In this episode, Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper joins Jeremy Markovich to talk about the things that drive the political scene in our state, why candidates do the things they do, and how the Roy Cooper of the past made things tougher for the Roy Cooper of the present.

• Read more at ncrabbithole.com.
• Check out Chris's new book, "Anatomy of a Purple State"
• Read Jeremy's Politico story referenced in this episode: "I Ran the Worst 5K of My Life So I Could Explain Gerrymandering To You."

Once you’ve seen one broken-down junker with a white rag in the window, you start seeing them everywhere. Is this just a North Carolina thing? What’s it supposed to mean? Why do so many people do it? And, if so many people are doing the same thing, then where did the idea come from? Reporter Jeremy Markovich investigates to get to the bottom of an old piece of highway folklore.

Read more and see pictures at https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/history-of-white-cloth-in-car-door-window

Subscribe to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter at ncrabbithole.com/subscribe

MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) has more than 300 million total subscribers on YouTube and some of his videos have more viewers than the Super Bowl. He’s opened restaurants. He’s launched his own food company called Feastables. The MrBeast logo is now on the jerseys of the Charlotte Hornets. Also, MrBeast is 25-years-old.

This multi-million dollar YouTube media empire? It's based in Greenville, North Carolina of all places. So how did that happen?

In this episode, journalist Jeremy Markovich talks to Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell about what happens when a big time influencer sets up shop in a small town.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole, the reader-supported newsletter that powers this podcast. Get a free-if-you-want-it-to-be subscription at ncrabbithole.com.

A sixth-grade student from the Raleigh area drew a boy riding a unicorn. It's now the official "I Voted Early" sticker for the Wake County Board of Elections. In this episode, artist Shannon Fisher explains some of the details and the background behind a sticker that's turning heads at polling places around Raleigh and beyond.

See the sticker and read more about it: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/wake-county-nc-i-voted-early-sticker-unicorn

Subscribe to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe

Thanks to Shannon Fisher, Ashley Millhiser, Gerry Cohen, and the Wake County Board of Elections. Early voting is now underway in North Carolina for the 2024 primary. Find your polling place and sample ballot here: https://www.ncsbe.gov/

In this episode, host Jeremy Markovich and ESPN senior writer Ryan McGee talk about beer, old school racing, a man named Dick Trickle, and a quiet trick to to help you navigate a boisterous social situation.

Read Jeremy's 2013 SB Nation story about Dick Trickle: "Elegy of a Race Car Driver"

Subscribe to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter at ncrabbithole.com.

Special thanks to Kenny Wallace.

In this special holiday episode, host Jeremy Markovich meets the man from Gastonia who became the world's largest manufacturer of Christmas ornaments and used his power to make North Carolina more tolerant of all religions.

This episode was originally released in 2018 and was adapted from: "The Unlikely Ornament King of Gastonia" which appeared in Our State magazine's December 2016 issue.

Additional music: Blue Dot Sessions

North Wilkesboro Speedway is hosting the NASCAR All-Star Race, a quarter century after its last major event. Why did it sit empty for so long? And how did it finally reopen? In this episode, host Jeremy Markovich takes a look back as a historic place now looks toward a new future.

More Reading:

• "Ghosts of North Wilkesboro" (2015) - SB Nation
• "The Inside Story of How a Dead NASCAR Track Finally Reopened After 26 Years" (2022) - North Carolina Rabbit Hole
• "A Night When Anything Was Possible" (2022) - North Carolina Rabbit Hole

Music via Blue Dot Sessions under a Creative Commons license.

Shortly after I moved to Charlotte in 2005, I became a Carolina Panthers fan because it was much better than being a fan of the Cleveland Browns. A few years later, I became the producer of the Panthers postgame show on a local television station. A few years after that, the production moved from the station to the stadium. It was there that I first heard a piece of information that I hadn’t actually considered before: The screaming panther sound—the noise that you’d hear during home games whenever the Panthers did something good like get a first down or make a third down stop—was not actually the sound that a real panther makes.

You can read more here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/panthers-arent-real

Closing song: "Riverboat Ron" by Crab Claw

After 2 1/2 years, host Jeremy Markovich is breaking his silence to explain, well, where he's been all this time, why you haven't heard any new episodes since then, and what happens now.

Read more here about the immediate plans for Away Message and its new home at the North Carolina Rabbit Hole.

In the season finale, our hikers reach the Outer Banks of North Carolina and end of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Now, more than a year later, we see where they've ended up and how the trip has affected their lives.