The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman

Anne Applebaum is a staff writer for The Atlantic, a former columnist for the Washington Post and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. Her latest book is Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, in which she explores why people, including former friends of hers, are drawn to strongmen and nationalist movements. On this Vermont Conversation, she discusses her recent articles about how social media poses a threat to democracy, how and why Russia interferes in US elections, and what should be done about it, and how to deal with insurrectionists who live among us.

Jessie Diggins is the fastest woman in the world. At least on cross-country skis. Earlier this month, Diggins, a Minnesota native who trains in Vermont, became the first American woman to win the overall World Cup cross-country skiing title. Only American cross-country skier Bill Koch, who won the men’s title 39 years ago, has accomplished this. This is just the latest first for the trailblazing Diggins: In January, she became the first American to win the Tour de Ski, a multiday ski race modeled on the Tour de France bike race. And in 2018, she and teammate Kikkan Randall became the first American women to win an Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing. As Diggins smashes records, she has become an icon for other female skiers around the country and the world. Her explosive speed is matched by her fun-loving public persona. She often races with paint and glitter on her face and is routinely captured on podiums jumping for joy. Diggins has also been praised for her candor about her struggles with an eating disorder, which she recounts in her new memoir, Brave Enough. Jessie Diggins and several of her teammates on the US women’s cross-country team were guests on the Vermont Conversation in January 2018, just days before they left for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. The finals of the women’s team sprint featured what many say was the most exciting moment of the 2018 Olympics. On the final lap, Diggins was locked in a 3-way contest with the top female skiers from Sweden and Norway. As Diggins battled to break past her two opponents, the announcers from NBC Sports screamed themselves hoarse capturing the thrill of the moment. “Here comes Diggins!,” as the NBC announcers shouted over the roar of the crowd, could well be a motto for Jessie Diggins as she continues to smash records. She talks with us about her skiing, going public about her struggle with bulimia, the social and political causes that she is championing, and just what was going through her mind as she lunged for Olympic gold.

As more Americans get vaccinated against Covid-19, both President Biden and Gov. Scott are predicting that life will return to normal by this summer. But now a new public health threat is emerging: people who refuse to get vaccinated. Vaccine hesitancy may become a risk factor for getting infected by Covid-19. There is a striking partisan dimension to vaccine hesitancy: in a recent CBS News poll, a third of Republicans said that they would not be vaccinated — versus 10 percent of Democrats — and another 20 percent of Republicans said they were unsure. Why are some people reluctant to get vaccinated against a deadly disease? What works to change people's minds? For answers, we turned to Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. He is also a columnist for the Wall Street Journal writing on behavior change. Ariely studies the irrational ways people behave and designs ways to make human behavior more rational.

A battle over the future of the Vermont Republican Party is being waged by supporters and opponents of former President Donald Trump. At stake is the future of the Vermont GOP and whether many top Republican officials will continue to be associated with it. Vermont state party officials have strongly supported Trump. In the aftermath of the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot by Trump supporters that left five people dead, Vermont Republican Party Chair Deb Billado issued a statement condemning the violence as “wrong, immoral and against the fundamental principles that we hold dear.” But she did not mention or blame Trump, and compared the Capitol riots to unrest at racial justice protests last summer. By contrast, Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott called for Trump to resign or be removed, and many of Vermont’s Republican lawmakers called for the resignation of the leadership of the Vermont GOP. To discuss the struggle over the future of the state Republican Party, we’re joined by Republican Rep. Scott Beck, who represents St. Johnsbury in the Vermont legislature, and Kolby LaMarche, a Champlain College student who is the former chair of the Burlington Republican Party. Party chair Deb Billado did not respond to multiple interview requests.