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This is episode 4 of a special series called What Class Are You, wherein I drive around asking people to talk about class and privilege and power and money and how much or little of it they've got. Kate is forty-three. She lives in the woods here in central Vermont. She's part of a community of young people around here who live frugally and often communally, in yurts, and tents and buses. Kate lived this way for 20 years, saving up money to buy this piece of land...but it's gotten harder to find affordable land here in Vermont after the great Covid migration. When I asked Kate what class she is, she said 'lower middle class by unconventional means.'

Irfan Sehic and his family fled the war in Bosnia when he was seventeen, and landed in Barre, Vermont. Irfan did a lot of jobs when he got here, then went to college, and now runs an insurance company out of his house. I’ve interviewed Irfan for Rumble Strip before, about the war, which you can find on this site somewhere, but in this story, Irfan talks about the American class system as he sees it, starting with the middle class.

What Class Are You is a series about money and privilege and how much or little of it you've got. This story is about Isaac, an 18-year-old in Newport, Vermont.

First episode in a series called What Class Are You? This time...Susan Randall, a private investigator in Vermont, talks about growing up upper-middle class.

This is a rerun of what could be called a VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL, and I hope you enjoy it. Last year on Hardwick's Front Porch Forum, someone called Tiana asked if there was anyone who could help her with her hair and makeup for an important date with her boyfriend. Front Porch Forum is an online, daily community forum, which is like a bulletin board at a local general store. You can find secondhand tires there. Or read complaints about the Selectboard. Every Vermont town’s got a Front Porch Forum and you have to be from that town to be on it. Since Tiana's new to town, she thought she might have luck finding someone to help her get ready for her date through the Forum. And she did.

These are some stories from Vermont's 100 year flood last July in Vermont. It devastated our state. In my hometown of Calais, we had dirt roads that were so destroyed, with holes so big that people were down there digging for gold. Moscow Woods Road disappeared off the side of a cliff. At the head of Singleton Road someone put up a handpainted sign that just said, ‘Road Gone.’ These are a couple stories from those first few days after the flood.

This is one of my all time favorite shows. I made it for Vermont Public in 2019 and I think about these guys all the time. It was the little league playoffs in St. Johnsbury in 2019, before the pandemic, recorded in a simpler time. Let's play some good D out there.

East Hill Tree Farm is my new sponsor. It’s the place where I buy all my trees and berry bushes so it’s easy to wax poetic about them. Also it’s a barter. Nicko Rubin is planting some trees here and giving me gardening advice in exchange for the sponsorship. I like this arrangement. So I wrote a song about it with my friend Justin Lander, which I think you will enjoy.

I got in a car accident. For some reason I thought it would make me feel better to talk with Forrest about all the accidents he’s had and how he thinks about pain.

John Rodgers is a stonemason in West Glover. He also runs a construction business, plows driveways and rents properties, and for sixteen years he served in the Vermont Legislature in both the House and the Senate. He works seven days a week, and a huge reason he works so hard is so he can hold onto the farm that's been in his family for 200 years. It was a dairy when he was growing up there. Now he's growing weed for Vermont retailers. I've always been really curious about weed culture in Vermont before it was legal, which John knows a thing or two about. And in a time when so many farms are going out in this state, I wanted to talk with someone who's finding creative ways to keep his farm in farming.

A lot of people in rural America live near small towns or villages. Here in Vermont, a lot of small village schools and general stores and post offices are closing for all kinds of reasons. And this isn’t unique to here. Small town centers are struggling all over the country. But when these little downtown areas lose a store, or a school, everything changes. Danny Sagan is an architect in Montpelier and I like to hear him talk about how buildings work on us, how they slow us down or speed us up. A couple weeks ago I asked him if he’d drive around with me and talk about what villages ARE. What makes them feel like they do. And what happens if they disappear. Credits: A shorter version of this story was produce for Vermont Public. Thank you Vermont Public for allowing me to air the story here!

My friend Kelly Green is a defense attorney who represents people accused of murder. She spends a lot of time reading autopsies and driving around talking with witnesses and worrying. She’s got a lot going on at the moment. A couple weeks ago she asked me if I wanted to go to the opening of the new Taylor Swift movie in Barre. I did. This is a show about it.