Category Archives: First Wednesdays

First Wednesday: “North: A Novel” with Brad Kessler

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]A finalist for the Vermont Book Award, North is a moving story about a Vermont monk, a Somali refugee, and an Afghan war veteran whose lives converge on a snowy Vermont night. Author Brad Kessler reviews the creation of the novel and his ongoing work with new Americans in Vermont.

Recorded 11/2/22.[/ezcol_2third_end][ezcol_1third]
Producer: Ilsley Public Library

First Wednesday: “Jewish Diaspora in 20 Recipes” with Natalie Neuert

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]Food—like music and language—is a strong link to our past, no matter the shores on which we arrive. Natalie Neuert, director of UVM’s Lane Series, explores the recipes that Jews took with them to the Balkans, Europe, North Africa, and America, from British fish and chips to Bubbe’s brisket to the ubiquitous Ashkenazi Shabbos supper of cholent.

Recorded 5/4/22.[/ezcol_2third_end][ezcol_1third]
Producer: Ilsley Public Library

First Wednesday: “A Life in Art and Activism” with John R. Killacky

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]Artist, legislator, and former director of the Flynn Center in Burlington, John R. Killacky draws on commentaries from his book Because Art to relate his experiences as dancer in New York in the late 1970s and ’80s, the maelstrom of the culture Wars of the 1990s, and his work advocating for artists with disabilities.

Recorded 11/3/21.[/ezcol_2third_end][ezcol_1third]
Producer: Ilsley Public Library

First Wednesday: “From Politics to Poetry” with Madeleine Kunin

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]As the first woman governor for the State of Vermont and the holder of other prestigious positions, Madeleine Kunin has inspired women and girls to discover their own voices as leaders. Governor Kunin speaks about her life in politics and reads from her newest book of poetry, Red Kite, Blue Sky.

To order Gov. Kunin’s books: https://www.vermontbookshop.com/event/madeleine-kunin-digital-politics-poetry

Recorded 5/5/21.[/ezcol_2third_end][ezcol_1third]
Producer: Ilsley Public Library

First Wednesday: “Rural America is a Big Deal” with Whitney Kimball Coe

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]Whitney Kimball Coe, coordinator of the National Rural Assembly, shows that although rural communities are hurting, they also hold a wealth of solutions for a nation struggling to fuel its economy, feed a hungry planet, and take on global issues like climate change. Recorded 3/4/20.[/ezcol_2third_end][ezcol_1third]
Producer: Ilsley Public Library

First Wednesday: “When The Bicycle Came To Vermont” with Luis Vivanco

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]UVM Professor Luis Vivanco explores the fascinating early history of the bicycle in Vermont, an invention that generated widespread curiosity when it arrived in the 1880s – helping spark important changes in the industrial production, consumerism, road policies, gender relations, and cultural ideas. A program of Vermont Humanities. Recorded 2/4/20.[/ezcol_2third_end][ezcol_1third]
Producer: Ilsley Public Library

First Wednesday: “The Sound of Music: Diamond Jubilee” with Robert Wyatt

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]In 1959, Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre premiered a musical on an unlikely topic: an Austrian family who had become famous for escaping Nazi Germany.  The Sound of Music went on to win five Tony Awards, along with five Academy Awards in its film adaptation.  Pianist and scholar Robert Wyatt discusses the history of the musical as well as the audience’s reaction, then and now. Recorded 1/8/20.[/ezcol_2third_end][ezcol_1third]
Producer: Ilsley Public Library

First Wednesday: “What You Didn’t Know about Evangelicalism” by Randall Balmer

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]Most Americans associate evangelicals with the hard-right precincts of the Republican Party. But as Dartmouth religion professor Randall Balmer explains, evangelicalism in America has a much longer and more complex history, including a distinguished pedigree of working for progressive reforms. What happened? Recorded 5/22/19 by Middlebury Community Television.[/ezcol_2third_end][ezcol_1third]
Producer: Ilsley Public Library