Brave Little State

Vermont Public

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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.

5 FEB

What do Vermont counties actually do?

Vermont has among the weakest forms of county government in the United States, placing a big burden on towns. Is there a better way forward? You can find the web version of this story here. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions about counties, including Gary Novosel of Addison County, Paul Hochanadel of Chittenden County and Michael Moser of Lamoille County. This episode was reported by Howard Weiss-Tisman and produced by Burgess Brown. Editing and additional production from Josh Crane and Sabine Poux. Angela Evancie is our executive producer. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Becca Golden, Alicia Freese, Catherine Hurley, Ted Brady, Cheryl Morse, Dona Brown, Chris Campany, Austin Davis, Carolyn Partridge, Grant Reynolds, Joyce McKeema and Peter Gregory. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

22 min
22 ENE

Who controls the deployment of the Vermont National Guard?

The Vermont National Guard usually takes orders from the state. But at the end of 2025, President Trump deployed the Vermont guard to the Caribbean — and Gov. Scott said he had no control over the president’s orders. It gave this question from a listener newfound relevance: “Who controls the deployment of the Vermont National Guard if orders from the federal government and the state are in conflict?” You can find the web version of this story here. For more about the Vermont guard, check out this 2010 VPR series, which covered some of the 1,500 Vermonters who were deployed to Afghanistan. This episode was reported and produced by Sabine Poux and Josh Crane. Editing and additional production from Burgess Brown. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Michael Bosworth, Jill Lepore, Mikaela Lefrak, Jon Ehrens, Alicia Freese, April McCullum, Peter Hirschfeld, Peter Teachout, Steve Zind and Zoe McDonald. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

21 min
8 ENE

Off the Path: Where the Appalachian Trail began

Today, the origin story of the Appalachian Trail, which stretches more than 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia. But it was a peak in southern Vermont that inspired the idea of the trail in the first place. Thanks to one of our favorite podcasts, Off the Path, for sharing this story with us. Here’s a link to the original web post. For more stories from the trail, check out our episodes, “What’s it like to hike the Long Trail?” and “What’s the deal with Vermont’s fire towers?” This episode was reported and produced by Davis Dunavin at WSHU Public Radio. The Brave Little State team is Josh Crane, Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our Executive Producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; Other music by Blue Dot Sessions. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Instagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

14 min
18/12/2025

The case of D.W. Bancroft’s curious cure-all

A few years ago, John Haffner was digging in his White River Junction backyard when his shovel hit a glass bottle buried underground. Then he found another, and another — all with words like “remedy,” “tonic” and “quick cure” embossed on them. John wants to know why there are so many of these old bottles around and, more importantly, what was in them? Local historian and independent reporter Kelby Greene is on the case, unraveling the snake oil sensation that swept the Green Mountain State. You can find the web version of this story here. Reporting for this story was supported by a grant from Vermont Humanities, in partnership with the Vermont 250 Commission and JAM, Junction Arts and Media. For more, check out the podcast series Roadside Vermont. This episode was reported by Kelby Greene and produced by Josh Crane. Editing and additional production from the rest of the BLS team: Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Catherine Hurley, Shirley Duso and Creighton Hall. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Instagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

20 min
04/12/2025

What happened to all the halfway houses in Vermont?

Question-asker Manny recently got out of prison. He wants to learn about his options for transitional housing — a place where he could stay sober while readjusting to life outside a prison cell. It turns out, those options look very different today than they would have even a few years ago. To see photos from our reporting, check out the web version of this story here. This episode was reported by Carly Berlin and produced by Burgess Brown. Editing and additional production from the rest of the BLS team: Sabine Poux and Josh Crane. Our intern is Camila Van Order González. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Phil Edfors, Liam Elder-Connors, April McCullum, Susan Pullium, Glenn Russell, Paul Dragon, Tiffany Rich, Brenna Bedard, Jeff Moreau, Mary Verner, Jess Kirby, Jim Curran, and all the residents of the Burlington Dismas House. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

30 min
20/11/2025

Why is Rutland made to feel like Vermont’s ‘ugly child’?

Rutland — or, “RutVegas” — gets a pretty bad rap outside the city’s limits. But some of Rutland’s most passionate cheerleaders say there’s a side of the city people are missing. Thanks to Linda Mullin of Rutland for the great question. If you want to be part of a future BLS live voting round, join us in Jeffersonville on Dec. 3 at Lot 6 Brewing. Reserve your ticket and find more information here. Check out the web version of our story here. This episode was reported by Burgess Brown. Editing and additional production from the rest of the BLS team: Sabine Poux and me, Josh Crane. Our intern is Camila Van Order González. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions and Dead Street Dreamers. Special thanks to Nina Keck, Phil Edfors, Joey Palumbo, Hannah Davidson, Sam Lucci, Paul Gallo, Barbara Giffin, Tom Giffin, Tom Fagen and Jacob Houser. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

25 min
06/11/2025

The case of the missing Tinmouth apple

Leave your grocery store apples at home and join our search for this most unusual Vermont fruit. For photos from our journey, check out the web version of our story here. And if you want to read up on apples, here are three books that were helpful in our research: Apples of Uncommon Character by Rowan Jacobsen (2014) The Illustrated History of Apples in the US and Canada by Daniel J. Bussey (2017) The Apples of New York by Spencer Ambrose Beach (1905) Thanks to Ben St. James of Barnet for the great question. This episode was reported by Sabine Poux. Editing and additional production from Burgess Brown and Josh Crane. Our intern is Camila Van Order González. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Catherine Morrissey, John Bunker, Ryan Yoder, Erin Robinson, Dan Bussey and Paige Heaverly. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

23 min
30/10/2025

200th episode extravaganza

For the 200th episode of the show, we set ourselves a challenge: take on 20 listener questions in a single episode. We went back to the very beginning of our archive — combing through thousands of questions — and picked out some of our favorites that we’ve never answered before: about apple pie, nudity laws, haunted houses and Subarus. Laughter ensues. Find the web version of this story here. This episode was reported and edited by the BLS team: Josh Crane, Sabine Poux, Burgess Brown and Camila Van Order González. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; Other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Phil Edfors, Frank Alwine, Zoe McDonald, Catherine Hurley, Pete Hirschfeld, Thomas Mather, Judy Rosovsky, Steven Picazio, Pamela Cartier, Hazel Brewster, Brian Vaughan, Justine Curry and Arthur Ruben. As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

56 min

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TRÁILER

Welcome to Brave Little State

Be brave. Ask questions. Brave Little State is podcast for Vermonters and Vermonters-at-heart, powered by your curiosity. Every episode answers a question that's been asked and voted on by you, our audience — because we think our journalism is better when you're a part of it. From Vermont Public.

07/07/2016

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2 min