On the NC News Roundup… State Representative Cecil Brockman faces bipartisan calls for resignation, amid arrest on criminal charges. UNC Football coach Bill Belichick finds himself at the center of controversy, as the team’s season gets off to a floundering start. Sen. Thom Tillis challenges National Guard deployment

Guests

Pat Welter, sports reporter, WRAL

Zachery Eanes, reporter, Axios Raleigh

Nathan Collins, investigative reporter, The News & Observer

Danielle Battaglia, Capitol Hill correspondent, The News & Observer/The Charlotte Observer/McClatchy

0:01:00

Jane Goodall’s passing earlier this month prompted tributes from all over the world honoring her work as a primatologist, anthropologist and conversationalist. The impact has been felt here in the Triangle as well.

Duke University housed Goodall’s extensive archives, including observations and complete life histories of the more than 200 chimpanzees she dedicated her career to studying.

 Professor Anne Pusey, right, with anthropologist Jane Goodall (3024x2274, AR: 1.3298153034300793)

Anne Pusey, James B. Duke Professor Emerita of Evolutionary Anthropology, studied under Goodall and managed the Jane Goodall Institute Research Center when it was at Duke. She talks to Due South’s Jeff Tiberii about what she learned from Goodall and about the special link Goodall had to our region.

Anne Pusey, James B. Duke Professor Emerita of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University

0:08:00

Chef Vivian Howard returns to television in a new food variety show on PBS. “Kitchen Curious” tackles the everyday questions both novices and seasoned cooks face in the kitchen. Leoneda Inge talks to Howard about returning to television after years away, reimagining her work as a restaurateur and what to expect from the first season of her new show.

Vivian Howard, award-winning cookbook author, TV personality, chef and restaurateur

0:01:00

Menopause is not quite the taboo subject it once was, but many are just beginning to talk about it frankly. Others have been talking about menopause for a long time, how it impacts historically marginalized communities, and how to reframe our thinking on menopause, not as an ending but as a “portal.”

This weekend, that portal will be centered here in Durham at a conference called Iranti Ẹ̀jẹ̀: Remembering Blood. Due South’s Leoneda Inge speaks with conference organizer Omisade Burney-Scott and conference speaker Sonya Renee Taylor.

Omisade Burney-Scott, Founder, The BlackGirls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause

Sonya Renee Taylor, Founder, The Body Is Not an Apology

0:23:45

The days are getting shorter, the air is getting cooler and leaves across the region are beginning to change from green to brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows. Due South’s Leoneda Inge and Jeff Tiberii talk with Appalachian State University biology professor Howard “Howie” Neufeld, also known as the “Fall Color Guy,” about his fall foliage forecast, and when and where North Carolina leaf peekers are likely to get the best views. This conversation originally aired September 18, 2025.

Howard “Howie” Neufeld, biology professor, Appalachian State University

0:01:00

The massive homes for computer servers, cloud storage and artificial intelligence are in high demand. A recent analysis from NC State University and Carnegie Mellon University projects the rising number of data centers is likely to increase electric bills by an average of 8% nationally by the end of the decade. This conversation originally aired September 16, 2025.

Zachery Eanes, reporter, Axios Raleigh

0:08:04

Jeff Tiberii sits down with Diane Flynt, author of “Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived: The Surprising Story of Apples in the South,” to discuss the long and curious history of Southern apple growth and extinction. This conversation originally aired November 21, 2023.

Diane Flynt, author of Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived and founder of Foggy Ridge Cider in Dugspur, VA

0:23:35

Author, filmmaker and comedian W. Kamau Bell is known for taking on difficult topics. Bell spoke with Due South’s Leoneda Inge about his wide-ranging career, their shared Alabama roots, and parenting during these times. This conversation originally aired July 10, 2025. 

W. Kamau Bell, author, filmmaker and comedian

0:01:00

The co-owners of Gourmand, a French rotisserie, struck out to open a stand-alone restaurant in Asheville’s River Arts District. But before they could open, Hurricane Helene ruined everything. The co-owners are still making food. And still waiting for their restaurant to be service-ready.

Peyton Barrell and Katie Grabach, co-owners of Gourmand, a French Rotisserie restaurant that was set to open in Asheville’s River Arts District before Hurricane Helene

0:13:00

The Biltmore Estate in Asheville is the largest privately-owned home in the country. The majestic manse welcomes countless visitors each year, but since sustaining significant damage after Helene, the Biltmore has had to work tirelessly to restore its grounds.

Leoneda Inge talks to Chase Pickering, Vice President, Biltmore House Guest Experience & Operations, and fifth-generation Vanderbilt, about the work it’s taken to bounce back.

Chase Pickering, Vice President, Biltmore House Guest Experience & Operations, and fifth-generation Vanderbilt

0:33:00

Parts of Asheville and the surrounding areas are still recovering, one year after Hurricane Helene. But others, like downtown, are already making a comeback. Leoneda Inge talks with Vic Isley of Explore Asheville about the area's recovery efforts and message to visitors.

Vic Isley, President and CEO of Explore Asheville

On the North Carolina News Roundup... 

A mass shooting in the idyllic coastal town of Southport. We learn more about the victims, and the alleged gunman. 

A federal government shutdown could carry on for weeks - how will NC be impacted? 

And a standoff over Medicaid funding continues between the governor and state legislature. 

Due South co-host Jeff Tiberii and a panel of journalists cover the week in NC news.

Guests

Jay Price, Military Reporter, WUNC

Benjamin Schachtman, news director, WHQR Wilmington

Bryan Anderson, freelance reporter, creator of the “Anderson Alerts” newsletter

Claudia Rivera Cotto, Political Reporter, Enlace Latino NC

Michael Hewlett, staff writer for The Assembly who concentrates on criminal justice

Reuben Jones, Washington reporter covering North Carolina, Spectrum News

0:01:00

With what could be a lengthy federal government shutdown underway, we chat with a DC-based North Carolina reporter, about some of the local impacts of the work and service stoppages.

Danielle Battaglia, Capitol Hill correspondent, The News & Observer/The Charlotte Observer/McClatchy

0:13:00

Republican state lawmakers in North Carolina passed a wide-ranging crime bill that now sits on Governor Stein’s desk. It follows the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, a brutal murder that garnered national attention and stoked political rhetoric around crime and punishment. 

State legislatures across the country have passed laws aimed at improving public safety. But how much impact does legislation have on addressing crime? A report from UNC School of Law finds that more severe criminal laws and punishments do not bring down crime.

Carissa Byrne Hessick, professor of law at UNC School of Law

0:33:00

On her latest album, Marcella Simien plays piano, harmonium, accordion, guitar, and drums, to name just a few. Bringing a wide range of instruments and musical traditions together is her special sauce. From her Creole roots and Zydeco-infused upbringing in Louisiana to the soul music in her new home of Memphis, Simien weaves together new sounds, while staying true to her heritage. 

Simien will be performing with Chicago-based fiddle player and singer-songwriter Anne Harris on October 3rd in Durham as the duo “Magnolias”-- part of PLAYlist, a free concert series presented by Durham Central Park and WNCU 90.7FM. Ahead of that performance, she sat down for an interview with Due South’s Leoneda Inge.

Marcella Simien, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist

0:01:00

Riverside High School grad Wildin Acosta discusses new book about his 2016 deportation case

In 2016, Wildin Acosta, a senior at Riverside High School in Durham, was detained by ICE agents on his way to school. The Honduras native was kept in detention for months. Students and faculty at Riverside raised media attention about his case through protests, social media campaigns and news coverage, ultimately resulting in his release. Riverside journalism teacher Bryan Christopher worked with Acosta to write a new book about Acosta’s experience.

Wildin Acosta, Riverside High School graduate, who faced deportation as a student

Bryan Christopher, author of Stopping the Deportation Machine: One Immigrant Student’s Arrest and the Kids Who Took on Washington to Get Him Back

Aaron Sanchez Guerra, WUNC’s race, class and communities reporter

0:33:00

Novant Health marks the success of four Michael Jordan Family Clinics in Charlotte and Wilmington

North Carolina ranks tenth in the nation among states with the most uninsured residents. Winston-Salem-based health system Novant Health is working to address this, with the help of NBA legend Michael Jordan. Novant has opened four Michael Jordan Family Clinics since 2019, two in Charlotte and two in Wilmington.

Dr. Michael Hoben, family physician and Chief Medical Officer Population Health Services at Novant Health

0:01:00

Leoneda Inge chats with Dr. Bernice King, the youngest child of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, to discuss her family’s legacy, her work as a social justice strategist and the work of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change amid a changing political climate.

Dr. Bernice King, strategist, peace advocate and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change

0:33:00

Leoneda Inge talks to the Greensboro native Daphne Fama about her debut gothic horror novel, House of Monstrous Women. The novel is set in the Philippines in 1986 and draws on Fama’s childhood experiences of listening to Filipino folklore. She talks about the experience of crafting the book, including researching black magic in the Philippines.

Daphne Fama, author of “House of Monstrous Women”

Twenty years ago, the old-time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops turned heads and wowed audiences. They were young. They were Black. And with their fiddles and banjos, they launched a movement that would challenge long-standing stereotypes about traditional music in America. 

Today we’re sharing a special program called “Reclaiming the Banjo” – a collaboration between WPLN in Nashville, Tennessee and WUNC’s podcast The Broadside. 

It’s all about a Black folk music revival sweeping the country and its deep roots in North Carolina. We follow the movement to reclaim the Black roots of folk and country music we’ll travel from a festival in our backyard all the way to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry.

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