
Baking by Ear
In the mid-20th century, American women were bombarded with tips, tricks, and goods to help them become the perfect housewife. Laura Puaca has studied four records released by General Mills that featured Betty Crocker “talking recipes.” They were developed in response to and in collaboration with blind homemakers and they extended to blind women choices that had long been an option for their non-disabled counterparts.

REPLAY: The Wide World of Video Games
eSports has recently grown into a billion dollar industry. Top professional players rake in millions from competing in games like League of Legends, Overwatch, and Rocket League. Earlier this year, …

Musical Legacies
A.D. Carson’s new album, “iv: talking with ghosts,” was written under the heaviness of covid lockdown, the deaths of close friends and family, and the worldwide protests addressing the deaths of Black people at the hands of police. Carson shares the deeply personal place this album comes from and his work to include his family and friends in the historical record.

Food is Family
The Philippines takes Christmas to another level. From September to December, the island-country celebrates the longest Christmas season in the world. Ken Garcia Olaes (Angie’s Bakery) and his parents bake …

Virginia: The Birthplace of Mac n Cheese
You have Chef James Hemings, who cooked for Thomas Jefferson, to thank for the macaroni and cheese on your plate this Thanksgiving. Setting the Table’s Deb Freeman tells us how the French dish became so baked into American cuisine.

Expanding Our Origin Story
Cauline Yates was at a family reunion the first time she heard she was a descendant of Thomas Jefferson. In 2019, she was asked to help develop the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia. With Good Reason producer Matt Darroch has the story.

The Five Senses
Buried in a folio of a 15th century monk’s writing is a poem about the absolutely annoying noise of blacksmiths–not just the pounding of their hammers, but the gnaw and gnash of their voices. Adin Lears explores the noises of early English voices and writing.

Checkout Charity
Right after the cashier tells you your total, they induce the moral dilemma: Would you like to round up to donate? Adrienne Sudbury says that most checkout charity donors give less than a dollar.

Spooky Season
Could a centuries-old curse be to blame for the infamous slap between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Academy Awards?