With Good Reason Radio » Business

Tongue-Tied America

em8x — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:10:37 +0000

The fear of public speaking can be debilitating. For some, it’s the stuff of nightmares. And so rather than stumble through a speech, many people avoid doing it altogether. But Molly Bishop Shadel (University of Virginia) and Robert N. Sayler (University of Virginia) say oral advocacy is key to a healthy democracy. Effective speeches can even change the course of history. And, they say, anyone can do it. Also featured: It’s a highly debated approach to improving workplace relations: emotional intelligence training. But there’s a reason EI, as its called, is growing in popularity. Ronald Humphrey (Virginia Commonwealth University) says emotionally intelligent people—those with an ability to understand the emotions of themselves and others—make better workers. And better workers means better business.

What’s the Economy For, Anyway?

cms4tf — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 05:00:37 +0000

An epidemic of over-consumption is sweeping the United States and the rest of the industrialized world. With Good Reason sat down with PBS documentary producer John De Graaf, among whose best-known shows is Affluenza, for an in-depth discussion of happiness and the economy and how the life/work balance got out of whack for American workers. De Graaf, the author of a new book on the economy, proposes solutions for living more sustainably.

Also featured: The story of life has a complex cast of characters, and Fred Singer (Radford University) says we’re losing many of them due to poor judgment and our own astounding biological success. Singer has interviewed Jane Goodall, Dan Jansen and other renowned scientists for his new textbook on ecology.

Making Foreign Aid Accountable

cms4tf — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 05:01:10 +0000

The United States gives out roughly 25 billion dollars a year in foreign aid projects. Is that money ending up in the right hands and what is it accomplishing? Michael Tierney (College of William and Mary) and his colleagues have created AidData to allow the public to follow the money.

Also featured: Biologists have used game theory to explain the rise and fall of species. Now Atin Basu (Virginia Military Institute) and fellow economists have applied evolutionary game theory to the greatest organism of all: human civilization. They believe the lack of “foresightedness” in a culture can explain the fall of a civilization.

Selling The Silver Bullet

VFHwebdev — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 06:40:40 +0000

At the height of its popularity, an estimated 12 million listeners were tuning in to each episode of The Lone Ranger. The success of the radio serial was largely the result of clever marketing and licensing by the show’s creator, George Trendle. In a forthcoming book called Selling the Silver Bullet, media professor Avi Santo (Old Dominion University) explains how one man’s vision became a widely recognized trademark.

Also featured: Western culture reveres science. But scientists have long been portrayed in film and fiction as sinister, ruthless, dangerous, or mad. Think: Dr. Jekyll. Chemistry professor Leanna C. Giancarlo (University of Mary Washington) challenges these portrayals. By looking at the role of language and myth-making, she explains why negative stereotypes of scientists persist.

Tongue-Tied America

tap2ae — Sat, 21 May 2011 05:01:23 +0000

The Foreclosure Contagion

tap2ae — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 05:01:56 +0000

How badly do foreclosed homes affect a neighborhood? Does foreclosure spread like a virus? Michael Seiler (Old Dominion University) and researchers at the Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center have created a “Foreclosure Contagion Model,” which uses economic forecasting, modeling and simulation to help policymakers revive distressed real estate markets. Also featured: The oceans are slowly rising due to ice melt and the warming of the waters. And at least one east coast city has hired a Dutch firm to evaluate options for keeping the sea at bay. Oceanography professor Larry Atkinson (Old Dominion University) and a team of experts are examining ways vulnerable businesses and communities can stem the tides.

The Future of the Book

tap2ae — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:01:58 +0000

Some say that books – that is, the printed, non-digital variety – are destined for the trash heap. Call it the Age of the Kindle. Ralph Cohen (James Madison University) spent a lifetime collecting books, many of them very rare. But recently, after 70 years book collecting, he decided to give away thousands of them. Did he do it because he believes books are dead? Also featured: the story of how a rare and valuable dictionary of Old English mysteriously wound up in a college library in the Shenandoah Valley. Dabney Bankert (James Madison University) discovered this literary gem and spent a decade reconstructing its strange, winding journey. And also featured: while printed books may be on the decline, audio books are still as popular as ever. The billion-dollar-a-year industry is the merger of traditional and technological cultures. Lucy Bednar (James Madison University) says the narrator serves a vital role. They can make or break the experience – and she shares examples of each.

Secrets of the NFL Draft

tap2ae — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 05:01:23 +0000

What gets a player drafted into the NFL? After examining six year’s worth of data about wide receivers, Sam Allen (Virginia Military Institute) may know the secret formula for wide receivers who want to be chosen by an NFL team. Performance on the 40-yard dash, media coverage, the size of the college, and even the player’s performance in interviews – all of it can set apart a good wide receiver from the one who gets picked. Also featured: Economic recessions aren’t exactly a new phenomenon. Economist Clyde Haulman (The College of William and Mary) says every generation that’s lived in a boom cycle has falsely believed it would go on forever. He spent months tracking down business licenses and agricultural outputs to uncover what brought about America’s first modern economic depression, the Panic of 1819, and says there are lessons to be learned from it.

Internet Marketing Through Social Media

tap2ae — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 05:01:49 +0000

The recent explosion of on-line social media has prompted businesses to change how they get their marketing messages to the public. Yuping Liu-Thompkins (Old Dominion University) says that, while there are many new ways to market products and brands, companies need to be aware that the new social media allow for less control of a message than marketers may be accustomed to or want. Also: Small businesses that sell products and services no longer need bricks-and-mortar storefronts. Alan Abrahams (Virginia Tech) has published a step-by-step guide on how to establish a small internet order business on the web.

The 100-Mile Thanksgiving

tap2ae — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 05:01:33 +0000

With Good Reason invites you to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but nearly everything on the table is grown, made, or brewed, within 100 miles of Charlottesville, Virginia. The dinner host, Tim Beatley (University of Virginia), introduced the 100-mile Thanksgiving idea to his students after reading The 100-mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating. About 95 miles east, in Petersburg, Reza Rafie and Chris Mullins (Virginia State University) train farmers to use greenhouse-like structures called High Tunnels to grow high-profit margin berries and other exotic fruits and vegetables year-round. Sixty miles west, Maria Papadakis (James Madison University) visits an energy-efficient turkey farm in the Shenandoah Valley to showcase ways that farmers can save money while doing their part to conserve natural resources. And just miles from that farm, in Centerville, Evrim Dogu and Rick Easton of SubRosa spend 24 hours every week baking in their quest to bring naturally leavened bread back to the American mainstream. They believe bread is THE staple of the Western diet and that Americans have all but forgotten this.

The Controversy Over International Adoptions

tap2ae — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 05:01:16 +0000

Inter-country adoptions gone awry have a way of capturing headlines. A missionary group lands in jail after trying to remove children from Haiti. An American woman puts her seven year-old adopted son on a one-way flight back to Moscow. Karen Rotabi (Virginia Commonwealth University) has studied this issue in Guatemala and beyond for decades and says that overseas adoptions, while a source of hope and love for many families, can have a dark side. Also featured: Baseball leagues for kids with disabilities have sprouted up all over the United States. Matt Lucas (Longwood University) put together a team in rural Virginia and discovered that the games were just as valuable to the parents. And also featured: The Hispanic population is the fastest growing in the U.S., but Mirta Martin, Dean of Virginia State University’s School of Business, says schools aren’t yet prepared, culturally or academically, for the influx of Hispanic students.

Hard Cider: Early America’s Drink of Choice

VFHwebdev — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 05:00:44 +0000

In the 18th century it was hard cider, not beer, that was the alcoholic beverage of choice. Even children often drank hard cider with breakfast and dinner because it was safer than the water. So how did this preference for hard cider disappear from the American palate? David Williams (George Mason University) investigates the demise of this quintessential early American drink. And: A visit to the tasting room of Albemarle CiderWorks. Also featured: Deborah O’Dell (University of Mary Washington) studies magnetic orientation in bees, which, like homing pigeons, use magnetic fields to orientate themselves. She’s interested in recent studies that suggest that bees living near cell phone towers may become disoriented and produce less honey.