With Good Reason

The FDA recently approved a number of medications to treat Alzheimer’s disease. But while these new drugs are far from a cure, Lana Sargent says they’re certainly a step in the right direction. And: Fruit flies can be such a nuisance. But those tiny little buggers hovering around your old bananas might actually help treat Alzheimer’s. Anna Salazar’s found a link between gut health and dementia in fruit flies that may apply to humans as well.

Later in the show: Close to 7 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. And as the country continues to age, the search for a cure has never been so pressing. Timothy Jarome works with elderly lab rats to understand what happens to the brain as we grow older. He was named an Outstanding Faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Plus: When we’re young, a slip or trip might result in a bruise or skinned knee. But as we grow old, falls can be dangerous - even life threatening. Michael Madigan helps elderly folks practice falling in harnesses so they can better navigate obstacles in the real world.

For twenty years, Jason Moulenbelt has asked his students to go back in time and decide whether to do something differently. Most of them say that despite the painful lessons, they wouldn’t change a thing. And: In the infamous Stanford rape case, a member of Stanford’s men’s swimming team was caught behind a dumpster in the act of raping an unconscious woman–Chanel Miller. Chanel was known only as the “unconscious female victim” until her powerful victim impact statement went viral. Mercedes Corredor says that Miller’s impact statement and memoir, Know My Name, are examples of the moral power of vindictive anger.

Later in the show: Life’s big changes often leave us grappling for meaning. As a philosophical counselor, Kevin Cales works with people to understand their values as a way forward. Plus: Do you ever catch yourself speaking about plants as though they have human senses? Well they just might. And if they do, Kate A. Brelje says that we’ve got to re-evaluate our care ethics towards plants.

On this episode of With Good Reason, Technical Director Jamal Millner hosts and we explore how some musicians interact with the communities they inhabit. The inspiration, support and motivation these artist’s receive from their families, friends and fans.

CJ Colston is a millennial Evangelical Preacher and Singer that performs proselytizes in Southwestern Virginia area churches regardless of the race of the congregations. And: Filmmaker and VH Fellow Alicia Aroche discusses her upcoming documentary 32 Blocks. We discuss her film about a few of the great and internationally recognized musicians that grew up in the Church Hill area of Richmond VA. Lonnie Liston Smith and Wah Wah Watson are just a couple of the musicians featured in the film.

Later in the show: Alternative Hip Hop artist geonova from Big Stone Gap tells us about the struggles and triumphs of being an LGBT artist in rural Virginia. Plus: Jazz Trumpeter and Composer John D’earth is the final guest on this episode. We discuss his upcoming retirement as Director of Jazz Studies at UVA, stories of his interactions with some of jazz histories masters and his latest projects.

NASA recently announced they’re preparing to send humans to Mars as early as 2035. It’ll be a huge undertaking that will require a big budget and massive collective effort. But Joel Levine is focused more on the small stuff. He’s working with NASA on sterilization methods to prevent the cross-contamination of microbes between Earth and Mars. And: It’s around a 7 month trip to go from Earth to Mars. That’s a long time to be in outer space. And we’re just now learning how it’ll affect the body. Hank Donahue says extended space travel can cause serious bone density loss and other health issues.

Later in the show: Stargazers rejoice! Any day now the night sky will welcome a new star. Justin Mason says it’s a NOVA called the T-Corona Borealis, and when it explodes it’s brightness will rival the North Star. Plus: What’s rubber, a must-have at every birthday party, and can fly to the highest reaches of the atmosphere? Why, balloons of course! Wendy Hinton launches high-altitude balloons with her students to get them hands-on experience outside the classroom.

The borders of Jordan have changed over and over in the last century. And each time they shift, Jordanian immigration policy–officially or unofficially–shifts as well. Lillian Frost takes us deep into the history of the region to understand how Jordanian officials have interpreted the same immigration laws differently depending on what’s going on in the nations around them. And: In the US, more than 80% of survey respondents say they want to see immigration reduced. Researchers find similar numbers in Europe. Megan Roosevelt explores what drives these anti-immigrant attitudes.

Later in the show: Applying for a spousal visa to the U.S. means navigating a whole system of unwritten rules. Gina Longo explores how informal online communities navigate this U.S. immigration system. Plus: When Sophia Sexton first came to the United States as an immigrant from Afghanistan, she recognized the importance of language and communication. Today, she teaches students at Northern Virginia Community College, many of whom are immigrants themselves, how to share their own stories through writing.

Could a centuries-old curse be to blame for Will Smith’s infamous slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards? Amanda Kellogg uncovers the long history of a superstition known as Macbeth’s curse. And: Anna Beecher first encountered the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale, The Boy Who Went Forth to Learn to Shudder, as a young kid and was thoroughly frightened. She based her play, Skin of the Teeth, on that same Grimm’s fairy tale.

Later in the show: Halloween and Scream are two of the goriest slasher movies. But they’re more than just jump-scares and frights. Jennifer McLawhorn says slasher movies actually open a window into important social anxieties around gender. Plus: The first horror movies like Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari came out in the 1920’s, during the silent film era. Jenny Taylor says the roots of the horror movie genre can be traced back to Germany’s Weimar Republic.

In America, presidential primaries don’t officially begin until February of the election year. But we all know that presidential campaigns go on for years before that. In mid-August, the Democratic Party announced Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee after incumbent President Joe Biden stepped down. Voters didn’t choose this. The party did. Caitlin Jewitt wonders how this will impact the way that political elites nominate future presidential hopefuls. Plus: Presidents have to know how to take a joke. And how to tell one about themselves. Steve Farnsworth says that many young people are finding their way into understanding the political landscape one joke at a time.

Later in the show: Gen Z is exceptionally active in protests and rallying people around causes that matter to them. But surveys show that they’re not quite as active at the polls. Xiaowen Xu says this might be because they don’t feel heard or represented by current presidential candidates. And: Political party identification is the unmoved mover. It rarely changes. Except when it does. Daniel Reed says that some things can affect how we show up at the polls.

We usually reserve the word “wicked” for the worst things in life. But at Radford University, being a wicked student is a badge of honor. Every year, Paige Tan and Meg Konkel help students come up with creative solutions to life’s messiest problems for the Wicked Festival. And: What if you could get 500 dollars for free? Only catch is, you have put it toward something that does good - something that leaves a positive impact. How would you spend the money? That’s the challenge Chris Tweedt brought to his business ethics students.

Later in the Show: From the long list of expenses to endless paperwork, starting a business can be a headache. That’s where Norfolk State’s Innovation Center comes in. Established in 2019, Akosua Acheamponmaa says the Innovation Center is all about helping early entrepreneurs in underserved communities make their business dreams come true. Plus: When Meg Michelsen was a kid, she used to collect fragrance samples from department stores and magazines. Now she studies sensory marketing, focusing on how brand names and product scents influence our buying habits.

There’s an AI arms race. And anyone can compete. But AI doesn’t have moral judgment; it only sees patterns. Atin Basu says that military education needs to emphasize the humanities to ensure that the people behind the machines have moral center and judgment that the machines will never have. And: For one reason or another, doctors and nurses don’t have a lot of time to talk to patients. The AI chatbot Florence is here to help. Haipeng Chen hopes to train Florence to be as smart as a human nurse.

Later in the show: Water is essential to life. And hackers know that. Floridian and Hawaiian water systems have been hacked in the past year. Some of that damage cannot be undone. Feras Batarseh and his colleagues are working to ensure that water in the nation’s capital is not hacked. Plus: Sachin Setty says that the future of work requires us to coexist with AI. So we have to learn how to trust it.

If you’re looking for new music, you might turn to youtube, spotify, social media–basically, the internet. In Cuba, internet access is so limited that music is passed through a USB network called Sneakernet. Mike Levine explains how Sneakernet helps spread the rhythms–and politics–of reparto music. And: What does it sound like when trees sing? Or rocks? Or a city waterworks? Sara Bouchard is a sound artist who often works with data from objects and nature to make music.

Later in the show: As a young kid, music brought meaning to Donald Sorah’s life–and it kept him in school. Now as a teacher, he brings the joy of music making to students, particularly the ones who don’t think of themselves as musicians. Plus: There’s nothing quite like sharing your favorite songs with the people you love. But Kevin Caffrey says that kind of shared musical experience can also be a way to connect with strangers.