Episode Notes

2020 has been one of the longest, most painful years in most of our lifetimes. While it's impossible to do justice to every story that struck Virginia this year, we're covering a few of the biggest changes across the state over the last twelve months.

To help, we're joined by Michael Pope and Thomas Bowman of Transition Virginia, a state politics podcast covering many of the same topics. In this roundtable retrospective, we discuss the coronavirus pandemic, the state legislature's response to calls for racial justice, and the economic fallout yet to come.

Happy holidays, folks. We'll see you in the new year!

Episode Notes

Virginia has been transforming in many ways over the last few decades, and that's most clear when it comes to government and tech. From defense contractors to Amazon's new headquarters to thousands of data centers, Virginia has slowly but surely shifted toward an economy based in technology and defense. What does that mean for workers in Virginia? For our energy needs, our demographic trends, and our political systems?

In this episode, we talk to Richmond-based journalist Peter Galuszka about how Virginia's economy ties in with energy and technology--and how these trends will change the state going forward.

Suddenly, and seemingly out of the blue, legal weed in Virginia seems like it could be a real thing in the not-too-distant future.

But legalization won’t be as easy as flipping a light switch. Should past weed convictions be expunged? Should business owners with past marijuana convictions get a leg up?

Virginia (and the nation) have a long history of racially disparate enforcement of marijuana laws... So now we have historical inequities and loads of other questions to deal with as we consider new legislation.

In this episode, Virginia Mercury reporter Ned Oliver and video journalist Alana Yzola take us through ways that Virginia could legalize cannabis in order to benefit Virginians the most.

As we step away from national politics and the presidential election, it's worth looking at other referendums and ballot initiatives that passed on a state and local level. In their most recent election, Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, and Portsmouth approved casinos entering their cities in landslide votes. What might an influx of casinos mean for Virginia's economy? To find out, we sat down with Ryan Murphy, a reporter at the Virginian-Pilot, and James V. Koch, an economist and former president of the Board of Visitors of Old Dominion University.

Election Day has come and gone, but the election process still continues. And while it looks like Joe Biden has the presidential election mostly secured in an election that bucked the polls, a whole host of state and local races in Virginia were also on the ballot, as well as a state Constitutional amendment for redistricting reform.

This week, Nathan Moore sits down with producer Aaryan Balu and Mary Garner McGehee, host and producer of Charlottesville Soundboard, for a roundtable discussion on this year's election and what it means for Virginia going forward.

After two long months of socially distanced and Zoom-based negotiations, the Virginia General Assembly has finally finished its 2020 Special Session--called to deal with police reform and amending the state budget.

This week, we're joined by state Delegate Sally Hudson; she walks us through some victories on police reform and the state's strategy for economic recovery--and the ways we need to improve our approach to both, going forward.

With gun sales up, violence in the streets, and an overwhelming majority of the nation thinking that we're heading down the wrong track, it's no secret that America is in a troubled place right now.

That isn't helped by the actions of President Trump, who, in the last few weeks, has suggested that he wouldn't accept the results of the upcoming election if he lost, encouraged supporters to watch polling places, and refused to denounce white supremacists on live television.

Combine that with a recent FBI report that called far-right militias an "immediate extremist threat,” and you've got a powder keg set to blow this November. This week, we spoke to anti-racist activist Emily Gorcenski and journalist Peter Galuszka about the threats we might face both on the ground and in Washington.

If you've gotten your ballot for the upcoming election, you may have noticed a question about a proposed Amendment to the Virginia State Constitution.

The Amendent proposes a bipartisan commission to end the process of gerrymandering--politicians drawing districts to suit their own interests--in Virginia. That's important, because next year, Virginia will be holding its state elections based on those districts.

But does the amendment go far enough? How did Virginia get here in the first place? This week we talk to journalist Peter Galuszka and historian Brent Tarter, author of Gerrymanders: How Redistricting Has Protected Slavery, White Supremacy, and Partisan Minorities in Virginia.

The proposed Amendment to the State Constitution can be found here.

In some ways, we have two different Virginias that live side-by-side. On one side, white-collar workers who have adjusted to the pandemic with Zoom meetings and social distancing; on the other, blue-collar workers who have faced losses of their jobs, healthcare, housing, and economic stability in the face of a global pandemic.

But COVID-19 has only exacerbated trends that have plagued Virginia for forty years, if not the state's entire history. This week, we spoke with journalist Peter Galuszka about the growing divide in Virginia's economy, and UVA Professor James Harrigan about the economic trends that have heightened income inequality nationwide for the last forty years.

Virginia's General Assembly convened on August 18 for a special session, originally dedicated to balancing the state budget in the face of COVID-19. Now following nationwide protests, the special session alsopromises to tackle the issue of criminal justice reform.

This week, in a special crossover episode the Transition Virginia podcast, we talk to hosts Michael Pope and Thomas Bowman about the first week of the special session. You can find the full discussion in their latest episode, or visit them at www.transitionvirginia.com.