Shows / With Good Reason
With Good Reason
Each week on With Good Reason we explore a world of ideas with leading scholars in literature, history, science, philosophy, and the arts. With Good Reason is created by Virginia Humanities and the Virginia Higher Education Broadcasting Consortium.
Episodes
With Good ReasonThe End of the World!
In 1979, the US government commissioned a fictional account of the aftermath of nuclear war…set in Charlottesville, Virginia. George Perkovich says the report…
With Good ReasonREPLAY: Music as Escape
The Soulmasters was a 1960’s interracial soul band from Danville, VA. Jerry Wilson and John Irby were the two African-American lead singers and the other band…
With Good ReasonWhen Sunday Comes
Much has been said about the golden age of gospel music in the 1940s and 50s. But what about the gospel music that came later when hip-hop and soul were…
With Good ReasonLiving With Water
Citizens quickly took Fidel Castro up on his offer to leave Cuba from the Port of Mariel if they had someone to pick them up. From Spring to early Autumn of…
With Good ReasonAnimal Friends
Dog breeds get stereotypes. There’s the well-heeled, intelligent border collie or the good-natured, but not-so-bright golden retriever. Jennifer Holland’s new…
With Good ReasonSeeking Asylum
Immigrant incarceration has a long history in the US - starting with the Chinese Exclusion Acts of 1882. Brianna Nofil says it’s part of a system of mass…
With Good ReasonWoman Enough
The International Olympic Committee has never required men to prove that they are men. But from nude inspections to DNA swabs, women have had to prove their…
With Good ReasonREPLAY: HBCU Renaissance
HBCUs rose from the ashes of slavery and have been educating Black students for generations. Cheryl Mango says HBCUs are currently experiencing a renaissance…
With Good ReasonDrugging France
In the 19th century, French doctors were finally on the cusp of treating pain. It was a new horizon in the history of medicine. Sara Black says they were…
With Good ReasonTaking Care of Moms
Before the covid-19 pandemic, there were clearly cracks in the healthcare system for maternity and postpartum care. But during the pandemic, those cracks…
With Good ReasonPresenting: Crosswinds
Hampton Roads is home to the largest coal export operation in the United States. Crosswinds, a podcast from the University of Virginia’s Repair Lab, follows…
With Good ReasonUnited We Stand: In Our Words
Teenagers have long turned to books for a guide on how to live, but for kids of immigrant parents, those guides can be particularly important. Addie Tsai’s…
With Good ReasonMapping Climate History
Last year, thick smoke from Canadian wildfires wafted down and blanketed a broad swath of the East Coast - from New York to North Carolina. The wildfire smoke…
With Good ReasonNew Brownies
In the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, W.E.B. DuBois wanted children to have something to read. Something that was speaking to them. So he started The…
With Good ReasonUnited We Stand: The People's Tongue
Who decides what makes a language? In countries all over the world, there are official organizations with that job–in France, Croatia, India, Denmark, Nigeria…
With Good ReasonREPLAY: I've Endured
While Beyonce's Texas Hold 'Em spreads country music joy, we bring you this music-rich episode on women who have rocked the ole time country music scene. Rene…
With Good ReasonMoving Forward By Looking Back
When Latorial Faison meets somebody, she can almost immediately tell if they attended a Black school during segregation. She says they carry themselves with a…
With Good ReasonSpring Break
About 80% of Americans have visited Disney World in Florida. Marc Williams says that Disney World has both shaped and been shaped by American identity. And…
With Good ReasonUnited We Stand: Telling Our Story
Enya Cid moved from Mexico to the U.S. as a three year old. She says this country is her home, but her right to stay here never feels certain. In 2022, Enya…
With Good ReasonMere Difference
Living with a disability can be hard. But it doesn’t have to lead to a life less lived. Elizabeth Barnes says her own diagnosis made her confront the reality…
With Good ReasonREPLAY: Life Without Boundaries
19th and 20th century poet, Alice Meynell–a.k.a. “the penciling mama”--described motherhood as “life without boundaries.” Cristina Richieri Griffin discusses…
With Good ReasonSelfish
Imagine if everyday you went to work and pretended to be someone else. That’s life for professional actors. Robyn Berg says self care is essential for acting…
With Good ReasonLet's Talk About Love, Baby
Valentine’s Day today means candy hearts and stuffed bears. But Kat Tracy says the origins of the holiday are far from cute and fuzzy–and they don’t have a…
With Good ReasonREPLAY: Expanding Our Origin Story
Cauline Yates was at a family reunion the first time she heard she was a descendant of Thomas Jefferson. She later helped develop the Memorial to Enslaved…
With Good ReasonIn The Wake of Sea Level Rise
In 2011, Japan was rocked by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake. It triggered a tsunami that measured 130 feet high - killing around 18,000 people and causing untold…
With Good ReasonThe Next Pandemic
Beverly Sher has been teaching her “Emerging Diseases” seminar since 1996. From AIDS in the 1990s, SARS in 2003, the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and the modern…
With Good ReasonDigging In
When we dig deep underground, we get a chance to dig deeper into history. Dennis Blanton wants to change the way we think about America’s beginnings. He’s…
With Good ReasonREPLAY The Pets We Love
In the earlier stages of the pandemic, when many people were still staying as close to home as possible, nearly 1 in 5 American households adopted a pet. Furry…
With Good ReasonREPLAY: Protecting Human Rights
Kirsten Gelsdorf has spent over 20 years working for the United Nations and other organizations in the humanitarian sector. She discusses her experience in…
With Good ReasonWhat Makes A Place?
It’s almost impossible to look back on family road trips without thinking of Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrels have a distinct sense of place - like going home…
With Good ReasonHoliday Hand Me Downs
As we age, we come to appreciate the holiday traditions of our youth. Ricky Mullins remembers receiving treat bags at his small, backroads church. The poke…
With Good ReasonCravings
The holiday season is about cheer, gathering with loved ones and, of course, food. Alex DiFeliceantonio warns that ultra processed foods—like the ones on your…
With Good ReasonWinning NIL
NIL sent shockwaves through college athletics when it was signed into law in 2021. Now student-athletes could earn money off of their name, image, and…
With Good ReasonSeeking Refuge
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…
With Good ReasonDinner Theatre
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…
With Good ReasonBlack And Fine
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…
With Good ReasonREPLAY The Birthplace of Mac n Cheese
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…
With Good ReasonDragons And Creatives
Dorothy Suskind diagnoses the kind of workplace culture that allows bullying. And: Chris Reina says that prioritizing relationships creates better results in…
With Good ReasonAfter They've Served
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…
With Good ReasonThe Age of AI
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…
With Good ReasonREPLAY What's On Your Plate
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…
- With Good Reason
I've Endured
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…
With Good ReasonPolice Culture
Conversations around community policing are polarizing. It can be hard to have a meaningful and useful conversation. Brian Williams believes that conversations…
With Good ReasonSeeing Isn't Believing
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…
With Good ReasonOpen Book
Traditionally people become licensed educators and then enter a classroom. Smita Mathur and her colleagues took a different approach. They invited migrant farm…
With Good ReasonREPLAY Women On Screen
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…
With Good ReasonArtful Living
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…
With Good ReasonThe Many Indias
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…
With Good ReasonRecovery
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…
With Good ReasonTerrapins And Terriers
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…
With Good ReasonREPLAY Reading And Writing Ourselves
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…
With Good ReasonREPLAY Entangling Alliances Hour
During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, tensions between the United States and Russia nearly led to nuclear disaster. So what prevented the unthinkable from…
With Good ReasonUnderground And Taboo
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…
With Good ReasonSummer Reading Show
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…
With Good ReasonREPLAY Abolishing The Death Penalty
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…
With Good ReasonA Confrontation With History
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…
With Good ReasonREPLAY The Empathy Tours
Jalane Schmidt recently brought a group of Virginia teachers to see Charlottesville’s tiny monument to its enslaved residents. One teacher had a startling…
With Good ReasonWorking Conditions
Connective labor is disappearing. Professions that rely on connecting humans -- like teaching or therapists -- are being automated. Allison Pugh says that this…
With Good ReasonDestroying The Soul
Political prisons in the Arab world are rooted in colonialism. Diana Obeid says these prisons are meant to instill fear and destroy the soul. And: In 2022…
With Good ReasonMusic For Life
Growing up in Southwest Virginia, Tyler Hughes has been steeped in the traditions of mountain music and dance from a young age. For him, music is about…