With Good Reason

The way we manage all types of cancers of the blood is rapidly evolving. Dr. Michael Williams (University of Virginia), internationally known for his work in lymphoma, says expect much more conservative chemo and radiation and less toxic drugs with better outcomes and higher cures. Also featured: There has been a dramatic drop in the rate of heart bypass procedures performed in the U.S. over the last decade. Dr. Michael Ragosta (University of Virginia) says advances in medications and drug-coated stents have given rise to a hybrid approach to heart disease. Increasingly surgeons and interventional cardiologists are getting better results for patients by taking a team approach to each case.

Later in the show: When John Thomas (University of Virginia) met his first wife, he knew she was “the one.” Sadly, she died of breast cancer. Then, after the trauma of losing her, something amazing happened. John fell in love again. But tragically, he learned the woman who would be his second wife was diagnosed with breast cancer too.John details his experience in a new book called My Saints Alive: Reflections on a Journey of Love, Loss, and Life. Also featured: About 12 percent of women develop breast cancer. But years of studies have shown that for female flight attendants, nurses, factory workers, and other frequent night shift workers, the risk of breast cancer is as high as 37 percent. Carla Finkelstein (Virginia Tech) believes that these high rates of breast cancer in night shift workers is due to a disruption in circadian rhythms. But she says there may be simple, cost-effective solutions to the problem

The way we manage all types of cancers of the blood is rapidly evolving. Dr. Michael Williams (University of Virginia), internationally known for his work in lymphoma, says expect much more conservative chemo and radiation and less toxic drugs with better outcomes and higher cures. Also featured: There has been a dramatic drop in the rate of heart bypass procedures performed in the U.S. over the last decade. Dr. Michael Ragosta (University of Virginia) saysadvances in medications and drug-coated stents have given rise to a hybrid approach to heart disease. Increasingly surgeons and interventional cardiologists are getting better results for patients by taking a team approach to each case.

Later in the show: When John Thomas (University of Virginia) met his first wife, he knew she was “the one.” Sadly, she died of breast cancer. Then, after the trauma of losing her, something amazing happened. John fell in love again. But tragically, he learned the woman who would be his second wife was diagnosed with breast cancer too.John details his experience in a new book called My Saints Alive: Reflections on a Journey of Love, Loss, and Life. Also featured: About 12 percent of women develop breast cancer. But years of studies have shown that for female flight attendants, nurses, factory workers, and other frequent night shift workers, the risk of breast cancer is as high as 37 percent. Carla Finkelstein (Virginia Tech) believes that these high rates of breast cancer in night shift workers is due to a disruption in circadian rhythms. But she says there may be simple, cost-effective solutions to the problem.

The way we manage all types of cancers of the blood is rapidly evolving. Dr. Michael Williams (University of Virginia), internationally known for his work in lymphoma, says expect much more conservative chemo and radiation and less toxic drugs with better outcomes and higher cures. Also featured: There has been a dramatic drop in the rate of heart bypass procedures performed in the U.S. over the last decade. Dr. Michael Ragosta (University of Virginia) saysadvances in medications and drug-coated stents have given rise to a hybrid approach to heart disease. Increasingly surgeons and interventional cardiologists are getting better results for patients by taking a team approach to each case.

Later in the show: When John Thomas (University of Virginia) met his first wife, he knew she was “the one.” Sadly, she died of breast cancer. Then, after the trauma of losing her, something amazing happened. John fell in love again. But tragically, he learned the woman who would be his second wife was diagnosed with breast cancer too.John details his experience in a new book called My Saints Alive: Reflections on a Journey of Love, Loss, and Life. Also featured: About 12 percent of women develop breast cancer. But years of studies have shown that for female flight attendants, nurses, factory workers, and other frequent night shift workers, the risk of breast cancer is as high as 37 percent. Carla Finkelstein (Virginia Tech) believes that these high rates of breast cancer in night shift workers is due to a disruption in circadian rhythms. But she says there may be simple, cost-effective solutions to the problem.

Murder, mystery, and poetry come together in medieval scholar Bruce Holsinger’s (University of Virginia) new 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.

Later in the show: Award-winning poet Sonia Sanchez is a pioneer in founding black studies. In a literary career that spans more than 42 years, she is most often associated with The Black Arts Movement. We hear from Sonia Sanchez and Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, as Sonia was honored by the Furious Flower Poetry Center at James Madison University.

Murder, mystery, and poetry come together in medieval scholar Bruce Holsinger’s (University of Virginia) new 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.

Later in the show: Award-winning poet Sonia Sanchez is a pioneer in founding black studies. In a literary career that spans more than 42 years, she is most often associated with The Black Arts Movement. We hear from Sonia Sanchez and Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, as Sonia was honored by the Furious Flower Poetry Center at James Madison University.

In the 1960s, it took almost three weeks to cross the sea from America to Vietnam. Three weeks for young men in crowded cabins with salt water showers and absolutely nothing to do but think about home, the war, and what might be next. In this Memorial Day special episode we focus on a single troopship, the General Nelson M. Walker, and a few of the soldiers who traveled on it.

There’s the man who wrote home about the voyage to Vietnam—about tanning oil, hillbilly radio, and a run-in with a typhoon. Another who survived the jungles of Vietnam, only to return home and feel as though democracy had passed him by. And then there’s the fiancée who snuck on board to say one last goodbye to her lover before he was killed in action. Through found tape and contemporary interviews, we recreate the troopship experience and capture the moments outside of combat—three weeks there, and, for the lucky ones—three weeks back.

These stories were produced in partnership with The Vietnam Graffiti Project.

Later in the show: Women journalists who covered the Vietnam War are often not given their proper due when the history of the conflict is told. Joyce Hoffman (Old Dominion University) is the author of On Their Own: Women Journalists in Vietnam. She shares stories of women who won esteemed prizes for their reporting and several who broke new ground covering the war. Plus: In recent years, more and more military mothers have been deployed throughout the world. Mona Ternus says there’s a connection between the length of time military mothers are deployed and an increase in drug use, attempted suicide, and other risk factors for their children.

In the 1960s, it took almost three weeks to cross the sea from America to Vietnam. Three weeks for young men in crowded cabins with salt water showers and absolutely nothing to do but think about home, the war, and what might be next. In this Memorial Day special episode we focus on a single troopship, the General Nelson M. Walker, and a few of the soldiers who traveled on it.

There’s the man who wrote home about the voyage to Vietnam—about tanning oil, hillbilly radio, and a run-in with a typhoon. Another who survived the jungles of Vietnam, only to return home and feel as though democracy had passed him by. And then there’s the fiancée who snuck on board to say one last goodbye to her lover before he was killed in action. Through found tape and contemporary interviews, we recreate the troopship experience and capture the moments outside of combat—three weeks there, and, for the lucky ones—three weeks back.

These stories were produced in partnership with The Vietnam Graffiti Project.

Later in the show: Women journalists who covered the Vietnam War are often not given their proper due when the history of the conflict is told. Joyce Hoffman (Old Dominion University) is the author of On Their Own: Women Journalists in Vietnam. She shares stories of women who won esteemed prizes for their reporting and several who broke new ground covering the war. Plus: In recent years, more and more military mothers have been deployed throughout the world. Mona Ternus says there’s a connection between the length of time military mothers are deployed and an increase in drug use, attempted suicide, and other risk factors for their children.

Nearly a third of college students in the United States are first-generation—meaning their parents and grandparents didn’t go. For many of these students, entering academia can feel like moving to a foreign land. Lee Ward (James Madison University), author of First Generation College Students, says colleges should embrace these students. Also featured: Most writing teachers correct nonstandard sentences like “My brother and me drives the same truck.” But Amy Clark (University of Virginia’s College at Wise) believes it’s important for her Appalachian students to hold onto to their home voices. Amy is coeditor of Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community.

Later in the show: Based on experience as a teacher, and on her work in neuroscience, Abigail Norfleet James (Germanna Community College) believes boys and girls have very different learning styles. She shares teaching techniques that have helped when teaching all boys or all girls in the classroom. Also featured: When Jonathan Dickinson’s father was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease—a fatal neurodegenerative disorder—Jonathan decided to take him on an epic adventure: a motorcycle journey through the Himalayas in India.

Nearly a third of college students in the United States are first-generation—meaning their parents and grandparents didn’t go. For many of these students, entering academia can feel like moving to a foreign land. Lee Ward (James Madison University), author of First Generation College Students, says colleges should embrace these students. Also featured: Most writing teachers correct nonstandard sentences like “My brother and me drives the same truck.” But Amy Clark (University of Virginia’s College at Wise) believes it’s important for her Appalachian students to hold onto to their home voices. Amy is coeditor of Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community.

Later in the show: Based on experience as a teacher, and on her work in neuroscience, Abigail Norfleet James (Germanna Community College) believes boys and girls have very different learning styles. She shares teaching techniques that have helped when teaching all boys or all girls in the classroom. Also featured: When Jonathan Dickinson’s father was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease—a fatal neurodegenerative disorder—Jonathan decided to take him on an epic adventure: a motorcycle journey through the Himalayas in India.

Yoko Ono is best known for her marriage to John Lennon and was vilified by the press in the 1960s for her perceived role in the breakup of the Beatles. Kevin Concannon (Virginia Tech), an expert on Ono’s work, notes she was an accomplished and innovative artist long before she met Lennon. Plus: A new novel by Fred D’Aguiar (Virginia Tech) tells the story of a mother and daughter caught up in the tragic Jonestown mass suicide of 1978.

Later in the show: Americans have been getting their kicks from Route 66 since John Steinbeck labeled it “The Mother Road” in The Grapes of Wrath. Michael Lund (Longwood University) is fascinated by the nostalgic small town life found along “America’s Main Street.” Lund is the author of a series of Route 66 novels. And: Jack Kerouac wrote about his travels along Route 66 in On the Road, the novel that made him a literary success. Gordon Ball (Virginia Military Institute) says Kerouac’s novel about the Beat Generation is as relevant today as it was in the 1950s.