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.

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 stories and their conversations gave rise to her new book The Time Left Between Us.

Later in the show: After the Civil War, veterans and their families were able to apply for a pension. But they had to prove they were eligible. Sharon Roger Hepburn’s book Private No More compiles almost 60 letters written by John Lovejoy Murray submitted as proof for a pension and kept in his government file since the Civil War. Murray, a Black soldier who died during the war, wrote home about the food, the pay, and racism in the ranks. Plus: Community colleges can offer a particularly welcoming landing spot for veterans transitioning to civilian life. Steve Borden shares some of the ways his college is easing the transition.

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 The Readjuster Party took power in Virginia. Sheren Sanders tells the story of how Black republicans, white working class Virginians, former Confederates, and Democrats, all came together to readjust Virginia’s debt and give those funds back to the people. Plus: For some, Barack Obama’s presidency is evidence that the Civil Rights movement succeeded. How did Black voters see him at the time? Athena King explores how Black movement leaders supported Obama and where they challenged him.

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 all over the world protecting endangered bat species.

Later in the show: European explorers first made contact with West Africa in the 15th century, and thriving trade relations soon followed. But Neil Norman says the Europeans weren’t the ones calling the shots - it was powerful West African kingdoms like Ouida, located in present day Benin.