What class are you, Habib and Arwa?

I met Arwa and Habib Meiloud because they’re Anne’s kids and Anne works at the post office in the village here in East Calais. They live in the house right across the road from the post office. Arwa and Habib’s father is from Mauritania and lives out of the country, but both Arwa and Habib were born in the US, and their mother Anne grew up in Vermont. Arwa is 17 years old, Habib is 18. In this conversation, we talk about the roles that race and class have played in their lives.

Kaye Phipps lives in Montpelier, Vermont. Right now she works as a custodian at a local grocery store. She’s also been a florist, a housekeeper, and a house cleaner. But even though she’s sometimes working multiple jobs, she often comes up short. In this episode, Kaye talks about how having a limited income makes her feel like a child, long into adulthood.

Jules Guillemette grew up on their family farm in Lamoille County, Vermont, which has been in the family nearly 100 years. Since then, Jules has worked as a chef, a meat cutter and now they're an electrician. In this episode, we talk about what it means to own land of enormous value but always be struggling to save enough money.

What Class are You? is a periodic series I make for Vermont Public, which started back in 2022. I wanted to talk with people about growing political and cultural divides without talking about politics or cultural divides. I had no idea how to do it. Then one day I just drove around and asked people what class they are. And what I found was that as dumb and offensive as this question is, people have a lot to say about it. Socioeconomic reality is one thing we all share. Some of us have a lot, some have a little, and most of us fall somewhere in between, but it’s a big common denominator.Trudy Richmond lives in subsidized senior housing in Burlington. She’s  educated and worked all her life, but at a certain point, Trudy realized that she had too little money to pay for a comfortable retirement and too much to qualify for services that might make her retirement more comfortable. In this episode of What Class are You, Trudy talks with reporter Erica Heilman about how she negotiated a comfortable retirement for herself. I make this series for Vermont Public. Thank you Vermont Public for letting me share these stories with Rumble Strip listeners! 

This is a show about Thanksgiving, and what it sounds like. It is made entirely of your recordings. Thank you everyone for sending me recordings. We have made a show  that sounds like the whole damn country. Or a lot of it.

A couple days ago I asked you to send me some recordings from Thanksgiving. I figured I'd give you a little better sense of what I'm looking for. Happy Thanksgiving all! Erica

Let's make a show about Thanksgiving. I have always wanted to do this, and the time has come.Anyone who is willing, I would love you to record a voice memo this week about your holiday. Stories, anecdotes, songs...I don't know. You don't have to speak in complete sentences. It doesn’t have to be organized. It doesn't have to be funny or important. If you're willing to record some of the holiday ambience, that would also be great. The tv room, the kitchen, the dinner table, the drive or flight to your destination, the door greetings and departures. Anything you feel like recording.Send me the recordings by Sunday, to [email protected] and I will make a show that tries to capture just SOME of our complex feelings and experiences during this DAY OF THANKS. Thank you all so much in advance!Erica 

Music for this show is by Brian Clark, who is awesome. 

Thank you Phil Edfors of Vermont Public for cleaning up the whale recordings. This was no small feat and I am grateful.The whales were recorded for an oceanic soundscape project at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. 

CreditsThanks to all the residents who talked with me, and the beautiful Arlene and Becky Wright, managers of the house.My friend Kelly Green produced this show with me. She’s great at this PLUS she’s a great defense attorney! If you're in trouble, call Kelly.Click here for more information on the Joslyn HouseThe song for this show is A Wave in the Air by The Imperfectionists, from their latest album, Universal Consent.And my frickin ALL TIME FAVORITE IMPERFECTIONIST SONG: Astroplane.