With Good Reason

Dwayne Betts was only a teenager when he was convicted of carjacking and sentenced to 9 years in prison. Today, he’s an acclaimed poet and accomplished attorney. He recounts his inspiring story and brings attention to one of the biggest civil rights issues of our time: felon disenfranchisement.

Later in the show: Think immigrant voting is un-American? Think again. Ron Hayduk says it’s as American as apple pie. Plus: We take for granted that 18 is the voting age. But it wasn’t always this way. Rebecca DeSchweinitz explains how the Vote 18 movement led to the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971.

Tensions over Taiwan are making U.S.-China relations even more fraught. What do the two nuclear powers want to do with the small island that is also a technological giant? Plus: Quilts made by women of Southwest China

Bonaventure Balla’s favorite word in any language is “cornucopia.” And that’s saying something, because he’s a translator from Cameroon who speaks seven languages. His favorite? His home dialect called Fang.

The creators of a new multi-million dollar Innovation Hub in a farming region say it's already supporting rural entrepreneurs. They have high hopes it will also help reverse economic hardship and population decline.

Chef Ralph Brown’s parents fed the neighborhood for years. Now, he’s keeping that tradition going. Plus: Fifty years after the last atmospheric nuclear tests on American soil, radioactive elements remain in our food supply. Jim Kaste says the honey is especially hot. And: There are many threats to our food supply. Mike Evans is working with farmers to grow vertically indoors.

Later in the show: Kashef Majid says that food insecurity is a problem we can solve, simply by reducing food waste. Plus: What if you could have fresh fish without a single fish leaving the ocean? Well hold on to your forks. Reza Ovissipour and his colleagues are working to cultivate meat in their Hampton, Virginia laboratory.

America has locked up hundreds of thousands of people on minor marijuana possession charges. And the majority of those arrests have targeted Black, indigenous, and people of color. Advocates argue that after bearing the brunt of harsh marijuana laws, people of color deserve a spot in Virginia’s commercial cannabis industry. Also: Last year More states are legalizing marijuana, marking a major milestone in the failure of the War on Drugs. And: The National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommended the decriminalization of marijuana in the 1970's.

Decisions about parenting–when to parent, whether to parent–have been in the news a lot lately. Mary Thompson says that stories about reproductive choices aren’t just newsworthy–they’ve also made their way increasingly into art. And: Janice Hawkins has been administering the covid vaccine to children. She shares why she believes it’s so important to get even the youngest vaccinated.

Later in the show: It’s estimated that there are 3,500 sleep-related infant deaths in the United States each year. The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated their sleep guidance to keep infants safer, with the help of UVA Health doctor Fern Hauck. Plus: Being a working parent is tough no matter the job. But academic parents face a particular set of challenges. Kerry Crawford and Leah Windsor are political scientists, mothers of young children, and authors of the new book The PhD Parenthood Trap: Caught Between Work and Family in Academia.

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

It’s difficult to be a veteran re-entering civilian life. One day your major decisions are being made for you. The next? It’s up to you. What do you do? Every Tuesday in one small town, veterans gather with Elizabeth Byland for life-affirming improv. Plus: How Brad Stoller worked with incarcerated women to create a performance about, in part, one of the world's most unsuspecting hot commodities... toilet paper.

Later in the show: How David Riley turned a museum auditorium into a public programming TV set. And: Some industries came to a slow crawl at the dawning of the pandemic. Gregg Stull says that the curtains closed immediately for theaters across the country.

What caused the Big Bang? Are black holes key to interstellar travel? And how close are we to discovering extraterrestrial life? These are some of the big questions that Kelsey Johnson (University of Virginia) covers in her fascinating class, “The Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe.” And: Robin Hanson (George Mason University) has come up with a mathematical model that predicts when us earthlings will encounter an advanced alien civilization. Hint: It won’t happen anytime soon.

Later in the Show: UFO encounters are usually horror stories of abduction and alien implants. But Stephen Finley (Louisiana State University) says many African Americans describe UFO encounters as positive experiences. Plus: Benjamin Zeller (Lake Forest College) recounts the tragic history of Heaven’s Gate, a religious group whose members committed mass suicide in 1997.