Vermont Edition

Darn Tough. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Ben and Jerry’s. Ivy Computer. Verde Technologies. KORE Power Battery Cell Developers. What do all these businesses have in common? They either were, or still are, in the small town of Waterbury, Vermont. Today on Vermont Edition: what makes this one town in Washington County a good home for growing companies? Our guests this hour have their theories. We’ll talk with leaders of companies based in Waterbury and the head of the town’s business development organization. Plus, we’ll talk about how other small towns can attract businesses that bring good jobs to the area.

Lake Memphremagog provides drinking water for around 200,000 Canadians, and recreation for countless Vermonters. It also faces serious environmental challenges. Today on Vermont Edition: the fight to restore and protect the water quality of our region’s largest lakes. We’ll hear from a Quebec-based group about their effort to designate Memphremagog as a lake in crisis. We’ll also talk with a scientist from the Lake Champlain Basin Program, and a shoreline ecologist with Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation. They’ll tell us about the biggest threats to these water bodies, like phosphorus runoff.

First up, we're joined by Josh Wronski, the outgoing Executive Director of the Vermont Progressive Party to talk about his tenure there, what he learned in his nine years leading Vermont's third party, and how they should move forward.Then, Rep. Becca Balint joins us to talk about the Big Beautiful Bill, Medicaid cuts, the war in Gaza, impeachment, and U.S.-Canada relations.Lastly, it's our monthly local food segment with Seven Days food writer Melissa Pasanen.Broadcast live on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

In the latest installment of our series, Vermont Edition At Home: The award-winning cartoonist Alison Bechdel chats with us from her home studio in Bolton.Alison Bechdel is one of the country’s most renowned cartoonists. Her graphic memoir Fun Home was turned into a Tony Award-winning musical. Her new graphic novel, Spent, is set in Vermont.

Spring is an annual rite of passage, a time of transition and regrowth. Some spend it gardening. Others reconnect with friends. And a few of us, like Vermont Edition's Mikaela Lefrak, derive actual joy from spring cleaning.Two professional home organizers joined Mikaela to share their best spring cleaning tips: Sarah Thompson of St. George and Amie Davis of Georgia, Vt.If you need an extra dose of motivation, you could hire a DJ like Burlington-based Taraleigh Weathers, also known as DJ Cheetahtah. She'll come to your house to play music while you clean. She's also working launching her own YouTube channel that you can watch and listen to as you clean.

Sen. Phil Baruth on the state budget, property taxes, and the Trump Administration

Parts of our region are experiencing a very wet and muddy spring. For some, the rains bring up tough memories of the flooding of recent years. For some towns, the floods of 2023 and 2024 caused immense damage and upended lives. While we all hope 2025 doesn’t make this list, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Here to to talk flood preparedness is the director of Vermont Emergency Management, Eric Forand. His office is working to improve communication with individual towns when a disaster hits. We also talk with volunteer organizers about their plans to help Vermonters weather this years storms. Megan Mathers of Northeast Kingdom Organizing and the Kingdom United Resilience and Recovery Effort, and Jon Copans of the Montpelier Commission for Recovery and Resilience join us. 

Today is Vermont Edition’s annual spring gardening show. Our guest is Charlie Nardozzi – gardening consultant extraordinaire, speaker, and TV and radio host. You can hear him on Sunday mornings right here on Vermont Public for All Things Gardening. This year's show was in front of a live audience at Vermont Public’s Colchester studio. 

Three new art and culture offerings in our region

Vermont’s only law school is the heart of South Royalton. Many residents wonder if the school will stay there, or if it’ll leave town.Today on Vermont Edition, we share a recent episode of Brave Little State. It digs into this listener question about Vermont Law and Graduate School: “Do South Royalton and the surrounding towns actually have to worry about the Vermont law school leaving, or is it just a recurring rumor?” Produce Sabine Poux learns about the law school’s footprint in that part of the state.Plus, a live discussion with Vermont Supreme Court Justice Karen Carroll and lawyer Andrew Cliburn on how the law school shaped their careers.