Secret buildings. Loud electronic hums. You might be closer to a data center than you think. We get the scoop on the energy-needy facilities that make your smartphone go. 

And,  a zoomed-in look at private school vouchers in North Carolina focusing on one county. New Hanover County. 

Plus, the fight over fluoride in NC.

Guests

Brian Gordon, Business & Technology reporter for The News & Observer 

Rachel Keith, Education reporter for WHQR in Wilmington 

Realtor John Wood talks housing prices across the Triangle. Axios reporters Zachery Eanes and Brianna Crane talk with Due South's Jeff Tiberii about "co-buying" and "co-living." USModernist founder and CEO George Smart weighs in on generational changes in attitudes toward modernist homes. 

On this week’s North Carolina News Roundup...

Governor Josh Stein’s State of the State address and the Speaker Destin Hall’s Republican response, the NC Senate votes to ban DEI in public schools, how USDA grant freezes impact a Warren County farmer, and an ACC men's basketball tournament update from Charlotte.

All that and more, on Due South's North Carolina Friday News Roundup with co-host Jeff Tiberii.

Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management professor Lincoln Larson joins Leoneda Inge to explain how budget cuts and layoffs can impact spring and summer travel, tourism dollars, and protected ecosystems. Rev. Jonathan “Jay” Augustine of Pastor of St. Joseph African Methodist Episcopal Church in Durham discusses his participation in a 40-day fast from shopping at Target, following DEI policy rollbacks. Emila Sutton, director of Housing and Neighborhoods for the City of Raleigh, discusses a first-of-its-kind pilot program to address unsheltered homelessness.

Doctor Mandy Cohen became a household name in North Carolina after the virus spread to the state. She led the State Department of Health and Human Services from 2017-2021, and went on to become the CDC Director under President Biden.  

Plus, now in its fourth edition, the Carrboro Django Reinhardt Festival honors the musician's influence and the genre of Jazz Manouche, also known as "Gypsy Jazz" he created with performances, and workshops at Cat’s Cradle later this month. 

Guests

Dr. Mandy Cohen, former NCDHHS Health Secretary, and CDC Director 

Gabriel Pelli, is a musician, teacher, composer, and he’s the organizer of the Carrboro Django Reinhardt Festival. 

From university funding to DEI to deportation policy to Medicaid, a panel of WUNC reporters looks at how Trump 2.0 affects North Carolina and the people who call our state home.

Guests

Brianna Atkinson, Higher Education Reporter, WUNC

Colin Campbell, Capitol Bureau Chief, WUNC

Jay Price, Military Reporter, WUNC

Aaron Sánchez-Guerra, Race, Class & Communities Reporter, WUNC

Liz Schlemmer, Education Reporter, WUNC

Jason deBruyn, Supervising Editor for Digital News, WUNC

Edenton’s Confederate monument still stands, two years after a vote to take it down
A deal to move a Confederate monument in front of the Edenton Town Council fell through. What’s next for the statue, and the lawsuits over its position.
Mechelle Hankerson, News Director at WHRO Public Media 

In “Confederates,” Black women in two eras face the same challenges
Playmakers Repertory Company is staging a new production of Dominique Morrisseau’s satirical drama, Confederates. Leoneda Inge sits down with the director and a principal actor from the play to talk through its themes of race, gender and social empowerment.   Mengwe Wapimewah, actor, Confederates, PlayMakers Repertory Company   Christopher Windom, director, Confederates, PlayMakers Repertory Company  

‘HillmanTok’ online university inspired by NC A&T professor’s TikTok 
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University professor Leah Barlow didn’t set out to inspire the creation of a free, online curated set of lectures called “HillmanTok.” But her TikTok video that helped launch the virtual university  -- named after Hillman College from the TV show “A Different World” -- has now reached 4.5 million views. Barlow talks with Leoneda Inge about why her video resonated for so many in this political moment. 
Leah Barlow, liberal studies professor at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

On this week’s NC News Roundup... From the mountains to the sea wildfires are burning across the state. Western North Carolina was hit, even as they continue cleaning up after Helene. We check in with a reporter at Blue Ridge Public Radio. We also get updates from the General Assembly where policy proposals include raising teacher pay, eliminating non-competes, investing in cryptocurrency, and further stifling DEI. All that, and just why did a North Carolina student end up as President Trump’s guest when he addressed Congress? Jeff Tiberii talks with a panel of journalists about those stories and more, on Due South.

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

Claudia Rivera Cotto, Political Reporter, Enlace Latino NC

Lucille Sherman, reporter, Axios Raleigh

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

Gerard Albert III, reporter at Blue Ridge Public Radio

Colloquially “bird flu,” or officially the H5N1 avian influenza, has been spreading among wild birds and poultry. While the public health risk remains low, there are some preventative measures you can take.

How fertility and marriages rates could be used to determine federal funding for transportation projects.

And, WUNC's 'Main Street NC' series checks on rebuilding efforts in Spruce Pine after Hurricane Helene.

Guests

Dr. Rocio Crespo, poultry veterinarian and researcher and a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at NC State University

Steve Harrison, political reporter for WFAE-Charlotte’s NPR News Source and author of the Inside Politics newsletter

Colin Campbell, WUNC's Capitol Bureau Chief and the host of the Main Street NC series

Jeff Tiberii talks to WUNC's K-12 education reporter Liz Schlemmer about the state's school districts and their concerns over potential budget cuts and low enrollment numbers. Celeste Headlee talks to award-winning historian Martha S. Jones about her North Carolina roots and her new memoir, The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir. Leoneda Inge returns with a new HBCU 101, focused on HBCU radio history and archiving with Jocelyn Robinson of the HBCU Radio Preservation Project.