Brave Little State

Apr 17 2025 188 ep. 28 mins 2k
Brave Little State Podcast artwork

What if you could decide what stories Vermont Public should be covering, before they're even assigned? That's the idea behind Brave Little State.

  Society & Culture
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Some people leave Vermont. Does Vermont ever really leave them?

Apr 17 2025 24 mins  
What does it mean to be a Vermonter if you’ve left the Green Mountain State? Reporter Myra Flynn brings us on a sonic journey across the globe from Los Angeles to the Dominican Republic, to Jamaica. There are love stories, tales of taking chances and conversations about what it means to call somewhere home. Thanks to question-asker Jesse Wingate of Virginia – formerly of No

What’s next for Vermont’s only law school?

Apr 03 2025 17 mins  
South Royalton has something that no other Vermont town does: a law school. But for a long time, there’s been one rumor the town and the school can’t seem to shake — that Vermont Law & Graduate School is on the verge of upping sticks for Burlington. Question-asker Tess Mix, of neighboring Tunbridge, has been hearing this rumor her whole life. She wants to know, is it tr

What’s the story behind the omnipresent ‘Stowe’ logo?

Mar 20 2025 13 mins  
You can find the swoopy, stylized version of the word “Stowe” everywhere — police cruisers, store windows, a covered bridge. It’s as if the entire town is part of one giant marketing campaign. Question-asker Joe Emery of Essex finds this sort of weird, and wants to know how it came to be. We made a video version of this episode! Check it out here. For more photos and an

What is the Bennington Triangle?

Mar 06 2025 22 mins  
Five mysterious disappearances were the talk of Bennington in the mid-20th century. Now, they’ve developed a cult following online. We revisit the initial cases and trace the rise of the “Bennington Triangle” in the popular imagination. Thanks to Kevin Landry of Claremont, New Hampshire for the great question. Check out the web version of this story here. This episode was

Why is health insurance in Vermont so expensive?

Feb 27 2025 27 mins  
Cha-ching. Vermont health insurance is pricey, and getting more expensive really quickly. For one listener in Montpelier, it’s just not adding up. Rosie Krueger says sky-high health insurance costs were a real pill when she was building budgets on the Montpelier City Council a few years ago. Since then, this health insurance dilemma has only gotten worse. The good news: There�

Inside Vermont's weird and wonderful town forests

Feb 06 2025 19 mins  
Forests for the people! Democracy in the woods! Most towns in Vermont have a locally owned forest, but no two are exactly the same — and their stories are still unfolding. Check out the web version of this episode for photos and a full transcript. You can participate in UVM’s town forest census project here. Thanks to Anne Wallace of Bristol for the great question. Thi

New Hampshire has 6 landfills. Why does Vermont only have 1?

Jan 23 2025 28 mins  
Vermont used to have hundreds of dumps all over the state. These days, most of the state’s trash ends up in one place: a landfill in Coventry. Question-asker Sylvia Dodge, of Lyndon, wants to know why all that trash ends up in just one small town. We visit the Coventry landfill, trash bag in hand, and talk to the people doing the dirty work. You can find photos from our reportin

Who takes care of Vermont’s tiny cemeteries?

Jan 09 2025 15 mins  
We track down the Lorax of Vermont cemeteries and visit a farm in East Putney where the past and present collide. Share your feedback about BLS! We’d love to hear from you and it will help us make the show even better. Plus: prizes! Thanks to Kathleen Cuneen of Thetford for the great question. Check out the web version of this episode for photos and a full transcript. This epi

Brave Little State goes hunting

Dec 19 2024 29 mins  
Alex Larrabee is in 10th grade at the Danville School in the Northeast Kingdom. She doesn’t hunt, but her family does and her classmates do. And she’s noticed that people who go hunting… it’s not a casual interest. They’re passionate about it. Alex, on the other hand, doesn’t really get what all the fuss is about. Now, we at Brave Little State are not big hunters, an

How has Vail’s acquisition of Vermont ski areas impacted locals?

Dec 05 2024 24 mins  
It’s been seven years since Colorado-based Vail Resorts bought the ski resort at Stowe. Almost immediately, Vail cut the cost of a season pass there in half. But cheaper skiing hasn’t deterred people from lampooning Vail online or displaying angry bumper stickers in ski town parking lots — spotlighting a tension over the soul of Vermont ski culture and ski towns. In this e