess Brown. Angela Evancie is Brave Little State’s executive producer. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Kate Phillips and Kevin Trevellan. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Vote on the question you want us to tackle next Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Instagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Call our BLS hotline: 802-552-4880 Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Leave us a rating/review in your favorite podcast app Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Not being able to drive in this state can be isolating — especially for older Vermonters navigating the challenges of aging. Ninety-two-year-old Gerry Quinlan has found a way, with a network of friends that can drive her to their weekly coffee dates in Essex.But she’s wondering how others do it, so she came to us with this question:"How do you maintain a social life in Vermont once you can no longer drive?"Join us as we ride along with Gerry and others who have given up their keys, but not their communities and friendships.For a full transcript of this episode and photos from our reporting, check out our web post.This episode was reported by Burgess Brown. Editing and production from the rest of the BLS team: Sabine Poux and Josh Crane. Additional editing from Erica Heilman. Our intern is Lucia McCallum. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Lilias Ide, Andrea Stauffeneker, Laura Brooke, Martina Anderson and Andrew Bernstein. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.