UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy hosted its first Democracy360 event during what seemed like a politically charged time. It was fall 2023, and the ever-lengthening presidential election cycle was ramping up for a 2024 showdown between the Dem incumbent and GOP nominee. Democrats were still hopeful about President Joe Biden’s prospects in the coming election. […]
Ask ChatGPT to design you a dream room—bed, bath, utility, rumpus, you name it—and the popular bot will likely have a few questions. What are the dimensions? What style are you looking for? What are some main features and must-have details? Answer those questions, and the moment of truth arrives. “Do you want me to […]
Ryan Calonder has a simple vision for something that’s become a sprawling enterprise: a music festival, but limited to two days and featuring nothing but bands from Charlottesville proper. “From where I’m standing, this town has so much good, original music coming out of it,” he says. “But over the last 10 years or so, […]
The Guild, a new concert venue inside Vault Virginia, does nothing by the standard promoter’s playbook. Meticulously planned schedule with regular shows? No. Big marketing push? Also no. Optimized seating for maximum occupancy? Definitely not. “The most common term people used was ‘intimate,’” says promoter Michael Allenby of audience responses after The Guild’s first concert. […]
Local software engineer and UVA grad Isaiah Parr would love to chase storms all day, every day. But professional storm-chasing is the big leagues—only a select few do it for a living. Parr, who parlayed his ‘24 computer science degree into a career with local tech firm Biocore, heads out at least once a week […]
Ask ChatGPT to profile a driving instructor, and your AI pal may tell you about Dave Rocco. An amiable, barrel-chested fella with a shaved head and stubbly beard, Rocco began teaching driver’s education during his 18 years as a high school football coach and teacher. After nearly two decades in public and private schools, including […]
Back in 2019 BC (Before COVID), most of us didn’t think much about the virus-riddled air we were breathing. Now, the idea that personal protective equipment like facemasks can help us avoid airborne pathogens is pretty well agreed upon. Not convinced masks work? No problem. The folks at Clean Air Cville want to help us […]
Annie Temmink and David Hadwin wanted to meet people. They decided to offer strangers bad advice. “We thought, ‘What would be the easiest way to talk to new people?’” Temmink says. She’d seen a “bad advice booth” photo from Burning Man and put her passion for sculpture and stage design to work on a cardboard […]
Yoshihiro Tauchi doesn’t speak much English, but he knows the language of sushi as well as anyone. “He started from the bottom,” says Sana, Tauchi’s daughter, who acted as a translator for a recent interview. “That helps him understand—when he is making sushi—the whole process.” After years in the fish business, doing everything from product […]
It’s called the Sugar Shack, but don’t get the wrong idea. The accessory dwelling unit in the Fifeville neighborhood, designed by Oak Five Architecture, is named for the dandelion wine once made there. “It was a place where lots of stuff happened,” Oak Five principal Kate Snider Tabony says. “[The former homeowners] sold the dandelion […]