The Heartbreak Hotel
8 October 2024 - 27 minsA downtown apartment building stitched Plainfield together. On July 10, floods washed it away.
The Heartbreak Hotel was the kind of place where neighbors saw each other every day, where generations of people, from all walks of life, found belonging and someone to wave to in the morning.
Twelve people were living there at the time, and they all survived. Most of their beloved cats did not.
In the days after the flood, reporter Erica Heilman talked with a number of the residents who lost their homes. They sat on porches and in houses where they were camped out, and in Erica’s car. What was lost that night, and what could it teach us about what comes next?
Series Episodes
Exposed
Homeless Vermonters face many deadly risks. But the state doesn't track how many have died, or what kills them. A first-of-its kind analysis by Vermont Public and Seven Days identified at least 82 people who died either living outside or sheltered in motels between 2021 and 2024.
17 mins
5 February Finished
Two Vermont voices reflect on the Israel-Hamas war
"Uncomfortable conversations need to happen." Raneen Salha and Sarah White discuss their thoughts, feelings and personal connections to the war between Israel and Hamas.
28 mins
30 July 2024 Finished
Trials & Tribulations: A week inside Vermont's busiest courthouse
More than four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the state judiciary is still struggling with an enormous backlog of criminal cases and competing public pressures around how justice should be pursued. To better understand how the system is working, Seven Days and Vermont Public embedded two reporters at the Burlington criminal courthouse for one week. Read the accompanying print story on Vermont Public or Seven Days.
11 mins
28 May 2024 Finished
Recognized: An Update
Two Abenaki First Nations are continuing to call for Vermont institutions not to work with state-recognized tribes, and to reconsider the process that led to the state recognizing those groups as Abenaki tribes. Those nations — Odanak and Wôlinak — are receiving a mixed response. 2024-04-02: This story has been updated to more accurately reflect the response of Vermont's state-recognized tribes to scrutiny of the state recognition process and whether they have demonstrated their Abenaki ancestry. Additional context has also been added about genealogical documentation cited in – but not made public with – state recognition applications.
17 mins
26 March 2024 Finished
Remembering John Harrison
John Harrison traveled Vermont as a preacher in the 1880s. A racist name in town records preserved his memory. Note: This story contains sensitive material, including racial slurs. Please listen with care.
23 mins
22 January 2024 Finished
