Brattleboro Words Trail Podcast

Brattleboro Words Project
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Places & Travel
  • Updated Monthly

Meet fascinating writers past and present from Brattleboro, Vermont, America's most storied small town.

  1. Marty Jezer: Author, Activist, Optimist

    11/21/2025

    Marty Jezer: Author, Activist, Optimist

    This episode of the Brattleboro Words Trail was written and narrated by Arlene Distler. Additional narration was Judy Ashkenaz, Steve Minkin and Woody Starkweather.  Producer and Executive Producer was Lissa Weinmann. Editing was Austin Rice with post production by Alec Pombriant. Mastering was by Guilford Sound. Musical selection for opening and closing music was Jeff Lederer's “Right Action” from his 2021 album 'Eightfold Path' and Mary LaRose for scatting in “Tinees Blues”. Special thanks to the crew at BCTV for great studio support. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons.Intro voice is Donna Blackney. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

    17 min
  2. Circus Capital

    10/25/2025

    Circus Capital

    This episode of the Brattleboro Words Trail Podcast was researched, written by Kevin O'Keefe and Christopher Grotke with research help from Rolf Parker. It is narrated by Kevin O'Keefe. Editing was by Alec Pombriant. Executive Producer and sound design was Lissa Weinmann. Merry-go-round music "Over the Waves Calliope" and "Texas Sunflower' are both by Martha Van Dorn, Boris Yakovleff and Eric Ramberg, from Smithsonian Folkways Records 1955 album 'Sounds of Carnival’. ‘‘Whispering’ from the 2010 Classic Carnival Circus Calyope, Volume 2 from the Carlisle Music Company was used at the end of the segment. Other circus sounds came from Tom Glazer’s 1948 recordings from Smithsonian Folkways ‘The Circus Comes to Town.’ Many thanks to the New England Center for Circus Arts first annual Vermont Circus Festival taking place in and around Brattleboro November 2 through 9, 2025. Thanks for listening, and we will see you next month on...the Brattleboro Words Trail Podcast.   For more information on Jumbo and circus in Brattleboro, see IBrattleboro story by Christopher Grotke: https://www.ibrattleboro.com/culture/history/2014/06/pt-barnum-in-brattleboro-and-jumbo-in-the-whetstone/ For more information on NECCA and the Vermont Circus Festival:  https://necenterforcircusarts.org/about/vermont-circus-festival/   Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons.Intro voice is Donna Blackney. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

    27 min
  3. Sandglass Theater - Puppetry, Family, Community

    09/28/2025

    Sandglass Theater - Puppetry, Family, Community

    This episode was originally produced by Michael Hanish for the Brattleboro Words Trail app; A subsequent interview was conducted in September 2025 with Jana Zeller by Lissa Weinmann and incorporated with original pieces to create the podcast. Ines Zeller Bass, Eric Bass, Shoshana Bass and Jana Zeller all narrate. Original bed guitar music to Ines, Eric and Shoshanna segments was by Eric Bass. Other break guitar was by Alec Pombriant, who also edited the podcast. Executive Producer is Lissa Weinmann.  For more information on Sandglass Theater please visit its website at:  https://www.sandglasstheater.org/ Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons.Intro voice is Donna Blackney. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

    22 min
  4. Mary Cabot: Kipling's Best Friend in Brattleboro

    08/11/2025

    Mary Cabot: Kipling's Best Friend in Brattleboro

    This episode of the Brattleboro Words Trail podcast was researched and co-written by Angelika Pavlovna and Lissa Weinmann. Narration and editing was by Angelika Pavlovna. The Voice of Mary Cabot was Casey Pareles. Christopher Benfey provided additional commentary. Original music was composed by John Loggia. Lissa Weinmann did the sound design/editing and was executive producer.  Alec Pombriant did the final podcast mastering. All of Mary Cabot quotes were taken directly from Mary's original letters to her sister as archived in the indispensable Howard C. Rice Kipling Collection at the University of Vermont. Thanks to Johnny, Nolan, Van and Helena and the whole BCTV crew for studio help and general support for the Brattleboro Words Trail.  The source of Mary Cabot's letters to her sister Grace and other documentation used in this podcast came from the Howard C. Rice Jr.'s Kipling Collection at the University of Vermont Special Collections: https://scfindingaids.uvm.edu/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&op%5B%5D=&q%5B%5D=kipling+collection&limit=&field%5B%5D=&from_year%5B%5D=&to_year%5B%5D=&commit=Search Professor Christopher Benfey's 2019 book 'If: The Untold Story of Kipling's American Years' can be viewed at: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545931/if-by-christopher-benfey/ One can find an original copy of the Annals at Brooks Memorial Library, and it is also digitized online at the Internet Archive at:https://archive.org/details/annalsofbrattleb01cabo/page/n11/mode/2up For a great read on Cabot's explorer/indigenous photographer brother William Brooks Cabot, see:https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2001/09/william-brooks-cabot-html For information on renting/visiting Kipling's home Naulakha in Brattleboro:  https://landmarktrustusa.org/rudyard-kiplings-naulakha   Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons.Intro voice is Donna Blackney. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

    29 min
  5. Robert Frost's Marlboro College 'An Act of Creation'

    07/26/2025 ·  Bonus

    Robert Frost's Marlboro College 'An Act of Creation'

    Research, Script and Narration: Dan Toomey. Voice of Frost and reading 'The Road Not Taken'  is William Edelglass. Editors and recordings: Lissa Weinmann, Donna Blackney. Mastering by Dave Snyder, Guilford Sound. Music used: ‘A Place Beyond Belief’ by Sander Kalmeijer (storyblocks.com), ‘Horses’ by Pictures of the Floating World’ (freemusicarchive.org), ‘Cove Instrumental’ by Chad Crouch (freemusicarchive.org). Photograph is Walter Hendricks with Robert Frost on Marlboro College campus, photographer unknown, part of Marlboro College archives. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons.Intro voice is Donna Blackney. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

    9 min
  6. Marlboro College: A Beautiful Thing

    07/24/2025

    Marlboro College: A Beautiful Thing

    This episode of the Brattleboro Words Trail Podcast was narrated by William Edelglass, a Professor of Philosophy and a co-founder of the Brattleboro Words Trail. Executive Producer Lissa Weinmann interviewed William at BCTV with engineering support from their staff. Alec Pombriant – that’s me – edited and designed the sound. The interstitial music heard in this episode is 6 Épigraphes Antiques by Claude Debussy as performed by Peter Serkin. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons.Intro voice is Donna Blackney. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

    38 min
  7. News and Nursing: The Rice Family of Chestnut Hill

    05/30/2025

    News and Nursing: The Rice Family of Chestnut Hill

    This episode was a labor of love from the Rice/Hooper family who wrote and produced most of it. The Nurse Marion piece was written, produced and narrated by Steven L. Hooper, who also narrated the intro to the podcast. It was edited by Donna Blackney. Research was by Steve and Jackie Hooper. The voice of Nurse Marion was by her great, great niece, Althaea Carroll. Music used: ‘Endless’ by Dana Boule (freemusicarchive.org) ‘The Bluff Trail Instrumental’ (freemusicarchive.org) ‘Werdenfelser Trompeten Landler’ by Strassmeir Dachaur Bauernkkapelle (freemusicarchive.org) ‘La Marseillaise’ by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, Performed by United States Navy Band https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Marseillaise.ogg (public domain) ‘Streetlife’ by Lobo Loco (freemusicarchive.org) The second segment on the Rice Family of Chesnut Hill was researched, written and narrated by Jackie Hooper.  Audio Producer & Editor was Donna Blackney. The Voice of Amy Jones Rice was: Shannon Ward  and the Voice of Howard C. Rice was Riley Goodemote. Executive producer, Lissa Weinmann. Podcast editing, Alec Pombriant. Original selections were mastered by Guilford Sound.  Music used:  ‘Old Strange’ by Black Twig Pickers and Steve Gunn (freemusicarchive.org) ‘Wild Horse of Stony Point’ by Black Twig Pickers and Steve Gunn (freemusicarchive.org) ‘Fisher’s Hornpipe’ (traditional by James A. Fishar) Performed by Adam Boyce and Harold Luce. Archive recording courtesy of Vermont Folk Life Center ‘Not Drunk’ by The Joy Drops (freemusicarchive.org) ‘Dill Pickles’ by Heftone Banjo Orchestra (freemusicarchive.org) ‘Patriotic Songs of America’ by New York Military Band and the American Quartet (freemusicarchive.org) ‘Parisian’ by Kevin MacLeod (freemusicarchive.org) Steve Hooper produced a History Channel documentary about his Aunt Marion's war time experience “An American Nurse at War” which can be viewed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mmy2kdYGWo Steve also mounted a July 2021 Brattleboro Words Trail exhibition "You Have No Idea What It's Like Over Here..." on same at 118 Elliot Gallery https://118elliot.com/event/july-2-opening-you-have-no-idea-what-its-like-over-here-photos-letters-from-brattleboro-ww1-nurse-marion-mccune-rice/ Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons.Intro voice is Donna Blackney. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

    22 min

  8. 04/23/2025

    Rumi in Vermont

    This episode was written and narrated by Amer Latif, who also played the ney. Producer and editor was Lissa Weinmann. Guilford Sound mastered the Words Trail content and Alec Pombriant did post-podcast production.  Dr. Amer Latif is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in comparative religion and Islamic studies. His research revolves around the translation of cultures. Having grown up in Pakistan and with an undergraduate degree in Physics, Dr. Latif thrives on studying and creating containers that are capacious enough to hold seeming contradictions such as science and religion. Dr. Latif lives in the Brattleboro area, having tought at Marlboro College, just next to Brattleboro. That college closed in 2020 but lives on as the Marlboro Institute at Emerson College in Boston where Dr. Latif teaches today.  The Sama is ritual of Sufi whirling or whirling dervishes, a mystical practice within Sufism, a branch of Islam, that involves spinning and whirling while chanting and praying, a form of worship, or prayer through movement,  to connect with the divine and achieve a state of spiritual unity. We honor the special gifts all cultures bring to the world, and hope you enjoy how this segment sheds particular light on the rich artistic traditions around Islam and Sufism's reverence for nature, and humans place within nature. For a current online class on Rumi recommended by Dr. Latif: https://www.suficorner.org/events/masnavi For more info on Threshold Publishing/Kabir and Camile Helminsky www.sufism.org      Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons.Intro voice is Donna Blackney. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

    12 min
See All (32)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Meet fascinating writers past and present from Brattleboro, Vermont, America's most storied small town.

Information