Speakers Bureau Pause for 2025

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Due to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) illegally canceling the federal funding we receive from the National Endowment for the Humanities, we have needed to pause bookings for Speakers Bureau talks for the remainder of 2025, with the exception of Vermont Reads 2025: The Light Pirate talks.

In September, we plan to re-open the Speakers Bureau catalog for bookings in 2026.

Can my program continue?

Any talks that have already been booked for 2025 will continue as planned. This means that if:

You have spoken to a Speakers Bureau presenter and
you have filled out a Speakers Bureau request form and
you have received a confirmation email from us confirming that booking

your program can indeed be held in 2025.

Vermont Reads 2025 Talks

We will allow bookings in 2025 for the Speakers Bureau talks related to Vermont Reads 2025: The Light Pirate. However, you must be a Vermont Reads 2025 host in order to book these talks (which we offer for free.)

Learn more about how to become a Vermont Reads 2025 host.

Vermont Reads 2025 Speakers Bureau Talks

1800 and Froze to Death: The Cold Year of 1816

By Vermont Humanities | April 26, 2019

1816 has long been known as the year without summer. This talk by Howard Coffin includes scores of anecdotes about the dark year of failed crops, scarce food, and religious revival.

Posted in Speaker Talk, Speakers Bureau, Vermont History

Tags: coffin, VR25

Hidden systems book cover with title over a light blue background and drawings of buildings on the sides

Drawing Hidden Systems

By Vermont Humanities | May 12, 2025

Have you ever wondered where electricity comes from, how the internet works, or how there’s (mostly) enough water for everyone all the time? Where did these systems come from, and how do they affect our challenges like inequality and climate change? Join Vermont author and artist Dan Nott for a look at these questions and more as he discusses his new nonfiction graphic novel, “Hidden Systems” for this all-ages talk.

Posted in Civics and Public Issues, Speaker Talk, Speakers Bureau

Tags: nott, SBNew25, VR25

Extreme Survival book cover, with a snow-covered mountain in the background

Extreme Survival: Lessons from Those Who Triumphed Against All Odds

By Ryan Newswanger | January 25, 2024

We have all heard amazing stories of survival that rendered us awestruck. But too often, we don’t realize the wealth of information we can learn from people who make it to the other side of life’s most daunting challenges. In this talk, New York Times bestselling author Michael J. Tougias chronicles harrowing survival stories and then discusses lessons to learn from these experience.

Posted in History, Last Name N-T, Speaker Talk, Speakers Bureau

Tags: tougias, VR25

Black and white photo showing fallen trees and flood damage from the 1938 hurricane

Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transformed New England

By Jacob Pelletier | May 28, 2025

A hurricane will never surprise us again. But that’s what happened to the people of New England on September 21, 1938. Without any warning, the most destructive weather event ever to hit the Northeast pummeled the coast and blasted its way to Vermont and New Hampshire with torrential rain, flooding, and sustained winds over 100 miles per hour.

Posted in Speaker Talk, Speakers Bureau

Tags: long, SBNew25, Vermont Reads, VR25

Questions?

Thank you for your understanding as we navigate this extraordinarily difficult time. Please Jacob Pelletier at jpelletier@vermonthumanities.org if you have any questions.

Vermont Humanities*** October 22, 2020