Greg Jobin-Leeds is the author of When We Fight, We Win: 21st Century Social Movements and the Activists That Are Transforming Our World. The book, rich with art curated by the activist art group AgitArte, chronicles the movements for same-sex marriage, Black Lives Matter, the DREAM Act, climate justice, mass incarceration, Occupy Wall Street, and others. Jobin-Leeds is the son of Holocaust survivors. He discusses what he has learned about how to successfully make transformative change in the 21st century.
We dedicate our last show of 2015 to going beyond the headlines to talk with folks on the frontlines of working with some of the most vulnerable Vermonters. For 15 years, Rev. Peter Plagge has been pastor of the Waterbury Congregational Church and director of the Waterbury Good Neighbor Fund, an emergency financial resources for Waterbury area residents. He talks about the hidden face of poverty, how to help, and the power of listening.
ANEW Place is a homeless shelter in Burlington, Vt. that aims to create long term solutions for homeless men and women. The ANEW Place shelter used to be called the Burlington Emergency Shelter, but it rebranded last year to reflect its focus more on long-term solutions, in which shelter is just the first component. ANEW Place recently launched a video,#IAmMoreThanHomeless, to challenge stereotypes of homeless people
We often hear stories about the cutthroat competition among high school seniors applying to elite colleges. But the experiences of low-income students of color are too often reduced to grim statistics. Joshua Steckel is an inner-city high school guidance counselor and the co-author with Beth Zasloff of Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty (The New Press). His book traces the intimate narratives of ten different students in a Brooklyn public high school as they strive to get to—and through—college. He is joined by one of his former students, Maya Ennis, who talks about the challenges of leaving the inner city to attend Wheaton College and Carnegie-Mellon University.
Joshua Steckel, college counselor and co-author, Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty
Maya Ennis, graduate student, Carnegie-Mellon University
More than 2 million children are arrested each year— and predictions are that one in three American schoolchildren will be arrested before the age of 23. Award-winning journalist Nell Bernstein’s Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison (The New Press) takes a personal look at America’s hidden children.
Bernstein is a former Soros Justice Media Fellow in New York, and winner of a White House Champion of Change award. Her articles have appeared in Newsday, Salon, Mother Jones, and the Washington Post, among other publications. Bernstein has spent more than 20 years listening and bearing witness to the stories of incarcerated kids.
Nell Bernstein, author, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison
There is a revolution in spirits going on in Vermont — not (just) the new age kind, but the kind you drink. The craft beer revolution has spawned a sister act. To talk about the explosion in popularity and varieties of Vermont spirits:
Mimi Buttenheim, President, Mad River Distillers, vice president of Distilled Spirits Council of Vermont
Jitu Brown is a national leader on civil rights and defending public education. He recently undertook a 34 day hunger strike to protest the closing of Dyett High School on the South Side of Chicago, where he lives. He talks about threats to public education, the Black Lives Matter movement, and his advice to his young African American son
In June 2015, recent college graduates Morgan Curtis (Dartmouth ’14) and Garrett Blad (Notre Dame ’15) came on the Vermont Conversation to talk about the bike ride they were about to embark on: riding 10,000 km from Vermont to Paris (climatejourney.org), where would finish at COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Morgan and Garrett arrived in Paris for COP21 on November 25th, 2015 after 5 months, 3 days, 27 rainstorms, 91 homes, 18 ferries and 4979 kilometers of bicycling through New England, Atlantic Canada, Iceland, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland & the UK.They join us from Paris to talk about their journey, and the UN climate summit.
Mike Donoghue is a veteran reporter who’s covered just about every story big and small in the state of Vermont — and lots of sports games in between. He has just retired after nearly a half century of reporting for the Burlington Free Press.
Donoghue has been named to five halls of fame. They include being selected by the New England Press Association for its Community Journalism Hall of Fame in 2000. Three years later he was named one of three charter members selected nationwide by the Society of Professional Journalists and The National Freedom of Information Coalition for their National Hall of Fame for Local Heroes. Other honors include the Yankee Quill Award in 2007 for a lifetime commitment to outstanding journalism in New England and beyond; selected the New England Journalist of the Year for print or electronic media in 2013; and voted by Gannett employees nationwide to receive “Greater Good Award” from the company in 2013.
Earlier this year Donoghue received the Matthew Lyon Award from the the Vermont Press Association for his lifetime commitment to the First Amendment and the public’s right to know the truth in Vermont.
Donoghue reflects on the stories he’s done that have changed policy, the state of journalism today, and shares some of the highlights of a storied career.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 70 percent of women with children under age 18 are in the U.S. workforce, and working mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners in 40 percent of households. Is Vermont a leader or laggard when it comes to providing opportunities for women and families in the workplace? We talk with people who have taken the lead in making workplaces women and family friendly.
Bram Kleppner, CEO, Danforth Pewter
Cary Brown, Executive Director, Vermont Commission on Women
Russ Elek, Communication and Membership Manager, VBSR
Sarah Lord, Seventh Generation
Sascha Mayer, CEO and Co-founder, Mamava,
Gwen Pokalo, Director of the Women’s Small Business Program at Mercy Connections
During WWII, Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social workers, organized a rescue network to save 2,500 Jewish children from death. Sendler was unknown until three high school girls from a poor town in Kansas stumbled upon the story and wrote a historical play about her for National History Day that they called Life in Jar. Their play was performed around the world and finally in Poland, where the forgotten Irena Sendler, in her 90s, was hailed as a national hero. Dr. Jack Mayer, a Middlebury pediatrician, wrote a book about this remarkable story and met Sendler before she died. He tells the story of the Holocaust heroine. More info can be found at www.irenasendler.org
Bill McKibben, author and co-founder of 350.org, talks about his decision to get arrested in Burlington, Vt. last week to bring attention to the recent revelation that Exxon covered up what it knew about global warming from its own research. The expose was published in Inside Climate News and the LA Times. McKibben charges that Exxon should be prosecuted under organized crime statutes for lying about its climate change research. He also talks about where the climate movement goes from here, and the upcoming UN climate summit in Paris.
In 1988, the Vermont Pub & Brewery opened for business as the first brew pub in the state. Today Vermont craft beers are taking the state, and world, by storm. Out of state visitors now flock to Vermont to bring back a sample of brews, such as The Alchemist’s Heady Topper and beers from Hill Farmstead, that have become cult classics.
All this is happening against a backdrop of consolidation in the beer industry. On October 13, the world’s leading brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, announced its plan to take over its main rival, SAB Miller. If the deal happens, it will be the biggest merger in brewing history, creating a company with sales of $55 billion. It means one mega brewer could soon own nearly half the world’s top beers.
But the microbrewers are posing a challenge to the megabrewers. In 2013, sales of craft beer (by volume) exceeded the sales of Budweiser, America’s top selling brew. And 44 percent of Americans between the ages of 21 and 27 have never tried a regular old Budweiser. We talk about Vermont’s craft brew phenomenon with its pioneers.
Steve Polewazyck, owner, Vermont Pub & Brewery
John Kimmich, co-owner, The Alchemist
Dave Juenker, owner of Blackback Pub, a craft beer pub in Waterbury, Vt.
Steve Cook, deputy commissioner, Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing
Nearly five percent of the Vermont’s workforce now participates in clean energy activities, and the clean energy economy has grown nearly 10% since 2013, according to a new study from the Vt Dept. of Public Service.
The clean energy sector comprises over 2,500 businesses employing more than 16,000 workers. Businesses project roughly 1,000 more workers by March 2016, a growth rate of 6.2%.
We look at the current state of renewable energy in Vermont and the challenges ahead.
If you’ve ever purchased Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked or Chocolate Fudge Brownie, you have helped the unemployed. That’s because the brownies in the ice cream are from New York’s Greyston Bakery, which employs the most unemployable people in America. The bakery has an open hiring process, and does not do screenings or background checks. What began as a social experiment in 1982 has now helped thousands of people get back on their feet.
Greyston is located in Yonkers, New York. Its mission to hire ex-convicts, recovering addicts, the homeless, and others who have had trouble finding work. Among the benefits that its workers enjoy are childcare and subsidized housing. The bakery’s profits go to the Greyston Foundation, which supports local gardens, health clinics, and free job training programs. The bakery employs about 85 people.
During Vermont’s LGBTQ Pride Week in September, Dave Hallquist, CEO of Vermont Electric Co-op, the state’s second largest electric utility, came out as Christine, a transgender woman. Christine Hallquist is the first CEO in America to transition while in her job. In coming out, Christine has opened a window on a transgender journey shared by an estimated 1,400 Vermonters, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. She is using her public position to talk about the challenges faced by transgender people and encourage others to express their true self. She talks about her lifelong struggle keep her secret, her decision to come out, the reaction from her family and colleagues, and the future.
Social entrepreneur Duane Peterson is on his 7th career with stints as a medic, LA cop, political campaigner, justice department official, legislative director and values-led business practitioner. The common thread throughout all of these roles has been organizing people to take meaningful action towards positive change. Duane moved to Vermont in 1996 to help Ben use Ben & Jerry’s as a force for social change. After 12 years there as Ben’s Chief of Stuff, Duane left to launch his latest venture — SunCommon — to make it easy and affordable for homeowners to help repower Vermont with clean, safe, in-state energy. A Benefit Corporation and a Certified BCorp, SunCommon is Vermont’s largest solar business with almost 100 workers. In September 2015, Duane received VBSR’s Terry Ehrich Award for his commitment to the environment, workplace, progressive public policy, and community.
On December 19, 2008 University of Utah student Tim DeChristopher disrupted an oil and gas lease auction, effectively saving thousands of acres of pristine Utah land slated for oil and gas drilling. Rather than protest outside, DeChristopher entered the auction hall and registered as bidder #70. He outbid oil industry representatives on land parcels (some of which, starting at $2 an acre, were adjacent to Canyonlands National Park), winning 22,000 acres of land worth $1.7 million before the auction was halted. DeChristopher was removed from the auction by federal agents and taken into custody, Prior to his 2011 trial, DeChristopher toured the country, speaking to crowds of thousands. He co-founded the environmental group Peaceful Uprising. He eventually served 21 months in prison, including time in solitary confinement. He is the subject of the award winning documentary film Bidder 70. He is now a nationally known climate activist and frequent speaker.
Vermont has the highest rate of homelessness in New England; at least two thirds of Vermont households do not earn enough to afford the average fair market rent — which is $1,015 for a 2 BR apartment in Chittenden County, 44% higher than the national average. The wages required to afford that rent are $19.48 an hour or $40,518 a year. That may help explain why Vermont’s homeless population rose by 9% in 2014. To talk about the drivers of homelessness and what works to prevent it:
Janet Green, assistant director of rental assistance for the Burlington Housing Authority, where she has worked since 2011. Part of Green’s job is to manage the Authority’s housing for homeless people.
Melissa, a 28-year old mother who has been homeless and now lives in subsidized housing
Vermont resident Max Barrows was recently at the White House to receive a “Champions for Change” award for his work to “uphold and expand the spirit of the Americans With Disabilities.” Barrows, 29, has autism and works for Green Mountain Self-Advocates (GMSA) as the Outreach Director. GMSA is a statewide self-advocacy organization in Vermont that is run and operated by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. GMSA has more than 600 members involved in 21 local self-advocacy groups. We talk with Barrows and two other GMSA members with developmental disabilities about their work, challenges and hopes.
Max Barrows, Outreach Director, Green Mountain Self-Advocates (GMSA). Barrows, a person with autism, received a Champions of Change award from the White House.
Nicole LeBlanc Advocacy Director, Green Mountain Self-Advocates. LeBlanc, a person with autism, completed a 10-week internship at the Washington Center in Washington, D.C., and earned a certificate of professional studies from the University of Vermont.
StirlingPeebles, Advocacy Educator, Green Mountain Self-Advocates. Peebles, a person with Down syndrome, has produced videos about the life histories of several leaders of the self-advocacy movement in Vermont. She has attended the “Think College” program at UVM and done internships at WCAX-Channel 3 News and ORCA Media.
Vermont marriage equality trail blazers Rep. Bill Lippert & former Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy, outside WDEV after The Vermont Conversation, July 8, 2015.
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that same-sex couples could wed throughout the country. The avalanche that swept America actually began as a snowball high up in the Green Mountains in the late 1990s. In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled in Baker v Vermont that the Vermont state legislature must craft a law granting all of the rights and privileges of marriage to same-sex couples. In 2000, Vermont legalized civil unions, the most sweeping grant of rights to same-sex couples up to that time. In 2009, the Vermont state legislature legalized same-sex marriage, making it the first legislature to do so. We talk about Vermont’s role in the marriage equality revolution with some of the pioneers of that effort:
Former Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy, author of the groundbreaking Baker v Vermont ruling.
State Representative Bill Lippert, who led the fight for passage of civil unions in 2000, and same sex marriage in 2009.
Susan Murray, attorney with Langrock Sperry & Wool, who represented the plaintiffs in Baker v Vermont, along with attorney Beth Robinson (now a Vermont Supreme Court judge).
Stacey Jolles & Nina Beck, a lesbian couple who were one of three same-sex couples who sued the State of Vermont in the late 1990s in Baker v Vermont, catalyzing the fight for marriage equality in Vermont, and in the U.S.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. From early efforts by business people who dubbed themselves “socialists for capitalism,” Vermont has been at the forefront of the socially responsible business movement. VBSR is now the largest statewide socially business association in the country. As home to iconic socially responsible brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Gardener’s Supply and Seventh Generation, Vermont businesses have pioneered the idea of businesses with a “triple bottom line:” measuring success in terms of people, profits and the environment. We speak with Vermont business leaders who have nurtured this movement since its inception:
Dave Barash, co-founder of VBSR, longtime social entrepreneur who worked for Ben & Jerry’s, currently Director of New Ventures for Vermont Energy Investment Corp.
Allison Hooper, co-founder of Vermont Creamery, early VBSR board member and on the original board of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
Bruce Seifer, VBSR founding member, appointed by Burlington Mayor Bernie Sanders to lead the City of Burlington’s economic development efforts, which he did for three decades
Julie Lineberger, former VBSR board chair, co-owner with her husband of LineSync, an architectural firm
Will Patten, former VBSR executive director, co-owner of Hinesburgh Public House, a socially responsible restaurant
Jesselyn Radack is an attorney who was a rising star in the U.S. Justice Dept. In 2002, she revealed ethics violations by the FBI in the case of John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban.” As a result of her revelations, she was forced out of the department, investigated and smeared. Today she is the director of National Security & Human Rights at the Government Accountability Project, where she is an attorney for Edward Snowden and other leading whistleblowers including Thomas Drake of the NSA and John Kiriakou of the CIA. Radack talks about her own experience resisting the “full weight of the government” when she became a whistleblower, why Edward Snowden can’t return to the U.S., and says there is an unprecedented “war on whistleblowers and journalists.”
Recent college graduates Morgan Curtis (Dartmouth ’14) and Garrett Blad (Notre Dame ’15) are riding their bikes 10,000 km from Vermont to Paris (climatejourney.org), where they will finish at COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in December 2015. As they bike across New England, eastern Canada, Iceland, Scandinavia, and the UK, they “are writing, photographing, filming, collaging and painting, telling stories of individuals and communities mobilizing for a just transition to a climate-stable future.” They talk about what motivates them to ride, how they will deal with fatigue and saddle soar, and what they hope will come of their climate journey.
Mark Bittman writes (mostly) about food for the NY Times Opinion pages, and is The NYT Magazine’s lead food columnist. He is the author of the bestselling cookbooks, VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 and How To Cook Everything, has published over 15,000 recipes. But Bittman also writes about a variety of social justice issues, from police brutality, inequality, the fight for a living wage, to climate change. Bittman talks about his background as a community organizer, his love for food and his insistence that “fast food is poison,” and how food is a social justice issue. He also discusses his articles about Vermont’s innovative eateries and the local food movement.
This spring marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Daniel Ellsberg was a key figure whose revelations contributed to the war’s end. Ellsberg is a former Marine and adviser on the Vietnam War to President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He is best known for provoking a national political crisis in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times, and other newspapers. The Pentagon Papers revealed that top US government officials had been lying about the Vietnam War to the American people.
For leaking the Pentagon Papers, Ellsberg was charged with theft, conspiracy and violations of the Espionage Act, but his case was dismissed as a mistrial when evidence surfaced about the government-ordered wiretappings of his phone and break-ins of his psychiatrist’s office.
Henry Kissinger referred to Ellsberg as “the most dangerous man in America,” but many view Daniel Ellsberg as hero who risked his career and even his personal freedom to help expose the deception of his own government in carrying out the Vietnam War.
Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power since 2008, has transformed the company from traditional utility to clean energy pioneer. One of the nation’s few women to lead an electric utility, she was recently named Woman of the Year by an industry trade group. Powell recently confronted a new challenge: cancer. She discusses how undergoing genetic testing and having a double mastectomy earlier this year has changed her outlook on life and work. She also describes Vermont’s energy future beyond “twigs and twine” (electric poles and wires) toward communities powered by small micro-grids, how GMP will be the first utility to offer home batteries made by Tesla Motors, as well as her views on nuclear power, resistance to renewable energy, and her advice to young women entering the work world.
Traditional economic development has ripped off communities, losing both jobs and money. Economist and author Michael Shuman argues that investing locally can reverse the damage. He proposes how local reinvestment could be a solution in riot-torn Baltimore, which has suffered from massive disinvestment from the inner city.
Did the election of President Obama undermine the antiwar movement and other progressive causes? What can we learn from the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street? The new book Party in the Street tackles these questions.
Michael T. Heaney, co-author, Party in the Street: The Antiwar Movement and the Democratic Party after 9/11, assistant professor of organizational studies and political science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Tom Hayden was a leader of the student, civil rights, peace and environmental movements of the 1960s. He went on to serve 18 years in the California legislature. He was a founder of Students for a Democratic Society and was described by the NY Times as “the single greatest figure of the 1960s student movement.”
During the Vietnam War, he made controversial trips to Hanoi with his former wife, actress Jane Fonda, to promote peace talks and facilitate the release of American POWs. He helped lead street demonstrations against the war at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, where he was beaten, gassed and arrested twice. Hayden was indicted in 1969 with seven others on conspiracy and incitement charges in what became the Chicago Eight trial, considered one of the leding political trials of the last century.
Hayden is Director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center in Culver City, California, he organizes, travels and speaks on a variety of issues. He helps advise Gov Jerry Brown on renewable energy, and He is the author and editor of 20 books, his current one is Why Cuba Matters.
Tom Hayden is now 75 years old. I caught up with him last week at the U of Michigan Ann Arbor, where Hayden was speaking at the 50th anniversary of the first Vietnam War teach in held on a US college campus.
Declan Coyle has gone from being a priest in the poorest communities of the developing world to preaching about the power of positive thinking to global business leaders and the top-ranked University of Kentucky men’s basketball team. How does positive thinking help businesses succeed and teams win?
Declan Coyle, management consultant and motivational coach, author, The Green Platform
More than three people per day were killed by police in America in the last month. The majority of the victims were men of color. What hope is there for progress on racial justice in this deadly environment? How can we shut off the school-to-prison pipeline, where school students are being sent to jail instead of the principal’s office? What are the lessons of Selma, Alabama, for the post-Ferguson America?
Does Vermont have a racial profiling problem? Is your privacy at risk? Are your civil liberties being violated by drones, license plate readers, and other new electronic surveillance?
Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont chapter of the ACLU, talks about the state of civil liberties in the Green Mountain State
Today, 47 million Americans live in poverty, while middle class incomes are in decline. The top 20 percent now controls 89 percent of all wealth. Can poverty be ended?
Scott Myers-Lipton, author of Ending Extreme Inequality: An Economic Bill of Rights to Eliminate Poverty and professor of sociology at San Jose State University
Christopher Phillips believes that dialogue is good for people and essential for a democratic society. He travels the world and leads what he calls a Socrates Cafe and Democracy Cafe to encourage people to engage in Socratic dialogues to tackle difficult issues in more productive ways.
Is primary care endangered? That’s the contention of some who are concerned about the Medicaid cost shift, in which providers make so little money on Medicaid that some health care providers are refusing to treat Medicaid patients altogether. Discussing this and possible solutions:
Dr. Joseph Haddock, family practitioner in Williston, Vt.
Leslie Nulty, owner of Focal Point Advisory Services in Burlington, Vt.
Russ Bennett, owner of Northland Design & Construction, Waitsfield, Vt
Christo, the world renowned artist, has created massive and controversial public art works, including wrapping the German parliament in fabric, the 24-mile-long artwork called Running Fence in California, and The Gates in Central Park. He talks about his newest projects: Over the River, in which he plans to cover nearly 7 miles of the Arkansas River in Colorado, which has sparked lawsuits by local groups, and Mastaba, a pyramid-like structure built from oil barrels that will stand in Abu Dhabi, his first permanent structure. He talks about the meaning of his art and his lifelong partnership in art and life with his late wife Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009.
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra–the oldest state-supported orchestra in the country–celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, and leading it will be a familiar figure: the world renowned violinist and conductor Jaime Laredo. Laredo has been conductor of the VSO since 2000. He has had a storied career, recording close to 100 discs and been awarded seven Grammy nominations. He taught for 35 years at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and was a principal figure in Vt’s Marlboro Music Festival, and he is now on the faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He divides his time between his homes in Cleveland and Guilford, Vt.
Laredo talks about his life in music, reflects on the state of classical music, its meaning and its value.
Education funding:Does Vermont have an education funding crisis? We discuss this issue, school consolidation, and the effectiveness of the Act 60 education funding reform law with:
William J. Mathis,managing director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder and the former superintendent of schools for the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union in Brandon, Vermont. He was a National Superintendent of the Year finalist and a Vermont Superintendent of the Year. He currently serves on the Vermont State Board of Education and chairs the legislative committee.
Suicide: Why does Vermont have a higher suicide rate than the national average? What are the warning signs, and what prevention resources exist?
We spend the hour talking with the award winning journalist and author Adam Hochschild about his writings on the soldiers and deserters from WWI, his writings about the past and present of Congo and South Africa, his recent op-ed on “why no one remembers the peacemakers,” his thoughts on despots, justice and CIA torture, and the future of journalism.
Rory Fanning was an Army Ranger who fought alongside Pat Tillman in Afghanistan before leaving the military as a conscientious objector. In 2008-2009, he walked across America partly to heal, and partly as a protest against the Army’s coverup of Tillman’s death. He wrote about his experiences in Worth Fighting For: An Army Ranger’s Journey Out of the Military and Across America.
Sam Hemingway recently retired after 37 years as a reporter at the Burlington Free Press. He talks about the stories he’s covered that have made a difference: Gov. Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, heroin in Vermont, the case of an apartheid-era sanctions buster. He also reflects on the changes in media and recent upheaval at the Burlington Free Press.
We talk with two Vermont women who are leaders in sustainable businesses about the challenges faced by women in business and the unique voice that they bring: They join us from the VBSR Fall Conference at Mt. Snow:
1 in every 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Vermont’s domestic violence agencies served nearly 9,000 victims of abuse in 2012 and fielded over 12,000 hotline calls. Janice Santiago talks about her work with Women Helping Battered Women, which assists domestic abuse victims in Chittenden County. She speaks about her own experience with domestic abuse and the face of domestic violence in Vermont today.
“His True Self”: A transgender Vermonter’s story
Jesse Ray Thomas is a 20-year old transgender person in St. Albans who was recently profiled in a moving story by Natalie Handy in the St. Albans Messenger, “His True Self.” Jesse speaks about his challenge growing up transgender in Vermont, the emotional struggles and suicidal thoughts that he and other trans youth often have, and his joy at embracing his true identity.
Can capitalism solve the problems of capitalism? Can business be a force for good? Two pioneers of socially responsible business hold a public conversation and offer their experiences and views on these and other topics with The Vermont Conversation host David Goodman.This is an edited version of a Vermont Town Hall public conversation held on Sept. 26, 2014, at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe, Vt.
On September 21, 2014, some 400,000 people rallied at the People’s Climate March in New York City in an historic protest to demand that global leaders take action to slow climate change. Vermont sent 22 buses with over 1,000 people, and many more Vermonters traveled to the march on their own. Six alumni of the Narrative Journalism Fellowship at Middlebury College — Bianca Giaever, Ian Stewart, Kiya Vega-Hutchens, Luke Whalen, Veronica Rodriguez, and David Fuchs, along with teacher Sue Halpern — created an audio postcard featuring the voices of Vermonters at the march.
Woody Tasch, founder of the national Slow Money movement, talks about his evolution from being a venture capitalist to investing in sustainable food and agriculture and supporting a nonviolent economy. Eric Becker, co-founder of Slow Money Vermont, talks about how even small investors can help support sustainable food ventures in Vermont.
About half of Vermont’s children arrive at kindergarten unprepared. Children who are not prepared for school are less likely to graduate from college and more likely to need special education, depend on social services, have health concerns, and commit crimes. Let’s Grow Kids is a campaign to educate Vermonters about giving children the support and preparation for success in life. Discussing early childhood initiatives:
Julie Coffey, Building Bright Futures Early Childhood Advisory Council
Gov. Phil Hoff, the first Democrat elected governor in Vermont in over a century, permanently changed the politics of the Green Mountain state during his tenure, 1963-1969. Hoff — who pursued sweeping initiatives in civil rights, education, and was the first Democratic governor to break with LBJ and oppose the Vietnam War — is widely recognized as the founder of progressive politics in Vermont. Hoff celebrated his 90th birthday in June 2014. He talks about his victories and defeats, his relationship with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, his struggle with alcoholism, his views on universal health care and education, his legacy, and he offers advice to today’s leaders.
Greg Jobin-Leeds is the author of When We Fight, We Win: 21st Century Social Movements and the Activists That Are Transforming Our World. The book, rich with art curated by the activist art group AgitArte, chronicles the movements for same-sex marriage, Black Lives Matter, the DREAM Act, climate justice, mass incarceration, Occupy Wall Street, and others. Jobin-Leeds is the son of Holocaust survivors. He discusses what he has learned about how to successfully make transformative change in the 21st century.
Vermont Conversation 