VPR News

The Latin phrase Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes literally means “who will guard the guards themselves.” One contemporary rift on this maxim asks “who will watch the watchers.”

This summer France was in turmoil about, of all things, a bathing suit. A few Muslim women, constrained by their religion to cover their bodies, appeared on public beaches in so-called burkinis – garments with a striking resemblance to wetsuits. When other beachgoers complained, several rightwing mayors responded by banning burkinis and head-coverings on public beaches.

Vermont is an eclectic place, and we're serving up an eclectic mix of topics in today's program - from technology that's changing the way we think about cardboard, to the fantasy sci-fi world of steampunk, to the serious work of protecting civil liberties.

Early voting for the November election officially starts on Friday, Sept. 23, but some towns have been handing out ballots for the past week. The Vermont Republican Party wants to know why the secretary of state's office has allowed this to happen.

Vermont’s next attorney general will likely inherit one of the highest-profile civil cases in state history, and Republican Deb Bucknam and Democrat TJ Donovan say charges related to a $200 million EB-5 fraud in the Northeast Kingdom would be a priority for their administration.

Let’s face it, a lot of us show up for work when we should stay home. Of course, when you have only about six weeks left to win a presidential election, spending a day in your pajamas binge watching West Wing and asking your husband to make you some chicken soup - my usual flu season gambit - is probably not an option.

The wording was simple but the meaning was not. It read: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” For Phyllis Schlafly, the ERA was a call to battle. For women like myself, the ERA seemed the last and most important step to full equality.

Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras did not violate the city’s charter in his quest to make Rutland the state’s newest refugee resettlement community, according to a 26-page report by Rutland City Attorney Charles Romeo.

What do you think is the most memorable public art in Vermont? But before answering that, let's back up even a bit further – how does one define public art?

Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Scott Milne is renewing his call on Patrick Leahy to release Senate records related to the alleged EB-5 scandals in Jay Peak. Leahy, meanwhile, says he’s growing tired of his opponent’s tactics, and that it’s becoming evident that Milne lacks the grasp of policy needed to be an effective member of Congress.

The very first commercial wind project on U.S. Forest Service land is underway in southern Vermont.

The Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus are officially under new ownership. For the Mitchell family that owned the papers, the sale marks the end of an era that that spanned three generations and seven decades.

The course of history is often shaped by the outcome of battles, even small ones. That's the case with the Battle of Bennington, which was fought back in August 1777. Phil Holland is an English teacher at Community College of Vermont and the author of the new book A Guide to the Battle of Bennington and the Bennington Monument.

In this most unpredictable of political seasons, gun safety has re-emerged as a major issue. Lawmakers have long been reluctant to debate gun laws on both the state and federal levels, but recent violence and inflammatory political rhetoric have brought the second amendment back to the forefront. So the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center’s main exhibition this summer is “Up in Arms: Taking Stock of Guns,” is surprisingly timely.

The statewide races for the general election are now set, and there are open races for governor and lieutenant governor. We're hosting a reporter’s roundtable to look at the key factors that could influence these races. We’ll talk about the candidates and the issues in all the major contests this fall.