Richmond Matters Podcast

Chris Hardie talks with Acacia St. John of Forward Wayne County and Alex Painter of the Wayne County Foundation about the recently released "County Indicators" report, and what it means for the health and future of our community. The post “I can do something to make it better.” Acacia St. John and Alex Painter on community needs and strategies appeared first on Richmond Matters.

When we talk about COVID-19 and its impact on all of us, it’s tempting to focus on the numbers: deaths, tests, positivity rates, charts that go up and down. These are very important, but they don’t tell the whole story. And if we only talk numbers, we risk losing touch with what’s really going on […] The post Mary Walker and Ashley Sieb on the power of story-telling to help us navigate COVID-19 together appeared first on Richmond Matters.

Randy Baker is retiring soon as the General Manager of Richmond Power & Light. In this podcast episode, he reflects on his time there as we speak about how power generation and distribution has happened in our community over the years, the politics of electricity rate changes, and what might be ahead for our municipal […] The post Randy Baker of RP&L on the past, present and future of local electricity appeared first on Richmond Matters.

One of my favorite subjects, and a question that I think continues to be critical in shaping the future of our community, is that of where and how people get their news and information. Over the years I’ve had a lot of different relationships to that question, from being a casual media critic blogger to […] The post Jason Truitt on the changing landscape of local news, life at the Palladium-Item appeared first on Richmond Matters.

I first interviewed Valerie Shaffer on this site back in 2017 about what the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County does, how they measure success, and the rollercoaster of wins and losses in helping our community find its path forward. Recently her team at the EDC went through a strategic planning process that has shifted […] The post Valerie Shaffer on developing quality of place, talent for economic health appeared first on Richmond Matters.

One of my favorite kinds of community conversations to have is with someone who is making great things happen, but who isn’t necessarily high profile in their work. They lead, guide, advise, nudge and help in powerful ways, but their names don’t always make the traditional “community leader” lists. That’s why I wanted to talk […] The post Lauralee Hites on developing strategy, having hard conversations and finding our place appeared first on Richmond Matters.

On September 5th 2020, Richmond saw an act of aggression and violence against peaceful marchers who were demonstrating in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, as a local man drove his vehicle through the line of people, striking and injuring some of them. A few people have reduced this event to arguments over traffic […] The post Kelley Cruse-Nicholson on witnessing the vehicle attack on Black Lives Matter marchers appeared first on Richmond Matters.

As a follow up to the hosting of WCTV’s IN Focus public affairs program that I did in July of this year, where I focused on topics of systemic racism and concern about police violence against people of color, Eric Marsh and I sat down to debrief how those conversations went. We ended up having […] The post IN Focus with…me appeared first on Richmond Matters.

The third and final (for now) episode of the public affairs program IN Focus that I have been guest-hosting in July aired this evening on WCTV. Like my earlier conversations with Betsy Schlabach, Archer Bunner and Bill Engle, it again touches on some of the challenges of confronting and addressing racism in our communities. First […] The post IN Focus with Mike Britt and Brylynn Quisenberry appeared first on Richmond Matters.

In July I’m continuing to guest host a few episodes of the public affairs program IN Focus on WCTV, talking with my guests about racism and what it means for people in our community — especially white people — to be listening, learning and taking meaningful anti-racist action so that everyone who lives here can […] The post IN Focus with Archer Bunner and Bill Engle appeared first on Richmond Matters.