George Tzamaras fancies himself as a “connoisseur of fine dad jokes.” I have him rate a few of my own dad jokes as a rite of passage as I start my journey into fatherhood. His new book is called It’s Dad Joke Friday: The Collection (2018-2025). Also: Being a dad is a huge responsibility. And as my wife and I get closer to our due date, I’m starting to feel the nerves kicking in. I sat down with Santo Coleman to talk about the power of fatherhood and share my own anxieties about being a first-tim...
Jul 24, 2025•52 min
What makes Taylor Swift one of the most compelling songwriters of our time? Chelsea Hamm says it's her relatability. With bright, upbeat pop anthems like “22” and “Anti-Hero” that are both fun and reflective, Swift’s music engages audiences across generations. Also: The K-Pop band BTS regularly mobilizes their fans, the BTS Army, to support causes for social good. Baobao Song says that nonprofits and corporations could learn from the way that BTS has mobilized their army to support efforts like ...
Jul 18, 2025•52 min
From 2009-2015 Volkswagen cheated on emissions tests to convince customers to buy 11 million VW cars they thought burned clean diesel. Kimberley Kinsley says “Dieselgate” was the largest ever case of corporate greenwashing. Also: Big tech companies often boast they’re using technologies that can save the planet. But Jesse Goldstein argues that the allure of AI–which requires energy hungry data centers–will lead to more and more excuses for why they have to keep fossil fuels flowing. Later in the...
Jul 11, 2025•52 min
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 your pages turning. Jessica Mullens Fullen, Vic Sizemore, Sarah Rifky and Maynard Scales share some of their favorite reads.
Jul 03, 2025•52 min
What if a well-manicured lawn isn’t the end all be all? What if it’s actually harming the local habitat? Doug Tallamy is the co-founder of Home Grown National Park. It’s a non-profit that urges property owners to reduce their lawns and plant native plants. He shares all the little things we can do to help restore functioning ecosystems and mitigate the biodiversity crisis. And: Quarry Gardens is the first and only native plant botanical garden in Virginia. It started off as a soapstone quarry. N...
Jun 26, 2025•52 min
Many have viewed O'Keeffe's abstract oil paintings as erotic. She blithely dismissed those assumptions in her lifetime. And while her work was praised by women artists and second wave American feminists as proof of their own potential, she refused that identification. Her work was her work and her accomplishments were her accomplishments. She did not want to lead or represent anyone but herself. Known as the mother of American modernism, film directors Paul and Ellen Wagner say that Georgia O’Ke...
Jun 19, 2025•52 min
REPLAY: Riding Jane Crow by With Good Reason
Jun 12, 2025•52 min
Advocates of “ranked choice voting” say it makes our elections better by allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference. Others say it’s too confusing. Sally Hudson and Executive Director of Ranked Choice Virginia explains this new way of voting that’s been slowly spreading across the country. Read more here: Coming to a Voting Booth Near You: Ranked Choice Elections (Karsh Institute). Later in the show: At the same time that the 19th amendment passed, lynchings increased in the South...
Jun 05, 2025•52 min
The golden age of American comics spanned from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. Superheroes like Batman, Captain America, and Superman captivated audiences in the US - and in a small island-country only 90 miles off the coast of Florida. Cuba embraced American comics from the very beginning. And artists eventually created their own uniquely Cuban superheroes. Geoffroy de Laforcade charts the rich history of Cuban comics and shares his favorite comic book artists in Cuba today. Later in the show: Sara R...
May 29, 2025•52 min
Engineering is often misunderstood as stoic and fixed. But Col. Jim Squire says that it's creative. He’s learned from his military service and years of teaching that each student brings their personal experience to how they solve a problem. And AI could never replace lived experience. And: Anthony Fontes served in the Marine Corps for twenty years, and he maintains that transitioning back into civilian life is the hardest thing he’s ever done. When he came back home, there were no job skills pro...
May 22, 2025•52 min
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 African American veterans in his small Virginia community to return home. And: Alicia DeFonzo’s grandfather was a big part of her life as a kid. He was charming and jovial and the absolute best storyteller. But his stories always left out the years he spent fighting in WWII. Late in his life, Alicia finally asked her grandfather to tell those s...
May 15, 2025•52 min
During WWII, the government created the National War Labor Board to regulate labor and control inflation. Instead, says Bryant Etheridge, the Southern regional board raised wages for the lowest earners. And: The Black Panther Party famously advocated for Black revolutionaries to arm themselves for self-defence. Edward Onaci explores the long history of Black revolutionary movements for self-defense. Later in the show: For a brief moment in time after Reconstruction, a biracial coalition called T...
May 08, 2025•52 min
Take your flashlight and grab a compass - let’s go exploring! Peter Berquist lives and breathes boats. He captains the R/V Investigator, a 24 foot Carolina Skiff. Every semester he takes his students out on the boat for adventures and first-hand research experience. Peter has been named an outstanding faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. And: Dave Waldien is a real life explorer. And he has the title to prove it! He’s a National Geographic Explorer and travels al...
May 01, 2025•52 min
Dr. Emma Violand-Sanchez has dedicated her life to supporting immigrant and refugee students in the American public education system. Emma immigrated from Bolivia to America without her parents in 1961 as a senior in high school, knowing little English. Her memoir Dreams and Shadows: An Immigrant’s Journey is a Virginia story, from the desk of a 16-year-old Emma during the height of desegregation and an adult woman who often had to justify her presence in schools where she was supporting immigra...
Apr 25, 2025•52 min
The patient-doctor relationship is complicated and fraught. Patients often feel confused and talked down to, in part because doctors feel like they need to project authority. As a physician and a poet, Laura Kolbe is trying to make room for uncertainty and humility from both sides in the exam room. Kolbe’s new collection of poetry, Little Pharma, explores the messy and human side of doctoring. And: The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed so many vulnerabilities in our healthcare system, from racial in...
Apr 17, 2025•52 min
Virginia’s Eastern Shore has a distinct way of living–and eating. And looking at the environment and economy of the Eastern Shore, there are some big changes on the horizon. Virginia Folklife Director Katy Clune digs in and asks: What are the cultural values of the region today? Scientists and policy makers talk about climate resilience. What about cultural resilience? Later in the show: Jessica Taylor has been recording oral histories in Eastern Virginia for nearly two decades. She says the peo...
Apr 11, 2025•52 min
The Clinch River in Southwest Virginia is one of the oldest rivers in the world. And it’s home to 50 different mussel species. But many of them are endangered. Bruce Cahoon and his students may have recently found a clue about what’s causing the die offs. And: Virginia’s marshes are so thick and tough, hardly anything eats them. Except for purple crabs. They eat the grass and the root, leaving behind nothing but a muddy wasteland. David Johnson says armies of these purple crabs are decimating sa...
Apr 02, 2025•52 min
We as humans need connection. So we often slip into the chameleon effect. We mimic others’ tone and mannerisms in conversation to empathize and connect. Otherwise, we might be perceived as cold. Nicole Guajardo says that in our digital world, using emojis has become a major way to mimic tone and express interest in conversation. And: Owners of social media platforms make a lot of money off of our constant bickering. And the algorithm is hard-wired to keep us clicking on the next thing that will ...
Mar 27, 2025•52 min
For more than a century, bestseller lists have been full of mysteries, thrillers, and detective stories. Alice Kinder takes us back through the history of detective tales from Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes to Edgar Allen Poe. And: What does it take to write a mystery novel? Polly Stewart, takes us into the creation of The Felons’ Ball, her new book about family, moonshining, and murder in the mountains of Virginia. Later in the show: Fictional detectives rely on their wit and intuition to ...
Mar 20, 2025•52 min
Awful memories from war often hang around long after the bullets stop flying. And writing can be a powerful tool to get a handle on past trauma. David Robbins teaches a semester-long writing class called the Mighty Pen Project designed for veterans. And: Laura Bender is a retired chaplain who has taken the Mighty Pen writing class almost every year since 2020. She says it's the community that keeps her coming back. Producer Matt Darroch has the story. Also: In the heat of battle, soldiers might ...
Mar 13, 2025•52 min
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 the colonial period. Rohan Kalyan says Modi’s vision for India doesn’t leave much room for non-hindus and other minorities. And: Neel Amin studies the writings of British hunters in 19th century India. He says a nomadic people called the Banjara threatened the sense of colonial superiority held by the British. Later in the show: In 1765, the...
Mar 06, 2025•52 min
For the past nine years, Hans-Peter Plag has taken on the perspective of an alien ecologist coming to Earth. And when he looks at Earth, he sees a crisis of overgrowth. Humans, he says, have become a virus. If we don’t learn to do more with less, he fears that we will irreparably disrupt the planetary system that keeps us alive. And: America is one of the largest donors to global humanitarian aid. But the sheer size and red tape involved in the emergency response can inadvertently undermine the ...
Feb 28, 2025•52 min
Join With Good Reason for a series of conversations that bring Furious Flower Poetry Lifetime Achievement honorees in conversation with a new generation of Black poets. This episode features Lorna Goodison and Shauna Morgan on time travel, Band-Aids, and how human beings are always capable of surprise. And: Cornelius Eady and Clemonce Heard on jazz solos, memorializing Black death, and whispers that filled the high school hallways after the first poem he ever wrote.
Feb 21, 2025•52 min
Join With Good Reason for a series of conversations that bring Furious Flower Poetry Lifetime Achievement honorees in conversation with a new generation of Black poets. This episode features Tim Seibles and Ariana Benson on alien life, good grammar, and the dreams of Langston Hughes. And: Elizabeth Alexander and Nicole Sealey on the treasures of archives, the work of a generation, and the resonant truth you feel in your bones.
Feb 13, 2025•52 min
Grace Flores-Hughes was shattered when her husband passed away after a long illness. She rushed into dating, hoping to fast forward past the grief. But she discovered that grief could not be rushed. And: Can knowing your partner’s love language really guarantee a good relationship? Louis Hickman says no. He and his colleagues found that personality traits were a much greater indicator. And those, too, can change as relationships and people change. Later in the show: Valentine's Day can bring a b...
Feb 06, 2025•52 min
When Nikki Giovanni passed away in December at the age of 81, she left a legacy that will continue to be a beacon of light for generations to come. We first had Nikki on With Good Reason more than 20 years ago when I spoke to her about space travel and her poem, Quilting The Black Eyed Pea. And: Rapper Tupac Shakur famously sported a “thug life” tattoo… and so did Nikki Giovanni. I sat down with her in 2014 to talk about the poem she dedicated to Tupac after he was killed in 1996. Later in the s...
Jan 30, 2025•52 min
For centuries, we could measure the health of our economy in terms of employed versus unemployed. But that’s outdated now. Victor Tan Chen says that the American workforce is precarious for Americans and no one is exempt. And: In the late 90s, students rode bikes naked across Virginia Tech’s college campus to protest sweatshop abuses overseas. The students were part of The United Students Against Sweatshops collective. Dale Wimberly says that the group protested labor conditions at overseas swea...
Jan 23, 2025•52 min
We’ve all forgotten someone’s name at a party or social gathering. It can be a special kind of embarrassment. One that makes you want to disappear and crawl under a rock. Daniel Willingham shares why we’re all terrible with names and how we can be better. And: Not only are we humans terrible with names, we’re also not great at remembering unfamiliar faces. It’s why eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable. Mitchell Meltzer is working with his students to crack the code on what makes a good...
Jan 16, 2025•52 min
For the last decade or so, more and more Americans have taken part in a new New Year’s tradition: dry January. You probably know somebody doing it right now–maybe it’s you! Neeral Shah walks us through the benefits of taking a month off of alcohol. Later in the show: If you’ve got a meditation goal for 2025, you might get unexpected benefits. Daniel Berry says mindfulness training isn’t just personal, it also helps the people around us. And: It’s no surprise that exercise helps us sleep. But how...
Jan 09, 2025•52 min
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 community. And: Life skills classes for people with exceptional needs often teach things like cooking, money skills, and street safety. Karen Feathers and Jackie Secoy believe that appreciating, listening to, discussing, and even playing music are important life skills, too. Later in the show: Imagine you’re looking at a piece of art like a paint...
Jan 02, 2025•52 min
