Chris Boros

Augusta County has declared a state of emergency in response to the threat to public health and safety from the Coronavirus.  The declaration allows the County to make decisions quickly concerning emergency actions.  Tim Fitzgerald is the Augusta County Administrator.

When indigenous people living in the valley and Central Virginia first encountered Europeans they had already established communities with social and political standards with rich cultural traditions. Award-winning historian and professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University, Gregory Smithers, will discuss the history of Native Southerners at WMRA's Books & Brews March 10 and 11, 2020.

Paul Bugas is an expert on Virginia fresh water fishes.  He covers how to collect, handle, observe, conserve, and protect these unique animals in a new Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia.  He’s our speaker for WMRA’s Books & Brews January 14-15.  Paul recently sat down with WMRA’s Chris Boros who asked him how he started his career researching fish.

Every April, downtown Harrisonburg is home to a DIY music festival called MacRock which supports independent artists and musicians.  It began over twenty years ago as an extension of JMU’s college radio station WXJM.  It’s now independently run by a small group of dedicated music lovers like Grant Penrod who’s been involved with the festival for years.  The application deadline to apply

The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge is timeless with over two dozen film adaptations of Charles Dickens' classic. George C. Scott and Henry Winkler have both starred in the title role.  But for many, the 1970 musical version called Scrooge with Albert Finney stands out from the rest. 

According to author and musician Gayla M. Mills, music brings people together, it enhances the humdrum of daily living and playing it can benefit your life in many ways.  Gayla is the featured author for December's Books & Brews.  She recently spoke with WMRA’s Chris Boros who asked her to describe when music entered her life.

WMRA and James Madison University present The John Grisham Writers Hour with special guest Jon Meacham, an award-winning historian and biographer who writes about the history of division in the United States in his book The Soul of America.  Both writers sat down together on the campus of JMU in September 2019.

Charlottesville resident Lisa Jakub worked as a young actor and starred in major Hollywood movies.  But she gave it all up after an eighteen-year career partly due to anxiety and depression.  In her latest book, Lisa embraces her weird to find answers in dealing with mental health. 

The Smith House Galleries in Harrisonburg, with the Support of Arts Council of the Valley, emphasizes its connection to the community with a space that highlights art from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Dr. Gail Christopher is an award winning social change agent and former Senior Advisor and Vice President of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. 

Virginia’s Kid Pan Alley is on a mission to empower children to create their own music.  The group works with children to give kids an opportunity to work together to write their own song – both music and lyrics.

With conspiracies and Devil’s advocates dominating the scientific field, many are left to ask what scientific discoveries hold truth. As science increasingly becomes disputed, Dr. James Zimring, professor of pathology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, explores in his new book how much people should trust what they read, learn, and observe in our natural world.

On April 16, 2007, 32 people were shot and killed at Virginia Tech.  Journalist Thomas Kapsidelis supervised the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s coverage of the tragedy.  In his new book, Kapsidelis examines the decade after the massacre through the experiences of survivors and those who lost loved ones. 

The Shenandoah Valley is home to vast trees, plants, and wildlife that contribute to the growing Virginia environment. Sari Carp is the Executive Director for the non-profit Sustainability Matters, which works to take initiatives for the environment.

Listening to music on vinyl records has made a huge comeback over the years.  Once thought to be a dead format, vinyl is now responsible for a large portion of music sales throughout the world. 

Historian Jon Meacham says the United States’ current political division is nothing new.  In his new book, The Soul of America, Meacham examines times when the country was just as divided. 

Last year, James Madison University adopted the Green Dot violence prevention strategy, an interactive program focused on building skills to prevent violence and sexual assault on campus. 

Veteran Charlottesville songwriter, Ellis Paul, was on the road during the Unite the Right rally two years ago which erupted in deadly violence.  Coming back home to a city in mourning prompted him to pen “The Battle of Charlottesville” as a historical document of the incident.  WMRA’s Chris Boros spoke with Ellis Paul who described why this song was something he had to write.

Fifty years ago, Harrisonburg resident Ed Morrison was shattered when his 18-year-old brother Mike was brutally murdered the night of his senior prom, along with his date Debbie Means, in a small Illinois town.

This weekend (July 12-14) is the Red Wing Roots Music Festival, celebrating roots music with artists like Lucinda Williams, The Wood Brothers, and Tim O’Brien.  The festival is organized by Virginia’s The Steel Wheels - they headline the event every year.

This year, NPR held its Student Podcast Challenge and received more than 6000 entries.  Great Oak Academy, a small 6-8th grade school in Harrisonburg recently sent WMRA about a dozen podcasts their students produced and asked us to pick our favorite. 

Since 2002, Virginia Folklife has supported more than 100 pairs of masters and apprentices from fiddle makers to dancers.  On Sunday, May 5, Folklife will present this year’s Apprenticeship Showcase in Charlottesville.  WMRA’s Chris Boros went to Dixon Studio in Staunton to meet the team of master stained glass artist Ronald Dixon and his apprentice Todd Hinkle.

Tangier Island, a 1.3 square mile spit of land in the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Virginia, may be facing extinction.  Acclaimed journalist Earl Swift has spent much of the last two years living there and his new book, Chesapeake Requiem, is an eye-opening look at a crisis that may completely engulf the island. 

For Virginia author and JMU professor Inman Majors, comedy is one way he deals with the serious world around him.  The New York Post calls his latest novel, Penelope Lemon; Game On! “hilarious” and Booklist says it’s a “laugh out loud” read. 

WMRA and James Madison University present The John Grisham Writers Hour with special guest James McBride, a New York Times best-selling writer, musician and screenwriter.  Grisham, who has 40 novels under his belt, sat down with McBride in December 2018 on the campus of JMU for a candid discussion about writing, books, movies, and life. 

Whistle Words is a multimedia project that uses writing to help women in cancer treatment reclaim their sense of self.  The group has released a new book called Truth: Voices of Women Changed by Cancer.  It’s an anthology of writings by women who are currently fighting the disease or in post treatment.  Charlotte Matthews is one of the founders of Whistle Words and she’s our featured speaker for Books & Brews  in February 2019.  She spoke with WMRA’s Chris Boros.