You might have heard that the U.S. turns 250 this year. It’s a big, corporate to-do — the phrase “America 250” is plastered all over baseball hats and bags of potato chips.

But what do Americans really make of this anniversary? The historian Jill Lepore and audiomaker Sophie Crane wanted to find out. They sent reporters all across the country, from California to Louisiana to Vermont, to listen to what people had to say about it.

This piece is part of a project called The Listeners, an experiment in hyperlocal documentary storytelling from the Transom Story Lab.

You can find the Transom post here and the New Yorker Radio Hour presentation here.

Reporting by Eve Abrams in Louisiana, Scott Carrier and Jenny Ament in Utah, Erica Heilman in Vermont, Yohance Lacour in Illinois and David Weinberg in California. It was produced by Sophie Crane. Mix and sound design by Josh Crane with music from Matthias Bossi and Jon Evans of Stellwagen Symphonette.

Special thanks to Jay Allison, Jen Jerrett and David Krasnow.

The Brave Little State team is Josh Crane, Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our intern is Sarah Bokelberg. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

• Ask a question about Vermont
• Sign up for the BLS newsletter
• Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt
• Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org
• Make a gift to support people-powered journalism
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Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Right now, there are around 150 Vermonters behind bars in Tutwiler, Mississippi.

Question-asker Devon Kurtz is wondering: Why does the state send these men to a private prison more than a thousand miles away — especially since there's a vacant prison in Windsor, Vermont?

Click here for the web version of this episode, including photos and a full transcript. And read an in-depth dispatch from Liam’s visit to Tutwiler here.

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This episode was reported by Liam Elder-Connors. Editing and production from Sabine Poux, Burgess Brown, Alicia Freese and Josh Crane. Our intern is Sarah Bokelberg. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Special thanks to Zoe McDonald, Catherine Hurley and Tom Marsh.

This episode was made possible with support from the Vermont Public Journalism Fund.

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

• Ask a question about Vermont
• Sign up for the BLS newsletter
• Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt
• Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org
• Make a gift to support people-powered journalism
• Tell your friends about the show!

Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

There’s a saying that twins are “in the water” in the town of Sheldon. Our journey to get to the bottom of this curious bit of local lore takes us from a dairy farm in Franklin County to a university in Amsterdam and back.

Thanks to the amateur investigators who aided us along the way, and to Ellen Stanley, our winning question-asker. She’s wondering:

“I live next to a community — Sheldon, Vermont — that has so many twins. Are twins really 'in the water'? What might cause this over generations?”

Click here for the web version of this episode, including photos and a full transcript.

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

• Ask a question about Vermont
• Sign up for the BLS newsletter
• Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt
• Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org
• Make a gift to support people-powered journalism
• Tell your friends about the show!

Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.