With Good Reason

We have a lot to do with what happens to rainwater from the time it hits the ground, to the time we drink it. And our small efforts can add up over time to prevent catastrophe. Kathy Gee has great advice for us: don’t live downhill from someone else, and start a rain garden. And: Along Appalachian streams, people grew up watching the hellbenders swim around and fight beneath the surface. Now, thei...

The Women’s March in January 2017 was the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. Anywhere from 3 to 5 million Americans--most of them women--took to the streets in the U.S. and around the globe. But while women have certainly made their voices heard in massive protests like that one, women’s activism often looks like radical everyday acts. Lori Underwood and Dawn Hutchinson share some of thei...

Serena Williams is widely regarded as one of the best athletes of all time. But far too often her passion on the tennis court has been criticized as aggression. So why do Black sports women seem to attract more scrutiny than other athletes? Letisha Engracio Cardoso Brown says it’s because the same commonly-held stereotypes for Black women in society frequently get repurposed into sport. And: The U...

Remember those twelve months where every ad was asking you to vote? It was inescapable. Gilda Pedraza and her team worked around the clock to ensure Latino voters in Georgia had the information they needed to cast their ballot. But even with historic voter turnout, a third of eligible adults didn’t vote. Bernard Fraga says that’s a political failure, and not the failure of individual voters. Plus:...

We all know that teenagers would rather die than hang out with their parents, right? Not so, says Jon Lohman. The Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Virginia, brings young and old together to share traditions and songs. But how are musicians faring during the pandemic? Plus: The studio comes alive with song when Steve Rockenbach and Gregg Kimball bring their banjos in to share the instrument’s stor...

In 2016, Lashrecse Aird made history as the youngest woman ever elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. She says her unique perspective - shaped by a childhood of adversity and hardship - allows her to better serve the full range of experiences within her constituency. And: Ebony Guy was inspired to get involved in activism from a young age by her grandmother, a beloved civil rights leader in...

Scholars, historic interpreters, and descendants of enslaved people recently gathered at Montpelier, the home of James Madison. They were there to create a rubric for historic sites who want to engage descendant communities in their work. Anthropologist Michael Blakey discusses why historical sites must consider the needs and wishes of descendants. And: Historian Hasan Kwame Jeffries says we need...

In mid-December, UVA Health physician Taison Bell rolled up his sleeve to be one of the first people in Charlottesville to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Today he shares why he got the vaccine and how we can get it to as many Americans as possible. Bell was named a 2021 Outstanding Faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. And: Navigating social lives in the time of Covid can...

We’re drawn to people who are kind to others. But once that kind person becomes our partner, we want special treatment. Lalin Anik says that we get a boost from feeling our "uniqueness" affirmed. She shares just how critical that special treatment is to a fulfilling relationship. And: Can one person really satisfy all of our needs? Julian Glover says no. They share how non-monogamy can be a freedo...

Dwayne Betts was only a teenager when he was convicted of carjacking and sentenced to 9 years in prison. Today, he’s an acclaimed poet and PhD candidate at Yale Law School. He recounts his inspiring story and brings attention to one of the biggest civil rights issues of our time: felon disenfranchisement. Later in the show: Think immigrant voting is un-American? Think again. Ron Hayduk says it’s a...

While people planned socially distanced funerals and waited in miles-long lines for canned food, the stock market soared and brought the GDP with it. The pandemic has revealed that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a poor measure of economic and societal health. Stephen Macekura’s new book, The Mismeasure of Progress, explores GDP and the long history of those who have critiqued it. And: The 2008 fi...

When theatres, clubs, and bars shuttered their doors back in March, Michael-Birch Pierce and their fellow drag queens took to the streets - literally. Also: After growing up in the Philippines, Francis Tanglao Aguas realized that he’d spent a lot of time on colonized soil. That’s why he founded Aguas Arts Ink, a digital theatre collective dedicated to decolonizing the body and mind. Then: How do y...

Today’s teens--Generation Z--are making headlines for their politics and their protests. The YA books that speak to them have followed suit. Lisa Koch shares three of her favorite recent young adult books that are speaking to a wider world of culture and politics. And: Old school guidance counselors sit behind their desks, giving one-on-one sessions that can feel like pulling teeth for moody kids....

Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder aren’t just popular tv shows--they’re also groundbreaking. Michaela Meyer says Shonda Rhimes has changed the way we make and watch TV. Also: Imelda O’Reilly published her first poem when she was just seven years old. Now a filmmaker, her short film Eggs and Soldiers examines a single father and son struggling to adjust to life in New York af...

David Coogan is the editor of “Writing Our Way Out” written by former jail inmates, exploring the conditions, traps and turning points on their paths to imprisonment, as well as the redemptive power of writing. Jazz musician Antonio Garcia composed a musical piece “Open Minds: Music that Mends,” that reflects the book’s themes of social justice, healing, self-reflection and redemption. Music perfo...

What do the mythological Chimera and motherhood have in common? In her work, poet Julie Phillips Brown dissects this and other biological queries, cleverly unveiling what makes us distinctly and undoubtedly human. And: Playwright Ivan Rodden focuses on the stories of refugees in his plays On Arriving and Lost Sock Laundry. He aims to dispel the mystique surrounding the refugee crisis, painting int...

What can we learn about climate change from literary figures like Walt Whitman or Cormac McCarthy? Greg Wrenn says it’s a lot more than you might think. He teaches a fascinating class that fuses both creative writing and the natural environment. And: Nick Balascio has journeyed to the far reaches of the planet, collecting lake sediments that offer clues into environmental change over thousands of...

We often think of cemeteries as separate worlds unto themselves. But those buried at Confederate graveyards were surely connected to those at the African burial grounds, and the cemetery reveals the intimacy of their connections. Ryan Smith says he and his students have been transformed by tending to cemeteries over the past 20 years. And: After Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy needed land for...

Although it was once an important part of feeding families, home canning in America has never been just about necessity. Danille Christensen says a look back at home canning reveals the pride and creativity that went into stocking a pantry. And: Lilia Fuquen takes us inside a community cannery and a basement storeroom to hear from people who are keeping the tradition alive. Later in the show: Two...

In 1970, Philicia Jefferson was forced to integrate into all-white, E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia. 40 years later, she finally attended her first class reunion. She says it was a profoundly healing experience. Plus: As a teenager, Owen Cardwell made history as one of the first Black students to attend E.C. Glass High School. Today, he continues to work on improving equity in public...

Parents spend a lot of time delegating. No, you can’t have the hot fries and ice cream for dinner. Yes, please, have some more kale. Andria Timmer takes us to the dinner tables of “natural parents,” who left city life behind to bring the kids closer to their food source. Plus: For decades images of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben -- the “happy” enslaved cooks--adorned boxes of rice, bottles of syrup and...

Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency marked the beginning of United States imperialism. Matt Oyos explains how Roosevelt modernized the military to bolster America’s international presence. Also: Arthur Schlesinger Jr. was the foremost presidential historian of the 20th century. Over the course of his career, he won two Pulitzer prizes and was a close friend and advisor to former president, John F. Ken...

If you think poll taxes and literacy tests are voting barriers of the past, think again. Gilda Daniels’ new book Uncounted: Voter Suppression in the United States explores how updated versions of these barriers--like voter ID laws and misinformation--are undermining our democracy. Later in the show: This election has a lot of people worried about voting--how to do it and how to make it count. Jenn...

As the world waits for a coronavirus cure, attention is focused on vaccines. Steven Zeichner cautions against prematurely approving a vaccine that later has significant safety concerns. Plus: With colder temperatures, how risky is it to dine indoors again? Linsey Marr says plenty risky. The tiny aerosols are like cigarette smoke and can pose a risk to anyone in the room. Also: For the estimated 7...

Bars, nightclubs, dance, and music have long held a special place in LGBTQ culture. But 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 argues that the club scene and the “fabulous” fashions on display there are radical spaces for queer and trans of color togetherness. Gregory Samanth...