As we enter the darkest season of the year, you may be wondering: Why do we have to fall back and spring ahead? And is there anything that can be done about it?

That’s what Olga Ardova of Georgia asked us.

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

This episode was reported by Bob Kinzel and produced by Matthew Smith, and our BLS team: Josh Crane, Myra Flynn and Angela Evancie. Special thanks to Mitch Wertlieb. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

To answer this question from Dean Lehrke of Kansas, reporter Elodie Reed travels to the Northeast Kingdom to explore the ways that isolated Amish families have become fixtures in their Vermont community.

Elodie also draws on her own experiences growing up in Christian Science — a different culturally isolated community — to better understand Amish practices and Amish beliefs that go against convention.

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

This episode was reported by Elodie Reed and produced by Josh Crane. Mix and sound design by Myra Flynn. Editing and digital production by our team. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

To answer this question from Robert Small of Stannard, we take stock of not one, not two, but three pharmaceuticals currently in development.

This episode features reporting from Sue Halpern, who coincidentally answered Robert’s question for The New Yorker in August: Why It Took So Long to Develop a Vaccine for Lyme Disease.

More recommended reading:

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

This episode was reported and produced by Angela Evancie, with help from Josh Crane. Mix and sound design by Josh Crane, and digital production by Myra Flynn. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music; other music by Blue Dot Sessions and Myra Flynn.

Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio.

Call us rivals, or frenemies...But where does this half-serious tension come from? Ian Harding of Los Angeles asked us to break it down.

Check out our 2017 episode about how some of the differences between Vermont and New Hampshire stem from our geology, and go back literally hundreds of millions of years.

As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it!

In the latest installment of a Brave Little State tradition, we journey to the back roads of Vermont to learn about three mystifying road and place names: Cow Path 40 in Marlboro, Agony Hill Road in Reading, and Texas Falls in Hancock.

Check out bonus content, including maps and photos of the roads in question, at bravelittlestate.org.

As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it!

A listener's request about the legacy of Tropical Storm Irene prompted us to tell three stories about resilience — personal, entrepreneurial and spiritual.

Check out bonus content, including photos of the Graham-Frock family, the Woodlawn Cemetery project, and other people and places from this episode, at bravelittlestate.org.

As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it!

In honor of the show’s 5th birthday, we revisit our inaugural episode — about the past, present and future of the Vermont accent.

Thanks to Erin Creley for being our first-ever question-asker, and to Alex Keefe for helping us launch the show back in 2016.

To find more audio recordings that demonstrate the features of the Vermont accent, and learn about some recent research on the “glottal stop,” check out our web feature.

As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it!

A question from Bobby Arnell of Winooski about the complex, controversial decision to base fighter jets in Vermont's most populous county.

Check out bonus content, including video by VPR's news fellow Marlon Hyde, at bravelittlestate.org.

As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it!

We get comfortable — or uncomfortable — and talk about living in Vermont with, or as, a Black kid.

See photos of the families we heard from in this episode, some adorable pix of producer Myra Flynn as a Vermont kid, and archival photos of Randolph Union High School's "Galloping Ghost" mascot, here.

As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it!

bravelittlestate.org

What factors go into placing those yellow road signs? A question from Jocelyn Hebert gets to the heart of a tension between the natural world and human infrastructure. Check out photos of "Moose Alley" and data visualizations here. As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it!

bravelittlestate.org