Due South

Jeff Tiberii talks to Rachel Crumpler about her reporting for NC Health News on a lawsuit alleging that that three teens at a juvenile detention center in Cabarrus County experienced daily isolation for up to 23 hours a day. Then, Leoneda Inge visits the Oak Grove Pirates as they prepare to head to a national youth football competition in Naples, FL and sits down with WUNC digital producer Mitch Northam to check in on the state of local college football. And the director and star of a new holiday show at PlayMakers Repertory Company visit the studio to discuss The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones. 

New Orleans restaurants are helping Asheville restaurants for hurricane recovery with a dinner series called Cooks for Carolina..

An excerpt from The Broadside's recent episode "The world's biggest video game is from North Carolina." 

And, Education and Esports are the basis for UNC Greensboro’s biannual weekends for middle and high school students, and educators. The goal: inform and prepare the next generation for jobs in the growing Esports industry.

Guests: 

Katie Grabach and Peyton Barrell are co-owners of the restaurant Gourmand: Wine, rotisserie, and spirits which was set to open in the River Arts District of Asheville before it flooded from Hurricane Helene

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

Jamal Michel, video game and culture critic

Sophia Priest, Assistant Director of Esports Innovation at Innovate UNCG, University of North Carolina Greensboro

Alex Johnson, Computer Science major at UNC-Greensboro who’s a video game developer and a volunteer for a recent ‘E2’ Weekend

If you have a yard, you may spend a lot of time each fall raking or blowing leaves. But many experts recommend residents just “leave the leaves”—it’s part of a widespread effort to reduce waste, promote more ecological diversity, and save energy. Co-host Jeff Tiberii talks with Dr. Ken Bridle of the NC Native Plant Society, as well as Greensboro's Chief Sustainability Officer, Dr. Shree Dorestant, and Masey DeMoss, Recycling and Waste Reduction Educator with the city.

Then, we return to an extended version of a conversation originally aired in November 2024. Daniel Lewis’s love of trees is deep rooted. He’s an environmental historian and author of Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future. He knows not just about tree biology, but the ways in which trees have been inextricably bound to human history—and are essential to our future. He joins co-host Leoneda Inge to talk about two trees native to North Carolina—the longleaf pine and the bald cypress—and how these trees have helped shape the South.

A local reporter explains why young residents are leaving the Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, and how local leaders are trying to attract them to stay.

A long-time North Carolinian, and demographer, helps us understand the long-term trends in our shifting population

And, the mayor of Princeville shares the unique challenges his town faces, including two devastating floods in recent decades.

Guests

Ryan Murphy, WHRO’s business and growth reporter

Nathan Dollar, director of Carolina Demography and a native of Wilson, North Carolina

Bobbie Jones, Mayor of Princeville, North Carolina for 14 years.

Justin Robinson defies categorization. He’s a botanist, cook and culinary historian, who teaches classes with titles like "The Ethnobotany of Thanksgiving" and “Soul Food Genius.”

Justin is also a Grammy Award-winning musician and vocalist and an original member of The Carolina Chocolate Drops. He is a founding member of the Earthseed Land Collective, aiming to deepen the relationship of Black, Brown and Indigenous people to the land.

Justin has so many passions and talents, and they're connected through his view of himself as a “village man.” He joins co-host Leoneda Inge to explore it all.

Then, Justin and Leoneda are joined by co-host Jeff Tiberii for our series “Southern Mixtape.”

Guest

Justin Robinson, musician, cook and botanist

Twenty years ago, the Jets (or Los Jets) of Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City won the North Carolina 1-A men’s high school soccer championship, becoming the first predominantly Latino team to win a statewide North Carolina high school championship in any sport.

The path to the championship was fraught: from the resistance organizers faced getting the team started, to the racist taunts the teenage players faced once they finally got on the field. But win, they did.

Paul Cuadros was the coach of that championship team and still coaches the Jets today. He and former player Octavio Hernandez talk to co-host Leoneda Inge about the challenges many Jets faced as immigrants and the legacy of their championship team today.

Later in the show, WUNC education reporter Liz Schlemmer explains Durham Public Schools' efforts to get students to school amid ongoing school bus driver shortage.

Walking pneumonia cases are on the rise, especially in children. Dr. Zach Willis, UNC Children's pediatric infectious disease specialist joins Jeff Tiberii to discuss symptoms and prevention. Duke University now offers a Cherokee language course. Leoneda Inge talks to Dr. Courtney Lewis, Crandall Family Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology, and inaugural director of Duke University's Native American Studies Initiative and Gil (Doyi) Jackson, Cherokee instructor for Duke University. And infant feeding poses particular challenges in Western NC, post-Helene. We talk to Love Alexander, chair of the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition; Brandi Harrison, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and Jayne Carpenter, International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) as well as a certified lactation and infant feeding specialist.

On the North Carolina News Roundup… State lawmakers returned to Raleigh to vote on a Helene relief bill that also includes measures to strip power from Democratic state officials. Major changes to election administration and school funding are on the move. Several local races are still undecided, including a key NC Supreme Court seat, destined for a recount. And fresh water is again flowing in Asheville. Join Jeff Tiberii and a panel of reporters for context and analysis of the week's news.

Guests: Colin Campbell, Capitol Bureau Chief, WUNC; Bryan Anderson, freelance reporter, creator of the “Anderson Alerts” newsletter; Danielle Battaglia, Capitol Hill correspondent, The News & Observer/The Charlotte Observer/McClatchy; Michael Hewlett, staff writer, The Assembly, concentrating on criminal justice

We’re deep into football season and early in basketball season, so you know this is an important time of year for college sports fans, especially here in the Triangle. And whose job is to make sure those fans get whipped up into a frenzy? The mascots, of course!

If you're a Wolfpack fan, you know North Carolina State’s Mr. and Ms. Wuf, but another NC State mascot has emerged in recent years: a live mascot named Tuffy III. Co-host Leoneda Inge talks with Tuffy III’s owners, Lisa and Joe Downey, about how the dog brings sweet, cuddly vibes to even the fiercest of competitions.

Then, an encore conversation originally aired in November 2023 with two recent graduates who spent much of their college careers dressed as mascots: Cate Schick at Duke University and Daniel Wood of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The former Blue Devil and former Rameses met for the first time with their masks off in our studio. Some good-natured ribbing ensued and so did a great conversation about what life is like in those costumes and what it meant to each of them to represent their schools.

Asheville residents can now turn on their faucets and get something they haven’t had for almost two months — drinkable water. Laura Lee, News Director at Blue Ridge Public Radio, tells Due South how residents are responding.

Then, if you’re an avid public radio listener, you’ve heard composer BJ Leiderman’s name countless times in the credits of NPR shows like “Morning Edition” and “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” But have you ever heard his voice? Due South hosts Leoneda Inge and Jeff Tiberii get the chance to interview the man behind those timeless tunes from his home studio in western NC, where he’s still making music.