This Conversation

Gene Copenhaver is President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and is also a resident of Washington County, Virginia. In This Conversation, he details the efforts of the association to lobby Congress and to use research to improve the industry, including making genetic changes to cattle. He describes his farming operation that has been in his family for many generations and also address...

Joy Powers, a farmer from Bedford, Virginia, is a Democrat, running against Republican Congressman Morgan Griffith in the Nov. 3 mid-term General Election of 2026 to represent the 9th District of Virginia. Griffith won his last election with 72.5% of the vote. He has served in Congress for 15 years and is remembered for his vote to reject legally certified electors from Pennsylvania on Jan. 6, 202...

Opera and rock seem like a somewhat unlikely combination for a concert, but this interview features one of the two performers who both found national and international success in two different kinds of music -- and who come together for a concert because of a friendship that started at Emory & Henry. Michael Fath has been called "quite possibly the most versatile rock guitarist on the planet."...

People, Inc. is a community action agency, headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia that now serves wide areas in Virginia with the motto of Building Futures and Realizing Dreams. For the purpose of this episode, People, Inc helps low-income citizens find affordable places to rent -- at a time of a major housing crisis. With more than a thousand properties to manage and more to develop, People, Inc. VP...

It's called the Battle of Kings Mountain and was credited by Thomas Jefferson as turning the tide of victory over England. Even though the 1780 battle took place in South Carolina, the march of patriots that won that important battle began at a mustering location on Colonial Road in current-day Abingdon. In this episode, we talk with Leigh Ann Hunter who details the battle and the 20th Century eff...

Vicki Pope is CEO of Winterham Alpacas in Abingdon, Virginia. For those walking on the Virginia Creeper Trail from Abingdon, the alpacas are a familiar site, along with the dogs that guard them. In this interview, Pope describes the gentle, eco-friendly animals that she found to be the addition her family was looking for at their Abingdon property. She shares the animals with adults and children w...

This week's conversation is with Brad Kreps of The Nature Conservancy where we learn about how our local river mussels clean water and protect fish and humans. However, they're endangered. Conserving these mussels, land, and the exceptional biodiversity of this area is the work of Brad Kreps and the global organization he works for. How and why does he maintain optimism and how did a boy from coas...

This week, we hear from a retired woman, living in a high rise building in the center of Caracas, Venezuela. Bernice Urbina talks about changes in the country since the U.S. invasion and capture of President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, 2026. We hear about the effects of the two earthquakes that struck the country on June 24. And, what is Bernice's request of the American people? Although Bernice is...

"Free Frozen Embryos -- and an IVF Baby." Tracey Mercier and her husband Greg had every challenge imaginable in wanting to have a baby. For a while they had given up. Then, a series of events presented the possibility that they could have a child. With pursuits of doctors and treatments from here to California -- and across the border to Mexico, the Merciers found a total of 5 embryos. Two failed....

Han Jones is campaign director with Virginians for Reproductive Freedom, an organization that is encouraging Virginians to vote YES on a proposed state constitutional amendment to assure that the government does not have a role in a woman's reproductive health decisions. The decision will be made in the November 3 mid-term elections. This interview explores the views of the organization. Links bel...

Dan Gray, Immigration Lawyer with the Garza Law Firm discusses his interactions with immigrants in the area who have been arrested, detained, and are facing deportation issues. Families are affected, but, as Gray explains, the community is affected as well. Gray's legal action takes place in the larger national context of increased arrests and more aggressive tactics of the Trump Administration. C...

Kindergarten teacher Jessica Watts volunteers her time and resourses on behalf of immigrants whose families are caught up in deportation and detention issues. She describes the effect of enhanced enforcement on families and communities, and talks about why this issue is meaningful to her.

The Democratic Primary election will be held on August 4th. In this episode of This Conversation, you'll meet the three Democratic Primary candidates: Douglas Crockett, Adam Murphy, and Joy Powers. The winner wll face Incumbent Republican Candidate Morgan Griffith in the mid-term election on November 3. Congressman Griffith's office received an invitation to record an episode and have equal time....

This week we talk to another social media star. It's Josh Mancuso. He's an actor. filmmaker, and comedian -- best known for his social media routines on how college teams name their mascots. Learn more at https://www.joshmancuso.com/

This week's conversation focuses on the stunning internet success of Marion, Va native Amy Kiser Schemper with her fitness and lifestyle videos. You find her as Body Fit by Amy. She has 955,000 YouTube subscribers who tune in for her two -thousand- plus videos and is hoping to hit the one million mark soon. Hear how she and her husband built the social media business that supports their family of...

The Appalachian Highlands Community Dental Center is offering dental care for those who can't afford it in Abingdon, Virginia. The facility is funded, in part, from fundraising work with the associated fundraising organization Appalachian Highlands Community Dental Charities. Rachel Helton leads the fundraising work and describes the organization in this program and she introduces her summer inter...

Ann Ledgerwood is the guest in this episode of This Conversation and we learn about her passion in volunteering to help those who are dealing with addiction. Ann's work as a volunteer helped launch the program that established the treatment facility for women in Abingdon, Va. in 2023. The 70 bed facility is part of a larger system that serves men and women in several area locations. The program is...

In this episode we talk with actor Amy Baldwin, now performing in two shows at Barter Theatre for the summer repertory. Amy introduces us to Marlafaye, her character in the comedy romp Savannah Sipping Society and previews her upcoming role in the theatre's summer musical Guys and Dolls, both running through the first week in August. Then, she is scheduled to perform in Come from Away in September...

This week's show is an update from inside Cuba. After 60 years of a US Embargo on trade and now a new US blockade on Cuba, what is life like for people on the island? Sylvia Rozwadowska of Colibri Travel and Tours just returned from Cuba and is planning another trip in June in order to help the Cuban people. Hear the latest about the effect of power outages and the attitudes of people in face of a...

This Convo for this week is a conversation with LeRae Collins, the 2026 Emory & Henry University Commencement Speaker. She's President and CEO of Holston Foundation in Knoxville, the first woman to hold the position in the organization's 40-year history. You'll hear her overall message she shared with graduates that "all roads lead to Emory & Henry." She also reviews some of the important...

This Conversation this week focuses on Treva Randall and her soap... candle.. lotion...and cream business. Plus, the conversation gets off the business and soap making skill into Treva's life that provides the background for her small, private business as well as her 21 -year -career at Emory & Henry. The business is called Bohicket Apothecary and you'll hear the origins of the name in this ep...

Wendell Potter worked for large health care corporations CIGNA and HUMANA for 20 years. In a crisis of conscience, he quit. Two events prompted his decision: (1) observing the RAM health care clinic in Wise, VA where uninsured people were literally getting health care in a barn, and (2) the death of a 17-year-old girl who was denied coverage for a liver transplant. Since his resignation, he has be...

Dr. Robin Feierabend has diagnosed our health system in the U.S. as "failing." His conclusion is based on more than 30 years as a teaching physician and Professor Emeritus in Medicine at East Tennessee State University. He and some high profile fellow professionals are trying to address the issue in an event to which the public is invited. The prestigious panel includes a keynote address by Wendel...

Latin America journalist Cody Weddle was arrested, detained and deported from Venezuela in 2019. Now, he's living in Bogata,​ ​ Columbia and, again, covering news events in Venezuela. Furthermore, this international journalist is home grown -- in Meadowview, Virginia. We trace his pathway from Patrick Henry High School to his current work feeding information about Venezuela and Columbia to news so...

You may not see yourself as a soccer fan but this interview with Emory & Henry's soccer coach Ali al-Gashamyis about much more than the game. It's about a vision... a plan to achieve it... and seeing early results. It's about bringing more of the world to Emory, Va with a taste of the struggle it takes for some people to get here. It's about the gifts and contributions they bring, even to a sm...