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At James B. Hunt High School, Gov. Jim Hunt’s legacy endures

Eddie Doll, principal of James Baxter Hunt Jr. High School in Wilson, joins Due South to talk about Gov. Jim Hunt’s enduring education legacy.

Eddie Doll, principal, James B. Hunt High School

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Gov. Jim Hunt’s legacy as founder of the Institute for Emerging Issues

Leoneda Inge sits down with Anita Brown-Graham, former director of the Institute for Emerging Issues, founded by Gov. Jim Hunt. They discuss the early days of the institute and Gov. Hunt’s impact on intellectual discourse in North Carolina and beyond.

Anita Brown-Graham, founder and director of the ncIMPACT Initiative and the Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government at the UNC School of Government

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The political legacy of Gov. Jim Hunt

The state’s longest serving governor, James B. Hunt Jr., has passed away. Longtime political ECU political science professor Tom Eamon joins Due South to discuss Gov. Hunt’s political impact on the state and what today’s politicians can learn from his governance. 

Dr. Thomas Eamon, professor of political science, East Carolina University

On the North Carolina News Roundup... 

Elected officials react to the operation in Venezuela, while largely remaining mum on the killing in Minneapolis, as the midterm primary emerges on the horizon. 

Due South co-host Jeff Tiberii and a panel of journalists wrap up the first week of 2026, with an ear toward the year to come.

Dawn Vaughan, Capitol Bureau Chief, The News & Observer

Bryan Anderson, Statewide Politics Reporter for The Assembly, creator of the “Anderson Alerts” newsletter

Zachery Eanes, reporter, Axios Raleigh

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

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We're one year into President Trump’s second term and people are already talking about 2028. But the 2026 midterm election, featuring a U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in North Carolina, could have major impacts on the political landscape.

Due South’s Jeff Tiberii is joined by WUNC Capitol Bureau Chief Colin Campbell, as well as two political strategists, to talk about the March primary, and the stakes of November’s midterms – for North Carolina and beyond.

Colin Campbell, Capitol Bureau Chief, WUNC

Kimberly Reynolds, co-founder and partner at Maven Strategies, former Executive Director, North Carolina Democratic Party

Douglas Heye, Republican strategist and political commentator

0:33:00

Hillside High School graduate and former band director Jordan Jones discusses his experience performing at the 2026 Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.

Jordan Jones, Hillside High School alumnus, former band director, Hillside High School

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A Segment: Year in Review: A WUNC reporter recaps the biggest higher education stories of 2025  

WUNC reporter Brianna Atkinson joins co-host Leoneda Inge to talk about the biggest higher education stories of 2025.

Brianna Atkinson, Higher Education Reporter, WUNC

0:13:00

B Segment: HBCU 101: Enrollment by the Numbers

In a post-affirmative action landscape, some HBCUs are seeing record high enrollment. North Carolina Central University is one of them. Due South sits down with Dr. Ontario S. Wooden, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, to discuss what keeps the university’s enrollment numbers high.

Ontario S. Wooden, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, North Carolina Central University

0:33:00

C Segment: As the new year begins, ACA enrollees see significant changes to coverage and costs

KFF Health News senior correspondent Julie Appleby joins Due South to discuss the changes to the Affordable Care Act in 2026 and how enrollees will be impacted.

Julie Appleby, senior correspondent, KFF Health News

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Efforts are still underway to rebuild roads, bridges, and parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina. The mayor of Canton wants to make sure his town in the Southern Appalachian Mountains is not forgotten. Meet Zeb Smathers – the long-time Mayor of Canton and his fight to make sure his community is rebuilt after Helene.

Zeb Smathers, Mayor of Canton since November 2017, attorney at Smathers and Smathers Attorneys At Law

0:33:00

We’re starting off 2026 with a series of interviews with some of the big thinkers in our own backyard: about their resolutions and community-level solutions to help frame up the new year. First up, a conversation about family formation.

Karen Guzzo, family demographer, sociology professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and Director of the Carolina Population Center

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The Big Recount: Covering the 2000 presidential election ballot challenge

Leoneda Inge and WFAE’s Steve Harrison talk about their experiences covering the 2000 presidential election ballot challenge.

In 2000, Harrison was covering the Bush/Gore election for the Miami Herald. He shares stories from that time and reflects on an event that reshaped American politics 25 years later.

Steve Harrison, politics reporter at WFAE-Charlotte’s NPR News Source, and former reporter for the Miami Herald and Charlotte Observer.

0:13:00

The Big Recount: A political scientist weighs in

Leoneda Inge speaks with North Carolina Central University professor Dr. Jarvis Hall about the 25-year anniversary of the Bush/Gore election.

Jarvis Hall, associate professor of political science at North Carolina Central University

0:33:00

The Big Recount: A radio diary from Florida, the center of the political universe, in 2000

Leoneda Inge speaks with a former student about her time covering the Bush/Gore election recount in a radio production course at Florida A&M University. 

Kara Palmer Smith was a FAMU journalism student and radio producer at the time of the 2000 election ballot recount and following legal challenge. She followed the story as her final project in college.

Kara Palmer Smith, FAMU journalism student and radio producer at the time of the 2000 election

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One North Carolina restaurant in Charlotte has earned one of food’s highest honors. But the Triangle didn’t get completely left off the map. Plus, what the news and various Michelin lists and guides say you should check out in the state and region.

Drew Jackson, food and restaurant reporter at The News & Observer

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Emmy Award-winning chef and cooking show host Carla Hall has teamed up with entrepreneur and executive coach Deb Riegel to launch a new website and program – “The Me Menu” – to help other women find organization, direction and inspiration in middle age.

Carla Hall, chef, author and television personality

Deb Riegel, entrepreneur, executive coach and motivational speaker, co-founders of The Me Menu

0:33:00

How the restaurant leaders will use the $50,000, and how The Chicken Hut fits into Durham history as host to famous and influential Civil Rights leaders.

Tre Tapp, second-generation owner of the Chicken Hut

We're taking a short break, but will have new episodes for you again next week!

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Stafford Braxton was working as a photographer with a mall Santa when he noticed a trend: Black families would approach him and ask if there was a Santa their kids could visit who looked more like them. Braxton realized there was a need to fill and "Santas Just Like Me" was born.

Braxton talks with co-host Leoneda Inge about getting that business off the ground, the joys and challenges of the work and the persistence it often takes to recruit his Santas.

Later in the hour, Warren Keyes and Joe Griffin, also known as Santa Warren and Santa Joe, meet Leoneda in the studio to talk about how they got into their work with "Santas Just Like Me" and what it means to them to be part of this expanding group of Santas from Charlotte to Greensboro to Durham to Raleigh. (This interview originally aired on Dec 6, 2023.)

Stafford Braxton, founder of "Santas Just Like Me"

Joe Griffin, aka Santa Joe

Warren Keyes, aka Santa Warren

0:33:00

After more than 130 years, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has gained full federal recognition. Due South co-host Jeff Tiberii talks with Sarah Nagem of the Border Belt Independent about that journey. We also hear from three past Due South guests who share their reactions to the news and their hopes for the future of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

Sarah Nagem, editor, Border Belt Independent

Brittany Hunt, Assistant Professor, School of Education at Virginia Tech

Ronny Bell, Fred Eshelman Professor and Chair of the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ryan Emanuel, Associate Professor, Duke University, and author of On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice

Listen to Due South's previous conversations with Brittany Hunt, Ryan Emanuel, and Ronny Bell and his brother Joseph Bell, MD. Dr. Joseph Bell, the first Native American pediatrician in North Carolina, passed away in June.

0:01:00

Leoneda Inge and WFAE’s Steve Harrison talk about their experiences covering the 2000 presidential election ballot challenge. 

In 2000, Harrison was covering the Bush/Gore election for the Miami Herald. He shares stories from that time and reflects on an event that reshaped American politics 25 years later.

Steve Harrison, politics reporter at WFAE-Charlotte’s NPR News Source, and former reporter for the Miami Herald and Charlotte Observer.

0:13:00

Leoneda Inge speaks with North Carolina Central University professor Dr. Jarvis Hall about the 25-year anniversary of the Bush/Gore election.

Jarvis Hall, associate professor of political science at North Carolina Central University

0:33:00

Leoneda Inge speaks with a former student about her time covering the Bush/Gore election recount in a radio production course at Florida A&M University. 

Kara Palmer Smith was a FAMU journalism student and radio producer at the time of the 2000 election ballot recount and following legal challenge. She followed the story as her final project in college.

Kara Palmer Smith, FAMU journalism student and radio producer at the time of the 2000 election