Vermont Edition

Vermont state employees react to Gov. Scott’s return-to-office order

Vermont has a special history with horses. The Morgan horse is our state animal and some of the most famous endurance horses come from this state. There are also therapeutic benefits to horseback riding that can help people build their confidence too. To learn about what it takes to raise healthy horses, a panel of experts with personal equine connections will share their insights. Mary Fay leads the Whispering Pines 4-H Club and helps coordinate the Vermont 4-H Program. She lives in Westford and has been a 4-H leader for 55 years. We also spoke with Ripton resident Molly Witters, an equine veterinarian with Vermont Large Animal Clinic and Hospital in Milton, and Margaret Bojanowski, farm manager and riding director at the Eddy Farm School in Middlebury.

Town by Town: Elmore

Vermont schools are required to provide comprehensive sex education. Classes cover everything from STIs to consent. Jenna Emerson, a certified sex educator and stand-up comedian, and Celia Bird, a family nurse practitioner and comprehensive sex educator, share how they create age-appropriate lesson plans, and embrace the awkward humor of the human body. At a national level, the Trump administration cut sex ed funds for California after the state refused to remove references to gender identity from its curriculum. If the same thing happens in Vermont, the state could lose more that $650,000 dollars in federal funds. We’ll learn more from Carter Sherman, reproductive health and justice reporter with the Guardian US who’s been following this story. She’s also the author of The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future.

Can you get the latest COVID vaccine? The answer might depend on how old you are, what state you live in or whether you have a prescription. Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is undergoing a period of upheaval marked by firings and resignations. Kennedy also fired the members of the CDC's immunization panel, and the new panel hasn't met in weeks. Weighing in on Vermont Edition is: Dr. Anne Schuchat, a former deputy director at the CDC; Julie Arel, the interim head of Vermont’s Department of Health; and Dr. Timothy Lahey, an infectious disease physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Plus, Vermont Public senior political reporter Bob Kinzel talks about the CDC and RFK, Jr. with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). Broadcast live on Monday, September 8, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

The Vermont alt weekly Seven Days is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Every week, they publish a print paper, and every day they share local news and stories online. We’ll hear from the paper’s co-founder and deputy publisher about their favorite memories from the past 30 years, and what it’ll take to keep the paper going for 30 more. Plus, a check-in with Vermont Public's two newest music hosts, Tad Cautious and DJ Llu. They’ll tell us stories from their radio roots, explain how they come up with playlists, and share some favorite new songs. If you’re sick of listening to the same five albums over and over, they have some great ideas for you on how to diversify your musical tastes.

Will Vermont's drought leave leaf peepers high and dry?

When we talk about schools, we usually focus on what happens inside the classroom, but what happens in the cafeteria also plays an important role in learning. In the second installment of our fall series School Stories, we’re talking school meals. Food services coordinators Susan Grabowski of the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union and Kathy Alexander of the Mount Abe and Addison Northwest school districts discuss menus, how federal funding cuts could affect school meals and the pros and cons of following the USDA’s rules. We'll also hear from a school district in southern Vermont, where a team of Afghan refugees cook up food in the cafeteria, including halal meals for Muslim and vegetarian students. Broadcast live on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Vermonters are very particular about our ice cream. It makes sense — we live in the land of milk and maple syrup. Chances are that if you stop a person in the street, they'll be able to quickly rattle off their favorite creemee spot and classic order. On Vermont Edition's annual creemee show, we talk with the purveyors of some of your favorite frozen treats in the region. This year we hear from Hannah Connor, the café and kitchen manager at Red Hen Baking Company in Middlesex, Jess Yates, owner of Yates Family Orchard in Monkton (creators the Dreamee), and Amanda Ellis Thurber of Lilac Ridge Farm in West Brattleboro. Plus: Asa Waterworth eats an eye-popping number of creemees every year — upwards of 50, she estimates. She takes photos of her cones and offers up recommendations on her instagram account, @creemeechronicles. Asa and Mikaela got a cone together and talked about what makes a perfect creemee down at Ice Cream Evan's at the Burlington Waterfront.

Varsity bass fishing hooks Vermont high school students

School Stories: Redistricting and consolidation

For four decades, a statue dedicated to an Abenaki Chief stood in Burlington's Battery Park. The wooden statue was recently removed due to decay and rot. Deciding how to honor a complex part of history is never easy. We’ll talk with a Norwich professor about Northeastern Indigenous history, the director general of Odanak First Nation in Quebec, and a state representative for Burlington. City leaders in Burlington continue to debate how to address illegal activity in public spaces like drug use and sleeping outside. Ahead of a key city council meeting tonight, Seven Days reporter Courtney Lamdin updates us on a proposal to increase police presence in Burlington’s City Hall Park.

Vermont Edition At Home: Gesine Bullock-Prado

Winooski author Maggie Hersokvits loves the hardy little plants that grow through the cracks of our cities. Her new book is an urban field guide to the plants, trees and herbs you might find in a North American city, like pokeweed, ground ivy, yellow rocket and hackberry. Plus, we'll listen back to our conversation from June with the state’s Historic Preservation Officer about the state’s newest historic markers.

Let's get physical with records, film photography, and more

In Vermont author Amy Klinger's new novel, unlikely connections abound between softball players, migrant farm workers, an experimental art sculptor--and a Scarecrow Jesus. Klinger joins guest host Mitch Wertlieb to talk about about her book Ducks on the Pond. At turns darkly comic and dramatically poignant, it's a story of people from wildly different backgrounds and circumstances trying to find a sense of community and belonging in a fictional Vermont town...one that will feel very real to folks that have been here for generations, or are just arriving now. Then: For more than a decade now, the Middlebury New Filmmakers festival has provided a haven for cinephiles in Vermont to gather together and get a first look at a wide range of new movies. Documentaries, dramas, comedies, experimental films — there’s pretty much something for everyone who loves movies to watch and talk about. But this year, the festival will also be hosting speakers who specialize in other forms in which narrative and story play an important role, such as poet Bianca stone and New York Times journalist David Sanger. They're going to apply their knowledge from their respective fields and how they relate to movie making. The Middlebury New Filmmaker’s Festival starts this Wednesday and runs through Sunday. Joining us is local filmmaker and the festival's artistic director, Jay Craven, and executive director Caitlin Boyle. Broadcast live on Monday, August 18, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

The neon street sign. The Phish memorabilia. The gravy fries. The iconic stage. For those who loved Nectar’s restaurant, bar and music venue in Burlington, these were the hallmarks of a good time for nearly 50 years. We’ll relive Nectar’s storied history with Seven Days music editor Chris Farnsworth and what the closure of one Burlington music club signals about the local music scene in our region. Lee Anderson, owner of the music venue Radio Bean, explains how important it is to have a network of venues for up-and-coming musicians.

Every summer, the Vermont Edition team heads to a local fair for a special live broadcast, and this year we chose the Vermont State Fair in Rutland. Our team set up shop right by the milking parlor at the fairgrounds as the food was getting fried, the kids were gearing up for the 4H competitions, and the rides were getting ready to provide the ambiance of summer fun. We spoke with the fair's president, Robert Congdon, Jr., who told us about the past and present of this storied Rutland tradition. We also heard from Marsha Johnson who is the superintendent of the Bucket of Junk Sculpture Contest, the writing contest, and runs the fair museum. UVM Extension 4H Coordinator for Rutland & Bennington Counties, Moonshine "Mooney" Shorey, talked to us about the 4H contests and brought along some young competitors. We got an on-air magic trick from magician Blaine Goad, a close encounter with a large snake courtesy of Alex Knapp, owner of Captain Aquatics Fins and Scales, and lastly, talked with Willie Tyler of Willie's BBQ. Broadcast live on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

The use of artificial intelligence for therapy is growing, including for minors. AI makes therapy more accessible. But clinicians want to make sure kids get medically sound advice and stay safe. We weigh the pros and cons of this mental health approach with Dr. Steven Schlozman, the chief of child psychiatry at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, as well as an associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, and Shannon Newell, who works with the Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union and is president of the Vermont Association of School Psychologists. Plus: Dartmouth researchers recently conducted the first-ever clinical trial of an AI therapy chatbot. Nicholas Jacobson is the study’s senior author. He’s an associate professor of biomedical data science, psychiatry, and computer science at Dartmouth. He also directs the AIM HIGH Lab at Dartmouth, which stands for AI and Mental Health: Innovation in Technology Guided Healthcare. Broadcast live on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Today on Vermont Edition, we'll talk with climate writer and activist Bill McKibben of Ripton. In his new book, he makes the case for solar power as the cheapest energy source on the planet. And he says it’s time to stop thinking of solar as “alternative energy” and bring it into the mainstream. Then, programs to support Vermont veterans have lost staff due to cuts in federal funding this summer. We’ll talk with the head of the Vermont National Guard’s family programs, and an organizer with a storytelling group for local vets.