John Aler made his operatic debut in 1977 as Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. Since then, he’s performed in some of the greatest opera houses in the world and has won four Grammys for his classical recordings. Aler shares his thoughts on voice and the future of singing. Also featured: It’s Mozart meets the Clash. A musicologist draws on the heavy metal and grunge of her youth to take classical music where it’s never been before. Plus: The sonic frenzy of a laptop orchestra. And: How to approach a piece of music written by someone else. We’ll also speak with a researcher at the forefront of positive psychology.

Butterfly in the Typewriter by With Good Reason

Rainbows On Demand by With Good Reason

Giddy-up: A Therapy for Autism by With Good Reason

Do The Math by With Good Reason

Dead Zones and Fly Fishing by With Good Reason

Shop class 20 years ago meant hacksaws and hammers, but the shop class of 2013 is about teaching innovation and creation through computer programming, 3D printers, and maybe even Legos. A leader in this new kind of education teaches kids how to program LED lights to customize clothing. Also featured: Not all students have access to technology education. It seems many minority students are left out of computer science class. And: What exactly is the difference between science and technology? Plus: A report on technology being developed by Zewe Serpell that will let computers read the facial expressions of children and give them encouragement when they are discouraged or bored.

Equal Time by With Good Reason

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 producer Kelley Libby tells the story of Brown’s life, from Hollins College to her tragic early death. Also featured: Opened after the ravages of World War II, the International Youth Library in Munich was an effort to introduce Germany’s children to the literature of other cultures to promote understanding. It’s now the largest repository of children’s literature in the world. And: With busy schedules and media-soaked lives, have our children lost their ability to engage in moment-by-moment experiences?

A common historical myth is that Native Americans were an “oral people” and did not engage in literacy. In his new book Red Ink: Native Americans Picking Up the Pen in the Colonial Period, Drew Lopenzina (Old Dominion University) argues that Native Americans early on acquired the skills of reading and writing. Also featured: In the movies, the American frontier is a lawless place. But historian Turk McCleskey (Virginia Military Institute) studied 18th-century court records and found that the first settlers of Virginia’s frontier actually took the law very seriously. And: We have a sense of what early America looked like, but Bonnie Gordon and Emily Gale (University of Virginia) ask: What did it sound like? From bawdy tavern songs to tunes commenting on Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemings, Gordon and Gale are uncovering the soundscape of early America.