With Good Reason

Scientists are using video cameras and glorified fitbits to decipher the body language of trees. Geology professor Dom Ciruzzi says the way trees sway tells us a lot about tree overall health. Also: The location of trees affects home values. A study by Kevin Boyle and the U.S. Forest Service reveals that adding trees can boost home prices but there is a sweet spot where too much canopy can reduce...

The Chesapeake Bay is ballooning with an apex predator that can only be defeated with grease and breading – blue catfish! They were introduced to Virginia’s freshwater rivers in the 70s and 80s for recreational fishing. Now, the Bay is teeming with 700 million to 1 billion pounds of blue catfish. Michael Schwarz says that we can restore balance to the bay by eating the fresh, white saltwater catfi...

Universities have been trying to curb dangerous binge drinking for years. Today’s students are glued to their phones, and Abby Braitman (Old Dominion University) and her colleagues are meeting them where they are for interventions. And: Meagan Brem (Virginia Tech) says that drinking is intertwined with a lot of the intimate partner violence that happens on college campuses. Later in the show: Ther...

As we age, we come to appreciate the holiday traditions of our youth. Ricky Mullins (University of Virginia at Wise) remembers receiving treat bags at his small, backroads church. The poke bags were stuffed oranges, peanuts, cracker jacks and sometimes even a chocolate bar. Now, he’s passing the tradition along to the youth at the church that he pastors. And: Mary Lou Williams was a renowned jazz...

Music is wrapped up in how we celebrate the holidays. Musician and band director Stephanie Sanders (Norfolk State University) shares some of her favorite holiday tunes and why they’re so meaningful for her. Later in the show: As a performing trombonist, Dayl Burnett (Radford University) plays the same holiday songs year after year. But he doesn’t get tired of them! We listen to a few of the songs...

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ concept of the stages of grief gave people real footing in understanding how we react to loss. But Sherman Lee (Christopher Newport University) says grief isn’t experienced in a linear, neat way. Have you ever been driving and suddenly found yourself in tears about a loss, real or imagined? Or maybe you were washing the dishes and suddenly spaced out and started having painf...

A new anthology of poems, including one that reflects on the weight of a whale, gathers voices from science, the arts, and Indigenous communities to create a portrait of nature in America. Former Virginia Poet Laureate Luisa A. Igloria (Old Dominion University) is co-editor of The Nature of Our Times: Poems on America’s Lands, Waters, Wildlife, and Other Natural Wonders. Plus: Ana Lang (Washington...

New-to-this-country students are constantly being asked to adapt. And often, their wellbeing is measured almost entirely by their ability to speak English. Alfonzo Perez Acosta (Virginia Humanities K-12 Education Fellow) is an arts educator. In his classroom, he gives students the tools to let their art do the talking. And: Everybody has a story. Not everyone has a place to tell it. Through the Co...

Gumbo, BBQ, and biscuits–what makes Southern food Southern? Caity Finlayson (University of Mary Washington) talks about the fusion of cultures–African food brought by enslaved people, British and French food brought by early European colonists–that created a mouthwatering Southern cuisine. And: For indigenous communities in the Canadian Arctic and Sri Lanka, hunting and gathering is still a main s...

At the end of the world, Philip Lorish (University of Virginia) decided to open a bookstore. He says that despite the cultural moment that audiobooks are having and that impenetrable, digital mass distribution behemoth who shall not be named – bookstores matter. He’s the owner of Commerce Street Books. And: As a child, Lamar Giles (William & Mary) was allowed to read anything he wanted. And he too...

Into the Sun is a new musical featuring the poems of British war poets and soldiers who were killed in World War I. Co-author Mike Gubser (James Madison University) says the title is from Wilfred Owen’s 1918 poem Futility, where soldiers try to awaken their fallen comrade with the warmth of the sun. Move him into the sun. Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Alway...

Legacies of WWII by With Good Reason

Armed with a newly-talking cinema and trying to survive The Great Depression, Universal Studios developed a new genre – horror. For twenty-two weeks, crews filmed Dracula. And for six of those weeks on a shoestring budget of $66,000, they shot Drácula at night. Antonio Barrenechea (University of Mary Washington) says that despite this unbalanced relationship with Hollywood, this inter-American pro...

In a walk through the forest, an Appalachian landowner and biologist points out dozens of species he and his family sustainably harvest for meals. From sycamore trees–whose syrup tastes like butterscotch–to Appalachian wasabi–a spicy root they use in their spice blends–Ryan Huish (University of Virginia College at Wise) is teaching a new generation plant identification and sustainable harvesting p...

The red colobus monkey is one of the most endangered primates in the world. Found in West, East, and Central Africa, the once thriving species has been decimated by over-hunting. Josh Linder (James Madison University) has devoted his career to studying and conserving these peaceful primates. Plus: Francesco Ferretti (Virginia Tech) led an expedition to be the first to ever tag endangered great whi...

For little girls, princess culture is everywhere. Carlee Bradbury says it’s been that way for hundreds and hundreds of years. And: darlene anita scott collages and poems explore Black girlhood and the beautiful resistance Black girls and women engage in everyday. Later in the show: In Barbie Magical Fashion, you can design your very own cover model outfit. Lady Popular lets you compete in a fashio...

America has a problem. There’s a nursing shortage. And it's not for lack of hopeful nurses. There's not enough clinical space! The Mary Morton Parsons Clinical Simulation Learning Center (CSLC) at University of Virginia School of Nursing is helping to alleviate that bottleneck with simulations. They get to experience Rob Craig as their first difficult patient in a range of simulations. And: Vetera...

It’s football season, baby! And that means big upsets, impossible comebacks, nail biting finishes - plus sports betting ads… lots and lots of sports betting ads. Brendan Dwyer studies how this new era of sports betting is changing how we watch games. Later in the show: Virginia legalized casino gaming in 2019 and now there are three operational casinos with two more on the way. Barbara Blake says...

Lafayette was just 19 when he sailed to America from France and fought alongside George Washington in the Revolutionary War. David Marsich says 50 years later the Feenchman toured all 24 states and was greeted by adoring hordes wherever he went. Plus: A Creek Indian was falsely blamed for the brutal slaying of a band of Cherokees just outside Charleston. Josh Piker writes about it in The Four Deat...

Polar bears are no one’s prey, except for climate change itself. John Whiteman says our human fate is tied up with the fate of the polar bears. And: Birds have an unusual predator. Windows. Karen Powers says that an $8 pack of window decals could be lifesaving. Later in the show: We’ve all killed a spider or sprayed weeds in the garden. Todd Tupper encourages us to start trying to live humbly and...

This week we’re returning to Virginia’s Eastern Shore with Virginia Folklife Director Katy Clune. She explores how newcomers to the Shore are adopting and adapting traditional foodways. From gorditas and Haitian plantains to oysters and fresh jams, we get a closer look at the Eastern Shore’s vibrant food culture. Later in the show: Daniel Morales digs into the history of Mexican migrant labor in t...

They say around 20% of students in K-12 schools are considered gifted. But identifying giftedness isn’t exactly a precise science. Chandra Floyd breaks down the inequities in gifted education. Plus: Learning to read is one of those magical childhood experiences. Once you figure it out, it’s like a whole new world opens up! Sean McDonald studies literacy in special education. He says outside of cog...

Margot Robbie brought Barbie to life with the 2023 Barbie movie. It was successfully “femvertised” to women and girls across generations. And not only did they go see the movie, but they made sure that they were seen being a part of Barbie’s world. They bought a lot of pink, fast fashion pieces to wear to the theatre and film content with and then, they threw it away. But the problem is that a lot...

After the long French and Indian War, British surveyors fanned out to create maps of their new frontier territories so they could better control the unruly colonists. Max Edelson is author of The New Map of Empire. Plus: A spin through early American Cartographic History by Cassandra Farrell. She describes one map created by Captain John Smith and another by the father of Thomas Jefferson. Later i...

NIL sent shockwaves through college athletics when it was signed into law in 2021. Now student-athletes could earn money off of their name, image, and likeness. But there weren’t any guide-rails to help student-athletes navigate the new NIL landscape. Enter Kim Whitler. She co-wrote Athlete Brands: How to Benefit from Your Name, Image and Likeness. And: In 2020, Sha’Carri Richardson was barred fro...