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-time dad. And: Back in the day, the stereotypical dad would come home from work and plop themselves on the couch, while the mom toiled with dinner and the kids. But now fathers are more involved in the family than ever before. Scott Grether studies the household division of labor in hetero couples. Spoiler alert: us guys still have a long way to go.

Later in the show: We’ve known for a long time that moms have an increased risk of depression during and after pregnancy. But what about dads? James Paulson breaks down the understudied field of paternal depression and shares a fact that’ll probably blow your mind: new or soon to be fathers experience similar rates of depression as mothers.

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 UNESCO and even the United Nations.

Later in the show: Later in the show: One hundred years before colonization, Central African people were practicing Catholicism. And now African legacy is interwoven into a local Catholic ritual in northern Brazil. Michael Iyanaga says that for these believers, there is no either or. And their practices embody the intricacies of the Black Atlantic. His forthcoming book is called Genealogies of a Saint's Song: Silenced Histories of Africa in Bahia, Brazil.

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 show: The can-do innovation that emerged after World War II came to define American identity. In his new book, Every American an Innovator, Matthew Wisnioski traces how that culture of innovation we once celebrated is facing a backlash. Plus: For decades, children have traveled with a wacky teacher named Miss Frizzle, who drives the Magic School Bus. Michael Meindl explains how The Magic School Bus became one of the most successful informal science education initiatives ever.

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.

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. Now it's an environmental gem with a beautiful quarter mile loop boasting over 500 species of native plants. Devin Floyd takes us on a tour of the gardens - showing off the quarry pits and the ancient ecosystems he calls lost worlds.

Later in the show: For the last ten years or so, Jim Parkhurst has been running a statewide wildlife hotline. It’s a toll-free number people can call to report run-ins with bears or ask questions like how to keep deer out of their gardens. He breaks down the ways we humans can better co-exist with wildlife.

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’Keeffe has been treated as a myth. Their documentary Georgia O'Keeffe: the Brightness of Light brings her to life in all of her complexities.

Later in the show: Do you ever find yourself humming a favorite nursery rhyme to yourself or recalling a fairy tale to get through a tough time? Margaret Meehan says there’s a more sinister side to the classics. She remixes and explores those stories in her ceramic work to ask who were we taught to fear? To respect? How were we taught to be? And: Along the Roanoke River Greenway, cardinals, songsparrows and American redstarts are chirping their late Spring tune. Through her watercolor wildlife portraits, Lucinda Rowe captures the spectacular mundane of the local ecosystem.

REPLAY: Riding Jane Crow by With Good Reason

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. Khadijah Miller highlights how Black women strategically organized and fought back against disenfranchisement.

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 Reed looks at domestic advice in popular Cuban magazines before and after the 1959 revolution. She says the role of women within the family underwent big changes as Cuba became communist state. Plus: Nestled in the Cuban countryside is a community called La Picadora. It draws tourists from all over the world to learn about sustainable farming. Krystyn Moon says their sustainability practices were born out of economic crisis.

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 programs to support him as a veteran. Now, Anthony works to help veterans enroll in programs that connect them to well-paying civilian careers, like the joint program with Norfolk State University to help veterans produce semiconductors.

Later in the show: Norfolk, Virginia is home to the largest naval base in the world. A third of Stephanie Richmond’s military history students are in ROTC. She knew they’d learned about the military greats. She wanted her students to learn about the everyday men who served in the military and walked the same streets that they walk.