3c:I[58016,["/_next/static/chunks/0jjo8hz~ewue4.js","/_next/static/chunks/0abq8zp15pmva.js","/_next/static/chunks/05gz47kazl1ze.js","/_next/static/chunks/139o5utivfajl.js","/_next/static/chunks/0a~e7k..h6jfc.js","/_next/static/chunks/0d1e9m2ig9v3v.js","/_next/static/chunks/0fg30bidui1gn.js","/_next/static/chunks/0rizq9ux3s1w3.js","/_next/static/chunks/0bbc2ioe2xmkf.js","/_next/static/chunks/0z7avafhgjcyr.js"],"ProcessEpisodeButton"] 3e:I[185,["/_next/static/chunks/0jjo8hz~ewue4.js","/_next/static/chunks/0abq8zp15pmva.js","/_next/static/chunks/05gz47kazl1ze.js","/_next/static/chunks/139o5utivfajl.js","/_next/static/chunks/0a~e7k..h6jfc.js","/_next/static/chunks/0d1e9m2ig9v3v.js","/_next/static/chunks/0fg30bidui1gn.js","/_next/static/chunks/0rizq9ux3s1w3.js","/_next/static/chunks/0bbc2ioe2xmkf.js","/_next/static/chunks/0z7avafhgjcyr.js"],"SendEmailButton"] 3f:I[45269,["/_next/static/chunks/0jjo8hz~ewue4.js","/_next/static/chunks/0abq8zp15pmva.js","/_next/static/chunks/05gz47kazl1ze.js","/_next/static/chunks/139o5utivfajl.js","/_next/static/chunks/0a~e7k..h6jfc.js","/_next/static/chunks/0d1e9m2ig9v3v.js","/_next/static/chunks/0fg30bidui1gn.js","/_next/static/chunks/0rizq9ux3s1w3.js","/_next/static/chunks/0bbc2ioe2xmkf.js","/_next/static/chunks/0z7avafhgjcyr.js"],"SignupCTA"] 36:["$","div",null,{"className":"flex flex-col gap-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground","children":[["$","span",null,{"className":"inline-flex items-center gap-2 bg-secondary/50 px-3 py-1 rounded-full","children":[["$","svg",null,{"className":"w-4 h-4","fill":"none","stroke":"currentColor","viewBox":"0 0 24 24","children":["$","path",null,{"strokeLinecap":"round","strokeLinejoin":"round","strokeWidth":2,"d":"M8 7V3m8 4V3m-9 8h10M5 21h14a2 2 0 002-2V7a2 2 0 00-2-2H5a2 2 0 00-2 2v12a2 2 0 002 2z"}]}],["$","time",null,{"dateTime":"2026-04-07T09:00:34.000Z","children":"Tue Apr 07 2026"}]]}],null]}] 3d:T4fc,

In 1891, the first twenty-five patients stepped off a train and walked into the Vermont State Asylum for the Insane in Waterbury, a sprawling brick-and-stone campus built along a ridge above the Winooski River. The facility was supposed to heal broken minds through fresh air and structured labor. Instead, it grew into something the entire state whispered about -- a place so defined by confinement that saying someone "ought to go to Waterbury" became shorthand for madness itself.

This episode traces the full arc of the Waterbury asylum, from its founding under Governor William P. Dillingham through the decades of overcrowding that packed 1,728 patients into wards designed for far fewer. It follows the rise of Dr. Eugene A. Stanley, the superintendent who opened patient records to University of Vermont zoology professor Henry Perkins and the Eugenics Survey of Vermont -- a program that cataloged more than 6,000 Vermonters by bloodline and targeted Abenaki, French-Canadian, disabled, and low-income families for sterilization.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Waterbury, Vermont: The Asylum That Turned a Towns Name Into a Warning