An American Life

This story was produced by Erica Heilman and Larry Massett for Erica's podcast, Rumble Strip Vermont.

Vaughn Hood was a 118-pound barber when he was drafted into the Vietnam War. And in Vaughn’s war, most men didn’t survive their first three-month tour. Now Vaughn Hood runs a hair salon in St. Johnsbury with his wife, Bev. For a couple days, Erica sat and talked with him in the back of his salon... about war, about hard work, about survival, and hairdressing.

Music: Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, Arvo Part;Tabula Rasa for two violins, strings, and prepared piano, Arvo Part;Speigel I'm Speigel, Arvo Part; Under the Weather Mix, Steve Reich; Clapping Music, Steve Reich.

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Stories from the Green River

This program started off as a series that aired on Weekend All Things Considered in the summer of 1991.  I later put the pieces together, with music written and performed by Pat King.

That Walking Across America Type Dog at the headwaters in the Wind Rivers, 2012

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Nepal Earthquake--Episode Five

Sujeev Shakya runs a management consulting and financial advisory firm called beed management. He's also the chairman of the Nepal Economic Forum, a think tank for exploring private sector perspectives on economic policy and research.  His latest book is Unleashing Nepal.

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Nepal Earthquake--Episode Four

A short visit to Sankhu, a village nearly obliterated by the earthquake.

Music at the end: Lori, from Folksongs and Sacred Music from Nepal.

Click below to donate to Home of the Brave.  To donate to Maiti Nepal, go to www.maitinepal.org.

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Crossing the destruction zone.

Maiti Nepal volunteers pulling down a wall.

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Nepal Earthquake-Episode Three

I first met Dr. Rai when Trent Harris and I made a promotional video for his new hospital in 2014. I wanted to talk with Dr. Rai after the earthquake because I knew he'd be at the center of the medical response. You can watch the video and make donations on the Nepal Cleft and Burn Center website. 

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This button is for donating to the Home of the Brave Production Fund. To donate to Nepal Cleft and Burn Center, visit their website by clicking HERE.

Nepal Earthquake--Episode Two

The second day in Kathmandu, surveying some of the damage.

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Nepal Earthquake--Episode One

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The Rebel Yell

Covering the 2004 Republican Convention in New York City.

Music by the Icelandic group Mum (We Have a Map of the Piano, The Land Between Solar Systems, Slow Bicycle) and Kid Rock (All Summer Long).

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The Cover Up

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 Sonosopher Alex Caldiero bearing his testimony to the invisible.

Music: Fitnah by Filastine.   filistine.com

Najibullah in America

Najibullah becomes a student, and I become a professor, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Music: Erik Satie, Gymnopedie No. 3 and Gnosienne No. 1 and Gnosienne No. 2; Stravinsky, Symphony of Pslams; Radzetsky March; Gustave Faure, Pelleas et Melisande; Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil; Maquinal Tango, Darsensa Sur.

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Over There

A trip to Afghanistan in the fall of 2001.

Music: Erik Satie, Gymnopedie No. 3 and Gnosienne No. 1 and Gnosienne No. 2; Stravinsky, Symphony of Pslams; Radzetsky March; Gustave Faure, Pelleas et Melisande; Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil; Maquinal Tango, Darsensa Sur.

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Running After Antelope

A story about human evolution.

Music: Dire Straits, Why Worry and Water of Love; Talking Heads, Television Man

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The Neighborhood

This story was inspired by the photo-essay book Suburbia by Bill Owens, a classic text.

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New Shoes

This story was originally broadcast on The Savvy Traveler in 1999, and was edited by Ben Adair.  The trip to India was in 1986, my first venture overseas. 

Music by Peecola Shah (recorded at her home near Ahmedabad, India), Beastie Boys, Metallica.

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A Walk on the Beach

A conversation with Alex Chadwick about working for National Public Radio and nearly dying.

Music: Slow Bicycle by Mum, Daavi Loloto by E.T. Mensa

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The End of the World

A friend, an anthropologist, once told me that in the future everybody is going to want to watch home movies from the 1960s and 70s because that was the peak of American civilization--the Yellowstone grizzly with its front paws up on the station wagon.  It's all been downhill ever since.

I think he's right. I'm from that g-g-generation. I was in the station wagon and there were men on the moon and if there were problems we'd figure them out because this was America, land of the free and home of the brave.

But now the problems keep getting bigger and we can't agree on the causes, let alone the solutions. It seems like we're on the slippery slope to the end of the world as we know it.

Music: Iceburn; Gabriel Faure, Requiem Op. 487-In Paradisum; Gillian Welch, One Monkey; Kostas Bezo's Hawaiian Orchestra.

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