With Good Reason

Worldwide there are more than 35 million refugees who have fled their homes. And when other countries take in a huge influx of those refugees, there’s a lot to consider. Erika Frydenlund studies how host countries can help manage a refugee surge. And: In March 2023, the William & Mary Law School’s Immigration Clinic had their very first approval of an asylum case–a client from Afghanistan, who fle...

Michael Carter Jr left America looking for home in Ghana. Now, on his fifth generation farm, he’s growing farmers through what he calls Africulture. And: How Virginia’s maritime climate enhances its fruit, according to celebrated sommelier Lee Campell. Later in the show: In Richmond, Virginia, you can walk up to one of 13 community refrigerators and get what you need. No questions asked. It all st...

Some of America’s first maestros of European art music were enslaved and free Virginians of African descent. Violinist David McCormick shares the music of the Black violinists of Monticello from the Hemings and Scott families. Also: Justin Holland was a black man who was born free in 1819 in Norfolk County, Virginia. He became one of America's first classical guitarists and was respected by Europe...

You have Chef James Hemings, who cooked for Thomas Jefferson, to thank for the macaroni and cheese on your plate this Thanksgiving. Setting the Table's Deb Freeman tells us how the French dish became so baked into American cuisine. And: Across troubled waters, enslaved people carried benne seeds and grew them in a new land. Chef Amethyst Ganaway is snacking on benne wafers while thickening the Tha...

Dorothy Suskind diagnoses the kind of workplace culture that allows bullying. And: Chris Reina says that prioritizing relationships creates better results in the workplace. This belief is at the center of his work at the Institute for Transformative Leadership. Later in the show: Alexandra Dunn shares how “imposter syndrome” can affect us at work. Plus: The 2020 global pandemic transformed the Ame...

No matter how they served or where or when, for veterans, returning to civilian life is a big transition. Eric Hodges is researching what it was like for African American veterans in his small Virginia community to return home. And: Alicia DeFonzo’s grandfather was a big part of her life as a kid. He was charming and jovial and the absolute best storyteller. But his stories always left out the yea...

After watching movies like the Terminator, it’s hard not to come away a little jaded about the future of AI. But Dan Runfola says the rise of AI will be a huge boon to society, similar to the industrial revolution of the 18th century. And: As we enter into the age of AI, where do the humanities fit in? Rishi Jaitly recently founded the Virginia Tech Institute for Leadership and Technology, a one-o...

Since she was a child, Luz Lopes would help her mother prepare the altar for the Day of the Dead. This year, her go-to bakery shut down so she made her own pan de muerto. Plus: It seemed like quinoa just kind of came out of nowhere didn’t it? Well, it kind of did. Linda Seligmann tells us how she witnessed this afterthought crop become a commercial crop. And: Will the real pigs please stand up? Br...

Old time music is a way of communication. A way to welcome rain after a drought or shoo a cold. Many men took it on the road. But the women stayed home. Rene Rodgers and Toni Doman (Birthplace of Country Music Museum) give us a taste of women musicians from Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, to Cathy Fink and Amythyst Kiah. Later in the show: 2022 Virginia Folklife mentor artist Elizabeth LaPrelle kee...

Conversations around community policing are polarizing. It can be hard to have a meaningful and useful conversation. Brian Williams believes that conversations that first hit the heart can impact the head and hands, bringing corrective and collaborative action. And: Police suicide rates are on the rise. It’s clear that mental health is a real problem in the profession. Stacey Clifton studies how t...

Photoshop recently unveiled a new function that integrates generative AI, a cutting-edge technology that can produce images from text. JD Swerzenski says we’ve reached a point where photo manipulation has never been so easy. And: Rebecca Silberman specializes in miniature set pieces: think of tiny scenes intricately constructed inside dioramas. She says it's a delicate process that requires a smal...

Traditionally people become licensed educators and then enter a classroom. Smita Mathur and her colleagues took a different approach. They invited migrant farm workers to come teach migrant children, and then trained them to be teachers. And: How Kelly Cartwright found that a lot of students can sound words out, but can’t quite connect the sound to the meaning of the word. And what educators are d...

After new episodes drop, fans of TV shows take to social media to dissect what they just saw. Dr. Morgan Smalls says shows that feature Black women protagonists and majority Black casts, like Insecure and Being Mary Jane, inspire important conversations about race on social media. And: Disney princesses can be a bit of a scapegoat for what’s wrong with representations of women in movies. One of th...

We experience the world first with our senses. And then art can help us understand what we’re seeing, feeling, and experiencing. Stephanie Hodde uses spectacle theater to help communities be in touch with the issues that matter most to them. And: The design of everyday objects is about usefulness—but there’s also an art and a politics to it. Carissa Henriques shares the innovative strategies that...

As India celebrates 76 years of independence - Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has drawn criticism for promoting a kind of hindu nationalism that's rooted in the colonial period. Rohan Kalyan says Modi’s vision for India doesn’t leave much room for non-hindus and other minorities. And: Neel Amin studies the writings of British hunters in 19th century India. He says the sense of colonial superiority...

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

In the early 20th century, terrapins–a kind of turtle–were a culinary delicacy. Then humans nearly hunted them to extinction. While Americans don’t eat much turtle these days, terrapin populations are still in danger–from crab traps. Randy Chambers is working to perfect a device for crab traps that will help protect terrapins. And: Learning about learning is a lot easier if you’ve got hands on pra...

In 2017, many Americans watched in horror as violent images from the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville started spreading. A few short years later, My Monticello tells the story of Charlottesville neighbors fleeing racist violence and taking refuge in Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello. The author, Jocelyn Johnson, talks about what it means to be writing about a past and a future that both...

During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, tensions between the United States and Russia nearly led to nuclear disaster. So what prevented the unthinkable from happening? Martin Sherwin argued it had something to do with luck. And:. Philip Roessler has studied the impact of rising temperatures on conflict zones around the world. He predicts climate change will soon become one of the main drivers of lar...

In the 1990s, a group of single Black mothers known as The Circle formed an underground gambling ring in Danville, Virginia. Their winnings went a long way in easing the struggle of raising a family as a single mother. With Good Reason producer, Matt Darroch, has the story. And: Now close to a century removed from prohibition - speakeasies, gangsters, and moonshine still loom large in the public i...

Summer is here and with it comes our annual With Good Reason summer reading list. From the hills and hollers of Appalachia to Egypt, we’ve got so much to keep your pages turning. Jessica Mullens Fullen, Vic Sizemore, Sarah Rifky and Maynard Scales share some of their favorite reads.

Virginia made headlines when it became the latest state to abolish the death penalty. Sabrina Butler-Smith is the first woman to be exonerated from death row. She says she’s living, breathing proof of why the capital punishment should be a thing of the past. Also: Deirdre Enright is probably best known for her work as the founding director of the Innocence Project and her passionate voice on the f...

As a Black literary scholar, Shermaine Jones was unsure of how to live and work through the Covid-19 pandemic and the George Floyd uprisings. She wondered, is it appropriate to study fiction and poetry during times of crisis? And how could she give her students grace and compassion in their own work? She turns to Black women writers to answer these complicated and enduring questions. And: Desegreg...

Jalane Schmidt recently brought a group of Virginia teachers to see Charlottesville’s tiny monument to its enslaved residents. One teacher had a startling personal revelation at that site. And: Elgin Cleckley is an architect who studies empathy. He says redesigning public space can help heal racial wounds. Plus: Danville, Virginia was once a Confederate capital. Now, teams of citizens are working...

Connective labor is disappearing. Professions that rely on connecting humans -- like teaching or therapists -- are being automated. Allison Pugh says that this is dangerous not only for people’s pockets, but for their overall wellbeing. And: A million poor men migrate to the Gulf for unskilled jobs every year. Andrea Wright says that the Indian government sees this as an opportunity, but also a ma...