Mares: The Running Mate Game
While co-authoring a recent book about Vermont and presidential politics, I come up with an idea that could neatly shorten the Democratic selection process for 2020 – and it merely involves a simple...
View ArticleVogel: The F-35 Noise Dispute
In 1787, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison wrote a series of articles called the Federalist Papers in order to persuade citizens in the newly formed United States to adopt the U.S....
View ArticleLevin: Naming Honors
At the top of my recommended summer reading list is a book called Mrs. Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names , by Stephen Moss. For a life-long naturalist like me, it's a treasure trove of...
View ArticleKelsey: Swimming Toward Mental Health
I took up swimming to get my body in shape, and only later discovered that it would also exercise my mind. I struggle with anxiety and depression, and exercise is known to lift moods by releasing...
View ArticleOppenheim: Debate Season Begins
Over time, broadcast television has lost some of its power. Except for the Super Bowl , we simply don't gather in front of our TV sets like we used to. But debates are still a big deal. In 2016, one of...
View ArticleGreene: Patiently Waiting
I grew up VT style, where the virtues of patience were constantly extolled. We waited for recess, we waited for snow, we waited Santa, and we waited for summer. 'It's something to look forward to,' was...
View ArticleRam: Girls State
There's a summer leadership and government-in-action learning program for high school juniors sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary in which young women become knowledgeable in the practice of...
View ArticleAlbright: Looking Both Ways
Norwich is a talkative community – on sidewalks, in the Post Office, around kitchen tables, and especially on the town’s email listserve, where thorny issues get thrashed out in public on a daily...
View ArticleWatts: One Less Car
I live on a country road in Hinesburg, with a walkability score of zero - meaning there is nothing within walking distance of my house, except a very nice walk - no stores, jobs, or other necessities...
View ArticleGarner & Drufovka: Teachers Talk About Guiding Students Through The Vt....
Walt Garner teaches fifth through eighth grade English at Tunbridge Central School, while Barbara Drufovka teaches humanities at Woodstock Middle School. This spring, both teachers took groups of...
View ArticleSpencer Rendahl: World Cup Lessons
My nine year old son plays soccer for his Plainfield, New Hampshire team, which makes me a soccer mom by default, even though I've never played the game myself. Normally we try to limit screen time...
View ArticleOppenheim: The Russian Exchange
Sometimes, you just know you're having a life-changing experience. In my case, it was a chance in early July to teach Russian college students about media in the U.S.A. It all started when a...
View ArticleCraven: Remembering Actor Rip Torn
The first time I saw Rip Torn, he was wearing flippers, a facemask and snorkel. I'd written to him in January 1992 – and sent him the script for my first feature film, Where the Rivers Flow North . I...
View ArticleMoats: Growing Vermont
Most Vermonters know by now that ours is the second oldest population of all the states — after Maine's — and the need to keep young people here and attract new ones is widely understood and accepted....
View ArticleVogel: Low Income Housing Tax Credits
Trying to rent an apartment in Vermont can be frustrating, given the shortage of apartments and the high monthly rents. And once people discover how expensive housing in Vermont has become, some...
View ArticleSlayton: Working In Journalism
I've been reading Robert Caro's latest book, Working , detailing how he researched and wrote his magisterial, vividly detailed biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. Caro began his career as a...
View ArticleRam: Countries Of Origin
For many Americans, where we came from is both a source of great pride and pain. My own family fled the city of Lahore in 1949 with just the clothes on their backs, leaving behind the land that my...
View ArticleAlbright: OK, No Spring Chicken But ...
We often hear state leaders lamenting the so-called brain drain – meaning young people who move away - and the burden of caring for the Medicare crowd. Our demographics are a problem, they say, while...
View ArticleHolvino: Racist Or Racism
Browsing in my favorite social change bookstore, I overheard two customers talking. One asked, ‘Have we ever had a more racist president than this one?’ And the other replied, 'Maybe Andrew Johnson?'
View ArticleMcCallum: Canine Cognitive Disfunction
When my aging terrier started slowing down last year, I took it in stride. She was twelve, and according to an online calculator, old enough to collect doggie Social Security. But just one year later,...
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