With Good Reason Radio

These days, due in large part to the work of Thomas Platts-Mills (University of Virginia), we know the sudden meat allergy is real and it’s caused by tick bites.

And: Philosopher Jesse Kirkpatrick (George Mason University) says he’s less worried about human gene editing and more interested in how CRISPR technology can be used to enhance—or harm—the environment around us.

Later in the show: In Japanese folklore, when a brightly colored fish resembling a dragon washes up on shore, its arrival is a harbinger of earthquakes and tsunamis. Jennifer Martin (Thomas Nelson Community College) is an oceanographer and has studied both the natural and cultural history of this species, called the oarfish.

Plus: Hannes Schniepp (William and Mary) studies poisonous brown recluse spiders to learn how their incredibly strong silk is made and how humans might try to replicate it.

Even as shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race and Pose bring that culture into the mainstream, real-life gay bars and clubs are shuttering. DJ and Professor madison moore (Virginia Commonwealth University) argues that the club scene and the “fabulous” fashions on display there are radical spaces for queer and trans of color togetherness.

Gregory Samantha Rosenthal (Roanoke College), Don Muse, and Peter Thornhill describe the sometimes-dangerous, always-exciting gay bars of the 1970s and 1980s in Roanoke, VA, before the AIDS crisis and gentrification changed the scene forever.

Growing up, Lauron Kehrer (William and Mary) wasn't allowed to listen to hip-hop music. Now, she studies it for a living. Kehrer says hip-hop by both straight and LGBTQ artists can help us better understand race, gender, and sexuality.

Choreographer and performer Al Evangelista brings us into the world of experimental queer Pilipinx-American dance, a form that he says can spark conversations and social change.

Frank Newsome is an Old Regular Baptist preacher, singer of lined-out hymnody, and former coal miner in Appalachia. Virginia’s State Folklorist Jon Lohman (Virginia Humanities) describes Newsome’s musical tradition and its influence on bluegrass, gospel, and oldtime music.

Travel to the Carpathian Mountains in Romania and you’ll find a place that’s not unlike southwest Virginia and Kentucky. Theresa Burris (Radford University) says the parallels of these two regions are striking.

Later in the show: Wally Smith (UVA Wise) recently found a type of green salamander that lives in this habitat of vertical cliffs, bluffs, and rock crevices.

Plus: James Vance (UVA Wise) hopes to find ways to help animals avoid crossing a particularly high-traffic area.

David Bearinger (Virginia Humanities) introduces stories of Virginian immigrant and refugees as part of a new exhibit at the Library of Virginia.

Maureen Fitzgerald (William & Mary) speaks about what lessons can be learnt from the Irish immigrant experience.

Cindy Hahamovitch (University of Georgia) compares the history and experience of guest workers in the United States to other countries.

In part three of our series American Dissent, With Good Reason Associate Producer Kelley Libby talks with Dr. Michael Higginbotham (University of Baltimore) about a list of people—some well known, some not—whom he credits with seeing America for what it could be and then working toward making it so.

Vilissa Thompson (LCSW, Founder of Ramp Your Voice!) explains how understanding Harriet Tubman as a disabled Black woman has inspired intersectional disability rights activists.

Terry Beitzel helps his students better understand political protest as a form of citizen engagement.

Isabel Fay and Christopher Labosier (Longwood University) come from different disciplines: communications and science.

It’s New Year’s resolution time. If you’re tired of thinking about your own health, maybe it’s time to turn to the kids.

Amy Best (George Mason University) studies kids’ eating habits and says that part of getting them to make the right food choices means understanding what kids like about bad food.

Bob O’Connor (UVA Health) has new guidelines that suggest young people should return to normal activity as soon as possible after a concussion.

Plus: Justin Owens (Virginia Tech) helps arm parents and ride-share drivers with more info about using car seats.

Later in the show: Francis Bush started running late in life and has now completed more than 60 marathons.

Women’s soccer coach Corey Hewson (University of Mary Washington) shares advice for new runners and those training for a half-marathon.

Linguist and filmmaker Mark Sicoli (University of Virginia) shares the whistling style of speech used in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Saikou Diallo (Old Dominion University) talks about the 3D virtual recreation of an ancient settlement in Turkey.

And we dig into coin collecting with Michael Mucedola (Longwood University, one of the nation's foremost experts on old dimes.

Tim Anderson (Old Dominion University) introduces a modern reworking of a Charlie Brown Holiday special classic.

Jacqueline Secoy (Longwood University) remembers the tunes that she first played in an orchestra.

Orchestra conductor Kevin Bartram (University of Mary Washington) explains what singers like Judy Garland and Tony Bennett bring to the classic songs of the season.

Later in the show: Sister Rosetta Tharpe attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her early rock and roll. Chris Kjorness (Longwood University) plays some of her groundbreaking recordings and talks about her legacy.

And: Gary Richards (University of Mary Washington) argues that popular musicals tend to have a negative view of the South and don’t reflect its diversity today.

Michaela Meyer (Christopher Newport University) says the shows of Shonda Rhimes have changed the way we make and watch TV.

Imelda O’Reilly's (James Madison University) film Eggs and Soldiers examines a single father and son struggling to adjust to life in New York after emigrating from Ireland.

Nancy Schoenberger (William & Mary) explores the relationship between screen icon John Wayne and director John Ford in her latest book.

Sometimes, to tell a complex story, you need simple pictures.

A conference at Norfolk State University has asked students to draw graphic novels that explore 1619 from African, Indigenous, and European perspectives.

Tommy Bryant (Virginia Highlands Community College) explores the epic history of African Americans in comic books.

Matthew Smith (Radford University) just co-curated a major museum exhibit about the history of comics.

Veteran animator William “Tuck” Tucker (Longwood University) talks about his role illustrating the popular cartoons of the 1990s and early 2000s.

From the 1830s to the Civil War, Americans could be found putting each other into trances in parlors, on stage, and in medical consulting rooms. Emily Ogden’s (University of Virginia) new book is “Credulity: A Cultural History of U.S. Mesmerism.”

Jeff Dyche (James Madison University) says that when we mess with the 24 hour clock, there are all kinds of bad side effects.

Daniel Hirshberg (University of Mary Washington) explores the subconscious with his students by wiring meditating students up to brain-imaging headsets.

And Graham Schweig (Christopher Newport University)says “deepening the heart” is the real aim of many of India’s yoga traditions.

During the holiday season, it feels like more and more consumers are skipping the department stores and opting for handcrafted goods instead. Ben Brewer says this current “third wave” craft renaissance we’re experiencing is tied to politics. We visit mOb, an innovative design studio at Virginia Commonwealth University, where students help solve design problems in the city of Richmond. We stop in at the Virginia Center for the Book, where Kristin Keimu Adolfson is printing a collaborative book called Bird Talk. Plus: Craft brewer Gabe Mixon shares a lesson in making beer.

Later in the show: Chef and food activist Alice Waters argues that every child in America should be fed free, organic food at schools.

We open the show with part two of the new podcast, American Dissent--featuring a woman who chose to fight the Trump administration decision to rescind DACA, and the story of the high school students whose protest helped lead to school desegregation.

Also, journalists and authors discuss the opioids crisis and the effects of economic decline on rural communities—and the vital role of local journalism to an informed citizenry.

Across the nation, natural gas production has been ramping up. In many communities, this has meant new pipelines, new promises, and new protests. How do we balance environmental concerns and the public good?

Environmental engineer Andres Clarens (University of Virginia)explains the science.

Jaime Allison (Christopher Newport University) argues that we can better understand pipelines by looking back to the early days of railroads.

Economist Sarah Stafford (College of William and Mary) argues that pipelines require people to weigh environmental costs and economic benefits, and the results aren’t always what you’d expect.

Sociologist Travis Williams (Virginia Commonwealth University) takes us to Union Hill, a historically African American community in Buckingham County, Virginia, where a natural gas compressor station is being planned.

This week we’re debuting a new podcast series called American Dissent, hosted by Kelley Libby. In Episode 1: Influenced by Colin Kaepernick’s protest of police brutality during the National Anthem, a high school volleyball player initiates her own protest, and not without consequences. And a historian tells the story of a religious minority who helped win the American Revolution and the fight for religious freedom in America.

American Dissent is a production of James Madison’s Montpelier and With Good Reason at Virginia Humanities.

A few lucky college students who love the Harry Potter fantasy series get to travel to London for 3 weeks of magical creatures, potions, and herbology.

And if you're impatient for the final season of Game of Thrones, we have your GoT fix--how the women of Westeros gain and lose power in that fictional patriarchal world of dragons and warfare.

Plus: Long before there was Black Panther or the Blaxploitation movies, there were Race Movies. 500 were created by black actors and directors, but only 100 remain.

A story of Native American resilience comes to life in a new biography of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man and Catholic preacher. Black Elk was born in 1863 and died at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Another new book illuminates the life of a Pequot Indian activist and author who is little known today, but has been called the Native American Frederick Douglas. William Apess challenged the power structure of his day using the pen, the pulpit, and protest.

In her new book, Real Love, Sharon Salzberg--one of the world's leading authorities on love and meditation--shows us love isn't just an emotion we feel when we're in a romantic relationship. It's an ability we can nurture and cultivate.

Also, Oliver Hill shares his journey in the 1960's from the segregated south, to black radicalism, to Transcendental Meditation with the Beach Boys.

Also: How "The Pause" got started. We talk with emergency care nurse Jonathan Bartels, who just wanted to take a quiet moment to honor the life of the patient who had just died before people rushed in to clean up and change the sheets.

Poet Kiki Petrosino in her poem, If My Body Is a Text, reflects on a year of tragic outcomes during traffic stops between police and African American drivers. Plus: Most of us have heard of Negro League Baseball, but there were many other all-black sports leagues and teams across America in the 20th century. David Wiggins shares how African-American athletes built their own place for sports in a segregated world.

Donald Trump’s election was seen by many commentators as a decisive statement by a marginalized White working class. A new book The New Minority: White Working Class Politics in an Age of Immigration and Inequality explains where this theory comes from and why so many White voters are feeling class and racial resentment. Plus we dive into the immigration debate and why good numbers are hard to find.

Until recently, Caroline Shaw was uncomfortable calling herself a composer–violin, singer, musician, sure. But not a composer. Then in 2013, her composition Partita for 8 Voices made her the youngest recipient ever of the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Now she’s one of the most respected composers on the New Music scene and has been heralded as the future of music. Today, Shaw’s compositions range from traditional quartets and solo piano pieces to a cappella and collaborations with Kanye West.

This week, a grab bag of some of our favorite stories of unexpected discoveries. First, we talk to an anthropologist cataloguing one of the few remaining melodic forms of speech among the rugged mountains of Mexico. Then, we talk to one of the world's foremost experts in dimes on discovering a small fortune in his father's tackle box.

Later on, we revisit our story about the discovery of a lost vault of klezmer music, and talk to a scholar about America's long-forgotten love affair with opera.

Thanksgiving was once a holiday known for bringing people together -- now, it's almost synonymous with uncomfortable political conversations and familial drama. In preparation for the big holiday, we talk with an expert who offers some tips on navigating the more delicate aspects of family gathering.

From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines short-form storytelling and compelling interviews to bring you the best of each week's episode in under five minutes.

In the first episode of With Good Reason’s new documentary series on the Vietnam War, historians Fred Turner and Wilbur J. Scott explore how the self-image of America was shattered in Vietnam, and we hear the first-hand accounts of veterans’ return to America after the trauma of conflict. Then, historian Christian Appy tells the story of the draft -- who it ensnared, who escaped, and the trauma it left on a generation of Americans.

Every day, scientists are discovering exotic new planets, encrusted with diamonds and wandering between distant stars. We talk to one of the people making these discoveries about the crazy planets he's seen -- and what hope there might be for life out there.

Plus, more stories in science, from "sonic nets" used to save birds from jet engines, to a database of plays that hopes to put science onstage.

For more than a million Americans with Type 1 diabetes, managing their disease can be a lot of painful -- and dangerous -- guesswork. But now, a new piece of technology promises to automate insulin delivery, and its helping some sufferers sleep through the night for the first time in their lives.

From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines compelling interviews and short-form storytelling to bring you the best of each week's episode in under 5 minutes.

For many in Charlottesville and around the country, the events of August 12th were a shock. But for black residents, it wasn't a surprise at all to see white supremacists marching in the street of a southern college town.

Charlottesville brought into light, again, America's long history of racism. This week on With Good Reason, we reflect on American racism past and present. We talk to two filmmakers who documented the "social phenomenon" of lynching that claimed 4,000 lives; we hear from some of the nation's top journalists on how the media perpetuates racism; and we get Charlottesville residents' reflections on the violence of August 12th.

For many Americans, August 12th marked a shift in the national conversation about white supremacy and racism. For the people who were injured in the vehicle attack in Charlottesville that killed Heather Heyer, the 12th marks Day One of a long process of recovery.

From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines short-form storytelling and compelling interviews to bring you the best of each week's episode in a short, digestible segment.

Spanning the golden age of American rock 'n' roll, the Vietnam War has one of the most evocative soundtracks of any conflict. Now, two scholars have interviewed hundreds of veterans to compile the "official" soundtrack to one of America's longest wars.

From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines compelling interviews and short-form storytelling to bring you the best of each week's episode in under five minutes.

Underneath the heated rhetoric, sometimes our biggest bogeymen are nothing to fear. We talk to two professors who are busting stereotypes about illegal immigrants by teaching English in the east coast's largest detention center; we hear the guy who hunts poachers "telephoning" fish and stealing bear spleen; and we look at some misunderstood monsters of cinema and literature, from Godzilla to Germany's hard-bitten detectives.

Farmville may only be a tiny Virginian town, home to about 8,000 mostly White people. But nearby, Farmville Detention Center is the home to people from the world over -- it's the biggest immigration jail on the whole east coast. Two professors decided it was time to bring the two worlds together.

From With Good Reason, The Short Listen combines compelling interviews and short-form storytelling to bring you the best of each week's episode in under five minutes.

There was a time in America when, for a few glorious decades, people rich and poor, urban and rural, embraced a love of the bicycle. So how did the humble cyclist fall from grace?

Plus, we look back on a grab bag of interviews, including a conversation with an animator behind Hey Arnold!, Spongebob Squarepants, and The Simpsons; the unusual case of Patrick Swayze's disappearing lake; and more.

When we think about the way public education should look, we tend to think about big suburban schools or struggling inner cities. That means when federal education policy gets written, vast swaths of rural America are being forgotten.

From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines short-form storytelling and compelling interviews to bring you the best of each week's episode in under five minutes.

Where do you go when your homeland disappears? In our first half-hour, we ask that question both at home and abroad, and look at a project trying to preserve a record of a disappearing land.

Plus, we explore how fishermen were among the earliest conservationists, take a look inside a hurricane, and give a preview of the total eclipse of the sun that had American astronomers booking hotels three years in advance.

Tangier Island, a tiny spit of land in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay, is sinking -- and fast.

Without a new sea wall, its residents may become America's first climate refugees. Now, a new project is virtually mapping the island before it disappears beneath the waves.

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Explore Google's interactive map of Tangier Island from this page: http://virginiahumanities.org/2017/08/virtual-tour-of-climate-change-endangered-tangier/

Diplomatic trips, like the one Trump made to the Middle East and Europe just a few months ago, can quickly become very expensive. In a day and age when you can video chat with Bangkok at the push of a button, are they still worth it?

From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines short-form storytelling and compelling interviews to bring you the best of each week's episode in under five minutes.

How does a community move on from a mass shooting? Journalist Tom Kapsidelis has been speaking to the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting for the past 10 years. He offers his insights into what it takes for a community to heal.

Plus, we explore how many of our most common beliefs about the perpetrators of these crimes are incorrect. And we look at other misconceptions in the courtroom, from the effect of slow-motion video on juries to the disadvantages faced by the children of incarcerated parents.

Stories of massive student debt and for-profit school scams make it clear that the post-secondary system can be an unfriendly place to many disadvantaged students. But how are America’s universities and colleges hoping to use their institutions to reduce inequality?

We look at how affirmative action is being justified by today's white educators and how HBCUs are getting the short shrift by governments. Plus, we take a look at who is hit the hardest by ballooning student debt, and ask what do students really get at for-profit colleges and universities?

We explore two new technologies that hope to help patients navigate cancer -- an that app tries to ease the pressure on patients making tough decisions, and new gene manipulation technology that could cut risk for developing breast cancer dramatically.

Plus, we examine the hidden AIDS epidemic among elderly African-Americans and talk the physician training thousands of surgeons to prevent blindness in developing countries.

About 1 in 8 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lifetime. Some of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer come from an inherited gene mutation, but new research is looking for ways to fix that mutation.

From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines short-form storytelling and compelling interviews to bring you the best of each week's episode in under 5 minutes.