“There’s No ‘A’ in Creemee,” the newish podcast from Joanna Grossman and Andy Julow, sounds like it should be about the eccentricities of New England spelling. Instead, the two Vermont politicos spend an hour each week talking to politicians, nonprofit leaders and media personalities about, as the tagline suggests, “all things Vermont politics, culture and beyond.”
And yes, they usually carve out time for their guests to weigh in on Vermont’s signature frozen treat.
“Coming from Vermont, I never really thought about it: You win a Little League game, and you go out and get a creemee,” said Julow, 48, a Burlington native who lives in North Hero, in the podcast’s inaugural episode from May.
But Grossman, 49, a native New Yorker, admitted that even after years of living in Burlington she can barely say the word “creemee” without giggling.
Misleading name notwithstanding, “There’s No ‘A’ in Creemee” does an admirable job of examining national, state and local politics without getting mired in the weeds. In the six months since it launched, the podcast has tackled some meaty issues — climate change, immigration, youth homelessness, education finance reform — and interviewed political heavyweights such as former governor Howard Dean, Attorney General Charity Clark and Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas. Yet it never gets wonky enough to lose listeners who don’t regularly prowl the Statehouse halls.
“I love being in that building,” Grossman said. “It’s my catnip.”
Clearly, she and Julow know their way around the legislature. In May 2024, Gov. Phil Scott appointed Julow, who ran his own software development firm for 12 years and chaired his local school board, as state senator representing the Grand Isle district. Julow replaced Dick Mazza, who resigned shortly before his death.
When Julow ran for reelection, he hired Grossman, a longtime Democratic operative who chairs the Chittenden County Democrats, to run his campaign. She has done digital organizing for national Democrats and had her own campaign services agency on Church Street for five years. Grossman’s other clients have included Ben Traverse, president of the Burlington City Council, and Chris Winters, who ran unsuccessfully for Vermont secretary of state in 2022.
Given the hosts’ Democratic pedigrees, “There’s No ‘A’ in Creemee” expectedly skews left, like Vermont politics. Nevertheless, the pair recently interviewed Kurt Wright, a centrist Republican politician and former radio cohost of “The Morning Drive,” WVMT’s popular talk show. During his interview, Wright offered words of advice to the podcasters, both of whom eschew the label “journalists.”
“You have to be yourself,” Wright said. “I think authenticity is important. I think it’s important in politics, too.”
Asked about his own creemee preferences, Wright said he “loves a good vanilla” with no sprinkles.
Thus far the discussions have been diverse, in-depth and often humorous. Attorney General Clark called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act “a joke” that will disenfranchise millions of voters. Her go-to creemee order: a chocolate-and-vanilla swirl with chocolate sprinkles in a wafer cone.
State Sen. Becca White (D-Windsor) offered her take on Statehouse fashion, which, she said, runs the gamut from “Crocs and socks to Dior suits.”
“There’s not a lot of built-in role models for how to dress or how to present yourself as a 30-year-old woman state senator,” White bemoaned.
Worth a listen is Julow’s explanation to Grossman about what she should expect at town meeting; in Episode 1, the longtime political operative confessed that she had never attended one, as she usually works on someone’s campaign that day.
As Julow explained, the meeting’s moderator will typically lead with a monologue, which often includes a quote from Winston Churchill.
“There’s usually someone knitting,” he said, and invariably a community member will invoke the town’s fathers — without actually knowing who they were. Expect someone to say “When I was a kid…,” then gripe about the schools not teaching cursive writing anymore.
“And there will be lots of suggestions about salt and gravel,” he added.
In short, democracy in action.
Find “There’s No ‘A’ in Creemee” on most major podcast platforms.
The original print version of this article was headlined “New Podcast Offers Insider Takes on Politics, Culture and Creemees”
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2 2025.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
