When Colin Rafferty moved to Virginia in 2008 he didn’t know much about the presidents, so he set out to read a biography of each one. What began as a personal project eventually turned into his new publication - a collection of experimental, genre-bending essays on every U.S. president. Also: In 2016, Eric Drummond Smith guest-curated an art exhibit called The Cherry Bounce Show at the William King Museum in Abingdon, VA. He called on artists from all over Appalachia to create modern artwork, w...
Feb 10, 2022•52 min
In 1979, members of the KKK shot and killed five labor and civil rights activists in Greensboro, North Carolina. Aran Shetterly, who is writing a book about the incident, says it still reverberates in the racial politics of Greensboro today. Also: The European philosophers of the Enlightenment argued that Europeans were civilized, but Africans were barbarians. Stefan Wheelock describes how radical African American writers used those same philosophical principles to unmask the barbarism of slaver...
Feb 03, 2022•52 min
Little kids absorb everything around them–from the words we say, to the way we move and dress. Psychologist Chelsea Williams says that long before we realize it, little kids are also absorbing attitudes about race and ethnicity. She studies how parents can help young Latinx kids be proud of their identity. And: The 1980 Marial Boatlift brought 125,000 mostly Black Cuban immigrants into Florida. Monika Gosin says messaging around these arrivals in Miami reveals a lot about the racial tensions tha...
Jan 27, 2022•52 min
As technology advances, society becomes more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. Bug bounty hunters to the rescue! Bug hunters are ethical hackers who help companies fix vulnerabilities in their systems before the bad guys find them. But Daniel Graham says some ethical hackers face a moral dilemma: should they fix the vulnerability for a modest sum or sell it on the black market for much more? And: Hypothetical scenario: You just suffered a traumatic brain injury. You’re unconscious and doctors...
Jan 21, 2022•52 min
Back in the 1950s, the Soviets were eager to follow their Sputnik success with an even bigger milestone: they would send something living to outer space. Amy Nelson says that the pups were easy to rebrand as space pioneers. And: Scientists have reason to believe that Mars has a lot in common with Earth. Joel Levine says the search for life outside of Earth is the driving force of space exploration. Later in the show: Increasingly, tech that was for extraterrestrials is making its way into the ha...
Jan 13, 2022•52 min
The 1970s saw a renaissance of Black women writers like Alice Walker and Gloria Naylor who told stories of Black women’s pain and healing. Tamika Carey says that just a few decades later, these stories trickled up to a whole Black women’s wellness industry, driven by figures like Oprah Winfrey, Iyanla Vanzant, and even Tyler Perry. And: In the wellness world, “natural” reigns supreme. So much so that according to Alan Levinovitz, it’s become a religion. His new book explores how too much faith i...
Jan 06, 2022•52 min
When Jennifer Malia started researching her young daughter’s behaviors, she realized that both she and her daughter were on the autism spectrum. Malia has a children’s book coming out next year, called: Too Sticky! Sensory Issues with Autism. Also: Leslie Daniel celebrates autism and shares some basic strategies for communicating with children on the autism spectrum. And: Children’s museums can be tricky for kids with autism. Through personal experience and extensive research, Jackie Spainhour h...
Dec 30, 2021•52 min
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 se...
Dec 21, 2021•52 min
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 sharin...
Dec 17, 2021•52 min
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 ...
Dec 09, 2021•52 min
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 mo...
Dec 02, 2021•52 min
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...
Nov 22, 2021•52 min
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. Lat...
Nov 19, 2021•52 min
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 ...
Nov 11, 2021•52 min
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 y...
Nov 05, 2021•52 min
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....
Oct 28, 2021•52 min
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 wh...
Oct 21, 2021•52 min
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...
Oct 14, 2021•52 min
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 ...
Oct 07, 2021•52 min
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 y...
Sep 30, 2021•52 min
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 ...
Sep 23, 2021•52 min
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: Lesl...
Sep 16, 2021•52 min
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 ...
Sep 09, 2021•52 min
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: Fam...
Sep 02, 2021•52 min
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 Bizzel...
Aug 26, 2021•52 min
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 abdu...
Aug 19, 2021•52 min
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 beg...
Aug 12, 2021•52 min
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. In the years since, as residents have come and gone and rebuilt their lives, a lot has changed about the city--including, says Katie Carmichael, the way people talk. And: The author of Sudden Spring, Rick Van Noy travelled across the US South interviewing people about floods, heat, and storms. He says that, in many Southern communities, climate change is already here. Later in the show: In the early 19th century, Americans began to journe...
Aug 05, 2021•52 min
During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, tensions between the United States and Russia very nearly led to nuclear disaster. So what prevented the unthinkable from happening? Martin Sherwin says it had something to do with luck. And: Throughout this summer, states in the West have been sweating through an unprecedented heatwave. Philip Roessler has studied the impact of these rising temperatures on conflict zones around the world. He says climate change will soon become one of the main drivers of la...
Jul 29, 2021•52 min
Mask debates, a rush for a vaccine, and closed schools--not much has changed in the years since the 1890 and 1918 influenza epidemics. Tom Ewing takes us back to historical outbreaks to see what we can learn about today’s Covid-19 pandemic. And: There’s been a lot of coverage about the challenges of distributing the Covid-19 vaccine. How do we get it to distant areas? How do we use a whole vial before it expires? What about the special refrigerators needed to keep it cold enough? But these probl...
Jul 22, 2021•52 min
