Two Abenaki First Nations are continuing to call for Vermont institutions not to work with state-recognized tribes, and to reconsider the process that led to the state recognizing those groups as Abenaki tribes.Those nations — Odanak and Wôli

Remembering John Harrison

Jan 22nd, 2024 23m 21s

John Harrison traveled Vermont as a preacher in the 1880s. A racist name in town records preserved his memory. Note: This story contains sensitive material, including racial slurs. Please listen with care.

What class are you? Ashley Messier

Jan 19th, 2024 7m 38s

Ashley Messier is the co-chair of the Corrections Monitoring Committee in the Vermont Legislature, and she’s the reentry services program manager for Vermont Works for Women. She grew up in Essex with an abusive father and with little money, an

What class are you? Susan Randall

Jan 19th, 2024 5m 23s

Many people don’t want to talk about class, because class differences are the source of cultural division and tension. In this story, Erica talks with old friend Susan Randall, a private investigator based in Vergennes, about the luxuries of gr

What class are you? Garret Keizer

Jan 19th, 2024 7m 55s

In 2023, around 70% of the total wealth in this country was owned by the top 10% of earners. The lowest 50% of earners only owned 2.5% of the total wealth. In this story, Vermont writer and poet Garrett Keizer, who has written extensively on th

What class are you? Stephanie Robtoy

Jan 19th, 2024 6m 39s

Stephanie Robtoy works as an account manager at Working Fields, a staffing agency that helps people with barriers gain and maintain a job. She grew up in St. Albans in a huge family of Robtoys, some of whom are pretty notorious in town for crim

What class are you? Irfan Sehic

Jan 19th, 2024 6m 54s

Irfan Sehic and his family fled the war in Bosnia and arrived in Barre when Irfan was 17. He worked a number of jobs, went to college and started his own insurance agency, which he still runs out of his house. And for the last few years, he's b

Recognized: Chapter Three

Oct 19th, 2023 38m 7s

Who gets to decide who is Abenaki? Vermont’s four state-recognized tribes — and the state recognition law — have different definitions and criteria for what it means to be Indigenous than many Indigenous Nations. In Chapter Three of this specia

Recognized: Chapter Two

Oct 19th, 2023 41m 34s

After the original group of self-proclaimed Vermont Abenaki failed to gain federal recognition, Vermont lawmakers created a state recognition process of their own. One theory in particular informed the state’s consideration: that Abenaki people

Recognized: Chapter One

Oct 19th, 2023 37m 21s

Two Abenaki First Nations in Canada contest the legitimacy of the four groups recognized by the state of Vermont as Abenaki tribes. This is a dispute that goes back at least two decades, and has gained more prominence in recent years. In Chapte

The hotline that helps immigrant dairy farmworkers

Aug 17th, 2023 12m 1s

University of Virginia researchers say the complaint line run by the grassroots workers’ rights program Milk With Dignity improves conditions for both farmworkers and farm owners. But the program currently only covers one-fifth of Vermont’s dai

The last Italian stone carver in Barre

Jun 7th, 2023 20m 18s

Giuliano Cecchinelli is part of a long legacy of Italian stone carvers in Barre, craftsmen whose skill transformed an industry and made the small central Vermont town the “Granite Capital of the World.”In the early 20th century, Barre was a boo

Update: One Year Later [JOLTED]

Mar 14th, 2019 15m 56s

How the events of last year changed Vermont schools and law enforcement. Also - where's Jack?

Part 5: Threat Assessment [JOLTED]

Sep 27th, 2018 29m 46s

How do you know if a young person is plotting a school massacre? And what do you do then?

Part 4: The Reversal [JOLTED]

1 Sep 20th, 2018 24m 53s

How a Republican governor who had been rated "A" by the NRA decided that Vermont, one of the most gun-friendly states in the nation, needed gun control laws.