
Myra Flynn
Host and Executive Producer, HomegoingsMyra Flynn joined Vermont Public in March 2021 and is the DEIB Advisor, Host and Executive Producer, Homegoings. Raised in Vermont, Myra Flynn is an accomplished musician who has come to know the lay of dirt-road land that much more intimately through touring both well-known and obscure stages all around the state and beyond. She also has experience as a teaching artist and wore many hats at the Burlington Free Press, including features reporter and correspondent, before her pursuits took her deep into the arts world. Prior to joining Vermont Public, Myra spent eight years in the Los Angeles music industry.
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Josh Lo is a husband, father and former pastor at a multi-ethnic, non-denominational Christian church in Southern California. (Emphasis on former). In this episode, Josh shares his calling to ministry, his life in the church and how what he witnessed there — the complicated intersection of power and religion — shifted his perspective entirely. He found himself turning away… not from God completely, but from the institution he once lived and breathed.
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Dr. V is a felon and a former stripper. In April of 2002 she was charged with theft and spent some time in prison. That journey led her to a life of hardship and consequences that still follow her today. But she owns her past. She embraces it. She’s even figured out how to use it – not only as a springboard toward a better life, but as a business model to land her where she is today: Helping other people do the same.
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Aman Itomi makes big, bold and noticeable jewelry worn by celebrities and gracing the covers of magazines. His nickname in his community of makers is “The Basquiat of metal.” But now Aman is bracing for uncertainty and scarcity as Trump’s tariffs on metals go into effect — again. In this episode, Aman shares how he’s preparing.
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Marjani Forté-Saunders is a mother, choreographer, performer, community organizer and three-time Bessie Award winner. In this episode, Marjani speaks about the score a dancer’s body keeps, both on and off the stage. It’s a journey of acceptance, fearless expression and hard personal truths.
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Brave Little StateReporter Myra Flynn brings us on a sonic journey across the globe from Los Angeles to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica to chat with expat Vermonters.
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Kiran ‘Madame’ Gandhi gained notoriety as a drummer who toured the world drumming with superstar M.I.A., and as an activist — who ran the London City Marathon free bleeding while menstruating. In this episode, Kiran talks about leaning into the multidimensionality of our humanity and viewing our traumas as superpowers. In the end … we have no other option.
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Toussaint St. Negritude is a poet, teacher and musician who has chosen his own path and his own name. In this episode, Toussaint speaks about fierceness as a survival tool for Black queer men, like him, who were out and gay in the 1970s.
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What is jazz? And who gets to call themselves a jazz musician? Recorded live at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, host Myra Flynn sits down with renowned musicians Nicole "Lady" Wray, Adi Oasis and Melanie Charles to unpack how they are redefining the landscape of jazz on their own terms.
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We released this episode, “Black birth, laboring for justice,” back in October 2023. At the time, we felt it was crucial to make because Black women had the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States. The CDC actually called it a crisis. Recently, we checked back in with this crisis to see what’s changed in two years, and learned that maternal deaths have dropped — just not for Black women. So, we figured it’s time to press play on this. Again.
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Our sister podcast Stitch Please is a sewing podcast that centers around Black women, girls and femmes, weaving threads of creativity, technique and passion with every episode. And in this episode we’re dropping into our feed, “Patchwork to Power,” renowned quilter Chawne Kimber sits down with host Lisa Wolfot to talk about how she strives to maintain a balance between aesthetic beauty and activist messaging in her quilts.