This week’s edition of NYSV is a bit heavy on audio content and what we might call “human interest stories” — the inspiring features that are a staple of print journalism. Not the most earth-shattering content, but it’s an important aspect of a balanced news diet, especially when our plates are so often loaded down with heavy, indigestible fare.

There are quite a few podcasts in Vermont. The best are worth including in your regular rotation, and the others occasionally rise to that level. We’ve got some great examples this week, starting with (I think) the most gifted audio reporter in the state, Erica Heilman.

“Health Insurance is Hard.” That’s the title of Heilman’s latest “Rumble Strip” podcast. It’s more of an impressionist study in the frustrations of health care. And you can tell she’s an artist because she manages to get through an 18-minute story about bureaucratic hell without ever invoking the word “Kafkaesque.”

You could say this is about her friend Justin Lander’s effort to get health care without going bankrupt — or crazy. But it’s not a narrative. Heilman weaves together Justin’s words, exasperating voice mail, real live customer service staffers providing no actual customer service, and extensive use of the wallpaper “music” that serenades you while you’re on hold. It’s meant to be calming, but in Heilman’s piece it manages to be infuriating. Bernie was right: Medicare for all. (Bonus! The podcast opens with a rough-hewn but completely apropos “jingle” for her sponsor, East Hill Tree Farm.)

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