With Good Reason

In the early 20th century, terrapins–a kind of turtle–were a culinary delicacy. Then humans nearly hunted them to extinction. While Americans don’t eat much turtle these days, terrapin populations are still in danger–from crab traps. Randy Chambers is working to perfect a device for crab traps that will help protect terrapins. And: Learning about learning is a lot easier if you’ve got hands on practice. That’s what inspired the first ever Wise-minster Dog Show at the University of Virginia College at Wise. Robert Arrowood’s psychology of learning class put theory to practice by training shelter dogs. Through the project, UVA Wise students helped dozens of dogs find their forever homes.

Later in the show: Lab rats have a pretty cushy life. And if you measure their stress levels compared to wild city rats, it shows. But what about wild country rats? Molly Kent’s research asks questions about stress in rats, but along the way she’s learning about human stress, too. Plus: Are undiscovered animals lurking in plain sight? Tara Pelletier says that even if animals look the same to our human eyes, they can have genetic differences that make them different species.

Failure is a key part of the scientific process. But Gertrude Fraser says women in STEM aren’t often given the same leeway to fail as their male colleagues. Plus: Ken Ono applied his mathematics research to help swimmer, Kate Douglass, shave 4 tenths of a second off her breastroke. He says it took countless failures to save just a tiny fraction of time, but it ultimately proved to be the difference between winning and losing. Kate won gold at the Paris Olympics in the women’s 200 meter breaststroke.

Later in the show: When Mona Danner was a kid, her father used to say: if you don’t A-S-K you won’t G-E-T. Now she’s paying that wisdom forward. She teaches seminars on the art of negotiation to help women in STEM break through the gender pay gap. And: Josephine Rodriguez says talent alone isn’t always enough for students to succeed in STEM. They need outstanding teachers and opportunities to develop. She’s dedicated much of her career to broadening participation in STEM.

There’s a parasite inhabiting the bodies of crabs and making them infertile. Amy Fowler says that if that parasite entered the Chesapeake Bay, 90% of our crabs would be inedible. America is littered with battlefields, and abandoned forts. They’re often some of the most pristine sites of Virginia ecosystems. Plus: Todd Lookingbill is a SCHEV winner for his research on the ecological value of battlefields.

Later in the show: Scientists first noticed coral reefs disappearing in the late nineties. Now, it’s getting worse as underwater temperatures continue to rise. Researchers Nastassja Lewinski and Liza Rogers are busy testing and developing solutions to coral bleaching. And: Deer enjoy forest edges. They’re away from the predators in the heart of the forest, and there’s less competition for food. But Matthias Leiu says that the lone star ticks love the forest edge, too.

Sitting in a doctor’s office, trying to understand medicalese, is familiar for most of us. And really frustrating. Suzanne Makarem found forty women who pursue nontraditional medical professionals after years of feeling unheard by traditional care providers. Many of these women now only see their traditional doctors for blood tests, vaccines and annual check ups. Plus: The United States and New Zealand are the only countries that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers. So ever since the late 90s, American cable stations are littered with direct-to-consumer drug ads that urge people to ask their doctor today if a certain drug is right for them. Staci Defibaugh says that these ads are not just promoting drugs to patients. They’re showing people how to be an “activated patient.”

Later in the show: It’s baffling to think that by and large, African-American men have a shorter life expectancy than most other groups of people in America. There are many factors involved in that. But Alton Coleman says that being perceived as a threat in public spaces plays a huge role. And: There are many barriers to accessing good healthcare in Appalachia. Troy Makal was shocked to find that the greatest barrier wasn’t transportation, money or insurance, but a fundamental distrust in medical providers.

Babies come into the world ready to learn and all those coos and grunts that they make–and that their parents make at them–are stepping stones to fluency. Rory DePeolis and Shiree Harbick are studying baby babble to better understand how babies learn language. And: Too often when it comes to helping minority kids succeed in school, families are seen as part of the problem to solve. Instead, Melissa Wells recognizes the strengths that families bring. She shares her favorite kids books that help invite families into schools and celebrate their cultural strengths. Melissa was named an Outstanding Faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Plus: There’s a lot of discussion of teachers who are worried about how ChatGPT and other AI tools will affect their classrooms. But some teachers, like Jinhee Kim, are embracing ChatGPT as a lesson-planner, a discussion coordinator, and even a sympathetic ear for stressed out students.

Later in the show: In the early months of Covid, kids were sent home with packets for Zoom school. This was tough on all parents, but for parents with limited English language skills, it was particularly hard. Katherine Barko-Alva and her students started holding bilingual office hours for parents to call for help in Zoom-schooling. Today, the community that came from that meets monthly for Spanish-language parenting support. And: The relationships young children have with their teachers early in school make a big difference in later years. Kathleen Rudasill says that a child’s individual temperament can really affect how that relationship forms.

Many pipelines have been protested, but few have been defeated. Jonathan Mingle says the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in 2020 is a story of collaboration between local activists and the Southern Environmental Law Center. And: Oil was first discovered in Louisiana at the turn of the 20th century. Suddenly, even the most unassuming plots of land could be worth millions. But Henry Wiencek says not everyone with oil on their property got rich.

Later in the show: In the 1970’s, Rae Ely fought tooth and nail to protect her bucolic hometown from developers. Brian Balogh says Rae wasn’t well versed in politics, but she stood up to powerful politicians and business leaders to stop plans for a prison facility and vermiculite mine in her community. Plus: Palm oil is the distinct flavor of Afro-Brazilian cooking. It’s used in all kinds of traditional dishes and even as an offering to religious deities. Case Watkins says the Afro-Brazilian relationship to palm oil has a lot to teach us about environmental and climate justice.

In the '80s and '90s, many Puerto Rican poets who lived in the contiguous United States wrote within a fixed aya and aca/mainland vs. island story. The island was home. Jane Alberdeston Coralin and other contemporary Puerto Rican poets approach their selves, memories and bodies as home. And: Latin American literature of the 60’s was complex and required active readers. By the 70s and 80s, the literature had conformed to the demands of the marketplace: it was localist, exotic and saturated with magical realism. Tomás Regalado-López says that the 1996 Crack Movement transformed the marketplace for Latin American writers. It shifted things from a narrow stereotype to a land of endless possibilities.

Plus: In the 1950s, a Californian poet named Jack Spicer did something wonky. He wrote the introduction to his book in the voice of long deceased poet Federico Garcia Lorca. And he took liberty to translate Lorca’s work as he wished. Scott Challener says that this inspired a generation of poets to approach translation as correspondence.

What makes a court a court? Most people might answer something like this: there’s a judge with legal training, who makes a judgment, and if you don’t follow their judgment, you get punished. David Law says that, actually, none of that is required for a court. That’s how the American courts work, but all over the world there are courts that operate very differently. And: Five years after getting federal recognition, the Upper Mattaponi tribe in Virginia has started operating their own courts. Chief Frank Adams and Savannah Baber explore what tribal justice looks like in Virginia.

Plus: Building a court system is difficult under any circumstances. There’s a lot to decide. In communities that have suffered intense violent conflicts–like Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, or Kosovo after the war of the 1990s–creating a court system is both essential and particularly fraught. Christie Warren has worked all over the world as a facilitator helping post-conflict zones design legal and justice systems.

In 1979, the US government commissioned a fictional account of the aftermath of nuclear war…set in Charlottesville, Virginia. George Perkovich says the report inspired The Day After - one of the most popular made for TV movies of all time. And: Remember when fears of the Y2K computer bug sent everyone into a frenzy at the turn of the year 2000? Matthew Gabriele (Virginia Tech) says a similar apocalyptic panic took place at the end of the first millenia. He studies how early Christians thought about the end of the world. Also: Matt Pryal watched live as NASA successfully completed the DART mission back in 2022. DART stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. He says it was a massive undertaking that may help save humanity in the distant future.

Later in the show: During the Cold War, tensions between the US and Russia were at an all time high. A kind of existential fear seeped into many aspects of society - including the silver screen. Todd Sechser charts the shifting anxieties over nuclear war reflected in movies from the 1960’s to the 80’s. Plus: Heat waves, flooding, drought and other extreme weather have become the norm. It sometimes feels like we’re in the throes of a climate apocalypse. But Frances Flannery says we should avoid using that word - apocalypse - when we talk about the climate crisis.

The Soulmasters was a 1960’s interracial soul band from Danville, VA. Jerry Wilson and John Irby were the two African-American lead singers and the other band members were white. Jerry reflects on what it was like touring the South during the height of segregation. And: We all have that one song that soothes our soul. This ability to escape through music was a lifeline for American troops during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Later in the show: Meet Folklorist Katy Clune! Her passion for diverse folklife traditions stems from growing up all over the world as the child of a parent in the foreign service. Plus: Back in the early 1980’s, Grace Toney Edwards developed Radford University’s first Appalachian Folklore class and when she retired, Ricky Cox took over the class. They reflect on some of their favorite student projects - which have all been digitized at Radford’s Appalachian Folklife Archive.