Dispatches from RVA’s Frontlines

Returning as a Citizen

In Virginia, a felony conviction can lead to a lifetime ban on voting. This November, a constitutional amendment might change this. Rich talks to VPM News reporter Whittney Evans about how big those changes might be. Will the amendment help returning citizens... actually return as citizens. To learn more about returning citizens read VPM's Curious Commonwealth: https://www.vpm.org/news/2026-05-28/quadaire-patterson-voting-rights-felony-convictions-rvas-got-issues [https://www.vpm.org/news/2026-05-28/quadaire-patterson-voting-rights-felony-convictions-rvas-got-issues] Featuring: Whittney Evans, Features Editor for VPM News

RVA Loves Our Animals

From Francine the cat to drunken raccoons, we love our animals in RVA. But how are they doing, especially the most vulnerable: the ones who need new homes? On this episode, we talk animal adoptions. Plus: bears. Fat ones. Featuring:  Christie Chipps Peters, Director of Richmond Animal Care and Control Larry Eason, Executive Director of Richmond Animal League Robin Keegan, Reading Interventionist at Frances W. McClenney Elementary School

VCU and Richmond: Growing Together?

Virginia Commonwealth University is Richmond’s urban university. But it's sometimes hard to know where Richmond ends and VCU begins. How does VCU grow and thrive while the city does the same? Can Richmond and VCU... grow together? Featuring: Max Wasserman, RVA's Got Issues Producer Andrew Kerley, outgoing Executive Editor of the Commonwealth Times

Richmond's Economic Development: Building New, Reusing Old

It's all anyone seems to think about - how can we develop our economy? But do we actually need to build more to get more? On this episode, the answer is yes and no. One Richmond business has a big plan to capture international attention. But down the street, a second-hand store shows you don't need something "new" to attract customers. Oh, and we get a tour of LEGO Manufacturing VA. Featuring Jennifer Wakefield, President and CEO for the Greater Richmond Partnership Amy Turner, Executive Director of SCRAP RVA

Dispatches from RVA’s Frontlines

We talk a lot on our show about, well, issues. But we don't always get a sense of what it's like for the people on the frontlines of those issues. How do you keep working to fix the issue, when others don't know, don't care - or want you to stop? From healthcare to education: it's dispatches from the frontlines. Guests: Stephanie Arnold, founder of Seven Hills Family Medicine Mary Graham, Chief Executive Officer of READ RVA