Airing this Month

Sisters of Mercy (April 5-11)

The contributions that Irish nuns made to help destitute immigrant Catholic children in New York City were instrumental in developing modern American social institutions like foster care and welfare. Before the nuns aided these children, they were being sent to live with Protestant families, often never seeing their parents again. Maureen Fitzgerald (College of William and Mary) speaks about what lessons can be learnt from the Irish immigrant experience. Also: Cindy Hahamovitch (College of William and Mary) compares the history and experience of guest workers in the United States to other countries.

WGR News Feature: The foster care system can trace its roots back to 19th-century America, when thousands of hungry children roamed the streets of big East Coast cities.  Nancy King, with the radio program "With Good Reason," says some of these kids ended up with families in Virginia. Listen to the two and a half minute feature.

 

In the Wake of Violence (April 12 – 18)

Roberta Culbertson (Center on Violence and Community at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) looks for ways to mitigate the effects of violence after massacres. David Niyonzima works through the Violence and Survival Institute to help bring reconciliation to his war-weary native country, Burundi. He says projects like “listening rooms” bring healing and comfort. Also: James Sochinski and the Marching Virginians (Virginia Tech) offer a touching musical tribute to the 32 Virginia Tech students and professors who died April 16, 2007.

WGR News Feature: The Virginia Tech community confronts an emotional anniversary this week.  Nancy King, with the radio program “With Good Reason,” examines the power and grace of a 200-year-old hymn. Click here to listen to the two and a half minute feature.

To Kill A Mockingbird (April 19 - 25)

The National Endowment for the Arts is encouraging all of us to read or re-read Harper Lee’s 1960 novel, that presents the Jim Crow south through the eyes of a young girl. Gary Edgerton (Old Dominion University) and Ted McCosky ( Radford University) explain why the film that came out just two years after the novel is still considered iconic and beloved. Ed Weathers (Virginia Tech) says that the book was the last great work of literature concerned with our legal system.

 

Also: Mary Badham, the actress who portrayed Scout in the film, talks with Sarah McConnell about the importance of reading, and Charles Shields tells us about writing the first and only biography of Harper Lee.

WGR News Feature: This month, Virginians across the state are picking up "To Kill a Mockingbird" and reading it for the first time or re-reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee.  It's all part of a national effort called "The Big Read."  Nancy King, with the radio program "With Good Reason," has more. Click here to listen to the two and a half minute feature.

Wretched Sisters (April 26 - May 2)

Eleven women have been put to death for murder since the United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976. In her book, Wretched Sisters, Mary Atwell (Radford University) offers an analysis of the circumstances that determined how these eleven came to be subjected to the ultimate punishment. Also featured; The gun-toting woman holds enormous symbolic significance in American culture. In Her Best Shot, Laura Browder ( Virginia Commonwealth University) examines the relationship between women and guns and the ways in which the figure of the armed woman has served as a lightning rod for cultural issues from the American Revolution to the present.