In this episode: things get spooky in the studio as we talk about the horror genre with local filmmakers Sean Temple and Sarah Wisner. We cover the things that scare us most: zombies, satanic cults, union-busting, and electoral politics! We also break down some of the themes in the recent horror flick ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’, and how they connect to our current moment. Stay tombed!

We want to hear from you! What are you struggling with in this moment? What questions would be useful for us to try to answer? How can this show practically serve you as you navigate surviving under oppressive systems, finding your place in the movement ecosystem, or making your organizing more effective?

Email us at themomentgiven@gmail.com

Thanks to Central Vermont Community Radio and WGDR for being the mothership for our show. They are doing great community building media work in central Vermont. Check out all the rad programming and consider supporting at WGDR.org.

Our theme song is the classic labor tune Which Side Are You On, as performed by Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a fantastic activist street band from NYC. Plus we smushed Gandalf in there.

Music Played:

‘In the House - In a Heartbeat (Theme from “28 Days Later”) - Epic Version’ by L’Orchestra Cinematique

This episode originally aired on 10/14/26

In this episode Ari’s brass band comes into the studio to raise money for the WGDR FunDrive! It's a total party. Brass Balagan plays some tunes, talks about their role as an activist street band, and does some fun weird stuff made up on the spot for fundraising stretch goals.

If you want to support our community radio station for this FunDrive and beyond, go to https://www.wgdr.org/donate

We want to hear from you! What are you struggling with in this moment? What questions would be useful for us to try to answer? How can this show practically serve you as you navigate surviving under oppressive systems, finding your place in the movement ecosystem, or making your organizing more effective?

Email us at themomentgiven@gmail.com

Thanks to Central Vermont Community Radio and WGDR for being the mothership for our show. They are doing great community building media work in central Vermont. Check out all the rad programming and consider supporting at WGDR.org.

Songs covered by Brass Balagan in this episode:

Mahalageasca from Mahala Rai Banda

Negus Yaya from Les Vilains Chicots

Shmink Dabby from Lettuce

Gross from Balkan Beatbox

Wannabe from The Spice Girls

The Enemy Guns from DeVotchKa

Turkish March(a capella) from Jean Baptiste Lully

Fiesta de Negritos from Fanfare Ciocarlia and Puerto Candeleria, composed by Lucho Bermúdez

This episode originally aired on 9/27/26

In this episode: we get some professional help from a shrink! We discuss the concept of overwhelm with therapist and friend of the show Margot Kelly, dig into the ways it manifests in our own lives, and learn a couple exercises to help us self-regulate. Time to brush up on our vagals! (It's not dirty, we swear!)

We want to hear from you! What are you struggling with in this moment? What questions would be useful for us to try to answer? How can this show practically serve you as you navigate surviving under oppressive systems, finding your place in the movement ecosystem, or making your organizing more effective?

Email us at themomentgiven@gmail.com

Thanks to Central Vermont Community Radio and WGDR for being the mothership for our show. They are doing great community building media work in central Vermont. Check out all the rad programming and consider supporting at WGDR.org.

Our theme song is the classic labor tune Which Side Are You On, as performed by Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a fantastic activist street band from NYC. Plus we smushed Gandalf in there.

Music Played:

‘an angel will be with you shortly’ by Jake Chapman

‘Peaceful Place’ by Leon Bridges

‘Sadeness - Part I/ Extended Trance Mix' by Enigma

This episode originally aired on 9/9/26

In this episode: we've got a theme, we promise! We hype up our radio’s fundraising auction, react to a surprisingly deep mini-interview with Ari’s housemate Kaye, and learn how Ari turned Iris into a harmonica virtuoso in a single lesson!

This episode includes time-sensitive fundraising material that may not be relevant by the time you listen, but we gotta keep our beloved local radio station funded! If you feel so inspired you can check out WGDR.org for information on how to get involved in helping keep local radio in Vermont thriving!

We want to hear from you! What are you struggling with in this moment? What questions would be useful for us to try to answer? How can this show practically serve you as you navigate surviving under oppressive systems, finding your place in the movement ecosystem, or making your organizing more effective?

Email us at themomentgiven@gmail.com

Our theme song is the classic labor tune Which Side Are You On, as performed by Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a fantastic activist street band from NYC. Plus we smushed Gandalf in there.

Music Played:

‘Up & Down’ by Vengaboys

This episode originally aired on 8/12/26

In this episode: It's part two of our music listen and tell! We play even more songs that are related to our show’s theme (we promise!). We trade song selections and ask the important questions, like how to leverage our collective power, how to build a movement, what aliens must think of us, and if the Vengabus will ever come.

Once again, this music-heavy episode is shorter in podcast form. We could only play fair-use friendly clips of all the songs in this podcast format. But we've included the songs we listened to in the show notes so you can hop on YouTube (or wherever you stream) and listen along with us!

We want to hear from you! What are you struggling with in this moment? What questions would be useful for us to try to answer? How can this show practically serve you as you navigate surviving under oppressive systems, finding your place in the movement ecosystem, or making your organizing more effective?

Email us at themomentgiven@gmail.com

Thanks to Central Vermont Community Radio and WGDR for being the mothership for our show. They are doing great community building media work in central Vermont. Check out all the rad programming and consider supporting at WGDR.org.

Our theme song is the classic labor tune Which Side Are You On, as performed by Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a fantastic activist street band from NYC. Plus we smushed Gandalf in there.

Music Played:

‘Heavy Foot’ by Mon Rovîa

‘The Crowd’ by The Cat Empire

‘A TV Show Called Earth - Acoustic’ by Philip Labes

‘Strong Coffee’ by The Cat Empire

‘We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)’ by Vengaboys

This episode originally aired on 7/8/26

In this episode: We play a bunch of music tangentially related to our show themes and talk about it! We trade songs and discuss the important topics, including climate change, civil rights music, leading with kindness, keeping good boundaries, and how it feels when your heart goes shalala lala.

Apologies for the blown out sound levels in this episode, we’re still getting used to the soundboard in the studio.

It’s also a relatively short episode, we had to cut the music down to podcast-friendly clips (alas, we don't have the rights to play the full songs like our beloved host radio station does). But we've included the songs we listened to in the show notes so you can hop on YouTube (or wherever you stream) and listen along with us!

We want to hear from you! What are you struggling with in this moment? What questions would be useful for us to try to answer? How can this show practically serve you as you navigate surviving under oppressive systems, finding your place in the movement ecosystem, or making your organizing more effective?

Email us at themomentgiven@gmail.com

Thanks to Central Vermont Community Radio and WGDR for being the mothership for our show. They are doing great community building media work in central Vermont. Check out all the rad programming and consider supporting at WGDR.org.

Our theme song is the classic labor tune Which Side Are You On, as performed by Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a fantastic activist street band from NYC. Plus we smushed Gandalf in there.

Music Played:

‘Feels Like Summer’ by Childish Gambino

‘Case of the Fake People’ by TLC

‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’ by Bob Dylan

‘It All Comes Down’ by Patti Casey

‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ by Sam Cooke

‘Shalala Lala’ by Vengaboys

This episode originally aired on 6/10/26

In this episode: We've caught the union bug! We learn about unions and solidarity work with new friend of the show and lovely local organizer Elizabeth Dunford! Elizabeth gives us the inside scoop about her work as an area steward with UVM Staff United, and their work in supporting other worthwhile local organizations and initiatives. Are unions an effective way to meet the challenges of the moment given? How do we get involved? Did this interview turn us into radical communists? We answer those questions and many more in this super informative episode!

This episode is honestly a bit rough to listen to– Elizabeth is incredible, but we are learning to make live radio as we go, so we’re underprepared and scattershot interviewers. We won’t be offended if you want to skip this episode. If you want to hear an unfiltered bumpy part of our creative journey and maybe learn a few cool things about unions, though, stick around!

We want to hear from you! What are you struggling with in this moment? What questions would be useful for us to try to answer? How can this show practically serve you as you navigate surviving under oppressive systems, finding your place in the movement ecosystem, or making your organizing more effective?

Email us at themomentgiven@gmail.com

Thanks to Central Vermont Community Radio and WGDR for being the mothership for our show. They are doing great community building media work in central Vermont. Check out all the rad programming and consider supporting at WGDR.org.

Our theme song is the classic labor tune Which Side Are You On, as performed by Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a fantastic activist street band from NYC. Plus we smushed Gandalf in there.

Music Played:

‘Brise Napolitaine’ by Yvette Horner

This episode originally aired on 5/13/26

In this episode: we’re nerds! What can the Middle-Earth legendarium tell us about navigating this moment? We’re talking about Tolkien with our pal Rachel Field, a brilliant Tolkien nerd! We look at both fascist and resistance tactics from the Scouring of The Shire, Hurin’s hope for dark times (like literally being surrounded by orcs and hewing off all their arms) from the Silmarillion, and Gandalf’s analysis of false hope vs. true hope.

We want to hear from you! What are you struggling with in this moment? What questions would be useful for us to try to answer? How can this show practically serve you as you navigate surviving under oppressive systems, finding your place in the movement ecosystem, or making your organizing more effective?

Email us at themomentgiven@gmail.com

Thanks to Central Vermont Community Radio and WGDR for being the mothership for our show. They are doing great community building media work in central Vermont. Check out all the rad programming and consider supporting at WGDR.org.

Our theme song is the classic labor tune Which Side Are You On, as performed by Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a fantastic activist street band from NYC. Plus we smushed Gandalf in there.

This episode originally aired on 4/8/26