Everyone loves to grouse about our cost of living. Bruce Post wonders: How bad is it really? And some recommended listening this week. On current events:<ul><li><a href="https://www.vpr.org/post/why-are-there-so-many-african-americans-incarcerated-vermont" target="_blank">Why Are There So Many African-Americans Incarcerated In Vermont?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.vpr.org/post/why-vermont-so-overwhelmingly-white" target="_blank">Why Is Vermont So Overwhelmingly White</a></li></ul> Re: today's listener question, here are two deep dives:<ul><li><a href="https://www.vpr.org/post/why-does-vermont-have-such-housing-crunch" target="_blank">Why Does Vermont Have Such A Housing Crunch?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.vpr.org/post/are-utility-bills-so-high-vermont-its-really-complicated" target="_blank">Are Utility Bills 'So High' In Vermont? It's (Really) Complicated</a></li></ul> Fan of the show? <a href="https://www.vpr.org/sign-brave-little-state-newsletter" target="_blank">Sign up for the BLS newsletter</a>, <a href="https://www.vpr.org/programs/brave-little-state" target="_blank">submit a question about Vermont </a>and/or <a href="https://donate.vpr.org/bravelittlestate?utm_source=brave-little-state&amp;utm_medium=podcasts&amp;utm_content=&amp;utm_campaign=ongoing" target="_blank">make a gift</a> to support people-powered journalism.

Remembering Vermont's 19th Century Black Communities

What if you could decide what stories Vermont Public should be covering, before they're even assigned? That's the idea behind Brave Little State.