With Good Reason

Before dinosaurs ruled the Earth, they had some enormous relatives who ruled over them. Sterling Nesbitt talks about these giants of the past and catches us up on the latest in dinosaur news. Plus: Tree rings don’t just show the age of a tree, they also tell us about the past and, maybe the future. According to Stockton Maxwell, tree rings might even help solve climate change.

Later in the show: Some say monarchs are the most beautiful of all butterflies. But they could end up on the endangered species list. Tatyana Lobova is part of a national effort to rescue the beautiful creatures by planting the milkweed plants they need for survival. Plus: It’s hard to have a conversation in a noisy room, so how do birds get their messages across in highly urbanized areas? David Luther Mason says bird songs and changing and the beaks of city birds are actually growing longer! And: For a full month, students enrolled in the Wilderness Institute eat, breathe, and sleep their course. The ultimate test of their leadership and wilderness skills comes when their professor Anja Whittington leaves them to experience the final expedition on their own.

Nominating the President

It’s easy to imagine that front-runner Donald Trump could emerge with the GOP nomination in 2016. But that’s unlikely, according to Marty Cohen co-author of The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform. He says the party “elites” still choose the nominee. Plus: Patrick Rhamey studies and teaches politics. And now he’s putting his expertise to use as a member of city council in the small town where he lives. And: Abraham Lincoln sat for some one hundred photo portraits. Richard Lowry’s new book The Photographer and the President explores Lincoln’s relationship with his photographer.

Later in the show: Today when we vote, we enter a private space, secretly make our choice, and go about our day. Don Debats explains that early voting wasn’t just public; it was a raucous, drunken community festival. Plus: It’s hard to find a smile in a 19th century photograph—instead, you’ll see stern faces and stiff poses. Historian Richard Straw tells the story of one early photographer who broke the formal rules and took candid shots instead.

Conversations with Julian Bond

The late Julian Bond conducted 51 extensive interviews with prominent black leaders in America. Phyllis Leffler who led the project with Bond, has written a book on the series that offers insights into the intractable disparities of race in America. Also: In the 1940’s Fatima Massaquoi penned one of the earliest known autobiographies by an African woman. Arthur Abraham is one of three editors of The Autobiography of an African Princess, which traces Fatima’s life from her youth in Africa to her later years in America.

Later in the show: In his book, The Truth About Cultural Bias, Allen Lewis looks at race in light of the Obama presidency and the George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn court cases as well as his own life. And: Twitter is speeding up communication about racial incidents. Bridgett Robertson says three-fourths of all African-Americans use Twitter to discuss political and social issues of importance to the black community.

Also: The Geography of Slavery is a website that catalogues more than 4,000 advertisements offering rewards for runaway slaves (including one written by Thomas Jefferson) placed in newspapers in the later part of the 18th century. Tom Costa says these advertisements humanize the stories of the runaway men and women and will also be used in the classroom to teach American history.

Ferdinand the Cultural Icon (September 26, 2015)

The beloved children’s book The Story of Ferdinand, about a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight matadors, is among the most widely read and translated children’s books of the 20th Century. Sharon McQueen (Old Dominion University) says Ferdinand became highly controversial, and has been called a pacifist, “the first hippie hero,” an “antisocial layabout,” and a “confirmed schizoid with a strong flower fetish.” Ernest Hemingway even wrote a fable, “The Faithful Bull,” rebutting its message. Also: Thousands of old library books bear fascinating traces of the past. Readers wrote in their books, and left pictures, letters, flowers, locks of hair, and other things between their pages. Andy Stauffer (University of Virginia) says libraries are discarding these old books as they go digital. Books printed between 1820 and 1923 are at particular risk.

Later in the show: Murder, mystery, and poetry come together in medieval scholar Bruce Holsinger’s (University of Virginia) novel set in Chaucer’s London. Plus, Faulkner Fox (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) has a new novel that explores the complexity of race relations for southerners in the 1980s. And, Michael O’Donnell (University of Virginia’s College at Wise) has been teaching for nearly five decades and has no plans of stopping

There’s an iconic scene in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing in which a dance instructor practices a lift with his young student in a beautiful lake at sunset. The water in that lake is disappearing, and Skip Watts and George Stephenson (Radford University) are studying why. And: Virginia’s shoreline is expecting a sea level rise of as much as three feet or more by 2060. Ray Toll (Old Dominion University) says the White House has chosen ODU to lead a pilot project to create a comprehensive local response to the flooding to be used as a model for the rest of the nation. Plus: The earliest environmentalists weren’t tree-huggers; they were hunters and colonialists. Historian Stephen Macekura (Indiana University) traces how African conservation has been closely tied with colonialism and development.

Later in the show: Early struggles between Native Americans and the U.S. government centered on gold claims. But James Allison (Christopher Newport University) says the tension now centers on the new black gold—coal. Plus: Emily Satterwhite (Virginia Tech) talks about two very different images of Appalachia: the pastoral, small towns of literature and the often violent cannibals of horror films. And: In the mid-90s, Latino immigrants started to migrate to smaller towns in the South. Barbara Ellen Smith (Virginia Tech) says the new Appalachia includes chicken enchiladas and tamales.

The 1987 pop song “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega, considered the “mother of the MP3,” was the test track used by German scientists to perfect this new file format that would revolutionize the music industry. Ryan Maguire (University of Virginia) has been experimenting with the sounds that got stripped out of that first MP3. And: From early morning garbage trucks to the non-stop chatter of an endless array of languages, there is a rich sonic landscape that defines New York City. As an expert in the field of “soundscape architecture,” Karen Van Lengen (University of Virginia) has spent time collecting and documenting such sounds and has collaborated with a visual artist on an exhibition featuring recordings and animation.

Later in the show: This year marks the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Andrew Kaufman’s (University of Virginia) book Give War and Peace a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times says that Tolstoy’s masterpiece is more relevant to readers now than ever. Plus: Gone With the Wind, The Patriot, Born on the Fourth of July—some of America’s most important historical moments have been shown through film. Historian Jeffrey McClurken (University of Mary Washington) says while these movies often get the facts wrong, there’s history to be learned from the way the stories are told.

Uptalk” is that rising, questioning tone some people use when ending a statement. It’s becoming so common that Thomas Linneman (College of William and Mary) studied its use by contestants on the game show Jeopardy. He found women use it more than men, but male contestants often use “uptalk” after a woman competitor gets a wrong answer. And: Most of us think the best way to motivate is with rewards like money. But best-selling author Dan Pink says that’s a mistake. He says the secret to high performance and satisfaction is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to create new things, and to better our world.

Also featured: First published in 1947, Goodnight Moon has become one of the most popular books for young children. Yet the book’s author, Margaret Wise Brown, always wanted to write for adults. With Good Reason’s Kelley Libby tells the story of Brown’s life, from Hollins College to her tragic early death. Also featured: After World War II, the International Youth Library in Munich was created to promote understanding by introducing Germany’s children to the literature of other cultures. It’s now the largest repository of children’s literature in the world. Dr. Osayimwense Osa (Virginia State University) is a former fellow at the library. He says the internationalizing of children’s literature is a step toward world peace. And: With busy schedules and media-soaked lives, have our children lost their ability to engage in moment-by-moment experiences? Michele Briggs and Tammy Gilligan (James Madison University) discuss the lost art of mindfulness, its importance to classroom decorum and academic achievement, and what teachers can do to help children learn this important skill.

Uptalk” is that rising, questioning tone some people use when ending a statement. It’s becoming so common that Thomas Linneman (College of William and Mary) studied its use by contestants on the game show Jeopardy. He found women use it more than men, but male contestants often use “uptalk” after a woman competitor gets a wrong answer. And: Most of us think the best way to motivate is with rewards like money. But best-selling author Dan Pink says that’s a mistake. He says the secret to high performance and satisfaction is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to create new things, and to better our world.

Also featured: First published in 1947, Goodnight Moon has become one of the most popular books for young children. Yet the book’s author, Margaret Wise Brown, always wanted to write for adults. With Good Reason’s Kelley Libby tells the story of Brown’s life, from Hollins College to her tragic early death. Also featured: After World War II, the International Youth Library in Munich was created to promote understanding by introducing Germany’s children to the literature of other cultures. It’s now the largest repository of children’s literature in the world. Dr. Osayimwense Osa (Virginia State University) is a former fellow at the library. He says the internationalizing of children’s literature is a step toward world peace. And: With busy schedules and media-soaked lives, have our children lost their ability to engage in moment-by-moment experiences? Michele Briggs and Tammy Gilligan (James Madison University) discuss the lost art of mindfulness, its importance to classroom decorum and academic achievement, and what teachers can do to help children learn this important skill.

Stroke doctors all know the phrase, “Time is brain.” Andrew Southerland (University of Virginia Health System) discusses a new therapy that is considered a game changer in stroke treatment, helping some patients achieve a dramatic recovery of brain function after strokes. And: Cancer therapy is moving toward personalized treatment with the lowest toxicity possible for each patient. Lance Liotta (George Mason University) is working with biomarkers that predict the possibility of cancer and aid in creating individualized therapy. Liotta was named a 2015 outstanding faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Later in the show: Blue zones are areas of the world that have been identified as having the longest expected lifespans. Reuben Rainey (University of Virginia) and Asa Eslocker (University of Virginia) explain the factors that create these “landscapes of longevity.” Plus: Today, most computers have more than one tiny silicon brain that makes them tick—this is called parallel computing. And yet, kids are still learning to program for only one “brain.” Wu-chun Feng (Virginia Tech) is working on an interface that makes parallel computing much less intimidating.

Stroke doctors all know the phrase, “Time is brain.” Andrew Southerland (University of Virginia Health System) discusses a new therapy that is considered a game changer in stroke treatment, helping some patients achieve a dramatic recovery of brain function after strokes. And: Cancer therapy is moving toward personalized treatment with the lowest toxicity possible for each patient. Lance Liotta (George Mason University) is working with biomarkers that predict the possibility of cancer and aid in creating individualized therapy. Liotta was named a 2015 outstanding faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Later in the show: Blue zones are areas of the world that have been identified as having the longest expected lifespans. Reuben Rainey (University of Virginia) and Asa Eslocker (University of Virginia) explain the factors that create these “landscapes of longevity.” Plus: Today, most computers have more than one tiny silicon brain that makes them tick—this is called parallel computing. And yet, kids are still learning to program for only one “brain.” Wu-chun Feng (Virginia Tech) is working on an interface that makes parallel computing much less intimidating.