As part of the Big Dipper Innovation Summit, on Thursday, April 24th from 6–9pm at Common House Richmond, RVA Magazine’s co-publisher and editor-at-large, Landon Shroder, will moderate a featured panel: The Obsolescence of Culture: Can Authenticity Survive the Tech...
Welcome to April 2025, where the news cycle has become less “breaking” and more “breaking your will to live.” And while we’d love to be writing about spring concerts, our favorite beers, or the state of Richmond’s cultural renaissance, here we are—kicking off mid-week with something that feels a little more economically ruinous. Trump’s...
Starting tonight at midnight, Americans are being asked to do something that might feel unnatural in a culture built on convenience and consumption: stop spending. For one day, The People’s Union USA is calling for a nationwide economic blackout—a pause on shopping at major retailers, skipping fast food, and holding...
Ipanema is gone. You probably saw it on Reddit, sandwiched between a blurry photo of a pothole and a debate about whether the city’s latest apartment complex looks more like a dentist’s office or a minimum-security prison. The regulars lamented. The former regulars nodded knowingly. A few people squinted and asked, Wait, that place was still...
How the Rise of an Oligarchy Threatens America's Future and What We Can Do About It The 2024 election marked a personal breaking point for me. The return of a felon, rapist, and racist (among many other labels) assuming the highest office in the world again – someone who incited a violent attack on our democracy – has forced me to...
For 30 years, Venue Skateboards has been part of the Richmond story—a skate shop that’s never been just a skate shop. Since 1994, it’s been a meeting place, a community hub, and a home for skaters from all over the city. Kim and Maury Blankenship didn’t set out to change the world; they just wanted to create a space for skaters in a town that...
Ian C. Hess is one of those rare souls who’s carved out a place in Richmond’s unpredictable art landscape. As the owner of Supply, a local art store, and a painter whose work is steeped in mythology and meticulous craft, Ian has spent over a decade wrestling with the highs and lows of the creative life while giving back to the city that shaped...
Tucked into a corner of Scott’s Addition, where the buzz of breweries and new apartments drowns out the neighborhood’s industrial past, Shield N Sheath Hatchet House offers something unexpected: a place to throw sharp objects with purpose. For Dan Pegg, the man behind the business, it’s more than just a venue—it’s a second chance. Pegg, a...
The latest addition to Richmond's food and bar scene, Brave Captain, will officially open next week on the edge of Oregon Hill and the VCU campus. Co-owners Herbie Abernethy (read our interview HERE) and Josh Novicki — already known for popular Richmond spots Cobra Cabana and Hot For Pizza — have transformed the former Mojo’s side space into a...
The case of Dawn Marie Morris, a Louisa County resident and owner of the Charlottesville-based Higher Education smoke shop chain, highlights Virginia’s complex and often contradictory stance on drug laws. While Morris clearly broke the law—particularly by selling psilocybin mushrooms, a Schedule I controlled substance—the severe penalties she...
