For Tibetan-American artist Migmar Tsering, music and dance are inextricably linked to being Tibetan.

Migmar first learned traditional dance in the village of Langkor in the county of Tingri. He was born there almost 3 decades after the invasion of Tibet by communist China in 1950.

Since the 1950s, the Tibetan diaspora has expanded, with multiple groups of Tibetans relocating to India and later the U.S., Canada, Australia, and some European countries. Under the United States 1990 Immigration Act, 1,000 Tibetans living in exile in India, Nepal, and Bhutan were chosen via lottery to receive U.S. visas.

In 1993, Vermont became one of 25 resettlement sites in the U.S. Migmar arrived to Vermont in 2011 and soon began teaching traditional music and dance to kids in Vermont's Tibetan American community.

The Arts that Shape Us is a podcast by Vermont Folklife, produced with support from Vermont Public's Made Here Fund. Hosted by Mary Wesley, it’s devoted to exploring the state’s cultural heritage and what different local artforms say about the past and present of Vermont.

Since at least the 1870s, people in central Vermont have cut, chiseled, hoisted, polished, and carved local granite, creating monuments, statues, and especially memorial grave markers. The granite industry brought Italian, French, Canadian, Scots, Scandinavian, Irish, Greek, and Spanish workers to the city of Barre, each bringing their own stone carving traditions.

Over time, these artisans and the manufacturers they worked for shaped an enduring identity: The Barre stone carver.

The Arts that Shape Us is a podcast by Vermont Folklife, produced with support from Vermont Public's Made Here Fund. Hosted by Mary Wesley, it’s devoted to exploring the state’s cultural heritage and what different local artforms say about the past and present of Vermont.

“There is a lot of change from the beginning up to now, and we are still learning every day.”

The experience of resettling in Brattleboro has changed not only the Afghan women who had to rebuild their lives, but also the people and the town that helped them do it. There are many challenges—a housing shortage, the loss of federal funding that supports refugee programs, pockets of resentment among local residents. But in the words of one longtime Brattleboro citizen, the town has learned a lot “about resiliency, support, and what really matters.”

The Afghan Women of Brattleboro was produced by Two Daughters Productions with support from Vermont Public's Made Here Fund.

“My daughters will be raised in America, so their lives will be different from mine.”

Some Afghan women in Brattleboro left their country because their husbands had jobs connected to the Afghan military or to the U.S. government evacuation in 2021, which put them in danger. Coming from traditional families, these women focus on the same things in Brattleboro as they did at home: raising their children, practicing their faith, and preserving their culture. But they’re also doing new things, like learning how to drive.

The Afghan Women of Brattleboro was produced by Two Daughters Productions with support from Vermont Public's Made Here Fund.

“Many of us who are here in Brattleboro ... we had a good life in Afghanistan.”

Afghan women in their 40s and 50s grew up surrounded by war. They went to school off and on, depending on how much violence was happening in their neighborhoods. They raised children. Many built careers. But those careers put them in danger when the Taliban returned in 2021. Today these women face the double burden of supporting themselves and their families in Brattleboro and also their families back home.

The Afghan Women of Brattleboro was produced by Two Daughters Productions with support from Vermont Public's Made Here Fund.

“I grew up with all these stories, all this history. How can I accept in one night, everything is changed?”

Many young women who came of age during Afghanistan’s 20 years of democracy went to high school and university and were charting their futures when the Taliban took power. Their lives were in danger so they fled. In Afghanistan, they had been academic powerhouses, artists, educators, rising business managers. In Brattleboro, they started over.

The Afghan Women of Brattleboro was produced by Two Daughters Productions with support from Vermont Public's Made Here Fund.

“Is any place in the United States of America called Vermont?”

As Afghan women left their country and embarked on a journey halfway around the world, they mourned their losses: family, homes, careers, comfort. They mourned their loss of Afghanistan. They landed in Vermont, a place they’d never heard of before. A brand new resettlement agency and a cadre of volunteers were waiting for them.

The Afghan Women of Brattleboro was produced by Two Daughters Productions with support from Vermont Public's Made Here Fund.

“The day the Taliban took control of our country, how much we cried no one can imagine.”

When the fundamentalist Taliban seized power in 2021, Afghan citizens were shocked and terrified. They fled the country for different reasons: their education, jobs, or activism put them in danger; they were connected to the Afghan military or a western government; or all of the above. The U.S. evacuated close to 80,000 Afghans. Some were destined for Brattleboro, Vermont.

The Afghan Women of Brattleboro was produced by Two Daughters Productions with support from Vermont Public's Made Here Fund.

Dr. Bob Primeau is the only primary care doctor for miles. He has spent his entire career taking care of patients from the day they’re born until the day they die. But his field is changing, and Primeau is nearing retirement age.

"At the end of the summer, I'm leaving the primary care practice," Primeau says. "I'll have more time to devote to our local trail network, to play music, maybe even do some work overseas or teach at the high school. None of that will be as important as the 34 years I spent as the doctor in Island Pond."

This story is a collaborative documentary, told from the point of view of its main subject, in his own words. The narration is the result of many hours of conversation and work between Dr. Primeau and producer Anna Van Dine, written based on transcripts and emails.

Homeless Vermonters face many deadly risks. But the state doesn't track how many have died, or what kills them. A first-of-its kind analysis by Vermont Public and Seven Days identified at least 82 people who died either living outside or sheltered in motels between 2021 and 2024.