(Nov 2022) I love this book! I told the author, David Toscano, that I wanted to crawl between the pages and curl myself up in it. I started reading Bellwether: Virginia’s Political Transformation, 2006-2020 on November 12, 2022, tucked up in a chair in a mountain cabin in Greene County, VA. Four days earlier, on November…
(Aug 22, 2022) Catherine Read talks with Holly Seibold, Founder of BRAWS: Bringing Resources to Aid Women’s Shelters, a non-profit established in 2015. BRAWS started as a direct services organization to meet the needs of women in area shelters with menstrual supplies, new bras, and underwear. Recognizing the lack of basic supplies to manage monthly…
(Aug 17, 2022) Catherine Read talks with Elijah Lee, a 14-year-old community activist who founded the non-profit Hear Our Voices in 2021. The goal of his organization is to empower young people to be agents of change. He is a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar, a member of the National Junior Honor Society, and a freshman…
(August 28, 2019) Catherine Read interviews Delegate Kathleen Murphy (D-34) about her reelection campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates. Murphy was elected to the House in a special election in 2015, succeeding Barbara Comstock. The 34th District encompasses McLean, Great Falls, parts of Vienna and stretches into northern Loudoun County. All 140 seats in…
(July 31, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Del. Marcus Simon (D-53) to talk about how citizens can get involved in affecting policy change at the state and local level of governments. Simon was introduced to state politics in his first job out of college, as an aid with his predecessor, Del. Jim Scott. Without…
(March 27, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Deborah Tomkins Johnson, Regional Director at Dominion Energy and Nene Spivy, Executive Director of the Children’s Science Center. Their discussion touches upon Dominion Energy’s philanthropy and the future of the Children’s Science Center. In the first segment, Catherine speaks with Tomkins-Johnson about Dominion Energy’s commitment to corporate…
(Nov. 12, 2018) Catherine Read sits down with Deepak Madala, Director of Enroll Virginia, to discuss the process of enrolling Virginians in Medicaid. Enroll Virginia was created by the Virginia Poverty Law Center, and is a non-partisan community based effort to educate all Virginians about the new health insurance marketplace and provide free, unbiased assistance…
(Aug. 13, 2018) Catherine Read interviews Del. Karrie Delaney (D-67) about her first year serving in the Virginia House of Delegates. They speak about her experiences that led her to run for office, along with the challenges she faces in balancing her life in her new role. They also discuss legislative victories and initiatives. Del. Delaney…
(Feb. 7, 2018) Catherine Read met with Joanne Walton and Tony Bennett Shivers, co-founders of the Virginia Education Funding Coalition (VEFC), a unified non-partisan voice advocating for fully funding public education in Virginia. The mission of the VEFC is to ensure that the commonwealth of Virginia adequately invests in its public education system, so that…
(Jan. 10, 2018) Catherine Read talks with Delegate Marcus Simon (D -53) to get a preview of the 2018 Virginia Legislative Session, which begins on January 10 and will run through March 10. Simon is a Democrat representing Falls Church and surrounding Fairfax County. First elected in 2013, he has served on the Militia, Police and Public Safety…
(Dec. 13, 2017) Catherine Read interviews David Miller, Senior Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fairfax Congregation (UUCF) to discuss his work on Gun Violence Prevention. When Rev. Miller took over 2 years ago, he “inherited” a congregation who had made a resolution that they wanted to fight for reasonable restrictions on guns to help curb…
(Dec. 11, 2017) Catherine Read interviews Ric Arenstein, Director of Development for the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP). Founded in 1997, VPAP was started by Virginia based newspapers with the purpose to inform citizens about all public documents related to money in Virginia politics. Because there are no restrictions on how much money politicians can…
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