Best Virginia Audio Collective Podcasts (2024)

1
91 - What does local climate policy look like? 28:43

9M ago28:43

28:43

Episode Notes In the face of ever-worsening climate change, it takes more than paper straws and recycling to make a dent in our carbon emissions--it takes policy on a national, state, and local scale. So what does local climate action look like? How do cities and counties set policy in the realm of housing, transportation, and energy to reduce carb…

1
90 - What's the legacy of the Byrd Machine in Virginia? 29:26

11M ago29:26

29:26

Episode Notes We’ve all heard of machine politics. Tammany Hall. Boss Tweed. Right in the heart of New York City, the Gilded Age, an era synonymous with corruption in America’s history. But Virginia has its own slice of machine-politics history: under the control of Harry Byrd, Sr., the Byrd Machine controlled the state government for the better pa…

1
89 - What's the takeaway from Virginia's 2023 primaries? 29:55

1y ago29:55

29:55

Episode Notes The 2023 primary results are in...and they're pretty interesting. Many incumbents held onto their seats, but some challengers won key victories--Democratic Senators Joe Morrissey and Chap Petersen were defeated by Lashrecse Aird and newcomer Saddam Salim, while Republican Senator Amanda Chase lost to Glen Sturtevant. If you're looking…

1
88 - How can we end gun violence in Virginia? 29:51

1y ago29:51

29:51

Episode Notes The United States saw over 44,300 deaths from guns in 2022. And as the last year has made painfully clear, Virginia is not immune. Our state has been rocked by the horrific shootings in Charlottesville, Chesapeake, and Newport News. But even so, almost no meaningful gun safety legislation passed the General Assembly in the 2023 sessio…

1
87 - How does immigration shape Virginia? 30:52

1y ago30:52

30:52

Episode Notes Whether coming for school, work, or to escape bad situations at home, immigrants are a vital part of Virginia’s culture and economy. So today we’re digging into the opportunities and the obstacles facing immigrants and refugees in the state.First, we talk with Freddy Mejia, Deputy Director of Policy at the Commonwealth Institute. His …

1
86 - What’s the Dillon Rule and how does it define power in Virginia? (reprise) 30:34

1y ago30:34

30:34

Episode Notes As the Bold Dominion team works on an upcoming episode, here's one from the vaults -- a Bold Dominion classic covering the perennially important, yet frequently misunderstood, Dillon Rule. This episode originally aired in February 2021. Virginia politicians like to talk about freedom and local control. So why are local governments som…

1
85 - How can we fix Virginia's criminal justice system? 31:53

1+ y ago31:53

31:53

Episode Notes This week, we tackle criminal justice and incarceration in Virginia from two angles: for one, what injustices are criminal justice reform advocates trying to fix? For two, how can we help incarcerated people stay out of prisons and live better lives? To answer the first question, we spoke with Rob Poggenklass, interim executive direct…

1
84 - What's the future of energy in Virginia? 33:15

1+ y ago33:15

33:15

Episode Notes Here on the podcast, we like to keep tabs on Dominion Energy. As the largest of only 2 publicly regulated utilities in the state, Dominion is a monopoly. The caveat is that it’s a state regulated monopoly, meaning its rates and profits are monitored by a regulatory agency called the State Corporation Commission. But the SCC’s power ha…

1
83 - Is Virginia ready for ranked choice voting? 30:05

1+ y ago30:05

30:05

Episode Notes Maine does it. Alaska does it. And since 2021, Virginia can do it too, in certain city and county elections. It’s ranked choice voting, which works exactly how it sounds: voters rank their favorite candidates in order. If no candidate wins over 50% of the vote, it triggers an instant run off election. The last place candidate’s votes …

1
82 - What did the General Assembly accomplish this year? 31:48

1+ y ago31:48

31:48

Episode Notes The 2023 General Assembly session drew to a close last Saturday. And with divided majorities in the General Assembly, it was a little underwhelming. Despite a year of big, hot topic issues, little was accomplished on abortion rights, gun control, or even setting up a market for cannabis. So after six weeks, we find ourselves more or l…

1
81 - Why does Virginia make incarceration so expensive? 30:42

1+ y ago30:42

30:42

Episode Notes In Virginia, incarceration is expensive. In prison and jails across the state, inmates have to pay to communicate with family members. They also have to pay for extra food, clothing, and sanitary products in the prison commissary. And with the highest prison wages only 45¢ per hour, the burden of paying these fees often falls on inmat…

1
80 - Why is Virginia's government getting so little done? 27:09

1+ y ago27:09

27:09

Episode Notes After two years of Democratic control, Virginia's elected government is now divided once again. The result? A lot fewer laws likely to pass this year. This podcast started partly as a response to the media cycle that covered the General Assembly--every year around this time, there was a parade of stories about bills being introduced… …

1
79 - What's behind right-wing attacks on education? 32:58

1+ y ago32:58

32:58

Episode Notes In 2021, Glenn Youngkin rode the idea of “parents' rights” to victory in his gubernatorial race. And now, Virginia conservatives have latched on to the idea as a tactic for banning books, attacking public education and starving publicly funded institutions. The fight for public education is playing out right now in the General Assembl…

1
78 - What can we expect from the 2023 General Assembly? 20:01

1+ y ago20:01

20:01

Episode Notes The General Assembly starts its 2023 session next Wednesday--with Republicans in control of the House of Delegates for the first time since this show started in 2020. In this episode, journalist Michael Pope explains what we should be looking out for as lawmakers meet next week--especially what we can glean from the governor's state b…

1
77 - Bold Dominion's Best of 2022! 30:10

1+ y ago30:10

30:10

Episode Notes As we approached the new year, we found ourselves feeling a little reflective. So we made a special episode for you. In “Best of 2022”, Nathan and Alana sit down to discuss some of our favorite episodes from this year on the podcast. Join us as we look back on the big issues of the year, from the overturning of Roe v. Wade, to Dominio…

1
76 - How does collective bargaining empower workers in Virginia? 33:27

1+ y ago33:27

33:27

Episode Notes For decades, Virginia was one of only three states in the country that banned public sector collective bargaining. That meant teachers, healthcare workers, and first-responders couldn’t have a say in how their contracts were written, leading to lower pay and poorer working conditions compared to unionized workers. But things have chan…

1
75 - How can Virginia make homeownership more affordable? 32:57

1+ y ago32:57

32:57

Episode Notes This year, the average price of a single family home in Virginia crossed the $400 thousand dollar mark. Virginia’s urban populations are expanding without the housing supply to keep up. Staring down skyrocketing prices, many people are forced to accept that homeownership won’t be in their future. Confronting this goes beyond building …

1
74 - What's behind Youngkin's "parents' rights" rhetoric?

1+ y ago

—

Episode Notes From the school board meetings in Loudoun County to pushes to ban "racially divisive" books in schools, conservatives have been relying on one concept in particular: “parents' rights.” Glenn Youngkin latched onto parents’ rights during his campaign and rode it to victory over Terry McAuliffe. Other Republican candidates across the cou…

1
73 - Crossover! What's going on in the 2022 midterms? 30:57

1+ y ago30:57

30:57

Episode Notes Here at Bold Dominion, we typically focus on the machinations of power, money, and lawmaking in Richmond. But Virginia also sends 11 lawmakers to the U.S. House of Representatives. And all of them are on the ballot on Tuesday, November 8th. That means Election Day is less than two weeks away. If you're a Bold Dominion fan, you probabl…

1
72 - Why are Virginia legislators in session for just 2 months?

2y ago

—

Episode Notes Here at Bold Dominion, we pubish a new episode every two weeks. We have seventy something episodes under our belt, and still so much more to talk about. Keeping up with politics is a year-round job. But for Virginia legislators, it’s not actually year-round. In odd numbered years, lawmakers are in Richmond for 60 days, and in even yea…

1
71 - How is Virginia leading the push for broadband expansion? 33:32

2y ago33:32

33:32

Episode Notes You're listening to this show thanks to high speed internet. And as awesome as this podcast may be, there's a whole lot more that makes high speed internet indispensable for modern life. During the pandemic, school, work, health, and social life all moved online. Access to the internet was, and still is, a must. That made life awfully…

1
70 - What does the new federal climate law mean for Virginia? 30:27

2y ago30:27

30:27

Episode Notes This time of year, climate change is particularly hard to ignore. We’ve just made it through another scorching summer. Virginia’s coastal regions are grappling with sea water rise. And on some days, that haze covering the Blue Ridge is smoke from California wildfires. Despite this, the U.S. government’s response to climate change has …

1
69 - What does inequality look like in Virginia?

2y ago

—

Episode Notes Virginia is home to four of the ten richest counties in America -- all in Northern Virginia. Virginia is also home to some of the most economically distressed counties in America -- all in Southwest Virginia. And of all fifty states, Virginia has the largest gap between the minimum wage and the bare minimum needed to support a family …

1
68 - How can citizens craft legislation? 29:37

2y ago29:37

29:37

Episode Notes What does a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" actually look like in practice? If you listen to Bold Dominion, you probably vote every November, call your lawmaker about issues you care about, maybe have attended a protest or two. But sometimes it's hard to see how those actions affect the legislation coming…

1
67 - Five years after Unite the Right, what does right-wing extremism look like in Virginia?

2y ago

—

Episode Notes This week, we revisit the terrible anniversary of August 11th and 12th, 2017. Five years after the Unite the Right Rally, "Charlottesville" is still a shorthand for Nazis and fascists invading a community. As we look at Virginia politics and American politics today, where are we now? To answer that question, we talk to Larycia Hawkins…

1
66 - Does Virginia really have a "shadow government" of lobbyists? (reprise) 29:39

2y ago29:39

29:39

Episode Notes Longtime Richmond Times-Dispatch journalist Jeff Schapiro has a sort of shorthand on Twitter that I appreciate. When he tweets about the consulting firm McGuireWoods, he refers to it as The Shadow Government. Such is the influence that McGuire Woods holds over policymaking in Virginia. Virginia may have a new governor this year, but t…

1
65 - With Roe overturned, what's next for abortion access in Virginia? 31:14

2y ago31:14

31:14

Episode Notes The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade. You’ve probably seen maps about what this means on a state-by-state basis. We know that abortion will be legal in places like New England and the West Coast. We know that women in the Deep South will need to travel long distances to receive adequate reproductive health care. And we als…

1
64 - What is the "Best State for Business" like for workers?

2y ago

—

Episode Notes Business news media company CNBC does annual rankings of the best state for business. And Virginia has come out on top as the Best State for Business two years in a row. ```On this episode of Bold Dominion, we explore what this title means, and how ask how it affects working Virginians. ```…

1
63 - How can Virginia get quality healthcare to everyone? 29:10

2y ago29:10

29:10

Today on Bold Dominion, we’re talking with two experts who have been on the ground working to find ways to expand access to healthcare services. Almost half a million Virginians are covered by Medicaid. But the number of uninsured Virginians is expected to increase. We have many more steps to go to ensure that all Virginians have access to the reso…

1
62 - How will post-Roe v. Wade unfold in Virginia? 29:48

2y ago29:48

29:48

Episode Notes Today on Bold Dominion, we’re talking with several women about how things could unfold in Virginia after Roe v Wade is overturned. Earlier this month, an anonymous source leaked a draft opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. It showed that a majority of Justices intend to strike down the landmark 1973 decision that pro…

1
61 - Where does Virginia's trash come from and who does it get dumped on? (reprise) 32:18

2y ago32:18

32:18

Episode Notes Virginia is a bona fide trash capital. For decades, Virginia has been the second biggest importer of trash from other states. We even accept trash from other countries. About a quarter of all the trash dumped in Virginia originates from outside the state -- nearly 6 million tons of trash per year. One state’s trash must be our state’s…

1
60 - What should be done about prison labor in Virginia? 29:59

2y ago29:59

29:59

Episode Notes Products made from prison labor are all around us, and you might not even realize it. In fact, state law requires state agencies and public colleges to purchase products made by Virginia Correctional Enterprises. Inmates do get paid, but only 27 - 80 cents per hour. Defenders of prison labor argue that it provides inmates with vocatio…

1
59 - What's the state of voting rights in Virginia? 29:57

2+ y ago29:57

29:57

Episode Notes Back in 2020, Democrats swept into majorities in Virginia's House and Senate. And they passed laws to make voting easier in Virginia. To increase democracy, if you will. But around the country, voting rights are under attack again. Mostly by right-wing groups falsely claiming election fraud and using that as a pretext to limit who can…

1
58 - How does the budget sausage get made? 29:57

2+ y ago29:57

29:57

Episode Notes So the General Assembly ended its regular session without agreeing on a state budget. The state has a big surplus, and both Democrats and Republicans want to pass some tax cuts. You'd think this would be a good thing, an easy thing to resolve. But you would be wrong. There's a gap -- a $2.8 billion gap -- between the Democratic Senate…

1
57 - How can we sum up the General Assembly session as a game show? (Crossover with Pod Virginia) 29:52

2+ y ago29:52

29:52

Episode Notes This week marked the end of the 2022 Virginia General Assembly session. Unlike the last two, this session had split party control of state government. So did Virginia lawmakers set partisan politics aside? Did they craft wise legislation to move the Commonwealth forward? Not really. But there was some action, and in this week's episod…

1
56 - Why can't Virginia pass any campaign finance reform? 16:39

2+ y ago16:39

16:39

Episode Notes Virginia's campaign finance laws (or lack thereof) are akin to the Wild West. Lawmakers talk about the so-called Virginia Way, but plenty of them feed from the trough of big donors. Despite decades of reform efforts, campaign finance bills keep dying on the Assembly floor. This year, a proposal would have prohibited lawmakers from usi…

1
55 - How can we address the crises in Virginia teaching? 30:00

2+ y ago30:00

30:00

Episode Notes There are so many wonderful teachers out there. Teachers who don’t just view it as a job, but as a calling. Which is why it’s so disheartening to see education policy bandied about in state capitals by so many lawmakers who’ve never taught a class or asked a teacher what they need. Today, we’re looking at the state of public education…

1
54 - How can Virginia legalize cannabis the right way? (2022 edition) 29:29

2+ y ago29:29

29:29

Episode Notes "Legalize weed" is an easy slogan, but the devil is in the details if we want to do that fairly. Can we set up the market to benefit Virginians and small businesses, not just a few corporate owners? Can we repair and do right after decades of unfairly enforced drug laws? In 2022, those conversations are as pressing as ever... especial…

1
53 - Can Virginia curb Dominion Energy's outsized influence?

2+ y ago

—

Episode Notes For decades, Virginia lawmakers have been more likely to show deference to Dominion Energy than to challenge their power. These days, Dominion isn't just the state's biggest public utility... it's also the state's biggest corporate political donor. Not that everybody is okay with that. For years, some progressive Democrats have called…

1
52 - What to look for in this General Assembly session? 27:43

2+ y ago27:43

27:43

Episode Notes The General Assembly is starting its 2022 session this week. Legislation is the meat and potatoes of Virginia politics, so grab a fork and knife. MIght want to put on a bib, too. It can get messy. In this episode, Delegate Sally Hudson explains what to look for amidst our new divided government. Plus: Virginia's List founder Amy Laufe…

1
51 - How can we sum up 2021? 32:34

2+ y ago32:34

32:34

Episode Notes This week on Bold Dominion, we're looking back at 2021. In state politics, I'm not sure how to sum things up. I don't have a pithy phrase or simple hot take. We started the year with Trumpists attempting a coup against the United States. Over the course of the year, many Virginia statues of confederate traitors to the United States ca…

1
50 - How can Virginia get everyone into homes they can afford? 30:51

2+ y ago30:51

30:51

Episode Notes It’s almost Christmas. But for millions of Virginians, worries about housing costs temper the celebrations. Nearly 3 in 10 Virginia households cost burdened, paying more than 30% of their income for shelter. This week, we look at how cities across Virginia - and America - have zoned their way out of 'missing middle' housing over the l…

1
49 - Can states fight political gridlock? 30:00

2+ y ago30:00

30:00

Episode Notes Last month, we had what felt like a national election only in Virginia. These were state elections, but the focus was on national concerns. When Bold Dominion launched in 2019, we were struck by how many people closely follow national politics but know very little about how our own state government works. Or the power of state governm…

1
48 - What powers does the Virginia governor really have? 28:53

2+ y ago28:53

28:53

Episode Notes Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin campaigned on a raft of culture war issues. But it still takes the General Assembly to pass new laws, and Virginia's State Senate still has a Democratic majority. So what powers does the Virginia governor really have? What can a governor do even without new legislation? This week, Bold Dominion sits down …

1
47 - What happened? 29:59

2+ y ago29:59

29:59

Episode Notes Virginia's 2021 Election Day has come and gone. And Republican Glenn Youngkin will be the next governor of Virginia. Not only that, but it looks like Democrats have lost their majority in the Virginia House of Delegates. So what happened? To answer that question, our crew from Bold Dominion joined up with the crew from the podcast Tra…

1
46 - What's the Dillon Rule and how does it define power in Virginia? 30:17

2+ y ago30:17

30:17

Episode Notes There's an underlying principle to Virginia politics that often goes unmentioned--it's called the Dillon Rule, and it effectively says that local governments only have powers that are explicitly granted by the state. How does this affect our local legislators and our state as a whole? This is a reprise of an episode that originally ai…

1
45 - What are the stakes in this year's gubernatorial election? 29:34

3y ago29:34

29:34

Episode Notes Early voting in state elections has already begin in Virginia, and they'll all be counted on November 2. This week on Bold Dominion: What are the stakes in this year's Virginia gubernatorial election? Why does it matter? What’ll actually change if McAuliffe wins? Or if Youngkin wins? But it's also bigger than just Virginia. Our state …

1
44 - So what's the state of Virginia's environmental laws these days? 29:55

3y ago29:55

29:55

Episode Notes Here in Virginia, many of us have been shielded from the worst effects of climate change. So far. But we know - or we should know - that the planet is burning. And that without major policy changes, it’s going to get much worse. And so much human suffering could follow. So what’s a state to do? What policies can Virginia enact? After …

1
43 BONUS - Full interview with Prof. A. E. Dick Howard 1:30:09

3y ago1:30:09

1:30:09

Episode Notes For Episode 43 ("Where did Virginia's state constitution come from?"), producer Katherine Hansen talked at length with UVA Law professor A.E. Dick Howard, who wrote the current Virginia constitution. For the full civics experience, we're offering that full interview here as a bonus episode this week.…

1
43 - Where did Virginia's constitution come from? 29:59

3y ago29:59

29:59

Episode Notes This year marks the 50th anniversary of Virginia’s current state constitution - one of seven that has governed the Old Dominion. This golden anniversary arrives during a critical juncture in both Virginia and our nation. In this episode, we talk at length with esteemed UVA law professor AE Dick Howard, who wrote Virginia's current sta…

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