This week, we’re talking to the three candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor. Next up is four-term state representative Kesha Ram.
We're talking to Representative Ram about her priorities in the race, including education, housing, broadband access, and more.
Also on the program, we visit an Addison County rice farmer who has enlisted ducklings in his operation.
And VPR's Classical's James Stewart explains the influence of nationalism on classical music.
Kesha Ram on why she wants to be lieutenant governor:
"So in my legislative career and outside, I have been a champion for fighting to protect Vermont families. I started my legislative career also working as a preschool teacher, and as a Head Start advocate, I saw families that were struggling with hunger and eviction and what that did to the kids in our preschool – the strife that they faced and the stress that they went through while they were trying to be early learners.
"I then spent the next three years as a social worker for victims of domestic violence and helped victims navigate our social service programs, our judicial system and try to gain access to justice – whether it was in the police station in the middle of the night or in our correctional facilities – and have really spent my time in the Legislature trying to do the same work. Really thinking about what our Vermont families are facing, how we give them access into the middle class and how we support Vermonters to thrive, to succeed.
"And as I really see it now, after eight years in the Legislature, what we're continuing to see is that Vermont families are continuing to take a Vermont discount on their wages, while they're paying a Vermont premium on their cost of living, and it's unsustainable."
This is an excerpt quote. The full interview with Kesha Ram can be listened to above.
Live tweet of the interview with Kesha Ram:
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Broadcast live on Thursday, July 7, 2016 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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