Pod Virginia

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This week, Michael and Lauren are joined by former candidate Susanna Gibson and the Poynter Institute's Kelly McBride to discuss the recent hacked information regarding Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, the Washington Post story detailing explicit videos of Susanna, and how those stories relate to other instances of leaks and hacks through the evolving media landscape.

SPONSOR:
The Richmond Forum

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Check out Black Virginia News


IN THE NEWS:
When the House of Delegate unanimously approved the appointment of Lindsey Burke to the George Mason University board of visitors, members of the General Assembly did not know that she would later play a prominent role in Project 2025. That’s the conservative think-tank plan to reshape the federal government’s functions and benefits. Now Speaker of the House Don Scott is calling on the governor to remove the co-author of Project 2025 chapter on education. 

Experts say Virginia will benefit from tens of millions of dollars from the Infrastructure Act to finance energy storage for data centers. Supporters of clean energy are hopeful this program in Manassas will show how new technology can address the rising demand from data centers without the need for new energy generation from fossil fuels.

From the hills of Appalachia to the melodic tones of the Piedmont, Virginia has some of the most perplexing accents in the country. A survey conducted by language-learning platform Guide2Fluency shows Appalachia and Piedmont accents have artificial intelligence stumped. 


TRIVIA: What town in Virginia is trying to withhold 3,000 emails about a proposed Amazon data center?

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SPONSOR:
The Richmond Forum

LINKS:
Pod Virginia | Patreon
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The Richmonder: https://richmonder.org

This week we are joined by the founder of the Richmonder and one of his new star reporters, Michael Phillips and Graham Moomaw. They explain what they hope to accomplish with the launch of the new site on Sept. 9, and they'll also share some thoughts about hot sauce.

SPONSOR:
The Richmond Forum

LINKS:
Pod Virginia | Patreon
Learn more about Jackleg Media
Check out Black Virginia News


IN THE NEWS:
In a 2019 memoir, Kamala Harris described herself as a "progressive prosecutor.” But many criminal justice reform advocates aren't so sure about her record, which includes prosecuting parents when their students were truant and notifying immigration authorities when undocumented juveniles were charged with felonies.

Trump Force 47 is the name of the Republican get-out-the-vote operation this year. It involves training sessions at various locations across Virginia where volunteers are learning about how to target potential voters in critical precincts. But will it actually expand the base?

The Fraternal Order of Police of Virginia is calling on the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys to investigate slot-machine style devices known as skill games--specifically, Fairfax, Henrico and Portsmouth.  Some of those prosecutors note that it's law enforcement's job to investigate crimes.


TRIVIA: What industry was supposed to be cultivated by Jamestown? 


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SPONSOR:
Richmond Forum

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Jon Baliles (former Richmond City Councilman, advisor to Mayors Wilder and Stoney, and author of RVA 5x5 Substack) joins Michael to discuss the candidates for Richmond's mayoral election, which has a unique structure that requires the winning candidate to win 5 of 9 districts to avoid a runoff.

LINKS:
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Check out Black Virginia News


IN THE NEWS:
Before Joe Biden dropped out of the race for president, several polls took a look at how Kamala Harris would do against Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup in Virginia. Mark Rozell of the Schar School says any Democrat running against Trump would probably fare as well as Biden if not marginally better. And, he says, that could win the election.

Northern Virginia has long been the global capital of data centers, but now they are expanding to the rest of Virginia. According to the Piedmont Environmental Council, Virginia already has about 200 data centers with applications pending for 100 more. Some members of the General Assembly are sounding alarm bells on the rapid growth.

Virginia has the worst on-time delivery rates in the country ever since the United States Postal Service made changes to the Richmond Regional Processing and Delivery Center. That's a problem for newspapers that are delivered using periodical delivery rates.


TRIVIA: Which congressional district has the largest partisan lean? 


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Friend of the show Nathan Moore (station manager of WTJU Charlottesville and writer of Apple Atchin Radio) joins Michael to discuss his tour of community radio stations in Appalachia; the importance of trust and community bonds to the public radio model, and what VP nominee J.D. Vance gets wrong about the area.

LINKS:
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Check out Black Virginia News


IN THE NEWS:
President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and throwing the presidential race into total chaos. We have no precedent for this because nothing like this has ever happened. How are Virginia politicians responding?

According to the latest FBI data, crime is down across the country. Here in Virginia, crime spiked in the early 1990s and has been steadily going down ever since. Violent crime, for example, is one third of what it was at that time. 

The price of new cars is going down. So are the prices for blue jeans and microwave ovens. That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows even the prices of eggs in Virginia is dropping. But the recent spike in inflation disproportionately harmed low-income people in Virginia.


TRIVIA: How many Presidential candidates (other than Trump) have received a party's nomination three times?

At the Watercooler:
- More on Biden dropping out
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's interpretive rule on "paycheck advances" counting as loans

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The guest for this episode is a delegate to the Republican convention in Wisconsin. He is a member of the platform committee, and he's the chairman of the First Congressional District Republican Committee -- Jeff Ryer. He joins us to give us an inside look at what's happening in the Virginia delegation and give us a sense as to how Republicans are feeling about the election heading into the fall campaign season.

LINKS:
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Learn more about Jackleg Media
Check out Black Virginia News


IN THE NEWS:
If you're looking for an example of a recount that changed the results of an election, you'll have to go all the way back to Indiana, 1985. Here in Virginia, recounts have been conducted in three congressional elections since 1967, and none of them changed the outcome--but Bob Good in the 5th District is pushing for one anyway.

With the aid of AI, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton has regaied her voice; trained up on her public speeches, the AI voice sounds much like Wexton did before she was silenced by Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, and she says this tool could be life-changing for Americans with disabilities.

The rapid rise of fentanyl overdoses is causing concern among lawmakers, although they are not yet on the same page about how to handle the situation.That's why the General Assembly created a new task force to consider the policy choices and how they would work. For example, how much does an individual need to have to be prosecuted as a dealer versus helped as a patient suffering from substance abuse disorder? 


TRIVIA: What is the statewide recount that did not happen because the loser couldn't afford the $120,000 price tag?

At the Watercooler:
- The Democrats are still trying to figure out if Biden will be their nominee
- The 1932 Democratic convention, where Harry Byrd tried to unseat Franklin Roosevelt

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