With Good Reason show

With Good Reason

Summary: Each week scholars explore the worlds of literature, science, the arts, politics, history, religion, and business through lively discussion with host Sarah McConnell. From the controversies over slave reparations and global warming, to the unique worlds of comic books and wine-making, With Good Reason is always surprising, challenging and fun!

Join Now to Subscribe to this Podcast
  • Visit Website
  • RSS
  • Artist: Virginia Humanities
  • Copyright: copyright Virginia Humanities all rights reserved

Podcasts:

 Pulitzer 100: The Wondrous Junot Diaz | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:58

"The half-life of love is forever,” writes Yunior, the serial-cheater protagonist of Junot Díaz’s This Is How You Lose Her. In this special episode, we talk with the Pulitzer Prize winning author about love, loss, and his New Jersey childhood. Díaz’s characters are not perfect people—they’re nerds, outsiders, and antiheroes--but their stories are written to perfection. Later in the show: Jon Pineda is a poet, novelist. His latest memoir, Sleep in Me, chronicles his sister Rica’s sudden transformation from a vibrant high school cheerleader to a girl wheelchair bound and unable to talk. And: A story that explores the moral complexities of the ivory trade is told from an unconventional perspective. In her novel The Tusk That Did the Damage, author Tania James takes us into the hearts of minds of a homicidal elephant, a poacher, and a documentary filmmaker.

 Imagining Yoko Ono | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:52:00

Yoko Ono is best known for her marriage to John Lennon and was vilified by the press in the 1960s for her perceived role in the breakup of the Beatles. Kevin Concannon, an expert on Ono’s work, notes she was an accomplished and innovative artist long before she met Lennon. Plus: A new novel by Fred D’Aguiar tells the story of a mother and daughter caught up in the tragic Jonestown mass suicide of 1978. Later in the show: Americans have been getting their kicks from Route 66 since John Steinbeck labeled it “The Mother Road” in The Grapes of Wrath. Michael Lund is fascinated by the nostalgic small town life found along “America’s Main Street.” Lund is the author of a series of Route 66 novels. And: Jack Kerouac wrote about his travels along Route 66 in On the Road, the novel that made him a literary success. Gordon Ball says Kerouac’s novel about the Beat Generation is as relevant today as it was in the 1950s.

 Are Our Pets Making Us Sick? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:59

The good news? Biologist Emily Lilly says that all the hype about getting diseases from your cat’s litter is not something to worry about. The bad news? It’s because those parasites aren’t just in cat litter—they’re everywhere! Plus: There are 300,000 likely human cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. each year. Anne Zajac says that number is on the rise. And: There’s a new vaccine to help protect dogs against Lyme disease. One of its developers, Richard Marconi, says his team hopes a human vaccine isn’t far behind. Later in the show: In just ten years, the amount of data collected by governments and companies has increased dramatically. But Peter Aiken says just collecting digital data isn’t enough–we need to figure out how to use it to solve real-world problems. And: Big data expert Ross Gore used phone records of the Senegalese population to plan the best locations for hospital facilities to help minimize heart attack deaths.

 Mapping the KKK | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:59

An animated, online map shows for the first time just how the Ku Klux Klan spread rapidly to all 50 states between 1915 and 1940. John Kneebone says the KKK was far more main-stream than most people realize, with membership of between 2 million and 8 million people. Plus: Revolution has been one of the most important drivers of human activity since its emergence in modern form in the 18th century. In his new book, Jack Censer traces the “evolution of revolutionary ideas”--from the American and French revolutionaries to leaders of the Arab Spring. Later in the show: Many displaced Iraqis returning to their homes are finding landmines and booby-traps left for them by ISIS fighters. One woman opened her refrigerator and found a landmine on her vegetable shelf. Ken Rutherford who co-founded the Landmine Survivors Network, says this is the first time in the world’s history that roadside bombs target civilians.

 Flight Anxiety Feature | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:03:29

Summer travel is in full swing, which means many of us are headed to the airport in the coming weeks. While most people do know that flying is the safest way to travel, studies show 1 in 4 people are afraid of flying. Sherina Ong reports on new research that might quell the fears.

 Dragons of Inaction | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:55

This summer, we’re taking the planet’s pulse—and our own. Robert Gifford explains that what he calls “the dragons of inaction” keep us from changing our behaviors, even if we know they’re bad for the environment. Plus: Ed Maibach is starting conversations about climate change in unexpected places: Facebook, the doctor’s office, and the TV weather report. Later in the show: Coastal geologist Christopher Hein says climate changes are causing the shorelines of the east coast to shift, but there may be a way we can help barrier islands preserve vital ecosystems. Also: Synthetic hormones are flooding the waterways, so biologist Sara O’Brien is conducting experiments to pinpoint the source of human-made hormones and to determine the consequences of exposure to them. The canary-in-the-coal-mine for O’Brien’s research is the ubiquitous “mosquito fish”.

 The Music of the Glaciers | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:58

Matthew Burtner spent much of his childhood near glaciers in Alaska. Now he is creating music from the sounds of the melting glaciers to raise awareness of climate change. And: How are rising oceans changing the lifestyles of the people of Tahiti? Archeologist Jenny Kahn is documenting 1,000 years of the movements of Tahitian people. Plus: Centuries of dried plants carefully preserved by botanists are stashed away in drawers and cabinets all over the American Southeast. Andrea Weeks is part of an enormous project to digitize 3.4 million plant specimens, perhaps discovering new species in the process. Later in the show: Before the dinosaurs roamed the world, there were some enormous relatives that ruled over them. Sterling Nesbitt talks about these giants who ruled the earth. Plus: Tree rings don’t just show the age of a tree, they also tell us about the past and, maybe the future. Stockton Maxwell says tree rings might even help solve climate change.

 Rushing in to Help | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:59

Soon after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, thousands of people dropped everything in their comfortable lives to rush south and help out. Many of them were professional nurses. Deborah Ulmer interviewed nurses who volunteered after Katrina and says the experience changed their lives forever. Also: Help may be coming for people who have intense flight anxiety. Lindsey Harvell and Tatjana M. Hocke-Mirzashvili are investigating the causes of a fear of flying and how to fix it. Plus: Brian Puaca traces the patriotic roots of the comic book and now movie superhero Captain America. Later in the show: A study finds that an affectionate work environment boosts teamwork and job satisfaction and leads to less burnout and absenteeism. The Harvard Business Review looks at the research by Mandy O’Neil. Plus: With people living longer, more adult children are caring for their aging parents. Sarah Gilbert gives long-term planning tips for this period in our lives.

 Founding Friendships (July 23, 2016) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:59

Countless chick flicks, novels, and even self-help books have tackled the question: can men and women be just friends? Cassandra Good argues that, in fact, American men and women have maintained close friendships since our country’s founding. And: Most of us don’t intend to be sexist or racist, and yet sometimes we find ourselves in the wrong. Jennifer Mease asks the question, “When it comes to racism or sexism, why aren’t good intentions enough?” Later in the show: Many people struggle to find balance between work, family, and self-care. Beth Cabrera interviewed more than a thousand women about how they find a happy balance. Plus: Researchers have found specific genetic markers in a population of Chinese Han women that predispose them to the risk for clinical depression. Kenneth Kendler was part of the team that made the breakthrough.

 Bicycle Fever at the Turn of the Century | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:52:00

In the late nineteenth century, Americans caught bicycle fever. Evan Friss is the author of The Cycling City, about the 1890s when American cities were home to more cyclists than anywhere else in the world. Plus: Veteran animator “Tuck” Tucker talks about illustrating many of the most popular cartoons in recent times, including SpongeBob Squarepants, Hey Arnold!, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. Also: The NCAA has doled out more academic sanctions to historically black colleges and universities than to other institutions. Carray Banks hopes to make college sports more equitable. Later in the show: There’s a scene in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing where a dance instructor lifts his young student in a beautiful lake at sunset. Today, that lake is disappearing, and Skip Watts and George Stephenson are studying why. And: Virginia’s shoreline is expecting a sea level rise of as much as three feet or more by 2060. Ray Toll is leading a comprehensive local response to the flooding that will be used as a model for the rest of the nation. Plus: The earliest environmentalists weren’t tree-huggers; they were hunters and colonialists. Historian Stephen Macekura traces how African conservation has been closely tied with colonialism and development.

 The Madam Next Door | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:58

There’s a small town in Idaho where prostitution was practiced openly—in effect, decriminalized. The practice was tolerated, even embraced, until 1991. Heather Branstetter has been interviewing local residents, discovering who the madams were and what they did to cultivate widespread public acceptance of their work. Plus: If you’ve ever had a coworker write nasty or demeaning emails, undermine your credibility, or give you the silent treatment, you’ve experienced workplace incivility. Dan Davidson and Danylle Kunkel say it affects the bottom line and should be included in performance reviews. Later in the show: In our series about STEM education, we ask: what does a scientist look like? Male or female, short or tall, black, or brown? We talk to four young scientists about their outreach project at William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science. And: Fewer than 2% of physical science degrees—like physics and chemistry—went to African-Americans in 2009. Considering African-Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population, these numbers are shockingly low and they’re getting lower. Plus: We hear about what might be keeping American girls out of laboratories, and Laura Puaca explains the WWII history of Edna the Engineer.

 Nation of Nations | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:52:00

With immigration rising, the United States will soon no longer have a white, Anglo ethnic profile. Tom Gjelten, NPR Correspondent and author of, “A Nation of Nations,” says that in the last fifty years, our immigrant population has tripled. Plus: In 1960, eleven-year-old Gustavo Pérez-Firmat came to the States as an exile from Cuba. In his new book, “A Cuban in Mayberry,” Pérez-Firmat discovers that even though a Cuban would never live in a town like The Andy Griffith Show’s Mayberry, he feels that, in a way, Mayberry is home. Later in the show: An influx of foreigners with a desire to share your resources is nothing new to the Cherokee. “The Cherokee Diaspora” by Gregory Smithers details the Cherokee evolution from a close group to a people of multiple communities. Also: “Border Odyssey” by Charles Thompson Jr. tells how Thompson left his small organic farm in North Carolina and traveled the entire length of the nearly 2,000 mile border between the United States and Mexico.

 Slaves Waiting for Sale | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:58

In 1853, Eyre Crowe, a British artist, visited a slave auction in Richmond, Virginia. His painting of the scene was later exhibited at the Royal Gallery in London in 1861. In her book, Slaves Waiting for Sale, Maurie McInnis describes the impact this pivotal painting had on the British public at the outbreak of the American Civil War. Greg Kimball talks about a new exhibition of art dealing with the American slave trade. Also: Jonathan White says many Union soldiers were not for re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and were in fact pressured to vote for him. Later in the show: 1619 was the year the first Africans arrived in North America. Many were Christians with European names like Jean Pedro and Angela, and some came from cities. Scholars Linda Heywood and John Thornton discussed the lives of these first Africans at Norfolk State University’s 1619: The Making of America conference. Also: Recently discovered essays by an anonymous writer who called himself “The Humourist” are now being hailed as some of the best essays in America’s colonial period. Brent Kendrick reveals the real identity of the author.

 Monument Avenue Feature | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:03:37

We’re approaching the one year anniversary of the Charleston shooting, which left nine people dead and sparked controversy over Confederate monuments throughout the United States. Allison Quantz reports on one Richmond, Virginia man who makes a case for rethinking the monuments spread throughout the former Confederate capital.

 Pulitzer 100 Encounters at the Heart of the World | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:58

While most Americans know Native American tribes like the Lakota or Cherokee, the Mandan are less well known. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Encounters at the Heart of the World, historian Elizabeth Fenn recounts the story of the Plains Mandan tribe as they rose to a population of 12,000, before being nearly wiped out in a few short years. Fenn turns to untraditional sources from archeology to climatology to tell a history that supposedly couldn’t be written. Later in the show: It’s been a year since the mass shooting of churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina by a gunman whose online manifesto includes photos of himself with emblems of white supremacy. The shooting sparked national conversation about the removal of Confederate battle flags and monuments from public spaces. In a candid conversation, Chioke I’Anson and Kelley Libby share their thoughts on Richmond, Virginia’s Confederate monuments, racism, and growing up in the Deep South.

Comments

Login or signup comment.