This week's episode examines how climate change is reshaping the meaning of home in communities facing increasing floods and environmental disruption. It challenges the idea that people can simply relocate, highlighting the deep cultural, historical, and emotional ties that bind communities to place. Grounded in Vermont’s recent flooding, it explores how river towns are grappling with both immediate recovery and long-term uncertainty. Sereena Knight, our 2026 legislative intern, guest hosts. The discussion centers lived experiences and invites a more thoughtful, justice-centered vision for community resilience and the future.

With your host away for the week, this week’s episode is an audio recording of the Lieutenant Governor’s forum held two weeks ago in Rutland. This is your chance to hear how the three candidates for the Democratic Primary - Esther Charlestin, Ryan McLaren, and Molly Gray - answered a range of questions on critical issues such as the cost of living, civil rights, and democracy. At the end of the panel, moderated by VPIRG’s executive director, Paul Burns, the candidates take questions submitted by the audience.

In the late 1800s, Vermont was a very different place. Its hills were largely cleared, its soils exhausted, and its economy struggling under the weight of overused land. In When the Trees Came Back: The Great Battle to Save Vermont’s Forests, retired judge and historian Bob Mello tells the story of how Vermonters confronted that crisis and how the state’s forests slowly returned.

In this episode, we explore what that history can teach us today. From the tension between economic survival and environmental protection to the long-running debate over how land should be used, many of the challenges Vermonters faced 150 years ago feel strikingly familiar.

As current conversations around development, conservation, and rural land use continue to unfold, Mello reflects on the hard lessons learned from Vermont’s past, and what they might mean for the choices we’re making now.