With Good Reason

Until recently, Caroline Shaw was uncomfortable calling herself a composer–violin, singer, musician, sure. But not a composer. Then in 2013, her composition Partita for 8 Voices made her the youngest recipient ever of the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Now she’s one of the most respected composers on the New Music scene and has been heralded as the future of music. Today, Shaw’s compositions range from traditional quartets and solo piano pieces to a cappella and collaborations with Kanye West.

Could nonprofits benefit from the same business coaching the private sector gets? Celebrated business writer Jim Collins says the best business leaders in the nonprofit world tend to share the same qualities with their private sector counterparts.

Small-scale artisan distilleries are popping up all over the country, and behind many of them are new communities of women makers and consumers. In this special holiday episode, we connect the present to the past as we uncover little-known stories of Virginia spirits, from a recently revived 19th-century julep recipe to an event that draws “women who whiskey.”

This week, we explore the lesser known poetic work of the man behind the iconic horror-thriller Deliverance: James Dickey. Plus, we revisit our interview with former U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey, and much more.

This week, a grab bag of some of our favorite stories of unexpected discoveries. First, we talk to an anthropologist cataloguing one of the few remaining melodic forms of speech among the rugged mountains of Mexico. Then, we talk to one of the world's foremost experts in dimes on discovering a small fortune in his father's tackle box. Later on, we revisit our story about the discovery of a lost vault of klezmer music, and talk to a scholar about America's long-forgotten love affair with opera.

Virtual reality has made it possible to wander the streets of a city built 3000 years before the pyramids in Egypt. But those who made it won't stop there -- they want you to smell it too. From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines short-form storytelling and compelling interviews to bring you the best of each week's episode in under five minutes.

This week, we replay two amazing interviews with Pulitzer Prize winners. First, Elizabeth Fenn tells the story of her work recovering the forgotten history of a nearly extinct Native American tribe. Then, Sarah McConnell speaks with award-winning author Junot Diaz about his experiments in language and storytelling.

Politics around the Thanksgiving table can sometimes be fraught, but at least it's not as bad as it was when the tradition began on the eve of the Civil War. This week, we dive into the origins of this most American of holidays and offer some tips on navigating tricky family conversations. Plus, we sit down for a long conversation with the founder of the farm-to-table food movement.

Thanksgiving was once a holiday known for bringing people together -- now, it's almost synonymous with uncomfortable political conversations and familial drama. In preparation for the big holiday, we talk with an expert who offers some tips on navigating the more delicate aspects of family gathering. From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines short-form storytelling and compelling interviews to bring you the best of each week's episode in under five minutes.

In the first episode of With Good Reason’s new documentary series on the Vietnam War, historians Fred Turner and Wilbur J. Scott explore how the self-image of America was shattered in Vietnam, and we hear the first-hand accounts of veterans’ return to America after the trauma of conflict. Then, historian Christian Appy tells the story of the draft -- who it ensnared, who escaped, and the trauma it left on a generation of Americans.

Every day, scientists are discovering exotic new planets, encrusted with diamonds and wandering between distant stars. We talk to one of the people making these discoveries about the crazy planets he's seen -- and what hope there might be for life out there. Plus, more stories in science, from "sonic nets" used to save birds from jet engines, to a database of plays that hopes to put science onstage.

For decades, sci-fi writers have imagined distant planets unlike our own— it turns out the real things are even weirder. From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines compelling interviews and short-form storytelling to bring you the best of each week's episode in around five minutes.

This week, an hour of wordplay. We begin with the tale of the Crossword Kid, the New York Times' latest crossword editor, fresh out of university. Plus, we take a look at the under-appreciated literary genius of Christopher Marlowe, and talk with two authors about their latest work.

Sam Ezersky sold his first crossword at 16. Now he's taking on the biggest puzzle of them all: the legendary New York Times crossword. From With Good Reason, the Short Listen combines compelling interviews and short-form storytelling to bring you the best of each week's episode in under five minutes.

Religious scholars, neuroscientists, and psychoanalysts agree – there is a deep reservoir of activity beneath our conscious minds. This week, we take a deep dive into the mind, and ask: how can we control what we don't understand?