With Good Reason

Francis O’Neill rose through the ranks to become a prominent Chicago police chief at the turn of the 20th century. But he’s mostly remembered as the savior of Irish folk music. Mike O’Malley highlights O’Neill’s incredible life and explains how he used the authority of his badge to collect thousands of tunes. And: Thomas Stanley says that there is no such thing as silence--there’s always something to hear. Stanley teaches and creates sound art and shares with us some of his favorite listening selections. Later in the show: Violinist Naima Burrs explores how to escape the white male vacuum of the classical music canon, and underscores key moments in her life as a musician.

While many Americans keep the Christmas decorations stowed away until after Thanksgiving, the Philippines takes Christmas to another level. From September to December, the Southeast Asian island-country celebrates the longest Christmas season in the world. Ken Garcia Olaes and his parents bake some Bibingka, a filipino-style cake, and share fond memories of Christmas time in the Philippines. And: Erica Cavanagh spent two years as a member of the Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa. She says sharing food with her host family helped to shed her long-held values of independence and self-reliance. Plus: Over the last few decades, pumpkin spice has become synonymous with the Fall season. If you’ve never had a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks have you ever truly experienced the glory of Fall? Catherine Franssen breaks down our obsession with pumpkin spice and explains how our brain is hardwired to love Fall. Later in the show: Ever tried to drink a bottle of hot sauce? That’s what Ray Parrish says his new Signal O

It’s all about the power of the almighty dollar. Meredith Katz says that from From the Boston Tea Party to the Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work, consumers have long known that. What companies are you avoiding this year? Who’s getting your hard-earned money instead? And: These days almost all toys are Made in China. But that wasn’t always the case. Susan Fernsebner says that most Chinese toys were made in America. So the Chinese government incentivized creating toys that reflected its own national identity. Later in the show: For months, companies and experts have been suggesting that we hurry up and buy our Christmas gifts. It’s almost judgement day... will they arrive in time? Erika Marsillac says that while it may be tempting to blame this on COVID-19, the reality is that we import almost everything and it’s adding up. Plus: Stefan Duma spent the 1990s through the early aughts researching how to prevent face and eye injuries in the military. After publishing his findings, he started getting calls from popu

Pregnant people who struggle with substance abuse face an uphill battle getting the care they need for their pregnancy and the care they need for their recovery. Caitlin Martin’s OB MOTIVATE clinic believes that caring for the whole person--pregnancy, addiction, and everything else--in one place is the best way to truly help patients. And: The criminal justice system has the highest concentration of people with opioid use disorders in the US. If you’re in the justice system, you are 400 times more likely to abuse opioids than the general population. And yet, says Faye Taxman, the justice system is not at all equipped to handle addiction services. Later in the show: Since 1999, opioid overdose deaths in this country have increased more than six times. What’s driving that incredible rise? Barbara Blake Gonzalez has looked at many different factors that contribute to overdose deaths, from commute time to the number of pharmacies in a town. Plus: Long before today’s opioid crisis, there was a crisis of Civil War

For many, the Thanksgiving holidays are a time to gather with your biological relatives. But what if you don’t have the traditional, Norman-Rockwell family? April Few-Demo studies how queer families of color, especially Black lesbians, navigate biological and chosen family. She says that dialogue about identity and acceptance might happen in subtle ways during the holidays. And: Shannon Davis argues that we should remember those families who can’t get together during the holidays at all, because time off work is too high a price to pay. Plus: Laura Heston shares how they and their LGBTQ chosen family celebrate a “Friendsgiving,” complete with drama and drag. Later in the show: Some scholars argue that what we call non-traditional families aren’t so non-traditional after all. Alicia Andrzejewski has found chosen families and alternative bonds throughout the works of William Shakespeare. And: Before she became an instructor, Roslyn Durham was a social worker helping families in crisis. She shares her strategi

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 de muerto. Plus: It seemed like quinoa just kind of came out of nowhere didn’t it? Well, it kind of did. Linda Seligmann tells us how she witnessed this afterthought crop become a commercial crop. And: Will the real pigs please stand up? Brad Weiss gives us insight on North Carolina’s local farming efforts to produce real, local pork. Later in the show: When they first hit the shelves, Americans really were not interested in canned goods. They canned their own food in clear mason jars. There really was no real need for this strange, aluminum can that they couldn’t see inside of. Anna Zeade says that the commercialization of canned foods marks the beginning of our opaque food system. And: Pasta didn’t always come in neat boxes on shelves. Melissa Gray says that American pasta makers started that practice as a way to distinguish themselves from Italian

The red colobus monkey is one of the most endangered primates in the world. Found in West, East, and Central Africa, the once thriving species has been decimated by over-hunting. Josh Linder has devoted his career to studying and conserving these peaceful primates. Plus: A few months ago, Francesco Ferretti led an expedition to be the first to ever tag endangered great white sharks in the Mediterranean. While he and his crew didn’t end up tagging any sharks, they uncovered exciting new evidence of great white activity in the water. Later in the show: The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782. But only a few decades ago, it was on the brink of extinction. Bryan Watts has been monitoring the bald eagle population in the Chesapeake Bay for 30 years. He says the bald eagle is one of the biggest success stories in the history of conservation. And: In the small island-nation of Sri Lanka, elephants are sacred animals. But Sujan Henkanaththegedara says the rich and powerful are illeg

A lot of parents are tired of telling their kids to put down the video games, and pick up the textbooks. But now, video games are part of school. Lisa Heuvel says that Minecraft creates a unique opportunity for practicing effective teamwork. And IT specialist Jan Dougherty says that through games, students begin dealing with complex topics without even realizing it. Later in the show: A lot of people avoid exercising the parts that ache as they age. But James Thomas says that’s the worst thing you could do. He’s working with a team at VCU’s Motor Lab to create virtual reality games that move people beyond their fear of movement, and into feeling better. Plus: Jacob Enfield says that not all games are created equally. Without a real challenge, he says, educational games can be rather useless.

During the early months of the pandemic, live theater shut down completely. Leslie Scott-Jones, a theater director and producer, was looking for a way to continue her work. Grounds: A Blackcast was born. This fictional podcast follows five Black professors at a predominantly white university in the south as they navigate work and life. And: Contemporary fiction these days is experimental, genre-crossing, and form-breaking. But one form that hasn’t quite made into the fiction mainstream: theater. Kate Kremer is a playwright, teacher at UVa Wise, and editor of 53rd State Press. She publishes new, contemporary plays as books that are meant to be read by anybody, not just theater-goers. Later in the show: Ten years ago if you asked a classroom of college students if they were feminists, most of them would say no. Today, Jessica Del Vecchio says her feminism and performance class has a waiting list. Culture has shifted and at the front lines of that shift, you’ll find experimental theater. Plus: When we teach mat

After new episodes drop, fans of TV shows from The Bachelor to Grey’s Anatomy take to social media to dissect what they just saw. And the twittersphere isn’t just venting about plot twists and love interests--sometimes there are bigger issues at hand. Dr. Morgan Smalls says that shows like Insecure and Being Mary Jane that feature Black women protagonists and majority Black casts inspire important conversations about race on social media. And: Disney princesses can be a bit of a scapegoat for what’s wrong with representations of women in movies. One of the problems: they don’t have many healthy female relationships. Jessica Stanley talks about the toxic relationships of wicked stepsisters and evil witches and how modern Disney movies are doing better. Later in the show: Movies and television tell stories about who we are and who we get to be. What does that mean for people who don’t find themselves on the screen? Andre Cavalcante explores the history of trans representation in the media and how trans women h

Earlier this year, 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. She says she’s living, breathing proof of why the capital punishment should be a thing of the past. Also: Deirdre Enright is probably best known for her work as the founding director of the Innocence Project and her passionate voice on the first season of the hit podcast, Serial. But before all that, she spent decades as a capital defense lawyer. She says she attended one of her clients’ executions and it changed her life forever. Later in the show: Since 1976, 17 women have been executed in the United States. Mary Atwell says women facing the death penalty are often subjected to harsher sentencing due to gender bias within the criminal justice system. Plus: In 1951, seven Black men from Martinsville, Virginia were executed for allegedly raping a white woman. Two months ago, Virginia governor Ralph Northam issued pardons to each of t

The most important architectural thinker of the young American republic was Thomas Jefferson. He also held captive more than 600 enslaved men, women, and children in his lifetime. Architects Mabel O. Wilson and Louis Nelson discuss Jefferson’s conflicting ideals. Also: Erik Neil takes us through a Chrysler Museum exhibit that explored the inherent conflict between Jefferson’s pursuit of liberty and democracy and his use of enslaved laborers to construct his monuments. Later in the show: Phillip Herrington says the white-columned plantation house is one of the most enduring and divisive icons of American architecture. Plus: The history of segregation is not just in our architecture, but in other public arts. John Ott is studying how artists in the early 20th century represented integration in their works, particularly in public murals and sculptures.

Cancer is a beast, and it doesn’t discriminate. For decades researchers have been trying to treat and cure children with cancer. Dr. Daniel “Trey” Lee is working with a team to develop more immunotherapies for pediatric cancer, reducing the pain and hopefully sending more patients into remission. Also: More and more employers and schools are rolling out vaccine mandates, leaving many wondering: is that legal? Margaret Foster Riley says that actually, yes, it’s very legal. Later in the show: Do you have trouble trusting your gut? It may be because of what you’re eating, or not eating. Jasmohan Bajaj says our gut is our second brain, and we can help ourselves by helping our gut. Plus: How oil wells in Louisiana gave Jennifer Munson a new perspective on how to treat diseases like cancer and Alzhimers.

Last year, America celebrated the anniversary of many women getting the right to vote. But what led up to that victory was decades and decades of hard work and strategy. Lucinda Robb and Rebecca Roberts, authors of The Suffragist Playbook, share some of those tactics and how they are still used by activists today. Later in the show: In today’s political strategy, attack ads on TV are out, attack tweets are in. Heather Evans’ studies how women politicians use social media. She says that not only are women candidates more likely to go negative online, they’re also just better at Twitter. And: This summer gymnast Simone Biles chose not to compete in the Olympic team competition. And one opinion piece after another weighed in on her decision as a public commentary or stance on mental health. Tomika Ferguson says that whether or not they choose it, Black women athletes are often looked to as activists on political and social issues.

The first year of college can be stressful and disorienting, especially for shy students. But Madelynn Shell says shy freshmen who have at least one good friend report more life satisfaction and better emotional wellbeing. Plus: While many students on the rural Eastern Shore of Virginia can’t wait to get out, one of their teachers couldn’t wait to come back. Christina Duffman grew up in poverty and now shares her inspiring life story with students who feel hopeless there. Later in the show: Leslie Whiteman and her colleagues created a program called STAR (Successful Transition to the Academic Realm) to help minority students overcome science class challenges and pursue STEM careers. Plus: Many teachers see cell phones in the classroom as a real problem, but Helen Crompton loves bringing handheld technology into student learning. Helen Crompton is a Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award recipient.

For decades, video games have inspired hit songs and have been adapted into countless movies. Boris Willis says the next horizon for video games is the stage. He uses cutting-edge video game technology to turn his performances into interactive experiences. And: Arcades defined pop culture in the 1980’s and 90’s. But today, they’re almost extinct. Zach Whalen charts the rise and fall of one of America’s most nostalgic institutions: the arcade. Later in the Show: In 2014, Anita Sarkesian posted a series of videos criticizing sexist tropes in video games. The onslaught of harassment directed towards Sarkesian and other women in the gaming community is known as the Gamergate scandal. Bruce Williams says we’re still dealing with the social and political fallout from the Gamergate today. Plus: Over the years, Politicians and pundits have been quick to blame violent video games for mass shootings. But Jimmy Ivory says there's no evidence to suggest video games lead to violent behavior.

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 Monticello tells the story of Charlottesville neighbors fleeing racist violence and taking refuge in Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello. The author, Jocelyn Johnson, talks about what it means to be writing about a past and a future that both feel very present and whether there’s hope in writing about America’s racism. Later in the show: Famous for the fatwa put on him by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, Salman Rushdie is still writing years later--but now from the United States. Pennie Ticen discusses Rushdie’s past and the new kind of writing he’s publishing as an American immigrant. Plus: On the surface, The Tigger Movie and Anne of Green Gables don’t have a lot in common. But if you look a bit closer, they both touch on an incredibly popular theme in stories for kids: adoption. Kim Gainer explores why kids are so obsessed with reading about adoption and h

Many American students left for Spring Break in March 2020, and will be returning to in-person school for the first time this Fall. It sounds nice in theory -- some time away from the classroom. But schooling never stopped, and it was difficult. Bethany Teachman says that some students got hooked on social media apps like Tik Tok to cope. And: These days we recognize that teachers are superheroes. But that celebration may be too little, too late. With low pay and high stakes testing, Brad Bizzellsays teachers are under burnt out. Later in the show: When the pandemic brought everything to a halt, nature still did her thing. Alan Forrest led Mindfulness Mondays that became a lifeline for many of his colleagues and students around the country. Plus: As students enter another uncertain pandemic year, Robert McNab says that we need to prioritize funding mental health resources.

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 covers in her fascinating class, “The Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe.” And: Robin Hanson has come up with a mathematical model that predicts when us earthlings will encounter an advanced alien civilization. Hint: It won’t happen anytime soon. Later in the Show: UFO encounters are usually horror stories of abduction and alien implants. But Stephen Finley says many African Americans describe UFO encounters as positive experiences. Plus: Benjamin Zeller recounts the tragic history of Heaven’s Gate, a religious group whose members committed mass suicide in 1997.

What do you do for work? That answer changed for many people at the top of the pandemic. But what was a tragedy, has become a choice for many. Nathaniel Throckmortan says that people had time to think about what mattered to them, and in many cases, it’s not work. And: Many young people in the workforce are enjoying more flexible schedules, and many baby boomers are on their way out. Jeannette Chapman says that this will have long lasting effects on the labor market. Later in the show: At the beginning of the pandemic, Americans rallied around a war-like mentality: It’s us against the invisible enemy. But were we ever really all on the same page? Did those measures really help all of us the same way? Thomas Duncan says there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to a global pandemic. Plus: Nationwide, states activated anti-price gouging laws to keep hand sanitizer and toilet paper on shelves. Rik Chakraborti says it was well intentioned, but the anti-price gouging laws actually contributed to more COVID deaths.