Essays


The story: Why I'm still going to movie theaters Published on Jul 22nd, 2012 9 comments “Oh, boy– you are in for a show tonight, son!” –older cop from The Dark Knight Rises Also by this author: • a cover story about the renovated Jefferson Theater • an essay about...
Bottom dollared: Who can fix my chair? Published on Jul 13th, 2012 12 comments By Sarah WolpowWho can fix my chair? My light, aluminum beach chair, with the wooden armrests, and canvas seat. My chair that, with a loud rip from its striped bottom, plopped me down on the sand in...
Shingle-hanging 101: The little philosophy shop that never was Published on Jul 6th, 2012 20 comments “A philosophy course? Oh, that'll come in handy," he said. "Now all you have to do is open up a little philosophy shop. You’re all set!” After all these years, I can still see the smirk on that man’s...
Nurse practitioners: They'll save your life... and money Published on Jun 29th, 2012 32 comments By Dorrie Fontaine At long last, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued its decision on Health Care Reform. And this, as they say, changes everything. But not nursing. Related: Doctor's orders: Spiked...
The 'incrementalist': UVA President Teresa Sullivan, translated Published on Jun 28th, 2012 11 comments "I have been described as an incrementalist. It is true. Sweeping action may be gratifying and may create the aura of strong leadership, but its unintended consequences may lead to costs that are too...
Darden 101: What business schools really do Published on Jun 21st, 2012 76 comments By Ron Wilcox To believe the common narrative of what happens in business schools you have to imagine professors teaching such courses as “How to Steal from Widows” and “Exploiting Loopholes in...
Unsaving the planet: Will our efficiencies lead to catastrophe? Published on Jun 8th, 2012 3 comments By Clive Thompson We put a lot of stock in energy efficiency. It is regarded as the quickest and easiest way to reduce carbon emissions. Al Gore even ended An Inconvenient Truth with a plea for...
1964 epiphany: The day the curtain pulled back Published on Jun 1st, 2012 81 comments The scales fell from my eyes one day when I was twelve years old, as I looked away from the priest, scanned the appalled faces of the girls seated around me and thought, “Oh, I don’t think so.”The...
Mitt-picking: Choosing Condi Rice a game changer Published on May 25th, 2012 40 comments By Juan Williams Washington's favorite gossip game– speculating about the vice presidential pick– now gets serious. Now that Mitt Romney has a lock on the GOP's 2012 presidential...
American Wildways: Connecting wildlife and helping ourselves Published on May 22nd, 2012 2 comments By Amy Mathews AmosLast year, conservation athlete John Davis left his job and spent 10 months covering 7,600 miles on an epic journey. Unlike Jack Kerouac, the 47-year old Davis traveled not by car...
Birth defects: When a 37 percent jump doesn't matter Published on May 11th, 2012 8 comments Children conceived by means of some assisted reproductive technologies run a higher risk of being born with birth defects than do children conceived spontaneously, according to a new study in the...
Studies show.... Bypass to use Greer kids as guinea pigs Published on May 4th, 2012 44 comments We teach our school kids to do homework. Can we teach our county supervisors? Related: Fast track: Western Bypass shifts into overdrive $230 million: State board accelerates Western Bypass...
Slow but fit: What's right about 13-minute miles Published on Apr 27th, 2012 15 comments Is this a dream? Am I six years old again? It feels as though I’m flying, zooming past fellow passengers in the airport corridor, overtaking travelers dragging suitcases and bewildered toddlers....
Morning napalm: The other side of the wine industry Published on Apr 21st, 2012 11 comments By Robert Butler You've probably heard that iconic cinematic moment in Apocalypse Now from Robert Duvall's character, Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning," he says...
Silly panic: The fuss over a 'minority white' nation Published on Apr 13th, 2012 3 comments More by Ron Bailey • Gas, not water: A better fracking way to tap shale • Germ theory: What if disease causes autocracy? • How many? Numbers suggest a low terror deathcount "Whites will become a...
Junk science? Most preclinical cancer studies don't replicate Published on Apr 6th, 2012 3 comments More by Ron Bailey • Gas, not water: A better fracking way to tap shale • Germ theory: What if disease causes autocracy? • How many? Numbers suggest a low terror deathcount When a cancer study is...
Excuses, excuses: Still fair to call farmers environmentalists? Published on Mar 30th, 2012 20 comments By Michael Akey“Farmers are the original environmentalists.” That’s the phrase I heard several times during a recent state legislature committee hearing on a bill that would limit when farmers could...
Chipping away: True confessions of a juicer Published on Mar 25th, 2012 19 comments Remember the chipper scene from Fargo? Frances McDormand is a cop investigating a homicide when she comes upon a man who is feeding, we are to believe, Steve Buscemi’s leg into a wood chipper.In...
Holy wars: Then, now, and Iran Published on Mar 22nd, 2012 0 comments By Tony Perrino Warfare is as old as humanity. Since the beginning of civilization, people have fought one another, justifying their aggression as a matter of survival. But the most vicious...
Irish flashback: Sowing the seeds of the Afghan massacre Published on Mar 14th, 2012 25 comments When I heard the news of the American soldier charged with the slaughter of 16 people in Afghanistan, I instantly flashed back to a ferry trip in the early 1970s from Liverpool to Belfast. What could...
Real meaning: When a community rallies... Published on Mar 6th, 2012 0 comments By Sheila Booth“It takes a village...” comes to mind when searching for a phrase to describe the essence of community. But if anyone really wanted to see these words in action, to know the meaning of...
Toasty trio: Three Charlottesville fireplaces worth visiting Published on Feb 27th, 2012 0 comments Ol’ man Winter has given Central Virginians a break, but we still have to get through March before dogwoods bloom, so chances are good a bitter wind will blow a little more snow and ice our way. And...
Bad behavior: Huguely tests limits of lawyers Published on Feb 23rd, 2012 1 comments By David L. Heilberg Whatever George Huguely gets convicted for (second degree murder seems most likely from what unfolded at trial), it won't be the result of his legal defense. As...
Inner grown-up: Avoid mayhem by listening to it Published on Feb 21st, 2012 7 comments “Die, you bastard, die.” My father was moaning on the other side of the bathroom door, as my mother listened out in the hallway. He’d made himself sick with a few too many Tom Collins cocktails and...
Juror 206: A sad tale of two Charlottesville cases Published on Feb 12th, 2012 29 comments By Jennifer Niesslein At the Charlottesville Circuit courtroom, the jury box faces outward toward the audience. I sat in that jury box on the afternoon of February 7 as a potential juror for the...
Abe in Va.: Quiet rides and sad sojourn deserve note Published on Feb 4th, 2012 17 comments About 20 years ago, I saw an illustration of Abraham Lincoln entering Richmond, the familiar Jefferson-designed Capitol building looming in the background. I figured the drawing was Union propaganda...
Fading faith: The unreported story of our time Published on Jan 29th, 2012 14 comments By JAMES A. HAUGHT The sea of faithWas once, too, at the full, and round Earth's shoreLay like the folds of a bright girdle furledBut now I only hearIts melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,Retreating...
Dumb and dumber: Silly stuff that's supposed to be green Published on Jan 22nd, 2012 18 comments With the recent Detroit Automotive Show focusing on electrics and the Sierra Club having an electric car columnist, America continues to believe technology will save us. Let's see how that's working...
Online specs: How I reframed the discussion Published on Jan 17th, 2012 9 comments “Why would you want to line the pockets of the Chinese or whoever, when you can buy your glasses from an optician right here in Charlottesville? Tell me you won’t buy your glasses over the Internet.”...
Rich and powerful: Why won't they save themselves? Published on Jan 7th, 2012 29 comments I spent a recent week at Occupy Miami and Occupy Fort Lauderdale. One question came up several times: What if the system responds– or pretends to respond– to our demands? What if the...