With Good Reason

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. Jennifer Victor (George Mason University) walks us through the best way to cast our ballots this November and what to expect from a pandemic election. Plus: With the institution of no-excuse absentee voting, states like Virginia could see drastically different polling than in past years. Rosalyn Cooperman (University of Mary Washington) breaks down who this policy impacts most, and why your absentee vote is so essential this year.

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 million American adults who are immuno-compromised, traveling to a doctor’s office for a vaccine could be a massive risk. Julian Zhu is developing a mailable stick-on patch that would allow people to vaccinate from home. Later in the show: After being nearly eradicated, black lung has made a strong resurgence in central Appalachia. Aysha Bodenhamer looks at the human costs of so-called cheap fuel in coal country. And: The term self-help calls to mind home-organizing strategies and meditation guides. But in the 1960s and 70s, a different kind of feminist self-help movement was revolutinizing women’s healthcare. Hann

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 Samantha Rosenthal, Don Muse, and Peter Thornhill describe the sometimes-dangerous, always-exciting gay bars of the 1970s and 1980s in Roanoke, VA, before the AIDS crisis and gentrification changed the scene forever. Later in the show: Choreographer and performer Al Evangelista brings us into the world of experimental queer Pilipinx dance, a form that he and his collaborators say can spark conversations and social change. And: Growing up, Lauron Kehrer’s parents wouldn’t let her listen to hip-hop music. Now, she studies it for a living. Kehrer says hip-hop by both straight and LGBTQ artists can help us better understand r

Atin Basu and his colleague’s Hotspot Predictors placed America high on the conflict predictor index for 2019. Sure enough, in 2020, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people marching in the streets, guns flying off of the shelves and police and military using weapons against civilians. And there are 3 months left in the year. Can Predicting Hotspots help us see ahead to 2021? Christie Jones was working in homeland security when Trayvon Martin was murdered by a neighborhood vigilante. She began questioning why addressing terrorism wasn’t a priority for securing the nation, shifting her perspective from homeland to human security. Later in the show: As an undergraduate student, Juan Garibay found himself frustrated by his math program as an undergraduate student. How could it be the best program in the nation if it couldn’t connect STEM to social justice? Garibay is using the SENCER method to transform classrooms and connect students to the human needs in the data. Alix Fink is teaching students about the P

In 1908, the U.S.S. Albatross set off on a research expedition to the newly acquired U.S. colony of the Philippines. Today, Kent Carpenter is studying the more than 80,000 fish samples collected by the Albatross to uncover how overfishing is actually changing fish genetics. Carpenter has been named an Outstanding Faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. And: The Chukar Partridge is a common ground-bird found in parts of Asia and the western United States. Brandon Jackson believes this species is the key to understanding the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds. Later in the show: When a neighboring wind farm was endangering an entire population of bats at the Rose Guano Cave in Spring Valley, Nevada, Rick Sherwin helped come up with an ingenious system to protect them. Also: “Toad Day” is the one night that all toads in a single region mate, and biologist Jason Gibson celebrates it each year. Gibson also started HerpBlitz, an annual citizen scientist event to collect inf

100 years ago women gained the right to vote with the 19th amendment. Professors Amanda Nelson and Molly Hood set the stage, and their students are bringing suffragettes to live in the digital, interactive theatre collaborative “Performing History: Women and the Vote.” Later in the show: At the same time that the 19th amendment passed, lynchings increased in the South. Khadijah Miller highlights how Black women strategically organized against disenfranchisement. Also featured: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is often seen as the peak of Black suffrage. But as we speak, history professor Lucien Holness says the Supreme Court is chipping away at the VRA.

Everyone remembers things differently. With Good Reason takes you from D.C. to Poland and Jerusalem to show the different ways museums are commemorating the Holocaust.

Turns out the pandemic is the ideal time for workplaces to build better systems for getting women into positions of power.

Vic Sizemore was an evangelical for much of his life - until he wasn’t. His book, Goodbye My Tribe: An Evangelical Exodus, chronicles his journey away from fundamentalist religion. And: We’ve all heard about the Evangelical Right, but what about the lesser-known Evangelical Left? David Kirkpatrick traces the Latin American roots of the Evangelical Left movement. Later in the Show: The pandemic has been an exceptionally hopeless time for many. David Salomon looks to religion and art for guidance. Plus: Evangelical America is changing. Sean Connable tracks online masses and hologram preachers to study how digital culture is changing the politics of faith.

Homelessness is an unfortunate reality for many military veterans. Jimmie Fedrick says having a support system and an active social life can be key to turning their lives around. And: Loneliness is more than just a horrible feeling. Studies show that it can actually have adverse health effects. Pam Parsons founded the Richmond Health and Wellness Program, which helps reduce social isolation among the elderly. Later in the show: How can we be alone together in the pandemic? In a world without skin-to-skin contact, James Coan thinks the next best option might be something equally uncomfortable for many people: singing. Plus: Covid quarantine takes a particular toll on kids and their parents. Danielle Dallaire says families who normally need extra support are struggling even more now.

Universities will never be the same. Donna Henry sent all students, staff and faculty home with an iPad last fall. She says now those iPads are keeping the university operational. Also: When COVID-19 made the Spring semester digital, John Broome made a Facebook group for professors to support each other that quickly went viral. 30-thousand professors are using it to get ready for the Fall semester. Later in the show: Animals movements have changed as humans migrated indoors to quarantine. Anneke DeLuycker says COVID creates an opportunity to develop new conservation technologies. Plus: David J. Barrish says the restaurant industry is changing and culinary education has to change with it.

A traveling exhibit called New Virginians: 1619-2019 & Beyond from The Library of Virginia in Richmond features oral histories and photographs recorded by Pat Jarrett. People share their personal stories of how they journeyed from Central and South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Republics to make Virginia their new home. David Bearinger discusses the complexity of the immigrant and refugee experience for the individuals and families who have lived and are living it. Later in the show: The contributions that Irish nuns made to help destitute immigrant Catholic children in New York City were instrumental in developing modern American social institutions like foster care and welfare. Before the nuns aided these children, they were being sent to live with Protestant families, often never seeing their parents again. Maureen Fitzgerald speaks about what lessons can be learnt from the Irish immigrant experience. Also: Cindy Hahamovitch compares the history and experience of guest wor

Sammy was just a month old when he started experiencing symptoms of heart failure. Dr. Mark Roeser helped perform the groundbreaking surgery that saved the boy’s life. And: Burnout is especially prevalent in the medical field. And Dr. Mark Greenawald should know, he felt its devastating effects after a patient of his died tragically while giving birth. Earlier this year, he created PeerRxMed to help health care workers identify and overcome burnout. Later in the show: Domestic violence has been on the rise since the onset of the pandemic. Jhumka Gupta says that’s because stay at home orders have isolated women with abusive partners. Plus: Getting facetime with a doctor can be tough--they’re often overbooked and expensive. The problem is even worse in rural areas, where there’s a shortage of doctors. Erika Metzler Sawin runs a program called UPCARE, placing RNs in rural communities to help fill the gap and get more care to more people.

At the confluence of the James and Rivana Rivers in Virginia sits a Monacan site. Monacan Chief Kenneth Branham walks us through the site of what was once the village of Rassawek, the epicenter of Monacan life before the Europeans arrived. And: Martin Gallivan, author of James River Chiefdoms and Jeffery L. Hantman, author of Monacan Millennium, say there is no doubt that Rassawek is the site of the former Monocan capital. Later in the show: For a decade, now, Amy Clark has been probing family land to make sense of ghost stories. A cemetery of enslaved people punctuates the family homestead. Now she’s troubling myths of Appalachia to make the ground talk. Plus: William Isom II is the director of Black in Appalachia. His work with Amy Clark led to his discovery in Tennessee of the grave of his great, great grandfather.

After months at home, your streaming watchlists are probably exhausted. With Good Reason is here to the rescue! We’re bringing you summer streaming recommendations from scholars and artists. Myles McNutt charts Netflix’s rise to video streaming juggernaut and recommends a miniseries on the systemic failures in sexual assault investigations. And: Yossera Bouchtia suggests two TV shows grappling with race and identity in America. Later in the show: White actors have recently been stepping down from voicing characters of color. Shilpa Davé explains the harmful stereotype she calls “brown voice” and recommends a Netflix show that captures the Indian-American coming of age experience. Plus: Tanya Stadelmann shares two films that document the journey to environmental activism.

Even though transgender-themed TV shows like Transparent and Pose have achieved mainstream popularity, trans people still face huge barriers to employment, housing, and safety. In fact, many trans people of color say that their lives are harder than ever before. Transcripts, a new podcast hosted by Myrl Beam and Andrea Jenkins, investigates how trans activists are trying to change that. Later in the show: The Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History tackles wide-ranging topics, including masculinity in Iranian cinema and crossdressing in the Middle East. Hanadi Al-Samman coordinated the 56 entries in the encyclopedia connected to the Middle East. Plus: Hate crimes against LGBTQ people have been on the rise since 2012. Liz Coston discusses what these crimes look like and how police and doctors are failing victims.

When writer and radio producer Lulu Miller (Invisibilia) discovered she’d have to leave Virginia, she wrote a startling love letter to the state -- one that charges everyday people to stay angry about injustice. A.D. Carson (University of Virginia) uses hip-hop and spoken word to tell hard truths about racist history, cutting through denial with metaphor. Later in the show: Tawnya Pettiford-Wates (Virginia Commonwealth University) believes that theatre can heal injustice. She believes it, because she’s seen it happen. Her theatre troupe The Conciliation Project stages plays and dialogues that tackle issues of identity and race in America. Plus: Theatre professor and performer Artisia Green (William & Mary) explains how West African spirituality helps her illuminate new dimensions to familiar plays.

Colleges all over the country closed campus and shifted to online classes at the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Despite fears of a virus resurgence, Virginia Tech and William & Mary are among a growing number of colleges planning to re-open in the Fall. Katherine Rowe (William & Mary President) and Tim Sands (Virginia Tech President) discuss their plans for keeping students safe and how the institution of higher education may be forever changed. Later in the show: Student loan numbers have skyrocketed in recent years, but some groups of students are affected more than others. Jason Houle (Dartmouth College) explains how the burden of student debt follows the same social divides that much else does: race and class. Plus: Stephanie Cellini (George Washington University) studies the rise and fall of for-profit colleges and universities. She says they often take advantage of the students who are most in need of a leg up.

In 1855, an outbreak of yellow fever devastated the port city of Norfolk, VA. Annette Finley-Croswhite (Old Dominion University) says the similarities with the handling of the coronavirus pandemic are chilling. And: Marie Antoinette had wacky hairdos and threw lavish parties. She was also smart and never said,“Let them eat cake.” Ron Schechter (William & Mary) has uncovered her secret library of banned books, which he says reveals a depth to her character not previously recognized. Later in the show: Maggie Walker was an African American teacher and businesswoman and the first woman of any race to charter a bank in the United States. Colita Fairfax (Norfolk State University) says Walker was also a powerful civil rights leader in the former capital of the Confederacy during the repressive Jim Crow era. Plus: A town’s historical markers tell visitors the story of a place. But what do they leave out? We take a walking tour of Fredericksburg, Virginia’s historic markers and monuments with geographer Stephen Hann

As more cities close down streets to traffic, new riders are hopping on bikes every day. Evan Friss (James Madison University), author of On Bicycles: A 200-Year History of Cycling in New York City, talks about the rise in pandemic pedaling and why New York’s bike share program is so successful. And: With so few cars on the road, CO2 emissions have dropped dramatically. But if every silver lining has a touch of grey, it’s the rise in single-use plastic pollution. Matt Eick (Virginia Tech) is a soil scientist who digs deep into our natural environment during this pandemic. Later in the show: Would you be willing to pay an extra few cents for compostable take out containers? Mary Beth Manjerovic (Virginia Military Institute) is asking and restaurants are willing as our trash piles up. Plus: Edward Maibach (George Mason University) suggests we start conversations about climate change in unexpected places: Facebook, the doctor’s office, and the TV weather report.