With Good Reason

Black women are three and a half times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. Even highly educated, wealthy African Americans are at a greater risk than whites. To combat the disparity, Dr. Rochanda Mitchell advocates hiring more African American nurse educators and providing anti-bias training for medical professionals. Plus: Bellamy Shoffner was well aware of the frightening statistics when she gave birth to her sons. Shoffner is Founder and Editor of Hold The Line Magazine, about social justice motherhood.

Later in the show: Although doulas have become more popular as birth and postpartum support, they’re still expensive and most insurance won’t cover their services. This can be particularly important for African Americans who are at greater risk throughout pregnancy and whose babies are at greater risk at birth. Christin Farmer created Birthing Beautiful Communities of Cleveland, a non-profit that trains and provides doulas at no cost to African Americans in Cleveland, Ohio.

One study found that in the early months of the pandemic, as many as 40% of Americans skipped medical care. But new health insurance coverage of telehealth visits means that there’s a better option. UVA Health’s Karen Rheuban and Laurie Archbald-Pannone have steered innovative telehealth approaches that bring safe medical care to patients’ homes and long-term care facilities. And: When the world closed down last March, Sarah Gilbert created the Front Porch Project to connect her nursing students with the older adults they were learning to care for. Their distanced conversations started as a health intervention and turned into so much more.

Later in the show: When COVID-19 struck, most of us were caught off guard. Others, like Saskia Popescu, have spent years preparing healthcare systems for events like Covid. Plus: Rural communities face so many barriers to accessing healthcare, but they also show incredible strengths in the way they care for each other. Laura Trull shares how the pandemic has affected rural communities and how public health officials can use rural strengths to help fight back.

It’s difficult to imagine that the highway was someone’s home. But it was. LaToya S. Gray says a once thriving Richmond neighborhood known as the Harlem of the South fell victim to intentionally destructive city planners. And: You don’t have to look far to connect racial inequities to environmental issues. Jeremy Hoffman says that many formerly redlined neighborhoods experience up to 16 degree hotter days in the summer than green lined neighborhoods within walking distance.

Later in the show: How far do you have to travel to get to a park? Not a patch of grass, but a real park -- with shade, amenities and things to do. Dorothy Ibes says American parks are underutilized, and we’ve got to step it up. Aside from jumping in a pool, trees are our best bet to cool summer heat. Pamela Grothe says we have to be intentional about putting trees in the right places.

In July of this year, Virginia will become the first Southern state to legalize marijuana, marking a major milestone in the failure of the War on Drugs. Katherine Ott Walter traces the racist roots of the War on Drugs and offers sensible alternatives to dealing with addiction in America. And: In the early 1970’s, Richard Bonnie became the Associate Director of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. While the Commission ultimately recommended the decriminalization of marijuana, President Nixon refused to endorse the recommendation. But that didn’t stop a handful of states from decriminalizing marijuana.

Later in the show: Today, the majority of Americans favor marijuana legalization. But back in the 1930’s the US government pumped out bogus propaganda that incited fear and linked marijuana to violence. Scott Maggard breaks down how the media shaped attitudes towards marijuana throughout American history. Plus: Marijuana has been used medicinally and recreationally for thousands of years. But Larry Keen says the science isn’t exactly clear about it’s long term effects on the body.

If plants could talk, what would they say? What if they could sing? Sam Nester, Yassmin Salem, and Donald Russell explain how George Mason University’s Arcadia installation turns a greenhouse into an orchestra. And: Fossils give away the secrets of the past, but they can also tell the future. Rowan Lockwood is taking a closer look at the fossils of giant oysters to learn how to rebuild oyster reefs today. Lockwood was named a 2019 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award recipient.

Later in the show: Crystal blue lakes might make for a popular tourist spot, but they’re starting to disappear. Dina Leech is studying what gives lakes their color and why they’re changing. Plus: While forests are a deep green right now, in just a few months leaves will be changing colors--thanks, in part, to caterpillars. Rebecca Forkner shares how these tiny insects change their environments and what we can learn from them.

More and more often, celebrities are home-grown in front of a ring light and iPhone. As viewers keep scrolling past these insta-celebs, they’re starting to see themselves differently. Miriam Liss and Mindy Erchull say we compare ourselves to what we see despite knowing all that glitters isn’t gold. And: Have you been running to Twitter to cope with the crazy news cycle over the past year? John Brummette says it's a common coping mechanism.

Later in the show: Long before social media, there was cancel culture. Carolyn Eastman reminds us of Mr. O, the first “cancelled” celebrity you’ve probably never heard of. Plus: Matthew Turner says that all comedy is an inside joke, but some jokes span generations.

Kirsten Gelsdorf has spent over 20 years working for the United Nations and other organizations in the humanitarian sector. She discusses her experience in disaster zones and clears up some commonly-held misconceptions about humanitarian aid. And: Earlier this year, Virginia became 1 of only 10 states to pass a Bill of Rights for domestic workers. But Jennifer Fish says while it’s certainly a step in the right direction, these protections often exist only on paper. Jennifer has been named an Outstanding Faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Later in the show: According to the Guiness Book of World Records, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the most translated document in the world. But it’s not typically taught in American classrooms. Eric Bonds says we could learn a lot from studying the document and applying its moral framework to our communities right here in the United States. Plus: Before the Cold War, UN peacekeeping missions were executed almost entirely by the United States and Western European countries. But now developing countries have started to take the lead. Tim Passmore says this may signal a larger shift in the global power structure.

Thanks to COVID-19, many of us are more closely tuned in to the environment around us than ever before. We’re spending more time hanging outdoors, planting kitchen gardens, and taking up bird-watching. In honor of Earth Day and our new relationship with the great outdoors, With Good Reason invites you to walk with us. We venture into dark caves with Ángel García, traipse around the foothills of Appalachia with Ryan Huish, explore the mini-ecosystems of fallen trees with Deborah Waller, and wade through ghost forest wetlands with Matt Kirwan.

In 2019, the most notable poets of our time gathered in the nation’s capital to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Furious Flower Poetry Center, devoted to African American poetry. Furious Flower founder, Joanne Gabbin and Lauren Alleyne join us in-studio to celebrate poets and hear excerpts from interviews with Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Sonia Sanchez, and many others.

Later in the show: Widely known for his poem called “Facing It” about the Vietnam War, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa was a guest of honor at a week-long seminar at James Madison University’s Furious Flower Poetry Center. And: In her newest book, Sargent’s Women, Donna M. Lucey tells the fascinating stories behind four of the portraits by the famous painter John Singer Sargent, and ushers us into the scandalous and heartbreaking lives of Gilded Age high society.

We have a lot to do with what happens to rainwater from the time it hits the ground, to the time we drink it. And our small efforts can add up over time to prevent catastrophe. Kathy Gee has great advice for us: don’t live downhill from someone else, and start a rain garden. And: Along Appalachian streams, people grew up watching the hellbenders swim around and fight beneath the surface. Now, their grandchildren have hardly ever seen the two-foot long salamanders, affectionately called snot dogs. Bill Hopkins says that what’s happening to the snot dogs’ water also has an impact on our livelihood.

Later in the show: Water is a vehicle for social and political inequality all over the world. But Claire Payton says that the issue is front and center in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Plus: Abbey Carrico says that fictional representations of water help us make sense of life and death.