When you think of an accessible space, you might picture a ramp to the side door of a building, big metal grab bars next to a toilet, or a button with a wheelchair insignia that automatically opens doors. But a concept called Universal Design is gaining traction.

The man we meet on this edition of CoastLine is a bona fide Air Pirate -- convicted in absentia by the Nigerian government just after the civil war. He was the first broadcast engineer on staff at WHQR. He’s written a book of fiction called The Ship’s Cat . And he acted in the notoriously – um – horrific film Death Bed: The Bed that Eats . He also helped to design the bed that eats. Guest: Jock Brandis is an inventor, designer, actor, humanitarian, and the founder of The Full Belly Project, a

North Carolina ranks 9 th in the nation for most racial progress: that’s according to a new analysis published by WalletHub, a personal finance website that frequently publishes analyses based on demographic statistics.

Jeremy Vest has interviewed Karl Rove, Ben Affleck, John Stamos, and Al Franken – among others -- for an MTV show called How's Your News? . He has been coached by Geraldo Rivera. And he’s appeared as the lead character in a Western called Bulletproof Jackson – which became the subject of a separate documentary – Becoming Bulletproof . That documentary was written about by the New York Times and distributed by Morgan Spurlock Productions. Jeremy Vest also has a rare neurodevelopmental disability

When you think about disability and how you define it, what comes to mind? A child who doesn’t learn through conventional methods? An older person who struggles to get groceries from the car to the front door? Do you imagine a person in a wheelchair? One disability researcher says our binary view of ability or lack of it is misguided; ability spans a spectrum from Olympic-level athleticism to death – and we’re all somewhere on that spectrum. On this edition of CoastLine, we explore how we look

This edition of CoastLine is about food. But it's not about the world food supply, ethical or nutritional food choices, or even food deserts. Nope. In honor of the holiday season, including but not limited to the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, Pancha Ganapati, Human Light Day, and Newtonmas, we are celebrating food . And to help us do that, we have two of the most celebrated chefs in Wilmington. Guests: Dean Neff opened PinPoint Restaurant in downtown Wilmington last year. Since

North Carolina has a controversial history when it comes to its willingness to accept and plan for sea level rise. In 2012, the state legislature enacted a multi-year moratorium on considering data from a science panel for future planning and policymaking. That moratorium has since lifted and a new study out last year, looking at the next 30 years, is now accepted as a reasonable basis for policymaking. But in local municipalities – particularly small coastal communities impacted by sea level

Dogs and people — it's a profoundly deep connection that has evolved over millennia, and it's one that scientists are still studying. According to a report in National Geographic , researchers have found that dogs can read facial expressions, communicate jealousy, display empathy, and watch TV. Experts estimate these traits have evolved over the course of 11,000 to 16,000 years. Kyria Henry and her father, Terry Henry, recognized the power of dogs to not only assist people with illnesses or

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor stretches from its northernmost point near Wilmington, North Carolina all the way south to Jacksonville, Florida. Created by an Act of Congress in 2006, the ten-year-old Corridor is a work in progress. Gullah Geechee culture originates from West Africans brought to the United States as slaves and many of their traditions, including the language, continue through later generations. On this edition of CoastLine , we learn more about the corridor along