Monday, December 15, 2008     Hard Times for the News Business Is good journalism important to you? You may have heard that the business of news -- at least that part that depends on making a profit -- is in trouble. And commercial news organizations are doing a lot of experimenting in a desperate attempt to keep your attention. On this edition, we'll focus on those experiments.   Listen to the program   Guests: McGregor McCance - Managing Editor of the Charlottesville-based Daily Progress. Brian Richardson, Ph.D. - Former reporter and bureau chief for the Miami Herald newspaper; now head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, Washington and Lee University. Maria Hileman - Managing Editor of The Winchester Star. Monday, December 8, 2008     Local Government and the Economy Later this month Virginia Governor Tim Kaine releases his newest budget proposals. One thing seems certain. More cuts are coming. On this edition, a close-up look at how the economic downturn is affecting state government -- and local governments across our region.   Listen to the program   Guests: J. Brannon Godfrey, Jr. - City Manager, City of Winchester. Emmett Hanger, Jr. - Republican representing the 24th Virginia State Senate District, which includes Albemarle County (Part); Augusta County (All); Greene County (All); Highland County (All); Rockbridge County (Part); Rockingham County (Part); and the Cities of Staunton, Waynesboro and Lexington.  Member of the Senate Finance Committee. Gary O'Connell - City Manager, City of Charlottesville. Joseph S. Paxton - County Administrator, County of Rockingham. Richard M. Wiggans - Director of Finance,  County of Albemarle. Monday, December 1, 2008     The Psychology of Job Loss If you’ve ever lost a job -- you know it is painful. But can that pain be measured as a factor of the economy? A Virginia researcher who helped pioneer the field of behavioral economics says the psychology of job loss has a very real impact on the world financial system. He also says there are things we ought to do about it. On this edition, we consider his recommended solutions.   Listen to the program   Guest: Arthur H.  Goldsmith, Ph.D. - The Jackson T. Stephens Professor of Economics at Washington and Lee University. Monday, November 24, 2008     Virginia Politics Update As an elections official said, there is a reason why they're called "unofficial results." Election Day was November 4, but election results became official in Virginia on November 24th.  So we discuss that, and possible recounts, with a Virginia Politics update.   Listen to the program   Guests: Rosanna L. Bencoach - Policy Manager,  Virginia State Board of Elections. Chelyen Davis - Richmond-based reporter for The Fredericksburg Freelance-Star. Bob Gibson - Executive Director of The Thomas C. Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership and former political writer for The Charlottesville Daily Progress. Tom Perriello (D) - Congressman-elect, from Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. Bob Roberts, Ph.D. - Professor of Political Science at James Madison University and author of From Watergate to Whitewater: The Public Integrity War. Monday, November 17, 2008     The History Guys Almost three years ago -- when the idea first came to them -- they were all teaching history at the University of Virginia. One of them still is, while another one is off giving lectures in England, and the third became a university president. Yet they've still managed to make the idea a reality. On the next Virginia Insight, a talk with the "Backstory guys" -- the three Virginia historians who now have their own nationally syndicated radio show, called Backstory.   Listen to the program   Guests: Ed Ayers, Ph.D. - President of the University of Richmond and author of numerous books on 19th century American history, including In the Presence of Mine Enemies: Civil War in the Heart of America. Brian Balogh, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Miller Center's Governing America in a Global Era  program at the University of Virginia. Peter Onuf, Ph.D. - The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia, and currently serving as the  Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University for the 2008-2009 academic year. Monday, November 10, 2008     Editors Roundtable You've noticed that a big election tends to get a lot of media focus. After a while, you begin to wonder if there is any other kind of news besides politics. We gather together newspaper editors from across the WMRA region to get caught up on what, besides politics, is news in their towns... although they may talk a bit about politics too.   Listen to the program   Guests: Maria Hileman - Managing Editor of the The Winchester Star. Rob Longley - City Editor of the Harrisonburg based Daily News Record. Hawes Spencer - Editor and Publisher of the Charlottesville based weekly The Hook. Lee Wolverton - Managing Editor of the Waynesboro based daily The News-Virginian. Monday, November 3, 2008     Virginia Politics Update In addition to the presidential election, 11 congressional races and one open U.S. Senate seat in Virginia are being contested. A Virginia politics update on this week's Virginia Insight.   Listen to the program   Guests: Bob Gibson - Executive Director of The Thomas C. Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership and former political writer for The Charlottesville Daily Progress. Bob Roberts, Ph.D. - Professor of Political Science at James Madison University and author of From Watergate to Whitewater: The Public Integrity War. Jen Thompson, J.D. - Director of External Relations and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Wilder School of Government, Virginia Commonwealth University. Monday, October 27, 2008     Issue Update - Health Care Reform If the latest studies are to be believed,  it would appear that the average American is paying about twice as much for health care as the average citizen of most any other industrialized nation. On this edition we ask the question -- “what kind of bargain are you getting for your money?” We also explore the two major presidential candidates’ proposals, as well as other alternatives, for health care reform.   Listen to the program   Guests: Christopher Nye - Associate Director of the Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services at James Madison University. Timothy Stoltzfus Jost, JD -  The Robert L. Willett Family Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law.  His newest book is titled Health Care at Risk: A Critique of the Consumer-Driven Movement (Duke University Press). Hillary Whonder-Genus, MD - Pediatrician, Harrisonburg Community Health Center. Monday, October 20, 2008     Issue Update - Illegal Immigration Just last year it was one of the most controversial and hotly debated issues in American politics. It divided presidential candidates and strained political allegiances. Now, it has faded from just about everyone's political radar. On this edition, we'll take a fresh look at the nearly forgotten issue of illegal immigration, and ask our panel of experts, and our listeners, what to do about it.   Listen to the program   Guests: Jennifer Byrne - Assistant Professor of Political Science, James Madison University. David Martin - Professor of Immigration Law at the University of Virginia;  former General Counsel to the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service. Bob Trumble, Ph.D. - Director, Virginia Labor Studies Center, Virginia Commonwealth University. Monday, October 13, 2008     What Do 'Special Needs' Families Need? Sarah Palin delivered this promise about halfway through her acceptance speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention: “To the families of special-needs children all across this country … I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.” Yet since the convention, that promise from Governor Palin has received very little attention. On this edition of Virginia Insight, we ask “special needs” families (and those who work with them) what kind of advocacy they would most like to see coming from the top levels of government.   Listen to the program   Guests: Susan Anderson, M.D. - Director of Outpatient Services, Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center at the University of Virginia. Brandon K. Schultz, Ed.D., NCSP - Director of Clinical and Consultative Services,  Alvin V. Baird Attention and Learning Disabilities Center at James Madison University. Martha E. Snell, Ph.D. - Professor of Special Education, University of Virginia. Tierney Temple-Fairchild, MBA, Ph.D. - Founder of the Darden-Curry Partnership for Leadership in Education.  Parent of a 10-year-old daughter with Down syndrome. Monday, October 6, 2008     Other People’s Faith Is your religion better than your neighbor’s? It might be difficult to think of a more impolite question. But if you think about it, that question -- and many people’s answer to it -- could be behind a lot of misunderstanding in today’s world. On this edition we get a preview of a four-day-long conference that will have people asking and answering tough questions about religion.   Listen to the program   Guests: Sallie King, Ph.D. - Professor of Philosophy and Religion, James Madison University and participant in the University’s “Interfaith Days of Awareness” Jenan Mohajir, Outreach Education Association for the Interfaith Youth Core  participant in James Madison University’s  “Interfaith Days of Awareness”.