Sitting in a doctor’s office trying to understand “medicalese” is really frustrating. Suzanne Makarem found forty women who switched to nontraditional medical professionals after years of feeling unheard by their doctors. Many of them now only see their traditional doctors for blood tests, vaccines and annual check ups. Plus: The United States and New Zealand are the only countries that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers. So ever since the late 90s, American cable stations are littered with direct-to-consumer drug ads that urge people to ask their doctor today if a certain drug is right for them. Staci Defibaugh says that these ads are not just promoting drugs to patients. They’re showing people how to be an “activated patient.” Later in the show: It’s baffling to think that by and large, African-American men have a shorter life expectancy than most other groups of people in America. There are many factors involved in that. But Alton Coleman says that being perceived as a threat in public spaces plays a huge role. And: There are many barriers to accessing good healthcare in Appalachia. Troy Makal was shocked to find that the greatest barrier wasn’t transportation, money or insurance, but a fundamental distrust in medical providers.

At colleges and universities, women professors are doing a lot more emotional work on top of teaching and research. Linda Waldron explains how that happens and how it affects long-term career paths. And: Geoffrey Pollick shares the story of one remarkable woman who made her career as an ordained minister in the late 1900s. Later in the show: In the mid-20th century, LIFE magazine changed the way Americans saw the world around them. Dolores Flamiano says that Hansel Mieth’s groundbreaking work as a woman photojournalist opened up new ways of seeing women, work, and race in America.

Stumbling into your soulmate while running errands used to be romantic. But Jenny Rosier says this romcom fantasy has gone out of style. She studies the ever-changing dating habits of Gen Z. Plus: Asking your crush out is the ultimate leap of faith. But what if something existed - free and easily accessible - that could boost your odds of landing the date? David Roaché researches the power of AI to make love connections. Later in the show: There’s something universally human about love, but it’s also shaped by the values and traditions of cultures around the world. Nicole Willock teaches a class called Love, Sex, and Desire through the lens of Asian philosophies.

College classrooms are opening up behind federal prison walls, sparking a massive shift in American higher education. Driven by the return of Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated students, community colleges across the country are meeting communities where needs are greatest–in prisons. Beth Benson and Maria Durso of are part of a two-year degree program inside the federal prison complex in Petersburg. Later in the show: The number of young people held in juvenile facilities, adult prisons, and jails has dropped by nearly 75% over the last 20 years, yet America still imprisons its children and youth at double the global rate. Judith Dunkerly-Bean is an advocate for more humane attention to the emotional needs of teenagers in the judicial system. Plus: Dr. Monika Rhue is a professional archivist and Griot storyteller who advocates that more common folks be involved with the archiving of their own histories.

In late August 1619, twenty or more enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia at what’s now called Fort Monroe. They were the first Africans documented in British North America. Fort Monroe’s Park Superintendent Terry Brown recalls how America commemorated their arrival 407 years later. And: We hear from the Tuckers, the descendants of the very first African-American baby, about their work to uncover the stories of their ancestors. Plus: Poet Synnika Lofton reflects on 1619 and shares how he channels his political thoughts into art. Later in the show: When Ana Edwards first heard the story of Gabriel, an enslaved blacksmith who attempted a rebellion in Richmond, Virginia, she knew she needed to share it. She says new efforts to commemorate the lives and rebellions of enslaved people in the former Confederate capital are reshaping Richmond today. And: Richmond poet Joshua Poteat tells how he has been inspired by Gabriel’s story. Poteat has been writer in residence at William & Mary and a visiting writer at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The James River provides drinking water for 1 in 4 Virginians. But it was once the most polluted river in America. Justin Black and Will Gemma’s two-part documentary Headwaters Down captures a 360-mile, 18-day journey from the headwaters of the James River in the Blue Ridge Mountains all the way to its mouth at the Chesapeake Bay. Friendship is the vehicle that moves the documentary through the James' history of colonization, enslavement and industry pollution. And: Since gaining federal recognition in 2018, the Rappahannock Tribe has reclaimed thousands of acres of land and waters. The Tribe regards the Rappahannock River as a living being with its own rights. Justin, Will Gemma and tribe member Kenny Richardson are documenting efforts to empower the river in their new film, Land Back: Rappahannock. Later in the show: Every summer is a cold war. We douse ourselves in bug spray to keep mosquitos away and mosquitoes still find a way to get their fix of our blood. Clément Vinauger has found that some bugs are now attracted to DEET in bug spray.

The personal and professional lives of musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane cannot be divorced from the struggle for racial equality. Antonio Garcia says they contributed in significant ways to interracial understanding and social progress. Also: The composers of the Civil Rights anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” also created musical theater at the turn of the century that transformed the image of African American characters and performers. Paula Marie Seniors looks at the lives of the composers Bob Cole, J. Rosamond Johnson, and James Weldon Johnson, whose work helped break down stereotypical portrayals of black Americans. Later in the show: Newbery Medal-winning children’s author Meg Medina talks about the power of writing in Spanglish and relates her own childhood to her book Merci Suárez Changes Gears. Plus: Nishaun Battle talks about the historic “adultification” of young black girls. Her book is Black Girlhood, Punishment and Resistance: Reimagining Justice for Black Girls in Virginia.

After liberation, concentration camp survivors were left a shell of themselves - malnourished, diseased, and traumatized. Children who lost their parents and extended family had nowhere to go. Maggie Fraser Kirsh studies the caregivers who swooped in from around the world to help begin the healing process. Later in the show: Death by hanging was the harshest punishment assigned to Nazi-era war criminals. But Jessica Trisko Darden says not all who were sent to the gallows were men. She’s the author of the new book, The Accused: How Women Faced Justice for Nazi-Era Crimes. And: A few years ago, Melissa Kravetz came across a memoir written on onion paper from 1970 that had been stored in a closet for decades. And it told the life of a remarkable German woman who witnessed - and resisted - the Nazi rise to power. Melissa is the editor of The Memoir of Ilse Seger: Wife, Mother, Hostage, Nazi Resister.

What did Jefferson mean by “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”? Adam Potkay explains the moral and philosophical world behind the phrase and the important passages that were edited out of the Declaration of Independence. Plus: On the evening of July 4, 1776, the Founding Fathers raced to print 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence for rapid dispersal throughout the colonies. Holly Robertson and George Riser dive into the frantic, midnight race to spread the news of independence. Later in the show: Martha Jefferson is usually portrayed as Thomas Jefferson’s beloved wife who died young in childbirth. But Patti Miller and Nicole Brown say that a new biography shows she was actually a highly educated, politically astute woman and a wartime political confidante of Jefferson.

Little babies and potted plants: the stationary, the helpless... the hardest working beings in the room. Peter Vishton found that babies and plants process information in similar ways. And plants can count! Kind of. And: It’s not just in your head. Getting out in nature can improve your mood and health. Benjamin Katz shares some of his favorite hiking and camping spots. Later in the show: Birding is a gateway drug. It starts with a cardinal, and then you’re noticing different frog calls, trees and owls. And more than that, you now care about what’s happening in your local environment. Melanie Del Pozo and Donte Jackson are bringing everyday people into birding one bird walk at a time through the Black Avian Enthusiasts group.

What if a well-manicured lawn isn’t the end all be all? What if it’s actually harming the local habitat? Doug Tallamy is the co-founder of Home Grown National Park. It’s a non-profit that urges property owners to reduce their lawns and plant native plants. He shares all the little things we can do to help restore functioning ecosystems and mitigate the biodiversity crisis. And: Quarry Gardens is the first and only native plant botanical garden in Virginia. It started off as a soapstone quarry. Now it's an environmental gem with a beautiful quarter mile loop boasting over 500 species of native plants. Devin Floyd takes us on a tour of the gardens - showing off the quarry pits and the ancient ecosystems he calls lost worlds. Later in the show: The Virginia Wildlife Conflict Helpline is a toll-free number people can call to report things like run-ins with bears or complain about raccoon intruders. Jim Parkhurst studies the data from the hundreds of calls to the helpline. He breaks down the ways we humans can better co-exist with wildlife.

A new one-woman show tells the story of Virginia’s history through the eyes of ten audacious women. From the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance to the Civil Rights movement, Morgan Avery McCoy Harris is using her Rosel Schewel Fellowship to embody the voices and memories of trailblazers. Later in the show: Jennifer Putzi is working with diaries that give us insight into the daily lives–and major upheavals–of Black women throughout history. Plus: Elizabeth Lewis tells the story of a group of women in 18th century Spain who used charity work to effect economic change.