Rundown of Recent Podcasts on 'The Score'

As announced here on March 17, I have become host and producer of The Score, a podcast on Bearing Drift, Virginia's leading political web site for conservative and libertarian writers. In addition to appearing on Bearing Drift, The Score is also broadcast over-the-air on WINC-AM and FM in Winchester, Virginia, and is available as a podcast on the Red State Talk Radio Network.

Since that time, I have assembled, edited, and posted eight episodes of The Score, with a wide array of interviews and features.

The first episode ("The Score: Student Debt and Social Security, LPVA Senate Hopeful, and African Progress") appeared March 17 and featured interviews with Elliott Harding, Matt Waters, and Marian Tupy.

My second episode ("The Score: Focus on the First Amendment") had interviews with former ACLU executive director Nadine Strossen, author of HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship (published May 1 by Oxford University Press); John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute; and William Hitchcock of the Miller Center of Public Affairs, who talked about his new book, The Age of Eisenhower.  A bonus feature was an interview about hemp farming with author Doug Fine.

The following week drew on interviews with authors I met at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville ("The Score: Senate Hopefuls, True Crime, Big Chicken, and Dead Center"). It also featured interviews with U.S. Senate candidates Corey Stewart and Nick Freitas. The authors included Bill Sizemore, Radley Balko, Maryn McKenna, and Jason Altmire. Added bonus: Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding.

The next episode continued with author interviews from the Virginia Festival of the Book ("The Score: Pentagon Science, Richard Nixon, Social Activists, and Nicotine Regulation"), including Sharon Weinberger, Roben Farzad, and John Farrell. I also introduced a feature called "From the Archives" with Ken Hughes of the Miller Center and talked to Jamie Kirchick of the Brookings Institution and Phil Kerpen of American Commitment.

Seven days later, more author interviews ("The Score: Campus Censors, Grassroots Activism, Chappaquiddick, and More") with Keith Whittington, Emily Dufton, Joe Tone, and Jamie Kirchick, in a return appearance, plus a new weekly film review segment with Tim Hulsey, who took a look at the Ted Kennedy biopic Chappaquiddick. We also remembered the late David Rothbard of CFACT in our "From the Archives" retrospective.

Two weeks ago ("The Score: Barbara Bush, Tom Garrett, and Sgt. Stubby"), we spoke to Barbara Perry of the Miller Center about the late First Lady Barbara Bush, had a lengthy two-part interview with Congressman Tom Garrett (R-VA5), and pulled an interview with GMU Professor Colin Dueck "From the Archives." Tim Hulsey reviewed Sgt. Stubby, an animated film about a military dog in World War I.

Last week's show ("The Score: Madieu Williams, Tim Kaine, Pink House, General Assembly") included an interview with former NFL player and union representative Madieu Williams; a joint interview with David Toscano, minority leader in the House of Delegates, and state Senator Creigh Deeds; excerpts from an interview with Senegal's ambassador to the United States, Babacar Diagne; and an excerpt from a speech at UVA by Senator Tim Kaine; and Tim Hulsey's reviews of Little Pink House and I Can Only Imagine.  The "From the Archives" segment featured author Evan Thomas.

This week's episode (posted just a few hours ago) has interviews with U.S. Senate candidates E.W. Jackson and Nick Freitas; Delegate Rob Bell; and Will Lyster of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society.  Tim Hulsey reviews Avengers: Infinity War and we look back at the 2012 U.S. Senate campaign with E.W. Jackson in "From the Archives."

I'll post these rundowns periodically and -- I hope -- more frequently in the months to come.

Radio News: Vote for Rick Sincere

This past July, I had the pleasurable opportunity to sit in for radio host Coy Barefoot on WCHV-FM 107.5 in Charlottesville, while he was on vacation.

More recently, Coy left the show to pursue other fascinating opportunities, making the host's chair vacant. WCHV program director Joe Thomas announced he was looking for a permanent host for the afternoon drive time show (it runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. each Monday through Friday).  I put my name in the hopper.

Over on SoundCloud, Monticello Media is hosting an "American Idol"-like contest among the three contenders for the WCHV gig.  The "votes" consist not only of direct emails to the program director, but numbers of plays, downloads, and "likes" on each of the three audition hours.

I encourage you to visit WCHV Afternoon Auditions: Rick Sincere and say something supportive.

While you're on SoundCloud, visit my own page to listen to some of those interviews from July, including:

Science journalist Maryn McKenna
United States Sports Academy president T.J. Rosandich
Lawyer and ethics blogger Jack Marshall
Philosophy professor (and "Gay Moralist") John Corvino
New World University president Steve Foerster

In addition to those radio interviews, I have also posted audio of my recent interview with political scientist Larry Sabato about a new documentary from the UVa Center for Politics about the 1968 presidential election, called "Ball of Confusion" (after The Temptations' song of the same name).

Remember to go to the auditions page to vote yes for Rick Sincere to host the still nameless afternoon talk show on WCHV-AM and FM.

Breakfasting with Democrats

Last Saturday morning, I participated in a panel discussion hosted at the monthly breakfast sponsored by the Charlottesville and Albemarle County Democratic parties. As the only Republican in the room, I can gladly report that I was treated civilly, respectfully, and amicably.

The topic of the panel discussion was electronic voting machines. The other panelists were Will Harvey, former Albemarle Democratic Committee chairman and current secretary of the county's Electoral Board, and David Evans, a computer scientist from the University of Virginia. The panel was moderated by Jim Heilman, former Albemarle County General Registrar and current consultant on elections around the world in places like Bosnia and Afghanistan. (In the audience, serving in their non-partisan capacities, were the General Registrars from the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle and Fairfax counties.)

The discussion was wideranging -- we covered the history of voting technology, the practicalities of running an election, and the specific vulnerabilities (or lack thereof) of the voting machines used in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

Sean Tubbs of the Charlottesville Podcasting Network caught the whole thing on audio. (I haven't listened to it, but I was there, so I know what transpired.) You can find it here or, if you're too busy to visit cvillepodcast.com, click below:

I suggested to my fellow panelists that we could take this show on the road, and I plan to recommend to the Charlottesville and Albemarle Republicans that we could do a similar event at one of our own monthly breakfasts. (I began my remarks by noting that this issue -- the controversy surrounding electronic voting machines -- is not a partisan one. Opinions do not divide easily along Republican/Democrat or liberal/conservative lines. The differences of opinion are based on pragmatic or practical considerations rather than ideology.)

By the way, you may hear frequent references during the podcast to SB 840, a bill patroned by state Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-Fairfax). Since the discussion last Saturday, this bill has passed out of the Senate Privileges and Elections (P&E) Committee and now faces a vote by the full Senate. My own preference for legislation along these lines is one introduced by Delegate Ward Armstrong (D-Martinsville), HB 2077. This bill is still waiting for action by the House P&E Committee.

The difference between the two proposals may seem arcane, but it is important: SB 840 would require localities to discard their current voting equipment and buy new equipment (optical scan devices) by 2009; HB 2077 allows localities to retain their current equipment but requires that replacement equipment either have a VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) or be of the optical scan type. The fiscal ramifications dividing the two bills are significant.