We discuss the details of Health Connect, Vermont’s new health insurance marketplace, the state exchange that is part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, with Mark Larson, commissioner of the Dept. of Health Access, VBSR executive director Andrea Cohen and Anissa Lewis, health care exchange navigator with VBSR.
Vermont Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito discusses restorative justice, the roots of crime, the exploding prison population, and where he finds hope.
Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab, talks about how to create and protect B corporations, businesses that include a social mission. We also speak with Cheryl Dorsey, president of Echoing Green, a global social venture fund, and Sofia Appelgren, founder of the Swedish social enterprise Mitt Liv (My Life), which helps immigrants enter the workforce.
Jan Blomstrann, CEO of Renewable NRG Systems, a Vermont manufacturer of wind monitoring systems that are sold worldwide, talks about the future of wind power, the unique challenges that women in business face, and what it means to be socially responsible. Blomstrann is the recipient of VBSR’s 2013 Terry Ehrich Award for Excellence in Socially Responsible Business.
Reflections on the impact of the 9/11 terror attacks, with comments (at end) from former New York Times reporter Chris Hedges.
We discuss the national campaign for a living wage for low wage workers with Ai-Jen Poo, director the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and Olivia Roffle, a fast food worker in St. Louis who has participated in one-day strikes in support of doubling the minimum wage.
Reflections on the aftermath of a disaster from Peter Edlund, disaster reconstruction supervisor; Larry Straus, Rochester selectman; Jeremy Ayers, Waterbury resident and potter; and Rev. Peter Plagge, pastor of the Waterbury Congregational Church and administrator of the Waterbury Good Neighbor Fund.
Joyce Judy, president of Community College of Vermont, and Barbara Murphy, president of Johnson State College, discuss who attends college today, the diverse paths to a college degree, how to afford it, and whether it’s worth it.
John Kimmich, co-owner of The Alchemist Brewery, discusses staying small and local, recovering from disaster, giving back, and the secrets behind Heady Topper, rated the world’s best beer. We also talk bikes with Larry Gordon of Zoombikes and Brian Somers of Tin Pot Ice Cream, who delivers ice cream by bike.
Mark Jenkins, award winning writer for National Geographic, mountaineer and international explorer, talks about his global journeys, including his recent climb of Mt. Everest, biking the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam, searching for gorillas and getting detained in Rwanda, investigating landmines in Cambodia, as well as the meaning of life, death, and the quest for true adventure.
Vermont’s Global Vision: Dr. Geoff Tabin, co-founder of the Himalayan Cataract Project, and Job Heintz, CEO of the international NGO based in Waterbury, Vt., discuss their mission to treat and end preventable blindness throughout the world, and the new book about the work of Tabin and his Nepalese colleague Dr. Sanduk Ruit, Second Suns: Two Doctors and Their Amazing Quest to Restore Sight and Save Lives, by the late David Oliver Relin.
Judy Geer and Dick Dreissigacker, co-owners of Concept2, makers of high end oars and rowing machines in Morrisville, talk
about their partnership in business, life and in their community. They are also co-owners of the nonprofit Craftsbury Outdoor Center and Hosmer Point Camp in Craftsbury, Vermont.
Alternative marketing gurus Duane Peterson of SunCommon and Chris Miller of Ben & Jerry’s talk about the value of values in business and guerrilla marketing that works.
Dan Holtz, co-owner of Liz Lovely, Vermont-based baker of gluten-free cookies, discusses how he and his wife Liz survived Shark Tank, the ABC reality TV show on which they made a pitch to raise $200,000 for their growing business. Janice St. Onge, president of the VSJF Flexible Capital Fund explains why they chose to invest in Liz Lovely.
John Replogle, CEO of Seventh Generation, the #1 green business in the US, talks of the rewards, mistakes, roadblocks & the Next Big Thing in sustainable biz, and the unique challenges he has faced succeeding the company’s founder as CEO.
Vermont author Ben Hewitt discusses money, consumerism, and contentment — the subject of his new book, Saved: How I Quit Worrying About Money and Became the Richest Guy in the World. We also speak with Vermont farm worker Danilo Lopez and Natalia Fajardo of Vermont Migrant Justice about Danilo’s fight against deportation.
All things All Earth: Vermont renewable energy pioneer David Blittersdorf, founder of wind energy company NRG Systems and solar power company All Earth Renewables, talks about his green journey, the importance of mixing business and politics, and his advice to new graduates. Andrew Savage of All Earth discusses the company’s innovative green employee benefits.
Renowned Vermont journalist Mark Johnson talks about his life in journalism, thoughts on Vermont media and politicians in his first interview. Johnson is longtime host of the Mark Johnson Show on WDEV.
VBSR Public Policy Manager Daniel Barlow guest hosts The Vermont Conversation with a focus on the Legislative Year in Review.
Andrew Stein, a reporter for VTDigger.org joins Dan in the studio and offers his thoughts on the session highlights and memorable moments.
Sen. Tim Ashe, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee; Sen. Claire Ayer, chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee; and Rep. Margaret Cheney, the vice-chair of the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee call into the show to share their points of view.
Program Assistant Russ Elek discusses VBSR events and announcements for the upcoming months.
Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont ACLU, discusses threats to privacy and civil liberties and the ways that Vermont is becoming “a surveillance state.” And Gar Alperovitz talks about practical alternatives to capitalism in the U.S. and his new book, What Then Must We Do? Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution.
Allison Hooper, founder of Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, talks about the rewards and challenges of farming in Vermont and being a woman farmer. Pete Johnson, the farmer-owner of Pete’s Greens discusses sustainable ag, GMOs, and his vision for a state that sustains itself on local agriculture. Kathryn Blume talks in our closing minutes about Vermontivate, a community sustainability game.
Sweatshops, worker’s rights, fair trade and the Bangladesh garment factory disaster, with Barbara Briggs, assistant director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. In our second half we talk with Candace Page, recently retired after 30 years as a reporter with the Burlington Free Press, about her life in Vermont journalism.
We join the global hunt for the perfect cup of Joe and learn how coffee can be used to promote social change with Lindsey Bolger, “a celebrity superstar in the coffee world” and Senior Director of Coffee for Keurig Green Mountain, and Rick Peyser, Keurig Green Mountain’s Director of Social Advocacy and Supply Chain Community Outreach.
A May Day special live from the Vt State House on Vermont’s hidden workers: Undocumented Mexican workers Oliver Lopez and Danilo Lopez talk about their life in Vermont, their role in the economy and the importance of being able to drive a car legally. We are also joined by Brendan O’Neil of Migrant Justice and Mary Gerisch, president of the Vermont Worker’s Center. Dan Barlow of VBSR also updates us on pending legislation.
Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, discusses what makes a business socially responsible, his Stamp Stampede campaign to get money out of politics, the boycott campaign against Ben & Jerry’s over ice cream sales in Israel and the Occupied Territories, his thoughts on Occupy Wall Street, and humor in organizing. We also talk with Falko Schilling of VPIRG about the campaign to require labeling of genetically engineered food.
Judy Wicks, VBSR’s 2013 Spring Conference keynote speaker, socially responsible business pioneer and founder of the White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia, talks about her work, life, and her new memoir, Good Morning, Beautiful Business: The Unexpected Journey of an Activist Entrepreneur and Local Economy Pioneer.
Larry Plesent, founder and CEO of Vermont Soap and Anna Barrett, owner of Way Out Wax, talk about the trials, tribulations, and satisfaction of running businesses consistent with their values.
Vermont Land Trust leaders Gil Livingston and Elise Annes tell the remarkable story of how skiers and land conservationists teamed up to preserve one of Vermont’s most cherished (and endangered) skiing & hiking stashes, the $1.8 million purchase of Bolton’s backcountry. They are joined by Ann Gotham, head of Friends of Bolton Nordic and Backcountry, and 90 yr-old ski pioneer Clem Holden.
Rob Williams, talks about the new book he edited, “Most Likely to Secede.” We also speak with Lynne Goodson, from VBSR’s Local First Vermont program, about their annual Buy Local coupon book and localfirstvermont.org
Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power and one of the few female energy company executives in the country, talks about Vermont’s renewable energy initiatives, the controversies over wind and nuclear power, and women and leadership.
Vermont Secretary of Education Armando Vilaseca discusses education reform, the battle over school funding, and his background as a Cuban immigrant coming to Vermont. The last part of the show include VBSR’s Dan Barlow discussing the hot issues pending in Vermont legislature at the midterm break.
How Vermont is exporting energy innovations to the world — the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation Story: Our guests are Beth Sachs, VEIC founder; Scudder Parker, VEIC consulting director; and Jim Merriam, director of Efficiency Vermont.
Forty years after the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade that legalized abortion, we look at abortion in Vermont before and after legalization. We speak with Dr. Emma Ottolenghi, a founding physician for the Vermont Women’s Health Center, which opened in 1972 and was among the first places to offer safe and legal abortions in Vermont; Rep. Jill Krowinski, Vermont State Representative and director of public affairs for Vermont for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England; and Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women and a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, who discusses the state of abortion rights today.
Former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin is our guest for the hour. Kunin was Vermont’s first and only female governor and the first Vt. governor to serve three terms (1985-1991). She went on to become the Deputy Secretary of Education and Ambassador to Switzerland in the Clinton Administration, and is now the Marsh Professor at UVM. She reflects on what inspired her to run for governor, talks about her latest book, “The New Feminist Agenda,” and offers her insights into the challenges confronting women in work and politics, death with dignity, equal pay for women, how to break the political gridlock in Washington, and her legacy. (Kunin interview starts at 4:00 following a legislative update from VBSR policy manager Dan Barlow)
What is Victoria’s dirty secret? We discuss the global campaign to get toxins out of clothing with John Deans, director of Greenpeace Detox Fashion campaign. Greenpeace recently got Victoria‘s Secret (as well as Levi’s, Nike, Adidas, and 14 major global clothing brands) to remove toxins from their clothes. In the second half of the show I talk with Jeffrey Hollender, founder of Seventh Generation, co-chair of Greenpeace and a pioneer in sustainable business, about his second act after parting ways with the company he founded. He reveals his plans to launch a new company later this year, one that embodies the highest principles of social justice, equality, and transparency.
Casey Sheahan, CEO of Patagonia, talks about the next industrial revolution, which includes corporate transparency, human rights, stopping climate change, and fly fishing. Paul Cillo of the Public Assets Institute also joins us to talk about the state of the Vermont economy.
“School to life” programs in Vermont — innovative efforts to connect students with jobs. We speak with:
Author and activist Bill McKibben talks about climate change, the fossil fuel corporate divestment campaign, a proposed wind moratorium in Vermont, and the Boston Red Sox.
Vermont Conversation 