NC SPIN Podcasts

In this After Spin segment - Becki Gray gives her predictions for North Carolina in 2021.

NC SPIN episode #1154 Air Date 12/24/2020

In this final episode of NC Spin, the panel looks back on 2020, names the 2020 North Carolinian of the Year, and Tom Campbell says a few closing words.

Panelists:

Joe Mavretic, Former House Speaker

Becky Gray, Director of NC Policy Watch

John Hood, Syndicated columnist and author

Chris Fitzsimon, Director States Newsroom

Tom Campbell, Moderator

This week Tom Campbell looks back on 2020 in North Carolina.

Question to John Hood and Chris Fitzsimon – The North Carolina Supreme Court just gave the green light to the State Utilities Commission to resolve who will pay for the coal ash cleanup by Duke Energy. The Publc Staff had recommended that half the cleanup costs be paid by ratepayers and the other half by shareholders. What do you think of this proposal and is this what we can expect to happen?

Question to Rob Schofield and Dennis Wicker – The State Community Colleges announced that beginning in January the new President of the System will be Thomas Stith, who was Governor Pat McCrory’s chief of staff and has been North Carolina district director for the Small Business Administration. What do you think of his selection?

NC SPIN episode #1153 Air Date 12/18/2020

Topics:

The State of politics

Racial justice

Back to class?

Tell Us Something We Don’t Know

Panelists:

Dennis Wicker, former Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina

Rob Schofield, Director of NC Policy Watch

John Hood, Syndicated columnist and author

Chris Fitzsimon, Director States Newsroom

Tom Campbell, Moderator

This week Tom Campbell discusses the giant surplus of cash in the state's coffers, and wonders why the Legislature isn't doing more to help struggling North Carolinians.

Question to John Hood and Chris Fitzsimon – The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals recently sided with our legislature in ruling that lawmakers didn’t act with racist intentions when they passed a 2018 Voter ID law. We had passed a constitutional amendment that an ID would be needed to vote and a previous version of the law was struck down as an attempt at voter suppression. What’s your reaction of the 4th Circuit’s ruling and when do you think we might actually see identification required before voting?

Question to Rufus Edmisten and Peg O’Connell – There are many who believe that last year’s experiment with virtual learning resulted in most of our public school students essentially losing one-third of the year of learning. To find out for sure whether this assumption is truth our educators want to give standardized end of grade tests. Should they be in-person or virtual? Our State Board of Education is asking for federal waivers to not hold schools accountable if large numbers of students opt out of the exams. What do you think of that? How important are these tests?

NC SPIN episode #1152 Air Date 12/11/2020

Topics:

Cooper fires a warning shot

Money matters

How will we get there from here?

Tell Us Something We Don’t Know

Panelists:

Rufus Edmisten, Former Secretary of State, Attorney General

John Hood, Syndicated columnist and author

Peg O’Connell, political analyst

Chris Fitzsimon, Director States Newsroom

Tom Campbell, Moderator