Despite fears of his authoritarian tendencies, stoked in part by his own use of social media, Donald Trump has, to date, proved to be a rather weak president – a weakness consistent with that of previous presidents governing under similar circumstances. But history also suggests weak presidents can be the most dangerous. Dickinson will assess President Trump’s record so far, and what we might expect going forward. Sponsored by the Addison County Retired Teachers Association.
As UVM professor Lisa Holmes explains, while presidents have long used judicial appointments to tilt the judiciary in one direction or another, less common historically have been presidents gaining great political benefit from appointing judges for ideological reasons. Its impact on the health of the judiciary remains to be seen. Recorded 3/28/18.
Addison County used to be known as the “Land of Milk and Honey.” Today the honeybee faces many affronts to its immune system in these days of habitat destruction and pesticide overload. The high colony loss challenges facing beekeepers and the declining bird, butterfly and native bee populations makes it all the more imperative that local beekeepers, farmers, gardeners and homeowners learn healthy ways to assist pollinators and improve their chances of survival. Local beekeeper Ross Conrad shares the “how to” of numerous techniques and lays out a map that we can use to reduce stresses on pollinator health. Recorded 03/20/18 by Addison County homeschooled kids.
Kara Richardson Whitely reads from her book, Gorge, about climbing Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro weighing as much as 300 pounds. Kara’s talk will address issues of positive self-image, food addiction/binge eating recovery, helping others (all three of her Kilimanjaro hikes raised funds for AIDS orphans in Africa) and the benefits of movement and spending time in nature. Recorded 7/22/17.
Elizabeth Rice reads from her first book, Rituals of Separation, a love song to a cross cultural childhood and an exploration of issues of belonging, loss, and cultural identity. Recorded 7/6/17.
This presentation will compare the design, construction, and performance of three new Addison County high-performance homes completed in 2015 and 2016. All two-story buildings on small lots, these homes used a variety of construction systems to accommodate aesthetic, site, and builder considerations. Find out how overall home designs met the interests and goals of the homeowners; the cost, performance and ease of construction of the different envelope systems; and reasons to choose one system over the others. Presentation will include cost and payback information as well. Presenters: Jean Terwilliger of Vermont Integrated Architecture, P.C., Alex Carver of Northern Timbers Construction, and Tom LeBoeuf of Northeast Craftsmen Group. Recorded at the Ilsley Library 4/18/17.
Middlebury College Political Science Professor Matt Dickinson draws on his experiences following the presidential candidates to explain how Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton became their party nominees, and looks ahead to the general election to predict who will be our next president – and why.
Sponsored by the Addison County Retired Teachers Association.
Producer: Ilsley Public Library
Public, Educational, and Governmental Access for Middlebury, Vermont
