Vermont Public Docs

Recognized: An Update

March 26, 2024 11:01 - 17 minutes - 24.3 MB

Two Abenaki First Nations are continuing to call for Vermont institutions not to work with state-recognized tribes, and to reconsider the process that led to the state recognizing those groups as Abenaki tribes. Those nations — Odanak and Wôlinak — are receiving a mixed response.

Remembering John Harrison

January 22, 2024 10:00 - 23 minutes - 32.1 MB

John Harrison traveled Vermont as a preacher in the 1880s. A racist name in town records preserved his memory. Note: This story contains sensitive material, including racial slurs. Please listen with care.

What class are you? Ashley Messier

January 19, 2024 17:05 - 7 minutes - 10.5 MB

Ashley Messier is the co-chair of the Corrections Monitoring Committee in the Vermont Legislature, and she’s the reentry services program manager for Vermont Works for Women. She grew up in Essex with an abusive father and with little money, and she found herself repeating the cycle in early adulthood. This is a story about multigenerational poverty and abuse, and the temporary relief of opiates. "What class are you?" is an occasional series from Vermont Public reporter Erica Heilman. In it, ...

What class are you? Susan Randall

January 19, 2024 17:04 - 5 minutes - 7.41 MB

Many people don’t want to talk about class, because class differences are the source of cultural division and tension. In this story, Erica talks with old friend Susan Randall, a private investigator based in Vergennes, about the luxuries of growing up upper middle class. "What class are you?" is an occasional series from Vermont Public reporter Erica Heilman. In it, she talks with people from all sorts of backgrounds about money and class and privilege.

What class are you? Garret Keizer

January 19, 2024 17:03 - 7 minutes - 10.9 MB

In 2023, around 70% of the total wealth in this country was owned by the top 10% of earners. The lowest 50% of earners only owned 2.5% of the total wealth. In this story, Vermont writer and poet Garrett Keizer, who has written extensively on the history of labor unions, talks about what happens when we address gender and race equity, but we ignore income inequality. Here's Garret Keizer. "What class are you?" is an occasional series from Vermont Public reporter Erica Heilman. In it, she talks...

What class are you? Stephanie Robtoy

January 19, 2024 17:02 - 6 minutes - 9.15 MB

Stephanie Robtoy works as an account manager at Working Fields, a staffing agency that helps people with barriers gain and maintain a job. She grew up in St. Albans in a huge family of Robtoys, some of whom are pretty notorious in town for criminal activity. In this story, Stephanie talks about what it was like to grow up poor, with a last name that was hard to escape. "What class are you?" is an occasional series from Vermont Public reporter Erica Heilman. In it, she talks with people from a...

What class are you? Irfan Sehic

January 19, 2024 17:01 - 6 minutes - 9.5 MB

Irfan Sehic and his family fled the war in Bosnia and arrived in Barre when Irfan was 17. He worked a number of jobs, went to college and started his own insurance agency, which he still runs out of his house. And for the last few years, he's been a club soccer coach. Irfan lives with his wife and son in Milton, and in this story, he describes the American class system as he sees it, starting with the middle class.  "What class are you?" is an occasional series from Vermont Public reporter Er...

Recognized: Chapter Three

October 19, 2023 23:04 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MB

Who gets to decide who is Abenaki? Vermont’s four state-recognized tribes — and the state recognition law — have different definitions and criteria for what it means to be Indigenous than many Indigenous Nations. In Chapter Three of this special series, we look at this disconnect, and lay out what’s at stake, including power, money and authority.

Recognized: Chapter Two

October 19, 2023 23:02 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MB

After the original group of self-proclaimed Vermont Abenaki failed to gain federal recognition, Vermont lawmakers created a state recognition process of their own. One theory in particular informed the state’s consideration: that Abenaki peoples hid in Vermont to avoid persecution, including statewide eugenics policies. In Chapter Two of this special series, we look at recent evidence, as well as older reports, that cast doubt on this narrative.

Recognized: Chapter One

October 19, 2023 23:00 - 37 minutes - 34.1 MB

Two Abenaki First Nations in Canada contest the legitimacy of the four groups recognized by the state of Vermont as Abenaki tribes. This is a dispute that goes back at least two decades, and has gained more prominence in recent years. In Chapter One of this special series, we trace Abenaki history up to 2003, when Odanak First Nation first denounced Vermont groups claiming to be Abenaki.

The hotline that helps immigrant dairy farmworkers

August 17, 2023 09:03 - 12 minutes - 16.5 MB

University of Virginia researchers say the complaint line run by the grassroots workers’ rights program Milk With Dignity improves conditions for both farmworkers and farm owners. But the program currently only covers one-fifth of Vermont’s dairy industry.

The last Italian stone carver in Barre

June 07, 2023 01:20 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MB

Giuliano Cecchinelli is part of a long legacy of Italian stone carvers in Barre, craftsmen whose skill transformed an industry and made the small central Vermont town the “Granite Capital of the World.” In the early 20th century, Barre was a booming industry town. Thousands of workers spent their days making monuments. The railroad chugged into town to take them around the country, and stone dust filled the air. But Barre is no longer the bustling industry town it once was. The granite ind...

Vermont Public Docs

Episodes

Recognized: An Update

Remembering John Harrison

What class are you? Ashley Messier

What class are you? Susan Randall

What class are you? Garret Keizer

What class are you? Stephanie Robtoy

What class are you? Irfan Sehic

Recognized: Chapter Three

Recognized: Chapter Two

Recognized: Chapter One

The hotline that helps immigrant dairy farmworkers

The last Italian stone carver in Barre

Update: One Year Later [JOLTED]

Update: One Year Later

Part 5: Threat Assessment [JOLTED]

Part 5: Threat Assessment

Part 4: The Reversal [JOLTED]

Part 4: The Reversal

Part 3: Thought, Or Crime? [JOLTED]

Part 3: Thought, Or Crime?

Part 1: The Shooting That Didn’t Happen [JOLTED]

Part 2: How We Got Here [JOLTED]

Part 2: How We Got Here

Part 1: The Shooting That Didn’t Happen

JOLTED: Podcast Trailer