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After after reading Miller's book, this listener was careful to follow safe bison-selfie procedures. — **Bison Selfies** Aug 07, 2015
Show notes

This summer there have been five bison attacks in Yellowstone National Park, the result of visitors taking selfies with bison in the background. Today on Fresh Air, an interview with author Sarah Miller. Her recent book, *Bison Selfies*, is a brave exploration into this new phenomenon. In this interview we discuss selfies, bison, and the American consciousness.

**Credits**

This article originally appeared in Jezebel in July, 2015. Sarah Miller writes for theawl.com, newyorker.com, time.com, thecut.com and others. She is not actually writing a book about bison selfies.

The Fresh Air music is by The Microscopic Septet

After reading Miller’s book, this listener was careful to follow safe bison-selfie procedures.

A Long Day on the Road Jul 31, 2015

Show notes

“In the cathedral, priests with long black beards and scarlet robes are gliding through the shadows…I feel faint. It’s the heat, the fatigue, frustration — whatever, but there’s a lump in my throat and my eyes are filling with tears. The cop is starting to make big signs of the cross in the air. If w don’t get out of here quick, we’re going to convert.”

This is a story from Larry Massett about a very, very long day in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in 2002.

This story aired originally on The Savvy Traveler in 2002, and on NPR’s Hearing Voices.

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Vermont Private Eye Jul 26, 2015

Show notes

This is an interview with a very old friend of mine, and the person who trained me as a private investigator. She taught me everything from basics like how to look up criminal records to the very advanced skills I learned. Susan Randall has been a PI in Vermont for fifteen years. She works on the some of the biggest cases in the state…and she’s really good. Susan can find anyone, and she can get them to talk about anything. And most of the time she’s working on fifty to seventy-five cases at the same time.

Last week I went over to her house. We lay in deck chairs in her back yard and we talked about the job. About crime, lawyers, and what it means to give so much of your life to exploring dark stories.

Susan Randall does criminal defense work in both federal and state court. She also does civil litigation. In the past ten years she’s started to focus on creative storytelling that’s necessary in sentencing mitigation work. She works primarily in Vermont but has worked all over the country. She runs Vermont Private Eye.

Homeless Jul 18, 2015

Show notes

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Kevin DeMars estimates he’s been homeless ten times in his 58 years. I met with him in his apartment in Rutland, Vermont and we talked about why he’s been homeless so many times, and what it was like to live in the woods. It’s a difficult and raw conversation at times, and Kevin struggles with some mental health issues that he’s been working through in counseling for years. But he talks very clearly about what it’s like to be someone who can’t always live comfortably in the world of people.

Thanks

Big thanks to Scott Carrier for all his help.

Thanks to Joyce Cloutier of Veterans, Inc. for introducing me to Kevin and for all the great work she does.

Thanks to Freesound for the clock sounds I used in this show.

Screenshot 2015-04-14 08.48.01 — **Kendall Wild, A Toast** Jul 11, 2015
Show notes

kuKendall Wild worked for nearly half a century at the Rutland Herald and he’s a legend in Vermont journalism. He died on April 2, 2015. By all accounts he was eccentric, competitive, and utterly committed to getting the story…and getting it first. Wild was the paper’s managing editor all through the sixties and seventies. There was a whole generation of journalists who came up through the ranks under Kendall and they went on to become formidable journalists, writers and political heavies in their own right. I invited a few of them who are still in the area to come sit on Bill Porter’s couch in Montpelier and tell some stories. So they did. They talked about the wild ride of working under Kendall, and they talked about what it was like to work in journalism during one of Vermont’s most exciting and tumultuous chapters in politics. They also talk about beer. Come listen.

If you have a story of your own, or a comment you’d like to make, just go to the bottom of the show page and comment there. It’s always nice to hear from you.

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**Story Contributors:**

**Bill Porter** worked with Ken Wild for 20 years, first at the Rutland Herald and later at the Times-Argus in Barre, and remained an admiring friend until Kendall’s death.

**Nick Marro** worked as a reporter at the Rutland Herald from 1967 to 1972 and then moved to the Barre Times-Argus when Bill Porter became managing editor. He went to the Vermont Press Bureau as a reporter in 1974, was Bureau Chief from 1980 to 1983, and then he was a reporter in the Press Bureau in the 1990’s.

**Howard Coffin** was a reporter for the Rutland Herald from 1996 to 1978, hired by Kendall. After that he acted as news director for Dartmouth College and UVM, and press secretary for U. S. Senator James Jeffords. Howard has written nine books, including four on Vermont’s Civil War history. He lives in Montpelier.

**Glenn Gershaneck** worked with the Rutland Herald from 1970 – 1978, then at the Times-Argus from 1983 – 1985. He went on to work as press secretary for Senator Robert Stafford, Governor Richard Snelling and Governor Howard Dean. He’s acted as both the secretary and deputy secretary for the Agency of Transportation, the deputy secretary for the Agency of Administration, and the deputy state auditor.

**Ruth Porter** is a fiction and writer and is married to Bill Porter.

**Irene Racz** worked for the papers from late 1974 until 1985. She and Allen Gilbert then became partners in a consulting business called PressKit, which offered writing, editing, media relations, and related services to clients in mostly the government and nonprofit sectors. In 1997, she left PressKit to become public affairs director at Vermont Student Assistance Corporation. She has been enjoying retirement since 2013.

**Tom Slayton** worked as reporter and editor for the Rutland Herald and Times-Argus for 20 years, from 1964 to 1984. For 10 years during that time, he was Vermont correspondent for the Boston Globe. For the subsequent 21 years, he was editor-in-chief of Vermont Life magazine. He’s been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Vermont, Southern Vermont College, and Sterling College. He was awarded the Franklin Fairbanks Award, which recognizes those making a significant contribution to the cultural life of the state.

**Allen Gilbert** worked with Kendall at the Rutland Herald from 1976 to 1983. He served as a reporter, city desk editor and assistant Sunday editor. He went on to teach for three years at a German university with other former journalists, then partnered with Irene Racz to establish PressKit, a policy writing and research firm. In 2004, Allen became executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Vermont, where he still works today.

Thanks also to **Robby Porter**.

Thanks also to **A.J. Marro** and the **Rutland Herald** for letting me run photos from their archive.

Kendall and Bill Porter at Nick Marro’s wedding. Drinking Schlitz.

Drag Out Jul 11, 2015

Show notes

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/214270716″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

Here’s a show from Larry Massett about cars. And honor.

Larry owns two Porsches, and he talks about them a lot. In fact it’s almost all he ever talks about. His friend, Joe Frank, is a BMW man.

Which is the superior car? The Porsche? The BMW? Joe and Larry have agreed to decide this with a race. But in the meantime, they’re just going to go on and on and on about their cars. Welcome.

Joe Frank is a writer, producer, and story savant. Like if you were making a pyramid of all the great storytellers you’ve ever heard, he’d be floating just a little above the top of the pyramid. Which his pretty high up there. You can hear he work here….

Thank you to Lisa Miller for filming the race, which you can see below.

Music for this show is by Redvers West-Boyle and Dark Fire

Soccer Mom Jul 05, 2015

Show notes

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This was my first year as a soccer mom and I’m here to tell you, it’s harder than it looks. I never played team sports, I still don’t really understand soccer, and I spent an entire season screaming ‘GET IT IN THE BASKET!’

Being a soccer mom is weirdly emotional in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I’ve experienced exultation and shame and misery and anger. There are long periods of waiting around. And lots of stinky socks. And sometimes it’s so beautiful to watch the game that it’s made me cry. Secretly. In my Walmart foldout chair.

This show features two area experts—my son’s coach and my sister, a veteran soccer mom. It’s a show about a beautiful sport and it’s also about parenting and shame and humility. And cow bells.

More about the Experts and the Music

Craig Stone is a native of Newcastle, England. He came to the USA as a college student, playing four years of college soccer at the Division 1 University of Evansville, Indiana. Following school, Stone coached in the Washington D.C area for 10-years –as well as moonlighting as an online editor, producer and manager with Education Week, a national publication focusing on K-12 education–before moving to Vermont in 2009 and joining the state’s Olympic Development Program staff; he also coached with Capital Soccer Club, a community-based travel club based in Montpelier, Vermont.

Stone is a staff coach with the U.S. ODP Region 1 Boys U13 team–the Vermont Olympic Development program, and also Head Coach & co-founder of the Vermont ODP U-12 Academy. He also still attempts to play the game as often as possible, but with a continual decline in quality. He is married to Alison Milbury Stone, and has one son, Ned.

Melissa Burroughs is a soccer mom and teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. She no longer employs the cowbells at games, though she doesn’t rule it out.

Jeff Burroughs is the Assistant Headmaster at St. Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and he coaches the girls Varsity team at the Academy. He holds a Premier Diploma from NSCAA. He is famously quiet at games.

Music for this show is from The New Year, an awesome band. You’ll find links to where you can purchase the music below. Mike Donofrio is the bass player and he is my friend and he is so good.

Three Weeks Jun 24, 2015

Show notes

For the last couple years, in addition to producing this show, I’ve also been doing interviews for an organization called The Wake Up to Dying Project. The basic goal of the project is to encourage people to think and talk more about the fact that we die, and at the heart of the project is a sound exhibit that features audio stories–lots and lots of them. Last month I did an interview for this project with a mother who had lost a baby after three weeks of life. I was incredibly nervous about this interview, and I realized that I was worried that by talking about the loss of this child, I’d feel even more afraid of it than I already do with my own son. I didn’t want to be that close to something that scared me so much.

But when I left the interview I felt strangely comforted. There is something comforting in talking about this thing we try so hard not to think about. And though there’s much sadness, and confusion, and grief in this story, there’s also tremendous resilience and love.

This is Susan Wahlrab. She’s a painter and she lives with her family in the deep woods of Calais Vermont. Eighteen years ago she lost her son, Grayson, to a virus after three weeks of life. Here are excerpts from our conversation.

The painting you see featured on this page is by Susan Wahlrab. It’s called What Are You Opening To

Cats on Boats Jun 11, 2015

Show notes

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Here’s a story from Otto Trautz of Cabot, Vermont. It takes place in 1966 and starts with a phone call and a very compelling proposition.

This story was originally told at extempo, central Vermont’s live storytelling event produced by the wondrous Jen Dole. You can find more stories at: www.extempoVT.com.

Another Day Older Jun 03, 2015

Show notes

I was meeting a friend at a coffee shop and a song came on the radio that I hadn’t heard since I was in my late twenties. It reminded me of a time when I’d stay up all night long with friends, talking and drinking around bonfires. It was before children and spouses, and before everyone moved to wherever it is they went. It was a time when we had endless amounts of time.

So when I heard this song after so long, I remembered this time. And it hadn’t occurred to me until right then, twenty years later, standing in this coffee shop, that that time was over. And twenty years had passed.

It all happened so…gradually.

In this show, you’ll hear from women of all ages, from five to eighty-five. They talk about how they imagine their lives will be, how their lives are, and how their lives have been.

Welcome!

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Credits

I produced this program with my great friend Tamar Cole, who is a screenwriter, playwright and writing coach. She lives in Montpelier, Vermont

Many thanks to these great people for their time and their insights:

Mary Wesley

Lee Casagrande

Bess O’Brien

Mary Jacobsen

Leda Schubert

Marilyn Skoglund

Helen Rose Warshovsky (photographed above…)

Brenna Christianson

Aine Fannon