Rumble Strip on Steno.fm

Rumble Strip

Good conversation that takes its time, hosted by Erica Heilman.

Sun, March 02, 2025
What Now Sounds Like, the AI Isn't Smart Edition
Recordings: In this show you hear from Carolyn and her neighbors on Coits Gore Road in Vermont, Amanda in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, dogs in Atlanta, Jeff Sharlet interviewing Pastor Pete in Holiday City, Ohio, Heather’s kids in Washington DC, Jarod in West Philly, Susan and Stella in Pittsburgh, a xylophone on the Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma. You heard my mom Barbara on my couch, Devon in Gladstone Missouri, the train in Melbourne Australia, Aaron in Shediac New Brunswick, night insects in South Africa, Zack in Lafayette, Indiana, Beverly and her mom in Toronto, Alice in Los Angeles, Mathhew in Glasgow, Scotland, Christina breastfeeding her one week old daughter in Lostine Oregon, Kelly and Dan in Randolph Vermont, basketball dribbling in East Montpelier Elementary in Vermont, and Miles, Stan and Deirdre in New Mexico playing the ngombi and talking about Johannesburg.
Fri, February 14, 2025
2 Seconds of Peace
T.O. got out of prison in Rutland a couple weeks ago, after a six and a half year bid. I met T.O. through my private investigator friend Susan Randall in May, 2017. He’d been a client of hers in a federal public defender case. T.O.’s been in and out of jail his whole adult life, and it’s become a kind of tradition for us to get together and talk when he gets out of jail. We don’t talk about his crimes. Mostly we talk about what it’s like to start over…over and over. Now T.O. is in his mid forties, and this time he was released in the middle of a Vermont winter.
Wed, January 29, 2025
What Now Sounds Like Episode 2
Here is episode 2 of What Now Sounds Like, a show I make that is entirely comprised of your recordings. Desperate times call for desperate show methods. I'm hoping that shows made up of all of us will help us all feel less alone. In this show you hear from: Blake in New York City, James in Sussex England, the Niagara Frontier Radio reading service (thank you Papageorgiou in Brussels...), River in Portland, Oregon, Alice in Fletcher, Virginia, Naomi Hodde in Middlebury, Vermont, Howard in Woodstock Vermont, bells recorded by Melanie in Merida, Mexico, and a fricking amazing recording James made at a professional wrestling even in London. Send me more recordings as they occur to you. You can send them to my email at rumblestripvermont@gmail.com
Thu, January 23, 2025
What Now Sounds Like
What Now Sounds Like is made by all of us. You send me recordings that sound like this time we're living in, and I make shows with them. It could be an argument, your thoughts in the middle of the night, your songs and hummings....a recording of being on hold with your insurance company...whatever. And tell your friends to send their recordings too. Just email me at rumblestripvermont@gmail.com. In this show, Leonie from South Africa, Alicia from Los Angeles, Michael from North Carolina, Deanna in Vermont, Arthur and Jeff Sharlet on the Swannanoa River, Amelia in Los Angeles, Anna in Toronto, Susan in Houston, Ben from Nebraska, and my mom, Barbara, on my couch. Music: This is the Northern New England Ensemble, thanks to Tim Garrity. Thank you to EVERYONE who sent recordings. I really do want to use all of them but these shows fit together like puzzles so i need more recordings to make more shows and make more puzzles. So if you’re out there listening, pull out your phone and record something and send it to me, and I’ll make shows as the puzzle pieces come together. You can send them to me at rumblestripvermont@gmail.co m . Also, tell me where you are, and if you can send me a picture that seems to go with the recording in some way, that would be great. I also want to thank Tobin and Chelsea and Vermont Public and I especially want to thank my mom for all her help this week.
Sat, January 18, 2025
Diffuse Despair
The world is chaotic. Systems are failing, towns are burning. If you need to make an appointment with your doctor you may have to wait til July. So it's time to make a show about it all. I implore you to record moments of your day and send me the audio and I will try to make a show that sounds like RIGHT NOW. Email the recordings to me at rumblestripvermont@gmail.com.
Fri, January 10, 2025
What Class are you Tankhun?
What Class Are You? is a periodic series about the ways that socioeconomic class shapes our lives. Thankun Thongjunthoug’s parents each moved alone to the United States from Thailand in their early twenties to make a new life for themselves. They met in Los Angeles, and started a restaurant there, and a family. But Thankun’s father wanted a safer place for his family, so in 2008 they moved to Vermont, where they had to work their way back to owning a business. Their restaurant in Montpelier, Pho Thai Express , has been open since 2015. In this episode of What Class are You? , we talk about what it was like to grow up in an immigrant family, and how Tankhun experienced the undercurrents of the American class system.
Thu, January 09, 2025
What Class Are You Katrin?
What Class Are You? is a periodic series about the ways that socioeconomic class shapes our lives. Today, Episode 4. Katrin Tchana lives in Lyme, New Hampshire, right next to Dartmouth College. Katrin is a social worker, and currently works as a therapist. She grew up in the house where she currently lives, and in this show we talk about her childhood in Lyme, and how that area has changed in her lifetime.
Wed, January 08, 2025
What Class Are You Ingrid?
What Class Are You? is a periodic series about the ways that socioeconomic class shapes our lives. Today, Episode 3...Ingrid Jonas. I met Ingrid Jonas through my friend Marilyn. Ingrid is a retired Vermont state police trooper. She started on patrol, but worked as a detective for most of her career. I’m actually working on a longer story about her now that will come out soon, but at the end of our conversation, I asked her to talk about class in law enforcement, which she did.
Tue, January 07, 2025
What Class Are You Mark?
What Class Are You? is a periodic series about the ways that socioeconomic class shapes our lives, even though we don’t like to talk about it. I make this series for Vermont Public and I’ll be running the new shows on RS all this week. Mark LaRouche is the the Director of Shelters and Facilities at Good Samaritan Haven in Barre, which serves unhoused people in central Vermont. Mark has also had a lot of experience working with people with addiction issues, and he’s good at it. He understands it. Mark lived with severe addiction from his early teens through his late thirties. He was in and out of jail in those years, and we talked about how addiction is its own sort of class.
Mon, January 06, 2025
What Class Are You Damian Renzello?
What Class Are You? is a periodic series about the ways that socioeconomic class shapes our lives, even though we don’t like to talk about it. I make this series for Vermont Public and I’ll be running the new shows on RS all this week. First up, Damian Renzello. Damian lives one town over from me and he’s the owner of and inventor of Porta Rinks, which is a portable ice rink kit. Damian is who you call if you want your own personal hockey rink, and everything that goes with it. He also happens to be exactly my age. So Damian and I sat in his shop at Porta Rinx headquarters behind his house, and we compared notes on class.
Tue, December 17, 2024
Thanks for Sharing
Forrest Foster found a new old truck, thanks to you listeners. We drove around and talked about the truck and about Forrest's new job and I complained about feeling old. Happy Holidays and thank you for your generosity. Happy Holidays to all!
Wed, December 11, 2024
Erika Bruner, Midwife for Pets at the End
Things have been pretty grim around here. I lost my cat Zu Zu and she was only two and a half and she left behind her brother Kenny and Kenny and I aren’t doing so great. So. I’m going to play a story I made for Vermont Public about Erika Bruner, a veterinarian who specializes in end of live care for pets. She does at-home euthanasia…in barns, in basements, in fields. I didn’t think I’d need her services so soon. But I did. She’s remarkable and she made a very difficult day a little less difficult To learn more about Erika, click here .
Sat, November 16, 2024
Thank you For the Best Birthday Present Ever
We raised ALL the money for Forrest's new old truck and we are so GRATEFUL!!!
Wed, November 13, 2024
Help Forrest Foster Get a New Old Truck
After the last show, a lot of people asked me how they might help Forrest Foster. So I called his friend Steve Gorelick and we set up a Go Fund Me....
Mon, November 04, 2024
Forrest Foster is getting done...for now.
Forrest Foster is a dairy farmer in Hardwick, Vermont. Two months ago he sold his cows. He didn't want to do it. But his barn doesn't meet code so he lost his license. He can't keep the wood furnace burning in the house while he's doing chores. And like so many families, he's dealing with the profound complications of drug addiction in his home.
Mon, October 14, 2024
Heartbreak Hotel. End of an Era
This summer, a one-in-a-thousand-year flood hit the village of Plainfield, Vermont. A local apartment building, which everyone called the Heartbreak Hotel, collapsed and washed away down the Great Brook. Twelve people were living there at the time, and they all survived. Most of their cats did not. We talk a lot about the importance of affordable housing and community and village revitalization. For over a century, the Heartbreak provided all three. This is a story about what was lost that night, and what it might suggest about how we move forward.
Tue, September 10, 2024
The World Under the World
This is a story about active drug addiction. Last year I made a story about my private investigator friend Susan Randall, after her office was robbed in the middle of the day in downtown Burlington by a woman with a heroin addiction. She walked into Susan’s office while people were working there and loaded a bag with electronics, and left. I couldn’t stop thinking about the woman. Where was she coming from that day and where was she going? The world of active addiction is a kind of world underneath the world, with its own rules and relentless demands. But to most people it’s invisible. All four of the people in this story are in recovery, but they spent years in the world of active drug addiction. They’re aware of it in ways that most of us are not, and they agreed to describe it to me—what it feels like day to day, and its endless demands. Warning: This story contains explicit descriptions of active addiction. It might not be for everyone.
Tue, August 20, 2024
Mark Utter Revisited
Mark Utter was born with a form of autism that makes it impossible for him to say what he's thinking. For the first thirty years of his life, Mark did not have access to the world of words, except as a listener. An observer. When he was thirty, he was introduced to supported typing, and for the first time in his life, with the help of a facilitator and a typing pad, Mark started his life as a writer of words. This is an interview about what it's like inside the life and mind of Mark Utter.
Mon, July 22, 2024
Allison after the Flood
On the one-year anniversary of a 100-year flood, Vermont experienced another devastating flood. This is the story of one Plainfield, Vermont resident, who lost everything. Thank you Vermont Public for letting me run this show on Rumble Strip.
Wed, June 19, 2024
The Aphasia Choir
There are about 15 million people in this world having thoughts and ideas that they can't put into words. People who have had had strokes or traumatic brain injuries often live with aphasia, or difficulty talking or using language. Their thoughts are intact, but the language gets stuck. But music mostly originates in the undamaged hemisphere of the brain. People with aphasia can often sing. This is a story about a choir comprised of people with aphasia, and what it's like to struggle for words. The Aphasia Choir of Vermont
Wed, May 22, 2024
Tara
This is a follow-up show to Finn and the Bell . If you haven't heard that story, you might want to start there. At Bread and Puppet in Glover, Vermont, there is a magical pine forest full of small homemade buildings and shrines to memorialize dead puppeteers and friends. It’s a place where my friend Tara Reese’s sons Finn and Lyle spent a lot of time when they were little, running around in the woods in the summer. Now there is a memorial here for Finn in the pine forest, built by some of the kids he used to play with here. Finn died by suicide on January 3rd, 2020. In 2021, Tara and I made a story about him called Finn and the Bell. People all over the world listened, and we received hundreds of emails and texts and artwork and poetry. Tara received letters that were addressed to ‘Finn’s Mom, Hardwick’, with no address. But this is a story just about Tara, and about her evolution of grief. About what happens after the worst thing happens. We recorded this conversation on Mother’s Day, at Finn’s memorial in the pine forest. This show ends with a song. The Bell was written by Jim Terry of Napa, California. He plays music with his sons, Graham and Clark and they’re called The Terry Family Band . Jim wrote this song after listening to Finn and the Bell. Thank you so much Jim!
Mon, May 06, 2024
Will Staats, Hunting Biologist...Redux!
Will Staats worked for both Vermont and New Hampshire for forty years as a wildlife biologist. He’s also a passionate hunter. He knows the back country of the Kingdom right up through Maine and into Labrador. One day in October he took me bird hunting deep in the unorganized town of Ferdinand. We talked about birds. And we talked about the growing divide between traditional hunting culture and people who don't like certain kinds of hunting here in Vermont. But it was more interesting than that...it was also about how people harden against each other then alienate each other...something we do a lot of these days.
Thu, April 25, 2024
Sugaring with Forrest Foster
I hung out with Forrest Foster in his sugarhouse a few weeks ago. Sugarhouses are the best because they’re full of warm, sweet steam and there’s nothing to do but hang around and make sure the pan doesn’t burn. Also, if sugaring is happening it means that winter is almost over and that is a joyous time for me. I love the hell out of April. So here are a few happy minutes with Forrest in his sugarhouse.
Wed, April 10, 2024
Fifty: A Phoenix Moment. REDUX!
This is a show I made a few years ago that very significantly involves Total Eclipse of the Heart, which is my favorite song. I am playing it again now because it is ECLIPSE WEEK. I hope you enjoy it.
Tue, March 26, 2024
Kasey is Figuring it Out
Kasey Phipps is transgender and has always been transgender. But Kasey didn’t grow up in a place where the word transgender was well understood. Or understood at all. It’s only in the last four years that Kasey’s put a name to this lifelong experience of living life in the wrong gender. This is just one story about the experience of being trans. Credits: Linda Young plays the harp in this show, for which I am eternally grateful. Here is a link to her excellent TRIO. There is also a song in the show from one of my favorite artists, Carla Kihlstedt and the Tin Hat Trio . Here is a link to them performing this song, little i. My thanks to Amelia Meath, Tobin Anderson, Chelsea Edgar and Serena Matt.
Fri, March 15, 2024
What Class Are You Ashley?
What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public. Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share the series on Rumble Strip.
Wed, March 13, 2024
What Class Are You Ashton?
What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public . Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share the series on Rumble Strip.
Mon, March 11, 2024
What Class Are You Kathleen?
What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public . Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share the series on Rumble Strip.
Sun, March 10, 2024
Revisiting Isaac
Many of you got in touch with me after Isaac's story aired in the first week of What Class Are You. Isaac's on his way to Columbia in the fall, on a full scholarship, and you came up with amazing ideas for how you might be helpful, so I went back up to Newport to discuss it all with Isaac. And it turned into a really interesting conversation on a number of fronts.
Fri, March 08, 2024
What Class Are You Ethan?
What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public . Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share the series on Rumble Strip.
Wed, March 06, 2024
What Class Are You Mike?
What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public . Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share the series on Rumble Strip.
Mon, March 04, 2024
What Class Are You John?
What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public . Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share this series with Rumble Strip.
Fri, March 01, 2024
What Class Are You? A Conversation with Garret Keizer
What Class is a periodic series I produce for Vermont Public . Thank you Vermont Public for allowing me to share this series with Rumble Strip.
Wed, February 28, 2024
What Class Are You Kytreana?
What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public. Thank you Vermont Public for allowing me to share the stories with Rumble Strip.
Mon, February 26, 2024
What Class Are You Kate?
What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public . Thank you Vermont Public for allowing me to share these stories with Rumble Strip.
Fri, February 23, 2024
What Class Are You Irfan?
Irfan Sehic and his family fled the war in Bosnia when he was seventeen, and landed in Barre, Vermont. Irfan did a lot of jobs when he got here, then went to college, and now runs an insurance company out of his house. I’ve interviewed Irfan for Rumble Strip before, about the war, which you can find on this site somewhere, but in this story, Irfan talks about the American class system as he sees it, starting with the middle class. This is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public. Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share the shows with Rumble Strip.
Wed, February 21, 2024
What Class Are You Isaac?
Isaac lives in Newport, Vermont, which is as far north as you get in Vermont. It’s a town in the Northeast Kingdom with a beautiful lake. It’s also a town with a state prison and a lot of drugs and poverty. I met Isaac at a writers group in town, which meets once a week in town at the amazing Nevermore Bookstore . Isaac is eighteen. He loves to read and write and this spring he’s graduating form Lake Region High School. I asked if he’d be willing to talk with me about class, and he was. What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public , and I want to thank them for letting me share these stories on Rumble Strip.
Mon, February 19, 2024
What Class Are You Susan?
Today is the first episode of What Class Are You, a periodic series I make for VP. This series started as an experiment a few years ago. I wanted to have conversations with people about the terrible cultural divides that keep growing in our country, without ending up in boring conversations about politics…so I drove around asking strangers ‘what class are you’, which is a kind of stupid and offensive question, but it turns out people have a lot to say…about money, education, opportunity…power. The very first shows I made about class I already ran on RS as a single show…you can find it on my website….but these next episodes in the series I’ll run one at a time, every couple days, for a few weeks. We’re going to start the series with my old friend Susan Randall, the private investigator I interview a lot for Rumble Strip. She talks about what it was like to grow up upper-middle class.
Mon, February 19, 2024
What Class Are You? Susan.
Today is the first episode of What Class Are You. Most people think of money when they hear the word "class" and how much or little of it they’ve got. And we really don’t like to talk about it. I think we’re getting better at talking about things like race and gender identity, but it’s rude to talk about money, or point out that some people have a lot more of it, others a lot less. But when you ask people ‘what class are you?’, they have a lot to say…about money, education, opportunity, power. And the question also leads to conversation about the terrible cultural divides in our country that are just getting wider. So this series is an ongoing experiment. I make it as a periodic series for Vermont Public. And I’m going to run it here, every couple days for a few weeks. We’re going to start the series with my old friend Susan Randall, the private investigator I interview a lot for Rumble Strip. She talks about what it was like to grow up upper-middle class.
Tue, February 13, 2024
Makeup For Special Occasion Valentines Day Redux!
This is a rerun of what could be called a VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL, and I hope you enjoy it. Last year on Hardwick's Front Porch Forum, someone called Tiana asked if there was anyone who could help her with her hair and makeup for an important date with her boyfriend. Front Porch Forum is an online, daily community forum, which is like a bulletin board at a local general store. You can find secondhand tires there. Or read complaints about the Selectboard. Every Vermont town’s got a Front Porch Forum and you have to be from that town to be on it. Since Tiana's new to town, she thought she might have luck finding someone to help her get ready for her date through the Forum. And she did. Here is her original posting: Makeup for Special Occasion Tiana • Hardwick I'm looking for someone who'd be willing to do my makeup (and possibly hair?) on the 23rd of this month. Just something simple with my eyes and something to hide some red spots. Is there a way to make an illusion of a skinner face? I think thats a thing, right? I understand it's a long shot and I don't have much money. I usually don't like anything thats considered "girly". However I want to surprise my boyfriend for our first anniversary. I have a nice dress picked out with matching press on nails. The issue is I have no clue how to do makeup. YouTube tutorials have never done me any good considering I don't own any makeup and I have a very round, chubby face. Thank you for reading! Credits Music by Brian Clark Thanks to Tara Reese for finding the posting Thanks to Tobin and Mike and Rose Welcome the Civic Standard! Thanks to Aubrie St. Louis at the Rehair Shop
Thu, January 25, 2024
A 100 Year Flood
The Anair story was produced for Vermont Public.
Thu, January 11, 2024
Little League Playoffs
This is one of my all time favorite shows. I made it for Vermont Public in 2019 and I think about these guys all the time. It was the little league playoffs in St. Johnsbury in 2019, before the pandemic, recorded in a simpler time. Let's play some good D out there.
Fri, December 15, 2023
East Hill Tree Farm Please Buy Their Trees
East Hill Tree Farm is awesome. Honestly. It's just the best.
Sun, December 10, 2023
Forrest and I Sit in the Truck and Talk About Pain
I got in a car accident. For some reason I thought it would make me feel better to talk with Forrest Foster about all the accidents he’s had and how he thinks about pain.
Thu, November 30, 2023
John Rodgers Weed Farmer
Music for this show is by Justin Lander John's company is called Farmers Underground, based in West Glover, VT
Mon, October 30, 2023
Ode to Village Life
A lot of people in rural America live near small towns or villages. Here in Vermont, a lot of small village schools and general stores and post offices are closing for all kinds of reasons. And this isn’t unique to here. Small town centers are struggling all over the country. But when these little downtown areas lose a store, or a school, everything changes. Danny Sagan is an architect in Montpelier and I like to hear him talk about how buildings work on us, how they slow us down or speed us up. A couple weeks ago I asked him if he’d drive around with me and talk about what villages ARE. What makes them feel like they do. And what happens if they disappear. Credits : A shorter version of this story was produce for Vermont Public . Thank you Vermont Public for allowing me to air the story here! Danny Sagan's design firm, DS Architects
Fri, October 20, 2023
Taylor Swift Music for the End
My friend Kelly Green is a defense attorney who represents people accused of murder. She spends a lot of time reading autopsies and driving around talking with witnesses and worrying. She’s got a lot going on at the moment. A couple weeks ago she asked me if I wanted to go to the opening of the new Taylor Swift movie in Barre. I did. This is a show about it.
Wed, October 04, 2023
Susan on the Train Tracks
Susan’s been a private investigator in Vermont for 24 years. She defends people who are accused of crimes, which often involve drugs in one way or another. This summer she was robbed by a person with a terrible heroin addiction, and it made her really angry, and really tired. This is that story. And if you haven't heard any of the Susan shows before, I recommend listening to some of the others first. There are at least four, and the very first one is called Vermont Private Eye.
Mon, September 04, 2023
Forrest Foster Lays Karen to Rest
Forrest Foster is a dairy farmer in Hardwick, Vermont and a friend of mine. This past spring, on Memorial Day, Forrest’s partner, Karen Shaw, died after a long illness. They were together 43 years. The day after she died, Forrest built her coffin with his friends Steve and Butch, and a couple days later Karen was buried in a field behind the barn under a maple tree, with a few family and friends present. As always with Forrest, I’m struck by the combination of pragmatism and love in everything he does. Burying Karen was no different.
Wed, August 16, 2023
The Homesteading Game
Music by Justin Lander Originally produced for Vermont Public
Thu, July 27, 2023
The Civic Standard in the 100 Year Flood
Special Note: Hill Farmstead, the best beer in the world, just named a beer after the Civic Standard. Which is fricking VERY COOL. Here's a link to it.
Thu, July 06, 2023
The Civic Standard
Rose Friedman and Tara Reese were in the early stages of starting the Civic Standard, an organization that gives the people of Hardwick excuses to get together. Rose and Tara were explaining this idea to Brenda at a baseball game and Brenda said that what she really wanted was for them to make a mystery dinner theater show. Nobody really thought that this would happen. But Rose couldn't stop thinking about it. Most mystery dinner theater shows are a little like the game CLUE, which isn’t very interesting. But then Rose had an idea. What if the murder mystery was set in Hardwick? Actually, what if it was set at a really boring development review board meeting in Hardwick, which is the sort of meeting everyone around here feels totally at home in, including people who have never been to a play? This is a show about the making of Developed to Death , a play that was written by people around Hardwick, about the community of Hardwick, and for the people of Hardwick. It is part theater, part social science project, and in it someone gets murdered. And special bonus… right after the show is a followup interview with Civic Standard co-founders Rose Friedman and Tara Reese. Credits This story was supported in part by the Vermont Humanities Council. This story is also a Transom Radio Special , which has support from the National Endowment for the Arts. You can read about the making of the show at: https://transom.org/2022/the-civic-standard/ This show was mixed by Jay Allison Music for this show is by Justin Lander and Charlie Lander Special thanks to these people for their advice and patience: Amelia Meath, Tobin Anderson, Chelsea Edgar, Jay Allison, Howard Norman, Gordon Grunder, my family, and of course Rose and Tara.
Wed, May 31, 2023
Let's Talk about Guns
Thanks to Brave Little State and Vermont Public for letting me run this episode on Rumble Strip. You can find Brave Little State wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can read more about them by visiting Vermont Public, at vermontpublic.org. Thanks to Myra Flynn, who worked with me on this show, and the rest of the Brave Little State team: Angela Evancie, Mae Nuguskey and Josh Crane.
Mon, May 08, 2023
Nightwalking 1, from Constellation Prize
Credits: Music by Ishmael Ensemble, John Caroll Kirby, Riley Mulherkar and Elori Saxl Edited by Daniel Guillemette & Daniel Gumbiner Sound mix / sound design by John Delore
Thu, March 30, 2023
What Class are You?
For years I’ve been wanting to make a show about the terrible cultural divides growing in our country, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it without getting into boring conversations about politics. So I backed into an experiment. I asked my editor at Vermont Public if I could drive around and ask people, ‘what class are you?’, just to see what would happen. And he said, ‘sure.’ So I did. This is the series that came of that experiment. And even though these conversations took place in rural Vermont, I think they are indicative of what people are thinking and feeling all over the country. And maybe we should all be having these conversations? I don’t know. Here is the series, What Class Are You? This series was produced for Vermont Public , and I am grateful to them for allowing me to share it with the Rumble Strip audience. #ftg-2828 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-2828 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-2828 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-2828 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2828 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2828 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2828 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-2828 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-2828 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-2828 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } <img alt='Kytreana' class='item skip-lazy' data-class='item' dat
Thu, March 30, 2023
What Class are You?
For years I've been wanting to make a show about the terrible cultural divides growing in our country, but I couldn't figure out how to do it without getting into boring conversations about politics. So I backed into an experiment. I asked my editor at Vermont Public if I could drive around and ask people, 'what class are you?', just to see what would happen. And he said, 'uh...sure.' So I did. This is the series that came of that experiment. And even though these conversations took place in rural Vermont, I think they are indicative of what people are thinking and feeling all over the country. And maybe we should all be having these conversations? I don't know. You tell me. And here is the series, What Class Are You? This series was produced for Vermont Public, and I am grateful to them for allowing me to share it with the Rumble Strip audience.
Wed, March 15, 2023
Mary Lake Sheep Slaughterer
Mary Lake is a sheep farmer and sheep shearer and itinerant slaughterer. She is a tall, muscular woman in bib overalls and a baseball hat and dangly earrings she carved out of a ram’s horn. She wears a chain around her waist with a scabbard full of knives. And she loves sheep, which is one reason she participates in their slaughter. This is a story about where food comes from. ** The first version of this story aired on Vermont Public . I am grateful to Vermont Public for allowing me to share this story with Rumble Strip listeners! Mary Lake’s business is Can-Do Shearing in Tunbridge, Vermont Thank you Amelia Meath !! #ftg-2727 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-2727 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-2727 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-2727 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2727 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2727 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2727 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-2727 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-2727 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-2727 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } <img alt='IMG_1196' class='item skip-lazy' data-class='item' data-ftg-source='https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_1196-768x1024.jpg' src='https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp
Wed, March 15, 2023
Mary Lake Sheep Slaughterer
Mary Lake is a sheep farmer and sheep shearer and itinerant slaughterer. She is a tall, muscular woman in bib overalls and a baseball hat and dangly earrings she carved out of a ram’s horn. She wears a chain around her waist with a scabbard full of knives. And she loves sheep, which is one reason she participates in their slaughter. This is a story about where food comes from. ** The first version of this story aired on Vermont Public . I am grateful to Vermont Public for allowing me to share this story with Rumble Strip Listeners! Mary Lake's business is Can-Do Shearing in Tunbridge, Vermont
Tue, March 07, 2023
It’s Town Meeting Again.
This is a re-run of a show but it’s TOWN MEETING DAY SO I’M RUNNING IT AGAIN! LONG LIVE TOWN MEETING! In most of New England, town citizens become legislators for one day a year. They get together in school gyms and town halls and vote in person, and in public. This centuries long practice of towns doing the slow and hard work of disagreeing and arguing and compromising on how to govern themselves—this has a profound impact on a place, and what it means to be from a place. Sometimes it’s contentious. Sometimes it’s boring. But it’s always the most interesting and authentic and civilized social event of the year. Always. This is a show about where I live, which is maybe not where you live, but we’re all living through a time of awful division. There aren’t a lot of opportunities anymore to disagree civilly, in public, or to make decisions with people who are hugely different from ourselves. And maybe there should be. So I made this show to inspire us all. And you’ll hear a lot about trash removal. Credits Music by Brian Clark . In addition to being a fine musician, he is also a fine woodworker . Featured photos by Terry J. Allen Endless thanks to Tobin Anderson, Kelly Green and Amelia Meath for their help on this show. Susan Clark is the co-author of Slow Democracy , a wonderful book on self governance and rediscovering community. Thanks to Brattleboro Community TV and Mount Mansfield Community TV for their recordings of town meeting and all the brave people who get up and talk in those meetings Moderators in this show are: Stephen Magill, Moretown. Paul Doton, Barnard. Gus Seelig, Calais. John McLaughry, Kirby. Bobby Starr, Troy. Susan Clark, Middlesex. Kelly Green, Randolph Click on images below for better view. Most of the good pictures here are by Terry J. Allen of East Montpelier. #ftg-1414 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-1414 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-1414 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-1414 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .c
Tue, March 07, 2023
It's Town Meeting Again
It's town meeting day here in Vermont. In most of New England, town citizens become legislators for one day a year. They get together in school gyms and town halls and vote in person, and in public. This centuries long practice of towns doing the slow and hard work of disagreeing and arguing and compromising on how to govern themselves—this has a profound impact on a place, and what it means to be from a place. Sometimes it’s contentious. Sometimes it’s boring. But it’s always the most interesting and authentic and civilized social event of the year. Always.
Tue, February 21, 2023
Winter's Bear
Sheila LaPoint wrote a post in Front Porch Forum asking if there was anyone in town who could turn her grandmother's fur coat into a teddy bear. She didn't want to spend a lot of money. She can't wear the coat anymore. But she wants something that will help her remember her German grandmother. My friend Clare Dolan lives down the road from Sheila, and when she read Sheila’s post about the teddy bear, it called to her. Clare is the maker of the Museum of Everyday Life, which celebrates the many critical and underappreciated objects we use in our daily lives. Clare loves well used and long loved objects, so it seemed like a good idea to help Sheila turn one loved object into a new object to love.
Tue, February 21, 2023
Winter’s Bear
Sheila LaPoint wrote a post in Front Porch Forum asking if there were anyone in town who could turn her grandmother’s fur coat into a teddy bear. She didn’t want to spend a lot of money. She can’t wear the coat anymore. But she wants something that will help her remember her German grandmother. My friend Clare Dolan lives down the road from Sheila, and when she read Sheila’s post about the teddy bear, it called to her . Clare is the maker of the Museum of Everyday Life, which celebrates the many critical and underappreciated objects we use in our daily lives. Clare loves well used and long loved objects, so it seemed like a good idea to help Sheila turn one loved object into a new object to love. Also it’s a show about seasonal depression. Clare’s Museum of Everyday Life Thank you Amelia Meath for your help.
Thu, January 26, 2023
Speaking Whale
Tom Mustill is a conservation biologist and he makes beautiful films about where nature and people meet. He’s worked with Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough, he’s been shat on by bats in Mexico, and recently he finished a book called How to Speak Whale . It describes the very real possibility that someday, maybe even in my lifetime, we’ll begin to understand the complex language of whales–and all this would imply. I interviewed Tom for hours and I didn’t want him to stop until he’d told me every last thing he’s learned about whale behavior and every story he could remember. He was polite about it. I don’t know why I felt this insatiable need to hear every story. Maybe it seems that if we could understand whale culture a little bit , everything would make a little more sense? Anyway I recorded Tom for as long as he’d let me. Links <a href="https://www
Thu, January 26, 2023
Speaking Whale
Tom Mustill is a conservation biologist and he makes beautiful films about where nature and people meet. He’s worked with Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough, he’s been shat on by bats in Mexico, and recently he finished a book called How to Speak Whale . It describes the very real possibility that someday, maybe even in my lifetime, we’ll begin to understand the complex language of whales--and all this would imply. I interviewed Tom for hours and I didn't want him to stop until he’d told me every last thing he’s learned about whale behavior and every story he could remember. He was polite about it. I don’t know why I felt this insatiable need to hear every story. Maybe it seems that if we could understand whale culture a little bit , everything would make a little more sense? Anyway I recorded Tom for as long as he'd let me.
Mon, January 23, 2023
Police Log: The Fanny Pack Edition
It’s been too long since I reported on some of the many crimes we’re facing here in central Vermont. I apologize for this lapse. It’s time for me to be honest about some of these challenges. So here is a show about crime. This important report was read by Scott Carrier , host of Home of the Brave . Here are pictures of the tiny horses who have been entangled with The Law more than once here in Vermont.
Mon, January 23, 2023
Police Log: The Fanny Pack Edition
This show is about crime. Really crimey crime.
Sat, January 07, 2023
Fishing with Jay
Jay Allison makes the kind of radio that made me want to make radio. It isn’t news and it doesn’t really have a beginning middle and end but it’s personal and surprising and you get to fall in love with strangers and that’s what I wanted to do. We got together and talked about getting old and irrelevant, because that’s what I think about a lot. We also talked about what radio stories can do in a time when people are inclined to hate each other, or what we really hope stories can do. Transom Bio: Jay Allison has been an independent public radio producer, journalist, and teacher since the 1970s. He is the founder of Transom. His work has won most of the major broadcasting awards, including six Peabodys. He produces The Moth Radio Hour and was the curator of This I Believe on NPR. He has also worked in print for the New York Times Magazine and as a solo-crew reporter for ABC News Nightline, and is a longtime proponent of building community through story. Through his non-profit organization, Atlantic Public Media, he is a founder of The Public Radio Exchange, PRX.org, and WCAI, the public radio service for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. More about Jay, more than you’d reasonably need to know, is available at www.jayallison.com LINKS Transom Jay Allison Atlantic Public Media WCAI Thanks to Tobin Anderson and Vicki Merrick and Amelia Meath and Scott Carrier for their help on this show.
Sat, January 07, 2023
Fishing with Jay
Transom Bio: Jay Allison has been an independent public radio producer, journalist, and teacher since the 1970s. He is the founder of Transom. His work has won most of the major broadcasting awards, including six Peabodys. He produces The Moth Radio Hour and was the curator of This I Believe on NPR. He has also worked in print for the New York Times Magazine and as a solo-crew reporter for ABC News Nightline, and is a longtime proponent of building community through story. Through his non-profit organization, Atlantic Public Media, he is a founder of The Public Radio Exchange, PRX.org, and WCAI, the public radio service for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. More about Jay, more than you'd reasonably need to know, is available at www.jayallison.org.b.
Fri, December 02, 2022
Nature’s Top Deck, with Forrest Foster
Forrest Foster was loading up the tractor with kindling for deer camp, two days before rifle season. I was over there visiting and helping him with his night chores. I like Forrest. I like being around him, and I always learn something from him. And on this day we rode the tractor down to the deer camp and sat and talked about hunting and caretaking and walking with goats and horses. And loneliness. Pretty much all the stuff people end up talking about at deer camp.
Fri, December 02, 2022
Nature's Top Deck, with Forrest Foster
Forrest Foster was loading up the tractor with kindling for deer camp. It was two days before deer season. I was over there visiting and helping him with his night chores. I like Forrest. I like being around him, and I always learn something from him. Like last week he told me that you should always plant your garlic with the long rounded side facing north and the flat side facing south. Anyway, I took my recorder over a couple days before rifle season and a couple hours before milking. This is some sound from that day.
Mon, November 21, 2022
Nick Paley and a Shell with Shoes
Nick Paley is a writer, editor and director for film and TV, and a co-writer on the recent film, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which stars an adorable one-inch tall shell who wears shoes and is looking for his long lost shell family. Nick is from Vermont, and he’s working on a new TV series set here, so when he was in town I dragged him to a matinee of Marcel the Shell…the same movie theater where he used to clean the bathrooms. And then afterwards he let me ask him ten million questions about what it’s like to work in the film industry. This show is a bit of both. More: Nick’s website News on Nick’s upcoming TV series, Phony, and a picture of him in a cardigan Link to Marcel the Shell trailer Interview about the making of Marcel, with Nick Paley and Dean Fleischer-Camp Broad City Episode Nick directed
Mon, November 21, 2022
Nick Paley and a Very Small Shell
Nick Paley is a writer, editor and director for film and TV, and a co-writer on the recent film, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which stars an adorable one-inch tall shell who wears shoes and is looking for his long lost shell family. Nick is from Vermont, and he's working on a new TV series set here, so when he was in town I dragged him to a matinee of Marcel the Shell...the same movie theater where he used to clean the bathrooms. And then afterwards he let me ask him ten million questions about what it's like to work in the film industry. This show is a bit of both.
Thu, November 10, 2022
An American Life
Vaughn Hood was a 118-pound barber when he was drafted into the Vietnam War, and in Vaughn’s war, most men didn’t survive their first three-month tour. In honor of Veteran’s Day, here is the story of an extraordinary American life. This story is co-produced by Larry Massett and Erica Heilman. It first ran in 2015. To read the comments on this story from over the years, click here . An interview with Erica about the show, by the excellent people at The Third Coast 50 Best Podcasts of 2015, The Atlantic Monthly…#16 Music in this show: Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten–Arvo Part Tabula Rasa for 2 violins, strings and prepared piano–Arvo Part Speigel im Speigel–Arvo Part Under the Weather Mix–Steve Reich Clapping Music–Steve Reich
Thu, November 10, 2022
An American Life
Vaughn Hood was a 118-pound barber when he was drafted into the Vietnam War. And in Vaughn’s war, most men didn’t survive their first three-month tour. In honor of Veteran's Day, here is the story of an extraordinary American life. This story is co-produced by Larry Massett and Erica Heilman. It first ran in...I can't remember what year. About five years ago.
Wed, September 14, 2022
Armand’s Garden
Armand Patoine sat with me in his tea house, deep inside his garden, which leads down to a stream. He has been creating this garden for 49 years. We talked about gardening, and what God has to do with his gardening, which it turns out is everything. Credits Thank you Victor for introducing me to Armand Thank you Willie Tobin for the beautiful bird and squirrel recordings. They are gifts that keep giving. Thank you Armand for the daylilies. They’re in. To visit the listing for Armand’s house, click here #ftg-2626 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-2626 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-2626 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-2626 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2626 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2626 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2626 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-2626 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-2626 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-2626 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } <div class=
Wed, September 14, 2022
Armand's Garden
Armand Patoine sat with me in his tea house, deep inside his garden, which leads down to a stream. He has been creating this garden for 49 years. We talked about gardening, and what God has to do with his gardening, which it turns out is everything.
Fri, August 26, 2022
The Neighborhood
My son is leaving for his freshman year of college and I am feeling maudlin. I listened to this show I made years ago and it made me feel better. So before August is really, really over, here are the kids of Hospital Hill. Description: The kids of Randolph, Vermont describe their neighborhood as a place with three purple houses. They tell me there’s a shortcut through the woods down to Dunkin’ Donuts, and they say it’s pretty close to three graveyards. The kids run in twos and threes and sometimes in one big pack for a game of hide and seek tag. I spent an afternoon talking with them and following them around. This show is a little taste of that day. It’s a postcard from childhood, a place we remember but can’t visit anymore. Thanks Thanks so much to Kelly Green for introducing me to the kids and letting us camp out upstairs for an entire afternoon. Thanks also to Tally Abecassis, Mike Donofrio, John Schak and Larry Massett.
Fri, August 26, 2022
The Neighborhood
My son is leaving for his freshman year of college in a week and I am feeling maudlin. I listened to this show I made years ago and it made me feel better. So before August is really, really over, here are the kids of Hospital Hill. Description: The kids of Randolph, Vermont describe their neighborhood as a place with three purple houses. They tell me there’s a shortcut through the woods down to Dunkin’ Donuts, and they say it’s pretty close to three graveyards. The kids run in twos and threes and sometimes in one big pack for a game of hide and seek tag. I spent an afternoon talking with them and following them around. This show is a little taste of that day. It’s a postcard from childhood, a place we remember but can’t visit anymore.
Mon, August 15, 2022
Leland is Moving On
Leland is my neighbor and for the last seven years, we’ve been getting together in the spring to talk about his year, and things like God and space and pork shortages. This year Leland graduated from high school and I figured it was time to hear pieces from all of the years with Leland, all together, and all at once. Credits Music for this show is by my friend and regular collaborator, Brian Clark and this show also features music from the remarkable and multi-talented Carla Kihlstedt. Thank you to Leland, who has been so patient with me all these years.
Mon, August 15, 2022
Leland is Moving On
Leland is my neighbor and for the last seven years, we’ve been getting together in the spring to talk about his year, and things like God and space and pork shortages. This year Leland graduated from high school and I figured it was time to hear pieces from all of the years with Leland, all together, and all at once.
Wed, July 27, 2022
Makeup for Special Occasion
A couple weeks ago on Hardwick’s Front Porch Forum, someone called Tiana asked if there was anyone who could help her with her hair and makeup for an important date with her boyfriend. Front Porch Forum is an online, daily community forum, which is like a bulletin board at a local general store. You can find secondhand tires there. Or read complaints about the Selectboard. Every Vermont town’s got a Front Porch Forum and you have to be from that town to be on it. Since Tiana’s new to town, she thought she might have luck finding someone to help her get ready for her date through the Forum. And she did. Here is her original posting: Makeup for Special Occasion Tiana • Hardwick I’m looking for someone who’d be willing to do my makeup (and possibly hair?) on the 23rd of this month. Just something simple with my eyes and something to hide some red spots. Is there a way to make an illusion of a skinner face? I think thats a thing, right? I understand it’s a long shot and I don’t have much money. I usually don’t like anything thats considered “girly”. However I want to surprise my boyfriend for our first anniversary. I have a nice dress picked out with matching press on nails. The issue is I have no clue how to do makeup. YouTube tutorials have never done me any good considering I don’t own any makeup and I have a very round, chubby face. Thank you for reading! Credits Music by Brian Clark Thanks to Tara Reese for finding the posting Thanks to Tobin and Mike and Rose Welcome the Civic Standard! Thanks to Aubrie St. Louis at the Rehair Shop Picture of Tiana in front of the old Gazette building, and now the new Civic Standard building: <img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-8091 aligncenter" src="https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DSC08321-450x300.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="300" srcset="https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DSC08321-450x300.jpg 450w, https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DSC08321-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DSC08321-768x512.jpg 768w, https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/up
Wed, July 27, 2022
Makeup for Special Occasion
A couple weeks ago on Hardwick's Front Porch Forum, someone called Tiana asked if there was anyone who could help her with her hair and makeup for an important date with her boyfriend. Front Porch Forum is an online, daily community forum, which is like a bulletin board at a local general store. You can find secondhand tires there. Or read complaints about the Selectboard. Every Vermont town’s got a Front Porch Forum and you have to be from that town to be on it. Since Tiana's new to town, she thought she might have luck finding someone to help her get ready for her date through the Forum. And she did. Here is her original posting: Makeup for Special Occasion Tiana • Hardwick I'm looking for someone who'd be willing to do my makeup (and possibly hair?) on the 23rd of this month. Just something simple with my eyes and something to hide some red spots. Is there a way to make an illusion of a skinner face? I think thats a thing, right? I understand it's a long shot and I don't have much money. I usually don't like anything thats considered "girly". However I want to surprise my boyfriend for our first anniversary. I have a nice dress picked out with matching press on nails. The issue is I have no clue how to do makeup. YouTube tutorials have never done me any good considering I don't own any makeup and I have a very round, chubby face. Thank you for reading! Credits Music by Brian Clark Thanks to Tara Reese for finding the posting Thanks to Tobin and Mike and Rose Welcome the Civic Standard! Thanks to Aubrie St. Louis at the Rehair Shop
Mon, July 18, 2022
The Farm, from THE BIG PONDER
Ira Karp lives on a farm in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, surrounded by music, puppets, and a family of incredible storytellers. Over his brief lifetime, he has become a ‘story keeper’ himself, collecting epic tales from his everyday life. This is a story I made for THE BIG PONDER , a podcast series produced by the Goethe-Institut. They work with radio stations and independent producers in the U.S. and Germany, and the programs reflect on abstract ideas and phenomena through hyper-local stories. They also explore dynamics between the the United States and Germany. I loved working with them, and I encourage you to subscribe to the show. You can find THE BIG PONDER wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about this show and a transcript, visit THE BIG PONDER .
Mon, July 18, 2022
The Farm from THE BIG PONDER
Ira Karp lives on a farm in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, surrounded by music, puppets, and a family of incredible storytellers. Over his brief lifetime, he has become a ‘story keeper’ himself, collecting epic tales from his everyday life. This is a story I made for THE BIG PONDER , a podcast series produced by the Goethe-Institut. They work with radio stations and independent producers in the U.S. and Germany, and the programs reflect on abstract ideas and phenomena through hyper-local stories. They also explore dynamics between the the United States and Germany. I loved working with them, and I encourage you to subscribe to the show. You can find THE BIG PONDER wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about this show, and a transcript, visit THE BIG PONDER .
Thu, July 07, 2022
Bell Rising
This show is a kind of coda to Finn and the Bell…. At long last, the bell is in its tower at Hazen Union High School. The final installation happened right before the Hardwick Memorial Day Parade. I stopped by and recorded some of the volunteers as they constructed the tower, hoisted the bell, and rang in its new life up on the hill over Hardwick.
Thu, July 07, 2022
Bell Rising
This show is a kind of coda to Finn and the Bell.... At long last, the bell is in its tower at Hazen Union High School. The final installation happened right before the Hardwick Memorial Day Parade. I stopped by and recorded some of the volunteers as they constructed the tower, hoisted the bell, and rang in its new life up on the hill over Hardwick.
Tue, May 31, 2022
More than a Dog
Tara Wray is a photographer…and a dog person. Her pictures of dogs are haunting and beautiful and every bit as distinctive as pictures of individual people. I interviewed her shortly after the death of her beloved dog, Nighthawk. Then my friend Tobin’s dog died, and he told me that he sometimes felt ashamed for feeling so much about the death of a dog–a dog who had been his only companion throughout the pandemic. It seems that a lot of people feel like they have to hide the amount of grief they experience when their dogs die. But the death of a dog can be just as painful–sometimes more painful–than the death of a human family member. This is a show about dog love…and grief at their loss. And there is absurd singing. More about These People Learn more about Tara Wray and her beautiful work. Tara’s latest project, Pickledog Learn more about Tobin Anderson Learn more about musician Brian Clark’s band, The Anachronist #ftg-2525 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-2525 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-2525 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-2525 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2525 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2525 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2525 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-2525 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-2525 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-2525 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } <div class='final-tiles-gallery ftg
Tue, May 31, 2022
More than a Dog
Tara Wray is a photographer. And a dog person. She takes pictures of dogs which are haunting and beautiful, and every bit as distinctive as pictures of individual people. I interviewed her shortly after the death of her beloved dog, Nighthawk. Then my friend Tobin’s dog died, and he told me that he sometimes felt ashamed for feeling so much about the death of a dog--a dog who had been his only companion throughout the pandemic. It seems that a lot of people feel like they have to hide the amount of grief they experience when their dogs die. But the death of a dog can be just as painful--sometimes more painful--than the death of a human family member. This is a show about dog love...and grief at their loss. And there is absurd singing. More about These People Learn more about Tara Wray and her beautiful work. Learn more about Tobin Anderson Learn more about musician Brian Clark's band, The Anachronist
Wed, May 11, 2022
The Puppy Diaries
I’ve been thinking of getting a dog for years but even though I have an eighteen-year-old son, I’ve never felt mature enough to have a dog. So when my friend Chris told me he and his partner Beth were getting a puppy, I asked if he’d chronicle the event, and for the next seven months, he sent me recordings of what it was like to have a puppy. It was hilarious and weird and totally harrowing. Here are the Puppy Diaries. Thanks Thanks SO MUCH to Christopher Attaway and Beth Lewis for making these recordings. They are so goddamn beautiful and I will be forever grateful. Thank you Tobin Anderson for your help in the edit. Beth is a writer and performer and Chris makes a podcast called Left of the Dial, which is awesome. To hear the other Rumble Strip episode featuring Chris and Beth before their life with Mouse, click here . #ftg-2424 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-2424 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-2424 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-2424 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2424 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2424 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2424 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-2424 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-2424 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-2424 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } <div class='tile ftg-pre
Wed, May 11, 2022
Puppy Diaries
I've been thinking of getting a dog for years but even though I have an eighteen-year-old son, I've never felt mature enough to have a dog. So when my friend Chris told me he and his partner Beth were getting a puppy, I asked if he'd chronicle the event, and for the next seven months, he sent me recordings of what it was like to have a puppy. It was hilarious and weird and harrowing. Here are the Puppy Diaries.
Fri, March 04, 2022
Forrest Foster, Independent Dairyman
Forrest Foster is a farmer in Hardwick, Vermont. It’s an organic dairy farm, seventy cows total and about forty milking at any given time. I spent an afternoon following Forrest around the barn, his sugarshack, we took a long ride in his tractor, out past his deer camp. He took me to the place where he cuts cedar and hemlock boughs for deer in the winter, and dispatches his old animals to feed the bear and the deer and the coyotes and the ravens. Forrest would rather trade services than exchange money. He’ll give you meat if you can’t afford it, and he’ll expect you’ll do some chores in exchange. What I love about Forrest Foster is that he’s always practical and always generous, and these things are always the same thing. #ftg-2323 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-2323 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-2323 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-2323 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2323 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2323 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2323 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-2323 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-2323 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-2323 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } DSC08124 DSC08137(1) for gallery <img alt="IMG-3335" src="https://rumbles
Fri, February 04, 2022
Helena Becomes an American
Helena de Groot grew up in Belgium and is now a radio producer living in New York City. When I found out she was about to take her citizenship test, I asked if she’d be willing to record herself talking about what it feels like to become an American…and she agreed. Helena is the host and producer of the Poetry Foundation podcast Poetry Off the Shelf and senior producer of The Paris Review Podcast , and she teaches at Columbia University and the University of Michigan. Once a year she goes home to Belgium, and then comes back home to New York. Ten years after they first met, she still thinks David is the most beautiful man on the entire planet.
Sat, January 01, 2022
It’s New Years. Remember Grant Owen.
I am home alone on New Years, cleaning and listening to music, and suddenly I remembered Grant Owen, a kid I interviewed at the beginning of the pandemic, and I realized he is exactly the company I needed. So as you’re getting ready for your dinner party or dance party or if you are stuck in a cab or a subway on the interminable trip to The New Years Place, I think you will find that Grant Owen is good company.
Mon, December 20, 2021
Awful Sisters Christmas. Pandemic Year Two.
It’s been another challenging year of the pandemic, and families across the nation are trying to figure out how to be together for the holidays. For some, this is hard. Really hard. Welcome to Problems, a series about comfortable, upper middle class people who have a lot to complain about. This year, sisters Andrea and Amanda have managed to get to their childhood home in Massachusetts to spend Christmas with their parents, but sister Pam and her daughter River are unable to get there. This is disappointing, and challenging. On Christmas Eve, the sisters get together for a zoom call, and to share their yearly tradition of New Years Noticings. Credits Sarah Miller is a writer in Nevada City, California. Here is her biomass article in the New Yorker and here is her substack. Amelia Meath is one half of the band Sylvan Esso , which has been nominated for a Grammy for best electronic/dance album. They will win if I have anything to say about it. Which I don’t. But they will. Sedsel is my son Henry’s sister and she lives on a small farm in a place that is hard to get to. Thanks to her mother Stacey for coaching her on some spectacular whining. Sedsel and chicken
Fri, December 17, 2021
Will Staats, Hunting Biologist
Will Staats worked for both Vermont and New Hampshire for forty years as a wildlife biologist. He’s also a passionate hunter. He knows the back country of the Kingdom right up through Maine and into Labrador. One day in October he took me bird hunting deep in the unorganized town of Ferdinand. We talked about birds. And we talked about the growing divide between traditional hunting culture and people who don’t like certain kinds of hunting here in Vermont. But it was more interesting than that…it was also about how people harden against each other then alienate each other…something we do a lot of these days. Here is a recent article from Will that ran in VTDigger.
Sun, December 05, 2021
A Special Event, Finn and the Bell
Join us on Vermont Public Radio today, Dec 5, at 4:00 EST for a special airing and interview
Tue, November 02, 2021
Finn and the Bell
Finn Rooney killed himself on January 3, 2020 in the afternoon after school. No one predicted it. There were no signs. All that can be said for sure is that there was a flash of high emotion that comes with youth, and there was a gun nearby, and bullets. This isn’t a story about suicide. It’s a story about a boy called Finn who loved to fish and play baseball and write poetry and embroider…and what happens to a small Vermont community as it staggers forward after an unspeakable tragedy. Make comment at bottom of this page. Because we really want to hear from you. And we want you to be able to hear from each other. An interview with Rob Rosenthal for How Sound, on the making of Finn and the Bell Thanks My profound thanks to Tara Reese for her insights, her candor and her time. Thank you to my friends: Amelia Meath, Tobin Anderson, Clare Dolan and Mark Davis. I also want to thank every single person who talked with me for this show. You didn’t really want to but you did anyway. Thank you to Arron and Alleigh and Butch and David and Illia and Mike and Kim and Mirko and Alex and Mac and Allison and Dave and Jack and Dante and Bob and Ben and the Bread and Puppet Band. #ftg-2222 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-2222 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-2222 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-2222 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2222 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2222 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2222 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2222 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-2222 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-2222 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); }#ftg-2222 .tile:hover img {-moz-transform: ;-webkit-transform: ;-o-transform: ;-ms-transform: ;transform: ;} <img alt="Screen Shot 2021-11-01 at 6.15.48 PM" src="https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Scre
Thu, October 28, 2021
Hill Farm. A Tribute to Peter Dunning
I heard recently that Peter Dunning died. I want to play this again, in tribute. He was an amazing man. Peter Dunning’s farm was a Vermont hill farm. A hundred and thirty-six acres of forest and orchards and wet spots and steep, rocky pasture, picked over by farmers for hundreds of years. Peter farmed here, mostly alone, for nearly forty years. When he was getting done, we spoke at his kitchen table, as the farm was growing up around him. Credits I learned of Peter Dunning from a documentary, Peter and the Farm . It’s stunning. Watch it if you can…. Music for this show by David Schulman and Quiet Life Motel Thank you Geof Hewitt for your help with the poetry! This show also features the last verse of a remarkable poem called Marshall Washer, by Vermont poet Hayden Carruth. Here’s the full text.
Mon, October 04, 2021
The Defense.
In cases where a defendant seems unjustly accused, the defense attorney is our hero. But if they seem guilty…or if it’s an especially violent crime, we look at these lawyers and wonder…how can they do that? This is a show about the people who stand with the accused. You’ll hear five perspectives on the art of criminal defense, and you’ll hear some great stories. Which makes sense because telling great stories is part of the job description. Hear the Full Interviews Here are the (relatively) unedited interviews with the attorneys. I’ve removed redundancies, overly personal material, and questions of my own that were too wandering and obtuse. Sadly, the interview with Scott Williams was too damaged to include. I salvaged small sections for the show, but most of the interview suffered from ‘faulty microphone.’ Dan Sedon: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_1').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Kelly Green: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_2').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Kerry DeWolfe Part 1: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_3').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Kerry DeWolfe Part 2: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_4').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Richard Rubin Part 1: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_5').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Richard Rubin Part 2: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_6').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); The Lawyers Richard Rubin Esq. , Rubin, Kidney, Meyer & Vincent Kerry B. DeWolfe, Esq. , Appellate Division, Office of the Defender General Dan Sedon, Esq. , Sedon and Ericson, P.C., Chelsea, Vermont K
Mon, October 04, 2021
The Defense
In cases where a defendant seems unjustly accused, the defense attorney is our hero. But if they seem guilty…or if it’s an especially violent crime, we look at these lawyers and wonder…how can they do that? This is a show about the people who stand with the accused. You’ll hear five perspectives on the art of criminal defense, and you’ll hear some great stories. Which makes sense because telling great stories is part of the job description. Hear the Full Interviews Here are the (relatively) unedited interviews with the attorneys. I’ve removed redundancies, overly personal material, and questions of my own that were too wandering and obtuse. Sadly, the interview with Scott Williams was too damaged to include. I salvaged small sections for the show, but most of the interview suffered from ‘faulty microphone.’ Dan Sedon: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_10').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Kelly Green: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_11').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Kerry DeWolfe Part 1: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_12').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Kerry DeWolfe Part 2: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_13').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Richard Rubin Part 1: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_14').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Richard Rubin Part 2: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_15').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); The Lawyers Richard Rubin Esq. , Rubin, Kidney, Meyer & Vincent Kerry B. DeWolfe, Esq. , Appellate Division, Office of the Defender General Dan Sedon, Esq.</stro
Sun, September 05, 2021
Susan Asks, For Who? For What?
Susan is a private investigator and I interview her a lot for my show. Last week she hit an owl with her car and it died. She didn’t want to leave it on the side of the road so she took it home and put it in the freezer and started calling around the state to see who could use a dead owl and it turned out the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury could. So she drove up. The owl joined its raptor brethren in the museum cooler and then Susan came over to my house to eat sandwiches and talk…mostly about Covid, and about how it has changed us utterly. Music for this show is by Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio Susan’s private investigation business is called VTPrivateye
Fri, August 27, 2021
Virtual Justice
At the onset of Covid in March, 2020, the Vermont Supreme Court declared a judicial emergency, suspending all non-essential court hearings. Hearings have resumed, but many are still being held remotely, including arraignments, which are ground zero for all criminal cases. An arraignment is the first time that defendants appear in front of a judge. They’re informed of their charges and they enter a plea. And for defendants working with a public defender, it’s often the first time they meet their attorney, or even see their attorney. But since Covid, nobody’s seeing much of anyone in person. The judge might be at home, the defense attorney’s in his office, the state’s attorney’s in another office, and the defendant on the phone, or lodged in jail, as the case may be. Instead of appearing in court, they meet on a scratchy channel called WebEx. So what does justice lose when human contact is lost? Credits Attorneys Dan Sedon and Mike Shane, Sedon and Ericson George Contois, court officer at Orange County Courthouse Music by Brian Clark Thanks Thanks to Kelly Green and Tobin Anderson
Fri, August 13, 2021
Camp Zeno
Zeno Mountain Farm is a camp for people with and without disabilities, which is a super reductive way to describe it. Most other camps are places where people with disabilities are not. They’re missing. Zeno is a camp where everyone… is . And a camp that includes everybody is way more fun. Exponentially more fun. At Zeno, everyone is a camper and everyone is a counselor and nobody pays to be there and nobody gets paid. It’s just friends who come back year after year to this mountain in Lincoln, Vermont, which looks out over the Champlain Valley. I spent a day talking with people there and capturing the sound of a day at Camp Zeno. Credits and Links Thank you Laurel Sager for introducing me to Zeno!!! Link to Zeno Mountain Farm Zeno’s latest film, Best Summer Ever #ftg-2020 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-2020 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-2020 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-2020 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2020 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-2020 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2020 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-2020 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-2020 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-2020 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } IMG_2294 bus shot <img alt="winooski 1" src="https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/winoo
Tue, July 20, 2021
Chris and Beth Sing
Chris and Beth sing a lot. You’ve heard them before, if you listened to the show Sing your Job. They were the ones singing Game of Thrones, which I could not stop listening to. When I wrote to Chris to say that I couldn’t stop listening to them sing Game of Thrones, he told me that he and Beth sing a lot. They make up songs about whatever they’re doing at the moment, and lucky for us, they record themselves periodically. Nobody really knows a marriage except for the two people in it. It’s a very private institution. I’ve never been married but I’d like to think that this is what marriage sounds like. Some of the time… Credits: Chris Attaway and Beth Lewis are moving to Birmingham in August and they want to get a dog. Beth is a writer and performer and Chris makes a podcast called Left of the Dial The music video for Squash in My Shop – https://www.instagram.com/p/CMAipXznoCg/ Beth Tapes: https://anchor.fm/bethlewis Beth’s Tiny Letter – https://tinyletter.com/BethLewis/archive
Mon, June 28, 2021
Herschel’s Song
Alexis Harte is out biking on a chilly afternoon last November when a new song pops into his head and mesmerizes him. It doesn’t seem strange at first — he’s a musician, after all. But when he discovers what was happening to a cherished relative at the moment the song sprang into his brain, he begins to wonder if he’s the target of a practical joke from the hereafter. Herschel’s Song is one part tribute to a dear friend, and to a life well-lived, and one part meditation on the songwriting/creative process. Producer Bio: Producer Alexis Harte is a singer-songwriter and composer and is the co-founder and creative director of Pollen Music Group . His latest musical short film, Thirsty , premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. This is his first audio story. Credits: Story, narration, song , and sound design: Alexis Harte The Bonobo Band: Alexis Harte: Guitars/Vox/Harmonica Jon Evans : Upright Bass Matthias Bossi : Drums Additional music: “ Wedding Waltz ” | “ Bandon” by Gunnar Madsen (respectively, from the albums “ Spinning World: 13 Ways of Looking at a Waltz ” and “ Two Hands ” “ This Old House ” by Jayme Pohl “ Sunrise ” | “ Different Farm ” | “ The Story ” by Pollen Music Group “ Nocturne ” Opus 27 no. 2 in Db Major (Lento sostenuto) by Frédéric Chopin. Performed by Frank Levy (…with my humble thanks to Sir Paul McCartney, who can always be counted on for a good “perfect example”)
Thu, June 03, 2021
Growing Up in a War
Irfan Sehic grew up in Bosnia and spent most of his childhood living in a civil war. One day the kids across the street were his best friends, the next day they were enemies. His father would fight in the war a few days a week and then be back for dinner. It was complicated. He told me I couldn’t understand war because I had not experienced it, which is true. But I kept asking him to explain it to me anyway. Here’s a link to the Robby and Irfan show, wherein I admit that I do not know who Joe Rogan is. Credits Irfan owns an insurance agency and you’d be super lucky to have him as your insurance agent because he is radically honest and loves to save you money but he doesn’t need more clients. But you can read about his agency here . Episode Sponsor! This episode is sponsored by Dobbs Maple, making small batches of locally sourced granulated maple sugar, which happens to be the best maple sugar in the world. I know this because I eat a lot of maple products even in the middle of the night.
Fri, May 21, 2021
Bird Man
My friend Bryan Pfeiffer is a writer, educator and field naturalist. He used to be a professional birding guide. He knows all about birds and dragonflies and moths. He knows where they live and what they eat and what it smells like where they live and eat. And even though we’ve been friends for a long time, Bryan has never taken me birding because I’ve never been interested in birds. Then I turned fifty and became interested in birds and I think that my sudden interest has more to do with my growing desire to know these places where birds live–and be absorbed in them. So Bryan took me birding. Some writing by Bryan: The Extinction of Meaning On Bogs Butterflies and Joy Bryan’s website: where there is much good writing and many amazing pictures of flying things #ftg-1818 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-1818 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-1818 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-1818 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1818 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1818 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1818 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-1818 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-1818 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-1818 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } bryan-guiding-1280x853 <img alt="bryan-shooting-colias-1440" src="https://rumble
Thu, May 13, 2021
An Interview About Interviewing with Jane Lindholm
Jane Lindholm recently left her position as host of Vermont Edition, VPR’s midday public affairs show. In her fourteen years on the show, Jane interviewed governors, senators, authors, wildlife biologists…she interviewed me once, which was awful because I couldn’t think fast enough. I have no idea how she does it, which is why I wanted to talk with her. What is it like to be live every day with a different person? And what is it like to be a regular fixture in the lives of Vermonters every day? And then…not? Mostly this is a show for those of you who’ve been listening to Jane for fourteen years. To hear about what’s actually going on in that studio, and in her mind during Vermont Edition. We sat in her garage, in foldout chairs, between her husband’s bee keeping equipment and her kids old bikes. Where is Jane now?? She’s focusing on her podcast, But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids , which she produces with Melody Bodette , and plans to produce special projects with VPR. And that will be awesome. Music for this show is by my excellent friends Brian Clark and Mike Donofio . Thanks to Tobin Anderson for his help, as always. #ftg-1717 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-1717 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-1717 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-1717 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1717 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1717 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1717 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1717 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-1717 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-1717 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); }#ftg-1717 .tile:hover img {-moz-transform: ;-webkit-transform: ;-o-transform: ;-ms-transform: ;transform: ;} IMG_0472 <a title="Sanders and Zupan Debate at VPR" href="https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-c
Fri, May 07, 2021
Police Log: Don’t Park Too Close Edition
It’s been too long since I’ve reported on police activity here in Vermont and it’s been a challenging time for law enforcement. Calls to police are countless, and complex. I asked Scott Carrier to read from recent police logs, as reported in the Barre Montpelier Times Argus , and the Lamoille County News and Citizen . Scott Carrier is the producer of my favorite podcast, Home of the Brave .
Wed, May 05, 2021
An American Life
Vaughn Hood was a 118-pound barber when he was drafted into the Vietnam War. And in Vaughn’s war, most men didn’t survive their first three-month tour. Now Vaughn Hood runs a hair salon in St. Johnsbury with his wife, Bev. For a couple days, I sat and talked with him in the back of his salon. We talked about war, about hard work, about survival, and hairdressing. Here is the story of an extraordinary American life. This story we featured here was co-produced by Erica Heilman and Larry Massett. Some Kudos: Click here for an interview with Erica about the show, by the excellent people at The Third Coast 50 Best Podcasts of 2015, The Atlantic Monthly…#16
Thu, April 29, 2021
Leland First Responder
I met Leland when he was in school with my son Henry at Calais Elementary. I interviewed him when he was over playing at our house when he was in fourth grade, and I’ve been interviewing him every spring ever since. We’ve talked about deep space, death, girls…sometimes we don’t talk much at all. Leland’s a junior in high school now. He spends most of his time at a technical school working on carpentry. He has his license and his own truck, which doesn’t have much of a muffler. We sat and talked out by his barn, which overlooks a field and a vernal pool full of spring peepers which is there because of a stuck culvert.
Thu, April 08, 2021
Sing Your Job
Here is a little musical about the beautiful minutia of your lives. And I just keep adding to it because our lives just keep going on and on and on. So just keep sending songs and now and then I’ll add them to the Longest Song.
Mon, March 29, 2021
Will you Sing Your Job?
Sing about what you do every day.
Tue, March 23, 2021
Han’s Brain
The first time I meet Han MeiMei, we were standing on my deck in Vermont. She looked at the fields around my house and she said, ‘That’s a lot of fields. Have you ever thought of writing messages to airplanes?’ I had not thought of this. Han is a brain scientist. She studies the nature of memory, and she’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. She grew up in a state-run factory compound in Guilin, in southeast China’s Guangxi province. Everyone who worked there lived there, and shopped there, and the children were educated in schools there. Han was born in 1984, soon after China had decided to open itself to more economic engagement with the international economy. But she was also a second child when second children were not allowed in China. We talked about growing up in China, and what she learned about China after she left. And why she’s chosen to spend her life asking questions that may never be answered in her lifetime. Notes Thank you as always to Tobin Anderson. Music credits I cannot pronounce: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_7').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); An excellent Little Tiger Team video that you must watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7hbYLaD-FY Han is not her real name. A lot of what she says in this conversation would be considered censorable in China, and she wanted to protect her privacy. Playlist from show: 1. “Fly, butterfly!” by The Little Tigers Team 2. “Our life is full of sunshine” by Yu Shuzhen 3. “Songs and smiles” by The Milkyway Youth Art Troupe 4. “Flowing water ” by Guan Pinghu 5. “The waters and clouds of Xiaoxiang” by Wu Jinglue 6. “For ten years, the river runs east; for ten years, the river runs west” by Wutiaoren
Thu, March 04, 2021
Free Soup. Come.
Rose Friedman and some friends decided to start making free meals on Wednesday nights for anyone who wants them. They set up outside the East Hardwick Grange Hall. A lot of people around here are making food for neighbors during Covid. But Rose isn’t making food because of Covid. Or not exactly. She wants to see what will happen. Who will come and get the food and what will it be like when they come to get the food and if a lot of really different kinds of people come to get the food, what will they all talk about in front of the grange hall? It’s like a combination of science project and putting on a show, which is one reason why I like Rose, and why I wanted to watch her make soup. VPR show about Rose and Justin and Modern Times Theater Modern Times Theater Music for this show by Brian Clark Thanks to Tobin Anderson and Amelia Meath
Fri, February 19, 2021
Marriage in the Time of Covid
We’re a year into Covid and in Vermont we’re almost into the last stretch of winter and I’ve been thinking a lot about married people, or people partnered with other people living in houses and apartments day after night for days and months and now a year. I wonder what goes on in those houses and what they talk about and how they get on day after day, night after night. I found a young couple willing to talk with me about how they’re doing. They live in an old farmhouse in central Vermont that they’re renovating… (((Note: This is not ‘real’. Some people get really mad if they don’t know in advance. So here I am to say it’s not real. Not ENTIRELY real. I mean there’s a lot here that is real. But not all of it.))) Credits Thank you Jesse and Serena for excellent cocktails and your insights about condiments Thank you Brian Clark for your music. And your beautiful woodwork . Thank you Tobin Anderson for your constant help A link to Jesse’s work . Here are some pictures of Jesse and Serena and their awesome house in Plainfield: #ftg-1515 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-1515 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-1515 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-1515 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1515 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1515 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1515 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1515 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-1515 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-1515 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); }#ftg-1515 .tile:hover img {-moz-transform: ;-webkit-transform: ;-o-transform: ;-ms-transform: ;transform: ;} 20191109_184736 <a title="20191208_153227" href="https://rumbles
Fri, February 05, 2021
Town Meeting
In most of New England, town citizens become legislators for one day a year. They get together in school gyms and town halls and vote in person, and in public. This centuries long practice of towns doing the slow and hard work of disagreeing and arguing and compromising on how to govern themselves—this has a profound impact on a place, and what it means to be from a place. Sometimes it’s contentious. Sometimes it’s boring. But it’s always the most interesting and authentic and civilized social event of the year. Always. This is a show about where I live, which is maybe not where you live, but we’re all living through a time of awful division. There aren’t a lot of opportunities anymore to disagree civilly, in public, or to make decisions with people who are hugely different from ourselves. And maybe there should be. So I made this show to inspire us all. And you’ll hear a lot about trash removal. Credits Music by Brian Clark . In addition to being a fine musician, he is also a fine woodworker . Featured photos by Terry J. Allen Endless thanks to Tobin Anderson, Kelly Green and Amelia Meath for their help on this show. Susan Clark is the co-author of Slow Democracy , a wonderful book on self governance and rediscovering community. Thanks to Brattleboro Community TV and Mount Mansfield Community TV for their recordings of town meeting and all the brave people who get up and talk in those meetings Moderators in this show are: Stephen Magill, Moretown. Paul Doton, Barnard. Gus Seelig, Calais. John McLaughry, Kirby. Bobby Starr, Troy. Susan Clark, Middlesex. Kelly Green, Randolph Click on images below for better view. Most of the good pictures here are by Terry J. Allen of East Montpelier. #ftg-1414 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-1414 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-1414 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-1414 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1414 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1414 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-1414 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1414 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ft
Wed, January 20, 2021
Party is Everything
This is a FUN show to celebrate FRICKIN’ INAUGURATION DAY which we’ve been waiting for for 1000 years!!!!!! It’s from the Shaking Out the Numb , a series I made with Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso . The show is called Party Is Everything. It’s about being young and getting ready to go to parties and then going to parties. And all of the things you think about when you’re getting ready to go to a party and then when you’re at a party. The song you hear is Ferris Wheel, from Sylvan Esso’s new album, Free Love. In this show you’ll hear Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, Amelia Meath and Molly Erin Searle, who together have a band called Mountain Man , which is an amazing band. There’s some swearing. A lot of young people swear. They’re good at Instagram and they swear a lot.
Wed, December 23, 2020
Problems: The Awful Sisters Christmas Special
It’s been a challenging year. Families are trying to figure out how to be together for the holidays when they can’t be together physically. Welcome to Problems, a Christmas special. Problems is a series about comfortable, upper middle class people who have a lot to complain about. This year, Pam and her two sisters, Andrea and Amanda, are planning a Christmas caroling zoom call to their parents. In a series of zoom calls they plan and practice. But it’s just really hard. Credits Amanda is played by writer Sarah Miller , of Nevada City, California and a reasonably regular contributor to this show. You can find a link to her essay, Why Cooking Sucks…below. Andrea is played by Amelia Meath of Durham, NC, singer/songwriter in Sylvan Esso and Mountain Man . I’ve done a bunch of shows for and with Sylvan Esso, some of which are below. Pam is me.
Tue, December 15, 2020
Surviving COVID, a Fever Dream
Daniel Kirk is a children’s book author and illustrator and he lives with his wife in New Jersey, about twelve miles outside of Manhattan. They were both infected with COVID last March, before it had spread in the United States. They still don’t know where they got it. By now we know a lot more about COVID. We know the symptoms. We can recite the symptoms. But what does it actually feel like to struggle to breathe? And for those who become deathly ill–who slip into some state between waking and dreaming–where do they go? As Daniel’s wife recovered, Daniel’s temperature climbed to 104, and eventually he ended up in the hospital. Here is his story. Credits Information about Daniel Kirk Music for this show is by Mike Donofrio and Brian Clark , two excellent people. As always, my thanks to Tobin Anderson who helps me with all things.
Thu, December 03, 2020
A Talk About the F-Word, with Bill Schubart
Bill Schubart is a writer and a cultural and political commentator. He’s chaired a lot of important boards here in Vermont. He’s really smart and he talks a lot and a lot of people listen to him. What he talks less about is that he’s struggled with being fat his entire life. He’s not averse to talking about it. In fact he wrote a brilliant collection of stories called Fat People in 2010. But it’s not the sort of thing that comes up in conversation. In this show, we talk about it. For more about Bill Schubart A link to Bill’s book, Fat People Credits: Music for this show by Brian Clark , who is awesome. Thank you Tobin Anderson , as always Headshot by Bill’s brother, Michael Couture Biker photo by Erik Borg
Mon, November 23, 2020
Shaking out the Numb
I first interviewed them when they played in Vermont in 2017 and we became friends. In fact Amelia is the only person with whom I have two-hour phone conversations that start like this: ‘Hey. What are you doing?’ ‘Nothing. What are you doing?’ ‘Nothing.’ This podcast was an experiment. The interviews were all recorded over the phone during Covid….on back porches at night, by rivers, in fields, and sometimes in closets. Nick and Amelia weren’t interested in a standard set of questions about how they make their songs or what their songs are about. Instead…they told stories that cause songs. The series is called Shaking Out the Numb . I love them. I hope you will too. Photo Credits: Above picture by Nick and Amelia. Banner picture by Shervin Lainez. More Information about Sylvan Esso Sylvan Esso has unveiled a new podcast today called Shaking Out The Numb. The experimental six-episode series is a revealing exploration of the creative heartbeat of this duo, and the impulses and experiences that led them to make their new album Free Love. Sylvan Esso has partnered with NPR Music to share the episode entitled “Make It Easy,” and all six episodes of Shaking Out The Numb are available now via all major podcast distributors and YouTube. The podcast was created from hours of unadorned conversations that Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso had with their friend, Rumble Strip producer Erica Heilman, shortly after completing Free Love. Both focused and freewheeling, each episode has a different scope, mixing together found sounds, reflections and discussions that celebrate the sheer thrill of the very essence of creativity. From a visit to a decommissioned particle collider to the electric feeling of getting ready for a party, Shaking Out The Numb opens a window into the soul of Sylvan Esso. The podcast was produced by Erica Heilman and Sylvan Esso. This past weekend, Sylvan Esso performed three songs from Free Love on CBS Saturday, from a roof in their home city of Durham, NC. Watch them perform “Ring,” “Ferris Wheel,” and “Rooftop Dancing.” Since May they’ve also performed for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, where Amelia sang “Ferris Wheel” from the bed of a moving flatbed truck. Last week, Sylvan Esso also shared a remix of their summer bop “Ferris Wheel ,” transformed into a “woozy headtrip” (Stereogum) by celebrated producer/multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin (Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Travis Scott) and featuring Robert Glasper (Kanye West, Erykah Badu, JAY-Z). <
Fri, November 13, 2020
Officer Clemmons
François Clemmons was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1945 on the plantation where his great great grandmother Laura May’s family had been slaves, then he moved with his mother and siblings and aunts and cousins to Youngstown, Ohio during the Great Migration. Youngstown is where he started singing, and he never stopped singing. He sings in the middle of sentences, he sings on the way to the bathroom, he sings like the world depends on it, which maybe it does. But you know him already. Or those of you who are of a certain age. For twenty-five years François played Officer Clemmons on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. And recently he wrote a book about it, called Officer Clemmons. Now he lives in Middlebury, Vermont. I drove over there to talk with him about his life in the South and about Mr. Rogers, one of the great loves of his life. Credits and More François Clemmons’ Website Clemmons’ memoir, Officer Clemmons Additional music by Brian Clark Article in Seven Days about François Clemmons by Dan Bolles. Thank you Dan for writing it.
Thu, October 29, 2020
I Am In Here
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/230694656″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Mark Utter was born with a form of autism that makes it impossible for him to say what he’s thinking. For the first thirty years of his life, Mark did not have access to the world of words, except as a listener. An observer. When he was thirty, he was introduced to supported typing, and for the first time in his life, with the help of a facilitator and a typing pad, Mark started his life as a writer of words. This is an interview about what it’s like inside the life and mind of Mark Utter. Kudos and Credits 50 Best Podcasts of 2015, The Atlantic Monthly…#38 Mark Utter lives in Colchester, Vermont. He receives services that assist his day to day ventures with negotiating a world that functions differently than he does. The more you read about him the more you will realize that we are more alike than different. Emily Anderson is trained to support people who type to communicate. She was the producer of “I am in here.” She has a background in social/political theater and uses it to assist creative projects that bring odd people more positively into the limelight. Mark’s Web site: www.utterenergy.org To view the “I am in here” trailer or purchase the DVD: http://www.utterenergy.org/iaminhere/ Mark’s Blog: http://www.utterenergy.org/blog/ For more information on the form of communication Mark uses: http://www.utterenergy.org/supported-typing/ Music for this show by Podington Bear, and the Free Music Archive Kudos Best in Show from The Timbre!
Thu, October 29, 2020
I Hate Google Meet
I’ve been doing a couple freelance jobs for extra money. One requires a great deal of video conferencing. I have learned that I do not excel at video conferencing and at the moment I knew this with certainty, my recorder was close by, so I recorded some thoughts on the subject. Then an audio producer in London heard it and did a remix version of it. So here is a short dip into my state of mind during this election season, this world burning, this age of video conferencing. There is some justifiably strong language. Credits Arlie Adlington , Audio producer for podcasts and radio Maya Goldberg-Safir , an excellent person who also happens to be the artistic director of The Third Coast Festival
Thu, September 24, 2020
Karl Hammer and the Donkeys
Karl Hammer is the founder and president of the Vermont Compost Company in East Montpelier, right up the hill from Montpelier, the state capital. I first heard about Karl from my friend Rosana, who used to be married to him. She told me about how they had puppies one winter, and Karl decided to compost their poop on the floor in the house, which he sweetened with donkey manure and hardwood bark and hay. Karl started as a vegetable and dairy farmer on a hill farm in Vershire Vermont. He had a business card that said, ‘Have fun. Make money. Save the world.’ How do you make more land better land to make more food for more people? I think it was that question that finally made him leave farming and get into compost production, long before composting was a virtue. Recently, Karl’s been running a donkey cart into town to pick up food scraps at restaurants and the local coop. Karl has always had donkeys. He loves donkeys, especially the American Mammoth jackstock, which is endangered. And Karl figures the only way to protect them is to give them a useful job to do…to make them indispensable. I tried to interview Karl a few years ago and failed. He has a mind that connects politics and history and feces and he talks about them all at once and he’s impossible to corral into any one subject at a time. I figured this time I could keep him on the subject of donkeys. But I couldn’t. But it didn’t matter. Karl knows a lot of things I wish I knew. Pictures and video by Sid Hammer, except the less good pictures, which are mine. #ftg-1313 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-1313 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-1313 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-1313 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1313 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1313 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1313 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1313 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-1313 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-1313 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); }#ftg-1313 .tile:hover img {-moz-transform: ;-webkit-transform: ;-o-transform: ;-ms-transform: ;transform: ;} <a title="XT3A2354" href="http
Mon, August 24, 2020
Crossing Guard
A GUEST SHOW from one of my favorite radio producers….Bianca Giaever. During a period of personal loneliness, radio-maker Bianca Giaever set out into New York City, hoping to connect with another lonely stranger. She began visiting Catholic churches, and eventually, she met Sophia — a school crossing guard. In this piece, Bianca documents Sophia’s life for many months… weaving between the ordinary life of a school crossing guard, and larger themes of loneliness, God, and the quest to live a meaningful life. This piece is the first episode in a new podcast by Bianca and The Believer Magazine called Constellation Prize , which you can find in the iTunes store or wherever you get your podcasts. In this series, Bianca talks to subjects about their daily existential problems, both big and small. If you like Rumble Strip, you will like Bianca’s show. It never fails to surprise me. Music in this episode is by Zubin Hensler and Stellwagon Symphonette . It was written and produced by Bianca Giaever , and edited by Hayden Bennett . Special thanks to Andrew Leland and Laura Irving. Artwork by Sludge Thunder
Tue, August 11, 2020
Winnie
Winnie Wilkinson is originally from Jamaica but she spent half her life in New York City before moving up to St. Albans, Vermont, where black people make up 2.52 percent of the population. Winnie has family all over the country, and she has a lot of family members who’ve been harassed by the police, which is what I went to talk with her about. But it’s not what we talked about. Instead, we talked about God and about slavery–two things that have a profound impact on how Winnie thinks about everything else, including police brutality. Thank you David Glidden for introducing me to Winnie. And thank you Winnie for going to look for my glasses. And thank you Tobin for bearing with me. To learn more about Winnie’s seasonings, spices, hot pepper sauce and African products, visit her here .
Thu, July 23, 2020
Knots and Pandemics
Clare is the curator of the Museum Of Everyday Life, which lives in a barn on Route 16, about eight miles from Glover, Vermont, population 2000. Over the years, the Museum of Everyday Life has given us the toothbrush, the mirror, bells and whistles–celebrations of objects we use everyday in our unglamorous everyday lives. This year’s exhibit features the knot. It’s not quite finished, because as Clare was preparing the exhibit, she was also working her other job as a nurse at a small rural hospital, in the middle of a pandemic. She showed me the exhibit, which is not quite done but which is already strange and brilliant, and we talked about knots, and about her work as a nurse, in a pandemic and beyond… THANK YOU to Bianca Giaever for her insights on this show. She just launched a podcast and it’s really frickin good… More Visit the Museum of Every Life Images from the new exhibit: #ftg-1212 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-1212 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-1212 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-1212 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1212 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1212 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1212 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1212 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-1212 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-1212 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); }#ftg-1212 .tile:hover img {-moz-transform: ;-webkit-transform: ;-o-transform: ;-ms-transform: ;transform: ;} IMG_9292 IMG_9348 <a title="IMG_9328" href="https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_9328-819
Mon, June 22, 2020
Leland in a Pandemic
I met my friend Leland when he was in first grade and he came over to play with my son Henry. For six years now, we’ve been having a yearly conversation about how he’s doing and what he’s thinking about. He just finished his sophomore year at the Central Vermont Career Center in Barre, which is a technical education school. He was never big on regular school, even though he knows more about geography than I’ll ever know. Leland lives in an old farmhouse on a dirt road looking down over Pekin Brook in Calais. I drove over and I sat in my car and he sat in his truck and neither of us had a lot to say, in that way that a lot of us don’t have a lot to say right now, with so much that’s so uncertain…
Wed, June 03, 2020
1900 Cars
Last month a friend of mine sent me a picture of miles and miles of cars lined up waiting for food that was being distributed by the National Guard here in Vermont. Nineteen hundred cars . I’d never seen anything like it, and it took me a minute to even believe it. And when I told a friend about it…a perfectly smart and thoughtful friend…he said, “Well, they probably don’t really need it. I mean, those are pretty nice cars…” It turns out there are lot of ways to be food insecure, and they’re all invisible, and they’re growing all the time. I went and talked with some people working on the front lines of hunger about this big federal food distribution program that’s all over the news, and we talked about the chronic problem of stigmatizing people who don’t have to enough to eat. ((Check out a gallery of pictures from this event below…)) In this show Robert Ostermeyer, Director of Franklin/Grand Isle Community Action at the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Nicole Whalen, Vermont Foodbank Faye Longo, Vermont Foodbank Music Brian Clark, Calais, Vermont Links to Information about Food How to find your local Foodbank Vermont Foodbank How to find your local food pantry The following pictures were taken by Terry J. Allen of East Montpelier, Vermont, at the Newport food distribution event in June, 2020. She’s great, and you can see more of her work here . #ftg-1111 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-1111 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-1111 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-1111 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1111 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-1111 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1111 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-1111 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1111 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-1111 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-1111 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1111 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1111 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1111 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-1111 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-11
Tue, May 12, 2020
Grant Owen
Kids know how to turn objects into living things. It's like magic...
Thu, April 16, 2020
Our Show Seven
Here’s our last show, which also happens to be show number seven. In this show you heard Cheering healthcare workers in Barcelona and Toronto Greg’s son practicing trumpet on a rainy night in Plainfield, VT Brooke in Denver Colorado Rob on the accordian in Adamant, VT Bianca in Brooklyn, NY Gideon and his mother Kathryn in High Falls, NY Liv singing in Los Angeles, CA Toria in Boulder, CO Edward and his daughter in Forth Worth, TX Shane singing about dinosaurs in Minnesota The 5pm one song concert in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn Ali cheering the healthcare workers on her porch in Putney, VT And this is Mary and her dad Ted in Lincoln, VT The incomparable associate producer for this series is Samantha Broun. Thank you to Larry Massett and Scott Carrier and Tobin Anderson. Our Show is made in collaboration with Transom , the birthplace of excellent radio. I think this is our last show everybody. I’m not getting the same volume of recordings as I was a month ago. I think maybe we’re into a new stage of this pandemic experience, and maybe it’s more internal, where people don’t want to talk as much. If that changes again, and people suddenly have lots they want to say, and the recordings start building up again, then I can always make more. But for now I think we should congratulate ourselves for making an amazing thing together. Thank you ALL for the remarkable privilege of listening to your recordings from all over the world. It has carried me through this time and I am so grateful.
Sat, April 11, 2020
Our Show Six
This is Our Show, number six. Your recordings about the pandemic. In this show you heard from: Alicia and Liv in Los Angeles, CA Ada in Marfa, Texas Anna in Bennington, Vermont The sound of rain in a woodstove from Bruce in Montreal Bill in New York City Morten in Southampton, United Kingdom Eli in Philadelphia, PA Katz in Amsterdam, The Netherlands Shana in Auchterarder, Scotland Samantha, somewhere in South Africa Jen in East London Bev and her mother Marj and her father Bill, in Toronto. Samantha Broun is the associate producer for this series, and she’s producing an amazing series right now about an ER nurse in Queens. You can find the latest episode here . The picture above is Morten’s beautiful daughter in their garden in Southampton, UK. Transom is my partner in this series, for which I feel extremely lucky. Keep sending your stories, from wherever you are. Sing a song. Record a phone call, or an argument, or your thoughts in the middle of the night. Say the location and the date at the beginning. And tell your friends to send their tape too. I’m hoping we make something that sounds like what’s happening. Send me your recordings at rumblestripourshow@gmail.com , and if you cant figure out how to do it, just email and we’ll figure it out together. Katz in Amsterdam Jen and kids in East London Anne Frank’s church bells in the distance, in Amsterdam
Tue, April 07, 2020
Our Show Five
Here’s Our Show, number five…your recordings about the pandemic. In this show you hear from: Niels in Copenhagen, Denmark Thomas singing in El Cerrito, CA Rachel in Olympia, Washington Rob and his kids from Olympia, Washington Louisa in Brittany, France Another meditation from Cali in Florida Tomas in Berlin, Germany Molly’s bells in Las Cruces, NM Esther in Amsterdam, The Netherlands Ada and Mathew in Marfa, TX Carlos, in Bethesda, MD The Associate Producer for this series is the excellent, gifted Samantha Broun. The partner for this series is Transom . Above is a picture of Tomas’ plant. Keep sending your stories, from wherever you are. I listen to every one of them. And I love them. Sing a song. Record a phone call, or an argument, or your thoughts in the middle of the night. Say the location and the date at the beginning. And tell your friends to send their tape too. I’m hoping we make something that sounds like what’s happening. Send me your recordings at rumblestripourshow@gmail.com , and if you cant figure out how to do it, just email me and we’ll figure it out together. This pandemic is changing. In a lot of places, it’s becoming more dire. There are more people who are sick. More people have loved ones who are sick. Healthcare workers are overworked and scared and tired. And a lot of us are really worried about paying our bills. And in order to do as much justice to as many people as possible, we need to hear from these people on the front lines. If you know someone who is struggling, and may find it USEFUL to talk about it in a recording, tell them about the project. We want to hear from them. We’re making this show together, and it’s for all of us. Thank you for doing this with me.
Thu, April 02, 2020
Our Show Four
Here is Our Show 4, your recordings during the pandemic. Thank you for sending me remarkable recordings from all over the world, and the intense privilege of making shows with them. In this show you hear from: Bill in New York City Clive in Toronto Tim in Durango, Colorado Bianca in New York City Andrew’s son reading Pi in Northhampton, Mass. Kelly in New Braunfels, Texas Ralph in North Wolcott, Vermont Amelia in Durham North Carolina Music by hand habits and Amelia Meath . Your Recordings! Keep sending your stories, from wherever you are. I listen to every one of them. And I’m pulling from ALL of them to make these new shows. Sing a song. Record a phone call, or an argument, or your thoughts in the middle o fthe night. Say the location and the date at the beginning. And tell your friends to send their tape too. I’m hoping we make something that sounds like what’s happening. Send me your recordings at rumblestripourshow@gmail.com , and if you cant figure out how to do it…. I’m happy to say that Transom is now a collaborator on Our Show. Transom is sort of where new radio gets born, and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have become a radio producer if they didn’t exist back when I started. Thank you so much to Jay Allison and to Scott Carrier for support, and to Samantha Broun for support and editing.
Sun, March 29, 2020
Our Show Three
This is Our Show number three…made from your recordings during the pandemic. Keep that tape coming. Let’s keep making damn shows. In this show you hear from: Elliott in Brooklyn and his mother Roberta who’s outside of Chicago Carlos in Bethesda Ryan in West Virginia Katy in New York City Darren in the middle of the south coast of England Silvia in Barcelona Jessica in Minneapolis Alicia and Liv in Los Angeles Scott in Streatham, London Greta in Los Angeles Karen on an island near Stockholm Sarah and Hannah in Essex, Vermont THANK YOU to Samantha Broun at Transom for all her help on this project. Picture above from Silvia in Barcelona. Recordings Send me your stories, from wherever you are. Sing a song. It doesn’t have to sound good. Record a phone call, or an argument, or whatever you like. Say the location and the date at the beginning. And tell your friends to send their tape too. Send it to me at rumblestripourshow@gmail.com , and if you cant figure out how to do it, email me at that address and we’ll figure it out. Jay Allison at Transom has posted ideas about how to record, and why. They are great, and more articulate than what I’ve written. Have a look and send to friends if they’re interested in recording. And better at communication than me. Darren, England Simone, San Francisco Sarah and Hannah, Vermont
Fri, March 27, 2020
Our Show Two
This is the second installment of Our Show, which is about all of us during this pandemic, and is made from all the recordings you’re sending to me from wherever you are in the world, in whatever isolated circumstance. I’m in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in a third floor walk-up, with my son Henry. I have plenty of time to edit. So keep sending your stories. Here’s Show Two. In this story you hear from: Bianca and Matt in New York City My sister Missy in Damariscotta, Maine Craig and his wife and son in Madison, Wisconsin Desiree in Los Angeles Gary in Singapore Malcolm and Shana in Auchterarder, Scotland John in Seattle, Washington, who is not a teacher but is teaching the meaning of circumference Nick in Los Angeles, singing an Arthur Russell song Auchterarder, Scotland
Wed, March 25, 2020
Our Show One
It’s amazing. An entire planet of people living mostly in isolation…or those of us lucky enough to be well. It’s the darkest thing to happen in my lifetime, but also strangely the most unifying. We’re all experiencing the very same thing at the same time, but not together. Which is why I wanted to make this show. I asked you to send me recordings from where you are so we could make a show about all of us. And you did. And they are remarkable, and there are too many to make just one show. So I’m going to just keep making this show, called Our Show, for as long as you want to to send me your recordings from wherever you are in isolation. And we can keep each other company. So here goes. More! Keep sending recordings! Your handwashing, your arguments, your thoughts in the middle of the night…your songs and hummings….whatever. And tell your friends to send their recordings too. Just email me at rumblestripvermont@gmail.com, or send files via wetransfer.com. Credits: In this show you hear from Tristan from Tasmania, Helena DeGroot in New York City, Cali from Florida and her friend Keri from Durham North Carolina, Clark from Atlanta, Georgia, Tom and Liam from Columbus, Ohio, and Deb and Gary in Montpelier, Vermont. Also birds and Aoife the cat from Woodbury, Vermont. Picture by Helena DeGroot Liam, Columbus, OH Sponsor (TAKEOUT FROM HONEY ROAD!!!) This show is sponsored by the excellent people at Honey Road, making the best food in Burlington on the corner of Church and Main. They are now serving takeout. Please order up from them, ok? Click on the picture and check out the menu…
Fri, March 20, 2020
Our Show
Send me some recordings. Let's make a show.
Thu, February 20, 2020
Announcement
Hi all, My father died a couple weeks ago. He died peacefully at the UVM Medical Center in Burlington. My mother and sister and I spent six days and nights with him, the last 4.5 in comfort care. It was quiet. We had a room we could all camp out in together. The death was a surprise but not a shock. I’m putting out this announcement because work on the show is going slowly at the moment. Also because the show is very personal and it would seem odd not to tell you all. My father was a brilliant, curious, funny man of enormous integrity. He taught me that everyone is an expert in their own life, and knows something you’d be better for if you knew it too. He was my first teacher in interviewing. He was also a terrible eavesdropper in restaurants. Here’s his obituary if you want to read it. Thanks for your patience everyone, Erica
Tue, February 11, 2020
Susan on the Brown Couch
Susan Randall is a private investigator here in Vermont and she’s been my friend for twenty five years. If you listen to the show, you already know that I interview her periodically for Rumble Strip. We talk in her car, in her backyard…mostly we talk about her work as a private investigator, but lately we’ve been talking about all the complicated things that seem to start happening when you turn fifty. In our last conversation, she was just finishing treatments for breast cancer. And on New Year’s Day this year, she had a terrible medical incident that was a reaction to her cancer medication. So I went over to her house and we lay on the brown couch in her living room. We talked about her work, and some of the benefits of getting older. Credits For more information about Susan and her work, visit her site here . Music for this show is by the excellent Brian Clark Sponsor! This show is sponsored by the excellent people at Honey Road, making the best food in Burlington on the corner of Church and Main. Click on the picture and check out the menu…
Wed, January 15, 2020
Joslyn House
People often assume the Joslyn House is a nursing home, probably because a lot of old people live there. But it’s not a nursing home. It’s not assisted living. There’s no anonymous art on the wall. It’s not licensed by the state. It’s a house. It’s a a place where up to twenty older people live independently together …in a huge, elegant house furnished with their own things. There’s socializing when you want it, silence when you don’t, there’s sociable silence… there are three beautiful meals served a day. Residents are given a room, and rent is 1500 dollars a month. I can’t believe every town doesn’t have a Joslyn House…a place in your own town where you can help each other as you get older. Where you don’t have to worry about cooking, where if you’re lonely at night there‘s someone to talk to, or sit with. In other words, a civilized place. A place where love is evident… Credits Thanks to all the residents who talked with me, and the beautiful Arlene and Becky Wright , managers of the house. My friend Kelly Green produced this show with me. She’s great at this PLUS she’s a great defense attorney! If you’re in trouble, call Kelly! Click here for more information on the Joslyn House The song for this show is A Wave in the Air by The Imperfectionists , from their latest album, Universal Consent. More of their music And my frickin ALL TIME FAVORITE IMPERFECTIONIST SONG: Astroplane . Sponsor! This show is sponsored by the excellent people at Honey Road, making the best food in Burlington on the corner of Church and Main. Click on the picture and check out the menu…
Thu, December 19, 2019
One more thing about Ben Kilham…
An outtake with bear biologist Ben Kilham, about living with dyslexia, and how it informs the way he thinks about bears.
Mon, December 16, 2019
Bear Man
Ben Kilham and his sister Phoebe are the only licensed bear rehabilitators in the state of New Hampshire. For over twenty-five years, the Kilham Bear Center has taken in orphaned or injured black bear cubs and successfully released them back into the wild. And Ben has conducted arguably the longest scientific study of black bear behavior in history. Until Ben Kilham, black bears were studied mostly using tracking collars. But Ben has spent decades following bears in the woods, sometimes for nine hours at a time. As his orphan cubs acclimate to their natural environment, he watches them. He naps when they nap, he moves when they move, and he studies their complex social behaviors. One of his very first cubs, Squirty, is twenty-four years old this year. She lives in woods near his home, and he’s watched her become a mother, and now a grandmother. Bear biologists have generally assumed that black bears were solitary animals. Ben Kilham has proven them very wrong. Links Kilham Bear Center: the place for all information on the rehabilitation program, Ben’s research, videos and books for sale…. Cubs Video: I could not figure out how to attach more video. For more, go to Ben’s website above… The photos below are lent to Rumble Strip by Ben. Please don’t copy. Thank you!….: #ftg-99 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-99 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-99 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-99 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-99 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-99 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-99 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-99 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-99 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-99 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); }#ftg-99 .tile:hover img {-moz-transform: ;-webkit-transform: ;-o-transform: ;-ms-transform: ;transform: ;} <img alt="ben and cubs" src="https://rumblestr
Wed, November 20, 2019
Fifty. A Phoenix Moment.
For many years I have privately loved the song Total Eclipse of the Heart, by Bonnie Tyler. I started to love it when it came out in 1983, when I was fourteen. This month I’m turning fifty. And for some reason, every time I think about turning fifty, I think about singing this song that I’ve loved for over over thirty years, and making other people listen to me sing it. I guess in a way it’s a kind of phoenix moment I’m hoping for. That I’ll burn up in some exquisite shame and then I’ll be born again into the second chapter of a century. So I asked my friends Mike and Brian and Tobin to record the song with me in the East Calais community center at the back of the post office. I knew they didn’t like the song and they didn’t really want to do it, so I felt really bad asking them to do it, which in a way seemed like part o the phoenix moment I was looking for. I feel ambivalent about turning fifty. I don’t know what’s supposed to happen next. So I recorded conversations with some friends about getting older. I talked with my son Henry , who’s 16. Bianca Giaever is 29. Scott Carrier is 60-something. And Clare Dolan is around my age. Here’s a show about turning fifty and recording Total Eclipse of the Heart. Credits Thank you to Scott Bassage for helping me secure the best recording studio in central Vermont at the back of the East Calais post office Thank you to the band: Brian Clark , Mike Donofrio and Tobin Anderson (pictures below) Thank you to my friends who talked with me for this show: Scott Carrier , Clare Dolan , Bianca Giaever and Henry Heilman Sponsor! This show is sponsored by the excellent people at Honey Road, making the best food in Burlington on the corner of Church and Main. Click on the picture and check out the menu… #ftg-66 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-66 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-66 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-66 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-66 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-66 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-66 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-66 .tile .caption-block .
Thu, November 07, 2019
Truck Redux
This is a show about guys who love to talk about their trucks. I made it a few years ago and I think it needs a comeback. And my opinion about Dodge Rams has not changed. Enjoy.
Thu, October 17, 2019
Bobcat Hunter
Patrick Soniera has been hunting and tracking bobcats in Vermont for fifty years, and he has a diary entry about every single hunt–the weather, the birds or the bears, the behavior of the cat tracks he followed–his diaries fill one whole wall of his office. And for the majority of those days out in the woods, Patrick never even saw a bobcat. You almost never see them, which is why Patrick is so fascinated by these cats. Last year Patrick went out tracking cats with his hounds a hundred and fifty times and he shot one bobcat. He says it isn’t about the killing. And that’s what all good hunters say. And when you ask, ‘Well then why not just take a camera?’, the answer is always the same. ‘Because I’m a hunter.’ After years of interviewing good hunters, I’m beginning to understand the tautological logic of this. Part of Patrick’s love for bobcats is the fact of the hunt . And part of why he’s able to share years’ worth of knowledge with Vermont Fish and Wildlife is because now and then he kills one. Thank you to Louis Porter of Vermont Fish and Wildlife for recommending Patrick to me. I love the state where I live… This show is sponsored by Honey Road , my all time favorite restaurant in Vermont. Make a reservation. Go. Eat. Report back. And click on the image below for more information.
Mon, September 30, 2019
Problems, Episode 5: Vacation
This is the fifth episode of Problems , a radio drama about Pam and Joel, two old friends who support each other through their problems. In this episode, Joel’s just come back from a long vacation in British Colombia, where he had a lovely time mountain biking with friends. But…there were some problems. This show is sponsored by Honey Road , my all time favorite restaurant in Vermont. Make a reservation. Go. Eat. Report back. And click on the image below for more information.
Mon, September 09, 2019
A Perfect Drive with Garret Keizer
Garret Keizer and I stood together in a field, in the late summer, in the Northeast Kingdom, and he read poems from his new book, The World Pushes Back . I first heard of Garret a few years ago when I read his book, Getting Schooled , about his years as a high school teacher up here in the Kingdom. He described this place more honestly and more humanely …than anything I’d ever read about the place before. And his stories about his own experience teaching are almost brutally honest. I’ve never read an account of teaching quite like it. Garret’s one of the only writers where I find myself copying whole passages down from his work, as if I’ll need them later. They’re not always easy or nice things I copy down. Garret Keizer is one of the most critical and also most contemplative people I’ve ever met. I write these passages down because they remind me of something fundamental about being human that I don’t want to forget. He’s just come out with his first book of poetry, so we drove around and talked in his car until we found the perfect field to read poetry in. It was some of the best, and most surprising conversation I’ve had in a long time. Links and Credits For more of Garret’s work, visit his site here . One of my favorite articles he’s written for Harper’s is called Requiem for the Private Word …. Garret will be the headlining reader at the opening ceremony of the Burlington Book Festival on September 27th at 7:00. For more information, go here . Music for this show is by Vermont musician Brian Clark And thanks also to my wonderful sponsor, Honey Road . The best restaurant in Burlington. Click below to read about the menu…
Wed, August 07, 2019
Summer Musical
It’s the summer musical in Randolph, Vermont…one day before showtime. It’s been an annual event at Chandler Music Hall for over twenty years, and this year they’re putting on Footloose. And honestly? It feels like the whole town is involved. Like it takes every last person in Randolph to pull this thing off…again. To put on a full musical with up to 120 kids, in three weeks? It’s a miracle. I spent an afternoon talking with some of the kids backstage, about their lives in musical theater. And even though we were sitting on the floor in a Xerox room, they were willing to sing songs from the show…from their hearts. This is theater magic. Welcome. Thank you SO MUCH to Kelly Green , associate producer on this show. Also Ramsey Papp for her help and guidance. And thanks also to my wonderful sponsor, Honey Road . The best restaurant in Burlington. Click below to read about the menu… Toj Marceau as Cranston Reagan Papp as Willard
Tue, July 09, 2019
Leland Will Figure It Out
Leland lives over the hill from me in East Calais. We’ve been friends since he was in first grade, and every year around this time we get together and he tells me what he’s thinking about, worried about, what his plans are. He got his driver’s permit two weeks ago so he drove me over to Number 10 Pond and we sat and talked about the ups and downs of his first year of high school, about girls, about avocado toast… Credits Music for this show is by Vermont musician B rian Clark , who is the lead singer and songwriter for the band Anachronist. Which is awesome. Rumble Strip is sponsored by the best restaurant in Burlington, Vermont. It’s called Honey Road. Click on the image below to read about their menu of Eastern Mediterranean small plates…
Fri, June 28, 2019
Logging By Hand
If you drive around rural Vermont, you see logging skidders parked in people’s dooryards. You see them working in smaller woodlots and residential woodlots, felling trees with a chainsaw at twenty below zero, dragging cables through waist deep snow. It’s dangerous work, and they’re a resilient lot. And they prefer logging by hand. This story is about them. Credits This show is part of The Resilient Forest series produced by Northern Woodlands and first aired on NEXT , a weekly radio show and podcast about New England. The Resilient Forest Series is supported by the Davis Conservation Foundation and the Larson Fund. Most of the loggers you heard are part of the landscape of the vast working forest of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the subject of a special report in the Summer 2019 issue of Northern Woodlands magazine. You can find that reporting HERE . Rumble Strip is sponsored by the best restaurant in Burlington, Vermont. It’s called Honey Road, and I ate there a couple weeks ago and honestly it was the best meal I’ve had in years. Plus the place is wicked fun. Ask for the drink that comes in two glasses….you won’t regret it. Original music for this series is produced by Vermont musician and Rumble Strip collaborator and friend Brian Clark . In fact, here is a picture of his band, Anachronist, looking very serious:
Wed, June 19, 2019
Gamelan and Subjects of Consequence
Gamelan Sulukala is a group of fifteen people in central Vermont who come together at the dead end of a dirt road in the basement of the Goddard College library, to play Indonesian music on an ornate, court gamelan made on the island of Java. There is no harmony. Instead, each sound is part of an intricate layering of patterns. No one instrument, or musician stands alone. Except the people in gamelan are people who very much stand alone. Writers and strawberry farmers and scientists and Renaissance music lovers…I guess what I’d say they have in common is they all seem to need to be alone a lot…which describes most central Vermonters I know. Also…they come here with a common purpose….to get lost in something that’s more than the sum of their parts… Thanks so much to Steven Light and Kathy Light , who lead and inspire this group. Thank you Tobin for all your help on this show. And thanks also to all the gamelan players who talked with me. Here’s a great article in Seven Days about Gamelan Sulukala. This show is sponsored by the best restaurant in Burlington, Honey Road , at the corner of Church Street and Main Street. It is amazing. Go eat there and tell them I sent you! And click below to learn more….
Wed, May 29, 2019
Senior
When I was in high school I remember being amazed by how much grownups seemed to forget about being young. But as it turns out….you do forget. A lot of it. And a lot of it’s important, and funny, and sometimes scary. I do remember that I hated high school graduation. Not because I didn’t want to graduate, but because I knew I was supposed to be excited but I didn’t know how to be excited about a future that didn’t exist yet and that I couldn’t imagine. So a couple weeks before graduation, I went to St. Johnsbury Academy and I talked with nine high school seniors…about what they’re afraid of, what they’re excited about….and also, prom. We talked about prom. Credits Thank you to the students: Jack Luna, Fiona Sweeney, Hope Reeve, Riley Taylor, Grace Nadeau, Ce Ce Jones, Shawn Guckin, Lucas Masure and David George. Music is by Vermont musician Brian Clark . Thanks to Phoebe Cobb and Melissa Burroughs for their help and patience setting all these interviews up! Sponsor! This show is sponsored by the excellent people at Honey Road, making the best food in Burlington on the corner of Church and Main. Click on the picture and check out the menu…
Fri, May 10, 2019
Victim Advocate
The criminal justice system is not designed to answer to the needs of crime victims. It’s designed to figure out if there’s enough evidence to bring a case. If there is, a defense attorney builds a case for the defendant and a prosecutor builds a case for the state of Vermont. The alleged victim in the case becomes a witness in their own story. They may have felt the impact of a crime, but they play no direct role in how the crime is adjudicated. For most people brand new to the system, this comes as a shock. In every Vermont prosecutor’s office, in the Vermont State Police, in the Department of Corrections, there are people who see to the needs of these victims, from the time a crime is reported until long after the attorneys have gone home. It’s not their job to build cases or determine guilt or innocence. Their job is to support the victims in their cases. And that can mean a million different things. But always it’s complex and deeply personal. This is a story about the victim advocates. This show features: Kate Brayton , victim advocate for Vermont’s Major Crime Unit Amy Farr , victim advocate for Vermont’s Attorney General’s Office Val Gauthier , victim specialist at the FBI covering Vermont and the Plattsburgh area Aimee Stearns , victim witness coordinator at Vermont’s U.S. Attorney’s office Danielle Levesque , victim service specialist at Vermont’s Department of Corrections Kelly Woodward , victim advocate at the Franklin County State’s Attorney’s Office and victim advocate at the Northwest Unit for Special Investigations Big Thanks to Toni Monsey for introducing me to these women, and to Jessica Dorr , Corrections Services Director. Music for this show by Vermont musician Brian Clark and Kai Engel This show is sponsored by Honey Road, the best restaurant in Burlington, Vermont. Click below for menu and accolades….
Wed, April 10, 2019
Problems Episode 4: Coffee and Public School
Welcome to the fourth episode of Problems, a radio drama about Pam and Joel, two old friends who support each other through their problems…because no problem is too small to complain about. In this episode, Joel pays a visit to Pam at her house and brings her a small gift. Joel’s daughter, Whitney, has started at public school. Pam’s daughter River had a harder time at public school, and now she’s back at the local private school. Welcome.
Fri, March 29, 2019
Captain JP Sinclair
Captain JP Sinclair has been at the center of over five-hundred death investigations and a hundred-and-one homicides in the state of Vermont. He served as the state’s chief criminal investigator and he led the Vermont State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations. He was also instrumental in forming a major crime unit in the state of Vermont to handle the state’s most egregious cases. And we used to play little league together. JP and I went to Charlotte Central School together from Kindergarten through eighth grade. And when you go to a school as small as ours, you remember each other. And what I remember about JP is just that he was just a decent kid. He helped Mrs. Atkins clean up the cafeteria after lunch. JP retired from the Vermont State Police in September, 2018. We talked about his life in the VSP. We don’t get into the explicit details of homicides, but I do want to warn people that we talk about the Melissa Jenkins case. Jenkins was a mother and teacher here in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and she was raped and murdered by a married couple in 2012. So if you don’t want to be reminded of this story, you might want to skip that section. JP Sinclair now runs a mill and works as a logger in the Northeast Kingdom. You can find him at Sinclair Millworks and Timber Harvesting Credits and Sponsors Thank you to writer and editor Mark Davis for his excellent feedback on this show. Thanks also to Brian Clark who wrote the music for this show. This show is sponsored by Honey Road, the best restaurant in Burlington, Vermont. Click below for menu and accolades….
Wed, March 13, 2019
Brand New Life
I interviewed T.O. back in the summer of 2017. He’d just gotten out of prison, where he’s spent the majority of his adult life, and he was trying to figure out what to do next. After we met, he found employment and he enrolled at the Community College of Vermont. Things were going well. But what does it feel like to start a brand new life? It’s hard. And it’s complicated. Credits Music by Brian Clark T.O.’s Poetry Patience Peep dis… What’s patience?? What’s life w embracing trials and TRIBULATIONS without… Patience??? Like…ppls ignorance… judgements…n gossiping… Without patience.. there is no Betterment!!! I can’t reach my goals(10 folds).. Until I reflect or resurrect..”my new from my old!!” Looking back only seems To subtract..&.. I find myself on da WRONG tracks.. Blinded by what.. I COULDN’T KEEP INTACT!!! I initiate All I make… Bcause it’s a fact… “ONLY WEAKLINGS BREAK!!!” God disciplines… So with each reprimand… Im grow into thicker skin.. Which brings into existence… A GREATER MAN!!! My physical is living proof… How PATIENCE..is da key which could ONLY.. Strengthen me.. 2 b a wiser me!!! So PATIENCE… How I love thee… I’m not single.. But damn bitch.. “Would u marry me??” Peace… Triple OMEGA What’s Love? What’s love? Y is it so much pain?? Y does it shone lite on my soul.. Regardless 2 my darkest rains??? Y can’t I c past it?? Y won’t it allow me 2 4 get? Y do I admire it as if..it’s my twin bastard?? How can it tug on my mind?? Y do it give me visions..when I think I’m blind?(what am I??) Y do I continue to bust thru shittyations? Y does it give me strength..n all I’m facing? Beauty b the name!!! Victorious n all life’s Lane’s.. But 1 thing…will always remain.. Dis motherfucka… won’t Eva get tired of GAIN.. It will make a sane person turn..INsane. It’ll also mend a ..dats been crushed & broken..ova n OVA again… It’s ONLY 1 rule 2 dis game.. Which is Neva/EVA rush… Or u will find yaself in da repetitive position…!!!!!!! P.e.a.c.e.!!! I’m TripleOmega It’s EZ It’s EZ..2 have friends.. When ur tricking..or spending dividends!!<br
Mon, February 11, 2019
Deer Camp
I spent the night before deer season at Jim Welch’s deer camp in Chelsea, Vermont. His camp is an old school bus, outfitted with a woodstove and a couple pallets in the back for sleeping. To get to it you have to drive through Mr. Bradshaw’s barnyard and then about a half mile across a field. The bus has been there for as long as Jim can remember and Mr. Bradshaw lets him use it. So a bunch of Jim’s friends were coming out to the bus to do what they always do the night before deer season, which is mostly drink beer, tell deer stories, eat burned hamburgers, bitch about hunting permissions and land use and give each other a hard time. And no surprise, there was plenty of profanity. And since there’s no movie theater, no bowling alley or much cell service in this valley, fun is something you have to make up together as you go along…. #ftg-55 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-55 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-55 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-55 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-55 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-55 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-55 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-55 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-55 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-55 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); } DSC06713 DSC06708 DSC06717 <a title="DSC06755" href="https://rumblestripvermont.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/D
Mon, January 28, 2019
Susan and I Talk About Cancer
A lot of you who listen to the show regularly already know Susan Randall. She’s a private investigator and an old friend and I interview her now and then for the show. A couple months ago Susan was diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s important to say right off that I think Susan’s going to be fine. The cancer hasn’t spread. She doesn’t need chemotherapy, and she’s almost done with her radiation therapy. But the diagnosis has made her think differently about her life. We got together at the hospital and talked about parenting, about aging, and mortality. Credits: Thank you to the great people at Radiation Oncology at The University of Vermont–Kate and Lena, Heather and Dr. Nelson. Also thanks to the University of Vermont Breast Care Center and to Michael Carrese and Annie Mackin. To read more about Susan’s private investigation business, go to vtprivateye.com. And for more shows with Susan on Rumble Strip, just go to the episodes listed below. Susan’s private investigation business is called VTPrivateye Music: Ticket to Ride , by the Carpenters.
Thu, January 10, 2019
Game Warden
I spent a day riding around with game warden, Jeff Whipple, on the second weekend of deer season…just when some hunters are getting frustrated they haven’t got their deer yet. Exciting things happened. Game wardens are like nature’s cops. They’re trained in law enforcement, but they’re also conservationists. Their job is to look after the wilderness areas and forests that make up 75 percent of Vermont. They’re spread thin across the state, so in order to respond quickly to calls, they have to work in the districts where they live. That means that their neighbors are also their constituents. What’s most interesting to ME about game wardens is they come into contact with just about every kind of Vermonter, and they have to be able to talk with anyone. I love people like that. Jeff lives in Chelsea, Vermont. His district includes areas of Orange and Windsor counties. His district is crazy beautiful.
Thu, December 06, 2018
Christine
What most people outside Vermont know about Christine Hallquist is that she was the country’s first transgender gubernatorial candidate. But it’s not what she ran on–and it’s not even what was most interesting about her campaign. The day before election day, Christine and her team had just finished a fourteen-county Road to Victory Tour , which involved going to places like Lunenburg, Vermont, population 1302. And this wasn’t her first visit to Lunenburg. Christine’s campaign focused on rural Vermont, on people in small towns in far flung places, and many of the towns she visited over the course of the campaign had never even seen a gubernatorial candidate before. In my book, that’s what made her candidacy special. Not to mention the fact that the odds were against her–no ones beaten a gubernatorial incumbent in VT in 56 years. I asked her if I could follow her around in the days leading up to the election. She said yes. And I did. I watched her planting Christine signs along Route 2. While she was at it, she righted a few sandwich board signs for Sunday night bingo that had blown over. She made countless calls and took credit card numbers from donors on the phone. I guess it’s possible that other gubernatorial candidates do all this. But I doubt it. Here’s Christine Hallquist in her final push for governor. Welcome. Thank Yous Thank you Teddy Waszazak , David Glidden , and Cameron Russell . Thank you Mark Davis for producing this show with me. Thank you John Van Hoesen for giving me the idea for this story. Phone by Cameron Russell .
Thu, November 22, 2018
Problems, Episode 3: A Celebrity Interview
Welcome to another episode of Problems–a series about Pam and Joel, two old friends who support each other through their problems. Because no problem is too small to complain about. This is a special episode, featuring special celebrity guest, Steve McFadden. McFadden is an acclaimed performance artist from Chicago, and old friend of Pam’s. His work is extreme, and always dangerous. Pam was conducting the interview on behalf of her daughter River, who was uncomfortable conducting the interview herself, which was a problem.
Tue, November 20, 2018
They Are Us, Part 1: Sarah
Sarah Holland had no history of mental illness. She was a full-time R.N., she had three kids and a small farm. She was busy. Then suddenly she started to experience symptoms of depression. She didn’t have a name for it. No one in her world had ever talked about mental health. But pretty soon Sarah was having a hard time working, and parenting. This is a story of one woman’s struggle with major depression, and her recovery. This show is the first in a seven-part series I produced for Vermont Public Radio called They Are Us, which features personal stories from inside the state’s mental healthcare system. Comments: Please make a comment or share a story if you’ve got one. Comments and conversation are part of the point! Credits: Series Advisor: Dillon Burns, mental health services director at Vermont Care Partners Series Associate Producers: Clare Dolan, Mark Davis Series Executive Director: Sarah Ashworth VPR Advisors: Franny Bastian and John Dillon Mixing: Chris Albertine Digital Producer: Meg Malone Series Logo: Aaron Shrewsbury Music for this series is by two excellent Montreal-based bands: Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Esmerine . Special thanks to the awesome Bruce Cawdron Sarah Holland’s awesome landscape company: River’s Bend Design For more information about the series, visit VPR. You’ll find the series schedule and resources. Very big thanks to the following people for their knowledge, time and advice: M.T. Anderson, Melissa Bailey, Gretchen Brown, Seleem Choudhury, Anne Clement, Jimmy Dennison, Isabelle Desjardins, Laurie Emerson, Deb Fleischman, Laura Flint, Al Gobeille, Alix Goldschmidt, Gary Gordon, Keith Grier, Heather Houle, Jenniflower, Karen Kurrle, Lt. Maurice Lamothe, Sabrina Leal, Fran Levine, Martie Majoros, Jack McCullough, Mark McGee, Megan McKeever, Betsy Morse, B
Tue, November 20, 2018
They Are Us, Show 4: They Are Us
How should people live long-term in our state if they have a serious mental illness? The hope is that they’ll find ways to integrate into their communities with support, but that’s proven tough to accomplish. In this show we look at the challenges in our community mental health care system. Featuring: Ken Libertoff, former director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health Anne Donahue, state representative from Northfield and Berlin, editor of Counterpoint Greg Mairs, operational director of adult services at Counseling Service of Addison County Mary Moulton, executive director of Washington County Mental Health Services Michael Hartman, adult mental health director at Lamoille County Mental Health Connie Stabler, mother and Howard Center board member Louis Josephson, president and CEO of Brattleboro Retreat This show is part of a seven-part series I produced for Vermont Public Radio called They Are Us, which features personal stories from inside the state’s mental healthcare system. Comments: Please make a comment or share a story if you’ve got one. Comments and conversation are part of the point! Credits: Series Advisor: Dillon Burns, mental health services director at Vermont Care Partners Series Associate Producers: Clare Dolan, Mark Davis Series Executive Director: Sarah Ashworth VPR Advisors: Franny Bastian and John Dillon Mixing: Chris Albertine Digital Producer: Meg Malone Series Logo: Aaron Shrewsbury Picture: Anne Donahue knockin it out of the park Music for this series is by two excellent Montreal-based bands: Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Esmerine . Special thanks to the awesome Bruce Cawdron For more information about the series, visit VPR. You’ll find the series schedule and resources. Very big thanks to the following people for their knowledge, time and advice: M.T. Anderson, Melissa Bailey, Gretchen Brown, Seleem Choudhury, Anne Clement, Jimmy Dennison, Isabelle Desjardins, Laurie Emerson, Deb Fleischman, Laura Flint, Al Gobeille, Alix Goldschmidt, Gary Gordon, Keith Grier, Heather Houle, Jenn
Tue, November 20, 2018
They Are Us, Show 7: Work
Both Alexis and Steve were diagnosed with schizophrenia. This is the story about how meaningful, paid work plays a role in their recovery. Featuring: Paul Miller, co-coordinator of the Green Mountain Workforce, Washington County Mental Health Louis Josephson, president and CEO of Brattleboro Retreat Alexis Kyriak , artist Steve, culinary worker This show is part of a seven-part series I produced for Vermont Public Radio called They Are Us, which features personal stories from inside the state’s mental healthcare system. Comments: Please make a comment or share a story if you’ve got one. Comments and conversation are part of the point! Credits: Series Advisor: Dillon Burns, mental health services director at Vermont Care Partners Series Associate Producers: Clare Dolan, Mark Davis Series Executive Director: Sarah Ashworth VPR Advisors: Franny Bastian and John Dillon Mixing: Chris Albertine Digital Producer: Meg Malone Series Logo: Aaron Shrewsbury Music for this series is by two excellent Montreal-based bands: Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Esmerine . Special thanks to the awesome Bruce Cawdron Photo of Alexis by Diana Gonsalves For more information about the series, visit VPR. You’ll find the series schedule and resources. Very big thanks to the following people for their knowledge, time and advice: M.T. Anderson, Melissa Bailey, Gretchen Brown, Seleem Choudhury, Anne Clement, Jimmy Dennison, Isabelle Desjardins, Laurie Emerson, Deb Fleischman, Laura Flint, Al Gobeille, Alix Goldschmidt, Gary Gordon, Keith Grier, Heather Houle, Jenniflower, Karen Kurrle, Lt. Maurice Lamothe, Sabrina Leal, Fran Levine, Martie Majoros, Jack McCullough, Mark McGee, Megan McKeever, Betsy Morse, Bess O’Brien, Roxanne Pearson, Julie Potter and her beautiful daughter, Malaika Puffer, Michael Rousse, Marla Simpson, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, Sandy Steingard, Tony Stevens, Cindy Tabor, Gloria Vandenberg, Konstantin von Krusenstiern.
Tue, November 20, 2018
They Are Us, Show 6: I Could Be Well
Leslie Nelson has heard voices for as long as she can remember. She sees things other people don’t see. This is a conversation about what it’s like to be normal, from Leslie’s point of view, and the incredible power of finding people like herself to talk with about their normal lives with mental illness. Featuring: Leslie Nelson, START Team Leader, Howard Center This show is part of a seven-part series I produced for Vermont Public Radio called They Are Us, which features personal stories from inside the state’s mental healthcare system. Comments: Please make a comment or share a story if you’ve got one. Comments and conversation are part of the point! Credits: Series Advisor: Dillon Burns, mental health services director at Vermont Care Partners Series Associate Producers: Clare Dolan, Mark Davis Series Executive Director: Sarah Ashworth VPR Advisors: Franny Bastian and John Dillon Mixing: Chris Albertine Digital Producer: Meg Malone Series Logo: Aaron Shrewsbury Music for this series is by two excellent Montreal-based bands: Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Esmerine . Special thanks to the awesome Bruce Cawdron For more information about the series, visit VPR. You’ll find the series schedule and resources. Very big thanks to the following people for their knowledge, time and advice: M.T. Anderson, Melissa Bailey, Gretchen Brown, Seleem Choudhury, Anne Clement, Jimmy Dennison, Isabelle Desjardins, Laurie Emerson, Deb Fleischman, Laura Flint, Al Gobeille, Alix Goldschmidt, Gary Gordon, Keith Grier, Heather Houle, Jenniflower, Karen Kurrle, Lt. Maurice Lamothe, Sabrina Leal, Fran Levine, Martie Majoros, Jack McCullough, Mark McGee, Megan McKeever, Betsy Morse, Bess O’Brien, Roxanne Pearson, Julie Potter and her beautiful daughter, Malaika Puffer, Michael Rousse, Marla Simpson, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, Sandy Steingard, Tony Stevens, Cindy Tabor, Gloria Vandenberg, Konstantin von Krusenstiern.
Tue, November 20, 2018
They Are Us, Show 3: Parents
Connie’s son was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was nineteen, just as he was becoming independent. He didn’t believe there was anything wrong with him. He did not want to seek treatment. And since he was legally an adult, his parents stood by and watched his life fall apart. Ron’s story was much the same. One in 100 adults is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and for most, the onset is around this time, in late adolescence, and parents often play a critical role in their care. As caregivers, crisis responders, money lenders…and often they end up having to figure out for themselves which services are available to them, in the complex network of programs that make up the community mental health system. This is a story about what it’s like, day to day, year to year, to be the parent of an adult child with schizophrenia. I’d love to hear your comments. Just go to the show page and scroll to the bottom and you’ll find a comment box there. Featuring: Connie Stabler, a mother and Howard Center board member Ron, a father (note: we are only using Ron’s first name) This show is part of a seven-part series I produced for Vermont Public Radio called They Are Us, which features personal stories from inside the state’s mental healthcare system. Comments: Please make a comment or share a story if you’ve got one. Comments and conversation are part of the point! Credits: Series Advisor: Dillon Burns, mental health services director at Vermont Care Partners Series Associate Producers: Clare Dolan, Mark Davis Series Executive Director: Sarah Ashworth VPR Advisors: Franny Bastian and John Dillon Mixing: Chris Albertine Digital Producer: Meg Malone Series Logo: Aaron Shrewsbury Music for this series is by two excellent Montreal-based bands: Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Esmerine . Special thanks to the awesome Bruce Cawdron For more information about the series, visit VPR. You’ll find the series schedule and resources. Very big thanks to the following people for their knowledge, time and advice: M.T. Anderson, Melissa Bailey, Gretchen Brown, Seleem Choudhury, Anne Clement, Jimmy De
Tue, November 20, 2018
They Are Us, Part 2: Home
There are Vermonters who experience psychiatric crises for years — and repeated visits to emergency rooms and psychiatric hospitals. Where do they go when they leave the hospital? And why do they keep coming back? This is a story about the role housing plays in mental health. Featuring: Ken Libertoff, former director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health Louis Josephson, president and CEO of Brattleboro Retreat Brian Lincourt, night charge nurse at Brattleboro Retreat Connie Stabler, mother and Howard Center board member Karl Jeffries, unit chief for adult inpatient unit at Brattleboro Retreat This show is part of a seven-part series I produced for Vermont Public Radio called They Are Us, which features personal stories from inside the state’s mental healthcare system. Comments: Please make a comment or share a story if you’ve got one. Comments and conversation are part of the point! Credits: Series Advisor: Dillon Burns, mental health services director at Vermont Care Partners Series Associate Producers: Clare Dolan, Mark Davis Series Executive Director: Sarah Ashworth VPR Advisors: Franny Bastian and John Dillon Mixing: Chris Albertine Digital Producer: Meg Malone Series Logo: Aaron Shrewsbury Music for this series is by two excellent Montreal-based bands: Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Esmerine . Special thanks to the awesome Bruce Cawdron For more information about the series, visit VPR. You’ll find the series schedule and resources. Very big thanks to the following people for their knowledge, time and advice: M.T. Anderson, Melissa Bailey, Gretchen Brown, Seleem Choudhury, Anne Clement, Jimmy Dennison, Isabelle Desjardins, Laurie Emerson, Deb Fleischman, Laura Flint, Al Gobeille, Alix Goldschmidt, Gary Gordon, Keith Grier, Heather Houle, Jenniflower, Karen Kurrle, Lt. Maurice La
Tue, November 20, 2018
They Are Us, Show 5: My Pad
A story about Vermont’s only permanent, supervised housing for people with serious mental illness. Featuring: Anne Donohue, state representative from Northfield and Berlin, editor of Counterpoint Graham Parker, MyPad director Connie Stabler, mother and Howard Center board member This show is part of a seven-part series I produced for Vermont Public Radio called They Are Us, which features personal stories from inside the state’s mental healthcare system. Comments: Please make a comment or share a story if you’ve got one. Comments and conversation are part of the point! Credits: Series Advisor: Dillon Burns, mental health services director at Vermont Care Partners Series Associate Producers: Clare Dolan, Mark Davis Series Executive Director: Sarah Ashworth VPR Advisors: Franny Bastian and John Dillon Mixing: Chris Albertine Digital Producer: Meg Malone Series Logo: Aaron Shrewsbury Music for this series is by two excellent Montreal-based bands: Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Esmerine . Special thanks to the awesome Bruce Cawdron For more information about the series, visit VPR. You’ll find the series schedule and resources. Very big thanks to the following people for their knowledge, time and advice: M.T. Anderson, Melissa Bailey, Gretchen Brown, Seleem Choudhury, Anne Clement, Jimmy Dennison, Isabelle Desjardins, Laurie Emerson, Deb Fleischman, Laura Flint, Al Gobeille, Alix Goldschmidt, Gary Gordon, Keith Grier, Heather Houle, Jenniflower, Karen Kurrle, Lt. Maurice Lamothe, Sabrina Leal, Fran Levine, Martie Majoros, Jack McCullough, Mark McGee, Megan McKeever, Betsy Morse, Bess O’Brien, Roxanne Pearson, Julie Potter and her beautiful daughter, Malaika Puffer, Michael Rousse, Marla Simpson, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, Sandy Steingard, Tony Stevens, Cindy Tabor, Gloria Vandenberg, Konstantin von Krusenstiern.
Thu, October 04, 2018
Cheerleader
We didn’t have cheerleading at my school. Or pep rallies. I think we would’ve made fun of cheering and cheerleaders at my school. Because we were scared and cruel and had no idea what we were missing. My son just started high school and I snuck into the gym for his first pep rally. I almost wept. Seeing all those kids—the freshmen and the seniors and the football players and the shy kids—kids at a stage in life that can be so self conscious and horrible—seeing them all clapping and cheering together and ‘moving to the left and shaking to the right’….it was ridiculous and beautiful and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. And right at the middle of all of it were the cheerleaders. So I went and talked with them. They talked about why they love cheerleading and what they’re afraid of and what they’re proud of and what they want to be with they grow up. And school spirit… Thanks to all the girls on the St. Johnsbury Academy Cheerleading team for talking with me, and coaches Deb Priest and Chrissy Carr. For more pictures and info on the team, click here . Thanks also to Mark Davis for his great advice. As always. Our Generous Sponsor: This show is sponsored by Honey Road , one of Burlington’s most popular restaurants down on Church and Main. It serves Eastern Mediterranean small plates. And it’s the kind of restaurant where you want everything on the menu. You share, you eat, they take away the finished plates and bring new ones. In other words, it’s episodic and fun. It’s also woman owned, woman run, and Allison and Cara have made a sane and happy work environment. You can even buy the kitchen staff a bucket of beer…
Fri, September 28, 2018
Graffiti Photographer
Steve Grody has dedicated his life to his passions. He’s an accomplished swing dance teacher. He’s a self defense instructor. And in the last twenty-eight years, he’s taken tens of thousands of photographs of graffiti in his hometown of Los Angeles. This is a conversation about the decades he’s spent wandering alleyways, climbing under bridges and through tunnels, documenting this ephemeral art. This program is produced by Bianca Giaever . She’s a writer, filmmaker, artist and radio producer, and recently I heard a story she made with Jay Allison that was sublime. It’s called Two Years with Franz , about the Pulitzer-winning poet Franz Wright. It’s beautiful and I highly recommend it. Her college film, the Scared is scared was named Web Video of the Year by USA Today but more importantly, it’s awesome. More about Steve You can see Steve Grody’s photos in his book, Graffiti L.A., Street Styles and Art , and he has curated and contributed to graffiti art shows at MOCA LA and the Pasadena Museum of California Art. Steve Grody’s blog Ted Talk with Steve Music A Day At The Racetrack , by the musician Julian Lynch Additional music by Zubin Hensler and Jacob Blumberg <br
Tue, September 11, 2018
Let’s Pull the Damn Woman Card
This is a show about women running for office. It’s not about issues or policies. You won’t learn where these women stand on public education or healthcare. It’s just about being a woman…running for office. The truth is I’m tired of hearing about women running for office. I think there’s a liberal assumption that I already understand why that’s a good thing. But we’re not really supposed to talk explicitly about how being a woman, and not being a man, can be a value in and of itself. So I figured it would be interesting to talk explicitly about it with some women running for office in Vermont. And it turns out they had plenty to say. It also turns out they’re all people I’d want to have a beer with…that gold standard of good male political candidates. In this program you’ll hear from: Kathleen James , running for the Vermont House in the Bennnington-4 District. Becca White , running for the Vermont House in Hartford. Christine Hallquist , the Democratic nominee for governor in Vermont. Ruth Hardy , running for State Senate in Addison County. She is also the executive director of Emerge Vermont, which recruits and trains women to run for office in Vermont. This show is sponsored by Honey Road , one of Burlington’s most popular restaurants down on Church and Main. It serves Eastern Mediterranean small plates. And it’s the kind of restaurant where you want everything on the menu. You share, you eat, they take away the finished plates and bring new ones. In other words, it’s episodic and fun. It’s also woman owned, woman run, and Allison and Cara have made a sane and happy work environment. You can even buy the kitchen staff a bucket of beer… Thank you to my excellent and smart journalist friend Mark Davis . I want to thank The Athanaeum in St. Johnsbury for allowing me to conduct an interview in their beautiful building. Music for this show by Blue Dot Sessions from the Free Music Archive <img src="https://rumblestrip.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Becca-Christine-001-450x338.jpg" alt="" width="450" hei
Thu, August 23, 2018
One of Those Teachers
Daphne Kalmar was a school teacher for over twenty years. She taught in California, Massachusetts and then in a small school in Vermont. She was one of those teachers. One of the exciting and inspiring ones you never forget…one of the teachers who sees every kid. Daphne is now a children’s book author and she’s just published her first book, A Stitch in Time . We sat in her kitchen by an open window. It had that late summer sound to it, the sound I associate with the beginning of school in Vermont. We talked about her new book, but mostly we talked about what it’s like to fall in love with a new batch of kids every September, and then let them go. Credits Daphne Kalmar’s Website Music by Esmerine More Esmerine Esmerine Facebook Additional music by Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio
Fri, August 10, 2018
Amelia Drives Around
I picked Amelia up at The Shelburne Museum the other day. It was a few hours before her soundcheck so she had some time to kill and we took a slow drive down by the lake. She drove. She’s a good driver. Amelia is one half of the band Sylvan Esso. Nick Sanborn is the other half. I’m not great at music genres but I’ve heard their music described as ‘electro-pop’, as ‘glitchy metropolitan folk’ ( what?? ). Anyway, their music is incredibly fun, bent, smart, and they can turn the end of the world into a dance party. Their show moves like a train. Non-stop dancing and a stunning light show. Last time I talked with Amelia was about a year and a half ago. Since then, Sylvan Esso has entered the drinking water. It’s everywhere. They’ve gotten famous , which I figure must be a really strange thing to be. Amelia and I drove around and I asked her what it’s like to be famous, which is one of those things that you’re not really supposed to talk about, but I wanted to know what it feels like, and how fame affects her life. And also we talked about other things…and she sang a little. Here’s a show. It’s driving around with Amelia. And lots of great music. And there’s some swearing. Sylvan Esso’s latest music video: Parade . Sylvan Esso official website
Fri, July 20, 2018
Thomas Talks About Coming Out. Twice.
Thomas Caswell has autism. Which doesn’t tell you very much about him. Autism doesn’t describe a person. If you’ve met one person with autism, then you’ve met one person…with autism. But over the last couple years Thomas has been coming out of the closet, in stages. And along with the common difficulties of coming out, there are some special difficulties if you’re a person with a disability. In this show, Thomas talks about growing up with autism, and growing into his life as a gay man. Credits and Links Thank you to the amazing Emily Anderson , the advocacy facilitator and Bridging coordinator, at Champlain Community Services , which focuses on career development for people with intellectual disabilities and autism. The Bridging Program helps students negotiate the transition from high school to adulthood. Thomas is working on a Sartac fellowship through Green Mountain Self Advocates . Champlain Voices encourages people to express themselves through self-advocacy. Music for this show is by Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio . Also, Blues Arrangement for Toy Piano and Piano Margaret Leng Tan Reviews Here’s a lovely review of the show by my favorite podcast reviewer, Ben Cannon.
Thu, June 28, 2018
Leland. It’s a Porcupine!
It’s time again for another conversation with my neighbor Leland. He’s fourteen now. He just finished eighth grade. He’s got big plans for the summer. This is the fourth year I’ve interviewed Leland about what he’s doing and what’s on his mind, and what’s on his mind is always pretty interesting. This year he took me out to his fort, in a pine forest about a half mile from his house. It’s a tarp held up by two beams, and covered with brush piles. There’s a firepit. We sat in a couple lawn chairs and talked about his year, about cow skulls and bear turds and North Korea… Credits This show is sponsored by Honey Road , one of Burlington’s most popular restaurants down on Church and Main. It serves Eastern Mediterranean small plates. And it’s the kind of restaurant where you want everything on the menu. You share, you eat, they take away the finished plates and bring new ones. In other words, it’s episodic and fun. It’s also woman owned, woman run, and Allison and Cara have made a sane and happy work environment. You can even buy the kitchen staff a bucket of beer… Music for this show is by Brian Clark , Mike Donofrio and Peter Cressy , my talented friends here in central Vermont.
Thu, June 07, 2018
Problems, Episode 2: Open Mic
Welcome to the second episode of Problems, an occasional mini-series of Rumble Strip. Problems. Because no problem is too small to complain about. Problems stars Pam and Joel, old friends who support each other through their problems. We left off with Joel, who was in the midst of a pretty inconvenient bathroom renovation in his house, and Pam, who’s been dealing with some issues with her daughter River. River’s been biting other kids at school. Here is a very special addition to the song from listener James Roggenbeck. So many of you don’t understand River and what she goes through as a sensitive child. But James? He does. Here is his tribute. jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_8').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); });
Thu, May 24, 2018
Police Log, Gancy’s Cows Edition
It’s almost summer here in central Vermont, and as it gets hotter, it seems to get more dangerous. Law enforcement is working hard behind the scenes to keep people safe. Also to keep cows safe. Here’s the police log, read by Scott Carrier.
Thu, May 10, 2018
Shaggs’ Own Thing: The Story of the Wiggin Sisters
Depending on who you talk to, The Shaggs were either one of the best bands from the ’60s, or one of the worst bands of all time. Helen, Betty and Dot Wiggin grew up in Fremont, New Hampshire. They had no interest in music, no natural talent for music, and in the late ’60s, their father forced them to drop out of school and start a rock band. In their living room. And then he forced them to record an album. Decades later, The Shaggs became a cult classic….beloved by the likes of Frank Zappa, Sonic Youth and Kurt Cobain. And the sisters were suddenly in a spotlight they never expected, or desired. In this show, The New Yorker’s Susan Orlean talks about her reporting on the origins of The Shaggs. This show was produced for a FANTASTIC series out of KCRW, called Lost Notes . I highly recommend checking it out. I produced this show with: Susan Orlean of The New Yorker Nick White of KCRW Myke Dodge Weiskopf of KCRW The present day interview with The Shaggs was by Avishay Artsy
Tue, April 24, 2018
Carl. A Different Breed of Cat
Directions to Carl Blaisdell’s house: Go about seven miles down this road. Then there’s a road that kind of goes up to a Jersey farm on the left and then there’s a pond. But there’s no sign to the pond. So after the pond, drive past the pull-off and Carl’s trailer sits way up in a field at the top of that hill. There’s a lot of pipes. And a lot of cars and trucks. And lots and lots of hounds. But Carl wasn’t home. And so I went back the next day and we sat in his truck and talked. Carl’s trailer looks out over the farm he ran for most of his life, then sold. After farming, Carl seemed to make a smooth transition to being a mountain man, which is how he described himself, and the name pretty much fits. He’s private. He only goes to town to get something he needs. His life is close to the ground, to his dogs, and to the outside. Larry Massett was inspired by the hounds and made this short piece. It’s called Where’s Carl. jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_9').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] ,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30 }); }); Credits This interview was conducted while I was reporting for an episode about the Northeast Kingdom, by Brave Little State, which you can find HERE . Music for this episode is by Emily Kueppers And here’s a link to Caplan’s Army Store, where I have bought a LOT of socks.
Wed, April 04, 2018
A Tribute to Greg Sharrow
This is a show I made back in 2008. I’m running it as a tribute to my friend Greg Sharrow. Greg was one of the first people I met when I came back to Vermont in 2003. I didn’t have many friends, I didn’t have a job or really any plans, and it was the middle of winter. And then I met Greg at his office in the old Vermont Folklife Center building in Middelbury. It was crammed with books, and we sat down and talked for two hours, and it was that kind of talk where you’re almost gulping each other down. And he became one of the funnest, and maybe one of the most important friends of my life. Greg Sharrow died two days ago at his home in North Carolina, with Bob and their dear friend Brian at his bedside. This is a story about Greg, and his husband Bob, and Greg’s mother, Marjory. Marjory had dementia in the years before her death. This is a show about what remained for them, after the forgetting. Welcome. For a longer version of this show, and an additional interview with Greg, click here Photos by Evie Lovett Music by Karinne Keithley Syers and Doris Day
Thu, March 29, 2018
Driving Around With Susan. Again!
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there. –Rumi This winter Susan Randall worked with the defense on a sentencing case for a high profile multiple-murder here in Vermont. A sentencing is the time for considering the pain caused by a crime. It’s also a time to ask, How did we get here? What happened in the life of this person that led her to do what she did? For months, Susan worked closely with the woman who committed these murders, creating a profile of her life, her history, and her family. It’s a story of almost unimaginable, multi-generational abuse…abuse which started two generations before her birth. In the end, the perpetrator received a sentence of life without parole. I’m not going to name her here because it’s a very sensitive case in Vermont, and this story is not about her. It’s about what it’s like to work closely on cases like these as a private investigator, and what happens after the cases are closed. Susan’s private investigation business is here . The music for this show was made by Emily Kueppers . Thank you Emily!
Wed, March 21, 2018
Problems, Episode 1: Grout and the Contra Dance
[Uhm…..satire. In case that wasn’t evident….] Some of life’s inevitable problems are big and some are quite small. But no problems are too small to complain about. Welcome to the first installment of Problems …a periodic radio drama about…problems. Joel and Pam’s problems.Pam and Joel, who you’ll hear from in this show, are old friends and they support each other through their problems, and even if you don’t think their problems are very problematic, for Pam and Joel…they are. In this first episode, we hear about Pam’s daughter, River, who’s having a hard time getting her needs met at school. Also, this Friday is the contra dance school benefit at the grange hall, and Joel’s facing some challenges with his bathroom renovation. Welcome. Thanks to Sarah Miller. Music: The Aurora Principle, by Chris Wortmann, Enough Records
Sat, March 03, 2018
Son Lux
Son Lux is a band that doesn’t live comfortably in any genre. Their sound is massive, anthemic, but it’s also strangely intimate. The rhythms are incredibly complex, and it’s shot through with these bright details of sound. The project started in Ryan Lott’s brain in Cleveland, and then it grew by two–guitarist Rafiq Bhatia and drummer Ian Chang. They’re all composers and producers and improvisers. I think it’s fair to say they’re all wicked smart. I interviewed Ryan Lott just two days before he went out on tour for their new album, Brighter Wounds . We had a really interesting conversation about where music comes from, and how he makes it. Or where he finds it… LINKS Image of Ryan by Zenith Richards Band image by Lisa Wassmann Website for Brighter Wounds A lot of Son Lux Music NPR review of Brighter Wounds
Fri, February 09, 2018
Learning the Trade
The Northeast Kingdom is mostly small towns separated by miles and miles. Sometimes it’s featured in trout fishing magazines. It also has some of the highest unemployment and lowest wages in the state. Its beautiful place. And it’s a hard place to live. I was up at the St. Johnsbury Academy a couple weeks ago, which is one of the gateways to the Kingdom. My sister and brother in law both work there. And I’ve always been curious about the career and technical classes at the school. They have the most incredible CTE facilities I’ve ever seen (pictures below), and what makes them really special is they’re all on campus. In a lot of places, ‘tech kids’ are bused off to other campuses…which, when you’re in high school, can’t help but send the message that kids in English class don’t need to know what those tech kids are doing, and the tech kids don’t need to bother much with English classes. But at the Academy, it’s all in one place, and 80% of the general school population takes CTE classes at least once in their high school careers. After spending some time with students and teachers, I had that rare experience when you know you’re seeing something important…something that’s so obvious and right, that it’s almost hiding in plain sight. If you listen to Rumble Strip, you know that I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about problems. Big, complicated problems. So when I watched 19 kids in hard hats rewiring a building on their own school campus, I didn’t think, ‘well isn’t that nice ?’ Instead, I felt like I was looking way upstream of all the problems, and seeing a solution. Not the only solution. Just… a solution. One solution. This show is a kind of valentine to all the people learning to work in the world and learning to make things. And the people who are helping them to get there…. Credits Music by Vermont musicians Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio Thank you Emily Kueppers for your beautiful logging! #ftg-44 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-44 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#666; }#ftg-44 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-44 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-44 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-44 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-44 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-44 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-44 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-44 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-44 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-44 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-44 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-44 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-44 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-44 .tile
Tue, January 16, 2018
Emergency
People having mental health crises are visiting emergency rooms in record numbers. But emergency room nurses are not trained to treat mental illnesses. This problem isn’t unique to Vermont. In fact it’s an acute problem all over the country. For this show I interviewed nine nurses and one sheriff, in three settings around the state. This isn’t a show that explores where the problem came from, or where the solution lies. This show is about what it looks like right now in emergency rooms across the state. Thanks to Clare Dolan , Seleem Choudury and Mark Davis for their help with this show
Wed, January 10, 2018
Hitchhiker
This is another guest show from radio producer Scott Carrier, which he produced when he was twenty-six. He hitchhiked across the United States, interviewed people along the way, and ended up at the door of NPR in Washington, DC with an armful of tape. This is Scott’s first story. Scott produces my favorite podcast. It’s called Home of the Brave .
Thu, December 21, 2017
Seasons Greetings From Liz and Jerry!
Here is our annual season’s greetings card, this year from Liz and Jerry Danforth. Fair warning…they had a pretty rough year. Credits Script by writer Tal McThenia The show is a co-production of Rumble Strip and Pod Planet. Music Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy • United States Navy Band Clouds Pass Softly Deux • Podington Bear • Free Music Archive I Am A Man Who Will Fight For Your Honor • Chris Zabriskie • Free Music Archive Little Drummer Boy • Field recording of Christmas carolers.
Thu, December 14, 2017
A Good Death
My friend Tim Kasten died two weeks ago. Ever since I met Tim, he’s been preparing for his own death. Partly because he had significant medical issues. But I think mostly he was preparing for his death because he wanted to. Thinking about the impermanence of life gave his life meaning. He was one of the most spiritually curious people I’ve ever met. In this show, we hear from Tim, on death and dying. And we also chronicle the building of his casket…or his simple pine box…built by family and friends. Vermont style. This show is sponsored by The Alchemist Brewery in Stowe and Waterbury, Vermont. Some of the world’s best beer. You can click on the logo to check out this stellar brewery, and please crack one for me. You won’t be sorry. More Tim Music: I couldn’t figure out how to embed a soundcloud link here, but here’s a link to Tim singing We Shall Overcome Lord Lord Lord Tim doing the crossword.
Tue, December 05, 2017
Scott’s Nature
I’ve been reading the news too much. I read every version of the same story in every news outlet, and sometimes I forget I’ve read them and I read them again. I think a lot of people are feeling concerned and even scared. But I thought it would be good to remember some of the important things that are not the news. I asked Scott Carrier to tell me about a place in the wilderness, in a high meadow, far, far away from the news. It’s a musical. Credits Willie Tobin provided the nature sound for this show. It was recorded on a September day in a clearing on the southwest side of Gillespie Mountain in Hancock, Vermont. I am so grateful to have these recordings. Thank you Willie! Thank you Larry Massett and Tobin Anderson.
Tue, November 14, 2017
Rowell
This fall my friend and I were going for a walk and as we walked past a small barn set down off the Upper Road in Calais, we heard someone from the barn call up to us and say, ‘You wanna come see some pigs?’ Of course we wanted to see some pigs. John Rowell showed us his new piglets and I went back a few weeks later to hang out with John and his brother Eddie and record a conversation. Here’s a few minutes from that night.
Sat, October 28, 2017
The Museum of Everyday Life
The mission of The Museum of Everyday Life is “a heroic, slow-motion cataloguing of the quotidian–a detailed, theatrical expression of gratitude and love for the miniscule and unglamorous experience of daily life in all its forms.” The museum’s home is in a barn on Route 16 in the Northeast Kingdom. It is my favorite museum. This is a show featuring the museum’s creator, Clare Dolan. Credits This show is co-produced by Erica Heilman and Mark Davis . Mark is my friend and a very good journalist at Seven Days . Here are some of my favorite articles from Mark: Feuding in Victory Death by opiates in 2016 Final conversations with overdose victims A fond rembrance of Howard Frank Mosher Game warden Pictures from the Museum of Everyday Life, in summer and winter <img src="https://rumblestrip.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/DSC06311-450x311.jp
Mon, October 16, 2017
Catastrophe and Grace
Rob Mermin had a career as a mime clown for forty years, then in 1987 he started a circus company here in Vermont called Circus Smirkus. Three years ago he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. This is a story about movement, the loss of control of movement…catastrophe and grace. About Rob Rob Mermin trained in classical mime with Etienne Decroux and Marcel Marceau and has performed in European circus, theater, TV and film for forty years. He is an author, director, university lecturer, former Dean of Ringling Bros. Clown College, and founder of the award-winning international company Circus Smirkus ( www.smirkus.org ). Rob’s awards include Copenhagen’s Gold Clown; the Bessie Award; Best Director Prize at the former Soviet Union’s International Festival on the Black Sea; the Lund Family Center’s “It Takes A Village Award”; the Vermont Arts Council Award of Merit, and the 2008 Governor’s Award for Excellence, Vermont’s highest honor in the arts. Rob lives in central Vermont. To learn more about Rob Mermin, click here . Thank you Tobin Anderson for your help. And here’s a link to a book about Marceau written by an awesome central Vermont author, Leda Schubert!
Sun, September 24, 2017
Hill Farm
Peter Dunning’s farm is a Vermont hill farm. It’s a hundred and thirty-six acres of forest and orchards and wet spots and steep, rocky pasture, picked over by farmers for hundreds of years. It’s the kind of place that does not lend itself to the industrial production of anything. Instead it lends itself to the production of…everything. Peter has farmed here, mostly alone, for nearly forty years. Now he’s getting done. The animals are gone. The farm is growing up around him. Here’s his story. Credits I learned of Peter Dunning from a documentary, Peter and the Farm . It’s stunning. Watch it if you can…. Music for this show by David Schulman and Quiet Life Motel Thank you Geof Hewitt for your help with the poetry! This show also features the last verse of a remarkable poem called Marshall Washer, by Vermont poet Hayden Carruth. Here’s the full text.
Fri, September 01, 2017
Waitress
My mother used to say that everyone should waitress at least once. So I did. And I failed. In this program, I talk with some of the finest waitstaff in central Vermont about life in the business of serving your food. Appreciation: Thanks to Jay at Sarducci’s and Brian at the Wayside Diner for lining up interviews in these two fine establishments. Additional interviews with Josh Larkin and Jodi DeGuzman.
Fri, July 28, 2017
Mind Windows
Mind Windows is a public radio program that gives your mind a chance to open its windows. Open them and then… see what happens! Our guest today is Morgantha Prentiss , a director with New York’s off Broadway Lynx Throttle Theatre. Last year, she co-created and directed the musical, Lambs and Order, in which actors re-create the classic police procedural but as a musical, and with a cast wearing paper-mache lamb masks. The musical was a hit. It was extended several times, and transferred to New York’s Public Theater where it got was nominated for an OBIE for Best New Musical. Credits Mind Windows is written by Sarah Miller . It might become its own podcast but for now it will make periodic appearances on Rumble Strip, and I have no doubt it will open your mind. The part of Morgantha was read by my friend Kate Gleason , an actor and director who lives in Denver Colorado with her dog Emerson. Sarah Miller is a writer who lives in Nevada City California. She has a dog called Merle. Recording studio and technical support by Ms. Tara Falk with the help of her dogs, Trout and Kate. The music for this show was purchased from a stock music house. It’s called Starlit Landscape.
Sat, July 08, 2017
Plain Life
A few weeks ago I got a call from my friend Susan Randall, the private investigator you might remember from previous shows. She said that ‘T.O.’–a former client in a federal public defender case–had just been released from prison seven days before, after serving a six year bid. He was trying to figure out what to do next and also clearly trying to figure out how to manage the world outside prison. Where people are just walking around . Susan said she and T.O. were having lunch and she asked me to join them. After lunch, T.O. and I drove down to the waterfront in Burlington to talk in my car. I wanted to try to understand what it’s like to be seven days out of jail, with no housing, no money, and no family. I wanted to know what it’s like to adjust to freedom after years of confinement. Here’s what he said.
Thu, June 29, 2017
Sylvan Esso is a Good Band
The first time I learned of Amelia Meath was in an email exchange. She’d written me a nice note about Rumble Strip and at the end she wrote–in rather an understated way–‘P.S. I’m in a band. It’s called Sylvan Esso.’ And because I’m old, I’d never heard of Sylvan Esso. So I looked her up online and I spent the rest of that night listening to every version of every Sylvan Esso song I could find, really loud and over and over. If there had been an album cover, I would have been clutching it to my breast. Ever since their first single in 2013, Sylvan Esso has gotten famous pretty fast, and they tour all over he world. Last month they played in Burlington, and I spent a rainy day talking with Amelia and Nick in their tour bus before the show. We talked about their music, touring, and the complexities of success. And there’s a lot of music in the show. It’s like a musical. Links For links to their albums, tour schedule, and all various and sundry, visit sylvanesso.com
Mon, June 19, 2017
Police Log, Burning Lawn Chairs Edition
It’s been some time since we’ve heard reports from the police about criminal activity here in Vermont. And I’m sorry to say that so far this summer, it’s been…busy. There’s pretzel-related violence and lawnmower theft. And more trouble at Dunkin’ Donuts. Here’s your summer report from Vermont police, reported by Scott Carrier, producer of Home of the Brave .
Wed, June 07, 2017
Crime and Punishment Under Trump
Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a memo to all federal prosecutors, with new directives for charging and sentencing in criminal cases. He’s directed federal prosecutors to charge defendants with the most severe penalties possible and pursue mandatory minimum sentences where they’re available. We’re headed back into the war on drugs from the 80s and 90s…a war that did not end drug use or make anyone safer. Instead it ripped apart families, packed American prisons and resulted in long sentences for a lot of non violent drug offenders. Everyone seemed to agree that it was a disaster. Hell, even the Koch brothers agreed. During the Obama administration, there was bipartisan support for sentencing reform. And for the first time in decades, federal inmate numbers were down, and the Justice Dept made plans to stop sending inmates to private prisons. But last month, Sessions decided to relaunch the war on drugs. This is a show about a new dawn, a new day…crime and punishment in the Trump era. Credits This show is produced in collaboration with Seven Days. Click here for Mark Davis’ article on Jeff Sessions’ new charging directives. Dan Sedon, Mark Kaplan, and Lisa Shelkrot are some of the smartest, most accomplished attorneys in Vermont. If ever you’re in trouble, I highly recommend calling one of them. You will be in excellent hands. For more information on each of them, click on their names below. Dan Sedon, Esq. , Sedon and Ericson, P.C., Chelsea, Vermont Lisa Shelkrot, Esq., Langrock Sperry & Wool, Burlington, Vermont Mark Kaplan, Esq., Kaplan and Kaplan, Burlington, Vermont Music for this show is from Vermont musicians Peter Cressy , Brian Clark , and Mike Donofrio Many thanks to Susan Randall , Mark Davis and former U.S. Attorney Charles Tetzlaff for their help on this show.
Thu, May 11, 2017
Leland is Almost Done Seventh Grade
It’s spring in Vermont, and it’s been a full year since we heard from my friend Leland. When we left him last year, he was just about to graduate from Calais elementary school and move up to the big union middle school. Leland is my neighbor. And this will be my third year talking with him on tape…about what he’s doing, and what he’s thinking about. He talks about revolutionary war reenactments and friend groups and grief… he takes me around and shows me all the places I forgot about in the thirty years since I was thirteen. This year we decided to meet down in the valley between our two houses. We crouched in a stand of dead reeds by Pekin Brook, which runs through our town…and Leland gave me some highlights from his year. The music for this show is by Vermont musicians Brian Clark , Mike Donofrio and Peter Cressy , and was recorded in my living room. I feel so lucky to have such talented and awesome friends. To hear the other Leland shows, look below for links…!
Fri, April 28, 2017
We Are Sending You Light
The Eventide Singers are a volunteer hospice choir based in Greenfield, Massachusetts. They aim to comfort people who are ill, homebound, or actively dying. There are a number of these groups of bedside singers in Vermont and all over the world. They sing to be of service to people who are straddling the edges of life and death, or who are lonely and need a little light. They sing to comfort the caregivers and give them a little break from all they must attend to. They are intimate strangers providing a unique service–temporarily healing the weary through song. We Are Sending You Light is produced by Sara Brooke Curtis . Thanks and Links For more of Sara’s work, click HERE . Sarah wishes to thank Barbara Buschner, Alexa Berton, Judith Williams, Joe Toritto, Loren Kramer, Walt Cudnohufsky, Sandra Platt, and Kelsey O’Brien. Thanks also to the Farren Care Center and Poet Seat Nursing Home . Sara is a fellow member of The Heard , a collective of awesome independent podcast producers around the country.
Thu, April 13, 2017
Robert Ford Last Ambassador
Robert Ford served as the last U.S. Ambassador to Syria. He arrived in the country right before the protests began there in 2011 and he was witness to the beginnings of the civil war. In 2012 he was pulled out over security concerns, but he continued to work on the crisis in Syria back in DC until 2014, when he left the Foreign Service. Robert Ford now lives with his wife Alison in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, which is about as far from the Middle East as you can get. We met in his living room on a rainy day last week, right after the chemical attack in Syria and right before Trump’s military response. We talked about his personal experience in Syria and the role of diplomacy in the Middle East. Kudos Delicious Ingredients: The Best Podcasts for April 15-21, 2017
Mon, April 03, 2017
Hunger is Boring
This is a show about how the charitable food system works and how it’s not working. The topic of hunger is not very exciting. Stories about problems that have always been problems are generally not very exciting. And since there’s enough food to feed everyone in this country ten times over, hunger is obviously a systems problem. So I think I’ve figured it would get solved any day now. By systems people. But it’s not getting solved. In fact the lines at food shelves are getting longer while the volunteers running the food pantries are getting older. All over the country, food shelves and food banks are struggling to keep up with growing numbers of people who need them. In 2014, according to the USDA, 14% of all US households were food insecure. And if the federal government makes more cuts to food programs, that number will certainly grow. So I made a show about it. And and as it turned out, the people I talked with for this story were not boring. They’re tired, but they’re not boring. You’ll hear from Ernie LaRock and Marj Taylor of the Swanton Food Shelf. You’ll hear from Lisa Pitcher , who manages Our Place, the community meal site down in Bellows Falls. And you’ll hear from Judy Stermer , formerly of the Vermont Foodbank , the largest supplier to food shelves and meal sites around the state. Credits The music for this show is by Vermont musicians Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio The picture for this show is from the Heavenly Food Pantry in Essex Junction, Vermont
Wed, March 22, 2017
The Wildlife
In the concrete jungle, it all starts out innocently enough: especially if you live in a high-rise. It was a blustery Tuesday morning, when two pigeons, named Cody and Megan, were house hunting on the balcony of my apartment. As you’d expect, they put in an offer. Beyond the holiday turkey or roast chicken here and there, I wasn’t fond of birds. When Cody and Megan appeared, I shooed them away, closed the balcony door and left for work. When I came home, I was in for a surprise. Cody was dancing on the railing and Megan was huddled in a shabby nest. Megan had laid some eggs. I wanted the birds to leave. I had no idea how difficult this would be. It was war. So off to war I went. Credits The Wildlife was written and produced by Peter McHugh and Clive Desmond for Pod Planet , a podcast that is so damn good. Here is a logo, which is also a fancy link: Additional Credits: Lisa Dalbello as City Animal Control Lady, Carter Hayden as Carlo the Civil Servant and Ali Rojas. Producer Biographies Pod Planet is written and produced by chronic multi-media experimenters, Peter McHugh and Clive Desmond. It’s the first podcast created by the international team, both of whom have worked across a wide variety of media formats. Clive Desmond, who has lived in Toronto and New York, also serves as the narrator for Pod Planet. He has produced audio books for Harper Collins Digital, including Bruce McCall’s “Thin Ice”, and the best-selling
Wed, March 08, 2017
Judge Cashman
Ed Cashman spent twenty-five years on the bench, presiding over drunk driving cases and murders and everything in between. After a while, he started to question whether the American criminal justice system was actually achieving justice. The kinds of sentences that the public demanded and that lawyers accepted often felt more like vengeance than fairness. Judge Cashman tried to give defendants—even those charged with heinous of crimes—a chance to redeem themselves. It was a philosophy that some people didn’t understand. And Cashman eventually paid a terrible price for it. Life Sentence: Eleven Years After Being Tried in the Court of Public Opinion, Former Judge Ed Cashman Defends Himself By Mark Davis The beautiful photo of Judge Cashman is by Matthew Thorsen of Seven Days. The music for this show was made by Vermont musicians Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio and Peter Cressy.
Fri, February 24, 2017
Your Neighbor
For the last four and a half years, Victor’s been working on dairy farms in the Northeast. Like 11 million other people in this country, he’s undocumented. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve always assumed I knew this story already…like it was some kind of composite story of the ‘Mexican migrant farm worker experience’. The worst part is, I didn’t even know I was assuming this. I guess I didn’t really have to think about it. The story didn’t have a lot to do with me. But last week President Trump started making good on his promises to ramp up deportations of undocumented people in this country–people who pay 12 billion dollars in US taxes every year–but don’t have US documents. Victor’s a friend of a friend of mine, and I won’t say where he works but these friends of friends are my neighbors, and yours. My friend, we’ll call her ‘T’, agreed to do some translating, along with her brand new baby. We visited Victor at his apartment on the dairy farm where he works. This is his story. Credits The music for this show was made by the amazing Amelia Meath , and her band Sylvan Esso . Thank you so much Amelia for humming in your bathroom, your car and on the street. Her other group is a trio of women called Mountain Man . Music that will make your hair stand up. I want to thank all the excellent farm workers I met in making this show. And thanks so much to A and A, and T for her wonderful presence and a memorable drive.
Tue, February 14, 2017
Deep Stealth Mode
When Marlo Mack’s son was three and just learning to talk, he informed his mother that he was not a boy. He said that something had gone wrong in her tummy that made him come out as a boy instead of a girl. Today, a guest show from two of my favorite podcasts… Marlo Mack’s podcast, How to Be a Girl , is a riveting, funny, sometimes heartbreaking account of her life raising a transgender daughter. It has some of the best interviewing with a child I’ve ever heard. It’s also one of the most interesting chronicles of parenting I’ve heard. And the show offers listeners an intimate introduction to what it means to be transgender. Marlo Mack is not her real name. She has decided to keep their identities secret until her daughter is old enough to decide if she wants to use their real names. This episode was re-edited and re-mixed by Jeff Emtman, for another podcast called Here Be Monsters , from KCRW. He had help from Bethany Denton and Nick White. Here Be Monsters is a show that explores our fears and all that’s unknown. It’s always surprising and always beautifully made and what I love most is that they’re not afraid to take risks–with their subjects, their format and their exquisite editing. This show is just two great things that go great together. The music for the show is by The Black Spot .
Tue, January 31, 2017
Dunkin’ Donuts
It’s really dark here in Vermont this time of year. And every year, by the third week in January, I feel like I’m seeing everything through the wrong end of a telescope. A dirty telescope. I stop wanting to answer the phone. I have a hard time picking out a cereal at the store. Most mornings it just seems easier to wear what I wore to bed. After Trump’s first week in office, I feel worse than most years. And actually the whole world seems on edge. It seems like no one can decide how to help or what to do. Or how much to look or look away. Dunkin’ Donuts and the library are the last two public places in most towns around here where everyone’s welcome and no one wonders how long you’ll be there. For about a dollar you can stay at Dunkin’ Donuts as long as you want. I went there to talk with people. Not about Trump necessarily. But about how their lives are going, and whether they fit into the famous middle class we keep hearing so much about. Also I went there because in January in Vermont, it’s good to sit in a bright place with a cup of coffee and talk with strangers. Credits and Thanks My thanks to John Dillon and Scott Carrier. The music in the end of this show is by Vermont musician Peter Cressy.
Tue, January 03, 2017
Benedict Arnold’s Leg
Steve Sheinkin is an award-winning writer of stories for kids about American history. When he started out, he was a writer of boring textbooks for kids about American history. When he started, he was young and ambitious and he wanted to bring new energy to textbook writing, to mine American history for fresh new details and anecdotes that could capture the interest of fifth graders…! This is an interview about how he failed. And he shares stories about the awful push and pull of priorities for teaching our origin stories to American children. It’s also a story about Benedict Arnold’s leg. Credits Steve thinking about history. Steve Sheinkin is an award-winning author of history books for young adults. You can visit him at http://stevesheinkin.com Thanks to MT Anderson for introducing me to Steve, and helping me with this show. Music and sounds for this show were found on freesound.org Articles How Texas Inflicts Bad Textbooks on Us, New York Review of Books, 2012 Texas Textbook Massacre, Huffington Post, 2010 Texans on Review Panel Push for Creationism in Science Textbooks, Huffington Post, 2013
Tue, December 20, 2016
Seasonal Update from the Keens!
Ho ho ho! It’s time again for the annual seasonal update from the Keen family! In certain American subcultures, there’s a long holiday tradition of sending out end-of-year family update letters to far-flung relatives, friends and acquaintances. They can be wonderful. They can also be spectacularly bizarre. Could it be that this year the tradition comes to an end? Here is the Keen family report…. The Season Update is written by Tal McThenia . Tal is a writer of books and articles and screenplays. To learn more about Tal, you can visit his website: talmcthenia.com.
Fri, December 16, 2016
Nicholas is Waiting
As some of you may remember, last year I did a pledge drive. It was called the Shwag Pledge Drive . I gave away a number of prizes to extremely lucky pledgers. There was a pair of boiled wool mittens that my sister made, a box of kindling that my boyfriend cut up, a VPR pledge drive mug, and one of the prizes was going to be an interview with me in my car in the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot in Montpelier, Vermont. Nicholas won the interview, but he lives in London. So we did the interview by Skype. Nicholas and his wife, Sarah, were just about to have a baby when we spoke, they were looking for the baby trend expedition jogger stroller online for their baby. So today’s show is a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. Here is a few minutes from our conversation…the speculations and special anxieties that come with the long wait for a brand new person to arrive. Thanks to producer Mary Wesley for her remarkable production work on this show!
Wed, November 30, 2016
Lentils Suck
“That’s the thing about lentils, if they were going to soften, they would have already fucking softened. Honestly, you’d be better off waiting for someone who didn’t find you remotely attractive to fall in love with you.” This show is from an article by writer Sarah Miller, and it appeared in FoodandWine.com. The title is self explanatory. Welcome. Sarah Miller lives in Nevada City, California. She’s the author of Inside the mind of Gideon Rayburn and The Other Girl . She also has a series called the Nevada City Wine Diaries , in which she does not use the word ‘buttery’ and sometimes only tangentially writes about wine. Here is a link to the full lentils essay in foodandwine.com. The music for this show is made by David Schulman of Quiet Life Motel , and is from his new album, Anhinga.
Thu, November 24, 2016
Hot Bird. Again.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Here is hunter Barry Forbes talking about turkey hunting again. I could listen to Barry Forbes talk about turkey hunting all day, but in this case he only talks about it for about three and a half minutes. Welcome. Credits I made that show with tape from the Vermont Folklife Center .
Thu, November 10, 2016
Charlie Hunter Paints Outside
Charlie Hunter is a plein air painter, which is a fancy way of saying he paints outside. His paintings of Vermont are stark and evocative and mostly the color of mud (Charlie calls it murk, which I think is a fancy way of saying mud). But his paintings capture the light and the feeling of this place in a way that’s totally uncanny and unique. He has a special love for painting trains and garages and industrial places in decline, and his hometown of Bellows Falls is his favorite subject. It’s an old mill town where the industry pretty much atomized years ago. And like a lot of poor towns that are out of the sight line of tourists, it specializes in Section 8 housing and low income assisted living. Bellows Falls is not a tourist destination. And because it’s not right off the interstate, it sort of feels like an outpost. But outposts are fun . People’s plot lines mix up in interesting ways, and at outposts, people know and consort with other people who are not exactly like them. It really feels like are are somewhere when you’re in Bellows Falls. I checked out a kiosk in the middle of town and there was an event called Swill, Swine and Swing. Which sounds pretty awesome. I talked with Charlie about how he makes paintings, or actually more about what he thinks about making paintings. We also drove around town and visited places he likes to paint, in a town that he loves. Credits and Links Charlie’s website Information about Charlie’s Roots on the Rails , where awesome musicians and audiences ride around on trains and enjoy great music. Music by Brian Clark Thank you Mark Bushnell and Erica Housekeeper for introducing me to Charlie. Click on image to enlarge and launch slide show.#ftg-11 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-11 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#fff; }#ftg-11 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-11 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-11 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-11 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-11 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-11 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ft
Tue, October 25, 2016
The Special Olympics Are Awesome
A couple weeks ago my son and I volunteered at the soccer Special Olympics in Northfield, VT. The athletes came from all over the state and the teams were all ages, and both sexes. So there were fifty-five year old women teaming up with thirteen year old boys and seventeen year old girls and you’ve never seen so much team spirit or felt such intense excitement. About all of it. Everything. The games, the cheering, the lunch…it was like the feeling of Christmas and birthdays and Chariots of Fire at all once. All day long. This show is a sample of that day. Welcome! Credits and Stuff Thanks to Liza Reed at Special Olympics Vermont for her help, and photographer Heather Glenn for letting me use her images on my website. If you’ve never participated in the Special Olympics or volunteered at an event, I encourage you to check it out. It’s serious fun. Go here to search for events in your area.
Tue, October 18, 2016
Jim Rooney
Today, an interview with songwriter and Grammy winning record producer Jim Rooney. He and his wife Carol live in an old farmhouse in Sharon, Vermont, but Jim is still back and forth to Nashville, where he spent thirty years playing music, writing songs, and producing some of my all time favorite records with artists like John Prine, Nanci Griffith, Iris Dement, and Townes Van Zandt. Record producers are the people responsible for getting great performances from singers and session musicians in the weird, blank atmosphere of a recording studio. I’ve always wondered how they do that. I also wonder how they know when a record is ‘cooked’…and when to let it go. I sat with Jim at his kitchen table and we talked about all these things. And more. Welcome. Credits and Links Link to Jim’s blog, his books and his music is here . Additional music for this show by Vermont musician, Brian Clark
Sat, September 24, 2016
When the Food Runs Out
More and more Vermonters can’t afford groceries by the end of the month. The paycheck isn’t enough. The food stamps won’t stretch. And they’re looking to community meals and food shelves for regular help. The trouble is, food shelves weren’t designed to provide sustainable food. They were set up for emergencies. For fires, for floods. But every day, an army of volunteers–mostly women between the ages of 55 and 70–hustle food from area stores and local farmers and the Vermont Foodbank….to feed people. This is a show about what it feels like when you don’t have enough to eat. “The fields were fruitful, and starving men moved on the roads.” ― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Interview with Food Shelf Director Lisa Pitcher Here is an unedited interview with Lisa Pitcher, the awesome Executive Director of Our Place, a community drop-in center in Bellows Falls, Vermont. She talks about the charitable food system in Vermont…how it works, and how it’s not working. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/284556745″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Credits Music for this show was made by the excellent Mike Donofrio Thanks to Lisa Pitcher, Mark Davis, Judy Stermer, Tobin and Peter, Pam Smart, Sharon Fannon, Robin Bradley, Evie Lovett, and the great people who put on Monday lunches at the Unitarian Church in Montpelier, VT. Too Much Month at the End of the Money is a country western song by Marty Stuart.
Fri, September 09, 2016
Jubal. Tail End of the Old School.
I met Jubal Durivage through my boyfriend, Gordon. Gordon and his two partners, Robby and Hilton, own a small hydroelectric plant way up near the Canadian border. It was pretty rundown when they bought it, and over the years they’ve hired a lot of people to work on it, mostly from the Northeast Kingdom. Crane operators, engineers, and Jubal Durivage, one of the few certified bridge welders in Vermont. I heard a lot about Jubal before I met him from Gordon and Robby. They respect his work and the care he takes in his work. So with a little bit of arm twisting, Jubal agreed to talk with me at his house in Eden, Vermont. In this show, Jubal talks about an important teacher in his life as a welder, and mostly he talks about hunting–one of the great passions of his life. But in my mind this show isn’t about hunting or welding, and I can’t name what it is exactly. Maybe you can tell me. Welcome.
Mon, August 22, 2016
Driving around with Susan
Last summer I interviewed my friend Susan Randall, a private investigator. Susan trained me as an investigator, and we’ve spent whole days driving around the state of Vermont, working on cases and talking. We never run out of things to talk about. So I figured it was time to do another show with her. In this conversation, we talked about the criminal justice system more generally than before, and we ended up talking a lot about parenting…single parenting in particular. Come drive around with us. If you haven’t heard the other interview with Susan, you might want start there. It’s called VT Private Eye . Here is a picture of Susan and my boy Henry and her girl Lena, a zillion years ago.
Wed, August 10, 2016
Police Log, Bunk Bed Dispute Edition
It’s hot here in central Vermont, and there’s a whole lot of crime going down. Here’s a sampling of calls to the police, as reported in the Times Argus, the Stowe Reporter, and the Caledonian. Read by Scott Carrier , producer of my favorite podcast, Home of the Brave . Music from Joey Truman , a Brooklyn-based writer and musician. His two recent books, Killing the Math and Postal Child , are available from Whiskey Tit Press . His band is called Um , and they rock.
Sat, July 30, 2016
Peter Schumann, Advisor General
This is a conversation with Bread and Puppet founder and director, Peter Schumann…a conversation in which I ask him over and over again to answer questions that don’t really have answers, about what makes a great performance. And about what is a great performance… Peter Schumann is a driven, prolific artist who makes huge outdoor theater performances with giant paintings and puppets and sculptures. There is music. There are people making animal sounds. Everything seems to be made of paper mache, twigs, twine and cardboard. The theater company lives in an old farmhouse in Glover, Vermont, when it’s not performing around the country and the world. And what Peter Schumann makes isn’t always good, but it’s always great. There’s a wild current that runs through all that he does, and it all seems to be alive long after he’s done with it. ((If you haven’t been to the museum, housed in a huge barn behind the house in Glover….I would highly recommend it…)) Bread and Puppet is one of the oldest, nonprofit, self-supporting theatrical companies in the country. To learn more about the company and its strange and illustrious history, I recommend going HERE to read more. Please leave a comment or a story at the bottom of this page! It’s always good to hear from you….! Thanks and Other Things and Pictures The music for this show is Peter on the fiddle, and his grandson, Ira Karp, on the drums. Pictures from their epic session below. Also, the show features Sinfonia number 15 in B Minor, from the 1955 Goldberg Variations, performed by Glenn Gould. Thanks to Clare Dolan, Jennifer Miller, Larry Massett, Scott Carrier and Marc Estrin for their help on this show. And to Elka Schumann for her patience. Thank you Donna Bister for sending me beautiful pictures!#ftg-22 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-22 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#fff; }#ftg-22 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-22 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-22 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-22 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-outside .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-22 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-22 .tile .caption-block { transit
Sat, July 02, 2016
The Neighborhood
The kids of Randolph, Vermont describe their neighborhood as a place with three purple houses. They tell me there’s a shortcut through the woods down to Dunkin’ Donuts, and they say it’s pretty close to three graveyards. The kids run in twos and threes and sometimes in one big pack for a game of hide and seek tag. I spent an afternoon talking with them and following them around. This show is a little taste of that day. It’s a postcard from childhood, a place we remember but can’t visit anymore. Thanks Thanks so much to Kelly Green for introducing me to the kids and letting us camp out upstairs for an entire afternoon. Thanks also to Tally Abecassis, Mike Donofrio, John Schak and Larry Massett.
Thu, June 09, 2016
Last Chapter
Rob Mermin and Bill Morancy lived in neighboring apartments in Montpelier, Vermont. They were best friends. And when Bill was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he asked his best friend to help him die. In 2013, Vermont passed the The Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act, or Act 39…our version of Death with Dignity. The legislation allows eligible Vermonters with terminal diseases the option to be prescribed medication that will hasten the end of their life. In 2015, Bill elected to use Act 39 to end his life, and he asked Rob to help him. This is a story primarily about their friendship–and the months, days and moments leading up to Bill’s death. To learn more about Rob Mermin and his illustrious career as a mime and the founder of Circus Smirkus, visit here . The music for this show was made by Vermont musicians Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio . And you heard from the original film soundtracks of South Pacific and Carousel, both by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The piano licks in this show were made by Vermont pianist Marie Helene Belanger Kudos for Show The 2019 movie, Paddleton , from the Duplass Brothers, was based on this episode and story. Notable podcast, AV Club, June 13, 2016, for Last Chapter Audible Feast, June 11-17, 2016 Rob Mermin
Fri, May 20, 2016
Six Parents. Six DCF Stories
Last winter I made a show about working for the Department of Children and Families and I’d promised to make a show about what it’s like to be a parent whose had to work with this state agency, which is responsible for the safety of Vermont children. It’s no secret that DCF is currently understaffed and overworked. The opiate epidemic is one major factor in the growing number of kids taken into temporary custody by the state, and the growing number of TPR’S, or terminations of parental rights. This show offers a close look at what it’s like to be a parent inside the DCF system. To have your choices, your lifestyle, your living circumstances under the microscope of a state agency that’s capable of taking away your children. DCF is an intensely private agency, and there’s no way to corroborate the details of these cases. The truth about these cases is always elusive and complicated. And I’m not looking for good guys or bad guys here. This is a show about six parents with six very different stories from all over the state of Vermont. There is a transcript below, thanks to Jennifer Jorgenson at UVM!! Credit and Gratitude Music by Marie Helene Belanger and Isha Love . My thanks to all the parents who shared their stories with me by phone, email, and in person. Thanks to all the DCF caseworkers who have spoken with me over these months. Thanks to Mark Johnson, Bess O’Brien, Elsa Ingpen, Michael Chorney, Diane Zeigler, Mark Davis, Dillon Burns, the Aldrich Public Library and the Milton Public Library. Show Reviews: Kudos from 7 on 7 for 5/28/2016 SHOW TRANSCRIPT Speaker 1: Having to prove to DCF that you are good enough to be a parent is definitely a very challenging thing. Erica Heilman: I’m Erica Heilman. This is Rumble Strip, Vermont. Last winter, I made a show about people who work for the Department of Children and Families and I promised to make a show about what it’s like to be a parent [00:00:30] who’s had to work with this state agency, which is responsible for the safety of Vermont children. It’s no secret that DCF is currently understaffed and overworked. The opioid epidemic is one major factor in the growing number of kids taken into temporary custody by the state and the growing number of TPRs or terminations of parental rights. Addiction, multi-generational abuse, lack of education problems with housing, and transportation, and maybe the mother of all problems, [00:01:00] poverty. If you ask any DCF case worker, the
Sun, May 08, 2016
Aunties
Here’s another show from my friend Larry Massett’s brain. The story is called Aunties, and it’s from his soon-to-be-released podcast, Lick The Crickets. Lick the Crickets is a podcast that’s been coming soon for quite some time. The problem is, Larry can’t stop making shows for Lick the Crickets long enough to launch Lick the Crickets. But he will. Oh, he will. And it will be found at Lickthecrickets.com, and I will let you know when it’s up. Aunties is performed by Paul Kiernan . Art for this show is made by Charles Hope .
Tue, April 26, 2016
Leland, the Almost Middle School Edition
Leland Kennedy lives one hill over from me in East Calais, Vermont. I interviewed Leland last year when he was ten, and I’ve received some letters from listeners wondering what he’s up to and what he’s been thinking about since then. Leland’s pretty busy in the afternoons after school. You can usually find him biking up and down the road or working on survival techniques in the woods, or watching television. But he agreed to come over and talk with me about what’s on his mind these days. We talked about building fires, parachutes failing to deploy, and where he has his most interesting thoughts. Here’s an update from Leland. Music for this show by Noveller and Kai Engel, from the Free Music Archive .
Thu, April 21, 2016
Police Log, Stolen Pie Edition
I have been remiss in reporting on calls to the local police. I apologize. Here is a sampling of reports to the Barre and Montpelier police in the last few months. Reported by Scott Carrier. Music by Peter Cressy of Plainfield, Vermont Scott Carrier produces the excellent Home of the Brave .
Fri, April 08, 2016
Jesse
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/257971136″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] For most of Jesse’s early childhood, her mother was addicted to crystal meth. She called it her ‘high functioning addict period’. She kept a spotless house, worked a regular job and had four well behaved kids. Then Jesse’s mom started using opiates, and everything changed. She lost the job, lost the money, and it became harder to keep a car. The eviction notices started coming. For a time, with the help of Suboxone, she got clean. Then in 2010, her youngest son died in a car accident. He was seven at the time. After that she relapsed and everything got a whole lot worse. She never agreed to go to the Knoxville substance abuse treatment center that was suggested numerous times. Things were getting worse faster than we could build up hope. In this show, Jesse talks about what it was like to grow up at the mercy of her mother’s addictions. Her home life, her school life, and her thoughts about her own future. Music for this show is by Peter Cressy , of Plainfield, Vermont
Fri, March 25, 2016
Muskrat Trapper
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/255017739″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Barry Forbes lives on Route 116, five miles east of Middlebury and eight miles south of Bristol, Vermont. He says if you’re trying to find the place, just slow down and his hounds will let you know where he is. Barry lives in a double wide trailer directly behind the house where he spent his entire childhood, and he’s never been away from this place for longer than thirteen months, when he was in Vietnam. Across the road from his house is a mountain where he’s been fishing and hunting and trapping since he was seven years old. March is muskrat season in Vermont and Barry took me out and showed me a few muskrat lodges. But the truth is, muskrat season was just an excuse to be around him for awhile, and talk with him about his lifelong passion for hunting. Music for this show by Peter Cressy of Plainfield, Vermont. Thank you Mark Davis. Thank you to The Vermont Folklife Center for introducing me to Barry years ago….
Wed, March 02, 2016
A Beer with Ben Hewitt
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/249825433″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]Twenty years ago, Ben Hewitt and his wife Penny bought forty acres of land in Cabot, Vermont and started their first homestead. In Vermont, the word ‘homestead’ generally refers to people who build their own houses and live self sufficiently to one degree or another…with varying degrees of success. One of the most important characteristics of the homesteaders I’ve known is a deep affinity for the physical world. Knowing how it works, and how to live in it. Ben and Penny and their two boys are some of the most committed homesteaders in this state. They run a small hill farm and raise ninety percent of their own food. Ben makes a living writing about this life they’ve made. I visited him at his new homestead in Stannard, and we sat and talked by the woodstove that currently doubles up as the cookstove. And we drank some really good beer. Welcome. If any of you out there are homesteaders and you have a picture from your homesteading life, I’d love to feature it at the bottom of this page. My friend Robby sent me a CLASSIC, which you’ll see below…and I’d love to add more… Credits Ben Hewitt’s blog is HERE . Music for this show was made by Brian Clark of Calais, Vermont. You can listen to more of Brian’s music HERE . Robby Porter, Calais VT 1973. Photo by Alex MacPhail…for bettter resolution, click here . “Hunting is an important part of putting meat on the table on my homestead.” –Robin Follette <img src="https://rumblestrip.wp
Mon, February 29, 2016
Berned in Reno
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/249471566″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]In celebration of the day before Super Tuesday, here’s a story from writer Sarah Miller called Berned in Reno. It’s an account of her deep feelings for Bernie, and canvassing for his campaign in Nevada before the caucus. Sarah Miller writes for theawl.com, newyorker.com, time.com, thecut.com and others. This story appeared last week on the website, The Awl and you can read the full version here .
Sun, February 07, 2016
The Test
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/245930720″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]This week, a special guest show from Scott Carrier, producer of Home of the Brave . Years ago, Scott was hired to conduct interviews for a mental health research project. He drove around Utah administering a test to possible schizophrenics. The test was comprised of 100 questions, and took approximately an hour to complete. This is the story about it.
Sun, January 24, 2016
Inside DCF
It has been a very troubling few years at Vermont’s Department of Children and Families. In 2014 there was a string of child deaths in Vermont–children in families involved with DCF. These deaths prompted intense anger and at least four investigations into the department. Then on August 7, 2015, Lara Sobel, a caseworker at DCF, was shot as she left the DCF offices in Barre, Vermont. She was shot and killed by a woman who was angry after losing custody of her daughter to DCF the month before. The Department of Children and Families flares up in the news, then the news subsides. We hear from the governor, from the DCF commissioner, from legislators and journalists and commentators. But the people we never hear from are the people who actually do the work. And this is by design. The work that DCF caseworkers do is intensely private, and in order to protect the privacy of parents and children, caseworkers are not allowed to talk publicly about their cases. In a way, their silence shields us from some of the darkest, most complex, most intractable problems in our state. In this show you’ll hear from three DCF caseworkers from three different areas of Vermont. For their own safety, I’ve chosen not to use their names. They talk about what it’s like to have a job where the lives of children and families are at stake. TRANSCRIPT below thanks to Jennifer Jorgenson of UVM! Credits and Thanks Music for this show by Brian Clark and Peter Cressy I would like to thank Luciana at DCF, and all the caseworkers who gave me such generous time in the making of this show. Thanks also to Tally Abecassis , Mark Davis , Scott Carrier , Kelly Green , and Colin McCaffrey for various and sundry and important support. TRANSCRIPT Erica Heilman: Welcome to Rumble Strip Vermont, I’m Erica Heilman. On the afternoon of Friday, August 7th, 2015, Lara Sobel, caseworker at the Department of Children and Families was shot as she left the DCF offices in Barre, Vermont. She was shot and killed by a woman who was angry after losing custody of her daughter to DCF the month before. In the aftermath of this killing, there was a rash of truly disturbing commentary in social media [00:00:30] from people expressing sympathy with Lara’s killer, people who look on DCF case workers as home wreckers, baby snatchers. But there’s a whole different contingent that believes DCF doesn’t intervene in families enough. In 2014, there was a string of child deaths in Vermont. Children in families involved with DCF. These deaths prompted intense anger and
Thu, December 24, 2015
Day Before Christmas Police Log
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/238953388″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] It’s the day before Christmas, and like a Christmas miracle, I received this report from Scott Carrier on recent police activity here in central Vermont. Here are a selection of calls to local police as reported in the Times Argus and Stowe Reporter. Happy Holidays everyone. Music by Hayvanlar Alemi. The song is titled Crossroad Metamorphosis Photo Credit: This is just a small portion of an inspired murder scene diorama by my friend Colin Dickerman. Here is the whole scene:
Wed, December 16, 2015
Seasonal Update
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/237865316″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]How time flies! The holidays are such a nice time to catch up with friends and family. Here’s a waspy little roundup of highlights from a year in the Becht family. Happy Holidays! Credits Seasonal Update was written by Tal McThenia , a writer of books and articles and screenplays. To learn more about Tal, you can visit his website: talmcthenia.com or check out his book website: www.acaseforsolomon.com The Music The Handbell Choir at Memorial Baptist Church in Pulaski, Virginia from their Christmas concert in 2012. The guy who sings Oh, Holy Night. If you know who this is, please, please write to me at rumblestripvermont@gmail.com NEWS FLASH: Listener/Investigator Patrick Freebern did some digging and discovered the original singer of the song, Steve Mauldin of Tennessee. On YouTube. (Duh?). And here is a video featuring Steve of Tennessee, speaking at great length about how he is the original singer on this recording. The Dogs
Wed, December 09, 2015
A Conversation with M.T. Anderson
M.T. Anderson is the author of Feed , winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, as well as The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing , which won the National Book Award. Whether it’s crafting a dystopian future, writing vampire fiction, or, in the case of his latest book, Symphony for the City of the Dead , chronicling the life of the composer Dmitri Shostakovitch, his books are meticulously researched and vividly told. I first met Tobin (his middle name) when he came over with my friend Peter this past September to watch the eclipse…or the SUPER Moon. The three of us sat and talked in my front yard in an old wicker couch until it collapsed, and the conversation carried on horizontally from there. We talked about astronomy, about words we hate (slacks, homemade) and what we were like in high school. It was the kind of voracious conversation you have with a brand new friend. We got together recently at my house to talk about his new book Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad . We also talked about….other things. His writing habits, God, demonic possession, and middle age. A little something for everyone. Welcome. Credits: Music by Noveller, of the Free Music Archive Thanks to Tally Abecassis for her thoughts on this show. If you haven’t listened to her podcast, First Day Back , I recommend you check it out. Cuz it’s great. Also thanks to Colin Dickerman . Links to Tobin’s work and articles about his illustrious career: Click here for Symphony for the City of the Dead Click here for Feed Click here for The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing M.T. Anderson’s blog Profile in The Washington Post Interview about Feed in Boing Boing
Wed, November 25, 2015
Hot Bird
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/234650376″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]Today…Hot Bird. This is a short show in celebration of the season of turkeys, and catching them. Then eating them. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. And for those of you listening outside the United States, I hope you happen to have a really great meal planned with good friends. With or without a hot bird. This show features Barry Forbes, a hunter in Middlebury, Vermont, and I made that show with tape from the Vermont Folklife Center .
Thu, November 19, 2015
Our School
The recent school consolidation bill promised to lower our taxes. Then it promised equal opportunity for all kids. It’s unclear how it will deliver on either of these promises, but one thing is sure. It could radically change culture in small town Vermont. This is a show about some of the long-term political and cultural effects of Act 46. Comments: To make a comment or to see comments, scroll to the bottom of this page. THE SHOW: Click here to listen to the show . THE OUTTAKES: For a more in-depth review, here is a rough edit of my full interview with Superintendent John Castle: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/234201298″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”200″ iframe=”true” /] Credits Lincoln Petell is the chairman of the school board in Holland, Vermont Susan Clark is a facilitator, educator, and the co-author of “Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home.” She is also Town Moderator of Middlesex, Vermont. John Castle is the superintendent of the North Country Supervisory Union. Articles about Act 46 School Consolidation is Anti-Democratic: Eric Davis, December 17, 2015, VTDigger If Vermont Were A School: Commentary by John Castle, April, 2015, VTDigger Deliberate Speed on Education Governance by Susan Clark, April, 2015, VTDigger Design for a 21st Century School Governance System, by Margaret MacLean, May, 2014, VTDigger Vermonters for Schools and Community advocate for local control of education, VTDigger, January 2015
Fri, November 13, 2015
In Case of Emergency
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/232885186″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] In Case of Emergency is another show from Larry Massett’s new podcast series, as yet unnamed. The series isn’t out yet, and I have no idea how to describe what it is. It’s not like any podcast series I’ve ever heard. And it’s gonna be good. Here is….In Case of Emergency. Credits (links to recordings below) My Heart’s in the Highlands , Arrangement by Arvo Part, sung by Stephen Wallace Fire Trail, Antonio Sanchez The picture is from Japanese designer Maiko Takeda, a show of spike-embellished, wearable art, from the website called BeautifulNow
Fri, November 06, 2015
The Schwag Raffle Draw!
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/231822021″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]The time has come to draw names for the Schwag Membership Pledging and Sustaining Campaign Event Raffle. This is the first consolidated shilling campaign I’ve done and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned that you’re listening as far away as Arthur’s Pass in New Zealand and I’ve learned that there are listeners right here in my town who are willing to dig into their public radio fund to support this podcast. I’ve received letters with great show ideas and stories about your lives and what you’re thinking about these days….I’m humbled in a way I can’t describe. Thank you for your generosity, your letters and emails, and your ears. I am your biggest fan.
Thu, October 22, 2015
The Green River Stories
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/229606253″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] It’s almost November. It’s getting cold here. The days are getting shorter. I’m already missing the colors and sounds of summer and fall. So today I’m going to play one of my all-time favorite stories, which just happens to be a story that’s filled with the sound of summer. It’s called Stories from the Green River, and it’s by my friend Scott Carrier, who produces Home of the Brave …and if you haven’t subscribed to it yet, you should. There is nothing like it…anywhere. Scott tied a canoe to his station wagon and drove north from his home in Salt Lake City, to the Green River Lakes in the Wind River Mountains. That’s where the Green River–and this story–begins. Credits These stories originally aired on Weekend All Things Considered back in 1991. The music was written and performed by Pat King. To subscribe to Scott’s podcast, Home of the Brave, visit homebrave.com .
Thu, October 15, 2015
Schwag
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/228542605″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]Dear Listeners, I love making this show and I am endlessly grateful to those of you have donated. These donations keep my car running and give me time to work on the show. So recently I was listening to the pledge drive on my local public radio station and I thought, I’m going to do that. Except my pledge drive will only be seven or eight minutes long and there will be inspirational music AND excellent prizes. So here is my version of a pledge drive, with very special schwag for five lucky winners of the Schwag Show Raffle. The raffle will be drawn at 5:00PM Eastern Time on Thursday, November 5th. Good luck everyone, and once again….thank you for making this show possible. Erica
Fri, October 09, 2015
Pretend You’re the Grownup
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/227656999″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]My friend Brett Berk got a very early start as a teacher, and by the time he was twenty-five, he was the director of a progressive preschool in the East Village in New York City. Blocks, clay, and instead of costumes, the kids had scraps of fabric they could adorn themselves with. There were occasional guest appearances from a gay, pink haired Cherokee performance artist. There was a lot of rolling around in Tompkins Square Park. So by the time he was thirty and his friends started having kids, Brett had been working professionally with kids for a long time. And after watching us flail around for a few years as early parents, he figured he’d write a book about us, and for us. The Gay Uncle’s Guide To Parenting was born. In this conversation we talk about some of the hilarious choices he’s seen parents make, and what he makes of them. We talk about poop and sleep and food and what, in his mind, the job of parenting is all about. Welcome. About Brett Berk Brett Berk, M.S. Ed. , has worked professionally with young children and families in New York City for almost twenty-five years, holding positions as a classroom teacher, a preschool director, and an educational consultant and evaluator. He is a widely published writer on issues pertaining to parenthood and child development, with articles appearing in Babble, Cookie, Momlogic, The Chicago Tribune, Time Out New York Kids, Parenting, Yahoo! Shine, and Vanity Fair, among others. He is also the author of the humorous instructional non-fiction book “The Gay Uncle’s Guide to Parenting” (Crown, 2008) In addition to his work in early childhood, Brett publishes widely on cars and the auto industry. Foremost among his outlets, he is the automotive columnist for Vanity Fair , and Writer At Large for Time Inc.’s newly launched site The Drive, where he writes about cars and their relationship to our larger culture. keep up with him at brettberk.com . Here’s a picture of Brett and a sheep.
Thu, October 01, 2015
Press 4
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/226435328″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]My friend Larry Massett sent me this weird story he wrote, which I’m hoping will be the beginning of a whole new weird podcast. It’s hard to say what it is, which in my book is a good thing. Here’s Press 4.
Fri, September 25, 2015
Jessamyn West. Technology Lady.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/225531902″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]Jessamyn West is a library activist and computer technology savant who lives in central Vermont. She’s also kind of Internet famous. Jessamyn was one of the original moderators for the community blog MetaFilter —which is like the civilized version of Reddit. She was recently contacted by the White House for her thoughts on their choice for the next Librarian of Congress, and she speaks internationally about the digital divide. She’s also got WAY more Twitter followers than me. And probably you. No offense. Jessamyn has worked as a technology consultant in libraries all over the state, and she holds open hours at a local tech center helping people with their computer problems. In this interview, we talk about her passion for public libraries and the role of the modern librarian. And we talk about how different people manage their personal relationships with their personal computers. Which, as we all know, is complicated. Jessamyn Links Jessamyn has a long bio. Wikipedia says it best… A link to other links by and about Jessamyn Librarian.net : Site where Jessamyn writes about library related things Jessamyn’s exhaustive and awesome Donald Barthelme fan page Here’s a transcript version of our interview, on Medium . Some great clips and commentary from the interview, on MetaFilter
Fri, September 11, 2015
Farewell Mark Johnson
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/223397407″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]For twenty-five years Mark Johnson hosted The Mark Johnson Show , first up in Burlington at WKDR, then at WDEV here in central Vermont. Last month he retired from the show. Mark kept us company on our commutes, in our kitchens and on job sites all over central Vermont. And if you live around here, you’ve either called the show, known the guest, or known some of the callers. The show was smart and relaxed and personal and Mark was very much…himself. I always felt like maybe the show was happening right across the road from my house. That’s how ‘local’ it felt. I invited Mark over to talk about how he produced a two-hour public affairs show for twenty-five years all by himself. He shares some high points, a few low points, and you’ll also get to hear a little from Governor Shumlin. And a caller named Marsha. Welcome. Next month Mark’s heading back to his native tribe of print journalists, and will be working with the online news site, VTDigger , as a senior reporter/editor. COMMENTS WELCOME: If you have a comment or a story about Mark’s show, there’s a comment box below. That would be nice. To hear your stories. Your comments. PHOTO CREDIT: The banner image of Mark Smith and Shap Smith was taken by the Vermont Press Bureau.
Thu, September 03, 2015
Police Log Summer 2015
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/222225987″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Summer is coming to a close here in central Vermont. It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from the local police logs. This summer there were some problems with odors and stuck squirrels. A machete also was seen. Here’s Scott Carrier reading a sampling from the last couple months’ reports to the Times Argus and the Stowe Reporter. Music by Hayvanlar Alemi. The song is titled Crossroad Metamorphosis
Mon, August 24, 2015
Love Life
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/220715911″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Steve Fugate roams the roads of America, walking thousands of miles with a sign stuck over his middle-aged head that reads “Love Life” — because of what happened to his son. This story was recorded by Mark Baldwin and produced by Larry Massett. It originally aired on NPR’s Hearing Voices . You can follow Steve’s writing and walking at Trail Therapy .
Sat, August 15, 2015
Fred Webster
If you throw a rock from Fred’s porch and you have a pretty good arm, you can almost hit Canada. He lives way up in Coventry, Vermont, and when I drove up to his place, I found him covered in paint, in one of his barns. He was just finishing building his fifth stage coach, parts of which he’d painted bright yellow and cherry red. Most of his barns—and there are a lot of them—are filled with old farm equipment. He says he’s trying to show the evolution of farm machines in New England from as far back as he can go, up through the 1960s. He says he figures someone else can carry on after that. To be honest, historical collections don’t interest me very much. But Fred’s collection does. We picked our way together through miles of plows and cultivators and buggies and logging sleighs, in barns that mostly Fred built or shored up himself. We didn’t talk very much. If there was hayseed still in the back of a sleigh by the time he hauled it home and up into the hay mow, it’s still there, and to Fred that’s part of the story. In other words, this is not a clean or polished collection. There’s still the feel of use on these objects. And my guess is, there are a lot of ghosts of old farmers in those barns at night, and they all know each other. Fred and I talked for a couple days in the front parlor of his house, downstairs from the room he was born in ninety-four years ago. We talked about a lot of things. His father, his farm collection, the women in his life, his nine children, and some more ephemeral things. I guess we talked about the past, but to me these are not stories about the past at all. These stories come up out of a blood connection to a place. Welcome. Thank you to listener Lou Snyder for writing to me with stories about Fred. I love it when stories happen that way. See this You can actually see Fred’s collection in this story from WCAX News. To make a donation to Fred’s collection, send money to: Fred Webster, 378 Webster Road, Coventry, Orleans, VT 05860
Fri, August 07, 2015
Bison Selfies
This summer there have been five bison attacks in Yellowstone National Park, the result of visitors taking selfies with bison in the background. Today on Fresh Air, an interview with author Sarah Miller. Her recent book, Bison Selfies , is a brave exploration into this new phenomenon. In this interview we discuss selfies, bison, and the American consciousness. Credits This article originally appeared in Jezebel in July, 2015. Sarah Miller writes for theawl.com, newyorker.com, time.com, thecut.com and others. She is not actually writing a book about bison selfies. The Fresh Air music is by The Microscopic Septet After reading Miller’s book, this listener was careful to follow safe bison-selfie procedures.
Fri, July 31, 2015
A Long Day on the Road
“In the cathedral, priests with long black beards and scarlet robes are gliding through the shadows…I feel faint. It’s the heat, the fatigue, frustration — whatever, but there’s a lump in my throat and my eyes are filling with tears. The cop is starting to make big signs of the cross in the air. If w don’t get out of here quick, we’re going to convert .” This is a story from Larry Massett about a very, very long day in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in 2002. This story aired originally on The Savvy Traveler in 2002, and on NPR’s Hearing Voices. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/217213591″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]
Sun, July 26, 2015
Vermont Private Eye
This is an interview with a very old friend of mine, and the person who trained me as a private investigator. She taught me everything from basics like how to look up criminal records to the very advanced skills I learned. Susan Randall has been a PI in Vermont for fifteen years. She works on the some of the biggest cases in the state…and she’s really good. Susan can find anyone, and she can get them to talk about anything. And most of the time she’s working on fifty to seventy-five cases at the same time. Last week I went over to her house. We lay in deck chairs in her back yard and we talked about the job. About crime, lawyers, and what it means to give so much of your life to exploring dark stories. Susan Randall does criminal defense work in both federal and state court. She also does civil litigation. In the past ten years she’s started to focus on creative storytelling that’s necessary in sentencing mitigation work. She works primarily in Vermont but has worked all over the country. She runs Vermont Private Eye .
Sat, July 18, 2015
Homeless
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/215213074″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Kevin DeMars estimates he’s been homeless ten times in his 58 years. I met with him in his apartment in Rutland, Vermont and we talked about why he’s been homeless so many times, and what it was like to live in the woods. It’s a difficult and raw conversation at times, and Kevin struggles with some mental health issues that he’s been working through in counseling for years. But he talks very clearly about what it’s like to be someone who can’t always live comfortably in the world of people. Thanks Big thanks to Scott Carrier for all his help. Thanks to Joyce Cloutier of Veterans, Inc. for introducing me to Kevin and for all the great work she does. Thanks to Freesound for the clock sounds I used in this show.
Sat, July 11, 2015
Kendall Wild, A Toast
kuKendall Wild worked for nearly half a century at the Rutland Herald and he’s a legend in Vermont journalism. He died on April 2, 2015. By all accounts he was eccentric, competitive, and utterly committed to getting the story…and getting it first. Wild was the paper’s managing editor all through the sixties and seventies. There was a whole generation of journalists who came up through the ranks under Kendall and they went on to become formidable journalists, writers and political heavies in their own right. I invited a few of them who are still in the area to come sit on Bill Porter’s couch in Montpelier and tell some stories. So they did. They talked about the wild ride of working under Kendall, and they talked about what it was like to work in journalism during one of Vermont’s most exciting and tumultuous chapters in politics. They also talk about beer. Come listen. If you have a story of your own, or a comment you’d like to make, just go to the bottom of the show page and comment there. It’s always nice to hear from you. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/200789117″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Story Contributors: Bill Porter worked with Ken Wild for 20 years, first at the Rutland Herald and later at the Times-Argus in Barre, and remained an admiring friend until Kendall’s death. Nick Marro worked as a reporter at the Rutland Herald from 1967 to 1972 and then moved to the Barre Times-Argus when Bill Porter became managing editor. He went to the Vermont Press Bureau as a reporter in 1974, was Bureau Chief from 1980 to 1983, and then he was a reporter in the Press Bureau in the 1990’s. Howard Coffin was a reporter for the Rutland Herald from 1996 to 1978, hired by Kendall. After that he acted as news director for Dartmouth College and UVM, and press secretary for U. S. Senator James Jeffords. Howard has written nine books, including four on Vermont’s Civil War history. He lives in Montpelier. Glenn Gershaneck worked with the Rutland Herald from 1970 – 1978, then at the Times-Argus from 1983 – 1985. He went on to work as press secretary for Senator Robert Stafford, Governor Richard Snelling and Governor Howard Dean. He’s acted as both the secretary and deputy secretary for the Agency of Transportation, the deputy secretary for the Agency of Administration, and the deputy state auditor. Ruth Porter is a fiction and writer and is married to Bill Porter. Irene Racz worked for the papers from late 1974 until 1985. She and Allen Gilbert then became partners in a consulting business called PressKit, which offered writing, editing, media relations, and related services to clients in mostly the government and nonprofit sectors. In 1997, she left PressKit to become public aff
Sat, July 11, 2015
Drag Out
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/214270716″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Here’s a show from Larry Massett about cars. And honor. Larry owns two Porsches, and he talks about them a lot. In fact it’s almost all he ever talks about. His friend, Joe Frank, is a BMW man. Which is the superior car? The Porsche? The BMW? Joe and Larry have agreed to decide this with a race. But in the meantime, they’re just going to go on and on and on about their cars. Welcome. Joe Frank is a writer, producer, and story savant. Like if you were making a pyramid of all the great storytellers you’ve ever heard, he’d be floating just a little above the top of the pyramid. Which his pretty high up there. You can hear he work here…. Thank you to Lisa Miller for filming the race, which you can see below. Music for this show is by Redvers West-Boyle and Dark Fire
Sun, July 05, 2015
Soccer Mom
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/213298322″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] This was my first year as a soccer mom and I’m here to tell you, it’s harder than it looks. I never played team sports, I still don’t really understand soccer, and I spent an entire season screaming ‘GET IT IN THE BASKET!’ Being a soccer mom is weirdly emotional in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I’ve experienced exultation and shame and misery and anger. There are long periods of waiting around. And lots of stinky socks. And sometimes it’s so beautiful to watch the game that it’s made me cry. Secretly. In my Walmart foldout chair. This show features two area experts—my son’s coach and my sister, a veteran soccer mom. It’s a show about a beautiful sport and it’s also about parenting and shame and humility. And cow bells. More about the Experts and the Music Craig Stone is a native of Newcastle, England. He came to the USA as a college student, playing four years of college soccer at the Division 1 University of Evansville, Indiana. Following school, Stone coached in the Washington D.C area for 10-years –as well as moonlighting as an online editor, producer and manager with Education Week , a national publication focusing on K-12 education–before moving to Vermont in 2009 and joining the state’s Olympic Development Program staff; he also coached with Capital Soccer Club, a community-based travel club based in Montpelier, Vermont. Stone is a staff coach with the U.S. ODP Region 1 Boys U13 team–the Vermont Olympic Development program, and also Head Coach & co-founder of the Vermont ODP U-12 Academy. He also still attempts to play the game as often as possible, but with a continual decline in quality. He is married to Alison Milbury Stone, and has one son, Ned. Melissa Burroughs is a soccer mom and teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. She no longer employs the cowbells at games, though she doesn’t rule it out. Jeff Burroughs is the Assistant Headmaster at St. Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and he coaches the girls Varsity team at the Academy. He holds a Premier Diploma from NSCAA. He is famously quiet at games. Music for this show is from The New Year , an awesome band. You’ll find links to where you can purchase the music below. Mike Donofrio is the bass player and he is my friend and he is so good.
Wed, June 24, 2015
Three Weeks
For the last couple years, in addition to producing this show, I’ve also been doing interviews for an organization called The Wake Up to Dying Project . The basic goal of the project is to encourage people to think and talk more about the fact that we die, and at the heart of the project is a sound exhibit that features audio stories–lots and lots of them. Last month I did an interview for this project with a mother who had lost a baby after three weeks of life. I was incredibly nervous about this interview, and I realized that I was worried that by talking about the loss of this child, I’d feel even more afraid of it than I already do with my own son. I didn’t want to be that close to something that scared me so much. But when I left the interview I felt strangely comforted. There is something comforting in talking about this thing we try so hard not to think about. And though there’s much sadness, and confusion, and grief in this story, there’s also tremendous resilience and love. This is Susan Wahlrab . She’s a painter and she lives with her family in the deep woods of Calais Vermont. Eighteen years ago she lost her son, Grayson, to a virus after three weeks of life. Here are excerpts from our conversation. The painting you see featured on this page is by Susan Wahlrab. It’s called What Are You Opening To
Thu, June 11, 2015
Cats on Boats
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/209841412″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Here’s a story from Otto Trautz of Cabot, Vermont. It takes place in 1966 and starts with a phone call and a very compelling proposition. This story was originally told at extempo, central Vermont’s live storytelling event produced by the wondrous Jen Dole. You can find more stories at: www.extempoVT.com .
Wed, June 03, 2015
Another Day Older
I was meeting a friend at a coffee shop and a song came on the radio that I hadn’t heard since I was in my late twenties. It reminded me of a time when I’d stay up all night long with friends, talking and drinking around bonfires. It was before children and spouses, and before everyone moved to wherever it is they went. It was a time when we had endless amounts of time. So when I heard this song after so long, I remembered this time. And it hadn’t occurred to me until right then, twenty years later, standing in this coffee shop, that that time was over. And twenty years had passed. It all happened so…gradually. In this show, you’ll hear from women of all ages, from five to eighty-five. They talk about how they imagine their lives will be, how their lives are, and how their lives have been. Welcome! [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/208648637″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Credits I produced this program with my great friend Tamar Cole, who is a screenwriter, playwright and writing coach . She lives in Montpelier, Vermont Many thanks to these great people for their time and their insights: Mary Wesley Lee Casagrande Bess O’Brien Mary Jacobsen Leda Schubert Marilyn Skoglund Helen Rose Warshovsky (photographed above…) Brenna Christianson Aine Fannon
Fri, May 22, 2015
Police Log, May 2015
It’s time again for a sampling from the Barre and Montpelier police logs, as reported in the Times Argus. This month there were a number of disturbing animal reports. Sick raccoons, catatonic woodchucks, and more. Also, a number of naked children. Come listen if you dare. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/206723347″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Scott’s podcast, Home of the Brave , is great, and I highly recommend you subscribe to it. He’s one of the most interesting radio producers in this dimension. Music by Hayvanlar Alemi. The song is titled Crossroad Metamorphosis
Wed, May 06, 2015
Private Investigator
Radio production and private investigation have a lot in common. You ask questions, find out what happened, and try to figure out why. This is a show I made with Larry Massett for NPR’s Hearing Voices in 2011. None of the people you hear in this story were investigation clients of mine where they did pardons according to https://nationalpardon.org/pardons-canada/ . They were all young men on furlough, putting their lives together after doing time in prison. Also, all of the case stories you hear have been fictionalized to protect the privacy of legal clients. In addition, Working with a car accident lawyer Maryland can make a significant difference in your ability to successfully file your claim, deal with aggressive insurance companies, and pursue your. Warning: There are references to sex and violence in this story, and it may not be appropriate for children.
Mon, April 13, 2015
Three Things I Learned at School
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205325448″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] A commentary from Marc Estrin about the three things he learned in twenty-five years of school. The only three things. Marc Estrin is a writer, cellist, and political activist who lives in Burlington, Vermont. His most recent book, And Kings Shall Be Thy Nursing Fathers, features the ruminations of Tchaikovsky’s corpse. You can find it on Amazon here , or order it from a local bookstore. Marc Estrin’s Novels The Prison Notebooks of Alan Krieger (Terrorist) When the Gods Come Home to Roost Tsim-tsum The Good Doctor Guillotin The Annotated Nose Skulk The Lamentations of Julius Marantz Golem Song The Education of Arnold Hitler Insect Dreams, the Half Life of Gregor Samsa Marc Estrin’s Memoir Rehearsing With Gods: Photographs and Essays on the Bread & Puppet Theater (with Ron Simon, photographer)
Thu, April 09, 2015
A Night on Mount Shasta
Larry Massett was driving up through northern California toward Oregon and ended up spending a little more time at Mt. Shasta than he’d had in mind, thankfully he had his flashlight in his trunk. Was it coincidence ? Was it fate that drew Larry to one of the country’s most famous destinations for the spiritually curious? In this story you’ll hear from some naked meditators, UFO solicitors, and there’s some howling at the moon. Leave a comment if you’ve got one. It’s always nice to hear from you. Thanks to Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices for letting me run this show, and also for spending time on the audio before sending it to me. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/199999886″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]
Thu, April 02, 2015
Michael Chorney, Music Inventor
Michael Chorney is a self taught musician, arranger and composer. If you asked me what genre of music he makes, I’d have no idea. All of them? None of them? He spent years mastering different musical genres in both guitar and baritone sax. He’s played British Isles-inspired folk music, improvisational jazz, soul, rock. And over the years, in his own music, the lines between these genres have gotten really blurry. And that’s how he wants it, an ambiguous audio interface is a fun one, he says. Michael has been the bandleader of some of the most lush, uncategorizable music in this state. Bands like viperHouse, Magic City, Orchid, the So Called Jazz Sextet, and Hollar General. I talked with him at his house, a renovated goose coop in Lincoln Vermont, and one of the quietest places on earth—or so he says. We talk about his music and growing up in Buffalo and driving to gigs with a blownout muffler. He talks about his collaboration with Anais Mitchell on the 2010 folk opera, Hadestown. And he sings. You’ll hear a lot of music this hour, some of it from his upcoming album with Hollar General. The photo here by Jay Sansome. Black and white photo of Michael is by John M Moyers.
Thu, April 02, 2015
After the Forgetting
This is a show about love, family and dementia. Part one features a show I made in 2008 about one family’s experience living with an elderly mother’s progressive dementia. Part two features an interview with one of the story’s main characters, Greg Sharrow, about what’s changed, and what he’s learned, in the five years since we made After the Forgetting. After the Forgetting features Greg Sharrow, Bob Hooker, and Marjorie Sharrow. Greg did a lot of marvelous interviews with his mother for this show. Bob and Marj Greg and Marj
Thu, April 02, 2015
Why Cooking Sucks
This is an essay about cooking and all the shame and rage and frustration that can accompany this art. Writer Sarah Miller describes her desire to be loved and appreciated for her fig galettes, and her decision to quit cooking altogether. Sarah is the author of the novels Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn and The Other Girl , and she contributed to the bestseller The Bitch in the House . She has written for Details, Lucky, Marie Claire, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Guardian. Also thanks to Ralph Henson of KVMR in Nevada City California for recording the story. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/202423959″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]
Tue, March 24, 2015
Shannon
Today, a true story about two strangers who meet and talk very late one night on a northbound NYC subway. The story is from Otto Trautz, and was originally told live on stage at extempo, central Vermont’s totally excellent live storytelling event. And if my name were Otto Trautz, I’d have great stories too. Welcome. To hear more true stories live onstage, visit extempo’s website here . [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/197472681″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]
Thu, March 19, 2015
Eyes on the Sky
Into Tuesday we’ll see gusty winds, an early morning cold front east of Route 2 and a massive low pressure system delivering winter-like temperatures and moderate rain east of the Greens. Here are Eyes on the Sky. Eyes on the Sky was written by Montpelier resident Linda Coble. And thank you to the brave meteorologists at Eye On the Sky , who have delivered so much bad news, so well, for so long. Winters wouldn’t be the same without you.
Wed, March 04, 2015
The Oligarchy of Participation
Welcome to The Mudroom. This is a commentary from Hilton Dier of Middlesex, Vermont. He proposes that much of Vermont politics is really about who has enough time and money to…show up. Please fling us your comments at the bottom of this page! We love to hear from you. Hilton is a renewable energy consultant and author of the incomparable blog, Minor Heresies using Advance Systems . The Mudroom is a joint commentary series by Rumble Strip Vermont and The Dooryard . [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/168333850″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]
Mon, March 02, 2015
Ed Epstein, A Life in Art
Ed Epstein is a portrait artist of some renown in these parts. But painting has comprised only a fraction of Ed’s artistic life. As a kid in the fifties he hitch hiked across the country with only a banjo and a few bucks. He fell in love with the Bach cello suites and spent the next twenty years mastering the cello so he could play them. Ed has designed and built woodstoves, houses, and when his son showed interest in fishing, Ed built a boat so they could get out to that stand of reeds…where the bass are. Ed Epstein’s whole life has been an art project. In this hour, we talk about the mysterious process of portrait painting…it’s difficulties and occasional satisfactions. But mostly in this hour, we talk about boats. Building them, sailing them for years, and what became of Ed’s beloved thirty foot schooner, Ruby. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/193910049″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] The beautiful photograph of Ed Epstein was taken by photographer Andrew Kline . More of his work can be seen here . More of Ed Epstein’s work can be seen here . Music this hour: The Cello Suites, by J.S. Bach, performed by Jan Vogler. Unedited audio from the interview There is a whole section of our interview that is not in this show, but well worth listening to, particularly if you’re interested in folk music. In it, Ed talks about his first forays out of New York City, and hitchhiking across the country in the early fifties with his banjo and I realized if I want my kid to have any sort of musical interests, my kid needs that , to see a few real live music legends himself, in person. Here it is: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/193900956?secret_token=s-haoca” params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Self portrait from a picture taken of Ed in the early fifties. The Sally Rubin <img src="https://rumblestrip.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/joey.jpg" alt="Jimmy the Iceman De Piro" width="800" height
Mon, March 02, 2015
Here’s a Song For You
Tonight I was driving home from Montpelier with my son, and we were both happy because today really did feel like maybe spring will come this year, and we were listening to Miriam Bernardo sing. It was a recording I made of a house show a couple years ago. There’s something so beautiful to me about this live recording, and I figured I’d share one of the songs with you. Here’s Miriam, and Michael Chorney on guitar and Rob Morse on bass. This is Love Came Here , by Lhasa de Sela. Welcome to spring everyone. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/197716442″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Upcoming Miriam shows: April 4, Steady Betty at the lamp shop, Burlington. 9pm April 17, Magic City at the Haybarn. 8-10pm May 1, Waking Windows music festival in Winooski. Steady Betty 7:30pm May 9, Betty Brew fest at the big picture in Waitsfield. 10pm steady b. June 4,6,7, Soloing with the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra. Unitarian Church. 7pm.
Sun, March 01, 2015
Police Log, March 2015
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/195178661″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] The sock went missing in November, was encased in ice in someone’s driveway, and yesterday it was released. The end of winter is nigh everyone. This is for real. It’s time again for a sampling from the Barre and Montpelier police logs, as reported in the Times Argus. This month saw a disproportionate number of shovel incidents. There were keys lost and found. A juvenile was out of control on Crest Street. Come listen. The police log is read by radio producer Scott Carrier . Scott’s new podcast, Home of the Brave , has LAUNCHED, and I highly recommend you subscribe to it. He’s one of the most interesting radio producers anywhere. I’ve spent whole days binge-listening to his shows. It’s time well spent. Music by Hayvanlar Alemi. The song is titled Crossroad Metamorphosis
Mon, February 23, 2015
More Poopy Old People
A couple months ago I ran a commentary by Marc Estrin called Poopy Old Man . In this commentary, he talks about feeling increasingly invisible to the people around him as he gets older. It’s a rather dark perspective on aging. This is a response to that commentary, and offers a somewhat different perspective on getting older. Here’s a conversation between Larry Massett and Marianne Ross of Washington DC. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/191968300?secret_token=s-k0Tt1″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Who are they? Larry Massett is one of the world’s most interesting radio producers. He lives in Cabin John, MD. Marianne Ross is the director of a multimedia company called Concerts in the Country , in Washington DC. She spends much of each summer in the Northeast Kingdom, working with Bread and Puppet Theater. Here’s Marianne:
Sun, February 15, 2015
Object of My Affection
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/191291077″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] This is a conversation about love and objects. It’s from a late night conversation with my friend Clare Dolan . In the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, we sat on my couch and talked about a special kind of love that exists between people and objects. The conversation starts with Clare’s first friend in childhood…a small stuffed creature called Binny. Clare is the curator at The Museum of Everyday Life in Glover, Vermont. It is a self-service museum located in her barn, and it ‘dedicates itself to deteriorating objects of no monetary value, but of immense ordinary-life consequence.’ The current exhibit is called Toothbrush from Twig to Bristle In All Its Expedient Beauty . Clare recently got so mad at her broken snowblower that she was moved to create a small, impromptu exhibit called Broken and Useless Snow Removal Devices of the Northeast Kingdom . I am including a couple pictures of the exhibit here, and some other pictures I like. If you have not been to the museum, do not dally. Do not wait. Put it on your bucket list. It will make you happy. Directions and more exhibit pictures are on her website . Clare and her donkey, Nikolai Raggedy Ann and Binny <img src="https://rumblestrip.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/DSC03095.jpg" alt="One of my favorite things in the toothbrush exhibit. " w
Mon, February 02, 2015
Police Log
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/189626294″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] You can learn a lot about a place from the local police log. A couple weeks ago I was reading the Times Argus , and I read a police log that I was sure held some kind of message for me. There was a lost key, a found wallet, and a woman in yoga pants seen walking down Sumner Street. There was a dead deer missed by a car and a living deer hit. What could it mean? I’m going to start running periodic police log shows. If you know of small newspapers around the state that run good police logs, leave a message at the bottom of the show page here. I’d love to hear about them. This police log comes to you from the Barre Police, as published in the Times Argus. It is read by writer and radio producer Scott Carrier . Scott is coming out with a podcast of his own pretty soon, which is very good news. I will let you know when and where you can find it when it starts. Here is a picture of Scott in sunglasses. Music by Hayvanlar Alemi. The song is titled Crossroad Metamorphosis
Tue, January 27, 2015
Leland
From my house, if you take a left through the woods, then a right up a dirt road, and then another right up another dirt road, you come to a really old farmhouse. That’s where Leland lives, and where he’s thinking things over. Last week he agreed to talk with me about some of these things. Death, deep space, and Revolutionary War reenactments. Welcome. The music in this show is from the remarkable Carla Kihlstedt . Learn more about her HERE . Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec reenactment. Three generations of Kennedys.
Wed, January 21, 2015
Piano Practice
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/187185013″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Here’s a short story about my son and piano practice and parental rage.
Thu, January 08, 2015
Solidod, An Apache Original
This is a show produced by Larry Massett, for NPR’s Hearing Voices. It features remarkable stories from Solidod, the last remaining member of her village of Mescalero Apache who lived on the edge of Death Valley. Here’s Larry’s introduction…. “When I first met Solidod she was living alone in a tiny room in a rather depressing subsidized-income apartment complex in Florida. She herself was anything but depressing, though. A few minutes after we met she showed me the little knife she carries with her in her buckskin purse. “But Solidod,” I said, “that’s kind of a dangerous knife, isn’t it?” I said- meaning, dangerous for an 80-year woman. “Yeah, it’s sharp, it came with a good knife sharpener ” she laughed, “but it would be better if it was rusty. So the cut would get infected in case I stab somebody.” Wow, tough lady. Tough, but also funny, curious, brimming with energy, and a world-class storyteller. As she told me about the adventures of her life I realized she’s been everywhere and done just about everything: horse-trainer, bodyguard, trans-Atlantic sailor, carpenter, gardener, artist, you name it. And she’s busy. She spends her days zipping around town selling the t-shirts she paints and the jewelry she makes, checking on old friends and chatting up new ones. Most people her age seem to be winding down; Solidod’s just getting started…” Thank you Hearing Voices for allowing me to air this show. It’s a favorite. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/185108606″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Here is a link to Solidod’s book .
Fri, December 26, 2014
Big Job
This week’s episode is about one of life’s hardest and most humbling jobs. Parenting. You’ll hear stories about potty training, power struggles, living with teenagers, character-driven parenting, and negotiating new relationships with grown children. Plus some stories about beaches and dead birds. The hour features two interviews. Melissa Burroughs is a mother and teacher, and has worked extensively with families. The show also features an interview with a mother of two grown daughters. She talks about how parenting changes when the kids have grown and gone. She prefers to go unnamed.
Fri, December 26, 2014
Truck
We live in a place where trucks are a kind of passion. It’s not overt. It’s an understated, Vermont kind of passion. According to TheCarStarter.com , Vermonters sometimes heat up when you get them talking about Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge. So I drove around and talked with some guys about trucks. Here’s what they said. Leave a comment or story at the bottom of this show page! We love to hear from you. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/169932294″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Photo by Josh Larkin
Wed, December 24, 2014
Poopy Old Man
We are all busy getting older, for better and for worse. Here is an unvarnished perspective on aging by author Marc Estrin. Marc Estrin is a writer, cellist and political activist who lives in Burlington, Vermont. His most recent book, And Kings Shall Be Thy Nursing Fathers, features the ruminations of Tchaikovsky’s corpse. You can find it on Amazon here , or order it from a local bookstore. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/183023161″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Marc Estrin’s Novels The Prison Notebooks of Alan Krieger (Terrorist) When the Gods Come Home to Roost Tsim-tsum The Good Doctor Guillotin The Annotated Nose Skulk The Lamentations of Julius Marantz Golem Song The Education of Arnold Hitler Insect Dreams, the Half Life of Gregor Samsa Marc Estrin’s Memoir Rehearsing With Gods: Photographs and Essays on the Bread & Puppet Theater (with Ron Simon, photographer)
Thu, December 18, 2014
Buy Nothing Day
Welcome to The Mudroom, a joint commentary series of Rumble Strip Vermont and The Dooryard . In time for the holidays, we bring you a commentary about Buy Nothing Day, an annual day of protest against buying stuff. Jessamyn West is a writer, blogger, librarian, and knower of many things technological and digital. She lives in Randolph, Vermont, and here she is standing on a bed. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/182121652″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] A Wiki link to Jessamyn… A link to other links about Jessamyn
Fri, December 12, 2014
A Vermonter’s Lament
I don’t know what you’d call this. A commentary? A riff? An agricultural lament? This is how Alan LePage started his show a few weeks ago, and I wanted to share it with you all. Alan LePage is a legend around here in central Vermont. He’s a fourth generation Vermont farmer, mentor to many up and coming market gardeners, and he’s the host of one of WGDR’s most popular shows, The Curse of the Golden Turnip . For the past few months, we’ve been working on getting his show out into the world as a podcast. This means I’ve been editing a two hour show down to one hour, which is no easy task. I’m either cutting a fascinating bit about the history of broccoli in North America, or some offhand advice about how to build a cold frame out of junk in your garage. Alan gets great guests and the show is always packed with great information and stories. If you’re at all interested in gardening, I encourage you to tune in. And if you want to be apprised of our podcast progress, join the show’s Facebook page and we’ll let you know when the podcast becomes available. Be confident in your decisions by checking out your provider’s top areas of care, education, patient reviews and more. Look for Dr. Matthew Galumbeck for more details. You can also listen to an interview I did with Alan last year. The beautiful photo you see above is by Josh Larkin .
Sun, December 07, 2014
The Eyes of Sibiu
This is a story produced by my friend Larry Massett. A few years ago Larry took a trip with public radio personality Andre Codrescu. Andre grew up in Romania in times of hardship. After twenty years as an American citizen, he feels he’s lost the local taste of the land where he spent his youth. Larry Massett records the story of a man now in the role of “tourist” in his radically changed native land. THANKS TO HEARING VOICES This program originally aired on Hearing Voices, and airs on Rumble Strip Vermont with permission by Larry Massett and Barrett Golding. Thank you both for letting me share this. It’s one of my favorite stories and it’s one I listen to over and over. And over. And over. Larry wearing a hat in Montana
Sun, December 07, 2014
Gold, Frankenstein and Myrrh
From the Saviour’s conception to offerings of gold, Frankenstein and myrrh, six year old Erin Magill of Moretown, Vermont tells her version of the Christmas story, with help from her creche figures. I made this story some years ago. NOW Erin Magill is a COMPOSER, and you can hear her work HERE . Go Erin!!!
Wed, December 03, 2014
Magic: The Gathering
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/179849504″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] This is a show about a game my son loves that I don’t understand. At all. It’s called Magic: The Gathering, and it’s a card game that’s sort of a cross between Dungeons and Dragons and chess. It involves spells and enchantments and creatures and math and strategy. The game was born in 1993, and millions of people play it around the world. And even though I don’t understand the game, I appreciate that it happens between real people, in person. Hugely enthusiastic players, ranging in age from around seven to forty-five, get together and battle it out, trade cards, and talk about creature powers. I’ve been taking my son to a Friday night game in Montpelier, Vermont–held at the Book Garden . Last time we went, instead of sitting in a foldout chair for 3 hours, I recorded interviews with some of the players. This show won’t explain the game. That is a task far beyond my skill. Instead, it will introduce you to some of the culture around this game, and the passion of its players. Game. ON. Thanks Big thanks to the Book Garden in Montpelier, and to Keith McCusker for setting me up in a comfortable room to do some interviews. And thanks to all the generous players who shared their stories with me.
Tue, November 11, 2014
Rock Lottery
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/176331320″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] When my son was four I joined a temporary rock band. It was humiliating and terrible and I was middle aged and didn’t know what to do with my arms. I wanted to quit. This is a commentary about why I didn’t quit, and why it’s important to risk failure as an example for our kids.
Fri, November 07, 2014
Raw Tape
This is an unedited interview I did with a young man in Barre, Vermont in 2011. He gave me permission to use this tape, but I’ve chosen not to use his name in order to protect his privacy. I’ll call him ‘O’. I had interviewed O once before, when he was on furlough and living in Barre. About a year after that first interview I interviewed him again. I was curious about how he was doing after having maxed out his jail sentence. We met at the apartment he was living in with his girlfriend and daughter. According to O, many in his family–his dad, grandfather, uncle, cousins–have been in and out of jail for as long as he can remember. I wanted to know how this family history affected his thoughts about his own life prospects. I go back to this tape over and over. Pieces of it show up in other stories I’ve made, but there is more ‘content’ in this raw tape than any story I could write or edit. Warning: There are references to sex and violence in this interview.
Thu, November 06, 2014
Peace, Love and Occupation?
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/175689933″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Welcome to the Mudroom, a joint commentary series of Rumble Strip Vermont and The Dooryard . Israel has been a substantial recipient of US foreign aid since the state’s inception. According to Mark Hage, Israel is also the recipient of some of Vermont’s finest ice cream, which is sold in Israeli settlements. Do we have a social responsibility to rally against Ben & Jerry’s presence in the Israeli occupied territories? Mark Hage is a Palestine solidarity activist with Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel. He lives in Montpelier, Vermont. You can learn more about VTJP and its Ben & Jerry’s campaign , click on the link below.
Fri, October 24, 2014
Jamie Cope in Black and White
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/173664668″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Jamie Cope’s house is filled with pictures of people…pictures so beautiful you practically want to lick them. Or at least I do. They are all black and white, and all printed with exquisite attention to light and shadow. There is an amazing intimacy in her portraits, as though she’s looking INTO the people she’s photographing, and they’re letting her. I couldn’t help wondering how she did it. What were they talking about? How did she catch them being so much…themselves? We sat on her couch one long, sunny fall day in Montpelier and talked for the better part of an afternoon–about photography, marriage, and eating tacos on Olvera Street in Los Angeles. Come listen… The photographs we talk about in the interview are all featured below, in the order in which we speak about them. Thank you! A very special thanks to John Snell and Jamie Cope for allowing me to feature these photographs! Thank you also to Rob Spring. This program is brought to you in part by a grant from WGDR, Goddard College and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Also big thanks to David Schulman for allowing me to feature a track from his new album, Raise It Up, which you can find here . Maud Morgan, artist Harold Edgerton, Scientist, inventor of the strobe, MIT Giselle President of Raytheon Wisconsin Friends <a href="https://rumblestrip.wpengine.com
Fri, October 10, 2014
Town
Town is a sound exhibit that I produced for the Kent Museum in Calais, Vermont. It weaves together personal stories and memories about growing up in Calais, and natural sounds recorded around town. There’s no start or finish to these stories. It’s meant to be a kind of sonic wallpaper. In this audio, you hear reference to the former owner of the Kent Museum building, Louise Andrews Kent, and you hear her granddaughters talk about concerts once held upstairs in the ballroom, and her creation of the small dioramas downstairs. You also hear stories about mill fires, walking barefoot in summer, marriage proposals and God… [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/171496420″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] THANKS: I’d like to thank the Calais area residents who shared their time and stories with me. They are: Geraldine Gilman, Don Singleton, Erlene Leonard, Janet Ancel, Olivia Gay, Stanley Fitch, Elaine Fitch and Elliott Morse. The photos of the Kent you see here are provided by Nel Emlen. Thank you Nel! And finally, all praise to the People of Kent! Over the past seven years, a team of hugely dedicated folks have brought art to this old, historical tavern and general store in the heart of our town. There’s a magic about that building. Ghosts and brilliant late afternoon light. Exposed lath and old plaster, weird pink closets and teal floors and bowls of plastic grapes in tucked away places, notes to self written on the wall from 1921, ancient wallpaper and lots and lots of clip lamps to light the art. (I’m a special fan of the clip lamps…) The love these folks at the Kent feel for the building comes through in the way they present the artwork, and it’s palpable…which just makes the whole experience more fun than most art exhibits. So thank you People of Kent. We’ll see you next year. <img src="https:/
Mon, September 15, 2014
My Son Teaches Me a Game
This is a raw recording of my son teaching me how to play a card game called Magic. Does anyone know what he’s talking about? Please advise. And featuring a picture of a cruel pinata in Hancock, Vermont, crafted by my friend Stacey at The Dooryard. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/167881968″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]
Fri, September 12, 2014
The Taxidermists
Rodney and Theresa Elmer are a taxidermy power duo in Northfield, Vermont. In this interview, they talk about the art and psychology of mounting animals, and why they hunt. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/167267083″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Credits: Photos by Josh Larkin . Music for this show from Katie Trautz and Julia Wayne of the Vermont duo Mayfly . Links to more of their work below. Link to Mountain Deer Taxidermy website below…. And please write a comment on this show if you have one!! Comments and STORIES are always welcome. Just go to the bottom of this page, and write in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box. Thank you!
Mon, August 25, 2014
Strange Days
The farther you go from home, the stranger things get. Here is a story by Larry Massett about the life and work of Paul Bowles. This program originally aired on Hearing Voices , home to some of the best radio anywhere….
Sun, August 17, 2014
Vermont Health Disconnect
Jessamyn West studies and writes about the digital divide and she solves technology problems for a living. This summer she found herself unemployed, and forced to use some of the same state agency websites she’d been helping others to use–namely, Vermont Health Connect, and the Department of Labor. The results were not pretty. Here’s a commentary about it. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/168089366″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] The Mudroom is a joint commentary series of Rumble Strip Vermont and The Dooryard . Photo of Jessamyn by Liz West . A Wiki link to Jessamyn…
Sat, July 19, 2014
Thunder Road
For generations of Vermonters, Thursday nights in the summer have meant one thing….Thunder Road. This quarter mile short track opened in 1960 and it’s home to some of the most passionate drivers and fans you’re likely to find anywhere. In these shows and outtakes, you’ll hear from some of the drivers and from Thunder Road co-owners and ring leaders, Ken Squier and Tom Curley. There are thrills and heartbreaks and heated coils and a lot of history. There’s even some opera. Welcome. Shows (in the box above) Thunder Road: Features Donny Yates, Tommy Thunder, Dave Campbell, Dave Pembroke, Ken Squier, and Tom Curley Milk Bowl : Tom Curley talks about the culminating race of the season, the Milk Bowl. An Interview with Tom Curley: I thought he’d give me five minutes. Turns out he let me stay longer and he said some remarkable things…about his work, his co-conspirator Ken Squier, and lots more. Plus there’s sound recorded from the booth during the Milk Bowl, 2013. This is the conversation from which I pulled tape for the other stories, so you’ll hear some familiar riffs, but I figured folks might like to hear Tom’s full interview. Outtakes (in the box below) Great segments from the interviews, and sounds recorded at Thunder Road. Enjoy! Thanks: A big thanks to Larry Massett. He was the editor for both Thunder Road and Milk Bowl and he is the greatest. Also big thanks to Colin McCaffrey , who mixed these shows so expertly. And to Tread Hunter for best tires. And patiently….. Thanks to you both.
Mon, July 14, 2014
Night Dreams of Another Life
Welcome to The Mud Room, a joint commentary series from Rumble Strip Vermont and The Dooryard . A late night shopping cart reminds Marc Estrin of a song from Schubert’s song cycle, Winterreise (Winter Journey). Marc Estrin is a writer, cellist and political activist who lives in Burlington, Vermont. Marc Estrin’s Novels The Prison Notebooks of Alan Krieger (Terrorist) When the Gods Come Home to Roost Tsim-tsum The Good Doctor Guillotin The Annotated Nose Skulk The Lamentations of Julius Marantz Golem Song The Education of Arnold Hitler Insect Dreams, the Half Life of Gregor Samsa Marc Estrin’s Memoir Rehearsing With Gods: Photographs and Essays on the Bread & Puppet Theater (with Ron Simon, photographer)
Thu, July 10, 2014
A Man of Wealth and Taste
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/158099219″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] Welcome to The Mud Room, a joint commentary series from Rumble Strip Vermont and The Dooryard . This is A Man of Wealth and Taste , a commentary in response to Dick Cheney’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal on June 17, 2014. It is written by Robby Porter. Robby is a woodworker and hydro plant operator and lives in Adamant, Vermont. Please post and sling your comments at the bottom of this page. We love to hear from you.
Tue, June 10, 2014
The 17 Dollar Tomato
Welcome to The Mud Room, a joint commentary project of Rumble Strip Vermont and The Dooryard . In this first commentary we bring you Walt Amses, a writer and former educator in North Calais, Vermont. The essay is called The 17 Dollar Tomato , and it welcomes us to the special tyranny of gardening season in Vermont. Send us your tired and poor We want to hear your stories of gardens past and present. Your failed attempts, your bolted greens. Tell us about your woodchuck problems, your canning burns, your rotten tomatoes, your garden rock collections. Or maybe some trick of equanimity you know, that might help us all. Comment below. We love to hear from you.
Fri, May 02, 2014
The Milk Bowl
For generations of Vermonters, Thursday nights in the summer have meant one thing….Thunder Road. This quarter mile short track opened in 1960 and it’s home to some of the most passionate drivers and fans you’re likely to find anywhere. In this show, owner Tom Curley talks about the culminating race of the season, the Milk Bowl.
Tue, April 01, 2014
Boring Man
Everyone’s heard about Burning Man, the counter-cultural festival held every summer in Black Rock City Nevada. Sex, drugs, monumental installations….you know all about it. But you may not know about Boring Man, the counter-counter-cultural festival that’s sort of a mirror image of Burning Man. Here’s Larry Massett with a report from last year’s Boring Man.
Thu, March 27, 2014
Woodstove
I went to a friend’s house the other night and she led me into her den where her best wood stove was and she sighed and said, ‘And this is where I live.’ It’s been a long winter and a lot of us have spent the better part of four months huddled around our stoves. I walked around Calais and asked people to talk about their firebuilding methods, their stoves, and their moods.
Wed, February 05, 2014
Dry Wall
A dry wall is built with no mortar. The stones are carefully selected and they interlock and gravity holds them in place. The Great Wall of China was built this way. Scott Carrier’s wall was built this way too. Here is his story.
Mon, January 20, 2014
Mortality Tales
For the last year I’ve been conducting interviews about death and dying for The Wake Up to Dying Project –a project that encourages people to think, and talk about death and dying. The goal is to help people be a little more prepared, both practically and emotionally, for our own deaths, and the deaths of loved ones. Today’s show features segments from an interview with Tim Kasten of Middlesex, VT. Tim has experienced more death in his family than many of us and he has significant medical conditions of his own. Death has become a pressing consideration for him, and as both a Buddhist and scientist, he approaches the subject with intense curiosity. Here are segments from our conversation.
Thu, November 28, 2013
Jack’s Buck
Here is one final deer story, recorded this year after youth hunting weekend. Jack Fannon, 12, went out hunting on his parents’ land in Calais, with friend, mentor, and hunter safety instructor Bob Raskevitz. Here’s what happened….
Wed, October 09, 2013
Alan LePage
Alan LePage has been an organic vegetable gardener in central Vermont for over thirty years–long before anyone cared much about organic farming–long, long before words like ‘sustainable’, ‘local’, ‘artisinal’ started being used, ad nauseam. His family has farmed the same piece of land since the civil war. Alan is also an expert mushroom forager, mentor, activist and philosopher. He has a voracious mind and he’s impossible to categorize, except perhaps as an event . I had to interview him twice. I hope you enjoy this interview. I sure did. You can hear Alan LePage every Sunday morning on WGDR, 91.1, from 6:00 – 9:00 AM. The show is called The Curse of the Golden Turnip . You’ll hear music, and endlessly great advice and stories about agriculture, foraging, and agricultural policy. [Amazing] photos are by Josh Larkin. Link to more of his work below.
Thu, September 12, 2013
Geof Hewitt
An interview with poet, teacher, and reigning Vermont poetry slam champion, Geof Hewitt. In this interview, Geof talks about a lifetime of writing and what it means, to him, to be successful. He talks about his early years as a Vermont homesteader from New Jersery, and slowly becoming a Vermonter. And of course we hear lots of poetry. Geof has published three books for teachers and four collections of poetry. His books are available at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, in libraries, and online.
Wed, August 14, 2013
That Song
This is a show about songs, and stories about songs. You’ll hear about sack races, summer camp, love lost and found–and the songs that marked these events. There is some Meat Loaf this hour. There is brave singing and humming. There is blood and there are guitar solos. It’s an hour of music you’re sure to love and hate, and I encourage you to dance. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/196839664″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /] My mom singing a song using her hands: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#wp_mep_16').mediaelementplayer({ m:1 ,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen'] }); });
Sat, August 03, 2013
Prisoner of Zion
This week features radio producer and writer Scott Carrier, reading from his book, Prisoner of Zion . This program was produced by Larry Massett for Hearing Voices, and ran nationally in 2011. The great folks there have given me permission to air it on Rumble Strip Vermont. Shortly after the World Trade Center fell in autumn 2001, it became clear the United States would invade Afghanistan. Producer Scott Carrier decided he ought to go there too. Why? To see for himself: that’s what writers do. Who are these fanatics, these fundamentalists, the Taliban and the like? And what do they want? In this program, Carrier narrates his trip to Afghanistan. With his young guide and translator, Najibulla, they tour the horrors of war. Years later Naji tells Scott he must leave his homeland — the dangers for a translator have become extreme. Scott gets Najibulla accepted at Utah Valley University. Naji, it turns out, handles the Mormons quite well, while Scott, teaching at the same school, has a hard time with them. At the end Naji is graduating, about to get married, and start a new job; while Scott wonders whether he can stand teaching another year — or if he’ll wind up on the street like Naji. Thanks: Big thanks to Barrett Golding, Scott Carrier, and Larry Massett for giving me permission to air this show. Thank you to Larry for sending me tracks….over and over….
Fri, July 19, 2013
Prisoners of War
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/140254783″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]This hour features four Vermont soldiers captured at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. The program weaves together their stories of capture, internment, and the challenges of returning to civilian life. Credits: This program features Vermont veterans Cliff Austin, Harrison Burney, Bill Busier, and Robert Norton. It has aired on public radio affiliates across the country and on NPR’s Hearing Voices and on SoundPrint Produced in collaboration with Greg Sharrow of the Vermont Folklife Center.
Fri, June 07, 2013
Road Scholars
This week’s episode of Rumble Strip is about the high art of Vermont road maintenance, and the diplomacy required to (almost) please everyone. It features interviews with East Montpelier road foreman Mike Garand and retired state highway dispatcher Ray Burke. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU HAVE ONE! Also, if you subscribe to the site, you’ll receive automatic announcements on upcoming shows. Thanks! My thanks to Andy Kolovos of the Vermont Folklife Center for his help with archival material for this program. Thanks also to Calais Selectboard member Scott Bassage for supplying audio from Calais Town Meeting.
Thu, May 23, 2013
Miriam Bernardo
Singer Miriam Bernardo talks about what can go right, and wrong—onstage. She talks about how she puts a life together as a musician in central Vermont, and what it feels like to sing, and live—wide open. And? We get to hear her sing. The show also features radio documentary producer Larry Massett, reading from the Barre police log. Photographs of Miriam by Josh Larkin Show music credits: Ribbon Bow: Writer unknown. Performed by Foley Artist Secret Words: Paul Bowles. Performed by Foley Artist Is Anything Wrong: Lhasa De Sela. Performed by Foley Artist They’ll Come Back: Sun Ra. Performed by Magic City/led by Michael Chorney
Thu, May 09, 2013
Colin McCaffrey Talks Shop
In the maiden voyage of Rumble Strip Vermont, musician and producer Colin McCaffrey discusses the expectation of inspiration in a cup of tea, music as a career, and mushroom foraging… Photo by Will Forest

Rumble Strip

What Now Sounds Like, the AI Isn't Smart Edition

2 Seconds of Peace

What Now Sounds Like Episode 2

What Now Sounds Like

Diffuse Despair

What Class are you Tankhun?

What Class Are You Katrin?

What Class Are You Ingrid?

What Class Are You Mark?

What Class Are You Damian Renzello?

Thanks for Sharing

Erika Bruner, Midwife for Pets at the End

Thank you For the Best Birthday Present Ever

Help Forrest Foster Get a New Old Truck

Forrest Foster is getting done...for now.

Heartbreak Hotel. End of an Era

The World Under the World

Mark Utter Revisited

Allison after the Flood

The Aphasia Choir

Tara

Will Staats, Hunting Biologist...Redux!

Sugaring with Forrest Foster

Fifty: A Phoenix Moment. REDUX!

Kasey is Figuring it Out

What Class Are You Ashley?

What Class Are You Ashton?

What Class Are You Kathleen?

Revisiting Isaac

What Class Are You Ethan?

What Class Are You Mike?

What Class Are You John?

What Class Are You? A Conversation with Garret Keizer

What Class Are You Kytreana?

What Class Are You Kate?

What Class Are You Irfan?

What Class Are You Isaac?

What Class Are You Susan?

What Class Are You? Susan.

Makeup For Special Occasion Valentines Day Redux!

A 100 Year Flood

Little League Playoffs

East Hill Tree Farm Please Buy Their Trees

Forrest and I Sit in the Truck and Talk About Pain

John Rodgers Weed Farmer

Ode to Village Life

Taylor Swift Music for the End

Susan on the Train Tracks

Forrest Foster Lays Karen to Rest

The Homesteading Game

The Civic Standard in the 100 Year Flood

The Civic Standard

Let's Talk about Guns

Nightwalking 1, from Constellation Prize

What Class are You?

What Class are You?

Mary Lake Sheep Slaughterer

Mary Lake Sheep Slaughterer

It’s Town Meeting Again.

It's Town Meeting Again

Winter's Bear

Winter’s Bear

Speaking Whale

Speaking Whale

Police Log: The Fanny Pack Edition

Police Log: The Fanny Pack Edition

Fishing with Jay

Fishing with Jay

Nature’s Top Deck, with Forrest Foster

Nature's Top Deck, with Forrest Foster

Nick Paley and a Shell with Shoes

Nick Paley and a Very Small Shell

An American Life

An American Life

Armand’s Garden

Armand's Garden

The Neighborhood

The Neighborhood

Leland is Moving On