Doo it right: Diagnostic tests for your pets at home

While many diagnostic tests require that a patient be physically present, it is not uncommon for a veterinarian to ask pet owners to collect samples like urine or stool at home. While the request seems simple enough, we often forget that people don’t necessarily know how to go about it or what we really do […]

Musical journeyman

The range of guitarist Miles Pearce’s talent is as breathtaking as his euphoric playing. He traverses the fretboard through classical, jazz, folk, Hindustani classical, flamenco, Brazilian samba, Argentine tango, South Indian Karnatic vocal, and West African rhythms—and if that’s not enough, he also lists experimental music on his bio. Pearce teaches privately and online, and […]

Gathering swarm: Local beekeepers reflect on an unusual spring

While we humans have been preoccupied this spring, with pandemic worries and urgent national conversations, the natural world has seen other dramas unfold that most of us haven’t even noticed. Unless you’re a beekeeper, you wouldn’t know that this has been a very odd spring for honeybees. Carrie Meslar is the managing director of the […]

High time: The start of something new for Virginia winemaking

At the end of May, as Virginia businesses moved into Phase One of reopening, 12 Ridges Vineyard started welcoming visitors back to its tasting room, which overlooks, wait for it…12 acres of vineyards. Like many wineries, 12 Ridges, formerly Skylark Farm and, until now, best known as a Christmas tree farm, features incredible views, outdoor […]

Heard on campus: New audio drama details the lives of black professors

Acting looks a bit different for Will Jones this summer. Instead of being onstage with the Charlottesville Players Guild, he’s sitting at home, in front of a microphone, wearing headphones so he can hear himself and his castmates as they read from their scripts for “Grounds…A Blackcast,” an original 10-episode audio drama. Some aspects of […]

Pick: WTJU’s Radio Talks

Hear and there: It’s a question fans around the world are asking: Where does music go from here? As we navigate a reopening while keeping our distance, how do we commune around our favorite musical acts and enjoy concerts again? How do bands practice, record, and tour safely? What is the impact of our complex […]

PICK: Andy Thacker and Brennan Gilmore

Jam it all: It’s tough to summarize Brennan Gilmore’s versatile musicianship. His current group Wild Common blends rootsy, folky, power soul that’s shaped by the varied styles of its seven-plus members. Then you have descriptors such as Arab-Appalachian, raw mountain music, and alt-country-soul winding their way through a music career that Gilmore began on local […]