logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
8m 12s

What Class Are You Damian Renzello?

Erica Heilman / Rumble Strip, Erica Heilman
About this episode

What Class Are You? is a periodic series about the ways that socioeconomic class shapes our lives, even though we don’t like to talk about it. I make this series for Vermont Public and I’ll be running the new shows on RS all this week.  

First up, Damian Renzello. Damian lives one town over from me and he’s the owner of  and inventor of Porta Rinks, which is a portable ice rink kit. Damian is who you call if you want your own personal hockey rink, and everything that goes with it. He also happens to be exactly  my age. So Damian and I sat in his shop at Porta Rinx headquarters behind his house, and we compared notes on class. 

Up next
Jul 30
Jay Allison on Why We Should Save Public Radio
Links:Adopt a Station: Where you can donate to your local public radio station or find stations to supportTransom: The place where good radio beginsRecent New York Times interview with Bill Siemering about the fate of public radioInformation on Transom story trainingsRumble Strip ... Show More
23m 22s
Jul 28
Ladies' Pond
The women in this show are: Clare Dolan, Holly Rae Taylor, Alison Bechdel, Deb Fleischman, Annie Greensfelder, Rosana Vestuti and Tamar Cole. Thanks to all the kids and families and dogs and loons and crows that were there that day on the pond. And the trumpet guy.Huge thanks to ... Show More
17m 6s
Jul 18
What class are you Susan Ritz?
This is the last episode in season 6 of What Class are You?, a periodic series I make for Vermont Public.Susan Ritz grew up in a wealthy family in Minnesota. For the past 36 years, she's lived in central Vermont, where she writes books and is an active philanthropist. In this epi ... Show More
8m 24s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
208. Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection?
What happens when machines become funnier, kinder, and more empathetic than humans? Do robot therapists save lives? And should Angela credit her virtual assistant as a co-author of her book? SOURCES:Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology at Arizona State University.Rei ... Show More
35m 31s
Sep 2016
Berkshares | Berkshire County, Massachusetts
In the season two premiere we head to rural Berkshire County, where the coalescence of agriculture, city weekenders, and a regional currency helped create and spread the farm-to-table movement. This is a Studio BOTH/AND production: www.ouramericanapodcast.com / www.bothand.fyi Fo ... Show More
43m 40s
Oct 2024
Potential Energy
You can’t spot a red flag while wearing rose-colored glasses. This episode contains strong language and graphic imagery. Sensitive listeners, please be advised. STORIES “The Mission”: Garrett is infamous on campus for having problematic views on race. Lupita wants to school him i ... Show More
40m 37s
Sep 2024
A Word
Wishes, wonders, and wisdom. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures uncovering the power of words.mother-house by produced by Catherine Boulle. Inspired by the guided visualisations accompanying the book 'Motherhood: Is it for me?' by Denise L. Carlini & Ann ... Show More
29m 6s
Apr 2025
Katsi Cook — "Women are the First Environment"
Katsi Cook is a beacon in an array of quiet powerful worlds — a magnetic, joyous, loving presence. The public conversation we offer up here was part of a gathering where a fantastic group of young people had come to be nourished, to explore the depths of what community can mean, ... Show More
55m 19s
Nov 2024
Good at Games
This week, Norma Clarke explores the world of 18th-century chameleon Mary Robinson; and Devoney Looser on a soccer player's passion for Virginia Woolf.'Mary Robinson: Actress, mistress, writer, radical', Chawton House, Chawton, Hampshire, until April 21, 2025 'The Striker and the ... Show More
43m 46s
Jun 2024
S4. Case 8: What Lies Beyond
A double bill of two haunting and intriguing new cases. An emergency responder in rural Maine receives an impossible 911 call, and a Kansas funeral home where the dead won't stay dead.Written and presented by Danny Robins Experts: Nilufar Ahmed and Morgan Knudsen Editing and soun ... Show More
28m 50s
Sep 2024
212. When Do You Become an Adult?
Who decided that we’re fully mature at 18? Should 16-year-olds have the right to vote? And why are young people bringing their parents to job interviews? SOURCES:Jeffrey Arnett, senior research scholar in psychology at Clark University.Julie Beck, staff writer at The Atlantic.Gra ... Show More
38m 56s
May 2020
Shapearl
Having taken her investigation as far as she can, Shapearl moves on to an even bigger fight: making sure this never happens to anyone else’s child. She travels to Brazil to speak at a summit of mothers of murdered children and works to honor Courtney’s legacy and advocate for pol ... Show More
28m 51s
Jul 2019
1. The Girl from Jandowae
A teenage motorcyclist finds the bloodied body of a young, married mother beside a dark stretch of road. It is Summer 1978, in the tiny Queensland town of Sarina. The woman's name is Margaret Kirstenfeldt. How did this popular, much-loved girl from country Jandowae end up here? C ... Show More
28m 46s