The archivists who are digitizing radio programs in Houston from the 1970s on, in which openly gay hosts led listeners, out or not, into pride parades, and tough conversations. Plus, encore broadcasts of a segment on a summer program to get children food, and a Southern Mixtape with Brian Burns.

Guests

Emily Vinson, Preservation Coordinator at Houston University

Bethany Scott, Head of Preservation & Reformatting at Houston University

Tamara Baker, Project & Communications Director at the Carolina Hunger Initiative 

Brian Burns, WUNC music director

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More than 2,000 jobs coming to Greensboro to build supersonic passenger jets, a heat wave welcomes in summer, and budget talks continue at the state legislature.

Plus, a conversation about the U.S. Open at Pinehurst last weekend, and future plans for more big tournaments there.

Join Due South co-host Leoneda Inge and a panel of reporters for discussion of the week's news.

Guests

Colin Campbell, WUNC’s Capitol Bureau Chief

Gary Robertson, statehouse reporter for the Associated Press

Dawn Vaughan, Capitol Bureau Chief for The News & Observer

Mitch Northam, Digital Producer at WUNC and author of High School Basketball on Maryland's Eastern Shore: A Shore Hoops History

Will Atwater, staff reporter at NC Health News

New $6.6 mil initiative to restore Sugarloaf Island is underway
If you summer on the coasts of North Carolina, you may be familiar with Morehead City, a popular port town in Carteret County. But slightly less well-known is the barrier island adjoining the town: Sugarloaf Island. The man-made stretch of land is just off the waterfront and for years has been a draw for tourism. It’s also a layer of protection for the coastline. However, a substantial portion of Sugarloaf Island has eroded over the last few decades. The city hopes that a new restoration initiative will reverse the damage.
Celeste Gracia, WUNC environmental reporter

Impact of sea level rise and beach erosion on coastal communities
We head to the coast, where sea levels are rising, buildings falling, as development continues. Coastal geologist Rob Young joins us to discuss rising seas and beach erosion and what, if anything, can be done to lessen the impact in coastal communities.
Robert S. Young, director, Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines and professor of Coastal Geology, Western Carolina University

In his new book, Evan Dalton Smith explores Andy Griffith's life and his own
When writer Evan Dalton Smith began to research his book on the life of Andy Griffith, he did not realize that he was related to the famous actor. It was one of many new discoveries about the Mount Airy, NC native's life — as well as his own. In his new book, Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father's Journey, Smith explores grief, Southernness and fatherhood.
Evan Dalton Smith, author of Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father's Journey and 2024 Southeastern Library Association awardee for Outstanding Southeast Author

Reimagining land at the site of a former North Carolina plantation
Durham County is home to what was once one of the largest slave plantations in the South. Today part of that former plantation is called “Historic Stagville.” This weekend, people of all backgrounds and even descendants of those enslaved there, will gather for “Juneteenth” – the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Triangle Land Conservancy has been working to preserve property like Horton Grove, adjacent to Stagville – the oldest section of a vast plantation complex. Leoneda Inge talks with that organization’s director about their work preserving land.
Sandy Sweitzer, executive director of the Triangle Land Conservancy

“Rooted” author Brea Baker explores legacies of land theft
This “Juneteenth,” we introduce you to Brea Baker, author of “Rooted – The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership.” The book tells the story of Black land gain during Reconstruction and then the dramatic loss that followed. Baker also gives us a peep into her family’s North Carolina land history.
Brea Baker, author of “Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft & The Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership”

'40 Acres and a Lie' More than 1000 formerly enslaved people were given land, only to have it taken back
Reveal’s newest series '40 Acres and a Lie' uncovers the government program that gave formerly enslaved people land titles, only to take the land back. “Forty acres and a mule” is more than reparations that didn’t happen.
Alexia Fernandez Campbell, reporter for the Center for Public Integrity
Ruth Wilson, descendent who lives in Wake Forest, NC

Reparations for past harms to Black people is a concept that many Americans have come to support, but how to put the idea into practice has become complicated and controversial.

Sala Menaya-Merritt, Director of Equity and Inclusion for the City of Asheville, talks with co-host Leoneda Inge about the efforts of Asheville’s Community Reparations Commission and the challenges they've faced as they try to provide redress for Black community members.

Then, Leoneda talks with economist Dr. William ("Sandy") Darity and writer A. Kirsten Mullen about their research on the direct connection between slavery and today’s racial wealth gap, and how reparations from the federal government are essential to our country’s reckoning with our past and present. They are two of the editors of The Black Reparations Project: A Handbook for Racial Justice.

Guests

Sala Menaya-Merritt, Director, Equity and Inclusion, City of Asheville

William A. (“Sandy”) Darity Jr., Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy, Professor of African and African American Studies and Professor of Economics, Duke University

A. Kirsten Mullen, writer, folklorist, museum consultant, and lecturer whose work focuses on race, art, history, and politics

On the heels of World War II, a handful of entrepreneurial Americans saw dollar signs. Surplus weapons in European countries were being destroyed, or sat in warehouse storage at great cost.

At the same time, millions of American soldiers were returning home. With leisure time, and an intimate familiarity with firearms.
Samuel Cummings was one of the men who put two and two together. He bought up surplus, and soon to be outdated, rifles and pistols from countries like Finland. And he made millions importing, selling and shipping them to Americans on the cheap.

In his new book, Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture & Control in Cold War America, historian Andrew C. McKevitt argues this influx of military-grade weapons formed what is now, undoubtedly, the gun country.

Guest

Andrew C. McKevitt is the John D. Winters Endowed Professor of History at Louisiana Tech University. His new book, Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture & Control in Cold War America came out with UNC Press in November. His first book is Consuming Japan: Popular Culture and the Globalizing of 1980s America.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners approved a budget this week that includes $27 million designated for Durham Public Schools.

Pinehurst hosts the U.S. Open golf tournament for the first time in a decade.

NC State and UNC are two of the eight college baseball teams that made it to the College World Series.

A panel of reporters joins co-host Jeff Tiberii to dig in to the week's news in the Triangle and across North Carolina.

Leoneda Inge chats with Martin Woodard, as well as Vincent Johnson and his sons Tyler Johnson and Vinnie Johnson, and fatherhood and the 2024 North Carolina Fatherhood Conference. Jeff Tiberii talks to his father James Tiberii about their differing parenting styles. 

Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be above normal this year, with as many as seven major hurricanes. Plus, a Church bell ringer celebrates Pride Month for everyone who will hear (and millions on TikTok)

Guests:

Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane seasonal outlook forecaster, NOAA 

Ellen Shumaker, Director of Outreach, Safe Plates Program, NC State

Xilei Zhao, assistant professor, University of Florida in the College of Engineering 

Katelyn MacDonald, volunteer bell ringer at Duke Memorial United Methodist Church, and staff specialist at Duke Chapel

And, two special guests...
Recently-married couple Belinda and Isabelle Schenkel recognized MacDonald at the American Tobacco Campus, and have paid close attention to when the bells start so they can hear the covers from their home in Durham.

Co-host Leoneda Inge chats with Dr. Jonathan Klein about Swim for Charlie, a nonprofit organization that teaches swimming and water safety to second graders in NC. Flyleaf Books' Maggie Robe and The Bitter Southerner's Alison Law chat about their summer reading picks. Jodee Nimerichter, executive director of the American Dance Festival talks about this year's events and offerings.