| Nov 24, 2015 | Food / FarmingThanksgiving is here. Let’s eat! America’s most food-focused holiday traces its roots back to the abundant feast that Pilgrims and Indians enjoyed together in the fall of 1621. Only half of the Mayflower Pilgrims who’d arrived at Plymouth Rock the previous...
| Aug 12, 2015 | Rights / DemocracyI grew up in an affluent corner of Loudoun County, Virginia, where the median household income is nearly $120,000. In September, I’ll be a junior at Harvard University. Coming from the richest county in the United States, where I graduated from a competitive magnet...
| Jun 24, 2015 | Rights / DemocracyWhen I say publicly that I’m descended from slave owners, I almost always hear a gasp. I let the tension hang a moment and then I break it: “Well, someone has to be, right?” This usually gets a laugh, or at least a humph of recognition. Because many...
| May 13, 2015 | Environment / HealthIf you live in Virginia and would like to shrink your carbon footprint, here’s what passes for good news: We’re now officially free to ban fracking. For two years, Old Dominion communities weren’t at liberty to prevent that kind of oil and gas drilling. After the...
| Apr 29, 2015 | Environment / HealthCoal’s death throes are drawing closer, especially in Appalachia. Nearly three-quarters of the coal extracted from West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky these days is being mined at a loss. The number of coal companies declaring bankruptcy or edging toward it is...
