With Good Reason

These days, a lot of feminism is framed around young women rebelling against their mothers’ values. But that wasn’t always the case. Corinne Field says that in the 19th century, the most public and active feminists were over 50. She explains how their age helped lead the movement in earlier times and when things changed. And: Most people think about aging in terms of physical health, but Matthew Fullen is focused on mental and emotional health in old age, as well. Fullen’s research suggests wellness coaches for older adults can help them navigate their later years.

Later in the show: Caring for an aging spouse with dementia is difficult for anyone. But generally speaking, men and women take different approaches to their caregiving. Building off of her earlier research with heterosexual couples, Toni Calasanti is exploring how not just gender identity, but sexual orientation affect the way older partners care for their loved ones. Plus: When’s the best age to start drawing social security? Barry Cobb and Jeff Smith share their advice for calculating how to pay for your retirement.

Polar bears are no one’s prey. Except for climate change itself. John Whiteman says that our human fate is tied up in polar bears’ fate. And: Birds have an unusual predator. Windows. Karen Powers says that an $8 pack of window decals could be life saving.

Plus: How Todd Tupper knew he had to return to community colleges to teach zoology before he’d even gotten his PhD.

We all remember what it was like entering the social battleground known as the school cafeteria. Aside from the usual cliques, there were two types of students: those who brought their lunch and those who bought their lunch. Marcus Weaver-Hightower says public schools should offer free lunches to all students. And: Being a new parent is hard work and it’s also super expensive. Christine Schull says a year of toddler or infant care can cost more than a year of tuition at a public university. Christine’s been named an outstanding faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Also: The pandemic turned students' worlds upside-down. Rates of anxiety and depression have jumped, especially among students of marginalized identities. But Leandra Parris says there aren’t enough mental health resources in the K-12 school system to meet the surging demand.

Later in the show: The college of education at the University of Mary Washington recently unveiled the STREAM Initiative - a hub for teachers and students that boasts a makerspace and an imaginarium. Kristina Peck and Kevin Good helped design the STREAM Initiative to inspire teachers and spark students’ passion. Plus: With the rise of AI deepfakes and other disinformation on the internet, the ability to critically think has never been more important. Tricia Easterling has dedicated her teaching to boosting her students' critical thinking skills.

What do the mythological Chimera and motherhood have in common? In her work, poet Julie Phillips Brown dissects this and other biological queries, cleverly unveiling what makes us distinctly and undoubtedly human. And: Playwright Ivan Rodden focuses on the stories of refugees in his plays On Arriving and Lost Sock Laundry. He aims to dispel the mystique surrounding the refugee crisis, painting intimate onstage portraits of humans navigating the unknown.

Later in the show: As a poet, Caseyrenée Lopez loves precision in language. That’s part of why poetry helps them explore the muddiness of being queer. Along with their own work, Lopez has devoted a career to creating spaces for the poetry and experimental work of queer and trans writers. Plus: Poet and writer Louis Gallo says that all writing is autobiographical. Gallo’s own works reveal his life, from the musical city that’s in his blood to his wife, who he calls his muse.

In 1990s South Africa, there were violent clashes between Xhosa and Zulu people. And the main way they understood how to define the other group–language. But Jochen Arndt says that 300 years earlier, Xhosa and Zulu didn’t even exist as distinct languages. And: Sudan experienced decades of violent conflict in the ‘90s and ‘00s, including the genocide in Darfur. When we tell the history of those conflicts, it’s usually numbers and dates. Daniel Rothbart and Karina Korostelina recorded oral histories with Sudanese people about what it was like to actually live through those years and what justice after the violence would look like.

Later in the show: For centuries, Jewish and Muslim people co-existed in Algeria and other parts of Northern Africa. When French colonial rule took power there, things soured and many Jewish North Africans left for France. But they brought Muslim Arab musical cultures with them. Jonathan Glasser says we can learn a lot about the relationships between Algerian Jews and Muslims by looking at their musical collaborations and connections.

Many environmental movements pop up in small communities. Records aren’t always kept. What remains are the t-shirts, petitions and water bottles created along the way. Jinny Turman and her students are helping to preserve what’s in plain sight. And: Sea level is rising. People along the Chesapeake Bay are feeling it, and researchers are swarming. Nicole Hutton Shannon says that heavily surveyed communities should have access to the research they contribute to.

Later in the show: There’s a lot of water insecurity in the Navajo Nation. Adam Crepelle says this affects every aspect of life. Plus: For years, researchers wondered how saltwater marshes would survive sea level rise along the Chesapeake. They have their answer. Matt Kirwan says that the marshes are migrating inland, often expanding into ghost forests.

In 1865, the Freedman’s Bank was written into law by President Lincoln to help newly freed enslaved people save money and buy land. But the bank collapsed less than 10 years after it was established - throwing many Black Americans into financial ruin. Justene Hill Edwards says the racial wealth gap can be traced back to the rise and fall of the Freedman’s Bank. And: During Jim Crow, literacy tests at the voting booth disenfranchised many African Americans. Mark Boonshoft says lawmakers passed these literacy tests at the same time that they denied African Americans the right to education.

Later in the show: During the Great Migration, millions of African Americans fled the Jim Crow South to more urban cities in the North and West. Black immigrants from the Caribbean also took part in the Great Migration. Janira Teague says the influx of African Americans and Caribbean immigrants to New York City created a vibrant fusion of Black ethnic diversity. Plus: Charles Chavis is the Vice Chair of Maryland’s Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Commission started back in 2019 and is the first of its kind. It’s purpose is to uncover forgotten narratives and biographies of Maryland’s lynching victims.

In 1908, the U.S.S. Albatross set off on a research expedition to the newly acquired U.S. colony of the Philippines. Today, Kent Carpenter is studying the more than 80,000 fish samples collected by the Albatross to uncover how overfishing is actually changing fish genetics. Carpenter has been named an Outstanding Faculty member by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. And: The Chukar Partridge is a common ground-bird found in parts of Asia and the western United States. Brandon Jackson believes this species is the key to understanding the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds.

Later in the show: When a neighboring wind farm was endangering an entire population of bats at the Rose Guano Cave in Spring Valley, Nevada, Rick Sherwin helped come up with an ingenious system to protect them. Also: “Toad Day” is the one night that all toads in a single region mate, and biologist Jason Gibson celebrates it each year. Gibson also started HerpBlitz, an annual citizen scientist event to collect information on reptiles and amphibians.

19th and 20th century poet, Alice Meynell–a.k.a. “the penciling mama”--described motherhood as “life without boundaries.” Cristina Richieri Griffin discusses the Victorian mother of eight’s complicated feelings on mothering. And: The 2003 Haitian novel, The Infamous Rosalie, tells the stories of generations of women who are enslaved on a plantation. Ima Hicks explores how for these women, mothering was a particularly complicated act.

Later in the show: Camilla Morrison believes that a costume design can explore existential ideas like what it means to be a woman and how women grapple with motherhood. Plus: In recent years, experiences of postpartum depression that used to be whispered about are now shouted on tik tok and instagram. Marion Young has studied maternal depression and shares one way it changes how mothers parent.

Kiera Allison says that we experience pain as narrative -- there’s a beginning, middle and hopefully end. And the story we tell ourselves about that pain, and whether or not anyone hears our story, has a lot to do with how we experience it. And: Studies have shown that doctors have biases towards their patients. This impacts the treatment that people receive. Miranda Cashio and Renee Stanley created a simulation to determine if their students shared those biases, and if those biases affected the care that they gave their patients

Later in the show: COVID-19 forced us all to be infectious disease experts in our own worlds. Now, through a Virginia Department of Health grant, Michelle Doll is developing curricula on what we can do to prevent the spread of disease, from the everyday person to the hospital’s CEO. Plus: Alessandra Luchini says that AI can process information, but not learn. The ability to learn is distinctly human and cannot be taken away from us.