Vermont podcast named among the best in the country
Ten podcasts were singled out as the best of 2022 by the New York Times, and among them was Vermont's own Rumble Strip.
Erica Heilman, the podcast's creator, is no stranger to accolades. She won the Peabody award — one of journalism's highest honors — in June for a piece entitled Finn and the Bell. In it, Heilman talks to Hardwick residents about who Finn Rooney was after the teen died by suicide and how townspeople banded together to fulfill one of his wishes after death.
In July, the Free Press talked to family, friends and community members to understand how the town had been impacted by the podcast and how they continued to move forward after tragedy. The national exposure from the success of the story continues to shape the town of Hardwick. While the podcast brought up conflicting emotions and may have prolonged the grieving process, it also gave townspeople permission to speak openly about suicide, particularly with the teens in their lives.
More:'What happened afterward was transcendent.' A teen's suicide, a town's grief and a podcast
Rumble Strip — a one-person outfit run by Heilman — is getting acclaim for work that goes beyond one story. Browsing Rumble Strip website's press page, one can see it is full of articles praising Heilman's work even when she is sometimes reticent to do it herself.
Reggie Ugwu of the New York Times said the majestic, hard-to-classify series is ostensibly about the everyday lives of everyday Vermonters and added that the emotional truths captured in many episodes are as big and varied as life itself. "To listen to Heilman’s lyrical yet matter-of-fact reporting on a teenage student-body president who took his own life, or a lifelong dairy farmer’s 11-year friendship with a black bear, or the adolescence of a neighbor as recorded over seven years of conversations, is to imagine a better world in which her clones are dispatched to every town, state and country," he wrote.
Heilman responded to Ugwu on Twitter saying she was honored by the recognition. "And I love the way you describe how small, local stories can shine out. That they can be somehow universal," she wrote. "I'm dreaming of a future full of independent podcasts reporting weird local stories from everywhere!"
You can listen to recent Rumble Strip podcasts online at rumblestripvermont.com. On the website are links to more episodes available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify and Stitcher.
Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Rumble Strip: What to know about podcast on New York Times list
