Chuck Collins: How the Oscar Mayer heir gave away his fortune to fight for economic justice

Posted on November 15, 2016 by David

Chuck Collins is the great grandson of meatpacker Oscar Mayer. At age 26, He gave away his inheritance and has spent the last three decades mobilizing against inequality.

Collins is now a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org. His newest book is Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good (Chelsea Green, 2016). He is also cofounder of Wealth for the Common Good which has merged with the Patriotic Millionaires, two efforts to organize members of the 1 percent to advocate for fair tax policy, higher wages, and campaign finance reform. (November 2, 2016 broadcast)

Chuck Collins, author, Born on Third Base

Harwood Strong: Trauma, grief & recovery

Posted on October 27, 2016 by David

On October 8, 2016, a wrong-way driver on I-89 killed five teenagers, four of whom were juniors at Harwood Union High School in Moretown, Vermont, and the fifth was a Waitsfield teenager who had been a student at Harwood through 8^th grade. Several of the teenagers who were killed were close friends of my family; my son was their friend and classmate. I reflected on this tragedy in a recent op-ed.

How do you deal with a tragedy of this magnitude? How does trauma affect people? What is the new normal? That is the topic of our Vermont Conversation. My guest in the first half hour is Margaret Joyal, and Brigid Nease is the guest in the second half hour. (October 26, 2016 broadcast),

Margaret Joyal, Director, Counseling and Psychological Services, Washington County Mental Health; on temporary assignment to coordinate recovery process at Harwood Union High School

Brigid Nease, Superintendent of Schools, Washington West Supervisory Union

Peace Has No Borders: American War Resisters in Canada

Posted on October 27, 2016 by David

During the Iraq and Afghan Wars, veterans from the United States crossed the border to Canada seeking relief and refuge from serving in what they viewed as an unjust and immoral war. Peace Has No Borders is a new documentary by Vermont filmmakers Deb Ellis and Dennis Mueller. The film follows a group of these war resisters caught between two countries as they struggle to remain in Canada. Today, little is heard from the veterans who made a stand when the wars were raging. Peace Has No Borders is the story of their efforts to seek refuge and of the people who supported them when they arrived in Canada. (October 19, 2016 broadcast)

Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller, directors, Peace Has No Borders

How the Scandinavians got it right

Posted on October 7, 2016 by David

George Lakey is a long time activist, strategist and trainer for nonviolent movements. He is a co-founder of Movement for New Society, Training for Change, and Earth Quaker Action Team, and the author of nine books. His newest book, Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got it Right, and How We Can Too, explores how the Nordic nations have instituted innovative policies and social movements to gain long-lasting economic justice. (October 5, 2016 broadcast)

George Lakey, author, Viking Economics

Capstone Community Action: A half-century fighting poverty and giving hope

Posted on September 21, 2016 by David

For more than a half-century, Capstone Community Action (formerly Central Vermont Community Action Council) has been helping Vermonters in need. Today, they serve thousands of people with services including emergency food and fuel, weatherization, business advice, family support and child care. We take a virtual tour of the work of Capstone with their program leaders and several program participants. (Sept. 14, 2016 broadcast)

Dan Hoxworth, executive direct, Capstone Community Action

Eileen Nooney, director, Family & Community Support

Maryanne Miller, director, Head Start & Early Head Start

Michael Deering, Head Start Parent & VP of policy council of

Paul Zabriskie, director, Weatherization program

Kelly Richardson, owner, Sunflower Salon, Waterbury

Arlie Hochschild on rage and mourning in Tea Party country

Posted on September 18, 2016 by David

Arlie Russell Hochschild is professor emerita of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of nine books, including The Managed Heart: the Commercialization of Human Feeling, and The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home. In all her work, she focuses on the impact of large social trends on the individual’s emotional experience.

Her latest book, Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (The New Press, 2016), is based on intensive interviews of Tea Party supporters in Louisiana, conducted over the last five years in the author’s effort to learn why they see, think and feel as they do. The book also delves into the politics of Donald Trump’s supporters. She discusses her most recent book, and also her lifetime body of work. (September 7, 2016 broadcast)

Filmmaker Bess O’Brien shines spotlight on eating disorders

Posted on August 26, 2016 by David

Award-winning filmmaker Bess O’Brien is the director All of Me, a new feature length documentary film focused on the lives of women, girls and some boys who struggle with eating disorders. Bulimia, anorexia, binge eating and other eating disorders are among the most difficult addictions to treat and to cure. The percentage of young girls who start dieting as young as 10-12 years of age has risen dramatically over the last fifteen years. The film will premier in September and tour throughout Vermont this fall (tour dates here).

Bess O’Brien is also the director/producer of the documentary film The Hungry Heart, about prescription drug crisis in Vermont and the compassionate work of Dr. Fred Holmes. The film became as a catalyst for opiate addiction awareness in the state of Vermont. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said, “Every state in the Union should be so lucky to have Bess O’Brien working for them in support of children and families!” (August 24, 2016 broadcast)

Bess O’Brien, filmmaker

From Disabled to Enabled: Wheel Pad accessible homes

Posted on August 26, 2016 by David

Wheel Pad, a new Vermont-based company, is creating eco-friendly temporary accessible housing for people newly using a wheelchair, allowing friends and/or family to provide support until permanent accessible housing can be arranged. Utilizing technology from the design of RV, Wheel Pad is a 200 square foot accessible bedroom and bathroom module
that can be temporarily attached to an existing home. The units can be leased or purchased. Wheel Pad president Julie Lineberger discusses the living challenges confronting people who have just begun using a wheelchair, and this innovative solution that she is taking from Vermont to the rest of the country. (August 24, 2016 broadcast)

Julie Lineberger, president, Wheel Pad

The inside story of a nuclear power whistleblower

Posted on August 17, 2016 by David

Arnie Gundersen is a nuclear engineer who defended the nuclear industry for 20 years, managing and coordinating projects at 70 nuclear power plants in the US. In 1991, after complaining about lax nuclear safety to his superiors, he was fired, and the industry turned on him. That’s when he and his wife Maggie Gundersen, who worked as a sponsesperson for the nuclear industry, became leading critics of nuclear power, forming FaireWinds Energy Education. Arnie Gundersen now consults on nuclear power issues for the Sierra Club, the State of Vermont, the New England Coalition. This spring Arnie visited Fukushima, Japan, the site of a 2011 nuclear meltdorn. The Gundersens discuss their lives in the nuclear industry, the high personal cost of whistleblowing, the future of nuclear power, and their advice to young people interested in working on energy issues. (August 17, 2016 broadcast)

Arnie Gundersen, nuclear engineer and nuclear industry whistleblower

Maggie Gundersen, former nuclear industry spokesperson, founder, FaireWinds Energy Education

Paul Millman: From bartender to socially responsible businessperson of the year

Posted on August 16, 2016 by David

Paul Millman is CEO and president of Chroma Technology Corp. an employee-owned manufacturing company in Bellows Falls, Vermont. He is the recipient of the 2016 Terry Ehrich Award for Excellence in Socially Responsible Business, given annually by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility to a person exemplifying a commitment to the environment, workplace, progressive public policy, and community.

Millman attended Antioch College and is a graduate of the New School and the Antioch New England Graduate School. He is a director of the Vermont Business Roundtable and Valley Net. He is a member of the Steering Committee of ReThink Health in the Upper Valley and president of the Westminster Fire and Rescue Association. He is a former director of VBSR and former chair of the Vermont Employee-Ownership Center. Prior to moving to Vermont he worked as a bartender in New York City. He hopes to return to that profession when his days as a business big shot are over. He talks about his journey from being a bartender to business owner in Vermont and the progressive social issues he is passionate about. (August 10, 2016 broadcast)

Paul Millman, CEO Chroma Technology, recipient of 2016 Terry Ehrich Award for Excellence in Socially Responsible Business from VBSR

Vermont’s Senior Olympians Shatter Records and Stereotypes

Posted on August 16, 2016 by David

Vermont has produced many Olympians, including some of the world’s top senior athletes. We talk with two of the world’s top senior athletes about the joys and challenges of competing into their ninth decade, and how it has prepared one of them to confront a life threatening cancer. These athletes compete in the Vermont Senior Games and the National Senior Games and encourage others to join them. (August 3, 2016 broadcast)

Flo Meiler, 82, Shelburne, Vt., participated in 13 National Senior Games (formerly the Senior Olympics), winner of over 702 medals, holds 26 world records in track & field

Barbara Jordan, 80, So. Burlington, Vt., holds several world records in track & field

Elliot Burg, photographer who documented senior athletes, gallery here

Race, policing, Black Lives Matter and reform: Mark Hughes, Justice for All

Posted on July 28, 2016 by David

The last few weeks have seen police killings of African American men in Baton Rouge and Minnesota, and the killings of police in Dallas and Baton Rouge. These incidents have shined a harsh new spotlight on the issue of race, policing and reform. Mark Hughes, founder of Justice for All, discusses race and racism in Vermont, and how “to ensure justice for ALL through community organizing, research, education, community policing, legislative reform, and judicial monitoring.” (July 20, 2016 broadcast)

Mark Hughes, founder and director, Justice for All

Vermont’s mountain bike revolution

Posted on July 28, 2016 by David

Mountain biking has taken off in Vermont, with estimates that there are as many as 50,000 riders in the state. We discuss the explosion in popularity in mountain biking, its implications for recreation and the economy, and what the future holds for riders with two leaders of the sport in Vermont. (July 20, 2016 broadcast)

Tom Stuessy, executive director, Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA)

Sabra Davison, founder and director, Little Bellas, a mentoring and mountain bike group for girls

Have Justice-Will Travel: Wynona Ward, domestic violence crusader

Posted on July 28, 2016 by David

Wynona Ward grew up in poverty on a rural back road in Vermont where family violence was common. She and her husband drove long-haul trucks. She began to realize she could combine her vocation as a trucker with the desperate need for victims of domestic violence in rural communities to have access to legal and other services. In 1998, Ward founded Have Justice-Will Travel (HJWT) with a grant from the Vermont Women’s Fund and a fellowship from Equal Justice Works. The idea was simple: HJWT would provide free legal services, with Ward traveling rural backroads in her 15 year old Dodge pickup truck. HJWT is now an innovative, mobile, multi-service program that assists victims of domestic abuse through the legal process, from the initial interview and relief from abuse order through self-sufficiency and independence. Ward speaks about her personal journey growing up with domestic violence and the work that does today throughout Vermont to end generational cycles of abuse. (July 13, 2016 broadcast)

Wynona I. Ward, founder & director, Have Justice-Will Travel

Steps Against Domestic Violence: Kelly Dougherty

Posted on July 28, 2016 by David

Between 1994 – 2014, half of all Vermont homicides were a result of domestic violence. Steps Against Domestic Violence — formerly known as Women Helping Battered Women — provides services to those affected by domestic violence in Burlington and Chittenden County, Vermont. Established in 1974 as Women’s House of Refuge, StepsVT fielded 4,800 hotline calls in 2015 and provided services including housing, counseling, and education to many more. StepsVT executive director Kelly Dougherty discusses the warning signs of an abuse relationship, the changing face of domestic violence in Vermont, and the four decades of work of her organization. (July 13, 2016 broadcast)

Kelly Dougherty, executive director, Steps Against Domestic Violence

Jay Karpin: Airman in WWII D-Day on liberating Europe, reality of war, and PTSD

Posted on July 7, 2016 by David

Jay Karpin, 92, was a bombardier in the first wave of bombers that attacked Normandy in the famous D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. The invasion marked the beginning of the liberation of Europe, but came at a staggering price: over 200,000 Allied troops were killed, and an equal number of Germans died. Karpin, who has lived in Grafton, Vermont since 1959, is among the most decorated living veterans. He flew 39 combat missions over Europe and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. This year, he was named a Chevalier, or knight, of the French Legion of Honor, the highest award given to a non-citizen. Karpin did not speak about his WWII experiences for 50 years, until his wife and daughter pressed him for stories. He said that he now realizes he has suffered from PTSD. Karpin went on to work as an engineer and safety consultant for many Vermont companies, served on the Grafton selectboard for decades, and continues to work several days per week.

Karpin talks movingly about his experience during D-Day, the realities of war, his own PTSD, and why he thinks that if today’s politicians want to go to war, “they should carry a rifle.” (July 6, 2016 broadcast)

Jay Karpin, WWII veteran, recipient of Distinguished Flying Cross, Chevalier in French Legion of Honor

Capt. Ingrid Jonas: Vt’s Top Woman Cop on racial profiling, bias-free policing & diversity

Posted on July 7, 2016 by David

captain_ingrid_jonas_vermont_state_police_sc On July 1, 2016, new bias-free policing policies were enacted for all police in Vermont. This followed charges of racial profiling leveled against multiple Vermont police agencies. Capt. Ingrid Jonas of the Vermont State Police is the highest ranking female police officer in the state. She is the Director of Fair and Impartial Policing and Community Affairs at the VSP, a new position. Jonas is blazing a new path in state’s largest police agency. Until 1977, VSP was an all-male institution, and early efforts at integrating the ranks with women and minorities went badly. Jonas speaks about her own journey from domestic violence activist to police officer, the challenge of diversifying the police and confronting bias, her desire to see more LGBT officers, and how to change the traditionally macho culture of the police. (June 22, 2016 broadcast)

Capt. Ingrid Jonas, Director of Fair and Impartial Policing and Community Affairs, Vermont State Police

Kim Fountain: The LGBTQ Struggle Continues

Posted on June 17, 2016 by David

In the wake of the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, 1,000 people marched in Burlington, Vermont — and in numerous other cities — in solidarity with LGBTQ people. Achieving marriage equality was a milestone, but the struggle for LGBTQ rights continues. As the New York Times reports, “Since the marriage ruling, several Republican-led state legislatures and Republican governors and federal lawmakers have redoubled their fight against legal protections for people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. So far this year, more than 200 anti-L.G.B.T. bills have been introduced in 34 states.” Kim Fountain, executive director of the Pride Center of Vermont, a “comprehensive community center dedicated to advancing community and the health and safety of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Vermonters,” speaks about larger effort to achieve safety, dignity and acceptance of LGBTQ people. (June 15, 2016 broadcast)

Kim Fountain, executive director, Pride Center of Vermont

Migrant Justice: Human Rights & Food Justice

Posted on June 16, 2016 by David

There are approximately 1,500 migrant workers on Vermont’s farms, especially in the dairy industry. Often working up to 80 hours per week, many migrant workers live in isolation on rural farms and earn less than minimum wage. Migrant Justice is an advocacy organization with a mission “to build the voice, capacity, and power of the farmworker community and engage community partners to organize for economic justice and human rights.” On June 13, 2016, Migrant Justice scored a major victory when the Grand Isle Sheriff’s Department agreed to pay nearly $30,000 to settle a case regarding discriminatory treatment against an immigrant dairy worker, Lorenzo Alcudia, who was turned over to Border Patrol after a traffic stop in which he was a passenger. We talk with farmworkers and activists from Migrant Justice. We also speak with a representative from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a nationally known farmworker’s organization that has won landmark agreements with Taco Bell and other major restaurants. (June 15, 2016 broadcast)

Will Lambek, Enrique Balcazar, Gilberto Lopez Morales, Migrant Justice

Gerardo Reyes, Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Twincraft: New Americans build a business & lives

Posted on June 8, 2016 by David

There is a Vermont connection behind national brands of skin care products such as Estee Lauder, Burt’s Bees, Neutrogena, and Whole Foods. Twincraft Skincare makes soaps. lotions, sunscreen and other products from its manufacturing facilities in Essex and Winooski, Vermont. Twincraft has become a booming business with a special story: the numerous New Americans, many of them refugees who have been relocated to Vermont, who are part of the 200-person workforce. We go on location to company headquarters in Winooski to learn how Twincraft’s commitment to employ a diverse workforce — including senior citizens, non-English speakers, ex-convicts, and others — has translated into success in business, and changed lives.(June 7, 2016 broadcast)

Pete Asch, CEO and owner, Twincraft Skincare

Joel Marquardt, VP Operations

Angela Ibragamova, employee from Azerbaijan

Kaji Rai, employee, refugee from Bhutan

[Part 1 features Asch & Marquardt; Part 2 includes all 4 interviewees]

Paul Bruhn: Preserving Vermont and Fighting Sprawl

Posted on June 6, 2016 by David

Paul Bruhn went from becoming a UVM dropout, to managing Sen. Patrick Leahy’s first campaign, to the job he holds now as the executive director of Preservation Trust of Vermont, an organization known nationwide. He has served as director since the nonprofit’s inception in 1980. Under his leadership the Preservation Trust has worked with Vermont communities to preserve nearly 2,000 structures and properties, from churches, barns, and general stores to hotels, town theaters and county courthouses. These formidable efforts have saved and solidified the essential character of Vermont and are revitalizing Vermont villages and downtowns, a critical aspect of the smart-growth framework for the state’s future.

This year Bruhn finally received his degree from UVM — an honorary degree, which notes: “Bruhn has used his talents as an advocate and adviser to preserve the most unique and defining aspects of Vermont and to advocate for a future based on smart land-use development and vibrant community centers. It would be difficult to find a nook or cranny, village or gore in Vermont that has not felt the influence of Bruhn’s vision.”

Bruhn discusses how he engineered Sen. Leahy’s victorious first statewide campaign, to preservation, sprawl, and what he is proudest of. (June 1, 2016 broadcast)

Paul Bruhn, executive director, Preservation Trust of Vermont

Working more, getting less: Vermont’s working women struggle to get ahead

Posted on May 5, 2016 by David

A new report, “Where Women Work and Why It Matters,” developed by Change the Story VT paints a disturbing picture of the plight of working women in Vermont. 43% of VT women who work full-time do not make enough to cover basic living expenses. Women who work full-time are disproportionately employed in low-wage jobs – across every age group, at every level of education. And Vermont women are especially vulnerable in their senior years, when their median annual income from Social Security ($10,000) is half that of men ($20,000). The report was backed by the Vermont Women’s Fund, Vermont Commission on Women and Vermont Works for Women. We discuss the state of working women in Vermont and potential solutions. (May 4, 2016 broadcast)

Tiffany Bluemle, director, Change the Story VT

Marybeth Redmond, director of development & communications, Vermont Works for Women

David Bronner: Fighting soap maker

Posted on April 28, 2016 by David

David Bronner is Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America and producer of other organic body care and food products. The iconic soap brand is noted for its famous label that espouses a philosophy of world peace it calls ALL ONE.

David Bronner is a grandson of company founder, Emanuel Bronner, and a fifth-generation soap maker. Under David and his brother Michael’s leadership, the brand has grown from $4 million in 1998 to just under $100 million in annual revenue in 2015.

David has been a high profile activist on hemp legalization, organics, drug policy reform, GMO labeling, and livable wage. Dr. Bronner’s soap currently features a label advocating “Fair Pay for All People.” Bronner has been arrested in front of the White House for protesting about restrictive hemp laws.

David Bronner talks about his grandfather’s legacy, his company, and his activism. (April 27, 2016 broadcast)

David Bronner, CEO, Dr. Bronner’s

Earth Day 46: Can businesses be environmentalists?

Posted on April 28, 2016 by David

On April 22,1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets across the country to demonstrate for a sustainable environment. “By the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.” [earthday.org]

On Earth Day 2016, activists and sustainable businesses came to the Vermont State House for a People’s Lobby Day. We speak with participants from two leading Vermont businesses about the role of businesses in advancing environmental goals and the challenges that their own companies face in trying to meet them. [April 20, 2016 broadcast)

Ashley Orgain, Manager of Mission Advocacy, Seventh Generation

Chris Miller, Manager of Social Mission & Activism, Ben & Jerry’s

Shay DiCocco, brand manager, Seventh Generation

In the second half of the show, we discuss the carbon tax and other initiatives to address environmental and climate change goals:

Daniel Barlow, Public Policy Manager, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility

Johanna Miller, Energy Program Director, Vermont Natural Resources Council

Where to locate renewable power?

Posted on April 6, 2016 by David

Should communities have more say in where renewable power is located? A group of farmers wrote to the Vermont Legislature this week to defend their ability to locate renewable power on their farms. We talk with a farmer and a solar power provider about some of the challenges in siting renewable power. (April 6, 2016 broadcast)

James Moore, co-founder, Suncommon

Meg Armstrong, sixth generation Essex Junction farm family

How the Fight for $15 caught fire

Posted on April 6, 2016 by David

When fast food workers walked off their jobs and launched the Fight for $15 in late 2012 in New York City, few people would have predicted that a few years later, the $15 minimum wage would become law. We discuss how the fight for $15 caught fire to become law in California and New York, and beyond. (April 6, 2016 broadcast)

Yannet Lathrop, Researcher and Policy Analyst, National Employment Law Project

Child deaths and unfair convictions: One reporter’s stories

Posted on March 29, 2016 by David

In honor of Sunshine Week, a national campaign to promote transparency and freedom of information, we speak with Jenifer McKim, a senior investigative reporter the New England Center for Investigative Reporting.

Since starting in the fall of 2013, her stories on child welfare and homeowner debt have been the recipient of both a 2014 and 2015 “Publick Occurrences” award issued by the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Before joining NECIR, McKim, worked as a social issues and business reporter at the Boston Globe.

Jenifer McKim is the recipient of the New England First Amendment Coalition 2016 Freedom of Information Award, for her series “Out of the Shadows,” which investigated the failings of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. Her investigation found that children were dying because of a lack of oversight by this government agency. Her reporting required months of negotiating with public officials, dozens of public records requests and thousands of dollars in fees for those records. McKim also discusses her investigation of Darrell Jones, who has served 30 years following a murder conviction, but has now won a new hearing based on evidence that he did not receive a fair trial. (March 16, 2016 broadcast)

Jenifer McKim, senior investigative reporter, New England Center for Investigative Reporting.

President-elect Sanders: The morning after

Posted on March 29, 2016 by David

“What would greet President-elect Bernie Sanders after the victory parties die down and residents of Burlington, VT awaken to their first cup of coffee? …The economics of ‘capital strike’ would threaten to trump the verdict of democracy.”

That’s the dark warning from William F. Grover, professor of political science at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. He is the co-author (with Joseph G. Peschek) of the book, The Unsustainable Presidency: Clinton, Bush, Obama and Beyond (December 2014).

Grover discusses the forces that will rise up if a progressive leader such as Bernie Sanders is elected president — and what it will take to counter them. (March 16, 2016 broadcast)

William Grover, professor of political science at Saint Michael’s College, co-author, The Unsustainable Presidency: Clinton, Bush, Obama and Beyond

Slow money

Posted on March 24, 2016 by David

The Slow Money movement aims to “bring money down to earth” by linking local food initiatives with local investors. Nationally, over $45 million has been invested into 450 small food enterprises around the United States. Twenty-four local networks and 13 investment clubs have formed. We speak with representatives of several different groups in Vermont that are dedicated to investing locally and making money slowly. (March 9, 2016 broadcast)

Will Belongia, Vermont Community Loan Fund

Jeannine Kilbride, Cobb Hill Frozen Yogurt

Eric Becker, Slow Money Vermont and Clean Yield Asset Management

Janice Shade, Milk Money Vermont

Brown is the new white: The new American majority

Posted on March 24, 2016 by David

In his book Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority, author Steve Phillips argues that “many progressives and Democrats continue to waste millions dollars chasing white swing voters. In fact, explosive population growth of people of color in American over the past 50 years has laid the foundation for a New American Majority consisting of progressive people of color (23 percent of all eligible voters) and progressive whites (28 percent of all eligible voters) — comprising 51 percent of all eligible voters in America right now.”

Steve Phillips was the youngest person ever elected to public office in San Francisco and went on to serve as president of the Board of Education. He is a co-founder of PowerPAC.org, a social justice organization that conducted the largest independent voter mobilization efforts backing Barack Obama. He discusses the new American majority, and the forces behind Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and prospects for the 2016 election. (March 23, 2016 broadcast)

Steve Phillips, author, Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority (The New Press, 2016)

Tom Stearns: From teen seed merchant to Small Business Person of the Year

Posted on March 23, 2016 by David

Tom Stearns launched High Mowing Organic Seeds in 1996, and in its first year sales were $2,000 and he was the sole employee. Twenty years later his company has grown to be one of the top organic seed companies in the U.S., and today has more than 60 employees.

Stearns was named Vermont’s 2016 Small Business Person of the Year by the Small Business Administration. He was recognized for growing his company, increasing sales, employee growth and contributing to the local community.

High Mowing Organic Seeds is a farm-based company that produces and distributes vegetable, flower and herb seeds throughout the U.S. and Canada. High Mowing Organic Seeds is the first organic company guaranteeing all of its seeds are non-genetically modified organism verified.

Stearns talks about his journey from being a teenager fascinated with seeds to being part of a burgeoning national local and organic food movement. (March 23, 2016 broadcast)

Tom Stearns, owner and founder, High Mowing Organic Seeds

Is Vermont education on the right track?

Posted on March 2, 2016 by David

What is the state of education and reform in Vermont? We review results of Town Meeting Day 2016. Eleven Vermont school budgets failed to pass (compared to over 30 budgets that were rejected two years ago) this year. We look at how education reform is faring, talking about new initiatives around universal pre-K, flexible pathways, Act 46 and school mergers, and how marijuana legalization might affect schools. (March 2, 2016 broadcast)

Nicole Mace, executive director, Vermont School Boards Association

Jeff Francis, executive director, Vermont Superintendents Association

Can Vermont adapt to climate change?

Posted on February 24, 2016 by David

In the midst of one of the warmest winters in memory, how can Vermont adapt to the new realities of climate change? Paul Costello of the Vermont Council on Rural Development has been exploring this issue with community leaders all around Vermont. He has helped lead the Vermont Climate Change Economy Council, which recently issued a five-year report, Progress for Vermont. He argues that Vermont can be a national model for how states and communities thrive in a climate-changed world. (Feb. 24, 2016 broadcast)

Paul Costello, executive director, Vermont Council on Rural Development

Hamilton Davis: A half-century covering presidents and scoundrels

Posted on February 24, 2016 by David

Hamilton Davis has been a journalist and policy analyst for more than 50 years. He covered the 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns for the Providence Journal, and served as an editor at the Burlington Free Press in the 1970s. He lives in Vermont with his wife Candace Page, a retired veteran reporter at the Burlington Free Press. Davis regularly writes about health care reform for vtdigger.org. He reflects on some of his biggest stories: covering the presidential campaigns, Pres. Richard Nixon, his book about corrupt Burlington “super cop” Paul Lawrence, and his advice to young journalists today. Davis also blogs on topics ranging from health, politics, to the Red Sox. (Feb. 17, 2016 broadcast)

Hamilton Davis, journalist

The future of work

Posted on February 24, 2016 by David

MIT Professor Thomas Kochan argues in his new book, Shaping the Future of Work: What Future Worker, Business, Government, and Education Leaders Need to Do For All to Prosper, that the social contract has broken down, and he offers a vision of how to create more productive businesses that also provide good jobs and careers and build a more inclusive economy and shared prosperity. (Feb. 10, 2016 broadcast)

Thomas Kochan, George M. Bunker Professor of Work and Employment Relations, MIT Sloan School of Management and co-director, MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research

Saving Europe’s refugees

Posted on February 24, 2016 by David

More than one million refugees poured into Europe in 2015, the greatest migration of people since WWII. Most of the refugees are fleeing war, especially from Syria, but many are Iraqis and Afghans fleeing violence. Most are smuggled by boat onto the Greek islands from Turkey, which now hosts more refugees than any other country. Seventh generation Vermonter Jane Dwinell, a registered nurse and Unitarian minister, recently returned from the Greek island of Lesvos, where she volunteered with Lighthouse Refugee Relief to assist refugees arriving in overflowing boats. She discusses the crisis and why she helped. She also wrote a daily blog account of her volunteer work in Greece. [Feb 10, 2016 broadcast]

Jane Dwinell, RN, Unitarian minister, refugee volunteer

Farm to Plate comes of age

Posted on January 22, 2016 by David

The Vermont legislature passed the Farm to Plate Investment Program legislation in 2009. On its fifth anniversary, the Farm to Plate program has issued an annual report touting remarkable results: 5,300 new jobs in the food sector and $10 billion in annual sales. We discuss the impact of Farm to Plate and Vermont’s food sector with two of its leaders.

Erica Campbell, Farm to Plate Network Director

Jake Claro, Farm to Plate Network Manager

Should Vermont divest?

Posted on January 22, 2016 by David

Should Vermont divest? A recent study argues that Vermont’s state pension funds have given up $77 million in gains due to investments in fossil fuels. Gov. Peter Shumlin has also recently called for the state to divest, causing a rift with State Treasurer Beth Pearce, who opposes divestment. We speak with a Vermont investment manager about why he advocates for divestment.

Eric Becker, Chief Investment Officer, Clean Yield Asset Management

Is your privacy protected?

Posted on January 14, 2016 by David

Drones. Computer hacking. Cell phone location services. These are just some of the threats to privacy that citizens face on a daily basis. Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, discusses new legislation aimed at protecting privacy, and why he feels that Act 46, Vermont’s new education law, violates the Vermont constitution and will likely result in a lawsuit from the ACLU.

Allen Gilbert, executive director, Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union

Paid Sick Leave: Has its time come?

Posted on January 14, 2016 by David

More than 57,000 working Vermonters lack any kind of paid time off. In 2015, a paid sick leave bill passed the Vermont House but failed in the Senate. The Healthy Workplaces Bill currently in the Vt. Legislature would enable many Vermonters to be eligible for paid sick days. Gov. Peter Shumlin endorsed the call for paid sick leave in his 2016 State of the State address. To discuss paid sick leave:

Jen Kimmich, co-owner, The Alchemist, member VBSR Policy Committee

Paul Millman, president, Chroma Technology

Ban the Box: Helping ex-prisoners

Posted on January 14, 2016 by David

“Ban the Box” refers to the policy of removing the conviction history check-box from job applications. If employers must ask about convictions, they can ask later in the hiring process. The call to “ban the box” has become a powerful movement for fair hiring.

Today, over 100 cities and counties have adopted “ban the box” and a total of 19 states representing nearly every region of the country that have adopted the policies

Last April, Gov. Peter Shumlin signed an Executive Order to implement a ‘ban the box’ state hiring policy. Vt’s ‘ban the box’ Executive Order removes questions about criminal records from the very first part of job applications for state employment. Agencies will continue to conduct background checks, but only after an applicant has otherwise been found qualified for the position. The policy will prevent applicants from being immediately screened out of state jobs because of a criminal conviction. The policy will not apply to law enforcement, corrections, or other sensitive positions.

We talk about the effort to get all Vermont employers to ban the box with:

Russ Bennett, from NorthLand Design & Construction, chair of the VBSR Public Policy Committee

Chris Curtis, staff attorney, Vermont Legal Aid

Manuel La Fontaine, who was formerly incarcerated, and now works to ban the box nationally with the group All of Us or None.

When We Fight, We Win: Greg Jobin-Leeds on transformative movements

Posted on January 14, 2016 by David

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.

Greg Jobin-Leeds, author, When We Fight, We Win: 21st Century Social Movements and the Activists That Are Transforming Our World (The New Press, 2016)

Waterbury’s Good Neighbor: Rev. Peter Plagge

Posted on December 30, 2015 by David

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.

Rev. Peter Plagge, pastor, Waterbury Congregational Church, Director, Waterbury Good Neighbor Fund

#IAmMoreThanHomeless: ANEW Place for Vermont’s Homeless

Posted on December 30, 2015 by David

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

Michelle Omo, director of development, ANEW Place

From the Inner City to College

Posted on December 30, 2015 by David

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

Kids in prison

Posted on December 30, 2015 by David

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

Fighting poverty & changing lives

Posted on December 18, 2015 by David

Leaders of two Vermont anti-poverty organizations talk about the scope of the problem and what works.

Duncan McDougall, founder and director, Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF). CLiF has provided free literacy programs and brand-new books to low-income, at-risk, and rural children up to age 12 in almost 85% of the communities in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Mark Redmond, executive director, Spectrum Youth & Family Services. Founded in 1970, Spectrum is a nationally recognized leader in helping youth ages 12-26 and their families turn their lives around, serving 2,000 teenagers, young adults, and their family members annually.

Vermont’s spirits revolution

Posted on December 18, 2015 by David

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

Ryan Chistiansen, distiller, Caledonia Spirits