Podcast appearances and mentions of virginia humanities

Plus: A feature from our partner station WMRA on Virginia Humanities losing federal grants for cultural programs.

A pair of reports released this week show economic growth in Virginia is slowing down, Governor Youngkin is about to make a decision on legislation outlining parental rights and responsibilities, and Virginia Humanities has lost more than a million dollars in federal funding.

Episodes Summary: A beautiful and powerful art exhibition is touring the country right now, called Pictures of Belonging, which explores three artists of Japanese descent - Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo. The exhibition puts these artists and their work in their rightful place in the history of American art. For this bonus episode, producer and lead writer David Taylor visits the exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and shares his insights about Miné Okubo, who was featured in Episode 9: Is This Land Your Land? She was a painter who was working with Diego Rivera on murals for the WPA when she was detained and sent to an incarceration camp during World War 2. She used her artwork to bear witness to the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during the war. Links and Resources:Pictures of Belonging: Japanese American National MuseumPictures of Belonging: Smithsonian American Art MuseumCitizen 13660 - a short film from the National Park ServiceSincerely, Miné Okubo - a short biography from the Japanese American National MuseumFurther Reading: Citizen 13360 by Miné OkuboMiné Okubo: Following Her Own Road by Greg Robinson Peaceful Painter: Memoirs of an Issei Woman Artist by Hisako HibiThe Other American Moderns: Matsura, Ishigaki, Nora, Hayakawa by ShiPu WangCredits: Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditor: Amy YoungFeaturing music from Pond5Produced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska. For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Nikki Giovanni passed away in December at the age of 81, she left a legacy that will continue to be a beacon of light for generations to come. We first had Nikki on With Good Reason more than 20 years ago when I spoke to her about space travel and her poem, Quilting The Black Eyed Pea. And: Rapper Tupac Shakur famously sported a “thug life” tattoo… and so did Nikki Giovanni. I sat down with her in 2014 to talk about the poem she dedicated to Tupac after he was killed in 1996. Later in the show: The dean of southern cookery, Edna Lewis, penned an essay called “What is Southern?” describing how food is intertwined with the seasons and cultures of the south. Back in 2008 we had Nikki Giovanni read a portion of that essay and talk about her friendship with Edna. This interview was conducted by former producer, Nancy King - who passed away in 2010. Plus: In 2020, Virginia Humanities brought Nikki Giovanni in conversation with Tressie McMillan Cottom. It was part of an online event called “Have A Drink With Nikki and Tressie” - moderated by Irène Mathieu. They talked about everything from their early writing days, to finding their voice, and the future of art and literature in the Black community.

Our next guest on Sharing the Mic with David Phillips (January 1st) is the esteemed Katy Clune, who serves as Virginia's state Folklorist and is the innovative Director of the Virginia Folklife Program at Virginia Humanities. With a profound commitment to preserving and promoting the rich tapestry of diverse cultures and traditions throughout the state, Katy's work is vital in fostering community pride and cultural heritage. She holds a master's degree in Folklore from the prestigious University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she cultivated her passion for exploring the stories and practices that shape our lives. Her expertise and dedication were recognized with the honor of an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, highlighting her significant contributions to the field. Based in the historic city of Charlottesville, Virginia, Katy draws on her extensive background in cultural communications to engage with communities, ensuring that their voices and traditions are not only heard but thrive for generations to come.

The Inthrive Film Festival is a one-of-a-kind event that features films directed by formerly incarcerated people. Kenneth Hunter performed spoken word poetry at the festival on opening night. He sits down with producer, Matt Darroch, to share his experience in the prison system and his thoughts on what the Inthrive movies mean to him. And: We lose so much of what makes us human in prison. Privacy, personal possessions - and most importantly, freedom - all get stripped away. But Zoe Spencer says there's still humanity behind bars. Plus: Gary Cuddeback and Courtney Holmes co-direct Project Belong. Collaborating with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, Project Belong helps young people who've been recently released from juvenile corrections facilities reintegrate back into society. Later in the show: In 1994, Kemba Smith Pradia was sentenced to 24 and a half years in prison for drug crimes committed by her ex-boyfriend. She's a survivor of mandatory minimum sentencing, an extension of the war on drugs and mass incarceration. She spoke with my Virginia Humanities colleague, Yahusef Medina, about Kemba - her recently released movie based on her inspiring life, now streaming on BET+.

Episode Summary:The Franklin Delano Library and Museum is an amazing place which just celebrated its 75th anniversary. President Roosevelt had the idea to build the library on his family property in Hyde Park, New York, using private funds. And then he donated the library and its historical collections, including all of his personal and official papers, to the US Government. This started the precedent of Presidential Libraries that we continue today. Last month, we sat down with the FDR Library and its director Bill Harris and had a great discussion about the Federal Writers' Project, its impact then, and why it still matters today. Please join our host Chris Haley, writer-producers David Taylor and James Mirabello and historian Sara Rutkowski for a few highlights from that conversation.You can see the full discussion on the FDR Library's YouTube channel here. Links and Resources: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library and Museum"Rewriting America: New Essays on the Federal Writers' Project" with Sara RutkowskiCredits: Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditor: Amy YoungFeaturing music from Pond5Featuring: Chris Haley, Bill Harris, David A. Taylor, Sara Rutkowski and James MirabelloProduced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska. For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.Craig Symonds, Professor of History Emeritus at the United States Naval Academy, returns to continue our discussion of Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay.Learn about the lesser-known mission, “Saving Lt. Plateck” as told by Corporal Herschel Brohinsky in our “We Salute You” segment.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.America's preeminent naval historian Craig Symonds joins our hosts to discuss his latest work, the first full-length portrait of Chester Nimitz in more than 50 years.In our “We Salute You” segment, hear the first-hand account of James Buchanan, a junior officer on Nimitz' staff.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

In this second installment of our special three-part miniseries on global democracy, Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey interviews Dr. Tinashe Hofisi, a human rights lawyer and constitutional scholar from Zimbabwe. Dr. Hofisi, an alumnus and instructor of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), shares insights from his research on judicial power in a global context. Funded by Virginia Humanities and produced in collaboration with the Presidential Precinct, this episode explores the complexities of establishing and maintaining effective judicial systems, particularly in post-colonial African nations. Dr. Hofisi discusses the importance of judicial independence, the challenges of creating representative courts, and the surprising effectiveness of lower courts in enforcing constitutional rights.

In this first episode of a special three-part mini-series, host Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey of the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier explores the global impact of the U.S. Constitution. Funded by Virginia Humanities and produced in collaboration with the Presidential Precinct, this series highlights the experiences of Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Mandela Washington Fellows. Featuring an interview with Professor Heinz Klug, a South African constitutional scholar, the episode delves into the complexities of constitution-building, the importance of context in drafting constitutions, and the role of public participation in shaping democracy. Klug shares insights from his involvement in South Africa's post-apartheid transition, discussing the challenges of balancing diverse stakeholder interests and the necessity of "constructive ambiguity" in constitutional language. Gain valuable perspectives on the fundamental principles and challenges of creating effective governance structures in different cultural and historical contexts.

To help celebrate its 50th anniversary in December, Virginia Humanities has announced plans to create new regional humanities centers throughout Virginia. These centers will help support local, place-based humanities work, with the goal of making Virginia Humanities more accessible to Virginians. Each center will be headquartered within an existing regional organization, in either a cultural nonprofit, two-year, or four-year college. Funding to support them will come from Virginia Humanities, allowing those regional organizations to regrant money to other local nonprofit groups to support humanities programs and conversations about local topics their residents care about most. Virginia Humanities, created by Congress...Article LinkSupport the Show.

Highland Springs High School history teacher Spencer Billett is among seven teachers statewide to receive the Virginia Humanities K-12 Educator Fellowship, announced earlier this week. The program offers selected teachers a stipend of ,000, supplies for their classroom up to 0, and two reference books for research. It is designed to support educators who teach the humanities to primary and secondary school students. Billet has taught at Highland Springs High for nine years and now mostly teaches AP and dual enrollment sections of United States history. He also is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher and is working on his master's...Article LinkSupport the Show.

Episode Summary:The Federal Writers' Project set out to create a series of books that held up a mirror to America, and chronicled communities that had long been ignored. Howard University professor Sterling Brown led the agency's effort to document African American history in a series of books. In Virginia, chemistry professor Roscoe Lewis led a small team to produce the first book in that national series, titled The Negro in Virginia. Lewis recruited a dozen Black writers and researchers across the state for a pioneering effort that recorded interviews with nearly 300 formerly enslaved people. They navigated a backlash from state editors and local officials. Against all odds, their book on Black life became a national Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and a milestone on the path to the Civil Rights movement.Speakers:Audrey Davis, historianJulian Hayter, historianGregg Kimball, historianKiki Petrosino, poetLinks and Resources:Photo essay about East End Cemetery by Kiki Petrosino and Brian Palmer in VQR“Unmarked” documentaryVirginia Humanities Q&A with David A. TaylorWashington Post article on Roscoe Lewis and The Negro in VirginiaAlexandria Black History MuseumReading List:The Negro in Virginia (Library of Virginia)White Blood by Kiki PetrosinoLong Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers' Project by Catherine A. StewartTo Walk About in Freedom by Carole EmbertonThe Dream is Lost by Julian Hayter Credits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditors: Ethan Oser and Julie ChalhoubStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Skip Coblyn, Sherry Carter-Brownell, Robert Mirabello, James Mirabello and Danielle NanceFeaturing music and archival material from:Pond5Library of Congress National Archives For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Virginia Humanities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Virginia Festival of the Book, a program of Virginia Humanities, is preparing for its 30th annual event, which will bring together writers and readers to promote and celebrate books, reading, literacy, and literary culture. The event will take place March 20-24 in Charlottesville. “We're pulling out all the stops when it comes to celebrating our 30th anniversary,” said festival director Kalela Williams. “We're starting with a 90s themed rooftop party featuring Rob Harvilla, author of 60 Songs that Explain the ‘90s, and concluding with a toast at Decipher Brewing. But the big 30th celebration everyone is talking about is...Article LinkSupport the show

When the Folger reopens on June 21 and you come to take a walk in our new west garden, look down at the garden bed. There, you'll see a new poem, written for the Folger by US Poet Laureate emerita Rita Dove. This week, she joins us on the podcast to read that poem aloud for the first time. Plus, Dove reflects on how writing for marble is different from writing for the page, and remembers the moment she discovered Shakespeare. Rita Dove is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. Rita Dove served as the US Poet Laureate for two terms, from 1993 to 1995, and as a special bicentennial consultant to the Library of Congress in 1999. Her third collection of poetry, Thomas and Beulah, won the Pulitzer Prize. She is the only poet ever to receive both the National Humanities Medal and the National Medal of the Arts, from presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In 2021, she received the Gold Medal for Poetry from the American Academy of Arts and Letters—the first African American poet in the medal's history. She teaches at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Dove has also read in the Folger's O.B. Hardison Poetry series four times, and contributed a poem to our 2012 collection Shakespeare's Sisters: Women Writers Bridge Five Centuries. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published January 30, 2024. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. Leonor Fernandez edits a transcript of every episode, available at folger.edu. We had technical help from With Good Reason, Virginia Humanities, and Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Final mixing services provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.Paratrooper-turned-historian James M. Fenelon re-joins our hosts to discuss the 11 thAirborne Division's Pacific campaigns, narrated in his latest book Angels Against theSun.English at birth and American by wartime, Charles Rippon returned to England to trainbut never made it home to Pennsylvania after D-Day. The story of his service is in our“We Salute You” segment.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming eventsat dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learnmore, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team atpodcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.Four Hours of Fury author James M. Fenelon goes from Europe to the Pacific as hechronicles another lesser-known airborne unit in his latest book, Angels Against theSun.In “We Salute You,” we honor the service of paratrooper Don Jakeway and tell you thestory of his wristwatch, which became a silent witness to history not once, but threetimes.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming eventsat dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learnmore, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team atpodcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.In this episode, historian Katherine Sharp Landdeck shares more profiles of World WarII heroines of aviation, from among the 1,100 women who earned their silver wings asWomen Airforce Service Pilots.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming eventsat dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team atpodcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.Katherine Sharp Landdeck is an associate professor of history at Texas Woman'sUniversity, home of the WASP archives. She joins the podcast to discuss her book TheWomen with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Woman Airforce ServicePilots of World War II.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming eventsat dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learnmore, visit VirginiaHumanities.org.Email the Someone Talked! team atpodcast@dday.org.

Earl Swift is Fellow of Virginia Humanities at the University of Virginia and New York Times' bestselling author of The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways, Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island, and the new book Across the Airless Wilds: The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings. Website: www.earlswift.com

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.While profanity famously rolled off the general's tongue, his hand-written words tell useven more. Author Kevin Hymel is back with more of Patton uncensored.In “We Salute You,” after providing critical information, Lt. James L. Christopulosthought he was getting a citation from none other than Old Blood and Guts himself. Findout what he got instead.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming eventsat dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team atpodcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.Wanna read Patton's diary? Author Kevin Hymel did. Hymel returns to SomeoneTalked! to discuss volume 2 of Patton's War: An American General's CombatLeadership.Hear the story of one of five known African Americans to die on D-Day, Abner Adams ofthe 4042 nd Quartermaster Truck Company, in our “We Salute You” segment.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming eventsat dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team atpodcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.Some names go down in history while others live in infamy. Find out which World War IIgenerals get five stars from our hosts.From musical talent to morse code, June Elliott Haggerty marches to the beat of herown drum in our “We Salute You” segment.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming eventsat dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learnmore, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team atpodcast@dday.org.

Join us on an unvarnished tour of America. The People's Recorder is a podcast about the 1930s Federal Writers' Project: what it achieved, where it fell short, and what it means for Americans today. Each episode features stories of individual writers, new places, and the project's impact on people's lives. Along the way we hear from historians, novelists, and others who shed light on that experience and unexpected connections to American society today.The People's Recorder is produced by Spark Media with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.Countries and contributions, large and small, were crucial in the complex operation thatwas Overlord. In this episode, our hosts discuss the multinational effort on D-Day andhow each ally is recognized at the National D-Day Memorial.In “We Salute You,” we remember Major William H. Merriam, a U.S. Army Air Forcefighter pilot who contributed to the success of the Normandy invasion, despite not livingto see D-Day.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming eventsat dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learnmore, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team atpodcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.We go back To the End of the Earth with John C. McManus, as explore the last of his trilogy on the U.S. Army in the Pacific in World War II.John Onken, a naturalized American citizen born to German immigrants, dies fighting for his adopted homeland in our “We Salute You” segment.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.In this episode our host is in the hotseat as John C. McManus answers your burning questions about his research and just-released book, To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945.In our “We Salute You” segment, hear the story of Colonel James Kerr, one of only two known Marines to land on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.Craig Symonds, Professor of History Emeritus at the United States Naval Academy, returns to continue our discussion of Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay.Learn about the lesser-known mission, “Saving Lt. Plateck” as told by Corporal Herschel Brohinsky in our “We Salute You” segment.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.America's preeminent naval historian Craig Symonds joins our hosts to discuss his latest work, the first full-length portrait of Chester Nimitz in more than 50 years.In our “We Salute You” segment, hear the first-hand account of James Buchanan, a junior officer on Nimitz' staff.Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. Author Ian Toll returns to talk kamikaze culture and explores the polarized U.S. political environment as we wrap up our discussion of his book, Twilight of the Gods. In “We Salute You,” meet 1 st Lieutenant Marcella LeBeau, an army nurse and champion of veteran and Native American health care. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. “To Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and General Walter C. Short, who were dealt a losing hand.” With a dedication like that you'll want to hear more from author Ian Toll as we discuss the third book in his Pacific War trilogy, Twilight of the Gods. In “We Salute You,” go inside the “Little Red School House” with Louis Graziano, the last living witness to the German surrender who personally escorted German General Jodl to Eisenhower's office. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.  

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. Author Jennet Conant rejoins our hosts to discuss writing about her own grandfather, eminent chemist James B. Conant, and his work on the Manhattan Project. Ernest Fulcher, an underweight boy from the mountains of West Virginia comes of age guiding Higgins Boats to Omaha Beach, in our “We Salute You” segment. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. New York Times Bestselling Author Jennet Conant shares The Great Secret. Discover the chemical weapons catastrophe, cover-up, and how it all led to the first drug to combat cancer, known today as chemotherapy. Thought dead, Lt. Commander John Henry Morrill actually lived to tell quite the story of escape in the Pacific. Hear it in our “We Salute You” segment. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. In this episode Dr. Sean McMeekin returns to continue our discussion of Stalin's War, revising the Hitler-centric view of the war. In “We Salute You,” Hollywood actor Burgess Meredith's role training fellow American servicemen during World War II. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. In this episode Sean McMeekin, Francis Flournoy Professor of European History and Culture at Bard College, joins us to discuss his latest book Stalin's War: A New History of WWII. In Stalin's War, McMeekin explores the idea that Stalin—not Hitler—was the animating force of World War II. Learn how legendary medic Charles Norman Shay came to represent the 175 Native Americans who landed on D-Day in our “We Salute You” segment. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. In this episode, Black Snow author James Scott returns to discuss the development of the B-29 bomber and shares how he was personally affected by his research. In “We Salute You,” André Fallwell landed in France to help liberate his mother's homeland and with the hope he'd return to an America that was truly free for all. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. In this episode, Pulitzer Prize finalist James Scott reflects on his time researching in Japan and the painful interviews with civilians recalling the firebombing of Tokyo. In “We Salute You,” intelligence officer Oscar Cavallin's story from inside a German POW camp. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. In this episode, we explore the Memorial's never-ending quest to identify and remember, by name, every single Allied fatality on D-Day. The nephew of a fallen aviator shares how this research it helping families find answers nearly 80 years later. In “We Salute You,” once known but to God, Frances Drake was finally returned from Guadalcanal. The heroic story of how he died attempting to save his fellow Marine. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. In this episode, the producers of They Won't Die Twice, a new documentary following the lives of three fallen heroes of D-Day, join us in studio on the heels of the American premiere. In “We Salute You,” how remembering Paul Womack's death on Omaha Beach united two families over his grave and across continents. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Email the Someone Talked! team at podcast@dday.org.

Danny Smith and Rich Maxham share a passion for violins. In a lovely and powerful apprenticeship partnership, Rich learns Danny's luthier craft, but Danny will tell you he's learning from Rich as well. It's apprenticeship as a joyful joint curiosity enterprise. Special thanks to Katy Clune, director of Virginia Humanities' Virginia Folklife Program, for facilitating this and so much else, and to Rich for his impromptu basement violin concert. Learn more about the Virginia Humanities' Virginia Folklife Program. https://www.virginiafolklife.org If you agree with Danny that Rich is going on to still greater things, keep an eye on him here: https://www.maxhamviolins.com/about The Virginia Humanities apprenticeship program caught my eye because my friends at Architecting Curiosity had primed me to think about the power of apprenticing in curiosity. Listen to my conversation with Anthony Rocco, Monica Canfield-Lenfest and Pim Schachtschabel: https://lynnborton.com/2021/12/22/architecting-curiosity-with-pim-schachtschabel-monica-canfield-lenfest-anthony-rocco/

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial.   Chris Kolakowski returns to discuss all things MacArthur. Kolakowski, who served as director of the MacArthur Memorial from 2013-2019, authored Last Stand on Bataan, which studies the Philippine Campaign.   In our “We Salute You” segment we introduce you to Lt. Col. John Minary, whose service in the Psychological Warfare Division hastened the end of the war and earned Minary the Bronze Star.   Email our team at podcast@dday.org. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. Chris Kolakowski, director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, joins the program to discuss his latest book Nations in the Balance: The India-Burma Campaigns, December 1943-August 1944. Our hosts and guest explore how the outcome of WWII in Asia still affects modern geopolitics. Catch baseball legend Yogi Berra's story of heroism on D-Day in our “We Salute You” segment. Email our team at podcast@dday.org. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. Joe Balkoski returns to further discuss his seminal work writing about the 29th Division in World War II. Find out how fluent our host and guest are in French and what punishment a soldier could expect to receive if caught with his hands in his pockets under 29th Division leadership. In “We Salute You” we honor the service of WWII Merchant Mariner Clarence Hawkins. Email our team at podcast@dday.org. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org.

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (5:14).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 8-26-22. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of August 29 and September 5, 2022.  This episode is a revised repeat of an episode from September 2012. MUSIC – ~15 sec – Lyrics: “Won't you help me to raise ‘em boys; hey, hey, honey.” In this episode, we honor Labor Day by featuring a musical tradition that helped hard-working African American watermen harvest Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.  Have a listen for about 90 seconds. VOICE AND MUSIC - ~92 sec – Introduction: “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  I want to thank you for that wonderful introduction.  We are the Northern Neck Chantey Singers, and we are extremely happy to be back here once again to perform for you.  We call ourselves the Northern Neck Chantey Singers because all of us come from the Northern Neck counties of the Northern Neck, which is that body that's on the eastern part of Virginia, bordered by the Potomac River in the north, the majestic Chesapeake Bay in the east, and the Rappahannock River in the south.  The first song that we're gonna perform for you is sort of like our theme song.  It's called “Help us to raise ‘em, boys,” and it goes by showing how we pull in the nets that's teeming with fish.” Song Lyrics: “Won't you help me to raise ‘em boys?  Hey, hey, honey. C'mon now, let's go get ‘em; get ‘em now!Won't you help me to raise ‘em boys?  Hey, hey, honey.  C'mon boys let's go get ‘em, all right!Won't you help me to raise ‘em out?  See you when the sun goes down.” You've been listening to the Northern Neck Chantey Singers, performing at the 2011 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Festival in Charlottesville.  In 1991, several former Virginia watermen formed the Northern Neck Chantey Singers to keep alive and spread awareness of the tradition of menhaden chanteys.  Menhaden chanteys are an example of African American work songs, used in this case to coordinate crews of watermen in the grueling labor of hauling up nets full of fish.  Atlantic menhaden are relatively small, oily fish that feed on microscopic plants and animals and in turn are prey for larger fish, such as Striped Bass and Bluefish.  Menhaden have been harvested from Atlantic Coast waters since the 1800s for a variety of industrial uses of their oils, and in southern states.  African Americans typically made up the crews doing the hard work of pulling up nets containing thousands of fish.  The chanteys, sung in a call-and-response style, helped the watermen coordinate the extra efforts needed for hauling in heavily loaded nets.  Today, hydraulic equipment does the net-hauling work formerly performed by watermen; the Northern Neck town of Reedville, in Northumberland County, is home to the Chesapeake Bay's only remaining industrial Menhaden operation, run by the Omega Protein company; and Bay Menhaden harvest quotas are at times a controversial issue.  Performances by the Northern Neck Chantey Singers remind us that those modern-day menhaden circumstances have a long, challenging, and culturally rich history of Virginians working on the water. Thanks to Virginia Humanities, formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, for permission to use the excerpt of the Northern Neck Chantey Singers' performance, and we let those singers have the last word. MUSIC – ~13 sec – Lyrics: “Won't you help me to raise ‘em out?  See you when the sun goes down.” SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaced Episode 128, 9-17-12. Audio of the Northern Neck Chantey Singers was from a video of their September 11, 2011, performance at the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase in Charlottesville, used with permission of Virginia Humanities (formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities), located in Charlottesville and online at https://virginiahumanities.org/.  The full performance video is available online at https://www.virginiafolklife.org/sights-sounds/northern-neck-chantey-singers-and-lewis-r-blackwell-jr/. Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus).  Drawing from he Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, “Atlantic Menhaden,” online at http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden. Atlantic menhaden landings for bait and in the reduction industry (using the fish oils for various products) from 1940 to 2020.  Graph from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, “Atlantic Menhaden,” online at http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden. SOURCES Used for Audio Harold Anderson, “Menhaden Chanteys: An African American Legacy,” and “A History of Menhaden Fishing,” both in Maryland Marine Notes, Jan.-Feb. 2000, from the Maryland Sea Grant Program, available online at https://www.mdsg.umd.edu/maryland-marine-notes-archive. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, “Atlantic Menhaden,” online at http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden. Steve Bittenbender, “Omega Protein completes move of headquarters to Virginia,” Seafood Source, March 2, 2020. Chesapeake Bay Program, “Menhaden” (undated), online at http://www.chesapeakebay.net/issues/issue/menhaden#inline. The Mariners' Museum and Park (formerly The Mariners' Museum; Newport News, Va.), “Watermen Harvesting the Bounty: Menhaden Fishing” (2002), online at http://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/cbhf/waterman/wat011.html. Omega Protein Corporation, “Who We Are,” online at https://omegaprotein.com/who-we-are/. Virginia Humanities (formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities), “Virginia Folklife Program: Northern Neck Chantey Singers and Lewis R. Blackwell, Jr.,” 2011, online at https://www.virginiafolklife.org/sights-sounds/northern-neck-chantey-singers-and-lewis-r-blackwell-jr/. For More Information about Menhaden or Menhaden Chanteys North Carolina Arts Council, “Menhaden Chanteymen/Beaufort, N.C.,” online at https://www.ncarts.org/menhaden-chanteymen. State Library of North Carolina et al., “NCPedia/Menhaden Chanteymen,” online at https://www.ncpedia.org/menhaden-chanteymen. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service/Species Information,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/?Title=VaFWIS+Species+Information.  The Altantic menhaden entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=010043&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19233. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, “Atlantic Menhaden,” online at https://www.vims.edu/research/departments/fisheries/programs/mrg_oldwebsite/species_data/atlantic_menhaden/index.php. Virginia Marine Resources Commission/Menhaden Management Advisory Committee, online at https://mrc.virginia.gov/MMAC/mmac.shtm. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the following subject categories: “Fish”; “History”; “Rivers, Streams, and Other Surface Water.” Following are links to some other episodes on the Chesapeake Bay. Bay condition reports – Episode 305, 2-29-16; Episode 632, 7-18-22.Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan – Episode 115, 6-18-12.Bay TMDL, Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan – Episode 475, 6-3-19.Chesapeake Bay Commission – Episode 496, 10-28-19.Estuaries introduction – Episode 326, 7-25-16.Oysters and nitrogen (Part 1) – Episode 279, 8-24-15.Oysters and nitrogen (Part 2) – Episode 280, 9-7-15.“Smart” buoys – Episode 538, 8-17-20.Submerged aquatic vegetation (“Bay grasses”) – Episode 325, 7-18-16.Winter birds of the Chesapeake Bay area – EP565 – 2/22/21. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode's audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post. 2020 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.” 2018 Science SOLs Grades K-4: Living Systems and Processes 1.5 – Animals, including humans, have basic life needs that allow them to survive. 2.5 – Living things are part of a system. 3.5 – Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems support a diversity of organisms. 4.3 – Organisms, including humans, interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Grades K-5: Earth and Space Systems 4.7 – The ocean environment. Grades K-5: Earth Resources 1.8 – Natural resources can be used responsibly, including that most natural resources are limited. 3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems. 4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources. Grade 6 6.6 – Water has unique physical properties and has a role in the natural and human-made environment. 6.8 – Land and water have roles in watershed systems. 6.9 – Humans impact the environment and individuals can influence public policy decisions related to energy and the environment. Life Science LS.6 – Populations in a biological community interact and are interdependent. LS.8 – Change occurs in ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms over time. LS.9 – Relationships exist between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Earth Science ES.6 – Resource use is complex.  ES.10 – Oceans are complex, dynamic systems subject to long- and short-term variations. Biology BIO.7 – Populations change through time. BIO.8 – Dynamic equilibria exist within populations, communities, and ecosystems.2015 Social Studies SOLs Grades K-3 Economics Theme 2.8 – Natural, human, and capital resources. 3.8 – Understanding of cultures and of how natural, human, and capital resources are used for goods and services. Virginia Studies Course VS.1 – Impact of geographic features on people, places, and events in Virginia history. VS.10 – Knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia. United States History: 1865-to-Present Course USII.6 – Social, economic, and technological changes from the 1890s to 1945. Civics and Economics Course CE.7 – Government at the state level. CE.10 – Public policy at local, state, and national levels. World Geography

After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond by Bruce Greyson. ACU Sunday Series.  Watch this interview at- https://www.vabook.org/2021/06/17/iafter-i-dr-bruce-greyson-on-near-death-experiences/ Or on YouTube at-  https://youtu.be/IXJ54zkM8f0 Dr. Bruce Greyson, author of After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond, offers a scientific perspective of near-death experiences using his forty years of research and clinical experience. His lifelong journey to understand what happens with near-death experiences results in a book about dying, but also about life and living. In conversation with Barbara Bradley Hagerty. Presented as part of the SHELF LIFE series of virtual events from the Virginia Festival of the Book, a program of Virginia Humanities. Learn more at VaBook.org.   About the Book- After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond by Bruce Greyson M.D.  March 2, 2021 The world's leading expert on near-death experiences reveals his journey toward rethinking the nature of death, life, and the continuity of consciousness. Cases of remarkable experiences on the threshold of death have been reported since ancient times, and are described today by 10% of people whose hearts stop. The medical world has generally ignored these “near-death experiences,” dismissing them as “tricks of the brain” or wishful thinking. But after his patients started describing events that he could not just sweep under the rug, Dr. Bruce Greyson began to investigate. As a physician without a religious belief system, he approached near-death experiences from a scientific perspective. In After, he shares the transformative lessons he has learned over four decades of research. Our culture has tended to view dying as the end of our consciousness, the end of our existence―a dreaded prospect that for many people evokes fear and anxiety. But Dr. Greyson shows how scientific revelations about the dying process can support an alternative theory. Dying could be the threshold between one form of consciousness and another, not an ending but a transition. This new perspective on the nature of death can transform the fear of dying that pervades our culture into a healthy view of it as one more milestone in the course of our lives. After challenges us to open our minds to these experiences and to what they can teach us, and in so doing, expand our understanding of consciousness and of what it means to be human.   Purchase the book at your favorite book seller or from Amazon/Audible at- https://www.amazon.com/After-Doctor-Explores-Near-Death-Experiences/dp/B089YWZXWF/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=   HELP ACU SPREAD THE WORD!  Please go to Apple Podcasts and give ACU a 5 star rating. Apple canceled us and now we are clawing our way back to the top. Don't let the Leftist win. Do it now! Thanks. Forward this show to friends. Ways to subscribe to the American Conservative University Podcast Click here to subscribe via Apple Podcasts Click here to subscribe via RSS You can also subscribe via Stitcher FM Player Podcast Addict Tune-in Podcasts Pandora Look us up on Amazon Prime …And Many Other Podcast Aggregators and sites   Please help ACU by submitting your Show ideas. Email us at americanconservativeuniversity@americanconservativeuniversity.com Please go to Apple Podcasts and give ACU a 5 star rating. Apple canceled us and now we are clawing our way back to the top. Don't let the Leftist win. Do it now! Thanks. Help CSI Stamp Out Slavery In Sudan Join us in our effort to free over 350 slaves. Listeners to the Eric Metaxas Show will remember our annual effort to free Christians who have been enslaved for simply acknowledging Jesus Christ as their Savior. As we celebrate the birth of Christ this Christmas, join us in giving new life to brothers and sisters in Sudan who have enslaved as a result of their faith. https://csi-usa.org/metaxas   https://csi-usa.org/slavery/   Typical Aid for the Enslaved A ration of sorghum, a local nutrient-rich staple food A dairy goat A “Sack of Hope,” a survival kit containing essential items such as tarp for shelter, a cooking pan, a water canister, a mosquito net, a blanket, a handheld sickle, and fishing hooks. Release celebrations include prayer and gathering for a meal, and medical care for those in need. The CSI team provides comfort, encouragement, and a shoulder to lean on while they tell their stories and begin their new lives. Thank you for your compassion  Giving the Gift of Freedom and Hope to the Enslaved South Sudanese

There are many made-up holidays that somehow have found their way into being mentioned on this particular channel of programming as part the introduction. For some reason, today is Clean Your Floors Day, though it’s unclear who makes the money off of those greetings cards. But how clean are your floors? Are you a rebel without a broom, or are you a vacuum warrior? It’s a very good thing that none of the rest of this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement has anything to do with this particular topic. But I will have you know, I mopped mine yesterday in anticipation of this very important day. On today’s show:So far there are no debates scheduled in the contested Fifth Congressional District race but Democrat Josh Throneburg wants to change thatArea home sales volumes have decreased, though the cost to buy a place to live continues to increaseGreene County hires a water and sewer director to prepare to expand supplySeveral area organizations receive funding from Virginia Humanities, including a project to tell stories of PVCC students who have been or are in prisonAlbemarle County continues to review its Comprehensive Plan and the seven-member Planning Commission got their chance to review growth management options late last month First shout-out is for LEAP’s new Thermalize Virginia program In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out: Have you been thinking of converting your fossil-fuel appliances and furnaces into something that will help the community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP,  has launched a new program to guide you through the steps toward electrifying your home. Thermalize Virginia will help you understand electrification and connect you with vetted contractors to get the work done and help you find any rebates or discounts. Visit thermalizeva.org to learn more and to sign up!  Challenger Throneburg challenges Good to an in-person debateThe Democratic candidate in the Fifth District Congressional race has asked his opponent to agree to meet in person for a debate or other kind of candidate forum before the November 8 election. Josh Throneburg of Charlottesville became the candidate earlier this year before the primary when he was the only one to qualify for the ballot. “There’s one question I get asked more than any other and that is, when will the two of you debate?” Throneburg asked in a campaign video sent out this morning. Throneburg addressed his comments directly to Good and said there were at least three organizations that would hold a campaign event, and that he’s accepted all of them.“But you have either rejected or ignored those invitations and so I want to make things crystal clear. I, Josh Throneburg, challenge you, Representative Bob Good to an in-person debate sometime between now and November 8.”Good is seeking his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives having defeated Cameron Webb in the 2020 election. Candidate Good did participate in a September 9, 2020 virtual campaign forum put on by the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. You can take a listen to that whole event at the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. A request for comment or a response is out to the Bob Good for Congress campaign. CAAR: Charlottesville real estate market continues to cool as prices continue to increaseThe number of sales in the Charlottesville housing market continues to drop as the median sales price continues to climb. That’s according to the latest report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. (view the report) “There were 1,380 homes sold in the CAAR area in the second quarter,” reads one of the bullet points in the CAAR Home Sales Report for the second quarter. “This is an eleven percent drop from the second quarter a year ago, which is 165 fewer sales.” CAAR’s jurisdictional area is the same as the Thomas Jefferson Planning District with the city of Charlottesville as well as the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson. The median sales price increased to $417,850, an eleven percent increase over the second quarter of 2021. Additionally, supply has increased with 741 active listings in the area, a 28 percent increase over the same period in 2021. To put the increase in perspective, consider that the median sales price for the second quarter of 2018 was $301,000. The report also covers recent economic trends such as steady job growth and low unemployment. “Several job sectors have fully recovered and have actually expanded since the start of the pandemic, including the Professional and Technical Services sector, and the Federal Government sector. The homeownership rate within these two job sectors tends to be relatively high, so growth in these sectors provides fuel for the housing market in Virginia.”However, the leisure and hospitality sector continues to show signs of recovery. Mortgage rates are higher than last year, but have shown a slight decline from the end of June when the average rate on a 30-year fixed was 5.7 percent. However, the report acknowledges the cooling effect of rates that have increased two percentage points so far this year. Sales volumes were down in all localities except Greene County where there was a 33 percent increase in sales. There were 122 homes sold in that jurisdiction between April and June of this year compared to 92 in the same period the year before. The median sales price increased in all of the jurisdictions, but Nelson County saw the biggest jump in values from $285,000 in second quarter of 2021 to $425,000 in the second quarter of 2022. Visit caar.com to download the report. What do you think? If you’re a property owner, how does this change your views on what you may do with your own place? What about if you want to own? Say something in the comments. New water and sewer director in GreeneGreene County is preparing for anticipated population growth by expanding its urban water supply. Now the locality has hired its first ever water and sewer director. “Mr. Greg Lunsford… will oversee the development of a team to operate Greene County Water and Sewer Department as Greene transitions out of the Rapidan Service Authority,” reads an announcement posted to the county’s Facebook page. Greene County recently left the RSA in order to build a reservoir that’s already received permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The idea is to impound White Run to create storage. (learn more on the Greene website)Lunsford recently served as the town manager of Elkton in Rockingham County where the release states he helped advance a water system upgrade. In Greene, he will lead the work to create a water and sewer ordinance to govern the new supply. Virginia Humanities awards grants to area nonprofitsThe state agency that serves as the official humanities council for Virginia has made its latest round of grants to nonprofit organizations that seek to tell new stories about the people who have lived in the Commonwealth. “We want Virginians to connect with their history and culture and, in doing that, we hope we’ll all get to know each other a little better,” reads the About section of the website for Virginia Humanities. In all, Virginia Humanities awarded $153,200 to eighteen organizations including several in this general area. The Catticus Corporation of Berkeley, California will get $10,000 for a project to build a website intended to tell the story of Barbara Johns and the 1951 student walk out in Prince Edward County to a larger audience across Virginia and the nation. James Madison University will get $5,400 toward a project called A Miserable Revenge: Recovering 19th-Century Black Literature from the Shenandoah Valley. This will transcribe a handwritten novel by George Newman around 1880. Newman was an African American educator from the Winchester area. The Louisa County Historical Society will get $7,000 for a project called Representing our Residents: African American History at the Louisa County Historical Society. This will be a series of oral history interviews and public outreach activities.The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford will get $8,000 for a project called Someone Talked! A Podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. This will include conversations between the prolific WWII historian John McManus and other scholars and is intended and designed to reach and engage new audiences now that the generation that lived through WWII has passed. A project to add two Louisa County churches to the National Register of Historic Places received $3,000.Piedmont Virginia Community College will receive $10,000 for the PVCC Prison Creative Arts Project. The idea is to collect original writing from incarcerated PVCC students and then create a theatrical production based on the stories. The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum will get $8,250 to make three videos to introduce the Monacan Nation as “custodians of the lands and waters in and around Charlottesville” to serve as land acknowledgments The Virginia Tech Foundation will receive $20,000 for a podcast to be called Tribal Truths on the histories and cultures of state and federally recognized Tribes in Virginia. To see the rest, visit the release at Virginia Humanities. Second shout-out goes to Camp AlbemarleToday’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting campalbemarleva.org/donate. Albemarle Planning Commission reviews seven options for growth management Is this the summer of 2022, or is it the Summer of AC44? AC44 is the name Albemarle County has given for the review of its Comprehensive Plan. That’s a document Virginia requires all localities to adopt and review every five years. Albemarle last updated its plan in 2015 and work got underway earlier this year. “We’re currently in phase one, plan for growth, where we are reviewing and evaluating the current growth management policy, using lenses of equity, climate action, and capacity projects,” said Tori Kannellopollous, a senior planner with Albemarle County.At the end of this phase, staff and hired consultants will have developed a draft vision for “growth and resilience” on which new policy objectives will be written.  The work so far has led to the development of seven growth management policies for the public to review. “We are planning having in-person and virtual roundtables and online opportunities in step three,” Kannellopollous saidThe Commission will then review the work in September followed by a review by the Board of Supervisors. Discussions about what changes might come in the rural area will come during phase two of the Comprehensive Plan Review. Several Commissioners wanted to know if survey responses have done enough to capture a diversity of opinion. “I did a deep dive on the last one that came out and when I look at the demographics, the demographics really trend white, upper class, middle-upper class, and extremely well-educated,” said Commission Julian Bivins. “What I’m nervous about is that those responses become the drivers for lots of decisions.” Charles Rapp, the deputy director of the Community Development Department, said he expected participation to increase when the plan review gets into specifics.“People are excited to get into the specific topics [and] into the details of this plan,” Rapp said. “At this point we’re still at such a high level trying to figure out which of those avenues we’re going to go down and which ideas we want to explore and what are those topics that we want to dive into.” The Commission also got an update on the buildout analysis of the county’s existing capacity for new homes and businesses. The firm Kimley Horn has been hired to conduct that work. Kannellopollous had several preliminary observations.“In mixed-use developments, the residential component tends to fill out first and the non-residential component may not build out until years later,” Kannellopollous said. “When factoring in site readiness and site-selection criteria, there appears to be sufficient capacity for commercial and retail uses but much less currently available for office and industrial uses.” Another finding is that new developments are not being approved at the maximum possible, and that by-right developments also do not use all of the potential building space recommended in the existing Comprehensive Plan.Seven growth management optionsThe firm EPR has been hired to help develop the growth management options. “These were developed by the consultants and the staff after the first round of public input,”  said Vlad Gavrilovic with EPR. “They’re not intended as picking one as the winner or the loser. They’re intended to initiate discussion.” Let’s go through them. Here’s option one:“Applying more density and more in-fill development within the existing development areas and retaining and enhancing green infrastructure,” Gavrilovic said. “Next option was looking in the development areas to adjust the densities and reduce the maximum densities to more closely align with what people have actually been building as.” The third option would be to develop criteria for which the growth area might be adjusted. “Looking at new criteria to identify when, where, and how growth areas should be expanded,” Gavrilovic said.  “The next option was opportunities for non-residential development around the interchanges on I-64 to support job growth and economic development.” Option five would explore the possibility of rural villages. “Rural villages where you would promote small scale commercial and service uses to nearby rural area residents,” Gavrilovic said. “Number six was looking at current service provisions and seeing if adjustments are needed to ensure equitable distribution of services, particularly health and safety services.” The final option is to “explore opportunities to promote forest retention and regenerative land uses in the Rural area that support climate action goals.” So those are the seven scenarios. A second round of community engagement went out with these results. “We heard that the three options that best support climate action were regenerative uses in the rural area, rural villages, and distribution of service provision,” Kannellopollous said. “The three options that best support equity were service provision, rural villages, and providing more density and infill in the development areas with green infrastructure.” For the “accommodating growth” lens, the top three options were rural villages, non-residential development at Interstate interchanges, and service provision. Commissioner feedbackCommissioner Karen Firehock said she saw the provision of infrastructure to support development areas as an equity issue.“People should be able to walk to a park or a trail or a healthy environment near to where they live and not have to get in the car and drive a really long way to find something green,” Firehock said. Firehock said the county is expanding some services into the rural area, such as the Southern Convenience Center in Keene. She said that will make it easier for people to meet other environmental goals. Commissioner Lonnie Murray lives in the rural area, and hopes the growth management strategy does not undo work to date. “I think it’s important to have a concept of ‘do no harm’ in the rural area,” Murray said.As an example, he said he wants the county to stop paving gravel roads in the rural area. Bivins urged the Commission to look ahead to the next redistricting after the 2030 Census, when he said the urban areas will continue to have more of the county’s expected population. “If we do not increase the development area, Samuel Miller [District] will end up in the near future as the largest land mass district in Albemarle County.” Bivins said “From an equity standpoint, one has to say ‘is that where we want to go as a county?’” The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service currently projects Albemarle’s population as increasing to 124,016 by 2030, up from 112,395 in the U.S. Census of 2020. Commissioner Fred Missel said he wanted to know more information about how capital infrastructure works together to support development.“How does the capital plan for infrastructure, how does that inform development and how are they linked together?” Missel asked. “Not to throw the [Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority] into the mix it’s just one that comes to mind. What is their capital plan and how does that support strategic density? How does it support sustainability?” Missel’s day job is as director of design and development at the University of Virginia Foundation. The Foundation is pursuing a rezoning at its North Fork Discovery Park for a potential mixed-use residential complex. If you’d like to learn more about capital projects in Albemarle County, click here.If you’d like to learn more about the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority’s Capital Improvement Program, download it here.Luis Carrazana’s day job is at the University of Virginia’s Office of the Architect. He said he wanted better metrics. “And a lot of times we focus on the big picture but we lose that option to say ‘we know we’re going in the right direction if we’re achieving A, B, C, and D,” Carrazana said. “So I would encourage everyone to think about that as well.” Planning Commissioner Corey Clayborne said density in the right place can help the county achieve certain goals, but he also acknowledged a tension with those who have pushed back. “That’s something we kind of have to wrestle to the ground and I’m not sure if that would be part of the final deliverable here as much as, is there an education sense in this process with the community as we step through this?” Clayborne asked. “Does that mean there are graphics or visuals? I’m not sure what that answer is yet but addressing it… if we can get our arms around and embrace strategic density, I think if you start talking about design importance, that could be a major key to affordable housing.” Commissioner Dan Bailey said one piece of data is experience that comes from what’s been approved and what’s actually been built. “I live in Belvedere and it has a concept that’s been there for nearly ten years of having centers in the community, but it’s been vacant for ten years,” Bailey said. “And we’ve done a lot of approving these novel neighborhood model density and other things where they should have this retail or office building. I would really love to know how many of them have actually been developed.” The next step will be a series of public engagement on the themes as well as the growth management options. Stay tuned. If you’re interested in this topic, invest an hour in the conversation to inform how you might participate. Housekeeping notes for 415 (Clean Floor edition)That’s the end of another installment of the program. Thank you so much for being here! I hope to have another one out tomorrow, followed by another on Friday. Then the Week Ahead and the Government Glance. The latter is the first publication of the new Fifth District Community Engagement.  That’s another service of Town Crier Productions, a company formed to keep you in the know. Contributions and payments to Town Crier Productions cover the cost of reporting. That includes a bill with the United States for the Public Access to Court Electronic Records. I use that service to stay up to date on federal lawsuits such the one former City Manager Tarron Richardson had filed against the city, or the two court cases that sought a House of Delegates race this year.  So, if you’re like to support this program which includes expenses like court reporting, consider a paid subscription through Substack. If do so, Ting will match your initial payment! And, if you sign up for their services through this link you’ll get a free standard install, your 2nd month free, and a $75 downtown mall gift card! Enter the promo code COMMUNITY for full effect. All of the funding goes to ensure I can keep doing the work, which two years ago included bringing the audio from a campaign forum to the public via the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. That’s also part of Town Crier Productions. There’s a lot, and your support will help me pull all of the pieces together into whatever it becomes. Music comes from the D.C. entity that currently goes by the name Wraki, selected randomly from a bin of basement-recorded cassette tapes. You can support that work by purchasing the album Regret Everything for whatever you would like to pay. Now. Off to go clean some floors. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

You've seen the movie, but do you really know Patton? In part 2 of our discussion with Patton scholar Kevin Hymel, we separate front line facts from Hollywood fiction. We feature First Lieutenant Evelyn “Chappy” Kowalchuk, a flight nurse in WWII who aided soldiers on Omaha Beach, in our “We Salute You” segment. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org.

In this episode we welcome preeminent Patton scholar and author Kevin Hymel. Discover how snapshots taken by Patton himself provided a never-before-seen picture of the famed general that was the catalyst for Hymel's magnum opus (along with a nudge from our own podcast host!) Learn the tragic story of Master Sgt. Newton Hirst Light, taken prisoner by the Japanese, in our “We Salute You” segment. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. Alex Kershaw, bestselling author of The Bedford Boys, pays a visit back to Bedford to join us in-studio. In this emotional episode, Kershaw shares how he first learned of the small town's connection to the greatest amphibious assault in history and recalls conversations with the surviving men of Company A and those left to mourn. B-24 pilot Marshall Johnson is honored in our “We Salute You” segment. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org.

Someone Talked! is the official podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. In this episode national bestselling author Alex Kershaw joins us in-studio to discuss his latest work, Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II, which tells the untold stories of four of the most decorated soldiers of World War II—all Medal of Honor recipients—from the beaches of French Morocco to Hitler's own mountaintop fortress. We remember the late Chuck Neighbor, D-Day veteran, in our “We Salute You” segment. Explore the National D-Day Memorial, plan your visit, and learn about upcoming events at dday.org. This program was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org.

Dramatic prison escapes often have some common themes -- they often include a lot of tunneling. Here are six highly ingenious and low-violence prison breaks from history.  Research: "Warriors, witches and damn rebel bitches: The Scotswomen who stood their ground." Herald [Glasgow, Scotland], 15 Sept. 2019. Gale In Context: Global Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A599477490/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=32ea1a50. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022. Abashiri Prison Museum. https://www.kangoku.jp/multilingual_english/ Alcatraz History. “The Great Escape from Alcatraz.” https://www.alcatrazhistory.com/alcesc1.htm Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Pennsylvania system". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Jul. 1998, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pennsylvania-system. Accessed 20 April 2022. Callow, John. “Maxwell, William, fifth earl of Nithsdale.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 10/27/2010. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/18413      Carlos, Marius Jr. “Yoshie Shiratori: The Incredible Story of a Man No Prison Could Hold.” Breaking Asia. 2/3/2020. https://www.breakingasia.com/gov/yoshie-shiratori-the-incredible-story-of-a-man-no-prison-could-hold/ Cho, Hahna. “Escape from Libby Prison.” Backstory Radio. 9/28/2018.  https://www.backstoryradio.org/blog/escape-from-libby-prison/ Detwiler, Jacqueline. "How Popular Mechanics inspired the most Famous escape in history." Popular Mechanics, vol. 195, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2018, pp. 74+. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A522758178/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=e0949ca7. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022. Eastern State Penitentiary https://www.easternstate.org/ Eastern State Penitentiary. “"That's Where the Tunnel Is".” Via YouTube. 10/12/2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dgaKHfbGlo Eicke, Leigh. "Maxwell [née Herbert], Winifred, countess of Nithsdale (1672–1749), Jacobite courtier." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  23. Oxford University Press. Date of access 20 Apr. 2022, FBI. “Alcatraz Escape.” https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alcatraz-escape Kurohi, Rei. “French gangster escapes prison a second time: 5 other serial jailbreakers from around the world.” The Straits Times International Edition. 7/2/2018. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/french-gangster-escapes-prison-a-second-time-5-other-serial-jailbreakers-from-around-the-world Lewis, Robert. "Alcatraz escape of June 1962". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Jun. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/event/Alcatraz-escape-of-June-1962. Accessed 20 April 2022. Murray, Jean. “The Law Must Take Its Course – Limerick Women Sentenced to Transportation.” Limerick Civic Trust, September 2005 – August 2006. https://www.limerick.ie/sites/default/files/atoms/files/limerick_women_sentenced_to_transportation_by_jean_murray.pdf  Schreiber, Mark. “News outlets quick to fall in love with prison break coverage.” Japan Times. 5/5/2018. Slater, Sharon. “9 Limerick Women Escape Prison in 1930.” Limerick's Life. 10/17/2013. https://limerickslife.com/limerick-women-prison/ Stamp, Jimmy. “The Daring Escape From the Eastern State Penitentiary.” Smithsonian. 11/13/2013. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-daring-escape-from-the-eastern-state-penitentiary-180947688/ Stater, Victor. "Herbert, William, styled first marquess of Powis and Jacobite first duke of Powis (c. 1626–1696), Jacobite courtier." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  24. Oxford University Press. Zombek, Angela. "Libby Prison" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (07 Dec. 2020). Web. 20 Apr. 2022 https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/libby-prison/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Eric Mazur discusses challenges to religious freedom in the early American Republic. Religious minorities like the Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists were the victims of violence and discrimination. Several court cases have struggled to find the middle ground between anti-establishment and the freedom to express faith in the public square. We, as a nation, continue to pursue that “more perfect union.” Join us for this last episode of our first season of History from the Old Brick Church!Dr. Eric Mazur teaches courses on Judaism, religion in American culture, and the academic study of religion at Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach, VA. His specific interests include religion and American law, religion and popular culture, and Judaism in the American South. Before returning to graduate school, Dr. Mazur served as a public interest lobbyist in Washington, D.C.Intro and outro created by Thomas Fosdick. Project supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.

Podcast Host John Ericson interviews Author Tony Williams on the role of religion in the Constitution. This episode focuses on Article VI, which prevents religious tests for holding public office, and the 1st Amendment, which guarantees that the federal government will not establish religion or interfere in the free exercise of religion. Williams expounds on the challenges that continue to test us and how Religious Freedom is still an evolving idea. What does the Constitution say about public religious displays? Prayer in public schools? What are the origins of the separation of Church and State? What other contentious issues do we continue to wrestle with in our time? Tony Williams is a Senior Fellow at the Bill of Rights Institute in Arlington, Virginia and the author of six books including Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America, with co-author Stephen Knott, and Hamilton: An American Biography. Williams has degrees from Ohio State University and Syracuse University. Intro and outro created by Thomas Fosdick. Project supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.

In this episode, we discuss the religious context of the American Revolution. Our guest speaker is an author, Dr. Spencer McBride, who writes about the role of clergy in influencing people on both sides of the conflict, the role of military chaplains, and the religious issues that were among the many grievances of the Colonists towards Parliament and King George III. While the American Revolution is not considered a religious conflict, John Adams states in 1815 that “apprehension to Episcopacy” was among the leading causes of the conflict. The imposition of Establishment was bitterly opposed by many Colonists and led to the efforts of many leaders of the early republic to establish laws protecting Religious Freedom.Dr. Spencer McBride is the author of Pulpit and Nation. McBride is also the Editor of the Joseph Smith Papers and a specialist regarding the American Revolution and the early American Republic. He has a Ph D from Louisiana State University and is currently completing a book on Joseph Smith's ill-fated campaign for the Presidency in 1844.Intro and outro created by Thomas Fosdick. Project supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.

There's a place along the Rappahannock River in eastern Virginia, not far from the Chesapeake Bay, where the Rappahannock Tribe once lived along the copper-white cliffs that rise vertically from the river. The tribe has a deep connection to this place, now known as Fones Cliffs. Rappahannock Chief Anne Richardson and a team of archaeologists are bringing history to the surface, but it's a race against time, development and climate change.Narrated by Steven Nelson, a citizen of the Rappahannock Tribe.This episode was produced with support from Virginia Humanities.

In the early years of the 17th Century, religious warfare was raging in Europe and England was struggling with various reform factions that caused deep divisions and violence. Recent archaeological evidence from Jamestown suggests that the Colony was far more religiously diverse than previously realized and those divides had an enormous impact on the shape of the Colony's politics and governing principles. Our host, John Ericson, will explore this history with guest speaker Mark Summers.Mark Summers is the Director of Public and Youth Programming at Jamestowne Rediscovery. Summers has an expertise in the English Reformation with a focus on how the religious divides in England carried over to the first permanent English Settlement in Virginia. Summers has an undergraduate degree in History from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Master's from the University of Mississippi. Intro and outro created by Thomas Fosdick. Project supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.

People often confuse history with memory. History is the study of the past through the investigation of primary source materials, scientific data, and reportage. Memory is a community's reflections on a past event or people, usually with a goal of influencing current agendas. Guest speaker, Dr. Sheri Shuck-Hall, will discuss the distinction between the two and why it's important for us to understand why historical interpretation continues to evolve.Dr. Shuck-Hall is the Director of Christopher Newport University's Public History Center. The Center's mission is to, “foster a broader understanding of the importance of history and to forge closer relationships between Christopher Newport University and the world-class museums, archives, and public history agencies located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Dr. Shuck-Hall has a B.A. in History from Berry College and an MA and PhD in History from Auburn University. Intro and outro created by Thomas Fosdick. Project supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.

Podcast host, John Ericson, interviews Rachel Popp, St. Luke's Education Coordinator, about the mission of St. Luke's Historic Church & Museum. This episode outlines the first part of the podcast series, which focuses on issues of Religious Freedom. Rachel Popp is a graduate of Christopher Newport University with a Bachelor's in History and Childhood Studies minor. Popp has been the Education Coordinator at St. Luke's Historic Church & Museum since 2016, overseeing the site's educational programming and interpretation. She participates in many Virginia Museum Organizations including Virginia Emerging Museum Professionals (Hampton Roads Ambassador), Peninsula Museums Forum (President), and the Virginia Association of Museums (Member/Student of the Certificate in Museum Management Program).Intro and outro created by Thomas Fosdick. Project supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities.

I'll be forever grateful to Virginia Humanities for helping me find my way to artist, writer and educator Sushmita Mazumdar and her Studio PAUSE, an inviting place that provides time and space for Arlingtonians to explore creativity and celebrate community. It is, in my mind, a most marvelous curiosity enterprise. Theme music by Sean Balick. “A Burst of Light” by Delray via Blue Dot Sessions.

Earl Swift is author of the New York Times bestseller Chesapeake Requiem, which was named to ten best of the year lists. Swift brings to life another remarkable community—the engineers and astronauts who designed and operated the Lunar Roving Vehicle in his new book Across the Airless Wilds. In this fast-moving exploration, Swift puts the reader alongside the men who dreamed of the rover, designed it, troubleshot its flaws, and drove it on the lunar surface. His other books include Auto Biography and The Big Roads. A former reporter for the Virginian-Pilot and contributor to Outside and other magazines, he has been a fellow of Virginia Humanities at the University of Virginia since 2012. http://www.earlswift.comDaniel Levin, writer of Proof of Life, provides an inside look into the industry of the drug, and shows Levin negotiating with dealers and coming into contact with the drug and those who sell it frequently during the course of the book. https://www.daniellevinauthor.com/Wendy Taccetta talks Verizon 5G!

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:51). Sections below are the following:Transcript of AudioAudio Notes and AcknowledgmentsImagesSourcesRelated Water Radio EpisodesFor Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 5-21-21. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 24, 2021.  This revised episode from June 2014 is part of a series this year of groundwater-related episodes. SOUND – ~5 sec That rattling and humming sound opens an episode on an ancient human practice related to groundwater.  Have a listen for about 10 more seconds, and see if you can guess what’s making the sound.  And here’s a hint: think deep into human civilization, and you’ll guess well enough. SOUND  - ~9 sec If you guessed, drilling a water well, you’re right!  That was the sound of a well-drilling rig in June 2014, working through 100 to 200 feet of limestone bedrock to reach groundwater for a residence in Montgomery County, Virginia.  For thousands of years, humans have been developing ways to dig below the earth’s surface to reach groundwater aquifers.  Digging with hands and tools was the first method, of course.  Today dug wells, as well as bored or driven wells, remain in use in areas of the United States and in other parts of the world. But drillingallows deeper and narrower wells.  In the United States, water-well drilling dates back to the early 1800s.  Since then, many different drilling methods and machines have been developed to adapt to the various geological conditions drillers encounter and to make drilling more efficient.  Modern well drillers also must follow regulations intended to prevent groundwater pollution that could threaten public health or the environment.  In Virginia, thattradition dates back at least to 1610, when the Colony of Virginia’s first sanitation law required that, quote, “no man or woman...make cleane, any kettle, pot, or pan, or such like vessell within twenty foote of the olde well.” Thanks to Blacksburg well-driller Wayne Fenton for permission to record this week’s sounds. We close with some music from the era of that 1610 well-protection law in the Virginia colony.  Here’s about 20 seconds of “Sir John Smith His Almayne,” composed by John Dowland, a popular English musician during the early 1600s, and performed here by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, Va. MUSIC - ~24 sec – instrumentalSHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 219, 6-23-14.The sounds in this episode were recorded on June 20, 2014, at a residential well-drilling site in Montgomery County, Va.  Thanks to Wayne Fenton, owner at that time of Fenton Well Drilling and Pump Service in Blacksburg, Va., for permission to record his work that day and for providing information in for this original (2014) version of this episode.  More information about Fenton Well Drilling and Pump Service is available online at https://fentonwellandpumpservice.com/. “Sir John Smith, His Almayne,” from the 2006 album “Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at http://timothyseaman.com/en/.   According to Timothy Dickey (“John Dowland—Sir John Smith, his Almain, for Lute, P47,” AllMusic Web site, online at http://www.allmusic.com/composition/sir-john-smith-his-almain-for-lute-p-47-mc0002373007), an almayne, or almain, is a dance typically considered to be of German origin, or a tune for such a dance; and John Dowland (ca. 1563-1626), composed this piece for some Englishman with that fairly common name (but not, evidently, for the Captain John Smith of Jamestown Colony fame).  More information from Timothy Dickey on John Dowland is available online at https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-dowland-mn0000770105/biography.  This music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 350, 1-9-17. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGES Top: Well-drilling rig.  Bottom: Rotary drilling and the mixture of soil, rock, and water being brought to the surface.  Both photos taken at a Montgomery County, Va., residential well-drilling project by Fenton Well Drilling and Pump Service of Blacksburg, Va., June 20, 2014. SOURCES Used for Audio Charles W. Carlston, “Notes on the early history of water-well drilling in the United States,” Economic Geology (Vol. 38, pages 119-136, 1943); available online at https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/segweb/economicgeology/article/38/2/119/15747/Notes-on-the-early-history-of-water-well-drilling(subscription may be required for access). Thomas V. Cech, Principles of Water Resources: History, Development, Management, and Policy, Third Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, N.J., 2010, pages 1-4.Fletcher G. Driscoll, Groundwater and Wells, Second Edition, Johnson Screen, St. Paul, Minn., 1986. Henrico County, Va., “Well Water FAQ” (undated), online at https://henrico.us/health/environmental-health/groundwater-and-wells/. as of 5/21/21. Bruce Misstear et al., Water Wells and Boreholes, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, England, 2006, pages 1-6. U.S. Geological Survey, “Groundwater Wells,” online at https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/groundwater-wells?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects.U.S. Peace Corps, “Wells Construction: Hand Dug and Hand Drilled (M0009),” April 13, 2017, online at https://pclive.peacecorps.gov/pclive/index.php/environment/item/1198-wells-construction-hand-dug-and-hand-drilled-m0009. Virginia Department of Health, “About Us (Old)” online at https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/drinking-water/about-us/ (information on Virginia’s 1610 sanitation law). Virginia Humanities, Encyclopedia Virginia, “Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall,” online at https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/lawes-divine-morall-and-martiall/ (information on Virginia’s 1610 sanitation law). Virginia Legislative Information System, “Private Well Regulations,” Virginia Administrative Code, Sec. 12 VAC 5-630, online at https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title12/agency5/chapter630/section30/.  “Design and Construction Criteria” are in Part III, starting at Section 12 VAC 5-630-350, online at https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title12/agency5/chapter630/section350/. Virginia Places, “Waste Management,” online at http://www.virginiaplaces.org/waste/ (information on Virginia’s 1610 sanitation law). WaterAid, “Technology Resources,” online at https://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/technology-resources. For More Information about Groundwater in Virginia or Elsewhere Stan Cohen, The Homestead and Warm Springs Valley, Virginia: A Pictorial Heritage, Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Charleston, W. Va., 1984. Marshall Fishwick, Springlore in Virginia, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, Bowling Green, Ky., 1978. Philip LaMoreaux and Judy Tanner, eds., Springs and Bottled Waters of the World:  Ancient History, Source, Occurrence, Quality, and Use, Springer-Verlag, Berlin and Heidelberg Germany, 2001; information available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321613235_Springs_and_Bottled_Waters_of_the_World_Ancient_History_Source_Occurence_Quality_and_Use(subscription may be required). National Speleological Society, online at http://www.caves.org/. “Pulse of the Planet” (Web site: http://www.pulseplanet.com/) segments with Virginia well-driller Eric Rorrer and with Erin Ling, the coordinator of the Virginia Household Water Quality Program and Virginia Well-owner Network (in the Virginia Tech Department of Biological Systems Engineering).  The three segments are as follows:March 10, 2014: Water-Drilling;March 11, 2014: Water - Surface and Ground;March 12, 2014: Water-Well Maintenance. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “Ground Water and Drinking Water,” online at https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water. George Veni et al., “Living with Karst,” American Geological Institute Environmental Awareness Series, 2001; available online at http://www.agiweb.org/environment/publications/karst.pdf. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, “Virginia Natural Heritage Karst Program,” online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/karsthome; see particularly “Introduction to Virginia’s Karst,” online (as a PDF) at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/introvakarst.pdf. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, “Commonwealth of Virginia State Water Resources Plan,” April 2015, available online at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/water/water-quantity/water-supply-planning/virginia-water-resources-plan. Virginia Museum of History and Culture, “The Regions of Virginia,” online at https://virginiahistory.org/learn/regions-virginia. Virginia Places, “Caves and Springs in Virginia,” online at http://www.virginiaplaces.org/cave/. Virginia Places, “Thermal Springs in Virginia,” online at http://www.virginiaplaces.org/watersheds/hotsprings.html. Virginia Water Resources Research Center groundwater-related publications from the 1980s to the 2000s are listed and linked online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/23964/discover?rpp=10&etal=0&query=groundwater&group_by=none&page=3.  Here are some key publications:*Author unidentified, A Guide to Private Wells, 1995, online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/55265.*J.A. Poff, A Guide to Virginia’s Groundwater, 1997, online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/55247. *J.A. Poff, A Homeowner’s Guide to the Development, Maintenance, and Protection of Springs as a Drinking Water Source, Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Blacksburg, 1999, online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/55268 RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). Following are links to other groundwater-related episodes.  Note that some of these episodes are being re-done in May-June 2021, following posting of this episode.  If that has occurred at the time you are viewing this post, the links below will redirect you to the updated episodes. Caves, caverns, and other karst features – Episode 527, 6-1-20.Eastern Virginia groundwater and the SWIFT project – Episode 534, 7-20-20.Groundwater introduction – Episode 575, 5-3-21.Information sources on Virginia’s water resources generally, including groundwater) – Episode 546, 10-12-20.Springs – Episode 576, 5-10-21.Testing water from wells and other household water sources – Episode 361, 3-27-17.Virginia’s Western Highlands and thermal springs – Episode 577. 5-17-21.Winter precipitation and water supplies, including the role of groundwater replenishment – Episode 567, 3-8-21. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post. 2020 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.” 2018 Science SOLs Grades K-5: Earth and Space Systems3.7 – There is a water cycle and water is important to life on Earth. Grades K-5: Earth ResourcesK.11 – Humans use resources.1.8 – Natural resources can be used responsibly.3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems.4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources. G

Arlington County's "First Lady" and fierce arts advocate Megan Beyer was a distinguished guest on "Embracing Arlington Arts Talks." We talked about the need for a White House Office on Arts and Culture, what is Virginia Humanities focusing on, her previous work as the Director of the President's Committee on Arts and Culture in the Obama Administration, her advice to arts organizations struggling during this pandemic, and much more. So glad Megan is in our corner fighting for the arts!

We dropped a shortened version of this audio a few weeks ago. We're thrilled to announce that we can now present an extended version of this episode, which features all the original voices plus a new interview with Kayla Gore, Co-Founder of the Memphis-based organization My Sistah's House. We hope you take this opportunity to listen to the whole show again! But if you just want the new content-- which is amazing-- feel free to start at 29:14. More from us soon! Thanks for listening, and we're especially grateful for all who have shared their voices with us. ---------- Donate to My Sistah's House here. --------- This episode was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. We're part of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project, a program of the University of Minnesota Libraries.

All over the South, trans people are fighting to make their homes welcome for all. Even when finding home, or even finding a place to stay, hasn’t always been easy. With Aurora Higgs (Richmond, VA), Jay Corprew (Virginia Beach, VA), Toni-Michelle Williams (Atlanta, GA), Kya Concepcion (Marietta, GA), and Mariah Moore (New Orleans, LA). ----------- Cassius Adair is the lead producer. Myrl Beam is the senior project scholar and producer. Rachel Mattson is the managing producer. Myra Billund-Phibbs is the production assistant. Lars Mackenzie is our digital designer. Eliza Edwards did additional transcription for the show. Sound design is by Sam Leeds with Ariana Martinez. Musical direction is by Homoground. You heard music by Brand New Key, Delish Da Goddess, Special Interest, khx05, Mama Duke, and data data data. You also heard protest tape from Richmond-based radio reporter Mallory Noe-Payne of RADIO IQ. And go check out the artist féi hernandez, who designed our podcast logo; they have a great new book of poetry out called hood criatura. Special thanks to LaVelle Ridley, Kai Minosh Pyle, one anonymous reviewer, and Tuck Woodstock. Thanks also to Mara Lazer and Cookie Woolner for additional scene tape. And finally, thank you to everyone who supported us over the last few months; we really appreciate your feedback and generosity. The Transcripts podcast is a project of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project, which is based at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Major funding for this episode came from Virginia Humanities.

As the U.S Senate considers impeachment, Cathy discusses the issues that led us to this point, and the implications for 2021 in Virginia. Then we talk about a proposal to remove a same sex marriage ban from the state constitution. Finally, we learn about an effort to uncover evidence of the Underground Railroad with a grant from Virginia Humanities.

On today’s show:A COVID update from the Blue Ridge Health DistrictCouncil denies special use permit for 11 units in BelmontLocal real estate group releases report for 4th quarter of 2021The Virginia Festival of the Book goes virtual for 2021With the COVID pandemic still raging, today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out from an anonymous contributor is once again to state clearly: "We keep each other safe. Wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance."A second mass vaccination site at Seminole Square Shopping Center is now in place to be used by the University of Virginia and the Blue Ridge Health District to administer doses, though the supply is still limited. Ryan McKay is the policy director for the health district. “Right now we are receiving 2,850 doses each week,” McKay said. “That’s for the entire district. That’s for everyone.”  McKay said more than half of Virginia’s population is eligible for Phase1B and health districts are still working to ensure everyone in Phase 1A is vaccinated. “You can imagine  the number of people it’s going to take to get through 1B and the amount of time it’s going to take given our current allotment,” McKay said. “It’s going to be a matter of months before we can provide that widespread access to all of those individuals in that particular group.”Over 40,000 have filled out the survey that the Blue Ridge Health District has used to begin to tackle the logistics. That also means creating a third space for municipal employees.“We’ve partnered with the city and Albemarle County to have them open and operate a site at Charlottesville High School where they are providing access to Phase 1A city employees, so this would be people in health and human services, social services, and then Phase 1B educators,” McKay said.The Biden administration has stated they are working to increase supply, and more information will come out over the next few weeks. “There are other vaccines on the horizon but we don’t know how readily available they will be,” McKay said. “Some of those vaccines, such as the Johnson & Johnson, is actually a one-dose vaccine but the efficacy on that vaccine is less. I think it’s at about 65 percent. So as more vaccines become available we’ll obviously have to educate our communities about those vaccines and the benefits and comparisons to the ones that are currently out there.” There are now more people vaccinated in Virginia than the total number of cases since last March. McKay said there was a surge following the holidays, but that has begun to wane. “Over the last couple of weeks we have seen a downward trend both in the percent positive from test results, and we’ve also seen a downward trend in the total number of cases and case incidence per 100,000,” McKay said. “So we believe at this point after three weeks or so of a downward trend, that we’ve worked our way beyond the surge but also recognize that there is always that potential for increased cases and transmission in the community.” Charlottesville City Council has denied a special use permit for additional density at a site in Belmont that would have added 11 units at 1000 Monticello Road. Brian Haluska is a city planner. “1000 Monticello Road already has a development on it, so that project as its currently developed has more units than what the zoning would allow,” Haluska said. “The project was built in the 70’s and was rezoned in 2003.”That rezoning was part of a comprehensive rezoning across the city. This portion of Belmont was put in the Neighborhood Commercial Corridor category, which is why there are so many restaurants clustered nearby. Several members of the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition asked Council to deny the permit. Laura Goldblatt is a member of the Board of Commissioners for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority and a Belmont resident. “It doesn’t meet the affordability that we need,” Goldblatt said. “One of the things that we need to demand of developers is affordable housing. The only way we’re going to start to see a lack of displacement and that we’re going to see Charlottesville be more inclusive and welcoming is if developers really have their feet held to the fire and have to do it.”  Many expressed anger that the owner, Piedmont Realty Holdings III LLC, raised rents in the current building after purchasing the property in February 2019 for $2.75 million. Haluska said staff could not take that into consideration.“Past actions of an applicant are not something we take into account and you can kind of get into trouble with that when you do that,” Haluska said.He also said the number of units proposed in the new structure do not trigger provisions in the city code that require a portion of them to be sold or rented to people whose incomes are less than 80 percent of the area median (AMI). (link to code) “Altogether this project does not have enough square footage within all of its buildings including the new building to make it over that line,” Haluska said. The applicant had volunteered to make five units comply with the city’s affordable dwelling unit policy anyway, at roughly 65 percent of the AMI. However, Council did not trust the guarantee. Here’s Councilor Lloyd Snook.“To me the issue is, are we as a city better off if we have 11 units, five of which are affordable at this roughly 65 percent of AMI,” Snook said. Councilor Michael Payne was among the three Councilors who voted to deny. “Just because an SUP is in front of us doesn’t mean we have to approve it,” Payne said. “It’s our policy decision and we can evaluate all SUPs on the merits and make a policy decision there. Given the adverse neighborhood impacts, the fact that it doesn’t conform with our Comprehensive Plan, the existing zoning there, and under our current ordinance for the criteria for standards for issuance I think there is a strong case to be made that there are adverse neighborhood impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.”Payne made a motion to recommend denial and it carried 3-2. Mayor Nikuyah Walker and Vice Mayor Sena Magill voted to deny and Snook and Councilor Heather Hill voted to approve. A rewrite of the city’s affordable housing policy is underway. The public comment period for the draft has closed, but the document is available for review. The Planning Commission will discuss the draft at their meeting on February 9. (draft affordable housing plan)The Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors has released its home sales report for the final quarter of calendar year 2020. In summary, mortgage rates are at a historic low which may be fueling recent activity in the market. (download the report)“Sales are surging in the CAAR area housing market,” reads the executive summary of the report. “There were 1,278 sales in the 4th quarter, a 23 percent jump from last year.”There has also been an increase in the median sales price, which was $348,050 in the region during the period, or a 13 percent rise over the previous year. There are also fewer homes on the market, which is likely contributing to the increase in sales prices. The report covers the same jurisdictions in the Thomas Jefferson Area Planning District. They are Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson. Download the reportFor the second year in a row, the Virginia Festival of the Book will not be held in person this March. However, the festival will proceed virtually from March 13 through March 26 on both Zoom and Facebook Live. More than forty events will be held with authors and all of it is free to the viewing audience. But if you can’t wait until then, there are many recorded events available on-demand at vabook.org. There are also several events coming up this month as part of their Shelf Life program. The festival has been running since 1995 and is a service of Virginia Humanities. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

This week: a clip of an episode that Mara Lazer made for a mini series called "e4e", embodied 4 embodied. In conversations with trans viewers and makers of porn, Mara investigates porn as a healing portal for trans people seeking embodiment. Find Mara on Twitter @LazerMara You can listen to the whole episode on The Heart's website or by searching "stop living on video" by The Heart wherreverrrr you listen to podcasssstsss (bonus consonants added by Mara, lol) "stop living on video" was written, sound designed & produced by Mara Lazer, edited by Nicole Kelly & Phoebe Unter, with editorial advisement from Sharon Mashihi and Ari Mejia. ---------- Transcripts is a production of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project, a program of the University of Minnesota Libraries. We're currently funded by Virginia Humanities. You can learn more about us at bit.ly/transcriptspod. Thanks for listening

You might have noticed that we took a short break last week-- we'll be back in your feeds this upcoming Wednesday with an amazing piece by friend of the show and award-winning trans audio producer Mara Lazer. In the meantime, we wanted just to let you know that féi hernandez, the illustrator who did our AMAZING show art, has a new book of poems out called Hood Criatura, and there's a virtual launch party TONIGHT (if you're hearing this on December 5th). Whether you can make the party or not, I HIGHLY recommend that you go check out their work at their website, feihernandez.com. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend! -------- Press description of Hood Criatura: In this stunning debut collection, Inglewood-raised poet féi hernandez weaves an intricate latticework of stories in the betwixt and between. Hood Criatura explores the intersections of trans and queer resilience, citizenship and belonging, and resistance against gentrification that threatens both city and the body. hernandez’s poems take us through a coming-of-age story that delineates the existential wars of gender, race, sexuality, and im/migration, as well as the pains and joys that bind communities, family, and love. In a world that seeks to simplify and reduce the self to binary boundaries, Hood Criatura serves as a reminder of what it means to exist unbounded, to claim all of the multitudes within us that make us who we are. Masterfully juxtaposed in myriad poetic forms throughout the book, these poems are a love letter to all of us who exist within liminal spaces and who dare to claim one’s true self. ------------- The Transcripts podcast is a project of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota Libraries. We're funded by the TAWANI Foundation
, Virginia Humanities, and the Minnesota Humanities Innovation Lab.

Today's Patreon-fueled shout-out is for the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to plant native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you! *Virginia has set another one-day total for new COVID-19 cases today with 2,544 new cases bringing the total since March to 213,331. The seven-day average for new cases is now at 2,010. The seven-day average for positive tests has declined slightly to seven percent statewide. The total number of new cases per 100,000 population statewide is now 288.4. That number was 230.4 a week ago and 205.3 two weeks ago. In the Blue Ridge Health District there are another 36 cases today, with 12 from Albemarle, eight from Charlottesville, seven from Louisa, four from Nelson, three from Fluvanna, and two from Greene. An additional COVID-19 fatality has been recorded in Nelson, bringing the total for the Blue Ridge Health District to 81. Statewide the death toll is 3,912. Sometime today the nation will cross the quarter-million mark for COVID deaths. Different parts of Virginia continue to have different experiences with the pandemic this month. While not reliable as a sole indicator of community spread, percent positivity can give a glimpse into what’s happening. Central - 5.2% Eastern - 6%Far Southwest - 15.2%Near Southwest - 10.8% Northern - 8.2%Northwest - 5.5%The Charlottesville School Board last night cautiously directed staff to continue planning to begin hybrid in-person education in January, though some members stated they would continue to watch the COVID numbers. (presentation from meeting)“I also want to say that the Board at our January 4, or at our next meeting after the December 19 meeting looks at the data and says the data is going in the wrong direction, which I fully anticipate it doing, that we have to pull back,” said Chair Jennifer McKeever. Under the current plan, pre-K through 6th grade would begin phasing back to class on January 11 and 7th through 12th would return on February 1. Sherry Kraft is another member of the School Board.“I’m comfortable with the idea of affirming or voting to continue working on these preparations with the understanding that we are not locking ourselves that we’re not locking ourselves into what the model says right now,” Kraft said. Two-thirds of Charlottesville households with students want their students to return in-person according to materials presented to the School Board. Overall, 83 percent of households with students returned the survey. White families had a 92 percent return rate and households identified as People of Color had a 76 percent return rate. Teachers were also asked to give their preference on returning and were given four options and could only choose one. Of 275 elementary teachers surveyed, 97 said they wanted to be in-person, 77 said online, 26 said both in-person and online, and 75 said they would go wherever they were needed. McKeever said she was concerned there might not be enough teachers to move forward.“I want elementary schools to start and to the extent that we have enough teachers, I don’t want us to get into a situation where [human resources] has to tell a teacher that ‘I need you back in the class’ or I need you to resign’,” McKeever said. Superintendent Rosa Atkins said the school system will do what it can to stay intact. “COVID will not last forever,” Atkins said. “We are going to get through this. It’s a difficult time for everyone and there are a lot of adjustments we’re all having to make. But we want to make this as clear and transparent as possible. We don’t want to lose any of our teachers. We want them to stay. We want to work with our staff. Keep them on board.”The School Board will make a final decision at their meeting on December 16. They directed staff to find a way to reduce asynchronous learning in 7th graders and up. The Board also agreed to hire a firm that can provide temporary bus drivers to provide extra trips to get students to school. COVID restrictions limit capacity to 20 students and assistant director for pupil transit Sherry Eubanks said the additional drivers are required to make sure everyone can get to school. “We currently are using every driver we have to drive the students that we are transporting right now, so without extra help, even getting the 383 students to school is going to be a struggle,” Eubanks said. The Board approved a process through which a contract will be worked out for the temporary drivers. *A volunteer group of computer programmers and technical experts will hold an information session tomorrow to find out more about what projects it can work on to benefit the greater Charlottesville community. Jonathan Kropko is the volunteer lead with Code for Charlottesville.“Code for Charlottesville is a local chapter of Code for America which is a national network of groups that begin volunteers with tech or data or code or design or research skills to work on a project for a community partner,” Kropko said. So far, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects for the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. To find new partners and volunteers, they are holding a work session tomorrow at 4 p.m for people who want to be part of the leadership team. Kropko said the goal of the session is to listen to what the community wants. “There’s a huge movement in the tech industry, the phrase they use is social good and I want to put that in quotes,” Kropko said. “Because a lot of time when they talk about the tech for the social good, it’s not really doing anything good for society. A lot of time these projects fizzle out without doing anything useful.”Kropko said the goal of the information session is to try to come up with useful projects. He said that starts by recruiting volunteers. “You have to do a good job with organizing so that people know what they are working on and what the goals are,” Kropko said. “And you have to do a really good job communicating with your partner in the community. The Code for Charlottesville MeetUp begins tomorrow at 4 p.m. for people interested in civic tech. Register here. *The Virginia Festival of the Book has announced it will hold next year’s literary celebration in a virtual capacity. The 27th annual festival will take place virtually from March 13 to March 26. “All virtual events are free and purchasing participating authors’ books is encouraged but not required,” reads the announcement on the Virginia Humanities website.Since April, the Virginia Festival of the Book has been holding online events called Shelf Life and they say they have had more than 22,000 viewers. *Today in meetings, the Charlottesville City Council will hold a budget work session at 1 p.m. and are expected to make some decisions on the capital improvement program. Last week they were asked to either make cuts or give consent to a plan to fully utilize all of the city’s borrowing capacity. The draft affordable housing plan calls for $10 million in spending every year for ten years. There’s a multimillion dollar project to create a new streetscape for West Main. There’s a long-running request from the schools to reconfigure the middle schools. And on Monday, they were told they’d need to spend up to $4 million to build a roundabout to calm down traffic on 5th Street.  I’ll be producing a story on that to let you know what happens. *Tonight at 7 pm, Live Arts will hold another Coffeehouse. These are a series of musical acts from local artists. There are musical performances by Rob Craighurst, Courtney Jacobs, Tanya Kae, Joshua Tucker and more. This is available for free on their YouTube channel, but they are asking people consider paying what they can. Learn more on the Live Arts website. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we bring you a small show that's doing an incredible job bringing the voices of incarcerated people, including trans and gender non-conforming people, to the airwaves. It's called Kite Line, and it's based at WFHB Community Radio in South Central Indiana. I love finding shows that are doing crucial justice work in so-called "red states." No one, and no place, is disposable. --------------- Original show notes: Our episode this week is a conversation between Rojas and Cyrus, two advocates with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners. CCWP is an organization that exists, in their words, to “monitor and challenge the abusive conditions inside California women’s prisons. We fight for the release of women and trans prisoners. We support women and trans people in their process of re-entering the community.” Rojas and Cyrus address the conditions of transgender and gender non-conforming prisoners, or GNC prisoners, in the California prison system. Subject to increased surveillance and retaliation from both cops on the outside and correctional officers on the inside, Rojas speaks out about what they were subjected to while within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation- or CDCR. You can find out more about the California Coalition for Women Prisoners at: womenprisoners.org ---------------- The Transcripts podcast is a project of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota Libraries. We're funded by the TAWANI Foundation
, Minnesota Humanities Innovation Lab, and Virginia Humanities. Check out our website at bit.ly/transcriptspod, and don't forget to rate and review us. Thank you!

This week, an audio meditation that my friend Arlie Adlington and I made about trans care and support across borders. We produced this short piece earlier in the pandemic for Jacobin's podcast The Dig and their series Antibody: thanks so much to everyone at The Dig, and especially Liza Yaeger, for allowing us to share this with you all. Thank you so much for listening, and I hope you're feeling able to participate in acts of solidarity and care this week, whatever that means to you. The Transcripts podcast is a project of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota Libraries. We're funded by the TAWANI Foundation, the Minnesota Humanities Innovation Lab, and Virginia Humanities.

Today we have a new Patreon-powered shout-out. The Local Energy Alliance Program wants you to consider a Home Energy Check-Up as the first step toward lowering your energy bills. For a $45 consultation, Albemarle and Charlottesville residents can have their homes audited to see what can be done to reduce energy consumption. Sign up today!”*Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has given his first press conference since he and his wife were diagnosed with COVID-19.“We know that we have been very fortunate that our experience with this disease was mild,” Northam said. “Many other people have not been so lucky and our hearts continue to be with those who have lost loved ones.” As of this morning, there have been 3,381 COVID-19-related deaths in Virginia and over 200,000 nationwide. Northam said that none of his close contacts have been diagnosed with the disease. He attributed this to mask wearing and spoke to the importance of contact tracing. Dr. Danny Avula is the director of the Richmond City and Henrico County Health Districts. “The role of the local health department in every new case of COVID that we have, we follow up that case and we identify when was their onset of symptoms or when was the date of their positive test,” Avula said. Contact-tracers then interview the person to try to identify who they were around. “And we determine who actually met the definition of a close contact, so having spent 15 minutes or greater within six feet of somebody is the epidemiological definition of a close contact,” Avula said. Anyone who meets that definition is now considered to be exposed and they are asked to go into quarantine for 14 days. That’s the period when the virus can incubate in a person’s body. Avula said tracers tracked down 65 individuals across seven health districts who met the definition. None tested positive. *This morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports another 805 cases today, and reported 1,235 yesterday. The numbers of yesterday were made available later than usual due to a communications problem we’ll discuss more in a moment. The statewide seven-day average of positive tests increased to 4.6 percent. There have been 38 cases reported in the Blue Ridge Health District since Monday, with 19 new cases both today and yesterday. A recent spike in new cases has appeared to slow. The seven-day daily average for new cases is now at 8 in Albemarle and 12 in Charlottesville. The seven-day average of positive tests in the district is at 3.6 percent today. Last night the Greene County Board of Supervisors got an update from emergency services director Melissa Meador. That body had not met since September 22. “Our numbers in Greene County stand at 255 as of today,” Meador said. “When we met last met it was at 212 so we are up 43. 12 hospitalizaiton, up 2, and 3 COVID related  fatalities, no change there.”In all there have been 74 fatalities in the Blue Ridge Health District to date. The number of active cases at the University of Virginia is now at 95 people with 74 of those individuals being students. Yesterday, UVA officials announced they would loosen restrictions on gatherings from five people to ten people. They also said that all students living in dorms would be tested on a regular basis, or at least every nine days.Governor Northam said it is crucial to avoid complacency as the seasons change.“We are heading into the colder months and all of the outdoor socializing we’ve been able to do is getting harder,” Northam said. “People are going to be less likely to want to meet up outside when it’s 40 degrees or below.”Northam also announced yesterday that he has signed legislation recognizing Juneteenth as a state holiday. Legislation passed the General Assembly in the ongoing special session. *Now, about that fiber cut. A federal judge has extended the voter registration deadline in Virginia one day after the line was cut in Chester that served the online system. Several groups ranging from the New Virginia Majority Education Fund to the League of Women Voters filed a complaint asking for an extension, which required judicial action. Here’s judge John A. Gibney Jr.“I will order, as you requested, all registration may occur until 1159 p.m. on tomorrow, October the 15th,” Gibney said, just before thanking the attorneys for working together to allow more people to register.*Today is the first day of operations for the new Greene County Department of Emergency Medical Services. The Greene Board of Supervisors authorized the move in May after the University of Virginia opted to not renew a contract to provide the service for the county. Here’s Melissa Meador again.“All 14 full-time positions are filled and we have hired an additional 13 part-time employees,” Meador said. Supervisors praised Meador and her staff for putting together the department in such a short amount of time. “I went from a little bit of anger earlier this year when the contract was terminated, quickly to awe for what Ms. Meador and her new team has accomplished,” said Supervisor Bill Martin. *The Virginia Department of Health has issued a warning against eating fish caught in the Upper James River due to elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in tissue samples. This affects a stretch of river from headwaters at Iron Gate to Balcony Falls Dam near Glasgow. (press release) *Over 90 percent of the office space has been leased in the Dairy Central project according to an email from the firm Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. In all, the Dairy Central will include 50,000 square feet of Class A office space and 180 upcoming apartments, as well as a food hall. Tenants for office space include the Costar Group and Virginia Humanities. “The Dairy Market targets an opening in late 2020 where Starr Hill brewery will anchor a 16-stall market hall featuring a talented roster of Virginia's leading purveyors, culinary talents and artisans,” the email reads. “Market Hall stalls are entirely subscribed with tenants including cult classics Moo Thru and Take it Away Sandwiches, The Milkman's Bar, and an exciting and diverse lineup of additional tenants.” Today in meetings, The Crozet Community Advisory Committee convenes virtually at 7 p.m. for a meeting that a discussion of a special use permit to amend previous approvals for the private Claudius Crozet Park to allow for a “Community Recreation Facility.” There will also be a presentation on the many projects the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority is planning for the Crozet Area. The RWSA Board of Directors were given this presentation in late August. There’s a capital cost of about $41.5 million in projects to increase capacity and improve safety at Beaver Dam. (slides) Thanks again to LEAP for their Patreon-fueled shout-out. You too can help fund this show and get the word out about a nonprofit, an idea, a cause, or someone’s birthday. For now, you will get four shout-outs a month for $25. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode is supported by the Kindness Cafe, open for curbside pickup Wednesday through Saturday from 8 am to 11 am at the Brooks Family YMCA in McIntire Park. Visit the Kindness Cafe website to place your order. *The school boards in Albemarle and Charlottesville have both voted to proceed with virtual instruction for the first nine weeks of school year, though some Albemarle students will attend in-person if they have either special needs, are learning English, or do not have any access to the Internet.  This is known as Stage 2 of the county’s reopening plan and was recommended in part out of a concern that there is not enough testing capacity. “This is of concern,” said Rosalyn Schmitt, chief operating officer for Albemarle County Public Schools. “Access to testing remains limited and those that are tested are seeing much longer delays in the results and we know a key strategy of keeping our students and staff safe will be able to identify cases quickly and isolate them and quarantine them quickly, and our testing will not allow that.” Two-thirds of staff who responded to a survey said they did not feel comfortable with returning to school. However, two-thirds of parents surveyed said they wanted schools to open. Superintendent Matt Haas recommended Stage 2 at this time, and any returning staff and teachers would be volunteers. After being presented with the options, School Board Member Katrina Callsen made the motion to move forward with Stage 2.“I move that the Albemarle County Public School institute Stage 2 to begin the 2020/2021 school year encompassing the first nine week marking period and further that four and a half weeks prior to the end of the marking period the superintendent shall make a recommendation to either continue stage 2 or initiate the educational program of another stage for the following marking period,” Callsen said. School Board Member Ellen Osborne said she could not support Stage 2.“I just don’t feel like I can put our most vulnerable students into the middle of a grand experiment and then have them take that home to their communities which are already being disproportionately affected,” Osborn said. The motion passed four to three, with School Board Member Dave Oberg changing his vote from initially voting against it. In Charlottesville, the School Board voted unanimously to proceed with an online option. They did so after a long public comment period. Both communities will begin online learning on September 8. *There are another 984 new cases of COVID-19 in Virginia today, for a cumulative total of 89,988. The death toll rose by another 33 fatalities today for a cumulative total of 2,174. The seven day positive testing rate remains at 7.2 percent for a second day. The numbers for the Thomas Jefferson Health District were not available at recording time. *The organization that encourages and promotes the humanities in the Commonwealth will move its headquarters to the redeveloped Dairy Central building at the corner of Preston Avenue and 10th Street. Virginia Humanities is moving to the location in part because it is more centrally located and will allow more space for public discussions. Dairy Central a redevelopment of the old Monticello Dairy building, itself a protected historic building whose facade was required to remain intact. The property in the 10th and Page neighborhood is being redeveloped by Stony Point Design Build. During the review process, some in the neighborhood noted the potential for gentrification. “We’re conscious of this history and we are also aware of the positive and negative impacts that a development like Dairy Central can have on a neighborhood,” said Virginia Humanities Executive Director Matthew Gibson. “We want to be an asset to the community and be good and collaborative neighbors.” The $1.7 million move will take place early next year, and has been delayed due to COVID-19. (release)*When students return to Grounds for classes at the University of Virginia, they will be asked to use public transit only when necessary. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, buses on the University Transit System are restricted to no more than 20 passengers who must also use the rear doors. On August 3, routes will also change and buses will not run down McCormick Road, the main roadway through central Grounds. There will also be changes to parking, with some annual spaces being converted into hourly, weekly or monthly permits. “For those who want to park by the day or the week, we will have new online options for people to purchase these virtual permits with their credit cards,” said Parking and Transportation Director Becca White in an interview with UVA Today. “The customers supply their license plate numbers online, which will be fed into the license plate recognition system on our enforcement vehicles. People who use the meters and the Parkmobile application are already doing this.”Employees are also being encouraged to telework if they can. That strategy was already being implemented as part of a transportation demand management plan adopted in 2019. (transit routes)*The Board of Trustees for the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library will hold a special session today to conclude their discussion about when they can move to a new tier in their COVID-19 response. Currently some libraries are open for curbside pick-up under Tier 4, but the Board will continue a conversation about moving to Tier 3, which would allow people to come into the library under appointment. The meeting begins at 3 p.m. (agenda)Are you enjoying this service? Please consider supporting our Patreon account. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Virginia Humanities Board Member Mark Habeeb and Project Advisor Mary Hynes gave a very interesting interview about a grant given to Arlington from the Kellogg Foundation entitled "Changing the Narrative on Racism." Several projects were included in this grant including making cigar box instruments and middle school students creating new lyrics to traditional Piedmont blues songs reflecting what they learned about Arlington's history. Also discussed was a recent theater production presented by high school students, as well as what they both found surprising about the County's racial history.

If you know anything about Rachel Jackson, chances are you know her best as Andrew Jackson's wife. You might also know that Rachel died in late 1828, just before Andrew became president.  During Andrew's presidential campaigns in 1824 and 1828, his political enemies attacked Rachel as an adulterer. Legally speaking, she was. In the early 1790s, Rachel and Andrew learned that her first husband, Lewis Robards, had never finalized their divorce. The Jacksons' marriage was seemingly illegitimate. After a court granted Robards a divorce in 1794 on the basis of Rachel's alleged adultery, Rachel and Andrew married again just to be safe. But when these private events became public years later, Andrew's opponents used them against him. Rachel died from a heart attack in 1828. Andrew attributed her death in part to the public slanders against her.  What you may not know is that Rachel dwelled deeply on God Almighty. While she labored in his Kingdom on Earth, she dreamed of the Almighty and his Kingdom of Heaven. Rachel was an evangelical Christian. And her fear of God's judgement shaped her life and her relationship with Andrew. On today's episode, Dr. Melissa Gismondi offers us a portrait of a devote woman tormented by the changing world around here. Gismondi, an expert on Rachel Jackson and the early republic, is a Senior Producer on the popular radio program Backstory.  About our Guest: Melissa Gismondi, Ph.D., is a senior producer for Backstory, a program of Virginia Humanities. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia. An award-winning writer and multimedia journalist, Gismondi's work has appeared in The Walrus and The New York Times. In 2019, she was selected by acclaimed author Charlotte Gray and the Writers' Trust of Canada to be part of their inaugural Rising Star program. About our Host: Jim Ambuske, Ph.D. leads the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library. A historian of the American Revolution, Scotland, and the British Atlantic World, Ambuske graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA Law, Ambuske co-directed the 1828 Catalogue Project and the Scottish Court of Session Project.  He is currently at work on a book about emigration from Scotland in the era of the American Revolution as well as a chapter on Scottish loyalism during the American Revolution for a volume to be published by the University of Edinburgh Press.

If you know anything about Rachel Jackson, chances are you know her best as Andrew Jackson’s wife. You might also know that Rachel died in late 1828, just before Andrew became president. During Andrew’s presidential campaigns in 1824 and 1828, his political enemies attacked Rachel as an adulterer. Legally speaking, she was. In the early 1790s, Rachel and Andrew learned that her first husband, Lewis Robards, had never finalized their divorce. The Jacksons’ marriage was seemingly illegitimate. After a court granted Robards a divorce in 1794 on the basis of Rachel’s alleged adultery, Rachel and Andrew married again just to be safe. But when these private events became public years later, Andrew’s opponents used them against him. Rachel died from a heart attack in 1828. Andrew attributed her death in part to the public slanders against her. What you may not know is that Rachel dwelled deeply on God Almighty. While she labored in his Kingdom on Earth, she dreamed of the Almighty and his Kingdom of Heaven. Rachel was an evangelical Christian. And her fear of God’s judgement shaped her life and her relationship with Andrew. On today’s episode, Dr. Melissa Gismondi offers us a portrait of a devote woman tormented by the changing world around here. Gismondi, an expert on Rachel Jackson and the early republic, is a Senior Producer on the popular radio program Backstory. About our Guest: Melissa Gismondi, Ph.D., is a senior producer for Backstory, a program of Virginia Humanities. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia. An award-winning writer and multimedia journalist, Gismondi's work has appeared in The Walrus and The New York Times. In 2019, she was selected by acclaimed author Charlotte Gray and the Writers’ Trust of Canada to be part of their inaugural Rising Star program. About our Host: Jim Ambuske leads the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia in 2016 with a focus on Scotland and America in an Age of War and Revolution. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA, Ambuske co-directed the 1828 Catalogue Project and the Scottish Court of Session Project. Ambuske is currently at work on a book entitled Emigration and Empire: America and Scotland in the Revolutionary Era, as well as a chapter on Scottish loyalism during the American Revolution for a volume to be published by the University of Edinburgh Press. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mountvernon/message

Dr. Fern Hauck (University of Virginia Medical System) and Farah Ibrahim (CHIP) work to connect refugees and asylum seekers with high-quality healthcare, no matter what language they speak or what trauma they’ve suffered. Al Fuertes (George Mason University) is also dedicated to improving outcomes for refugees and displaced peoples. He draws on his personal experience growing up under martial law to inform his transformative approach to healing. Later in the show: In Border Odyssey Charles Thompson Jr. (Virginia Humanities) tells the story of his journey from a small organic farm in North Carolina to the nearly 2,000 mile long border between the United States and Mexico. And: Gregory Smithers (Virginia Commonwealth University) describes the Cherokee evolution from one community into a people of multiple communities in his book, The Cherokee Diaspora: An Indigenous History of Migration, Resettlement and Identity.

Learn about the people behind the counters of Charlottesville's many restaurants and the paradoxes of food insecurity in a bountiful town. Plus an interview with rapper and University of Virginia professor, A.D. Carson, shared from the Virginia Humanities. 

Welcome to another episode of 3dacious, a bi-weekly compendium of the top 3 regional Foods I Forked, Cool Collaborations, events I'm excited about, and as an extra special extra this week? My conversation with Lilia Fuquen of Virginia Humanities. I-Collective and UVA are partnering with Virginia Humanities to offer the 2-day symposium: Our Evolving Food System: From Slavery to Sovereignty. Which starts TOMORROW, October 17th. Two days of fun talks, roundtable discussions, cooking demonstration, and a lunch by Native American chefs using foraged ingredients and cooked with ancient methods. Now THAT'S both an event and collaboration not to be missed! Stay tuned next week for my conversation with Stephanie and Jay Rostow of Virginia Vinegar Works. Yes, folks, as of October 4th you will get your Edacious fix WEEKLY. New day, new digs, new attitude. Hope you’ll join me on the next leg of this journey of connection and community. Because it’s never just about the food. Stay Edacious! SHOW NOTES – Links to resources talked about during the podcast: Subscribe to This Podcast. Stay Edacious! - Come on, after this episode? You know you want to. Subscribers get new episodes instantly, while non-subscribers have to wait a few hours or days depending on the Apple Podcast Gods. Never miss a chance to be edacious! Leave a review about Edacious! - Click the link, then "View in iTunes" then "Ratings and Reviews". Whether you think it's great, or not so great, I want to hear from you. I might just read your review on the air! Whoa! #famousforahotminute This episode is sponsored by Teej.fm and listeners like you who donated their support at Patreon, who wants every creator in the world to achieve a sustainable income. Thank you.

Justin Reid & Priscilla Mendenhall document.write(''); Guests: Justin Reid, and Priscilla Mendenhall. Reid isDirector of African American Programs at Virginia Humanities. We also welcomed back Priscilla Mendenhall co-founder of CIRAC—the Charlottesville-Area Immigrant Resource and Advocacy Coalition.… Read More

This week we’re debuting a new podcast series called American Dissent, hosted by Kelley Libby. In Episode 1: Influenced by Colin Kaepernick’s protest of police brutality during the National Anthem, a high school volleyball player initiates her own protest, and not without consequences. And a historian tells the story of a religious minority who helped win the American Revolution and the fight for religious freedom in America. American Dissent is a production of James Madison’s Montpelier and With Good Reason at Virginia Humanities.

Teaser for the new podcast American Dissent. What happens when we push back against injustice? When we stand up for what we think is right? Does the Constitution protect us? All of us? From the Founding era to the present, everyday Americans have shaped our nation by going against the grain, even when they faced tough consequences. Hosted by With Good Reason’s Kelley Libby, this series explores the history and promise of one of our most fundamental liberties. Episodes drop on Constitution Day, September 17th. American Dissent is a production of James Madison’s Montpelier and With Good Reason at Virginia Humanities.

Joanne talks about the letters that flooded into FDR’s Whitehouse and how historians reach the public using social media. Also, Justin Reid, director of African American programs at Virginia Humanities, reflects on his family’s experience of slavery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taped live before an audience from the Virginia Humanities Conference at Bridgewater College, Bridgewater VA, April 8, 2011. Guests include Stan Galloway, Ray Brown, and John Gosslee, talking about reviews and publishing.