With Good Reason

Atin Basu and his colleague’s Hotspot Predictors placed America high on the conflict predictor index for 2019. Sure enough, in 2020, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people marching in the streets, guns flying off of the shelves and police and military using weapons against civilians. And there are 3 months left in the year. Can Predicting Hotspots help us see ahead to 2021? Christie Jones was...

In 1908, the U.S.S. Albatross set off on a research expedition to the newly acquired U.S. colony of the Philippines. Today, Kent Carpenter is studying the more than 80,000 fish samples collected by the Albatross to uncover how overfishing is actually changing fish genetics. Carpenter has been named an Outstanding Faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. And: The Chukar...

100 years ago women gained the right to vote with the 19th amendment. Professors Amanda Nelson and Molly Hood set the stage, and their students are bringing suffragettes to live in the digital, interactive theatre collaborative “Performing History: Women and the Vote.” Later in the show: At the same time that the 19th amendment passed, lynchings increased in the South. Khadijah Miller highlights h...

Everyone remembers things differently. With Good Reason takes you from D.C. to Poland and Jerusalem to show the different ways museums are commemorating the Holocaust.

Turns out the pandemic is the ideal time for workplaces to build better systems for getting women into positions of power.

Vic Sizemore was an evangelical for much of his life - until he wasn’t. His book, Goodbye My Tribe: An Evangelical Exodus, chronicles his journey away from fundamentalist religion. And: We’ve all heard about the Evangelical Right, but what about the lesser-known Evangelical Left? David Kirkpatrick traces the Latin American roots of the Evangelical Left movement. Later in the Show: The pandemic has...

Homelessness is an unfortunate reality for many military veterans. Jimmie Fedrick says having a support system and an active social life can be key to turning their lives around. And: Loneliness is more than just a horrible feeling. Studies show that it can actually have adverse health effects. Pam Parsons founded the Richmond Health and Wellness Program, which helps reduce social isolation among...

Universities will never be the same. Donna Henry sent all students, staff and faculty home with an iPad last fall. She says now those iPads are keeping the university operational. Also: When COVID-19 made the Spring semester digital, John Broome made a Facebook group for professors to support each other that quickly went viral. 30-thousand professors are using it to get ready for the Fall semester...

A traveling exhibit called New Virginians: 1619-2019 & Beyond from The Library of Virginia in Richmond features oral histories and photographs recorded by Pat Jarrett. People share their personal stories of how they journeyed from Central and South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Republics to make Virginia their new home. David Bearinger discusses the complexity of th...

Sammy was just a month old when he started experiencing symptoms of heart failure. Dr. Mark Roeser helped perform the groundbreaking surgery that saved the boy’s life. And: Burnout is especially prevalent in the medical field. And Dr. Mark Greenawald should know, he felt its devastating effects after a patient of his died tragically while giving birth. Earlier this year, he created PeerRxMed to he...

At the confluence of the James and Rivana Rivers in Virginia sits a Monacan site. Monacan Chief Kenneth Branham walks us through the site of what was once the village of Rassawek, the epicenter of Monacan life before the Europeans arrived. And: Martin Gallivan, author of James River Chiefdoms and Jeffery L. Hantman, author of Monacan Millennium, say there is no doubt that Rassawek is the site of t...

After months at home, your streaming watchlists are probably exhausted. With Good Reason is here to the rescue! We’re bringing you summer streaming recommendations from scholars and artists. Myles McNutt charts Netflix’s rise to video streaming juggernaut and recommends a miniseries on the systemic failures in sexual assault investigations. And: Yossera Bouchtia suggests two TV shows grappling wit...

Even though transgender-themed TV shows like Transparent and Pose have achieved mainstream popularity, trans people still face huge barriers to employment, housing, and safety. In fact, many trans people of color say that their lives are harder than ever before. Transcripts, a new podcast hosted by Myrl Beam and Andrea Jenkins, investigates how trans activists are trying to change that. Later in t...

When writer and radio producer Lulu Miller (Invisibilia) discovered she’d have to leave Virginia, she wrote a startling love letter to the state -- one that charges everyday people to stay angry about injustice. A.D. Carson (University of Virginia) uses hip-hop and spoken word to tell hard truths about racist history, cutting through denial with metaphor. Later in the show: Tawnya Pettiford-Wates...

Colleges all over the country closed campus and shifted to online classes at the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Despite fears of a virus resurgence, Virginia Tech and William & Mary are among a growing number of colleges planning to re-open in the Fall. Katherine Rowe (William & Mary President) and Tim Sands (Virginia Tech President) discuss their plans for keeping students safe and how the in...

In 1855, an outbreak of yellow fever devastated the port city of Norfolk, VA. Annette Finley-Croswhite (Old Dominion University) says the similarities with the handling of the coronavirus pandemic are chilling. And: Marie Antoinette had wacky hairdos and threw lavish parties. She was also smart and never said,“Let them eat cake.” Ron Schechter (William & Mary) has uncovered her secret library of b...

As more cities close down streets to traffic, new riders are hopping on bikes every day. Evan Friss (James Madison University), author of On Bicycles: A 200-Year History of Cycling in New York City, talks about the rise in pandemic pedaling and why New York’s bike share program is so successful. And: With so few cars on the road, CO2 emissions have dropped dramatically. But if every silver lining...

After the police killing of George Floyd, protests around the country have erupted, calling for an end to police brutality against Black Americans. Sociology professor Alex Vitale (Brooklyn College) says it’s not enough to reform the police. Instead, we must actually defund police and essentially end policing. And: Justin Hansford (Howard University School of Law) explains why one popular reform k...

Southwest Virginia has seen a decline in coal and tobacco—two industries that once boomed in the region. Could hemp be a way to boost the local economy? Ryan Huish (University of Virginia’s College at Wise) and Michael Timko (University of Virginia) are collaborating on an Industrial Hemp project to explore hemp’s potential for repairing lands damaged by coal mining. Plus: When the Food and Drug A...

“Take Me Out To The Ball Game” is the most popular song in American sports, but did you know that the woman who inspired its creation was a feminist Vaudeville actress of the 1920's? And: Before the pandemic struck, Nick Heath was a rugby announcer in England. Now that rugby games are shut down, his hilarious play-by-play videos of everyday activities have gone viral. Plus: 80% of new referees don...

People across the nation are starting gardens. From six feet away, of course. Lilia Fuquen (Virginia Humanities Food and Community Program)is collaborating with organizations to bring people “immunity gardens.” Plus: Jinny Turman (University of Virginia College at Wise) tells us about the 70s back-to-the-land movement, and how the fallout of COVID-19 could lead to another movement. Later in the sh...

With coronavirus cases multiplying, COVID-19 test kits were scarce and hospitals were frantic. Two doctors, Dr. Amy Mathers (University of Virginia) and Dr. Melinda Poulter (University of Virginia) decided to make their own tests and shared thousands of them with medical centers across the nation. And: Like most users, Jeanine Guidry (Virginia Commonwealth University) clicked through Pinterest for...

he Fall of Saigon marked the bitter end of the American War in Vietnam and the loss of a homeland for hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people. We share stories of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops, along with heroic rescues and harrowing escapes of Vietnamese citizens. Then we take a glimpse into post-war life under communist rule in Vietnam. Later in the show: Some of the Vietnam War’s mos...

As a visual effects artist for movies like Star Wars, Watchmen, and Jurassic Park, Matt Wallin (Virginia Commonwealth University) has built his career on melding art with science. At the prestigious MARS conference, hosted by Jeff Bezos, he spoke about how the arts inspire science and drive innovation. And: In the blockbuster hit, The Martian, Matt Damon escapes Mars by using a spacecraft based on...

Newbery Medal-winning children’s author Meg Medina talks about the power of writing in Spanglish, and relates her own childhood to her 2019 book Merci Suárez Changes Gears. And: Nishaun Battle (Virginia State University) talks about the historic “adultification” of young black girls. Her book is Black Girlhood, Punishment and Resistance: Reimagining Justice for Black Girls in Virginia. Later in th...