The U is Silent; We Aren’t

The Silver Line: What Happens When You Stop Waiting for Permission to Build Something Beautiful

"Cool stuff doesn't happen unless there's a lot of love in the room." That's Jeremy West, Artistic Director and Founder of Silver Line Theatre Exchange—a black box educational theatre built inside a converted Staunton warehouse by a teacher, a former student, and a whole lot of belief in what a small city can hold. When 2020 forced a pivot, he decided to build something Staunton didn't know it was missing. Jeremy shares the winding road from Alabama stages to the American Shakespeare Center to a converted warehouse on Lewis Street, and makes the case that building something beautiful is always worth it. You just have to stop waiting for permission.

Staunton Jams: Building a Music Community

What does it take to take a community's music scene to the next level? In this episode, Molly Murphy—musician, educator, and founder of Queen City Music Studios—explores how access, collaboration, and a little bit of scrappy energy can transform a city’s creative identity. From teaching music by ear to helping revive Staunton Jams, Molly shares how she’s creating space for people of all ages and experience levels to find their sound. It’s a conversation about access, creativity, and what’s possible when a community decides to play together.

It Takes a Valley: The Art of Ecosystem Building

What if the secret to a thriving community isn’t competition but collaboration? In this episode, Samantha sits down with Anika Horn—ecosystem builder, global traveler, and co-founder of CreativeMornings Shenandoah Valley—to explore how connection and intention can transform a place. From growing up in a small East German village to living in 14 countries, Anika shares how the places that stay with us are the ones where we find our people. Now rooted in Staunton, she’s bringing that philosophy to life, connecting theater companies, indie bookstores, and creatives across the region to build something bigger than any one organization could do alone. Because sometimes, it doesn’t just take a village. It takes a valley.

Rethink Classical: How Staunton Music Festival is Rewriting the Rules

What happens when you take 100 world-class musicians from across the globe, drop them into a small Shenandoah Valley city, and ask them to perform pieces they've never played together before? Magic, apparently. In this episode, we sit down with Jason Stell, Executive Director of the Staunton Music Festival, to explore how a scrappy concert series grew into one of the most adventurous classical music festivals in the country, and why a walkable downtown in Virginia and uncompromising artistic risk turned out to be the secret ingredients nobody saw coming.

The Hard Work of Hard History: Inside a Presidential Library

Why museums might be our best hope for civil dialogue. In this episode, Samantha sits down with Robin Von Seldeneck, President & CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum in Staunton, Virginia. They trace Robin’s journey from a childhood on a dairy farm and early love of gardening to leading one of the region’s most important civic institutions. Robin shares how museums are evolving from object‑focused “shrines” into trusted public spaces for difficult conversations—especially around Woodrow Wilson’s deeply complicated legacy on race, power, and democracy. Together, they explore what it means for a small city to steward a U.S. president’s story while inviting visitors to ask “why” and form their own conclusions.