David Goodman

"It's kinda terrifying:" A family confronts a future without health insurance “We can’t take out a second mortgage on our house to afford one year of health insurance,” said Arica Bronz, a Pilates instructor from Winooski, where she lives with her family

A modern American horror story - "It's kinda terrifying:" A family confronts a future without health insurance - on Vermont Conversation open.substack.com/pub/davidgoo...

Pianist Adam Tendler transforms his father’s death into ‘little masterpieces’ The renowned musician did something remarkable with a wad of cash stuffed into a manila envelope handed to him in a Denny's parking lot

What do Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga & Adam Tendler have in common? They were all nominated for 2026 Grammy Awards today. Here’s a Vermont Conversation with the third guy open.substack.com/pub/davidgoo...

I always find it interesting how the story changes when a lawyer gets to court. They can say anything they want outside of court without accountability but the rules are vastly different in court where you can get seriously penalized for lying.

Vermont Conversation: Pianist Adam Tendler transforms his father’s death into 'little masterpieces' - VTDigger The result is a critically acclaimed album and concert tour called "Inheritances," with a performance at the Barre Opera House set for November 16.

The result is a critically acclaimed album and concert tour called “Inheritances,” with a performance at the Barre Opera House set for November 16.

Vermont Conversation: U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin on 'the fight of our lives' under Trump - VTDigger When Congress impeached President Trump in 2021 for inciting an insurrection, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tapped Raskin to be the lead impeachment manager, essentially Trump’s chief prosecutor.

"We need to be speaking out about every single episode of criminality, high crime and misdemeanor, every single violation of the Constitution" - @raskin.house.gov on Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/10/29/v...

Vermont Conversation: A field report from Vermont's historic 'No Kings' rallies - VTDigger Clara White, a 14-year-old eighth grade student from Montpelier, said that “people my age, we are not just sitting around waiting. We are more connected than generations before us."

"The first step on the hero’s journey is answering the call. And that is what you have done today. You are answering the call.” - @balint.house.gov told that thousands of #NoKings protesters at the Vermont State House vtdigger.org/2025/10/22/v...

Vermont Conversation: Mohsen Mahdawi & Bernard Avishai on Palestine, Israel and what lasting peace will take - VTDigger "I don't say the war is over before giving Palestinians their rights — the right to self-determination, the right to freedom, the right of return and the right to live in dignity," Mahdawi said.

"I don’t say the war is over before giving Palestinians their rights — the right to self-determination, the right to freedom, the right of return and the right to live in dignity” - Mohsen Mahdawi on Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/10/15/v...

Vermont Conversation: Vermont Asylum Assistance Project confronts Trump's assault on immigrant rights - VTDigger “People are really starting to look at what's going on in the immigration system as a microcosm for what could happen to our democracy if left unchecked, not just for noncitizens, but for everyone," s...

Immigrants are "canaries in the coalmine" said Jill Martin Diaz of Vt Asylum Assistance. They're "a microcosm for what could happen to our democracy if left unchecked, not just for noncitizens, but for everyone” -- Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/09/10/v...

Vermont Conversation: Dr. Becca Bell on the chaos at the CDC, and the uneven future of vaccine access - VTDigger The Vermont pediatrician warned that Medicaid cuts, which will result in some 45,000 Vermonters losing health insurance, will fall hardest on children, who make up one third of the program's enrollees...

"We shouldn’t trust what’s coming out of the CDC" - pediatrician Dr. Becca Bell @rebeccabellmd.bsky.social on Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/09/03/v...

Vermont Conversation: Writer and organizer Bill McKibben on how the renewable energy revolution can bolster democracy - VTDigger “Four years ago or so we passed some invisible line where it became cheaper to produce power from the sun and the wind than from burning things. And that's a completely epochal moment."

“There is one good thing happening that actually has the capacity to help not only with the climate crisis but also with the crisis of inequality and democracy” - @billmckibben.bsky.social on Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/08/27/v...

Excellent & chilling analysis of where we are by @vermontgmg.bsky.social

Vermont Conversation: Sen. Peter Welch slams Trump on his 'ugly bill', DC takeover and war in Gaza - VTDigger Welch has tallied the impact of President Trump’s economic policies and determined that they will cost families in Vermont an average of $2,120 each year.

"There were a lot of lies that were peddled by the administration and by my Republican colleagues,” said @senpeterwelch.govpeeps.us, noting that Trump's budget will cost the average Vt family over $2k annually - Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/08/13/v...

Vermont Conversation: Winooski Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria on why he was detained at the border - VTDigger “I was flagged and put on some sort of list before I even arrived at that airport," Chavarria said.

“I was flagged and put on some sort of list before I even arrived at that airport,” Chavarria said.

Vermont Conversation: Winooski Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria on why he was detained at the border - VTDigger “I was flagged and put on some sort of list before I even arrived at that airport," Chavarria said.

"This is not North Korea taking you into an interrogation room. This is your own U.S. government that’s supposed to be there to protect you” - School Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria on being detained at the US border, on Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/08/06/v...

Vermont Conversation: Journalist Garrett Graff on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bomb and the rise of authoritarianism today - VTDigger “There is no preordained rule that America remains a democracy," Graff said.

“There is no preordained rule that America remains a democracy,” said Garrett Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social on the Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/07/30/v...

Fear of ICE Jolts a Maine Beach Town

My story in today's @nytimes.com about an iconic Maine town torn apart by immigration & ICE
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/t...

Vermont Conversation: Planned Parenthood's Nicole Clegg on reproductive rights without clinics - VTDigger President Trump’s 'Big Beautiful Bill' includes a provision to defund the organization. “It’s about abortion. It’s about controlling people and their ability to make decisions and decide when to have ...

President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ includes a provision to defund the organization. “It’s about abortion. It’s about controlling people and their ability to make decisions and decide when to have a family,” Clegg said.

In a rare moment of honesty, Dr Oz introduces himself to the world (screenshot of an actual email that I just received)

Vermont Conversation: Sociologist Arlie Hochschild on the rise of the right in rural America - VTDigger Her latest book, “Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right,” is based on seven years of work in eastern Kentucky, one of the poorest and whitest areas in the country.

Vermont Conversation: Sociologist Arlie Hochschild on the rise of the right in rural America - @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/07/09/v...

I covered civil unions and marriage equality in VT for @motherjones.com back in 2000 & 2009. For the 25th anniversary of civil unions, I spoke again with the plaintiffs, Gov. Howard Dean & Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy. They are all concerned that LGBTQ rights won then may soon be lost.

Vermont Conversation: 'This is about white supremacy' – Rep. Becca Balint on fighting the Trump administration - VTDigger "I don't feel that this President plays chess. I feel like he makes decisions based on the whim at the moment ... or where he thinks he is going to get that feeling that he craves."

"This is about white supremacy" – Rep. Becca Balint @balint.house.gov on fighting the Trump administration - on The Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/06/25/v...

Vermont Conversation: As Vermonters go hungry, the Trump administration threatens cuts to food assistance - VTDigger Emmanuelle Soumailhan, coordinator for Capstone Community Action's food shelf, said that the pantry gets about 800 to 1,000 visitors per month — double the traffic it received before the Covid pandemi...

“I just hope that we’re a country that decides to make sure our people are cared for, rather than giving money to the highest wealth individuals in this country through tax breaks” - on Vermont Conversation
vtdigger.org/2025/06/11/v...

Vermont Conversation: Award-winning filmmaker Eugene Jarecki on Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and the global crackdown on truth - VTDigger Jarecki’s new film, “The Six Billion Dollar Man,” chronicles Assange’s crusade to reveal inconvenient truths that governments seek to bury.

"We’re living at a time with fascism on the rise all over the world, a crackdown on truth telling by those in power who do not find the truth convenient" - filmmaker Eugene Jarecki on Julian Assange and the crackdown on truth - Vt Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/06/04/v...

Vermont Conversation: Jasper Hill Farm's Mateo Kehler confronts Canadian boycott and Vermont's affordable housing crisis - VTDigger The local housing crunch is so severe that Jasper Hill has bought 11 properties to provide subsidized rent so its employees can afford to live nearby the farm.

Jasper Hill Farm's Mateo Kehler says that Canadian boycott of American goods caused Canadian cheese sales to go "from gangbusters to a zippo in just the span of a month. It's been a disaster” - on Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/05/28/v...

Vermont farmers wanted stricter immigration policies. Now Trump’s deportation push is hurting their businesses. - The Boston Globe Farm owners and workers alike have been on edge in the month since US Border Patrol officers detained eight Mexican men on Vermont’s largest dairy operation, Pleasant Valley Farms.

They just can't quit Trump...even when he screws them.

“All the dairy farmers who voted for Trump were under the impression they weren’t going to come on farms and take our guys. This wasn’t supposed to happen.’" But he would vote for him again. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/22/m...

Vermont Conversation: Flutist Karen Kevra on a quarter-century of making world-class music in Vermont - VTDigger Karen Kevra was passionate about playing the flute as a child. But in college, she became disillusioned and walked away. Her winding journey brought her back to music and transformed the music scene i...

Music is “a respite from all of the difficult stuff that’s going on in the world and the news. We’re offering a kind of salve for the soul." - Grammy-nominated flutist Karen Kevra on Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social vtdigger.org/2025/05/21/v...

Headline at left, from 'Independent' in UK.

Headline at right, from "most prestigious" news org in US.

-Hard to believe they're about same event.
-All too easy to believe that NYT again went with sane-washing.

Vermont Conversation: Flutist Karen Kevra on a quarter-century of making world-class music in Vermont - VTDigger Karen Kevra was passionate about playing the flute as a child. But in college, she became disillusioned and walked away. Her winding journey brought her back to music and transformed the music scene i...

“These concerts are kind of a respite from all of the difficult stuff that’s going on in the world and the news. We’re offering a kind of salve for the soul”- Flutist Karen Kevra on The Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social Digger vtdigger.org/2025/05/21/v...

Vermont Conversation: A walk in the woods with Mohsen Mahdawi - VTDigger The Trump administration is continuing its effort to deport the Palestinian student activist. For now, he can continue his fight for freedom outside of prison.

I was in prison, but I was not imprisoned. I refuse to be silenced" - Mohsen Madawi, @columbiauniversity.bsky.social student freed after 2 weeks in Trump's immigration gulag speaks on Vermont Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social
vtdigger.org/2025/05/14/v...

Vermont Conversation: A walk in the woods with Mohsen Mahdawi - VTDigger The Trump administration is continuing its effort to deport the Palestinian student activist. For now, he can continue his fight for freedom outside of prison.

"You’re not alone. There are many other people who are like you, feeling afraid from the direction that politics is going in this country. In every situation of darkness, there is always light" - Mohsen Mahdawi on Vt Conversation @vtdigger.bsky.social
vtdigger.org/2025/05/14/v...