rumble strip

What Class Are You is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public. Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share the series on Rumble Strip.

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.

This is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public. Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share the shows with Rumble Strip. 

As the philosopher Haddaway once asked, what is love? It turns out, love can be anything that stirs the heart: passion, grief, affection, kin. The desire to consume; the poignancy of memory. Here at Hub & Spoke, we want to stretch our arms, and ears, around it all.

This episode is hosted by Lori Mortimer and edited by Tamar Avishai. Production assistance from Nick Andersen. Music by Evalyn Parry, The Blue Dot Sessions, and a kiss of Dionne Warwick.

Listen to the full episodes:

• Rumble Strip, “Forrest Foster Lays Karen to Rest”
• Mementos “Cherie’s Letters”
• Ministry of Ideas, “Consumed”
• The Lonely Palette, “Jean-Honoré Fragonard's The Desired Moment (c. 1770)”

You can also share the love by supporting our Valentine’s Day fundraiser: www.hubspokeaudio.org/love

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

Forrest Foster is a dairy farmer in Hardwick, Vermont and a friend of mine. This past spring, on Memorial Day, Forrest’s partner, Karen Shaw, died after a long illness. They were together 43 years. The day after she died, Forrest built her coffin with his friends Steve and Butch, and a couple days later Karen was buried in a field behind the barn under a maple tree, with a few family and friends present. 

As always with Forrest, I’m struck by the combination of pragmatism and love in everything he does. Burying Karen was no different. 

Music by Justin Lander

Originally produced for Vermont Public 

Rose Friedman and Tara Reese were in the early stages of starting the Civic Standard, an organization that gives the people of Hardwick excuses to get together. Rose and Tara were explaining this idea to Brenda at a baseball game and Brenda said that what she really wanted was for them to make a mystery dinner theater show. Nobody really thought that this would happen.

But Rose couldn't stop thinking about it. Most mystery dinner theater shows are a little like the game CLUE, which isn’t very interesting. But then Rose had an idea. What if the murder mystery was set in Hardwick? Actually, what if it was set at a really boring development review board meeting in Hardwick, which is the sort of meeting everyone around here feels totally at home in, including people who have never been to a play?

This is a show about the making of Developed to Death, a play that was written by people around Hardwick, about the community of Hardwick, and for the people of Hardwick. It is part theater, part social science project, and in it someone gets murdered.

And special bonus…right after the show is a followup interview with Civic Standard co-founders Rose Friedman and Tara Reese.

Credits

This story was supported in part by the Vermont Humanities Council. This story is also a Transom Radio Special, which has support from the National Endowment for the  Arts. You can read about the making of the show at: https://transom.org/2022/the-civic-standard/

This show was mixed by Jay Allison

Music for this show is by Justin Lander and Charlie Lander

Special thanks to these people for their advice and patience: Amelia Meath, Tobin Anderson, Chelsea Edgar, Jay Allison, Howard Norman, Gordon Grunder, my family, and of course Rose and Tara.

[Scroll down for takeaways you can use from today’s show.]

Win prizes! Tell us your favorite Sound Judgment episode
Deadline: 6.30.23

This Sound Judgment season is quickly coming to an end. Our season finale airs Thursday, June 29. We go behind the scenes with the hilarious hosts of Famous & Gravy, the podcast that asks, “Would you like to have had this dead celebrity’s life?” 

To celebrate, we need your help! Please tell us your favorite and/or most useful Sound Judgment episode and why. In return, we’re selecting a winner, at random, to receive merch from their favorite podcaster. If that podcaster doesn’t offer merch, you’ll receive NEW Sound Judgment merch!

To enter, respond to this quick questionnaire   by Friday, June 30, 2023, midnight EST. 

Would you like Sound Judgment listeners to hear your voice on our podcast? Record a brief voice memo and email it to us at allies@podcastallies.com by Friday, June 30. 

If selected, we’ll run your voice memo on a future episode of Sound Judgment. (Be sure to include your name, the name of your podcast or business, your favorite or most useful Sound Judgment episode, and why you chose it.) 

Thank you. We love our listeners!

... 

Julia Barton is the executive editor of Pushkin Industries, following a long career in public radio. She helped develop Revisionist History and Against the Rules, among other chart-topping shows. She’s the editor of Malcolm Gladwell’s audiobook The Bomber Mafia, Michael Specter’s Fauci, and Michael Lewis’s unabridged Liar’s Poker and companion podcast. Her 2019 series for PRX’s Radiotopia, Spacebridge, was called “dazzling” by The New Yorker.

A note about Sound Judgment: We believe that no host does good work alone. All hosts rely on their producers, the hidden hands that enable a host to shine. We strive to give credit to producers whenever it’s possible to do so. 
 

Discussed on this Sound Judgment episode: 
The Best Audio Storytelling: 2022
Foreword by David Sedaris
Get 15% off The Best Audio Storytelling: 2022 with the promo code BestAudioSJ15 here.

The anthology features many different podcasts. We examined: 
"I Can Do Anything" by Jason Reynolds, from his Radiotopia podcast, My Mother Made Me

"Armand's Garden" by Erica Heilman, from her podcast, Rumble Strip

"The Tunnel,"  featuring reporter Andrea Bernstein, from Pineapple St. Studios/Wondery's Will Be Wild

Improve your storytelling Check out our popular workshops on interviewing, story editing, story structure, longform narrative, audience engagement, scriptwriting and more. 

Hire Elaine to speak at your conference or company. Subjects include: Communicating for Leaders; Communicating about Change; Mastering the Art of the Interview; Storytelling Skills; How to Build Relationships through Storytelling, and more. 

Discover our strategic communication services and coaching for thought leaders using storytelling tools to make the world a better place. Serving writers, podcasters, public speakers, and others in journalism & public media, climate change, health care, policy, and higher education. Visit us at www.podcastallies.com.

Subscribe to Sound Judgment, the Newsletter, our twice-monthly newsletter about creative choices in audio storytelling. 

Connect:

Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

✉️ Email Elaine at allies@podcastallies.com

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify 

🗣️ Share the show by word of mouth and on your socials

Help us find and celebrate today’s best hosts
Who’s your Sound Judgment dream guest? Email me: allies@podcastallies.com. Because of you, that host may appear on Sound Judgment.

Credits 

Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC. 

Host: Elaine Appleton Grant

Podcast Manager: Tina Bassir

Production Manager: Andrew Parrella

Audio Engineer: Kevin Kline

Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson

Vaughn Hood was a 118-pound barber when he was drafted into the Vietnam War. And in Vaughn’s war, most men didn’t survive their first three-month tour. In honor of Veteran's Day, here is the story of an extraordinary American life.

This story is co-produced by Larry Massett and Erica Heilman. It first ran in...I can't remember what year. About five years ago.

Every year in the spring, small towns throughout New England host their annual town meeting. Town meetings take place in high school gyms or town halls, and anyone can come. In fact, in Vermont, Town Meeting Day is a public holiday. Everyone gets the day off work to make sure they have the chance to participate. It’s a moment when everyone who lives there can come together to talk out the issues facing the town and decide how they want to spend their money.

Radio producer Erica Heilman lives in Vermont and is the host of a  jewel of a podcast called Rumble Strip. It’s ostensibly all about life in Vermont, but it may just also be about life in general.