Bill Draper is arguably Richmond's leading outdoor photographer. His renowned photos of landscapes and wildlife in the James River Park System have garnered widespread admiration. He's celebrated citywide for his exceptional ability to capture Richmond's beauty and...
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WRIR Co-founder’s Final Mission: Battling Stage Four Cancer and Climate Change
Chris Maxwell is the best of us. He’s one of the co-founders of WRIR, our beloved local indie radio station and community rallying point for RVA initiatives and movements. About a month ago, Farid Alan Schintzius approached me with an idea of conducting an interview with him in retrospective of his long history of championing progressive...
Matt Strickland and the Image of Strength He Must Demonstrate
Strickland Appeared before the Virginia Board of Elections “Buy the ticket, take the ride” is that old proverbial saying coined by Hunter S Thompson. I prefer the saying “take the ride, pay for the ticket. Now is almost the time for Matt Strickland to pay for the ticket after taking a ride in Virginia politics and an attempt to run for...
Richmond’s Next Mayor? Get to Know Garrett Sawyer
Today, I’m getting a drink with a politician. Coffeeshop, lunch spot, in-studio - those are perfectly fine places to get to know someone, but there’s nothing like a good whiskey to loosen up a conversation. Garrett Sawyer is meeting me at The Camel for happy hour on a Wednesday. He is another one of the six current candidates we have for...
A Bit of Good News: Richmond is the Most Climate Resilient City in America
Most of us are pretty worried about climate change these days. Well, guess what? Turns out, we've been dubbed "the most climate-resilient city in America" by the USA Today Homefront research team. It's definitely a reason to celebrate. Sure, we could talk about the crazy high rents or that super high pollen count, but let's just soak up the...
Richmond Loves Its Baseball
Been Playing Since 1866. Cobb, Ruth, Williams, Mays Played Here. We Even Had a Major League Team — For 46 Games Everybody knows that our beloved capital city has a rich history. Settled by Native Americans, explored by English colonists, burned to the ground by the British during the Revolutionary War, and again by retreating Confederate...
You Can Call Me Bill: An Interview William Shatner
Over the course of his decades-long career, he’s been known by many names: Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Sergeant TJ Hooker, Commander Buck Murdock, and even Stan Fields if you can be so bold as to tell us why April 25th is, in fact, the perfect date (Answer: it’s not too hot, not too cold, and all you need is a light jacket). On March 22nd,...
Richmond’s Next Mayor? Get to Know Harrison Roday
It’s raining fucking buckets. It’s cold, 4pm, and I want to go home. But I’m about to do that weird half-run, scrunched-shoulders thing into Blanchard's Coffee Shop on Broad street to meet Harrison Roday, candidate for Mayor. They’re gonna close soon too. He’s a new name for me, so I Googled him. Seems he’s been on team Tim Kaine for a while....
Kids of the Black Hole
We stepped down the cobblestone steps, our backs to that gothic tower of bricks seeing us off into a damp night. Jesse’s face was blue as he stared down into his phone and said: C’mon, I think it’s this way. It’s west? I asked. No, it’s in this direct—I mean yes… it’s west. You’re sure? He told me he was good for it. The guy who walks...
To be or not to be, that is the new Shockoe Bottom memorial’s question
Twining unseen within the loamy soil of Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom are the stories of the enslaved who unwillingly traversed this low-lying land that once distinguished itself by the sheer volume of Black bodies it saw sold into slavery. Here, across 10 acres that rooted Richmond as the nation’s second-largest flesh market of the American slave...