Democrat Cindy Green is running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in the Nov. 4 election. She is challenging Republican Delegate Israel O'Quinn who has held the seat since 2011.

Topics include campaign financing, issues related to potential cuts to Medicaid, Virginia's Clean Energy Requirement Act that requires 100% clean energy in the state by 2050, Green's view on proposed Virginia Constitutional Amendments that (1) guarantees access to abortion and (2) overturns a previous Constitutional Amendment banning same sex marriage.

Unfortunately, her opponent's campaign reported that Del. O'Quinn was unable to find 30 minutes during the month of October to answer questions on this program.

He spoke to This Conversation in March of 2024 when he was proposing a bill that would allow utilities to raise rates on consumers to pay for the proposed development of a small modular nuclear reactor in Southwest Virginia. Here is a link to that interview: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/f746ac61-8702-4ac5-86ec-604739053f0a/

Haile Ferrier spent her early years in Emory, Virginia, home of WEHC-FM and This Conversation.

Host of the show Teresa Keller goes into groupie/biggest fan mode in the conversation with Haile Ferrier.

Haile reviews her time in Emory and her early theatre experiences with Barter Theatre. She traces her short and VERY successful career from Elon University through a role in the national Broadway tour of Dear Evan Hansen and other shows until being cast in Masquerade.

The style of the show is a first in New York -- an intimate, immersive experience. The show has secrets.... but we weren't at liberty to reveal them.

The conversation is lively, and we hope will be fun for listeners.

Dr. Rob Jones has just returned from Sri Lanka where he was doing battle with a mountain of plastic on the beach of the Indian Ocean.

Hear about his organization Parley Oceans Plastic.

What are his signs of hope in conquering the plastic problem?

Luke Groom came to Emory & Henry from a small town in East Tennessee. He played football and he sang in the choir.

In this interview, you'll hear the story of his pathway to New York and Broadway world tours and his recent months in Thailand.

Another fascinating success story from Emory & Henry graduates. And Luke is big-time fun to talk to!!

A special group of actors is presenting a one-time reading of the 1937 play "It Can't Happen Here" at the Martha Washington Inn in Abingdon on Saturday, September 13 at 6:00. The play developed from Sinclair Lewis's 1935 book of the same name, is described as a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy and potential for fascism.

The book describes a president who develops a military that arrests political enemies, targets the press and education, and relies on a Congress that defers to strong executive authority. The president's dictatorship offers a promise to save the country from immorality, crime, and dangers from various groups, including those who refuse to pledge allegiance to the flag and the New Testament.

According to reviewers both in 1935 and now, the message remains fresh.

Director Michael Gerber talks about why this group of actors is presenting this one-time event at this particular time.

I interviewed "Dalton" many years ago. "Dalton" was a name we used to disguise his real identity. He had been one of my students as a female and was undergoing a gender reassignment to be a male when we talked.

"Dalton" recently died, which caused me to find the old interview and listen to it once again.

Being transgender has become a topic that is currently a political lightning bolt with fierce, conflicting opinions.

This episode of This Conversation is a chance to turn down the heat and hear the personal story of why one person would undergo the expense, inconvenience, surgery, and frequent rejection that comes with such a move.

Dalton's story is worth hearing again.

We talk with Thomas Jefferson. What are his thoughts about writing the Declaration of Independence?

How can he justify the contradiction in his commitment to individual rights while simultaneously owning slaves?

You'll be amazed at how the issues in Jefferson's time mirror current philosophical perspectives on the role of government.

And in the latter part of the interview, we meet Kurt Smith who portrays Jefferson in his role with Colonial Williamsburg.

www.thejeffersonexperience@gmail.com

Former WCYB news anchor Julie Newman now runs PBS Appalachia, an all digital television station, operating from inside Hard Rock Bristol. After winning the highest honors for the station and leadership, she now faces the challenge of lost funding for PBS from the government. What is the mission of the station and why is it important? What is the path forward?