HBCUs rose from the ashes of slavery and have been educating Black students for generations. Cheryl Mango says HBCUs are currently experiencing a renaissance, sparked from Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial justice. Plus: HBCU bands like the Trojan Explosion at Virginia State University play with power and energy. It’s an audio and visual display, with high-step marching and decked-out drum majors at the center of the performance. Taylor Whitehead says that HBCU sound and style is the pinnacle of Black musical excellence.

Later in the Show: What do William Faulkner and a cool pair of sneakers have in common? More than you might think. Jemayne King is a sneakerhead and English professor. He’s combined his two passions into the first ever college English course on sneaker culture.

In the 19th century, French doctors were finally on the cusp of treating pain. It was a new horizon in the history of medicine. Sara Black says they were experimenting with all kinds of mind-altering drugs… on themselves. And: Greg Wrenn’s journey to forgiving his parents through a psychedelic rainforest tea called ayahuasca. Also: If you’ve had a cable TV subscription in the last 20 years, chances are you’ve seen at least an episode or two of Crime Scene Investigation. Tracy Sohoni looks at how CSI depicts drugs and violence over the course of its 15 seasons.

Later in the show: Sabrina Laroussi studies books about the world of Latin American drug trafficking called narconovelas. She says this emerging genre of literature tends to glorify drug lords and downplay the brutality of drug war violence. Plus: Whether through a family member, friend, or even our own personal struggles - we’ve all been touched by addiction. But Regina Brisgone says addiction isn’t a one-size-fits-all disease, women experience it differently than men.

Before the covid-19 pandemic, there were clearly cracks in the healthcare system for maternity and postpartum care. But during the pandemic, those cracks became much more visible. Patricia Kinser and Sara Moyer were driven to create quick change for new birthing parents, and so the Thrive guide was born. The Thrive Guide is a bit like a birth plan, but for after the baby is born. And: As of January 2024, twelve states, including Virginia and Washington DC, have implemented Medicaid coverage for doula care. DaShaunda Taylor is researching how access to doulas affects the health of new moms and babies.

Later in the show: In Japan women who don’t have kids–either by choice or not–are a hot topic. Kimiko Tanaka explores Japanese womens’ choices about and experiences of motherhood. Plus: Giving birth is always a trauma for the body. But sometimes the experience leaves emotional trauma, as well. Elizabeth Johnson-Young is trying to understand what causes birth trauma and how people respond to its aftermath.

Hampton Roads is home to the largest coal export operation in the United States. Crosswinds, a podcast from the University of Virginia’s Repair Lab, follows the efforts of Lathaniel Kirts and his friend and collaborator Malcolm Jones, as they seek environmental justice for decades of coal dust that they, and their community, inhaled. Crosswinds is produced by Adrian Wood.

Later in the show: People want to breathe better air in Hampton Roads, Virginia. How Kim Fields and the Repair Lab are working with community members to seek environmental justice for the decades of coal dust that they’ve inhaled. Plus: The success of citizen science according to Mike Shell.

Teenagers have long turned to books for a guide on how to live, but for kids of immigrant parents, those guides can be particularly important. Addie Tsai’s first novel was a YA book that wrestled with many of the same complex issues they faced as a kid. And: SJ Sindu says that everything she writes is translated through the lens of her experience as an immigrant, a refugee, and a queer person. Those perspectives come out in the outsider characters from her YA graphic novel Shakti and her new short story collection, The Goth House Experiment.

Later in the show: Majo Delgadillo immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. as an adult and these days, she writes in both English and Spanish. Majo says that because she comes to English as an immigrant, it still feels a bit weird and that gives her English stories permission to be a bit weird themselves. Plus: Most immigrants are deeply familiar with the challenge of translation, but Yuemin He takes on the extra challenge of translating poetry.

Last year, thick smoke from Canadian wildfires wafted down and blanketed a broad swath of the East Coast - from New York to North Carolina. The wildfire smoke had us East Coasters feeling like the apocalypse had arrived. But fires aren’t always doom and gloom. Stockton Maxwell says they can actually be restorative for forests. And: Coral reefs are one of the most beautiful ecosystems of the natural world. But they’re more than just a feast for the eyes. Pamela Grothe says coral reefs offer a map to the past, helping researchers track climate history over many hundreds of years.

Later in the show: By now most of us know about the harsh reality of sea-level rise. But you’ve probably never heard of groundwater overuse. Manoochehr Shirzaie says it’s causing US coastal land to sink at an alarming rate - in some places close to 20 inches per year! Plus: The Equity Center at the University of Virginia helps empower communities to tackle climate injustice. Barbara Brown Wilson is a co-founder of the Equity Center. She shares some of her favorite projects across Virginia - from heat islands in Charlottesville to coastal flooding on the Eastern Shore.

In the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, W.E.B. DuBois wanted children to have something to read. Something that was speaking to them. So he started The Brownies’ Book, a monthly periodical for “children of the sun.” One hundred years later, sociologist Dr. Karida Brown and visual artist Charly Palmer bring us The New Brownies. And: Why Brenton Boyd says that Black Americans and Carribeans have already coped with the rapture.

Later in the show: What William Grant Still and Undine Smith Moore’s early 20th century compositions tell us about then and now, according to Bianca Jackson.

Who decides what makes a language? In countries all over the world, there are official organizations with that job–in France, Croatia, India, Denmark, Nigeria, Mexico. But Ilan Stavans reminds us that in the United States, the people decide our language. And: Katrina Powell shares the expected immigrant narrative and the ways in which writers are constantly resisting and countering that expected story.

Later in the show: Cristina Stanciu author of The Makings and Unmakings of Americans, argues that it’s worth looking at turn of the century immigrant narratives alongside another group–Native Americans–who were also trying to prove their case as Americans in the public sphere. Plus: In the U.S., Hispanic neighborhoods sit at an intersection of American and Latin identities. Christina Rodriguez says these barrios play a big part in Latinx literature, but you’ve got to walk their streets to know how.

While Beyonce's Texas Hold 'Em spreads country music joy, we bring you this music-rich episode on women who have rocked the ole time country music scene. Rene Rodgers and Toni Doman (Birthplace of Country Music Museum) give us a taste of women musicians from Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, to Rhiannon Giddens, Cathy Fink, and Amythyst Kiah.

Later in the show: Virginia Folklife mentor artist Elizabeth LaPrelle is keeping the centuries old tradition of Appalachian ballad singing alive. Plus: Nationally renowned guitar and ukulele maker Jayne Henderson describes the art and joy of crafting these prized instruments.

When Latorial Faison meets somebody, she can almost immediately tell if they attended a Black school during segregation. She says they carry themselves with a special sense of pride. It’s actually what set her on her journey to writing her book, The Missed Education of the Negro: An Examination of the Black Segregated Education Experience in Southampton County, Virginia 1950-1970. And: Franklin County, Virginia once boasted a whopping 177 schools. Most were tiny one room buildings built by local communities in the first half of the 20th century. Benny Gibson and his son, Abe Gibson, have been consulting old maps and knocking on doors to recover what they call the Vanishing Schools of Franklin County.

Later in the show: Brittany Hunt studies anti-indigenous schooling practices. She says teachers often focus too much on the traumatic past of indigenous people, while failing to bring their story into the modern context. Plus: The US invaded the Dominican Republic in 1916 and installed a military government to oversee the occupation for eight years. Alexa Rodriguez says Dominicans used public schools during this period to express their own version of national identity and citizenship.