There's No "A" in Creemee

Maura Collins on Why Vermont's Affordable Housing Math Doesn't Add Up

Joanna and Andy sit down with Maura Collins, Executive Director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, for a deep dive into Vermont's housing crisis. Maura explains how VHFA moves Wall Street money to Vermonters, why Vermont median home prices are nearly 5x median income, and why $450 million in tax-exempt bond money sits unused while 850 apartments could be built today. Plus: the post-2008 rule quietly killing condo development, what you can do locally at housingdata.org, and Maura's shocking Creemee confession. In the opener: canvassing dispatches, a two-Creemee week, Mets win the Subway Series, Joanna's Democratic Party primary neutrality resolution, and Senator Heffernan's disturbing floor comments on trans identity. #TheresNoAInCreemee #VTPoli #VermontPolitics #VermontHousing #AffordableHousing #VHFA #HousingCrisis #VTLeg #VermontPodcast #MauraCollins #HousingPolicy #LetsBuildHomes #MetsWin #SubwaySeries #TransRights #VermontLife #CreemeeHeresy #HousingData

The Podiversary Special, Part 2: Charity Clark & Owen Foster Turn the Tables on Joanna & Andy

The mic takeover continues as Owen Foster and Charity Clark take the wheel and put Joanna and Andy through a delightfully rigorous Vermont quiz — dairy cows, state mottos, switchel, the Vermont wave, and a pronunciation segment that exposes who truly drops their T's. Before the buzzer sounds, the group digs into Vermont's most stubborn challenges — education, housing, healthcare, and affordability — and why self-reliance may be the only answer as federal support melts down. Plus: Vermont's smallness as both superpower and social limiter, the Long Trail as spiritual home, and a Vermont history deep dive into the Young Turks and the Mountain Rule. Also: dream podcast guests, Creemee orders all around, and some very old baseball grudges. Hashtags: #TheresNoAInCreemee #VTPoli #VermontPolitics #VermontHistory #MountainRule #YoungTurks #RealVermonter #VermontQuiz #Switchel #Creemee #VermontValues #LongTrail #VermontCulture #OwenFoster #CharityClark #VTElections2026 #BraveVermontState #VermontPodcast

The Podiversary Special, Part 1: Charity Clark & Owen Foster Turn the Tables on Joanna & Andy

It's our podiversary! For this special anniversary episode, we hand the mics to two fan favorites — Attorney General Charity Clark and Green Mountain Care Board Chair Owen Foster — who turn the tables and interview Joanna and Andy. We cover the podcast's scrappy origin story (yes, the bike shop), the thinking behind the name, Vermont's shrinking media landscape, the cultural problem of incumbency, party neutrality, what people get wrong about politicians, and whether two-year terms are a feature or a bug. Plus: the couch tape line makes an on-air debut, and Charity shares her all-time favorite piece of social media hate mail. #TheresNoAInCreemee #VTPoli #VermontPolitics #Podiversary #CharityClark #OwenFoster #VermontMedia #Democracy #Incumbency #GreenMountainCareBoard #VermontPodcast #VTElections2026 #BehindTheMic #VermontLife

Double Scoop: Round up on Ed Policy, State Shutdowns, Wealth Tax, & Farewell to Chuck

On this Double Scoop episode, Joanna and Andy catch up on all the political and policy news fit to podcast. We survived another week on the doors — rained on, recognized by a fan, and mourning two beloved pod mascots: Chester and Chuck. Then it's statehouse time. We ponder if legislators can handle devices better than high school students. Also, the governor is threatening to shut down Vermont state government, we get the latest on the buydown, and forced school district consolidation. Meanwhile, the wealth tax is picking up steam. Plus: Act 181 loses Tier 3 and the road rule, data privacy heats up in two competing bills, and Joanna asks why legislators keep vetoing bills before the governor even gets the chance. #TheresNoAInCreemee #VTPoli #VermontPolitics #VTLeg #WealthTax #EdFinance #Act181 #DataPrivacy #GreenUpDay #VTElections2026 #Creemee

Taxes & Moose with Ways & Means Chair Rep. Emilie Kornheiser

Andy returns from his birthday moose expedition to the Northeast Kingdom. Joanna makes a shocking confession about creemees. Plus, a teaser of the all-star cast for the upcoming pod-iversary. On the policy front: the Vermont ticket scalping bill hits snags in Senate Economic Development (even with a Noah Kahan endorsement), Act 181's Road Rule and Tier 3 look headed for full repeal, and H-955 — the education transformation bill — passes the House with a second homeowner tax attached and heads to the Senate. Then, live from the Statehouse, Joanna and Andy sit down with Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Emilie breaks down how Vermont actually raises money — from the consensus revenue forecast and the emergency board to property tax buy-downs and the second homeowner's tax that could be a game-changer for Vermont homesteaders. She also weighs in on the fair share campaign, keeping Vermont dollars out of Amazon's pocket, and what it means to fund democracy from the ground up. In Last Licks, Andy redeems his mooseless weekend with stories of moose in deeply wrong places — hospital lobbies, Walmart trampolines, and one very tipsy moose stuck in a Swedish apple tree.