The Broadside

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.

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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 ...

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

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 consult...

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

...

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 Formation

Links: 

• You can find a transcript of this ...

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 t...

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 Carolina

Featuring: 

• Brianna Atkins...

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 t...

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. ...

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 ...

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 makin...

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. 

L...

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 Plat...

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 Assembly

Links: 

• Check out Emily's story on Appalachian Bigfoot culture at The Assembly here.
• You can ...

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: h...

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 everythin...

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, captai...

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, Environ...