PODCAST · history
Before Your Time
by VTDigger
Exploring Vermont's history, one object at a time.
Episodes
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Vermont Reads 2026: Charity and Sylvia
We talk with people involved in the creation of Charity and Sylvia, our Vermont Reads 2026 choice, including author Tillie Walden. Created by Walden from archival materials at the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury, and other primary and secondary sources, Charity and Sylvia is…
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Vermont Reads 2025: Episode Two: Water
The Light Pirate is divided into four sections. This second episode focuses on Water. We speak with author Lily Brooks-Dalton, along with: Filmmaker Jay Craven Dan Nott, author of the Vermont Book Award-winning graphic novel “Hidden Systems” Paul W. Gates from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum...
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Vermont Reads 2025 Episode One: Power
We are releasing two podcast episodes featuring interviews with people whose work intersects with the themes in "The Light Pirate," our Vermont Reads 2025 book. The episodes are centered around the first two sections of the book: Power, and Water. This first episode focuses on Power. We speak…
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Circumnavigating the Wilson Globe
James Wilson is an almost mythical figure in Vermont History, reputedly a lone genius who created the first globe in America. For several years, the Vermont Historical Society researched more about Wilson and his globes - and the picture that emerged was much more complicated and interesting than...
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Acid Rain and Vermont's Waterways
Vermont's water quality has long been a top concern for scientists and residents, and in the 1980s it reached national attention as acid rain came to the forefront of public understanding. What is acid rain, anyway? Why was Vermont getting so much attention? And where are we now in addressing…
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The Library Map of Vermont
The “Library Map of Vermont” was created in 1914 to track all 225 brick and mortar libraries as well as 267 traveling library stations around the state. In this episode we’ll ask; Can a map truly show what it means for a community to have a well-supported library… and when communities lack that?
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Forests And Frontiers
Vermont's extensive old-growth forests drew representatives from the King's Navy looking for mast trees. What can their map of timber resources tell us about our relationship to the land, how Vermont defined itself, and how history is saved or not?
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Canal Fever
In the summer of 1829, three Army surveyors created a map exploring a potential canal route that would have connected Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River. "Canal Fever" was gripping the region, with the success of the Erie Canal. But this quantum leap in transportation technology would have…
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Call it a New Life
Technological improvements, from butter churns to electricity, transformed life on Vermont farms from the 1890s through the mid-20th century. Many of these changes eased the workload of Vermont's farming families. But other changes - done in the name of modernity - had long-term impacts on the...
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A Foot in Both Worlds
People speaking Spanish as they milk cows may not fit our traditional image of a Vermont farm. But workers from Mexico and Central America are crucial to the state’s economy. And such migrant labor has a long history in Vermont.
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The Curious Catamount
Though said to be extinct, catamounts live on in the minds of many Vermonters. In this episode we retrace a Barnard panther hunt from 1881 and consider the hold that these big cats continue to have on our imaginations.
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A Town Solves a Problem
Town meeting is central to our identity as a little state on a human scale that does things differently. But what happens to town meeting when it needs to change during a pandemic? Or when it changes because Vermont itself has changed? In this episode, we discuss a film made in Pittsford, Vermont...
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Send Me a Box
We examine some of the products that people have mailed from and to Vermont, from maple syrup to complete houses and almost everything in between. Includes segments about a sugarmaker in East Barnard, Civil War letters, kit houses, and the Vermont Country Store.
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Vermont on the Silver Screen
From A Vermont Romance to Funny Farm, our state has been featured in films for over a century. What are the myths that Hollywood creates about our lives in Vermont? And what are the myths that we create ourselves? In this episode, we take a look at how Vermont has been depicted in movies, from A...
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Green Up Day
Vermont’s Green Up Day celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. In 1970, the day featured closed interstate highways, coerced schoolchildren, and shouted encouragement from a buzzing Cessna.
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The Long Enough Trail
Stories from those who founded, hiked, and loved Vermont’s Long Trail, including the first women to through-hike the “footpath in the wilderness” in 1927. We talk with Ben Rose, former Executive Director of the Green Mountain Club, about James P. Taylor, an early visionary and promoter for the…
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Princes and Free Men
It’s well-known that Vermont is one of the whitest states in the Union. And so the stories of African American Vermonters can sometimes get forgotten, no matter how important they have been to our state’s and our nation’s history. In this episode we examine the lives of several influential…
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After the Crossing
Many different groups of people, from many different continents, have helped build our state. But from the 19th century through 2019, the stories of immigrants have largely been excluded from the popular image of Vermont. In this episode, we learn about Burlington's immigrant groups through their...
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Green Mountain Grab Bag
It’s a shame that some of the things we record get edited out of our stories. So here’s an episode of lost clips: bike whistles, pewter purists, halfway houses on the border, needlework, and the grave of “Vermont’s Donald Trump.”
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A Place for Us
Queer lives and queer histories in Vermont were often kept private for good reason: the fear of losing one’s job, home, or family. The fear of violence. But it’s important to know that LGBTQ people are here, have always been here, and are part of the state’s history.
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Herbs and Remedies
It can seem like every town in Vermont once had a pharmacist brewing their own special blend of medicine. Some of these cures were derived from herbal folk remedies. Others were created from a lot of alcohol, some food coloring, and a pinch of carefully honed hokum.
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The power of the press
A massive wooden printing press made in the mid-17th century has a place of pride in the Vermont History Museum, and not just because it’s old. It represents both the history of written law in the state, and the crucial role that journalism – the press – plays in a democracy.
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Built to last
Plenty of Vermont’s historic buildings are exactly the traditional homes, churches, and meeting houses commonly associated with small New England towns. But as the state changed in the 20th century, its architecture did too. Now, experts are looking more closely at buildings that look nothing…
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Anything for speed
People have raced cars in the Green Mountains since 1903. There were racetracks in every corner of the state: at fairgrounds, in farmers’ back fields, and finally at dozens of dedicated racetracks. Thousands of Vermonters have been drivers, mechanics, track officials, and spectators at those…
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Coming home from the Great War
More than 600 Vermonters died overseas fighting in World War I. But thousands more brought their unique experiences of battle back to their home state.
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Tales behind the tombstones
Many of Vermont’s cemeteries date back multiple centuries. They’re filled with worn-down stones that may only offer glimpses of the personal histories of the dead. But these cemeteries still hold lessons for the people who visit and research them today.
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Mobility for the masses
Many Vermonters felt a sense of liberation during the nation’s first “bike boom” in the 1890s. Bikes became cheaper and easier to ride, eventually revolutionizing personal transportation and recreation. Vermont's early bike clubs were the province of elites: mostly wealthy, white men. But...
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Talk about the weather
Vermonters love weather. They love bragging about it, complaining about it, hiding inside from it, and playing outside in it. It’s a topic of conversation across the state. One expert believes that's due to Vermont's constantly changing conditions. "Weather can be pretty extreme," says Roger…
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More than books
Vermont's 183 public libraries are icons of the state's history. But they're also centers of civic engagement for modern cities and towns. When most of these institutions were first built, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they had a simpler purpose. "It was bathrooms and books," says...
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Knitters, weavers and “women’s work”
Vermont today has no shortage of knitters, crocheters, rug hookers, silvers, sewers and felters. Some are avid hobbyists, and some make a living from their craft. But all are part of a long history of fiber arts in Vermont. Household production across New England spiked in the late 18th century.…
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The Land of Gin and Whiskey
Visitors who come to Vermont seeking artisanal alcohol may not realize that it used to be one of the driest states in the nation: Prohibition lasted longer here than almost any other part of the country. But some experts say that dry spell may have led to today's booming alcohol culture. On this...
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From Communes to Commerce
The 1970s are often remembered in Vermont as the decade that thousands of new transplants made the state their home. While the country grappled with scandals like Vietnam and Watergate, back-to-the-land communes offered settlers an alternative path. The counterculture valued self-reliance over...
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Selling Vermont
Decades before the advent of skiing, Vermont was a destination for outdoor recreation during warmer months. The ski resort industry filled the gap: it made Vermont a four-season state for travelers. On this podcast, we’ll hear about how it defined a certain era of our history, around the mid-20th...
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A Green Mountain Mixtape
In the late 1920s, a state panel called the Vermont Commission on Country Life asked Helen Hartness Flanders, a well-connected socialite from Springfield, to document Vermont's traditional music. Like an Alan Lomax for the Green Mountains, Flanders traveled the state with a Model T full of...
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Vermont's Great Flood
A rugbeater is a simple tool, made of wood and thick wire, that Vermonters once used to beat dust out of rugs hung on clotheslines. One rugbeater in the Vermont Historical Society's collection was used to clean up after a historic mess. Ninety years ago, a rainstorm that swept across the eastern...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Exploring Vermont's history, one object at a time.
HOSTED BY
VTDigger
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Before Your Time have?
Before Your Time currently has 35 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Before Your Time about?
Exploring Vermont's history, one object at a time.
How often does Before Your Time release new episodes?
Before Your Time has 35 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Before Your Time?
You can listen to Before Your Time on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Before Your Time?
Before Your Time is created and hosted by VTDigger.
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