With Good Reason Virginia Humanities

Last year, thick smoke from Canadian wildfires wafted down and blanketed a broad swath of the East Coast - from New York to North Carolina. The wildfire smoke had us East Coasters feeling like the apocalypse had arrived. But fires aren’t always doom and gloom. Stockton Maxwell says they can actually be restorative for forests. And: Coral reefs are one of the most beautiful ecosystems of the natural world. But they’re more than just a feast for the eyes. Pamela Grothe says coral reefs offer a map to the past, helping researchers track climate history over many hundreds of years.

Later in the show: By now most of us know about the harsh reality of sea-level rise. But you’ve probably never heard of groundwater overuse. Manoochehr Shirzaie says it’s causing US coastal land to sink at an alarming rate - in some places close to 20 inches per year! Plus: The Equity Center at the University of Virginia helps empower communities to tackle climate injustice. Barbara Brown Wilson is a co-founder of the Equity Center. She shares some of her favorite projects across Virginia - from heat islands in Charlottesville to coastal flooding on the Eastern Shore.

In the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, W.E.B. DuBois wanted children to have something to read. Something that was speaking to them. So he started The Brownies’ Book, a monthly periodical for “children of the sun.” One hundred years later, sociologist Dr. Karida Brown and visual artist Charly Palmer bring us The New Brownies. And: Why Brenton Boyd says that Black Americans and Carribeans have already coped with the rapture.

Later in the show: What William Grant Still and Undine Smith Moore’s early 20th century compositions tell us about then and now, according to Bianca Jackson.

Who decides what makes a language? In countries all over the world, there are official organizations with that job–in France, Croatia, India, Denmark, Nigeria, Mexico. But Ilan Stavans reminds us that in the United States, the people decide our language. And: Katrina Powell shares the expected immigrant narrative and the ways in which writers are constantly resisting and countering that expected story.

Later in the show: Cristina Stanciu author of The Makings and Unmakings of Americans, argues that it’s worth looking at turn of the century immigrant narratives alongside another group–Native Americans–who were also trying to prove their case as Americans in the public sphere. Plus: In the U.S., Hispanic neighborhoods sit at an intersection of American and Latin identities. Christina Rodriguez says these barrios play a big part in Latinx literature, but you’ve got to walk their streets to know how.

While Beyonce's Texas Hold 'Em spreads country music joy, we bring you this music-rich episode on women who have rocked the ole time country music scene. Rene Rodgers and Toni Doman (Birthplace of Country Music Museum) give us a taste of women musicians from Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, to Rhiannon Giddens, Cathy Fink, and Amythyst Kiah.

Later in the show: Virginia Folklife mentor artist Elizabeth LaPrelle is keeping the centuries old tradition of Appalachian ballad singing alive. Plus: Nationally renowned guitar and ukulele maker Jayne Henderson describes the art and joy of crafting these prized instruments.

When Latorial Faison meets somebody, she can almost immediately tell if they attended a Black school during segregation. She says they carry themselves with a special sense of pride. It’s actually what set her on her journey to writing her book, The Missed Education of the Negro: An Examination of the Black Segregated Education Experience in Southampton County, Virginia 1950-1970. And: Franklin County, Virginia once boasted a whopping 177 schools. Most were tiny one room buildings built by local communities in the first half of the 20th century. Benny Gibson and his son, Abe Gibson, have been consulting old maps and knocking on doors to recover what they call the Vanishing Schools of Franklin County.

Later in the show: Brittany Hunt studies anti-indigenous schooling practices. She says teachers often focus too much on the traumatic past of indigenous people, while failing to bring their story into the modern context. Plus: The US invaded the Dominican Republic in 1916 and installed a military government to oversee the occupation for eight years. Alexa Rodriguez says Dominicans used public schools during this period to express their own version of national identity and citizenship.

About 80% of Americans have visited Disney World in Florida. Marc Williams says that Disney World has both shaped and been shaped by American identity. And: Anita Zatori sees an increase in young people choosing vacation destinations not to be there, but to create content of themselves being there.

Later in the show: From guiding tours in Bangkok to operating a Thai restaurant in Sydney, Australia, Cherry Brewer knows all about tourism. She's bringing her expertise to the university’s new hospitality and tourism management curriculum. Plus: After being singled out in a group of peers while traveling abroad, Shaniel Bernard Simpson began wondering what solo women travelers were experiencing.