Due South

On the North Carolina News Roundup...

It’s the end of the month, which means it’s day 31 of a federal government shutdown - barring an eleventh-hour development, this shutdown means the 1.4 million North Carolina recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are going to lose benefits.

Also, the latest redistricting legal challenge, health insurance premiums are set to rise for many across our state, and a horrific crime in Johnston County.

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

Mary Helen Moore, reporter for Axios Raleigh

Gary Robertson, statehouse reporter, Associated Press

Sarah Michels, staff writer specializing in coverage of North Carolina politics and elections, Carolina Public Press

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

Reuben Jones, Washington reporter covering North Carolina, Spectrum News

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Across the past few decades there has been a major reduction in the number of registered Democrats in our state. Political scientist Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University talks to Jeff Tiberii about his recent article in The Assembly “Democrats Are Losing Members in N.C. But Are the Republicans Gaining?”

Christopher A. Cooper, Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professor and Director of the Haire Institute for Public Policy, Western Carolina University

0:13:00

North Carolina State University professor Irwin Morris talks about his new book, Partisan Places: Movers and Stayers Across America.

Irwin Morris, William T. Kretzer Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Executive Director of the School of Public and International Affairs, North Carolina State University

0:33:00

Municipal officials have an array of options for raising money to fund city and county projects. Property tax increases. Bond referendums. And, the sales tax. Longtime Charlotte Observer reporter Jim Morrill digs into why Mecklenburg County officials have been favoring the sales tax in recent decades.

Jim Morrill, was a reporter at The Charlotte Observer for almost 40 years, and wrote the new story “Why Politicians Learned to Love the Sales Tax” for The Assembly

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Videri Chocolate Factory faces tariff challenges

Since opening in Raleigh in 2011, Videri Chocolate Factory has experienced success and popularity as a small boutique chocolate business. The company, known for its organic, imported ingredients, has seen economic strain in recent years, following a surge in cocoa prices. Tariffs imposed in 2025 have further exacerbated those financial challenges.

Sam Ratto, founder of Videri Chocolate Factory

0:13:00

Paula Poundstone on being polite and political

Comedian Paula Poundstone returns to Due South for a conversation about finding humor in challenging times, engaging politics onstage and trimming down her overweight rescue cat Larry. Her current tour makes stops in Asheville on October 31 and Greensboro on November 1.

Paula Poundstone, humorist, author, regular contributor to NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! and host of Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone

0:33:00

The Death Faire returns to Pittsboro for its 10th annual celebration of death, love and grief

For ten years, Pittsboro has been home to the Death Faire, one of the only annual celebrations of death, loss and grief in the country. Leoneda Inge talks to founder Tami Schwerin and faire organizer Cathy Brooksie Edwards about the history of the gathering, its purpose and its reach.

Tami Schwerin is the founder of the Death Faire, a re-developer of The Plant in Pittsboro and the author of the new book, “Welcome to the Death Faire: Love, Loss and Healing in a Small Southern Town”

Cathy Brooksie Edwards is the founder of Heart-2-Heart-N-C, a nonprofit  dedicated to end-of-life and grief journey support

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When he was a Duke University student, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller was politically outspoken. And he didn’t hold back on what he thought about his “Leftist University…” as he called it in his column for The Duke Chronicle. 

A look at Miller's possible influence and the Trump administration's targeting of Duke, despite its efforts ramping down some so-called DEI efforts. Patel shared reporting from his story, "Duke Was Paring Back its Diversity Programs. Trump Targeted It Anyway."

Vimal Patel, Higher Education reporter at The New York Times

0:13:00

An award-winning investigative reporter digs into a shocking double murder in Georgia, eventually freeing a man who was wrongfully imprisoned, but not without stirring up trouble and even putting himself into danger. The story is told in his new book The Man No One Believed.

Joshua Sharpe, author The Man No One Believed: The untold story of the Georgia Church Murders is also a print and audio journalist and editor

0:33:00

A new anthology collects short stories from 15 writers across the state, just in time for spooky season. The Devil’s Done Come Back: New Ghost Stories from North Carolina explores what is uniquely unsettling and intriguing about Southern storytelling.

Ed Southern, author, executive director of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, editor of the new anthology, The Devil’s Done Come Back: New Ghost Tales from North Carolina

“Mutual aid” is a phrase that received renewed attention during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the United States has a long history of mutual aid. Leoneda Inge talks with two scholars about some of that history, and explores how mutual aid has been deeply intertwined with the social, political and economic lives of Black Southerners. 

Then, Jeff Tiberii talks with two helpers with Triangle Mutual Aid about their responses to recent disasters like Chantal and Helene, and how those efforts go beyond traditional volunteering.

Guests

Blair LM Kelley, President and Director, National Humanities Center; author of Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class

Tyesha Maddox, Associate Professor, Department of African and African American Studies, Fordham University

Virgo, co-founder and helper, Triangle Mutual Aid

Heather Hall, helper, Triangle Mutual Aid

On the North Carolina News Roundup...

The state legislature was back in Raleigh to once again redraw Congressional districts, this time at the request of President Donald Trump.

And while Republicans all agreed to create another GOP safe seat, things got tense between the House and Senate as talks broke down again over the state budget and Medicaid funding.

And outside the legislative building, Governor Josh Stein unveiled a new workforce training program with help from a major aviation company.

Guest host Colin Campbell and a panel of journalists cover the week in NC news.

Guests

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

Lynn Bonner, investigative reporter, NC Newsline

Zachery Eanes, Axios Raleigh 

Dawn Vaughan, Capitol Bureau Chief the Raleigh News & Observer

1:00

Amid government shutdown and growing need, food banks are under strain

As food insecurity increases across the 34 counties that the Central and Eastern North Carolina Food Bank serves, funding is decreasing and federal food insecurity tracking has also ended at the USDA. Jason Kanawati Stephany joins us to discuss the long-term impact of these strains on food bank resources.

Jason Kanawati Stephany, Vice President of Communications & Public Policy of the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina

13:00

Western North Carolina counties are exhausting their annual budgets, awaiting promised federal funds

The federal government has barely covered 10 percent of Helene damage in North Carolina, according to Gov. Josh Stein’s Hurricane Helene Relief Federal Funding Request. County and state governments have maxed out their contributions to relief and repair, awaiting reimbursements from FEMA. Those reimbursements are currently delayed, in part due to bureaucratic red tape.

Brady Dennis, national environmental reporter, The Washington Post

33:00

Creative costumes aren’t just for crafters

Leoneda Inge talks with two sustainability advocates about leaning into your creative Halloween spirit to make your own Halloween costume this year.

Evie Dallmann, student and “Sustainability Steward,” North Carolina State University

Heather Anne, Interim Executive Director, The Scrap Exchange

Broadside event details here.

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Broadside event details here.

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Universities in the UNC system have been asked to disclose course materials via public records requests from a right-wing think tank. But two of the universities don’t agree on whether the materials should be public record. Leaders’ decisions could shape how so-called “DEI” initiatives on campus are targeted.

Brianna Atkinson, Higher Education reporter for WUNC

0:13:00

A new memoir from the southern food historian delves into the personal. It’s about the stories, and the lies, he was told as a white boy growing up in Georgia — in the 1960s and 70s.

But "House of Smoke" doesn't just refer to a difficult home and childhood Edge grew up in. It also represents the barbecue spots his father took him on roadtrips too. And the places he's gone over the years with his son.

John T. Edge, is author of the new memoir “House of Smoke: A Southerner goes searching for home.” Edge helped found the Southern Foodways Alliance, and is the author of “The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South.” He also writes and hosts the television show TrueSouth, and writes a column for Garden & Gun.

0:33:00

Jane Goodall’s passing earlier this month prompted tributes from all over the world honoring her work as a primatologist, anthropologist and conservationist. 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.

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. (An excerpt from this interview originally aired October 9, 2025)

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

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In response to an uptick in campus and campus-related shootings during homecoming season, HBCUs across the country are implementing heightened safety measures. North Carolina A&T State University is one of them. This move comes following a shooting a homecoming party in 2022 and 2025 shootings at Jackson State University, Alcorn State University and South Carolina State University.

Kani'ya Davis, fall 2025 daily news intern at WUNC. She’s also a senior journalism student at North Carolina A&T State University

0:13:00

A new book tracks the history of the Southern plantation to post-Emancipation academic, professional and artistic tracks for Black Americans. Jarvis C. McInnis, Duke assistant professor of English joins us to discuss Afterlives of the Plantation: Plotting Agrarian Futures in the Global South.

Jarvis C. McInnis, Associate Professor of English, Duke University, author of Afterlives of the Plantation: Plotting Agrarian Futures in the Global Black South

0:33:00

Conductor and 6th music director of the North Carolina Symphony Carlos Miguel Prieto joins Due South to discuss his life, career, commitment to music education and the 2025-2026 symphony season.

Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor and music director, North Carolina Symphony