Books and Brews

Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back

In 1997, journalist David Poole launched a one-employee nonprofit to shine light on a blind spot in Virginia’s lax campaign finance system. Over the next quarter century, the Virginia Public Access Project assumed an increasingly larger role in state politics.

Books & Brews, October 14, 2025 - Trusted Source: How a Virginia Nonprofit Gained Bipartisan Support in an Era of Political Polarization

When Henry and Priscilla Ireys (EYE-REES) found an old farm that promised refuge from hectic lives and encroaching illness, their world opened to unexpected adventures and led to surprising moments of beauty.

WMRA's September Books & Brews will feature Henry and Priscilla Ireys, authors of The Keep, Living with the Tame and the Wild on a Mountainside Farm. Our conversation will take place live at Pale Fire Brewing Company in Harrisonburg.

Brian Noyes left a successful career in publishing to open the Red Truck Bakery with two locations in rural Virginia.

WMRA's April Books & Brews will feature Brian Noyes, founder of the Red Truck Bakery and author of Red Truck Bakery Cookbook and The Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook.

WMRA's March Books & Brews will feature Mary Ann Zehr, discussing Doors Cracked Open: Teaching in a Chinese Closed City.

WMRA's February 2025 Books & Brews will feature Rebecca Kaufman, discussing I'll Come To You at Pale Fire Brewing in Harrisonburg.

WMRA's January Books & Brews will feature Earl Swift, discussing Hell Put To Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America's Second Slavery.