With Good Reason

"Making Peace With Vietnam" is a documentary that chronicles life in that nation as Vietnam vets return to do humanitarian work. Plus, Ludwig Wittgenstein may be the greatest philosopher of the 20th century, but few people know about him.

When you think animation you might think the Simpsons or Disney or Spirited Away. But animation artist Anh Do says animation art is everything that moves. He got his start as a boy who emigrated to America from Vietnam with no English skills, so he drew pictures of everything he needed.

The author of, A Hoot in the Light: Illuminating the Sensory Modes of Animal Communication, says that by recognizing animal voices, we make our particular brand of humanism a little more humane.

And: “Honeybee” Brown is planting apiaries in urban community gardens in an effort to save the ailing honeybee.

The first captive Africans arrived in the Jamestown settlement in Virginia in 1619. A shipload of women intended as mates for the male settlers also arrived that year. How should we be telling and commemorating this history in 2019?

Sam Blanchard is a digital artist who uses humor and technology in his work. One of his favorites is a nod to his phobias--including going bald and a fear of heights!

Bix Beiderbecke was one of the first great legends of jazz, but his recording career lasted just six years. A book by Brendan Wolfe, Finding Bix: The Life and Afterlife of a Jazz Legend, connects Beiderbecke's music, history, and legend.

"Councilors Without Borders" traveled to Puerto Rico to help people who continue to suffer after the Hurricane Maria disaster. Residents are still feeling stressed by the storm and worry about the new storm season to come.

Jane Austen novels provide timeless insight into our virtues and vices. It turns out she drew inspiration on how to live a moral life from the great 18th century economist Adam Smith.

A few lucky college students who love the Harry Potter fantasy series get to travel to London for 3 weeks of magical creatures, potions, and herbology.

And if you're impatient for the final season of Game of Thrones, we have your GoT fix--how the women of Westeros gain and lose power in that fictional patriarchal world of dragons and warfare.

Plus: Long before there was Black Panther or the Blaxploitation movies, there were Race Movies. 500 were created by black actors and directors, but only 100 remain.

A story of Native American resilience comes to life in a new biography of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man and Catholic preacher. Black Elk was born in 1863 and died at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Another new book illuminates the life of a Pequot Indian activist and author who is little known today, but has been called the Native American Frederick Douglas. William Apess challenged the power structure of his day using the pen, the pulpit, and protest.