Shoresides
A local solutions journalism podcast by and for BIPOC communities in coastal North Carolina. Through news stories, interviews, updates, and special programs we keep you engaged with local news from across the region. Shoresides News is a nonprofit newsroom covering the stories that matter most to coastal North Carolina. Got a question or a tip? Reach out to our team at info@shoresides.org. Shoresides News is made possible through community support. To help sustain this vital local reporting, visit https://givebutter.com/shoresides
Episodes
This episode, Shoresides captures a pivotal moment in AI policy as North Carolina State Representative Zack Hawkins discusses a federal proposal that would have blocked state-level AI regulation for a decade and drew bipartisan criticism. Speaking to Shoresides during the final hours of budget negotiations—before federal lawmakers would ultimately strip the moratorium from the bill—Hawkins warns about the risks of fed...
When a false shark sighting shut down Carolina Beach, the confusion that followed revealed something deeper: how much we rely on the local National Weather Service office and its communication networks to keep coastal communities safe. In this episode, Shoresides speaks with Stephen Pfaff, meteorologist-in-charge at the NWS-Wilmington, about the challenges of misinformation, the delicate partnerships that power coasta...
Public radio stations across North Carolina — especially in rural and coastal communities — are facing devastating funding cuts following the passage of the Rescissions Act of 2025. That includes WRVS in Elizabeth City, which could lose up to 70% of its funding. What does that mean for you and your neighbors? No local tornado warnings. No emergency alerts. No hometown voices spinning music, sharing stories, and delive...
When alligators show up in swimming pools, under cars, or at the local Bojangles drive-through, Kate Marshall gets the call. As Southport's jurisdictional alligator handler, she's seen relocations quadruple this year alone. She tells Shoresides all about what it's like.
Helpful Links
Lately, the town of Southport, North Carolina has had some excitement, 20 alligator removals since May, setting a new record. For a resident named Bonner Herring and his trusty Labrador Strike, that almost ended in tragedy. In this episode, Shoresides catches up with them to hear their story and to wonder about the prospect of increased human-alligator conflict in coastal communities.
Here are five key things to know a...
In this episode of Shoreside, host Nicholas Merino explores the long-standing struggle for food access in Wilmington’s Northside neighborhood—classified by the USDA as a food desert. But as guest Sierra Washington, Executive Director of the Northside Food Co-Op, explains, “desert” doesn’t begin to capture the systemic inequality at play. Instead, she and many others call it “food apartheid”—the result of deliberate di...
In this final episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza steps into one of North Carolina’s most cherished traditions: high school sports. But instead of focusing on touchdowns and rivalries, she takes us behind the scenes to examine how climate change is reshaping the very conditions under which student athletes train and compete.
In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza takes us on a journey into the heart of rural North Carolina alongside Jeanette Tapia, outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Farmworkers Project in Harnett County. We spend the day in the field witnessing firsthand the dedication and determination of a team working to protect the health of the state’s most vulnerable labor force: ...
In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza shifts the focus inland to explore the profound impact of climate change on North Carolina’s farm workers. She speaks with Mario Vargas, coordinator of the North Carolina offices of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and the Campaign for Migrant Worker Justice (CMWJ).
Born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, Vargas began working in the fields...
In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza dives beneath the surface to explore how climate change is disrupting marine life and infrastructure along North Carolina’s coast. She’s joined by Dr. Jane Harrison, an environmental economist at NC State University, whose personal story and professional research illuminate the complex intersections of climate, economy, and community.
Dr...
In this introductory episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, hosted by Natalia Sanchez Loayza, we explore the impacts of extreme heat in coastal North Carolina. Natalia speaks with Jordan Clark, a climatologist and senior policy associate at the Heat Policy Innovation Hub and the Water Policy Program at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University, about how extreme hea...
In Robeson County, North Carolina—home to some of the state’s highest youth violence rates—community-led prevention efforts were working. Until they weren’t.
In this episode of Shoresides, host Nicolas Magrino speaks with Paul Smokowski, founding executive director of the North Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Center (NC-YVPC), and Leon Burden, lead violence interrupter and founder of the nonprofit Colors of Life. To...
In this episode of Shoresides, we follow a community-led effort to uncover chemical contamination, protect public health, and rethink how we communicate environmental risk in places where food insecurity runs deep.
Read more about this issue: Subsistence Fish Consumption on the Lower Cape Fear River (PDF)
A New Series About Rising Temperatures in Coastal North Carolina hosted By Natalia Sanchez Loayza
According to a public records request submitted by Shoresides, at least three New Hanover High School student-athletes have experienced heat-related illnesses since 2022—none of which received the media attention that often follows when such events turn deadly. While these incidents were safely mitigated, they u...
On this episode of Shoreside, host Nicholas Merino speaks with Catherine Moore, director of the Health Professions Data System at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about striking projections: by 2033, North Carolina may face shortages of 12,500 registered nurses and 5,000 licensed practical nurses if current trends continue. We explore regional d...
This episode, Shoresides delves into the strange, ethically murky world of octopus aquaculture with scientist Dr. Jennifer Mather—to ask: Should North Carolina go ahead with banning Octopus farming? Does it need to?
Links:
My Octopus Teacher
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12888462/?ref_=ttawd_ov_i
Octopus farming in NC? A bill was filed banning it
https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2025/03/12/octopus-farming-house-bi...
In this episode, Shoresides talks with Jessica Thai, who grew up with immigration, tradition, and economic shifts shaping daily life and collective identity in a place that rarely makes the headlines—but offers powerful lessons about family, perseverance, and belonging.
Cultural anthropologist Barbara Garrity-Blake takes us into the world of North Carolina’s menhaden fishery — a once-thriving industry built by coastal communities, African American crews, and the haunting work songs they sang. In this episode, we explore how this small but vital fish fed both the economy and the environment, and what was lost when machines replaced people and tourism replaced tradition. It’s a story a...
In Wilmington, North Carolina, the demand for healthcare workers is growing rapidly. Nurse Camp Academy, a program of the nonprofit Better is Possible based in New Hanover County, is stepping up to meet this need by inspiring the next generation of healthcare professionals. One of the program’s most innovative aspects is its focus on workforce development starting with young teens, even before they reach high school. ...
In this episode of Shoreside, host Nicholas Magno explores the uncertain future of Eagle Island, a fragile stretch of wetlands that connects Wilmington to Belville, North Carolina. Once central to rice cultivation and shipbuilding, the island now sits at the intersection of climate vulnerability and development pressure. With sea levels rising and ghost forests replacing hardwood swamps, half a billion dollars’ worth ...
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