Leoneda Inge speaks with new State Treasurer Brad Briner about the State Health Plan, the state pension plan and how he plans to distinguish his tenure as treasurer from his predecessor's. Grammy-nominated mother and son duo Nnenna Freelon and Pierce Freelon share their favorite love songs in a Valentine's Day-themed Southern Mixtape. 

WUNC’s Higher Education Reporter Brianna Atkinson explains the latest change to National Institutes of Health funding and how it could impact North Carolina universities and research.

Then, Preservation Greensboro Board Member Eric Woodard talks with co-host Leoneda Inge about the long road to recognition for the South Benbow Road Historic District, which was home to many local civil rights movement luminaries.

And, renovations are underway that will impact how visitors access Duke Gardens. Bill LeFevre, Executive Director of Duke Gardens, shares how to (still) make the most of a trip to the 55-acre botanic garden in Durham.

The name Charles W. Chesnutt may sound familiar, even if you don't know where to place it. It belongs to the first African American man to be published in The Atlantic Monthly and to break into the all-white American literary establishment in the late 1800s.

Plus, Winston-Salem’s historic Bowman Gray Stadium hosted a NASCAR series race for the first time in more than 50 years earlier this month. WUNC’s Mitch Northam has been reporting on track renovations and investment here in recent years and shares the NC history of stock car racing. 

Guests

Tess Chakkalakal, associate professor of African American and American literature at Bowdoin College, author of “A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt”

Mitch Northam, Digital Producer at WUNC and longtime sports reporter

ALS took Holley Broughton’s voice, but not her ability to express herself. She uses her clothes and accessories to say “see me.” Holley found a fellow fashionista in her doctor, Richard Bedlack — the founder of Duke University's ALS Clinic — who wears studded leather jackets, intricately designed rhinestone suits, and other fabulous fashions aimed at bringing joy and hope. Dr. Bedlack and Holley have joined forces with a design class at North Carolina State University to create adaptive fashion for people living with disabilities that impact their motor functions. Sam Pearce leads the class and joins Holley and Dr. Bedlack in conversation with Due South guest host Celeste Headlee.
Read an article about the team's effort in Axios Raleigh.

Then, Kiki Wynns launched her standup comedy career on a dare. As soon as she set foot on her first comedy club stage, she was hooked. She also quickly learned that, both locally and nationally, the stand-up landscape is still, quite often, an old boys’ club. Wynns is looking to change that with her new series, Ladies Laugh Lounge, at the Goodnights Comedy Club in Raleigh. Her next show, a Galentine’s Day-themed affair, is on February 13. She also offers humor coaching and workshops to companies and individuals.

Leoneda Inge chats with a panel of local reporters about this week's top North Carolina news stories. Guests: Dawn Vaughan, Capital Bureau Chief, News & Observer; Danielle Battaglia, Washington, D.C. correspondent, News & Observer/Charlotte Observer; Bryan Anderson, reporter, Anderson Alerts

NC’s Latino churches manage concern over possible ICE visits 
With news of the Trump Administration’s authorization for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to visit churches, once protected spaces, to make arrests, the state’s predominantly Latino churches are working to prepare their congregations for potential interactions during services. Celeste Headlee talks to Ricardo Correa, pastor of Monte Sinai Durham. 
Ricardo Correa, pastor of Monte Sinai Durham, state director and national advocacy director for the National Hispanic Pastors Alliance

Ten years ago, three young Muslim Americans were murdered in Chapel Hill in a case that received national and international attention.
What was first called a “parking dispute” by police and many media outlets was eventually shown to be what the victims’ families and countless others knew immediately – that the murders were hate crimes. Filmmaker Tarek Albaba joins co-host Leoneda Inge to talk about his documentary about the murders, “36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime." We are also joined by Durham District Attorney Satana Deberry and UNC law professor Joseph Kennedy.
Tarek Albaba, filmmaker, director of "36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime"
Satana Deberry, District Attorney, Durham County
Joseph Kennedy, Willie Person Mangum Distinguished Professor, and Martha Brandis Term Professor of Law, UNC School of Law

WCPSS Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor speaks with Leoneda Inge about the district's policy on potential ICE visits. Dr. Brian Klausner stops by the studio to discuss his work with treating patients experiencing chronic homelessness in Raleigh. National Geographic Explorer in Residence Tara Roberts discusses her new book, Written in the Waters: A Memoir of Home, History, and Belonging. 

Due South kicks off a series of conversations with mayors in our region to get to know the stories behind the people leading our towns and cities. 

We begin with a conversation with a former mayor — the longest serving mayor in Durham's history, Bill Bell. Leoneda Inge talks with Bell in our Durham studio about his legacy, the challenges and opportunities facing the Bull City, and about the downtown Durham street that was recently renamed in his honor: William V. “Bill” Bell Way.

In our second "Meet the Mayors" conversation, Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee shares her family’s history of political and civic engagement, talks about balancing life as a part-time mayor with her full-time job, and delves into Carrboro’s lawsuit against Duke Energy.

Then, in a conversation originally aired on Dec. 17, 2024, student-athlete Kyrstin Johnson reflects on her all-too-brief experience as a gymnast at Talladega College, only the second Historically Black College and University to have a gymnastics team. Johnson won a college national championship in vault for Talladega in April 2024 and three months later, the program at Talladega was forced to end, due to lack of funding. She’s now competing for the women’s gymnastics team at Temple University, where Kyrstin's hip hop floor routine featuring Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" recently caught the attention of the internet.

How historic markers are approved in North Carolina
North Carolina highway historical markers can be seen all across the state – and these markers can make a big difference when it comes to which NC stories, historical moments, and people are memorialized and commemorated. Leoneda Inge talks to Ansley Herring Wegner of the NC Office of Archives and History about how markers are approved and what it takes to get a marker erected and noticed by the public.
Ansley Herring Wegner, Supervisor, Historical Research and Publications, North Carolina Office of Archives and History

A Raleigh post office is renamed in honor of Millie Dunn Veasey, a NC-born "Six Triple Eight" member
In January 2025, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law, re-naming a Raleigh Post Office on Brentwood Road as Millie Dunn Veasey Post Office. Born in Raleigh in 1918, Veasey was a member of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) from 1942-1945.
Dr. Alyshia Smith, CEO of the Durham V-A Health Care System
Yves-Marie Applewhite, Assistant Director for Experience for the Durham V-A Health Care System

A new one-man show celebrates NC's Black veterans
Dr. Sonny Kelly’s one-man show, The Ongoing Fight for Freedom: Stories of NC Black Veterans, is his most recent effort to preserve, and popularize, the history of Black North Carolinians.
Sonny Kelly, Phd., actor and instructor of Communication at Fayetteville Technical Community College

A panel of local reporters unpack the week's top stories, including the legal battle for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat, financial help for damage from Hurricane Helene, immigration crackdowns and the state's first stand-alone children’s hospital. 

And a check-in with WFAE's environmental reporter Zach Turner about federal climate policy changes under the Trump administration, and what they mean for the state's energy use and climate emissions plans.

Guests: 

Claudia Rivera Cotto, reporter at Enlace Latino NC 

Rusty Jacobs, Voting and Election Integrity Reporter at WUNC 

Lucille Sherman, Axios Raleigh Reporter

Zack Turner, WFAE Environmental Reporter