With Good Reason

With its rolling green hills and its nearly 400,000 graves, Arlington National Cemetery is one of our nation’s most impressive military tributes. What’s also impressive is the work that goes on behind the scenes to create a meaningful experience for visitors. Debra Lattanzi Shutika (George Mason University) and Kerry Kaleba (George Mason University) spent a month observing the inner workings of Arlington as part of the Field School for Cultural Documentation. Also featured: There are countless books on gardening and tree care. Joe Murray (Blue Ridge Community College) says some of the advice does more harm than good. Plus: From international competitions like the Van Cliburn to battles of high school marching bands, competition in music has become a way of life for aspiring musicians. Wayne Gallops (Radford University) says too much competition can stifle a young musician’s growth.

Later in the show: The Victorians photographed their dead before burial. Abraham Lincoln’s death might have popularized embalming. Some people today have their ashes made into diamonds. Bernard Means (Virginia Commonwealth University) studies how and why we bury our dead—and how that’s changed over the last few centuries. Plus: a trip to some orphan graveyards—forgotten places where we’ve buried our dead. Also featured: They’re called Lost Communities—the places on the map that have lost their original industry or way of life. Sometimes they’re still struggling to survive; other times they no longer exist at all. Terri Fisher (Virginia Tech) has visited the general stores, schools, train depots, and post offices of towns along Virginia’s back roads and interviewed longtime residents and brought those places back to life in her new book, Lost Communities of Virginia.

Mom’s home cooking, wives’ infidelities, and slaves dining with white families—Jonathan White (Christopher Newport University) says you can write a whole history of the Civil War through the dreams of people who lived through it. Also featured: Jesse James was a thief and a cold-blooded killer who gunned down unarmed civilians. So why did newspapers at that time portray him as a folk hero? Cathy Jackson (Norfolk State University) looks at the myth and the reality of one of America’s most notorious outlaws. Plus: Michael Spencer’s (University of Mary Washington) historic preservation class has taken up the cause of a tiny church in Falmouth, Virginia. Later in the show: 1619 was the year the first Africans arrived on the North American continent. There were at least 20 of them and they came as slaves from Angola. But what’s often overlooked is the culture they brought with them. Many were Christians with European names like Jean Pedro and Angela, and some came from cities. Scholars Linda Heywood and John Thornton recently discussed the lives of these first Africans at Norfolk State University’s 1619: The Making of America conference. Also featured: When we think of colonial American essayists, New Englanders like Cotton Mather and Ben Franklin come to mind. But recently discovered essays by an anonymous writer who called himself “The Humourist” are now being hailed as some of the best in America’s colonial period. Brent Kendrick (Lord Fairfax Community College) recently discovered the real identity of their author.

Enjoy a lively introduction to the great heroes of Medieval literature. Kat Tracy (Longwood University) reacquaints us with the popular characters—like Gawain, Robin Hood, and Richard the Lionheart—and the lesser-known heroes, like Hengist and Horsa and Havelok the Dane! Also featured: Dan Brown, the author of the wildly popular thriller The Da Vinci Code, has released his newest book, Inferno, which draws from Dante’s masterpiece Inferno. Husband and wife scholars Mark Parker (James Madison University) and Deborah Parker (University of Virginia) have come out with a companion book, Inferno Revealed: From Dante to Dan Brown, to provide readers of Brown’s Inferno with an engaging introduction to Dante and his world.

Later in the show: When Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published in 1891, it was a substantially altered version of Wilde’s original text. Material considered scandalous for its day had been cut out. Nicholas Frankel (Virginia Commonwealth University) is the editor of a new edition that restores Oscar Wilde’s famous novel to its original form—a form that has never before been published. Frankel asserts that this is the version Wilde would have wanted us to read today. Also featured: During the Cold War era, screenwriters, playwrights, and actors who criticized American foreign policy were brought into hearings chaired by Senator Joseph McCarthy and then often blacklisted. Andrew Falk (Christopher Newport University) says, though silenced back home, many of these artists had successful careers in Europe and became cultural ambassadors for the United States.

- See more at: http://withgoodreasonradio.org/2013/10/dantes-hell/#sthash.GdoRYkvK.dpuf

In 1951 a group of African American students at Robert R. Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Virginia, organized a strike to protest the substandard school facilities provided for black students. The walkout, led by 16-year-old Barbara Johns, is one of the great stories in the struggle for Civil Rights—a story of courage and persistence against what seemed at the time like overwhelming odds. Larissa Smith Fergeson (Longwood University) provides the historical context to the walkout; Lacy Ward Jr. (Moton Museum) interviews two students who participated in the strike; and Mildred Robinson (University of Virginia) describes the effects on students and families when the Virginia government closed the schools rather than succumb to the federal mandate to integrate them. The closure lasted five years and was part of a larger policy enacted by the state called Massive Resistance. Smith Fergeson speaks to people who were students in Prince Edward County at that time about their experience of being locked out and the difficult decisions parents made to ensure education for their children. And Lucious Edwards (Virginia State University) and Allison Robinson discuss efforts to create an archive of research material that accurately reflects the era.

Eight out of 10 children born in America today will never know a night sky dark enough to see the Milky Way. In our modern world, where nights are getting brighter, most of us no longer experience true darkness. Paul Bogard (James Madison University) is the author of the new book “The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in the Age of Artificial Light.” He believes we now suffer from light pollution and that the lack of darkness at night is affecting our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Plus: When women compare themselves to other people, they actually lose IQ points. Read Montague (Virginia Tech) completed a study that suggests being in groups can have a dumbing-down effect on certain individuals.

Later in the show: Centuries ago, nighttime was a scary and dangerous time. A moonless evening could be filled with both real and imagined perils. In his book, At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, historian Roger Ekirch (Virginia Tech) sheds light on how pre-Industrial Revolution farmers, tradesmen, and laborers spent their nights. Also featured: Classical guitar music was a constant in the Renaissance and Baroque eras of England, France and Italy. Music professor and guitarist Tim Olbrych (The College of William and Mary) offers a brief history of this instrument and plays selections from his CD, 500 Years of the Spanish Guitar.

An author challenges prevailing notions that grief is an emotion experienced only by humans. In her new book, How Animals Grieve, Barbara King (College of William and Mary) shows there is ample evidence of many species experiencing loss, love, and mourning. Also: Most Americans who own pets treat them like family members and grieve when they die. Psychologist Sherman Lee (Christopher Newport University) has conducted a study of how different people mourn the loss of beloved pets. He finds that religion and personality are major factors. And: Temple Grandin is known as an expert in the livestock industry and as an eloquent leader for autistic rights. She spoke recently at the University of Virginia College at Wise. Later in the show: One in every 150 American-born children is diagnosed with an autism-spectrum disorder. Christofer Foss (University of Mary Washington) has examined how autism is portrayed in contemporary literature and film and says it’s time to rethink difference, dignity, discrimination, and other disability issues. Also featured: Nicole Myers (University of Mary Washington) says with proper training, teachers can make significant strides with high-functioning autistic children in the mainstream classroom.

Eight out of 10 children born in America today will never know a night sky dark enough to see the Milky Way. In our modern world, where nights are getting brighter, most of us no longer experience true darkness. Paul Bogard (James Madison University) is the author of the new book “The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in the Age of Artificial Light.” He believes we now suffer from light pollution and that the lack of darkness at night is affecting our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Plus: When women compare themselves to other people, they actually lose IQ points. Read Montague (Virginia Tech) completed a study that suggests being in groups can have a dumbing-down effect on certain individuals.

Later in the show: Centuries ago, nighttime was a scary and dangerous time. A moonless evening could be filled with both real and imagined perils. In his book, At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, historian Roger Ekirch (Virginia Tech) sheds light on how pre-Industrial Revolution farmers, tradesmen, and laborers spent their nights. Also featured: Classical guitar music was a constant in the Renaissance and Baroque eras of England, France and Italy. Music professor and guitarist Tim Olbrych (The College of William and Mary) offers a brief history of this instrument and plays selections from his CD, 500 Years of the Spanish Guitar.

Aristotle said that there were three kinds of friendships--those of utility, pleasure, and virtue. But what about Facebook friendships? One Virginia scholar is studying the philosophy of what it means to be “friends” in the era of social media. Allison Quantz reports.

In the age of Facebook, “friend” is now a verb. Dylan Wittkower (Old Dominion University) says the concept of friendship has changed with the advent of social media, but sites like Facebook can facilitate communication and expand the ties between people. Also featured: Radical apocalyptic thinking is often directly related to terrorism. Frances Flannery (James Madison University) says from Al Qaida to Timothy McVeigh, many terrorists are influenced by the radical apocalyptic idea of bringing on “the end of days.” She argues that we need to think about long-term solutions, which involves a kind of “cultural counter-terrorism.”

Later in the show: James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses follows its main character, Leopold Bloom, around Dublin during the course of one day. Every June, fans around the world gather for “Bloomsday” to celebrate the works of Joyce. Jolanta Wawrzycka (Radford University) speaks about the life of Joyce, his writings, and her experiences attending “Bloomsday” celebrations. And: Irish scholar and critic Theo Dorgan discusses the joys and challenges of reading Ireland’s greatest literary son.

Within seconds of hearing someone speak, we make judgments about that person and their background, just based on their accent. Linguistics professor Steven Weinberger (George Mason University) explains how and when we develop accents and how they affect our identity. Also featured: Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th century writings may seem impenetrable, with strange pronunciation and incomprehensible phrases. But retired English professor Alan Baragona (Virginia Military Institute) says the best way to approach Chaucer is to read it out loud and listen to the musicality of the words.

Later in the show: Real life fights are always sloppy and chaotic. The trick to staging a good fight in a play (or film) is to “order chaos.” Gregg Lloyd (Christopher Newport University) is a professional actor and fight director who has mastered the art of creating the illusion of violence on stage, making it look effortless. Plus: An “aural landscape” created for a movie or the stage may work well and be essential, but people tend not to notice background sounds that reinforce theatrical experience. Sound designer Michael Rasbury (University of Virginia) has composed scores and created sound effects for major theatrical productions across North America. He also co-wrote and scored the music for the play “Max Understood,” about a day in the life of a young boy with autism.