With Good Reason

The creators of a new multi-million dollar Innovation Hub in a farming region say it's already supporting rural entrepreneurs. They have high hopes it will also help reverse economic hardship and population decline.

Chef Ralph Brown’s parents fed the neighborhood for years. Now, he’s keeping that tradition going. Plus: Fifty years after the last atmospheric nuclear tests on American soil, radioactive elements remain in our food supply. Jim Kaste says the honey is especially hot. And: There are many threats to our food supply. Mike Evans is working with farmers to grow vertically indoors. Later in the show: Ka...

America has locked up hundreds of thousands of people on minor marijuana possession charges. And the majority of those arrests have targeted Black, indigenous, and people of color. Advocates argue that after bearing the brunt of harsh marijuana laws, people of color deserve a spot in Virginia’s commercial cannabis industry. Also: Last year More states are legalizing marijuana, marking a major mile...

Decisions about parenting–when to parent, whether to parent–have been in the news a lot lately. Mary Thompson says that stories about reproductive choices aren’t just newsworthy–they’ve also made their way increasingly into art. And: Janice Hawkins has been administering the covid vaccine to children. She shares why she believes it’s so important to get even the youngest vaccinated. Later in the s...

HBCUs rose from the ashes of slavery and have been educating Black students for generations. Cheryl Mango says HBCUs are currently experiencing a renaissance, sparked from Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial justice. Plus: HBCU bands like the Trojan Explosion at Virginia State University play with power and energy. It’s an audio and visual display, with high-step marching and deck...

It’s difficult to be a veteran re-entering civilian life. One day your major decisions are being made for you. The next? It’s up to you. What do you do? Every Tuesday in one small town, veterans gather with Elizabeth Byland for life-affirming improv. Plus: How Brad Stoller worked with incarcerated women to create a performance about, in part, one of the world's most unsuspecting hot commodities......

What caused the Big Bang? Are black holes key to interstellar travel? And how close are we to discovering extraterrestrial life? These are some of the big questions that Kelsey Johnson (University of Virginia) covers in her fascinating class, “The Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe.” And: Robin Hanson (George Mason University) has come up with a mathematical model that predicts when us earthlings...

Outer space probably isn’t in your travel plans this summer. But it could be soon. Last year, Hayley Arceneaux was a SpaceX crew member in the first all-civilian mission to orbit earth. Her upcoming book, Wild Ride: A Memoir of IV Drips and Rocket Ships, chronicles her unlikely journey from childhood cancer to space explorer. With Good Reason producer, Matt Darroch, has the story. And: Mara Scanlo...

Summer is officially here and with it comes our annual With Good Reason summer reading list. We’ve got stories of mothers and daughters, spiritual-seekers, Spike Lee, and so much in-between. Archana Pathak, Rosalie Kiah, Kyle Garton-Gundling, Cheryl Mango, and Bruce Cahoon share some of their favorite recent reads.

The pandemic gave rise to people from all walks of life trying their hand at gardening for the first time. And longtime gardeners began trying new things like “immunity gardens.” And: Jinny Turman 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 show: In Japanese folklore, when a brightly colored fish resembling a dragon...

Alongside the army of men on the front lines of conflict was an army of women in support roles. From the Red Cross volunteers who boosted morale to the nurses who treated injuries, women were a major part of soldiers’ experience of the war. We hear the stories of some of these women, and connect with scholars on how women’s roles in Vietnam reflected the gender norms of the era. Later in the Show:...

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 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 Community Media Center, Chioke I’Anson hopes t...

When a family is referred to Child Protective Services, they’re often treated a lot like criminals on parole. But, the administrative work required to keep their families together can actually make it even harder to parent successfully. Christa Moore says that our child welfare system should operate more like collaborative care and less like bureaucratic punishment. Plus: How does having a parent...

In March, the Senate approved the Sunshine Protection Act - which, if passed, will make daylight savings time permanent. The bill has been praised by many, but Mariana Szklo-Coxe says not so fast. She studies how permanent daylight savings time will affect our sleep. Plus: Postpartum depression is one of the leading complications of childbirth, but most mothers are never screened for it. Jennifer...

American railroads of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were littered with racial, gendered traps. And from working in the food car to sitting in first class, Miriam Thaggert (SUNY Buffalo) says that Black women are critical to the history of the American railroad. Her new book is Riding Jane Crow African American Women on the American Railroad. Plus: While many European writers desc...

In 2019, Virginia joined just three other states in making Juneteenth a paid state holiday, recognizing it as a holiday for all Virginians. Lauranett Lee says in this country we have parallel histories, with Black and white Americans knowing about and acknowledging different pasts. But community efforts and local activists are elevating the stories of African Americans so that those parallel histo...

LARP stands for Live Action Role Play. Think of it like Lord of the Rings comes to life, where you get to create your own character and wield foam swords on a mock-battlefield. But for many players, LARP is more than just fun and games - it's a lifeline to belonging. With Good Reason producer, Matt Darroch, has the story. And: Climate change, pollution, and development projects are threatening sur...

Whether you’re on foot crossing the street, or behind the wheel -- there are a lot of new technologies to be distracted by. Bryan Porter says that we do not recover from looking at our phones as quickly as we think. Is your brain on the road when you are? And: Screen time is transforming children’s brains. Robyn Kondrad says there are times when it is useful, alongside glaring limitations. Later i...

In recent years, the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII has gotten more attention. But most of that attention focuses on the West Coast, California in particular. Emma Ito studied the racism and incarceration that Virginians and other East Coast Japanese Americans faced during the war. And: Japanese Americans weren’t the only immigrants persecuted during WWII–many German and Italian i...

The patient-doctor relationship is complicated and fraught. Patients often feel confused and talked down to, in part because doctors feel like they need to project authority. As a physician and a poet, Laura Kolbe is trying to make room for uncertainty and humility from both sides in the exam room. Kolbe’s new collection of poetry, Little Pharma, explores the messy and human side of doctoring. And...

Formed in the mid 1960’s, The Soulmasters was an interacial soul band from Danville, VA. Jerry Wilson and John Irby were the two African-American lead singers, and the other 8 members of the band were white. Producer Matt Darroch headed over to Danville to hear Jerry reflect on his three years in the band and what it was like touring the South during the height of segregation. And: No matter your...

There’s a parasite inhabiting the bodies of crabs, and making them infertile. Amy Fowler says that if that parasite entered the Chesapeake Bay, 90% of our crabs would be inedible. America is littered with battlefields, and abandoned forts. They’re often some of the most pristine sites of Virginia ecosystems. Plus: Todd Lookingbill is a SCHEV winner for his research on the ecological value of battl...

Thomas Jefferson said Patrick Henry “got the ball of revolution rolling.” Historian John Ragosta says Henry was five times elected governor of colonial Virginia, but it was his ability to electrify an audience that made him the idol of the common people. Plus: Before Patrick Henry died, he credited a Presbyterian minister named Samuel Davies with “teaching me what an orator should be.” Kelley Libb...

Many of us are more closely tuned in to the environment around us than ever before. We’re spending more time hanging outdoors, planting kitchen gardens, and taking up bird-watching. In honor of Earth Day and our new relationship with the great outdoors, With Good Reason invites you to walk with us. We traipse around the foothills of Appalachia with Ryan Huish, wade through ghost forest wetlands wi...

The colonial era is usually seen as prim and proper - a time when manners were refined and marriage was sacrosanct. But that period may have been much wilder than previously thought. Liz Elizondo says in colonial Spanish Texas, love affairs didn’t just occasionally happen…they were the norm. And: What does it mean to feel like you belong within a community? Jennifer Bickham Mendez studies that que...