With Good Reason

Marc Lee Raphael (College of William and Mary) says our identities are formed by a narrative that we construct about ourselves that is part fiction and part fact.  In Raphael’s most recent book, Diary of a Los Angeles Jew, 1947-1972: Autobiography as Autofiction, the facts are his diary entries. The fiction is how Marc interprets [...]

Philosophers from Epicurus to Charlotte Joko Beck offer insights that may change how we view the world and our place in it. In How Philosophy Can Save Your Life, Marietta McCarty (Piedmont Virginia Community College) introduces ideas from the world’s greatest minds, weaving together the various strands as a tapestry for good living.  Also [...]

Poet Lucille Clifton is widely acclaimed for her powerful explorations of race, womanhood, and spirituality. This June she was honored by the Furious Flower Poetry Center (James Madison University), which brought together more than 40 teachers and scholars to examine the National Book Award-winner’s lifetime of contributions to American poetry.  Also: Hilary Holladay (Virginia Foundation [...]

Wilbur and Orville Wright won a place in history for unraveling the secrets of heavier-than-air flight, but their charismatic sister, Katharine Wright, deserves a lot of credit.  Cindy Wilkey (University of Virginia’s College at Wise) says the brothers, who never married, were shy and reserved and that Katharine devoted her life to running their home [...]

Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald (left) had a celebrity marriage during the Jazz Age of the 1920s.  However, from 1930 until her death in 1948, Zelda was in and out of mental hospitals.  Karen Tatum (Norfolk State University) is exploring the possibility of a link between the medication Zelda took for eczema and her [...]

Harper Lee’s 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, presents the Jim Crow south through the eyes of a young girl.  Mary Badham, the actress who portrayed “Scout” in the film, shares memories of her fond relationship with actor Gregory Peck.  Gary Edgerton (Old Dominion University) and Ted McKosky (Radford University) explain why the film is [...]

Are the days of the big newspapers numbered?  Jeff South (Virginia Commonwealth University) says the demand for news and information is higher than ever.   In order to survive, newspapers need to change the business models of both their on-line presence and how they gather the news.   And, if Mike Marshall’s Crozet Gazette is any indication, [...]

A special episode of With Good Reason recorded live at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville.  NPR book critic Alan Cheuse (George Mason University) discusses his recent novel, To Catch the Lightning, about photographer Edward Curtis who documented Native Americans in the early Twentieth Century. 
See a collection of Curtis’s photographs here
Also: Mary [...]

For centuries, “Shakespeare’s Sonnets” languished in obscurity, but now the collection is considered a masterpiece.  Robert Matz (George Mason University) reveals that the more famous lines from the Sonnets, such as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” were written by Shakespeare to a young man.  Also Featured: Toni-Leslie James (Virginia Commonwealth University) has [...]

Poet Lucille Clifton is widely acclaimed for her powerful explorations of race, womanhood, and spirituality. This June she was honored by the Furious Flower Poetry Center (James Madison University), which brought together more than 40 teachers and scholars to examine the National Book Award-winner’s lifetime of contributions to American poetry. Also: Hilary Holladay (Virginia Foundation [...]