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The Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanBill Mares chose how and when to end his life. He had a few things he wanted to say before he died.Last week, I received an unexpected call from Bill Mares, an old friend. Bill told me that he had terminal lymphoma and had only days to live. He was home in hospice care, which focuses on a person’s quality of life as they near death. And he had chosen to make use of Vermont’s medical aid-in-dying law, which passed in 2013.He had a few things on his mind that he wanted to share. He was medicated when we spoke but still sharp, thoughtful and funny. Bill died on Mo...2024-08-0126 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanCampus protesters speak out in solidarity with GazaCollege campuses around the country have been rocked by protests against Israel’s war on Hamas, which has claimed the lives of some 35,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza. Students have established tent encampments and are calling on their universities to divest from companies that support the Israeli occupation. Some universities have cracked down on protesters. Since encampments began at Columbia University on April 17, over 1,000 students have been arrested around the country, and numerous students have been suspended.In Vermont, protesters have formed encampments at Middlebury College, University of Vermont and Sterling College. Bo...2024-05-0245 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanBest of the Vermont Conversation: Matthew DesmondVTDigger is re-releasing some of our favorite interviews of the past decade to mark the 10th anniversary of The Vermont Conversation. This episode with Matthew Desmond was originally published in April 2023.Why does the U.S. — the richest country in the world — have the most poverty of any advanced democracy? Why are homeless encampments popping up from Seattle to Burlington?The answer is that, knowingly or unknowingly, many of us benefit from keeping poor people poor.That is the argument made by Matthew Desmond in his bestselling new book, “Poverty, by America.” Desmond won the P...2024-02-0853 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanBest of the Vermont Conversation: John IrvingVTDigger is re-releasing some of our favorite interviews of the past decade to mark the 10th anniversary of The Vermont Conversation.John Irving, widely hailed as one of America’s greatest novelists, is back, and he has a lot to say.Irving, 81, is the author of 15 novels, including the international bestsellers “The World According to Garp,” “The Cider House Rules” and “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” which is his top-selling book. Irving’s latest novel, “The Last Chairlift,” was released Oct. 17. It has been seven years in the making and at 900 pages, it is his longest wo...2023-12-2857 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanBest of the Vermont Conversation: Alison BechdelVTDigger is re-releasing some of our favorite interviews of the past decade to mark the 10th anniversary of The Vermont Conversation.This Vermont Conversation with Alison Bechdel was originally published in May 2021.Alison Bechdel is obsessed. Her passion is exercise — karate, cycling, running, skiing in all its forms, to name a few of her pursuits. This obsession is the focus of Bechdel’s new graphic memoir, The Secret to Superhuman Strength. A New York Times book review declares, “This is a true delight of graphic literature, and nobody does it bet...2023-12-1433 min
The Deeper DigA plan for what’s left of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plantFor decades, Vermont Yankee, a nuclear power plant in Vernon, was the largest producer of electricity for the state.The plant has been shut down since 2014, and the company that now owns it is in the process of deconstructing it. That company, NorthStar, has recently submitted a plan that describes in detail the final steps of decommissioning, which is projected to be completed ahead of schedule, by 2026.However, national developments mean that radioactive spent fuel on the site is likely to stay where it is for the foreseeable future.2023-11-2018 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanBest of the Vermont Conversation: Investigative journalist Jane MayerVTDigger is re-releasing some of our favorite interviews of the past decade to mark the 10th anniversary of The Vermont Conversation.This Vermont Conversation with Jane Mayer was originally published in April 2022.Jane Mayer has earned a reputation as one of the country’s top investigative reporters. As chief Washington correspondent for The New Yorker, Mayer has been relentless in exposing the hidden forces shaping American politics. Her bestselling book, “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” documents the vast influence of the Ko...2023-10-0435 minThe Deeper DigWho is the University of Vermont for?At the University of Vermont, the share of in-state students is dwindling, and it’s raising questions about the role and mission of the state’s flagship public university.VTDigger education reporter Peter D’Auria — with the help of data reporter Erin Petenko — has been looking at the enrollment statistics over time, as well as how they compare with those of other large public universities across the country.Here’s the short version: Peter writes: “over the past two decades, the number of undergraduate Vermonters at UVM has decreased by about 300. M...2023-09-2527 minThe Deeper Dig‘I was in shock.’ — Reporters on the impact of Vermont’s catastrophic floodingEarly this month, heavy rains led to historic flooding in many parts of Vermont, causing massive — as yet uncounted — damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. At the time of this recording, the state has confirmed that one person was killed by the floods.Like in Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, many towns were under feet of water, and some were transformed into islands, with routes in and out cut off by floodwaters and damaged roads.Against this backdrop, reporters and photographers from VTDigger fanned out, reporting from as many of the...2023-07-2427 minThe Deeper DigThe fraught politics of Vermont’s motel housing programFor months, Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Phil Scott insisted that extending the Covid-19-era program providing people with vouchers to live in motels past this summer was a no-go. Federal money had run out, and, they said, the program was just too expensive to continue.Then, at the end of June, lawmakers worked out a deal. The program would be extended, for at least some people, until April. The governor signed the bill.This comes after about 800 people had already lost their housing earlier that month.2023-07-1038 minThe Deeper DigA spate of deaths focuses attention on Vermont prisons and the Department of CorrectionsIt’s not unusual for Vermont’s Department of Corrections to be at the center of debate. The department manages six prisons across Vermont, with more than 1,000 incarcerated people in the system. The department is perpetually facing challenges, which only increased during the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are perennial discussions over the ethics of sending people to out-of-state prisons, the conditions that incarcerated people face and what working conditions are like for the department’s employees.Since January 2022, 16 incarcerated people have died — 12 at one prison, the Southern State Cor...2023-06-2634 minThe Deeper DigA VTDigger reporter’s guide to the StatehouseIf you follow this podcast, you’ve probably read a lot of the work of reporter Sarah Mearhoff. She covers politics for VTDigger, and, especially when the legislature is in session, is a close watcher of every aspect of state government.That means that she spends a lot of time in the Vermont Statehouse, the home of the state legislature and the backdrop for an enormous amount of highly consequential sausage-making. In this episode of Deeper Dig podcast, Sarah took host Sam Gale Rosen and photographer Glenn Russell — another Stateh...2023-06-1220 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanJournalist Sue Halpern on threats to democracyVermont journalist Sue Halpern reports on national issues for the New Yorker magazine, where she is a staff writer. Her recent reporting has included stories about the 40-year effort to ban abortion pills, the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, and threats to democracy. One topic that she has covered in depth is the effort to subvert elections. She has written about candidates for secretary of state who deny that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, attempts by election deniers to access electronic voting systems and the Republican war on voting. Halpern was recently s...2023-04-0551 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanBest of the Vermont Conversation: Rep. Jamie RaskinVTDigger is re-releasing some of our favorite interviews of the past decade to mark the 10th anniversary of The Vermont Conversation.This Vermont Conversation with Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) was originally published in May 2022.Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin was expecting trouble after the November 2020 presidential election. Raskin and his Democratic colleagues in Congress anticipated that former President Donald Trump would try to subvert the results and try to derail Congress’s normally pro-forma certification of President Joe Biden’s election. But Raskin was blindsided. On De...2023-03-2236 minThe Deeper DigDeep in the forest, a patch of common groundThere’s a story about forests that you’ve probably heard. Some environmentalists want to protect old trees, and leave the forests alone to sequester carbon. Others say there are good reasons for humans to actively manage forests. Those advocates include loggers and foresters, who earn their livelihoods from the land, but also scientists and other members of the environmental movement. But amid a heated scientific debate about what is best for forests, and for people, some researchers warn against a false dichotomy. A bill is now working its way through the Vermont Legislature. It se...2023-03-0226 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanBest of the Vermont Conversation: Yale professor Timothy SnyderVTDigger is re-releasing some of our favorite interviews of the past decade to mark the 10th anniversary of The Vermont Conversation.This Vermont Conversation with professor Timothy Snyder was originally published in September 2020.Timothy Snyder is a professor of history at Yale and a world renowned scholar of authoritarianism. His 2017 international bestseller, “On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century,” is a roadmap to how autocrats rise and democracies fall.Snyder has frequently appeared in the news to discuss the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and he recently met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Rep...2023-02-2230 minThe Deeper DigWhat’s happened at Vermont sheriffs’ departmentsSeveral Vermont sheriff departments have come under scrutiny in the past year following drastic turnover, allegations of misconduct or unusual financial activity. Two sheriffs — one former, one recently sworn in — face criminal charges. The Legislature is considering a constitutional amendment, as a long-term measure to increase oversight. Some lawmakers are also considering a bill that would bar sheriffs from pocketing fees off private contracts. In this episode, VTDigger reporters Tiffany Tan, Alan Keays, Ethan Weinstein and Shaun Robinson recap their reporting on recent events in five Vermont sheriffs’ departments. 2023-02-1326 min
Vermont NewsVermont News is taking a hiatusYou might’ve noticed that Vermont News is taking a hiatus. In the meantime, visit VTDigger.org for the latest headlines, and listen to our other podcasts The Deeper Dig and The Vermont Conversation. Thank you! 2023-02-0900 minThe Deeper DigTo go big, or go bigger, on child careDespite Vermont parents’ overwhelming demand for spots in child care and preschools, the supply remains limited. Parents all over the state sit on waitlists for months or even years. If they do score a spot, tuition likely could cost them more than if they sent their toddler to an in-state college for the workday. And yet, despite the tight market for early childhood services, the educators still usually make less than $20 an hour, and often don’t receive benefits such as health insurance. Something in this economic system isn’t workin...2023-01-2821 minThe Deeper DigNoah Kahan on ‘existing in a place that you've just written about’Noah Kahan remembers getting excited when a song he put on SoundCloud hit a thousand plays. Now, his songs have been streamed more than one billion times. Kahan’s metaphorical use of “stick season,” the time between Vermont foliage and proper snow, went viral on TikTok last year and sparked covers by Zach Bryan, Chelsea Cutler, Maisie Peters and countless fans who recorded themselves strumming in their bedrooms. The album that followed, recorded in Guilford, debuted at #14 on the Billboard 200 Chart and has been Kahan’s m...2023-01-2122 minThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman‘I am trans, I am here’: Randolph high school student speaks out after hate campaignA transgender Vermont high school student who was the target of a transphobic hate campaign is breaking her silence.“I want to be able to go out there and kind of just say, ‘I am trans, I am here,’” said the 14-year-old first-year student at Randolph Union High School, who asked to be identified as Rabbit in this interview. The Vermont Conversation and VTDigger are protecting the student’s privacy out of concern for her safety.In late September, Vermont television station WCAX aired a news story about the girl’s volleyball team at Randolph Union High S...2022-11-3052 minVermont NewsGlobalFoundries says it’s cutting costs by $100 million in 2023ALSO: U.S. Senator-elect Peter Welch and U.S. Representative-elect Becca Balint couched their excitement with deep concern over some Republicans’ continued denial of election results and the future of American democracy; A former Springfield police officer’s law enforcement certification was revoked Thursday by the Vermont Criminal Justice Council; VTDigger has promoted Paul Heintz and Maggie Cassidy to its top newsroom positions.2022-11-1103 minVermont NewsJury finds no medical malpractice in Brattleboro childbirth that turned fatalAlso: Lieutenant gubernatorial candidates Zuckerman and Benning take swings in VTDigger debate; Bennington County has ‘high’ Covid levels, CDC reports; UNH poll: Scott, Zuckerman hold double-digit leads in races for governor and LG2022-10-0703 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanWill local news survive?Somewhere in America each week, two more newspapers call it quits. Some 2,500 dailies and weeklies have closed since 2005, and just 6,500 remain. In places where once there was vibrant local coverage, there are now news deserts.The Community News Service at The University of Vermont thinks it has an answer to this growing blight: student journalists. UVM’s Community News Service, or CNS, partners with nearly half of Vermont’s approximately 40 news outlets to provide them with reporting free of charge, including VTDigger.Now the Vermont model is going national. Last month, UVM and the Knight Foun...2022-07-2730 minVermont News5 members of the Vermont State Police resigned before facing investigations of misconductALSO: VTDigger's printable how-to-vote guide is available for free in 14 languages; Police fatally shot the ex-boyfriend of a woman who’d been found dead inside her truck near downtown Brattleboro; Louis Meyers is running for Vermont’s seat in the U.S. House as a moderate Democrat; So far in 2022, there have been 700 bear encounters in Vermont.2022-07-2003 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanThe human cost of America's forever wars“Support our troops” is a familiar slogan heard when American troops are deployed abroad.But are returning soldiers supported when they return home? Nearly half of troops returning from post-9/11 deployments report having reintegration problems, almost double the number reported by earlier veterans. Former President Donald Trump tapped into this vein of discontent and won 60% of the veterans’ vote in 2016. Political radicalization among veterans has been a growing problem, and a shocking number of veterans were among the insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Investigative reporter Jasper Craven has been exploring veterans’ and military...2022-07-2030 minThe Deeper DigCan Covid be tracked without widespread testing?Last week, Vermont shut down its Covid-19 testing sites. These sites operated for more than two years and accounted for most of the 3.6 million results recorded by the state Department of Health over the course of the pandemic. State officials have pointed to the increased use of antigen tests as one reason for this shift. As take-home testing has become more common, public health agencies have adjusted their tools for measuring the virus’s risk. But each of these metrics — whether scattered PCR tests, hospitalizations or wastewater sampling — offers an incomplete picture. 2022-07-1120 minThe Deeper DigWhy Vermont’s 150-year old school tuition system might have to changeA recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling struck down state-level rules that barred public money from going to schools that teach religious beliefs. According to some legal scholars, that decision has unique consequences for Vermont — and could require the state to rethink how it funds K-12 education. The case, Carson v. Makin, started in Maine. Like Vermont, Maine uses a tuition system in towns that are too small to have their own public schools. Students in those towns get money from the state to be educated somewhere else: either a public school in another tow...2022-07-0126 minThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman‘It feels like a dangerous hiatus right now’: New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer on how dark money fuels right-wing extremismJane Mayer has earned a reputation as one of the country’s top investigative reporters. As chief Washington correspondent for The New Yorker, Mayer has been relentless in exposing the hidden forces shaping American politics. Her bestselling book, “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” documents the vast influence of the Koch brothers and was named one of the 10 best books of 2016 by the New York Times. In the past year, Mayer has exposed the right-wing funders behind former President Donald Trump’s big lie of a stolen election. She repor...2022-04-2133 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanDoes Vermont need a Truth Commission?In 2021, the Vermont Legislature issued a long overdue apology for Vermont’s early 20th century state-sanctioned eugenics movement, which targeted Indigenous people and other groups. According to VTDigger, “The eugenics movement used forced sterilizations and other practices in an attempt to wipe out targeted populations who were deemed unfit to procreate, including Indigenous people, French Canadians, mixed-race people, people with disabilities and low-income families, among others.”In issuing the formal apology, Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint declared, “This is a moment for grief, but it’s also a moment for growth.”Th...2022-03-0626 minThe Deeper DigWhy do kids need a Covid vaccine?In the first 10 days of eligibility, about 15,500 Vermont children ages 5-11 had either been signed up for appointments or received their first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine. That's about 35% of the eligible population. But despite the early rush, experts have warned that there may be more hesitancy around this group than other age groups. National survey data has shown that about two-thirds of parents of young children are not planning to sign their kids up right away.Dr. Judy Orton, a veteran Vermont pediatrician, says it's understandable for parents to have concerns — but tha...2021-11-1230 minThe Deeper DigDiving in headfirstRecorded at a live storytelling event in Burlington, VTDigger’s Fred Thys and Audi Guha talk about reporting in uncertain situations.2021-10-2624 minThe Deeper DigThe future of Vermont’s congressional representationVermont’s three members of Congress have served a combined 93 years in the U.S. House and Senate. They’ve accrued an unusual amount of power and influence for one small-state delegation. But they won’t remain in Washington, D.C., forever. Whenever the next vacancy occurs, it could represent a once-in-a-generation chance to reshape Vermont’s congressional representation.Recorded live at a VTDigger virtual event this week, veteran political professionals Liz Bankowski, Dennise Casey and Julia Barnes, as well as VTDigger political reporter Lola Duffort and managing editor Paul Heintz, discuss the future of the st...2021-10-1050 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanHow Vermont's greatest fraud happenedIt is the greatest fraud in Vermont’s history.The EB-5 scandal has the elements of a true crime novel: A shady grifter. Secret meetings. Duped investors. Complicit regulators. A panicked whistleblower. A tenacious journalist. Whispers of blackmail. Millions of dollars lost. A dramatic raid by Federal agents that brings it all crashing down.In 2012, when VTDigger founder and editor Anne Galloway attended a glitzy press conference announcing plans for massive investments and thousands of jobs in the financially depressed Northeast Kingdom, she smelled a rat. The latest revelations in the...2021-09-3038 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanWhere will homeless Vermonters live?Where will homeless Vermonters live?That question has come to the forefront as more than 540 households were slated to lose their rooms in motels this week. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, Vermont’s general assistance housing program has utilized vacant motel rooms for Vermonters who would otherwise be homeless. VTDigger has reported that some 700 people were forced out of the program July 1, while people with children, or with disabilities, or who were fleeing dangerous or life-threatening conditions were allowed to remain. Vermont’s emergency motel stays were slated to end on Septembe...2021-09-2251 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanPolitical cartoonist Jeff Danziger on how his Vietnam service led to holding the powerful to account“If the prime role of a free press is to serve as critic of government, cartooning is often the cutting edge of that criticism," declared legendary Washington Post political cartoonist Herb Block.
Jeff Danziger has lived on that cutting edge since 1975 when his cartoons skewering the powerful began running in the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus and Rutland Herald. His wit and art have also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, VTDigger and other publications, and his cartoons are syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group. Danziger is a winner of the 2006 Herblock Prize for editorial ca...2021-07-0848 minThe Deeper DigEnding the Covid emergency
The Covid-19 state of emergency gave the Scott administration the authority to maintain a vast social safety net during the pandemic. Landlords were barred from evicting renters, homeless Vermonters were housed free of charge in motels around the state, and a series of meal distribution programs ensured families access to food.
Now that the emergency declaration has ended, advocates are nervous that the boost in social services over the past 15 months will be coming to an end too.
Guests: Anore Horton (Hunger Free Vermont), Xander Landen (VTDigger)2021-06-1622 minThe Deeper DigHidden in plain sightIn Vermont’s idyllic small towns, injustice can lurk below the surface.
At a live storytelling event last week, VTDigger’s Katie Jickling and Kevin O’Connor spoke about Vermonters whose experiences remained invisible to their communities for years at a time — and about the process of bringing those stories to light.
For Jickling, a Facebook message from a former schoolmate this January led to five months of conversations with Sam McPhetres and Rose Earl, two women who came forward to report abuse by former Randolph Union Middle/High School vice principal David Barnett. How did the...2021-06-0819 minThe Deeper DigCovid and the overdose crisisWhile the pandemic demanded the attention of the public last year, preliminary data shows that at least 157 Vermonters died in 2020 due to opioid-related overdoses — an average of about three people per week. That’s even more than the state lost to Covid.
Advocates say that number is alarming. They also point out that the crisis has been worsening for years.
Guests: Kyle Burditt (Turning Point Center of Rutland), Emma Cotton (VTDigger)2021-05-1621 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanMadeleine Kunin on poetry, pearls and politics
Gov. Madeleine Kunin is an open book. Vermont’s only female governor has been chronicling her life in books since the mid-1990s, when she penned a memoir, Living a Political Life. Since serving as Vermont’s governor from 1985 to 1991, Kunin went on to jobs as deputy secretary of education and ambassador to Switzerland. Along the way she has been sharing her insights about women and leadership in other books, including Pearls, Politics and Power and The New Feminist Agenda.
Kunin has lately turned her focus back to her own life. In Coming of Age: My Journey to the Ei...2021-05-1429 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanAnne Sosin on surviving Covid and studying Vermont's responseWhen Anne Sosin contracted Covid-19 in early April, a disease that had been the focus of her academic work suddenly became personal.
Sosin, a policy fellow at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth College, has worked globally on public health initiatives. Lately, she has been studying how rural communities in Vermont and New Hampshire have responded to the pandemic. She has a been a rare public health expert who has publicly criticized Gov. Phil Scott’s relaxation of health restrictions as he moves to reopen the state by early July 2021.
Sosin has...2021-04-3024 minThe Deeper DigKids and the Covid vaccineThe state’s effort to vaccinate the remaining adult population is underway, with new age groups becoming eligible every week. Gov. Phil Scott has echoed President Joe Biden in saying life will be back to normal around the Fourth of July. But there’s a sizable population that’s not going to be vaccinated anytime soon: Vermonters under 16. And it’s not totally clear how that will affect the state’s reopening process.
Guests: Elizabeth Townsend, Patsy Kelso (Vermont state epidemiologist), Erin Petenko (VTDigger)2021-03-2717 minThe Deeper DigThree days at the Travel InnThe state is currently housing about 2,700 people who would otherwise be homeless in 75 motels around Vermont. VTDigger reporter Katie Jickling booked a stay in one.2021-03-2124 minThe Deeper DigVirus in Vermont, Part 2: The survivorsThe Covid-19 vaccine gives hope that some kind of normal life will start again soon. But it won’t bring back everything we’ve lost over the past year.
In Part 2 of a two-part series, four people from VTDigger's Virus in Vermont project talk about trauma.2021-03-1025 minThe Deeper DigVirus in Vermont, Part 1: The respondersWhen the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Vermont saw a massive outpouring of community support. Those who helped respond to the crisis now say they never expected we would still be facing the same challenges a year later.
Part 1 of a two-part series. Read more from VTDigger's Virus in Vermont project.2021-03-0226 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanAn overdue apology: Vermont's campaign of forced sterilizationThis week, the Vermont Legislature is taking up some long overdue business. Ninety years ago, lawmakers authorized a eugenics program that allowed the state to sterilize and institutionalize people it deemed “unfit” or “defective.” In practice, the primary targets of this racist campaign were Indigenous people, French-Canadians, and people who were mixed-race, poor or disabled.
In the three decades of the so-called Vermont Eugenics Survey, there were 253 documented cases of sterilization, though the actual number may be far higher. The campaign of involuntary sterilization and family separation has had a lasting impact on targeted communities, particularly Vermont’s Native Amer...2021-02-241h 09The Deeper DigBringing students backWhile most of Vermont's schools have maintained in-person or hybrid models since the fall, a recent push to fully reopen classrooms this spring has renewed the debate over how much in-person education is safe — and how much more the state should ask of educators.
Guests: Bibba Kahn (Main Street Middle School), Lola Duffort (VTDigger)2021-02-1923 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanTabitha Moore on racial justice and bigotryWhen Tabitha Moore founded the Rutland chapter of the NAACP in 2016, she didn’t imagine that advocating for racial justice in her community would lead to its opposite: a torrent of bigotry and hate. Following threats and harassment directed at her children and herself, Moore, a sixth generation Vermonter, announced last year that she was stepping down as head of the NAACP chapter that she founded.
Moore is not alone. VTDigger's Emma Cotton published an article this week detailing how three women of color, who are all community leaders in southern Vermont, are leaving their leadership positions follo...2021-02-0524 minThe Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanVermont media reckons with its own racism and sexismThis has been a year of reckoning for American journalism. In the wake of the racial justice protests last summer following the police murder of George Floyd, several leading journalism outlets reflected on their own roles regarding race and racism. In September, the Los Angeles Times apologized for its history of racism, which it detailed in a series of articles. In December, the Kansas City Star apologized for its own racism and published a series of articles that addressed how the paper “disenfranchised, ignored and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians.”
The demand for reckoning and reflection has also...2021-01-2827 minThe Deeper DigCan ski towns stay Covid-safe?Martin Luther King Day marks one of the biggest ski weekends in Vermont in a typical year. But this is not a typical year. Travelers to Vermont are subject to universal quarantine requirements — and while there’s anxiety about how that will impact the tourism economy, resort communities are also worried about what happens when travelers break the rules.
Guests: Heather Hebert (Jacksonville General Store), Todd Wright (St. Michael's College), Tracy Dolan (Vermont Department of Health), Emma Cotton (VTDigger)2021-01-1521 minThe Deeper DigVermont Conversation: Steve Goodman on the Year of the PandemicThe Deeper Dig will be back next week. This week: a guest post from The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman, a twice-weekly VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues with politicians, activists, artists, changemakers and citizens who are making a difference. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify to hear more.
When Steve Goodman first appeared on the Vermont Conversation in March, he described the coronavirus as a tsunami about to overwhelm us. Steve Goodman, MD, MHS, PhD, is an associate dean at Stanford Medical School, where he is also a professor of ep...2020-12-3156 minThe Deeper DigWhat humanities cuts could mean for UVMProposed cuts to the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Vermont have sparked a backlash from thousands of faculty members and students. But with the university facing a budget shortfall of almost $28 million over the next three years, administrators have signaled that they’re unlikely to change course before those cuts become final. What happens now?
Guests: Katherine Brennan (UVM religion major), Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst (UVM Humanities Center), Katya Schwenk (VTDigger)2020-12-1222 minThe Deeper DigVermont's Covid long-haulers look for answersA growing number of Vermonters are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms for months after contracting the disease, a phenomenon that’s being observed across the globe. Researchers are calling these patients “long haulers.” But with little known about the syndrome they’re experiencing, these long haulers are still looking for answers - and support.
Guests: Kathy Warren, Nicole Racicot, Katie Jickling (VTDigger)2020-11-1419 min
The Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanHistoric: Breaking down 2020 election with Stuart Stevens of Lincoln Project & VTDigger
The 2020 election was historic. Voter turnout records were smashed: Some 160 million Americans voted — the largest number ever, comprising 67% of eligible voters, the highest turnout rate in 120 years. In Vermont, over 360,000 voters turned out, exceeding the previous record of 327,000 votes cast in 2008. Former Vice President Joe Biden won Vermont with 66% of the vote (up from 56% for Hillary Clinton in 2016), while President Trump received 30% of the Vermont vote, the same proportion as he received in 2016. Nationally, Biden received the highest number of votes ever by a U.S. presidential candidate, topping Barack Obama’s 2008 total, and currently has a 3.5 million vote lead...2020-11-0500 minThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman2020's historic electionThe 2020 election is historic. Former vice president Joe Biden received the highest number of votes ever by a US presidential candidate, topping Barack Obama’s 2008 total. Biden currently has a 3 million vote lead over President Trump and as of Wednesday afternoon, appears to be headed for an electoral vote victory. But…there was no blue wave. And the entire election was far closer than anyone thought.
In Vermont, Republican Gov. Phil Scott was re-elected to a third term with a stunning 40 percentage point victor over Democrat David Zuckerman. And in another historic victory, Molly Gray was elected as j...2020-11-0551 minThe Deeper DigTwo candidates, two economic visions
In their first in-person debate of the 2020 election season, Vermont’s candidates for governor laid out divergent views of how the state should raise and spend its money — and used some conflicting numbers in the process. VTDigger's Kit Norton breaks down two key claims from Tuesday’s debate between Governor Phil Scott and Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman.2020-10-0219 minThe Deeper DigSchools are in session. What happens now?
Students across Vermont returned to school on Tuesday for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus in March. It took months of preparation for schools to be able to open their doors again. Now, educators and families are waiting to see what happens next.
Guests: Barbara Pennington (West Rutland School), Steven Dellinger-Pate (U-32), Renée DeVore (Montpelier High School), Lola Duffort (VTDigger)2020-09-1119 minThe Deeper DigWho gets hazard pay?Many essential workers who stayed in high-risk jobs during the early months of the pandemic were cut out of an earlier plan by the state to provide hazard pay. Now, it’s unclear whether lawmakers will be able to include those workers in the next round of Covid relief.
Guests: Kristi Theise, Karen Messing (University of Québec, Montréal), Anne Wallace Allen (VTDigger)2020-09-0517 minThe Deeper DigPreparing for Covid on campusThe University of Vermont is undertaking what it calls the most extensive college reopening plan in the country. But with schools across the state and the nation reopening within weeks, the Department of Health is actively planning for fall outbreaks that could strain the state's testing and tracing systems.
Guests: Kelly Dougherty (Vermont Department of Health), Sawyer Loftus (VTDigger/Vermont Cynic)2020-08-2119 minThe Deeper DigCan Covid ease the demographic crisis?New research shows that remote workers have been flocking to Vermont during the Covid-19 pandemic, potentially easing the struggle to reverse the state's population decline. What’s less clear is whether those workers will stay when the crisis is over.
Guests: Richard Watts (Center for Research on Vermont), Anne Wallace Allen (VTDigger)2020-08-1417 minThe Deeper DigVermont Conversation: David Goodman & Stuart StevensThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is now a VTDigger podcast. Goodman's show, which has aired on WDEV Radio since 2013, features in-depth interviews on local and national issues with politicians, activists, artists, changemakers and citizens who are making a difference. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify to hear more.
This week: For 25 years, Stuart Stevens was a leading strategist and media consultant to top Republican politicians, helping to elect presidents, senators, congressmen, and governors. He was top strategist for 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and he worked on both of George W. Bush’s presidential ca...2020-08-1052 minThe Deeper DigWhat to watch for in the 2020 primary
Tens of thousands of Vermonters have already cast their ballots for the August 11 primary. Here’s what VTDigger’s politics team will be watching when the results come in.
Guests: Grace Elletson, Xander Landen, Kit Norton2020-08-0126 minThe Deeper DigThe science behind reopening schoolsAs schools in Vermont and across the country prepare to reopen, it’s clear that children who do get the coronavirus are far less likely than adults to get severely ill. Now, a growing body of evidence suggests younger children are unlikely to be the culprits in spreading Covid-19 to others — children or adults — even if the reasons why aren't totally clear.
Guests: Dr. Benjamin Lee (UVM Larner College of Medicine), Lola Duffort (VTDigger education reporter)2020-07-2019 minThe Deeper DigHow a UVM basketball game became a Covid-19 spreading event
Twenty people who attended the March 10 UVM basketball game reported that they later tested positive for Covid-19, according to a VTDigger survey. An additional 34 people who responded said they experienced flu-like symptoms, but couldn’t get a test. Three attendees later died from Covid-19. Here's what we've learned after weeks of tracking the spread.
Guests: Rae Rappold, Katie Jickling (VTDigger)2020-06-2022 minThe Deeper DigOutrage and grief as Vermonters rally for George FloydA national protest movement touched off by a string of high-profile killings of black Americans has reached Vermont. Advocates say it’s a long overdue conversation about structural racism — but that the response is also about grief.
Guests: Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown (The Episcopal Church in Vermont), Grace Elletson (VTDigger)2020-06-0621 minThe Deeper DigInequality during the downturn
As more sectors of the economy reopen for business, the downturn caused by Covid-19 is already having an outsized impact on low-wage workers. And while state and federal lawmakers have advanced some short-term relief measures, analysts wonder whether the pandemic could trigger a long overdue conversation about inequality.
Guests: Bram Kleppner (Danforth), Stephanie Yu (Public Assets Institute), Anne Wallace Allen (VTDigger)2020-05-1900 minThe Deeper DigWhy we tattleWith Vermonters living under new guidelines about physical distancing and wearing masks, state agencies — and news outlets like VTDigger — have seen an uptick in reports about people who aren’t following the rules. And while we can’t do much to resolve those complaints, researchers say there’s a reason people feel an impulse to tell on each other in trying times.
Guests: Liz Pinel (University of Vermont), Colin Meyn (VTDigger), Jens VonBulow, Faye Hilliker2020-05-0900 minThe Deeper DigOne inmate's story of Covid-19 behind barsMichael Akey discovered he tested positive for Covid-19 one day after he was released from the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans. He says the outbreak there — the first in the state to trigger facility-wide testing — could have been prevented.
Guests: Michael Akey, Alan Keays (VTDigger)2020-05-0200 minThe Deeper DigContaining the coronavirus as reopening beginsThe Scott administration has loosened restrictions on some workplaces for the second week in a row as part of a plan to slowly reopen Vermont’s economy. To prevent another wave of infections, public health officials are getting a second chance to try a containment strategy that wasn't possible the first time around.
Guests: Mark Levine (Vermont Health Commissioner), Katie Jickling (VTDigger health care reporter)2020-04-2500 minThe Deeper DigVermont's spike in unemployment claims, explainedSkyrocketing unemployment claims show that nearly 15,000 Vermonters have already lost their jobs due to business cutbacks during the coronavirus outbreak. What happens next for those workers — and for the state's economy?
Guests: Brennan Neill, Art Woolf (VTDigger columnist), Elaine McCrate (UVM economist)2020-03-2800 minThe Deeper DigCompeting climate bills in the StatehouseSupport for a “Vermont Green New Deal” appears to be waning among lawmakers, while another climate bill — the Global Warming Solutions Act — gains momentum. That could leave the state with a strict new set of mandates — but it’s not likely to end the push to raise new revenue for climate action.
Guests: Jennifer Rushlow (Vermont Law School), Elizabeth Gribkoff (VTDigger)2020-02-2900 minThe Deeper DigVermont's deadliest decade for killings by policeFatal police encounters are on the rise in Vermont, according to a new analysis of fifty years of law enforcement data. Now, lawmakers, advocates and police themselves are looking at how to curb the trend of rising deaths.
Guests: Chief Tony Facos (Montpelier Police), Allen Gilbert (former ACLU-VT), Rep. Anne Donahue (R-Northfield), Erin Petenko (VTDigger)2020-02-2100 minThe Deeper DigWhat's next for WoodsideThe Scott administration is formalizing its plan to close the state's only juvenile detention facility. But it’s not up to them whether Woodside will close — and the legislators who will make the final call are just beginning to consider the plan.
VTDigger's Alan Keays reports on the administration's latest moves. Plus, hear from Woodside employees, who have their own proposals for the Essex campus.2020-02-0100 minThe Deeper DigA Statehouse agenda, disrupted on day oneAs Vermont lawmakers returned for the 2020 legislative session, election updates overshadowed the policy agenda. But that wasn't the only disruption at the Statehouse this week.
Guests: VTDigger's Xander Landen, John Walters, and Grace Elletson.2020-01-1100 minThe Deeper DigThe fate of the "country doctor"
Independent doctors across Vermont are closing their practices, while major hospital systems take over a growing share of the state’s patients. What does that mean for Vermonters seeking care?
Guests: Dr. Joe Nasca (pediatrician), Katie Jickling (VTDigger)2019-12-2000 minThe Deeper DigThe high court's hydro decisionWater quality advocates are hailing a Vermont Supreme Court decision on dam permits as a new standard for upholding environmental rules. But the case also reveals the tensions behind the state’s ongoing push to get more energy from local renewable resources.
Guests: Elizabeth Gribkoff (VTDigger), Jon Groveman (Vermont Natural Resources Council), Ken Nolan (Vermont Public Power Supply Authority).2019-12-1300 minThe Deeper DigWhen Vermonters struggle with social isolationIf you’re feeling lonely, you’re not alone: data shows that a wide range of Vermonters report feeling socially isolated, particularly the elderly. Advocates for Vermont seniors are working on localized solutions — but they also say a broader cultural shift is due.
Guests: Beth Hammond (Heineberg Senior Center), Marichel Vaught (Council on Vermont Elders), Erin Petenko (VTDigger)2019-12-0600 minThe Deeper DigHow the DMV sells your dataThe Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles makes millions of dollars every year selling drivers' personal data to private companies. Officials and others argue that the practice is legal, regulated, and necessary. But privacy advocates say there's evidence that giving DMVs this much discretion can lead to abuse.
Guests: Mike Smith (Vermont DMV), Joseph Cox (Motherboard/VICE), Susan Randall (VTPrivateye/Vermont Association of Investigative & Security Services), Xander Landen (VTDigger)2019-11-2200 minThe Deeper DigA.I. is out there. Can the state catch up?A legislative task force is thinking about how Vermont should regulate the development of artificial intelligence. But no matter what they decide, groups around the state are already integrating the technology into what they do.
Guests: Bruce Duncan (Terasem Movement Foundation), Grace Elletson (VTDigger), Bina482019-11-0100 minThe Deeper DigAn Amish enclave in the Northeast Kingdom [10/26/18]While Vermont leaders tie themselves in knots trying to draw new people to the state, a group of Amish families has quietly left Pennsylvania and Ohio to build a new community in the Northeast Kingdom.
Guests: Molly Veysey (Old Stone House Museum), Dan McClure (Century 21 Farm & Forest), Anne Wallace Allen (VTDigger)
[First published 10/26/18. We'll be back with a run of new episodes starting next week.]
2019-10-2500 minThe Deeper DigHow the trade war with China is costing Vermont businessesThe Trump administration has announced a tentative deal with China that would delay new tariffs on imported goods. But one Vermont customs broker estimates that by the end of this year, businesses across the state will have already lost half a billion dollars due to the trade war.
Guests: Ben Clark (Ann Clark Cookie Cutters), Jake Holzscheiter (A.N. Deringer), Anne Wallace Allen (VTDigger).2019-10-1800 minThe Deeper DigWhere migrating Vermonters are going — and why
We’ve known for a while that the state’s population is stagnating. But new data compiled by VTDigger shows us exactly where Vermonters are going — whether they’re leaving the state or migrating within its borders. Their reasons for moving, though, are harder to pin down.
Guests: Nate Hibler, Jill Mudgett (historian/researcher), Paul Costello (Vermont Council on Rural Development), Erin Petenko (VTDigger)2019-10-0400 minThe Deeper DigBONUS: David Sanger talks cyber warfare and national security in ManchesterCyber weaponry has dramatically changed the national security landscape, New York Times correspondent David Sanger said last week during a live interview in Manchester with VTDigger editor Anne Galloway. "We have decided that it is so useful that like the drone, it will be used all the time," he said. "But we don't really have a real sense yet of how we're going to use it."
Listen to the full program, courtesy of GNAT-TV.2019-10-0100 minThe Deeper DigWhat Opportunity Zones mean for Vermont communitiesFederal officials billed the Opportunity Zone program, a vehicle for huge capital gains tax breaks, as a way to drive economic development in low-income communities. It holds potential for Vermont towns — but critics question whether the benefits will mostly go to the wealthy.
Guests: Lola Duffort (VTDigger), Brady Meixell (The Urban Institute)
2019-09-0600 minThe Deeper DigTelcos face state scrutiny after Huawei expose
When VTDigger reported last month on FirstLight’s use of banned Huawei equipment, the telecommunications company promptly retaliated by canceling an underwriting contract with the organization. But FirstLight has also taken action against a competitor, VTel, for its role in the story — a move state regulators are now questioning.2019-08-1300 minThe Deeper DigCan technology save Lake Carmi?Locals, researchers and state officials are optimistic that a new aeration system will curb the toxic algae blooms that have plagued Vermont's fourth-largest lake. But it may take years to find out.
Guests: John Tucci (Everblue Lake Solutions), Peter Benevento (Lake Carmi Campers Association), Larry Myott (Lake Carmi Campers Association), Elizabeth Gribkoff (VTDigger)2019-06-2800 minThe Deeper DigLyme patients in limbo as tick rates riseResearchers say tick density in Vermont this year is going from bad to worse. But patients fighting tick-borne illnesses say they're not getting much help from the state's medical establishment.
Guests: Ellie French (VTDigger), Rachel Nevitt (Full Moon Farm), Bill Landesman (Green Mountain College)2019-06-1500 minThe Deeper DigSeeking justice in the Steven Bourgoin trialOver thirteen days in a Burlington courtroom, jurors weighed graphic accounts of the crash that killed five teenagers against a case that the driver was experiencing psychosis. VTDigger's Alan Keays and Aidan Quigley recap the trial.2019-05-2400 minThe Deeper DigEnding the session proves elusiveEven though lawmakers are coming back next week, the action on some key bills this week revealed a lot about the dynamics we’ve seen in the Statehouse all year. On this week’s podcast, VTDigger political reporters Kit Norton and Xander Landen break down two key days of movement in Montpelier.2019-05-1800 minThe Deeper DigMaking plans for the women's prisonConditions at Vermont's only women's prison have been a concern since inmates were first moved there. But a new wave of complaints has lawmakers and advocates debating how to move beyond the aging facility.
Guests: Amanda Sorrell (former Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility inmate), Liz Swavola (Vera Institute for Justice), Kit Norton (VTDigger)2019-05-1100 minThe Deeper DigCityPlace tensions resume, but construction doesn’t
More participation by Brookfield Properties was supposed to bring the $220 million development to a spring groundbreaking. What happened? VTDigger's Aidan Quigley explains.2019-05-0300 minThe Deeper DigWhat proficiency-based learning looks likeSchools across the state are ditching A-through-F report cards and letting students retake tests to emphasize learning over seat time. But each district’s interpretation of proficiency-based learning looks different.
Guests: Mike McRaith (Montpelier High School), Kevin Coen (Springfield High School), Eva Jessup (U-32 Chronicle), Andrew Crompton (U-32 Chronicle), Elizabeth Hewitt (VTDigger/Hechinger Report)2019-04-1900 minThe Deeper DigVermont's pension funding gap, explainedThere’s no single reason for the $150 million the state has to pay each year, on average, until 2038. But the decision to ignore financial advice in the 1990s plays a major part.
Guests: Sen. Jane Kitchel (Appropriations Committee), Beth Pearce (State Treasurer), Gov. Howard Dean, Gov. Jim Douglas, Colin Meyn (VTDigger)2019-04-0500 minThe Deeper DigHow Vermont hospitals end up in the redState officials say mismanagement played a major role in Springfield Hospital's financial collapse. But broader trends are putting pressure on hospital finances across the state.
Guests: Kevin Mullin (Green Mountain Care Board), Al Gobeille (Agency of Human Services), Mike Faher and Katy Savage (VTDigger)2019-03-2200 minThe Deeper DigA 'reset button' on the legislative sessionSenate leader Tim Ashe, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, and Gov. Phil Scott have all predicted that there will be friction over the details of some policy and budget proposals before the end of the legislative session. But they’re in agreement that the dynamic has changed this year.
Guests: VTDigger political reporter Xander Landen, Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, and House Speaker Mitzi Johnson.2019-03-1600 minThe Deeper DigWhy Vermont colleges keep closingSouthern Vermont College is only the most recent in a wave of troubled New England Colleges planning to close. Some observers say it won’t be the last.
Guests:
Tom Greene, president of the Vermont College of Fine Arts
Lola Duffort, VTDigger education reporter2019-03-0800 minThe Deeper DigBreaking down Scott's budgetGov. Scott's budget proposal released this week marks a major change in approach from his first two years in office. Will it make for a smoother session? VTDigger's political team — Anne Galloway, Xander Landen, and Colin Meyn — breaks it down.2019-01-2500 minThe Deeper DigHospitals struggle with psychiatric careWith medical hospitals around the state overwhelmed with mental health patients, officials see no obvious solutions in sight. This week: Phoebe Sparrow Wagner describes her experience being forcibly held in emergency rooms. Mourning Fox, the state's interim mental health commissioner, discusses the challenges ahead. And VTDigger's Mike Faher recaps his reporting on widespread failures in patient safety.2018-11-1600 minThe Deeper DigLottery winners’ suspicious sumsA VTDigger investigation published in April revealed a pattern of unlikely lottery wins by retailers and their relatives. Total payoffs for some individuals have reached into ...2018-06-0116 minThe Deeper DigLottery winners’ suspicious sumsA VTDigger investigation published in April revealed a pattern of unlikely lottery wins by retailers and their relatives. Total payoffs for some individuals have reached into ...2018-06-0116 min