A Surprise Visit From Bill McLaughlin

We had a surprise visit today from Bill McLaughlin, host of Exploring Music on VPR Classical. He's based in Chicago, but was traveling from Montreal to Massachusetts with his girlfriend, jazz singer Karrin Allyson and called this morning to see if he could pop by for an impromptu visit. He's as nice in person as he seems on the air!



Since we're in the middle of our summer membership drive, we couldn't resist putting him on the air to make the case for supporting VPR - listen for his testimonial on VPR Classical, or check it out here!

Listen to Exploring Music with Bill McLaughlin weeknights at 7.

Friday Faces: Meet Heather Dieringer

Meet Heather Dieringer, VPR's administrative assistant. She's our key administrative liaison to VPR's Board of Directors, supports our day-to-day administrative operations, and is probably the most organized person at VPR!

Q: What are your plans for this weekend?
A: This weekend I'm going to be celebrating Easter (casually rather than formally) with good friends, and with any weather luck I'll be going for my first bike ride of the season.

Q: What are you reading right now?
A: I recently picked up a beautiful book I got for Christmas called Une Semaine De Bonte by Max Ernst, and I'm usually reading some combination of the latest issue of The Believer, Zoetrope, and Juxtapose magazines.

Q: If you could have lunch with any public radio person, who would it be?
A: I would have brunch (better than lunch) with Radiolab's Robert Krulwich because he always seems stuck on the same parts of a complex subject that I get stuck on. I find myself constantly thinking "My question exactly, Robert!" If Robert could just review for me all of the behind-the-scenes learning he's done with Brian Greene, I feel confident that I'd see the world entirely differently.

Sugar + Funny Glasses + Chanting = Pledges

We're almost halfway to the goal for VPR's May membership drive. To keep everyone's energy up and spirits high, we turned to the magical trinity of pledge drive mood enhancement: sugar, funny glasses, and chanting.

Oh, and kazoos. I guess that makes it a magical quartet.



After a breakfast of doughnuts and cupcakes marked "Mandatory for Staff," we got together for a short pep rally. Aside from all the fun and silliness, we also read aloud some comments we've heard from listeners during this drive - which motivates us more than the very largest cupcake or loudest chant ever could. Your passion for public radio and VPR reminds all of us why we do what we do - from producing the news and music that feeds your desire to learn and connect with your community, to keeping our signal on the air and online, to raising the money it takes to provide this independent, community-supported service.

So, thanks. Thank you for listening, for your passion, and for your support! We truly couldn't do what we do without you. If you haven't had a chance to make a pledge yet, I hope you will now.

For more photos of what VPR staffers look like after mass quantities of sugar, check out this slideshow!

Behind the Mic

Before I joined the staff at Vermont Public Radio I listened diligently to membership drives (I know what you're thinking...my family gave me the same look that you are making now).

But really, I enjoyed hearing personal appeals from the folks who brought me the news, information and music that I relied on each and every day. It was also exciting to listen in during a challenge to hear the phones ringing off the hook; dedicated listeners swooping in to save the day. I had a good idea of the what made up a VPR membership drive...or so I thought.

Since February, I have lived through two (and a half!) membership drives. My first week on the job was actually during the winter membership drive. In an instant, any preconceived notions about membership drives went out the window. I had no idea as a listener just how much preparation, coordination, blood, sweat and tears go into a successful membership drive. Of course, the most important ingredient in that recipe is you, the listener. We can't do it without you. And we are all humbled at how, time and again, you step forward and take ownership over your public radio station by helping to pay for the programming. Thank you!

In thinking about this membership drive, I wanted to provide our listeners with a peek behind the curtain. I asked all of our staff to send photos of the work that happens "behind the mic" during the fall membership drive. (I apologize for the quality of some of the photos, as the majority were taken with camera-phones.) I hope you enjoy the pictures...we'll continue to add more until the end of the drive on Friday evening (or sooner!).

As a post script, you'll notice that some of the photos include members of the Winooski and Saint Michael's College fire departments. On Wednesday morning we had not one, but two, fire alarms. No worries, we are all fine and there was no fire. We let the firefighting crews know that their vigilance and dedication counts as their pledge to VPR!

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed during this fall membership drive. If you have yet to make your contribution to VPR, you can do so online or by calling 1-800-639-6391!

Shooting Pike In A....Lake?

The VPR staff is a motley crew of musicophiles and journalists, engineers and development experts, Vermonters and transplants, lifelong radio folks and those for whom learning broadcast writing was like learning a second language (yours truly included!). That diversity is what makes VPR such an interesting place to work, and it often helps a piece of programming come together.

Case in point: Patti Daniels, Vermont Edition's senior producer, emails the staff yesterday: So here's a odd story we'd like to cover: apparently Vermont is the only state that allows pike shooting. As we understand it, this entails shooting your rifle (shotgun?) into the water to stun pike into submission, and then pulling them up in a basket. Or maybe a sack. If you know someone who shoots pike, please let the Vermont Edition team know.

A few hours later, Patti writes: VPR's staff has a (surprising) wealth of information on pike shooting, or "pickerel shooting" in the local vernacular. I've learned there are no baskets or sacks needed, you just grab the stunned fish with your hands. Pike have nasty teeth, and this seems as potentially dangerous as shooting into the water in which you stand. Thanks again for your help.

But it didn't end there. Production Associate Ric Cengeri shared a bit of history: From a 2004 NY Times article: "Permitted from March 25 to May 25, only on Lake Champlain, fish shooting has probably existed for a century. It also used to be legal in New York, which borders the huge apostrophe-shaped lake.

Then, News Editor Ross Sneyd chimes in: We're all very much looking forward to the pickerel pie that Vermont Edition will be preparing after Jane heads out to the lake for a little target practice.

(I'm pretty sure he was kidding, but Jane does like to experience her stories first-hand!)

Next, a question from Audio Engineer Sam Sanders: Pike and pickerel are not the same fish -- are they?

Reporter Susan Keese: I seem to recall that pike were incredibly bony, scaly (sharp), hard to eviscerate and turn into a meal. I can't imagine adding buckshot to the disagreeable equation. I think the only excuse for fishing for them is to get away from home.

Production Associate Brian Jones, himself an avid fisherman: They are not the same, but they are very similar members of the same family. Pike (Esox lucius) grow to be much larger than Pickerel (Esox niger). Otherwise, a slight difference in coloration is the main difference... Attached is a pic of the largest Northern Pike I've caught, and of course released. 32 inches. (At left).

Membership and Underwriting Director Dan Palow said, O boy, here come the fish tails!

Knowing that we are persnickety about grammar, he follows up, yes, I meant tails not tales.

You'd think it would have stopped there, but as I write this, I'm listening to a conversation in the kitchen about this very topic. I love this place.

Make Chocolate Cake in your VPR Artist Mug

Most of my mornings at VPR begin routinely enough: pour coffee, put lunch in refrigerator, check email, make to-do list. But this morning I had a much more exciting mission: chocolate cake! One morning during our current membership drive, long-time volunteer Thea Platt told us how she uses her VPR artist mugs to make a quick and easy chocolate cake in her microwave.

I don't really need another vice or temptation, particularly not one this quick and easy, but I just had to see this for myself. I was all set to try it out last night as I had all the ingredients at home, but ironically I couldn't find a VPR mug in my cupboard (I keep them on a shelf near my desk)! So, I measured out the ingredients and brought them to the office this morning.

You can find a printable version of the recipe here, or read on for a photographic tutorial!

1. In VPR Artist Mug, combine dry ingredients - 4 Tbsp. cake flour, 4 Tbsp. sugar, and 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder. Mix well.

2. Add one egg, stir to combine.

3. Add 3 Tbsp. milk and 3 Tbsp. oil, and mix well.

4. Add 3 (or more!) Tbsp. chocolate chips and a splash of vanilla extract. Mix again.




The batter will look something like this (depending on mug, of course).

5. Place mug in microwave and zap on high for three minutes.












6. Do not panic if the cake puffs up over the mug. This is normal.












7. Instead, wait in anticipation with your friends or family (left to right: me, VPR's Peter Biello, volunteers Sarah and Kelly King).











8. Let cool slightly and remove from microwave. Tip cake out onto a plate and enjoy. If you're very virtuous, share it with a friend, colleague, or loved one.










Just another great reason to support VPR! Thank you so much for your support! Thanks also to Thea for sharing this recipe with us, and thanks to volunteer Eugenia Saganich for bringing it to our attention!

Inside Vermont Reads

VPR Commentary Producer Betty Smith offered these reflections about producing Vermont Reads on VPR:

Producing a broadcast project based on When The Emperor Was Divine has been a fascinating experience. To begin with, the book is beautifully written and brings alive a significant but little known episode in our history. And it's quite easy to see how the human rights issues it raises relate to current, post-9/11 events.

What was less clear at the outset was any direct connection to our particular region. After all, the internment of ethnic Japanese occurred almost exclusively on the West Coast. But once we began to research the topic within our own community, it didn't take us long to discover people and events that very effectively bring the story home. The amount of work involved in conducting that kind of research and follow-up has been considerable but the results have been extremely satisfying.

You can listen to VPR's 2009 Vermont Reads series online.