Each week, The Broadside highlights a story from the heart of the American South and asks why it matters to you. From news to arts and culture, we dive into topics that might not be on a front page, but deserve a closer look. Along the way, we explore the nuances of our home—and how what happens here ripples across the country.
Hosted by Anisa Khalifa, The Broadside is a production of North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC. Find it every Thursday wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hell froze over: Southern hockey is thriving
In the 1990s, professional ice hockey was primed for growth. But the NHL had one major problem: geography. In order to expand its footprint, the sport had to move into unlikely warm weather locations with few existing fans. The league eventually expanded to the Sun Belt with mixed early results. But in North Carolina and other Southern states, the NHL has found success with a radical long-term strategy. They've helped build the next generation of hockey fans almost completely from scratch.Featur
The hunt for a long-lost musical masterpiece (Revisited)
To celebrate Black History Month, we're revisiting one of our favorite episodes from last year.Perhaps more than any other artform, the 20th century was shaped by jazz. And piano player and composer Mary Lou Williams was there at nearly every turn. In recent years, historians have documented and dissected her career and its big impact on American music. But the final chapter of her life—spent teaching at Duke University—was shrouded in mystery. Until now.Special thanks to Chris Pattishall for wr
Who gets to be Native in America
North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe have been pursuing full federal recognition for over 130 years. A campaign promise kept by Donald Trump has given them hope. But it’s also renewed centuries-old questions about who gets to be Native in America.Featuring:
Sarah Nagem, editor of the Border Belt Independent
John Lowery, Lumbee Tribal Chairman
Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz, author of The Indian Card: Who Gets to Be Native in America
Links:
Check out more reporting from Sarah Nagem and the staff of the Bord
Election season is over… right?
Election Day was nearly three months ago. Since then, every race in the country has been called and certified. Except for one. A single election for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court remains in limbo, and its outcome might have huge ramifications for American democracy.Featuring:
Rusty Jacobs, Voting and Election Integrity reporter for WUNC
Frank Bruni, contributing writer for The New York Times and author of “The Age of Grievance”
Links:
Check out more of Rusty Jacobs’ reporting here
How North Carolina became Japan's favorite state
North Carolina has been cultivating a special relationship with Japan for more than four decades… and the rewards for the American are economy only accelerating. This week, we find out how tax incentives, BBQ, and Bojangles helped make the Tar Heel State the epicenter of Japanese investment in the US.Featuring:
Teruhiro "Terry" Kawabe, President and CEO of Morinaga America
David Robinson, Honorary Consul of Japan to North Carolina
Andy Steinhauer, General Manager at Health & Nutrition North Ame
Segregation academies and a forgotten migration
Throughout the South, state legislatures are adopting and expanding school voucher programs designed to allow parents to use public funds to pay for private school tuition. But this modern day push for school choice is connected to a dark past that recalls America’s long and sometimes forgotten history of resisting integration in the classroom.Featuring:
Jennifer Berry Hawes, reporter with ProPublica
Crystal Sanders, author of “A Forgotten Migration: Black Southerners, Segregation Scholarships
The gambling gold rush is here
In 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled that states could legalize sports gambling. Since then, 38 states have taken the plunge, including our home state of North Carolina. The payoff has been lucrative. But it also has a human toll.Featuring:
Jason deBruyn, Supervising Editor for Digital News at WUNC
Jason Quick, Senior Writer at The Athletic
Links:
Check out Jason Quick's incredible reporting about gambling addiction.
You can find a transcript of this episode here.
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That time we almost destroyed the world
On a chilly evening in 1961, a B-52 crashed in rural eastern North Carolina near the town of Goldsboro. Any plane crash is bad, but this one was particularly dangerous because onboard that bomber were two nuclear weapons. The event was perhaps the closest the United States has ever come to accidentally detonating a nuclear bomb—and kicking off a nuclear war.Featuring:
Jay Price, Military and Veterans Affairs reporter at WUNC and The American Homefront Project
Stephen Schwartz, independent nuclea
The ballad and the flood
This week, we visit the small town of Marshall in western North Carolina, a region ravaged by Hurricane Helene earlier this year.But this story isn’t about the storm or climate change or the walls of water that rushed through the Black Mountains in September. It’s about what happened after. How people create systems to help each other. And how the best aspects of humanity can shine in the wake of a disaster.This episode comes to us from Outside/In. Produced by our friends at New Hampshire Public
Deck your halls with Rauch balls
In this special holiday episode, we meet the Jewish man from Gastonia, North Carolina who became the world's largest manufacturer of Christmas ornaments and used his power to make his home more tolerant of all religions.This episode comes to us from Jeremy Markovich. Jeremy is the creator of a newsletter and podcast called the North Carolina Rabbit Hole, where he explores the strange and quirky corners of his home state. You can find all of his incredible work at ncrabbithole.com.This story was
Tony Hawk and the skateboard rabbit hole
On a rainy day in 1979, a photograph was taken of a young girl skateboarding down a street in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 45 years later, that photo went viral with a little help from the most famous skater who ever lived: Tony Hawk. This week, we find out who the mystery girl in the picture was and why the snapshot was so ahead of its time. Featuring:
Jeremy Markovich, writer of the North Carolina Rabbit Hole
Tony Hawk, skateboarder
Shaunda Shane, skateboarder
Links:
Check out Jeremy's art
Can we save Christmas (trees)?
From the White House to your living room, North Carolina’s iconic Fraser fir is the most popular Christmas tree in America. But this holiday season, something is threatening to wipe it out — and the $250 million dollar industry associated with it. Special thanks this week goes out to Kate Sheppard of The Assembly.Featuring: Steve Riley, contributor at The AssemblyLinks:
Check out Steve's article about the race to save America's favorite Christmas tree here.
You can find a transcript of this ep
The mystery of the Brown Mountain lights
For more than a century, people near Brown Mountain have witnessed unusual displays of shimmering and sometimes even exploding lights. A skeptical scientist has spent years trying to solve the mystery.This week, we’re heading to the mountains of western North Carolina for an episode produced by Atlas Obscura in partnership with Visit North Carolina.
Storytelling's surprising digital age revival
Trading stories is an ancient and deeply human experience. But today, most of the stories we consume come to us through a digital screen. So it might surprise you to find out that we're in the midst of a revival of the old school style of storytelling. Turns out, sitting in a crowded room with other people, sharing funny and tragic and unbelievable stories live and in person has never been bigger. Thank you to Nancy Reeder of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild for reaching out and pitching t
The world's biggest video game is from North Carolina
Fortnite was an unlikely hit from an unlikely place: North Carolina-based Epic Games. Innovative game design and smart leveraging of social media and live streaming catapulted it into becoming one of the world's biggest video games. And today, Fortnite is a bona fide cultural phenomenon. But can the memes and viral dance moves go on forever?Featuring:
Brian Gordon, Technology & Innovation reporter for The News & Observer
Jamal Michel, video game and culture critic
Links:
Check
A Day in the Life: The artist
This week we're launching a new kind of episode where we spend an ordinary day in the life of someone doing something extraordinary. Join us as we tag along with renowned North Carolina-based muralist Dare Coulter while she works to bring a very big and very public artistic vision to life.Featuring:
Dare Coulter, professional artist and muralistLinks:
View Anisa and Charlie’s horse drawings here.
You can find a transcript of this episode here.
Check out more of Dare's artwork on her I
The weirdest and wildest political stories
It’s Election Week in America–and if you’re like us, you’re probably a little burned out with politics. So we’re offering up something different. This week, we ask three veteran political reporters a single question: what’s the most bizarre story you've ever covered?Featuring:
Barry Yeoman, freelance writer and contributor at The Assembly
Jim Morrill, former politics reporter at the Charlotte Observer
Dawn Vaughan, Capitol Bureau Chief at The News & Observer
Special thanks this wee
Why it's so hard to find a good couch
Known as the "Furniture Capital of the World," North Carolina is famous for its high-quality furniture. And for over a century, it's been the heartbeat of the American furniture industry. But in recent decades, that business has changed dramatically, decimating the workforce and leaving average American consumers with two less-than-ideal options: high-end luxury products or cheap and mostly disposable mass-produced stuff.Featuring:
Zaki Khalifa, former owner of Zaki Oriental Rugs in Hi
Bonus episode: Let's go to the fair!
The North Carolina State Fair is one of the largest and oldest state fairs in the United States, drawing nearly a million people each year. And it's in full swing right now. We went yesterday and brought you back some funnel cake.Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.
Is it becoming too hot to work?
The South is seeing the effects of a warming climate. 2024 was the hottest summer on record for much of the region. For people who work outside, it’s making jobs more difficult, dangerous... and even deadly.This week, we chat with two journalists from WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio about their multi-part series Scorched Workers, which examines the impact of rising heat on outdoor workers in North Carolina.Special thanks goes out to WUNC's Elizabeth Baier.Featuring:
Aaron Sánchez-Guer
Hurricanes, helicopters and how we help
Hurricane Helene ravaged the Southeast and brought unprecedented flooding to the mountains of western North Carolina. Helene is a devastating example of climate change’s impact on places like Appalachia, a region that poses unique challenges for relief and recovery. Featuring:
Jay Price, Military Reporter at WUNC and The American Homefront Project
Katie Myers, Climate Reporter at Blue Ridge Public Radio and Grist
Links:
Follow Jay's reporting at WUNC
Follow Katie's reporting at Blue
The art and alarming science of political ads
This year, a record $12.3 billion will be spent on US political campaigns. The majority of that is earmarked for political advertising, particularly in battleground states like North Carolina. But where does that money go, and what exactly does it buy? The answers might surprise and alarm you.Featuring:
Colin Campbell, Capitol Bureau Chief at North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC
Frank Eaton, ad maker and political consultant
Brian Lewis, co-host of the Do Politics Better podcast, lobbyist
The gravestone grudge that changed cemetery law
If you walk through a cemetery, you’ll see some common phrases on the gravestones. Many of them are used so often, we tend to take these very public remembrances for granted. But what happens when one *really* stands out and contains a false murder accusation?Featuring:
Margaret Martine, local historian and co-owner of Whippoorwill Academy and Village
Max Longley, writer and contributor at Atlas Obscura
Links:
Check out Max's article for Atlas Obscura and Margaret's story in the Wilk
The Latino South
Although Latinos make up some of the most diverse communities in the South, they're often portrayed as one people or newcomers with a fairly uncomplicated backstory in the region. But from the Civil Rights Movement to South of the Border, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Featuring: Cecilia Márquez, author of Making the Latino South: A History of Racial FormationLinks: You can find a transcript of this episode here.Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from list
How y'all conquered the world (Revisited)
You might have noticed that the word “y’all” is popping up everywhere. For decades, linguists have noted that regional American accents are disappearing. But at the same time, use of this traditionally Southern pronoun is rapidly spreading — and the reasons may surprise you.Featuring:
Brody McCurdy, linguist and researcher at North Carolina State University
Antonia Randolph, assistant professor of American Studies at the UNC-Chapel Hill
Links:You can find a transcript of the episode her
Is this the death of DEI?
Over the past decade, universities across America embraced DEI policies. The University of North Carolina System enacted its own in 2019. After the racial justice protests of 2020, more schools across the country rushed to embrace efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. But then… came the backlash. UPDATE: Nearly 60 DEI positions eliminated from public universities in North CarolinaFeaturing: Brianna Atkinson, WUNC's higher education reporterLinks:
Check out Brianna's conti
The new Southern Hollywood
Lights. Camera. Tax breaks, y’all. For decades, Hollywood has set up shop in the South. But in recent years, the industry has undergone some major changes. Today, tax breaks are bringing a flood of blockbuster franchises, hit TV shows and lots and lots of cash to the region. And each state has to adapt to stay in the game.Featuring:
Jonas Pate, filmmaker and co-creator of Netflix's Outer Banks
Guy Gaster, director of the North Carolina Film Office
Jewel Wicker, host of WABE's podcast Th
How the Greensboro Six changed golf forever
In 1955, six Black men in Greensboro, North Carolina did something radical. They attempted to play a round of golf. Decades later, their legacy lives on.Featuring:
Josh Sullivan, social media producer at WUNC
Mark Lathan, Director of Programs for First Tee of Central Carolina
Jesse Williams, collegiate golfer at Miles College
Special thanks to the Southern Oral History Program at UNC-Chapel Hill for audio of Dr. George Simkins.Links:
See a photo of the Greensboro Six mural and check o
What happens after a hate crime
On February 10, 2015 three young Muslim Americans were murdered in a Chapel Hill, North Carolina apartment. What initially seemed like a clear case of a hate crime to many turned into a battle that would play out for years in the press and in the courts. Along the way, it renewed questions about how the United States handles hate. Featuring:
Farris Barakat, co-founder of the Light House Project
Satana Deberry, Durham County District Attorney
Dr. Arwin Smallwood, historian and dean of t
Pro wrestling climbs back to the top rope
Regional pro wrestling was once a major cultural institution throughout the South. For decades, each state had its own stars like North Carolina's Ric Flair who performed weekly at iconic venues like Raleigh's Dorton Arena. But by the late 1980s, the emergence of a handful of large national wrestling promotions like Vince McMahon’s WWF (now WWE) destroyed that territorial system. 30 years later, regional wrestling is making an unlikely comeback.Featuring:
Cliff Bumgardner, documentary
Love found while ‘chasing the light’
Cheryl Shelton-Roberts and her husband, renowned photographer Bruce Roberts, worked for years to preserve North Carolina’s iconic lighthouses. Meanwhile, their relationship blossomed into a love story unlike any other.This episode is an adaptation of a story that originally appeared in Our State magazine. Featuring:Cheryl Shelton-Roberts, co-founder of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society and former schoolteacher. Links:Check out “Chasing the Light” in Our State here.Donate: The Broadside
How beach music taught Southerners to 'dance sexy'
A type of music known as beach music has been baked into the culture of the Carolina coast for generations, along with a specific type of dancing that goes with it: shag. But how did these smooth, soulful sounds become tied to the sandy shores of North and South Carolina? The answer is a little more complicated and transgressive than you might expect.Featuring:
John Hook, radio DJ and beach music historian
Curtis Platt, founder of Softtoe Entertainment & Dance Production and the an
Bigfoot is from North Carolina
Appalachia is Bigfoot territory. In a big way. This week, we look at the mythical beast's legend, lore and sizable economic impact in the region. And we follow one reporter’s journey through the mountains and foothills of western North Carolina in search of Sasquatch. Featuring: Emily Cataneo, reporter for The AssemblyLinks:
Check out Emily's story on Appalachian Bigfoot culture at The Assembly here.
You can find a transcript of the episode here.
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Can we bring red wolves back from the brink (again)?
Red wolves were declared extinct in the wild in 1980. But in a stunning success for conservationists, a captive breeding program reintroduced the animal less than a decade later. That effort has stalled in recent years. Today, there are fewer than 30 animals left in the wild, all located in an isolated corner of North Carolina. Ultimately, the iconic Southern carnivore’s biggest threat is also its best hope for survival: humans.Featuring:
Dr. Tara Harrison, Assistant Professor at NC St
The other Declaration of Independence
July 4th, 1776 is arguably the most important date in American history. That's when citizens of the colonies declared total independence from Great Britain for the very first time. But what if it wasn’t the first? This week, we travel down the rabbit hole of North Carolina’s Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and entertain a couple of shocking possibilities: either someone’s lying — or we may need to rethink everything we know about American independence.Featuring:
Dave Fleming, a
The surprising cricket capital of the South
The game of cricket is rapidly gaining popularity across the US. The country is currently co-hosting the Men's T20 Cricket World Cup for the very first time at venues in major cities like New York, Miami and Dallas. But if you want to see what the future of the sport in America might look like, you need to visit a field next to an airport in the small town of Morrisville, North Carolina.Featuring:
Hasham Malik, captain of Morrisville Warriors Cricket Club
Babar Baig, former president o
The science behind saving an island
Sugarloaf Island protects the community of Morehead City from hurricanes and storm surge. But in recent decades, it’s begun to disappear. A multimillion dollar project is underway to save this North Carolina town's last line of defense from the pounding waves of the Atlantic Ocean. The plan's mix of science and engineering could offer a solution for coastal erosion across the country. Featuring: Celeste Gracia, Environmental Reporter at WUNC-North Carolina Public RadioLinks:
Check out
Craft beer’s emerging Southern flavor (Revisited)
In the last decade, the craft industry’s boom has steadily spread across Southern states. There are now thousands of breweries in the region (400 in North Carolina alone). But what exactly is a Southern beer?Featuring:
Sean Lilly Wilson, Founder of Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC
Tinu Diver, Documentary Filmmaker
Owen Racer, Freelance Journalist
Todd Boera, Co-founder and Creative Director of Fonta Flora Brewery in Nebo, NC
Links:Check out Owen Racer's Gulf Coast beer reporting at Good
Charlotte the stingray's tangled web
Earlier this year, an aquarium in a small-town in western North Carolina claimed that a stingray named Charlotte got impregnated by a shark. Charlotte became an internet sensation in the aftermath and quite possibly the most famous fish in the world. Then, things got weird.Featuring:Emily Cataneo, reporter for The AssemblyLinks:
Check out Emily’s deep dive on Charlotte the stingray at The Assembly here.
Watch the full WLOS ABC13 News interview with Brenda Ramer here.
Read the transcript
The hunt for a long-lost musical masterpiece
Perhaps more than any other artform, the 20th century was shaped by jazz. And piano player and composer Mary Lou Williams was there at nearly every turn. In recent years, historians have documented and dissected her career and its big impact on American music. But the final chapter of her life—spent teaching at Duke University—was shrouded in mystery. Until now.Special thanks to Chris Pattishall for writing and performing the score for this episode.Featuring:
Anthony Kelley, Professor
Billy Graham’s statue and the legacy of ‘America’s Pastor’
During his prolific six-decade career, Billy Graham traveled across the world preaching Christianity to millions. Along the way, he became one of the most influential religious figures in America. His prominence sparked friendships with several American presidents, and he became a regular presence as an advisor in the Oval Office. But his home was always in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. And this month, his home state unveiled a statue of Graham in the U.S. Capitol — one of two
NASCAR's racing simulator revolution (Revisited)
NASCAR is the most popular motorsport series across America, but its roots run deep as a regional sport in the South, especially in our home state of North Carolina. That history has heavily influenced the growth of motorsports in the US, which has produced a disproportionate amount of Southern drivers — and fans. But in recent years, a surprising new trend has begun to level that playing field: the explosion in popularity of esports.Featuring:
Rajah Caruth, Driver in NASCAR Craftsman T
Our trash lives next to this community
When it comes to where our trash goes, for most of us it's out of sight, out of mind. But for the residents of a once-thriving Black community in North Carolina, it’s right next door. Sampson County is the site of the largest landfill in the state, and isn’t projected to be full for another 20 years. For the people who live next to it, this mountain of trash has dire consequences — and they want it shut down.Featuring:
Cameron Oglesby, freelance environmental journalist and oral histor
How many dollar stores are too many? (Revisited)
This week, we're revisiting a story from last year that's recently been back in the headlines. Discount stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General have become ubiquitous in the American landscape — especially in the South. They can be convenient and even necessary, but some advocates warn that their rapid spread is creating food deserts. But while pushback to dollar stores grows, researchers say that we need more data to know their true impact. So how many dollar stores are too many?F
Zombie deer and our looming conservation crisis
The majority of funding for state wildlife programs comes from hunting licenses and taxes associated with hunting, fishing and guns. But a generational decline in hunters and a deadly disease are threatening the foundation of that wildlife management system. In North Carolina, a coalition of hunters and conservationists are trying to head off this looming crisis in the great outdoors.Featuring:
Guy Gardner, Co-manager at the Harnett Area Deer Donation Site
Judy Gardner, Co-manager at th
Can we save the banana from extinction?
The grocery store banana as we know it is a monoculture, which means that from Tokyo to Tulsa nearly everyone eats the same variety. That lack of diversity makes the plant incredibly vulnerable, and it’s facing an existential threat in the form of a devastating fungus. The cure may be growing in an office park in North Carolina.Featuring:
Bradley George, Reporter at WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio
Matt DiLeo, VP of Product Development at Elo Life Systems
Andrew Zaleski, Contributor at
Breaking Southern baseball's color barrier
A little more than 75 years ago, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball's major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But integration in the South was slow going and took a slightly different path. This week, we look at what it took to integrate Southern baseball and how one group in rural North Carolina is ensuring that the next generation of young Black ballplayers get a chance at bat.Featuring:
Brian Patterson, COO of the Buck Leonard Association
Chris Holaday, historian a
The toxic spill that left a legacy of change
A decade ago, thousands of tons of toxic coal ash poured into the Dan River. The spill—the third largest of its kind in US history—was a devastating environmental disaster. But today, the event is perhaps best known for its legacy of legislation, as environmental activists and communities across North Carolina turned a local disaster into a national rallying cry for change.Featuring:
Celeste Gracia, Environmental Reporter at WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio
Brian Williams, Program Mana
Teachers challenge the nation's toughest union ban
North Carolina and South Carolina are home to the most restrictive public sector collective bargaining laws in the country. In fact, they’re the only two states that ban all government employees from unionizing. And that doesn’t show signs of changing anytime soon. But a group of educators in Durham, North Carolina isn’t letting that stop them from fighting for a seat at the table. This week on the Broadside, we ask what it means to call yourself a union in a state where striking and co
Women's basketball is having its moment
Women have been playing basketball since the game was invented, but the most fervent fandom has always been reserved for the men's game — until now. We explore why it took so long for us to pay attention to women's basketball, and what that means for the future of the sport.Featuring:
Kate Fagan, journalist and author of Hoop Muses: An Insider's Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women's) Game
Kayla Jones, Graduate Assistant Coach for NC State women's basketball
Stephanie Menio, Assistant A
Tornado Alley is moving to the South
Each year, as March fades into April, violent storms unleash dozens of tornadoes across a huge swath of the country. The Midwest is where most of these events occur, but scientists have begun to observe a major shift in traditional tornado patterns and the South is directly in the path. Featuring:
Dr. Marshall Shepherd, Professor and Director of the University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences Program
Dr. Stephen Strader, Associate Professor of Geography and the Environment at Villanov
Why cola became king
The South is the birthplace of all the big cola brands. Since the first Coca-Cola was poured in Atlanta in 1886, it's become an American icon. For many of us, these drinks are part of key childhood memories. But whether we're loyal to Coke, Pepsi, or something else, we don't drink as much soda as we used to. So why do we care so much about these brands and does soda even matter in this new beverage age?Featuring:
Ralph Ashworth, owner of Ashworth Drugs in Cary, NC
Sabrina Bengel, manag
Robert F. Williams' bold history lesson
As the president of the local chapter of the NAACP, Robert F. Williams led the small town of Monroe, North Carolina in protesting racism and segregation during the 1950s. But he was also head of a local NRA chapter that urged African Americans to defend themselves by meeting violence with violence. His story is one of the most fascinating and unusual in American history, and, in Monroe and elsewhere, it’s challenging how we talk about the Civil Rights Movement today.Featuring:
Robert H
Purple, teal and the rise of basketball fashion
In 1988, the NBA finally came to North Carolina — and the newly minted Charlotte Hornets made an unconventional choice to hire a fashion designer to create their jerseys. They lost 60 games that year, but they looked incredible while doing it. The iconic fit, inspired in part by Michael Jordan, would launch a global fashion trend that endures today.
Alexander Julian, Fashion designer and creator of the original Charlotte Hornets uniform
Crystal McCrary McGuire, Filmmaker and creator of
More power poles, more problems
Electric vehicles and renewable energy sources are in their boom era — and that means the need for electricity is higher than ever before. The construction of an expanded energy grid to meet that demand is going to require a lot of raw minerals, metals… and a surprising commodity: lumber. This week, we take a trip to the forests of the Southern Pine Belt where demand for big trees far outstrips the supply and find out what's being done to prevent a pole-ocalypse.Featuring:
Dr. Robert Ba
Craft beer’s emerging Southern flavor
In the last decade, the craft industry’s boom has steadily spread across Southern states. There are now thousands of breweries in the region (400 in North Carolina alone). But what exactly is a Southern beer?Featuring:
Sean Lilly Wilson, Founder of Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC
Tinu Diver, Documentary Filmmaker
Owen Racer, Freelance Journalist
Todd Boera, Co-founder and Creative Director of Fonta Flora Brewery in Nebo, NC
Links:Check out Owen Racer's Gulf Coast beer reporting at Good
How one business built Black Wall Street
At the turn of the 20th century, the epicenter of America’s Black middle class was in a midsize city in central North Carolina. Durham was home to NC Mutual, an insurance company that provided a foundation for Black wealth in the South amidst Jim Crow segregation. Recently though, NC Mutual closed its doors, marking the end to more than a hundred years of business.Featuring:
Kimberly Moore, Director of Civic Engagement for North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District
Andre Vann, Coordina
NASCAR's racing simulator revolution
NASCAR is the most popular motorsport series across America, but its roots run deep as a regional sport in the South, especially in our home state of North Carolina. That history has heavily influenced the growth of motorsports in the US, which has produced a disproportionate amount of Southern drivers — and fans. But in recent years, a surprising new trend has begun to level that playing field: the explosion in popularity of esports.Featuring:
Rajah Caruth, Driver in NASCAR Craftsman T
Place, Erased: Environmental ghost towns
Any kind of environmental crisis – whether it's caused by an act of God or big industry – can upend a community. That's especially true for the smaller, more rural towns that dot the landscape of the South. In the past century, natural and man-made environmental changes have transformed and even erased some of these places.What happens to small towns when they meet BIG opponents and who fights for these communities to be preserved — or at least, remembered – when the dust settles?Featur
EVs are reshaping the South one small town at a time
Stanton, Tennessee -- population 400 -- is getting ready to welcome a Ford auto-manufacturing campus that will employ 6,000 people. And with it, prosperity and some serious growing pains. This one small town is a microcosm of the powerful new economics at play in states throughout the American South.Featuring:Nora Eckert, Auto Industry Reporter at The Wall Street JournalLinks:
Check out Nora's reporting from Stanton.
You can find a transcript of the episode here.
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The remarkable story of daredevil Tiny Broadwick
This year marks the 120th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's powered airplane flight at Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. But the Wright Brothers aren’t the only icons of aviation with ties to the South. This week, we tell the unlikely story of a woman named Tiny Broadwick. Born into extreme poverty, Broadwick went on to become a trailblazer in the male-dominated world of parachute jumping, saving thousands of lives along the way.Featuring:
Lt. Col. Jessica
Featuring: Embodied - How fandoms build community
This week we're highlighting a recent episode of the award-winning podcast Embodied (which is also produced at WUNC). We hear a lot about toxic fandoms in our culture — but there's also a lot to share about the brighter side. Guest host Anisa Khalifa first became a fan in high school. She gets an explanation from a psychologist about how being in fandoms benefits mental health, and a journalist describes what role the internet has played in shaping fan culture. Plus, Anisa invites the c
The kids are alright: NPR Student Podcast Challenge finalist
NPR's annual Student Podcast Challenge is kind of a big deal. In 2023 alone, they received over 3,300 entries. This week on the Broadside, we highlight the work of one of the finalists who uncovered the history of her neighborhood -- Oberlin Village in Raleigh, NC -- and fought to bring it into the light and preserve it for future generations. Featuring:
Leeya Chaudhuri - Journalist (and student) at Enloe High School in Raleigh, NC
Brian Hedgepeth - Teacher at Enloe High School
Links:
Recovering from long Covid could be a long journey
We now know an incredible amount about the COVID-19 virus. But long Covid symptoms and treatment options remain a blind spot. This week, we check in on a group of patients and doctors from the Carolinas who we’ve been following for over a year in order to see how we’re adapting to this second silent pandemic.Featuring:
Jason deBruyn, Health Reporter at WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio.
Eleanor Spicer Rice, science writer and long COVID patient
Dr. John Baratta, Founder and Co-director o
Millions across the South can’t trust their tap water
The water supply for millions of people across the South has serious problems. Many of these folks live in majority Black cities like Jackson, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. Billions in federal funds were recently allocated to help fix cities' poor water quality, but will it be enough? Join us as we tap into the water across the region and learn what it’ll take to clean it up.Featuring:
Adam Mahoney, Climate and Environment Reporter at Capital BLinks:
Check out Adam Mahoney’s repor
One state could be a test case for tackling the opioid crisis
Recent litigation to hold drug makers accountable for the opioid epidemic has led to settlements totaling $50 billion that are being distributed to state governments throughout the United States. We explore some of the potential solutions in our home state of North Carolina and find out how its hyper local model for distributing funds could be a compelling test case for tackling the crisis nationwide.Featuring:Jason deBruyn, Health Reporter at North Carolina Public RadioLinks:
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Featuring: North Carolina pottery from clay to kiln
As we all take the week to reconnect with our loved ones, we're presenting a story about what's on our tables this Thanksgiving – and we don't just mean the food, but the plates it sits on. In this episode from the podcast Gravy, producer Wilson Sayre takes us to central North Carolina to tell the story of hand-thrown pottery and its relationship with food. In North Carolina, the history of baking clay into plates and bowls is an ancient one. Step through that past into the present day
The process to return Native American remains is broken
For over a hundred years, Western archeologists built vast collections of looted Native American artifacts and human remains. For many Native Americans today, those violations have left a painful legacy. A glimmer of hope appeared in 1990, with the passage of a federal law intended to facilitate the repatriation of Native American ancestors to their tribes. But 30 years later, tens of thousands of remains and funerary artifacts are still held at institutions around the country. Featurin
My next-door neighbor is a weapon of mass destruction
An army depot in Eastern Kentucky once housed something extraordinary and terrible: an arsenal of chemical weapons. The dangers of this stockpile hovered over the residents of the nearby city of Richmond for decades. Recently, the Army fulfilled a long-standing mandate to destroy their entire supply of these deadly weapons, but the road to get there wasn’t easy.Special thanks to Ben Evans and Ben Sollee for providing archival audio from the documentary NERVE included in this episode.Fea
The takeover of The Robesonian
In 1988, two armed Native American men occupied a newspaper office in Southeastern North Carolina. In an effort to raise the alarm on corruption and racism in their mostly rural community, they took 17 hostages and demanded to negotiate with the governor. Decades later, the small town is still grappling with the events surrounding that day.Special thanks to WRAL for providing archival audio included in this episode.Featuring:Sarah Nagem, editor at Border Belt Independent and contributor
How many dollar stores are too many?
Discount stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General have become ubiquitous in the American landscape — especially in the South. They can be convenient and even necessary, but some advocates warn that their rapid spread is creating food deserts. But while pushback to dollar stores grows, researchers say that we need more data to know their true impact. So how many dollar stores are too many?Featuring:Stephan Bisaha, reporter at Gulf States NewsroomLinks:
Check out Stephan Bisaha’s exte
What it takes to make music in prison
As a person incarcerated in the state of Virginia, rapper Deon Thomas doesn’t have access to a recording studio. Instead, he’s part of a small group of artists who record songs via phone calls and distribute them through a prison-only digital music service. It's a modern twist on a long and complicated tradition. Join us as we explore the influential, exploitative and ever-evolving world of music in Southern prisons.Featuring:
Zeb Larson, writer and historian, contributor at Scalawag Ma
Asian American Studies has arrived
Asian Americans are the fastest growing demographic in the country, yet historically, they've been near-invisible in our popular culture. But that's beginning to change. We examine the long history of Asian American Studies, and why it's finally having its moment in the South.Featuring:
Nayoung Aimee Kwon, professor at Duke University
Esther Kim Lee, professor and director of Duke's Asian American and Diaspora Studies program
Iris Kim, founder of the Vanderbilt University Asian American
A look inside America’s climate data bunker
Embedded in a warehouse within the Blue Ridge Mountains, climate scientists are collecting rows upon rows of weather data going back centuries. But these archives aren’t just collecting dust – they’re helping us anticipate weather events in the future and create tools to navigate the fallout of the climate crisis.Featuring:
Kathie Dello, North Carolina’s state climatologist
Jason Cooper, archivist at NCEI
Greg Hammer, meteorologist at NCEI
Adam Smith, applied climatologist at NCEI
Joe W
How y'all conquered the world
You might have noticed that the word “y’all” is popping up everywhere. For decades, linguists have noted that regional American accents are disappearing. But at the same time, use of this traditionally Southern pronoun is rapidly spreading — and the reasons may surprise you.Featuring:
Brody McCurdy, linguist and researcher at NC State
Antonia Randolph, assistant professor of American Studies at the UNC-Chapel Hill
Links:You can find a transcript of the episode here.Donate: The Broadside
Introducing: The Broadside
Each week, The Broadside highlights a story from the heart of the American South and asks why it matters to you.
From news to arts and culture, we dive into issues that might not be on a front page, but deserve a closer look. Along the way, we explore the nuances of our home—and how what happens here ripples across the country.
Hosted by Anisa Khalifa, The Broadside is a production of North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC. Find it every Thursday, starting on September 28th, wherever you li