The National Book Award is one the most prestigious literary prizes in the country, given every year since 1950 to celebrate the best writing in America. This year, three finalists for the award have links to Vermont.

There are Vermonters who experience psychiatric crises for years — and repeated visits to emergency rooms and psychiatric hospitals. Where do they go when they leave the hospital? And why do they keep coming back? This is a story about the role housing plays in mental health.

In her early thirties, Sarah Holland started suffering from major depression, the result of childhood sexual trauma. In the years that followed, she lost her job and her family. This is the story of her struggle — and her recovery from major depression.

Animal fats like lard, tallow or schmaltz have been used in cooking for centuries, but have fallen out of favor more recently, mostly for health reasons. But the author of a new cookbook says that isn't fair. We're talking to Andrea Chesman about her take on how these animal fats can fit into modern cooking.

Montreal-based aircraft maker Bombardier is cutting 2,500 jobs in Quebec. But at least one economic development booster in Vermont thinks there could be new opportunities for the state's manufacturers.

Homeowners often complain about property taxes. But efforts to curb property tax increases by consolidating control of schools doesn't sound too appealing, either. This school year VPR reporter Howard Weiss-Tisman is following the West River school district in Southern Vermont to understand how it deals with the budget process and consolidation questions. The following story is an installment in that series.

In conversations about climate change, the role of soil often comes up as one way to sequester carbon. Better soil management would retain more carbon in the ground and release less into the atmosphere.

But Dartmouth College Biological Sciences professor Caitlin Hicks Pries says soil's role is even more central, either making climate change worse or playing a key role in mitigating its affects.