Zelda Briarwood is a 35-year-old former wilderness therapist and banking field technician who is, to be blunt, running an uphill battle for the nomination. But the truth is, neither of the better-known challengers has any more political experience than she does. Which is to say they are all starting their runs for the US Congress from absolute zero. That says a lot about the Democratic Party in District Eleven. And not necessarily in a bad way.

This is the third in a series of interviews with candidates seeking public office next year.

Resources

https://www.zeldaforcongress.org

Dr. Richard Hudspeth is the former CEO of Blue Ridge Health, a non-profit agency that helps folks in Polk and other counties in western North Carolina get the physical, mental, and dental care that they might not otherwise have access to. He’s also a general practitioner. So, it’s fair to say he probably has a pretty good idea of what works — and what doesn’t — in the U.S. health care system. That understanding is what’s behind his campaign for the job of congressman for North Carolina District 11.

In this episode we talk about whether that diagnosis can be applied to the country's political problems in general.

Resources:

⁠Richard Hudspeth for Congress⁠

⁠The fight over healthcare insurance subsidies⁠

Effects of GOP legislation on NC medicaid coverage

I know it's a big ask, given how horrible all the political news is these days. But if you live in Saluda or Coopers Gap, or certain parts of White Oak, and you’re interested in who your representative in the US House of Congress should be, then it's time to accept the need to pay attention to politics again.

Jamie Ager, who, along with his wife, runs Hickory Nut Gap Farm, wants to be the Democratic candidate in next year's congressional election for NC 11. In this episode, he explains why his experience in regenerative agriculture will help regenerate democracy in the United States.

For further information:

Ager for Congress

A state government that's engaged in a war on public education. The challenge of enforcing a ban on smartphones in classrooms. Artificial intelligence that threatens to put an end to critical thinking. Now is perhaps the least attractive time in history to be running a public school in North Carolina — or pretty much anywhere else, for that matter.

So you have to applaud the courage of Todd Murphy, the new superintendent of Polk Schools. He took over the reins a few months ago, and just about the only thing he can know lies ahead is an unpredictable year.

At least Polk County doesn't have any private schools to siphon money away from our public schools. So there's that.

Notes:

Niche ratings

The utility of cell phone bans

The threat posed by school vouchers

Kids and AI

Surprise: It turns out that driving all that heavy machinery up and down the middle of the Green River, and ripping out all those fallen trees may have made things worse, not better. At least, in some places and in some circumstances, from an ecological perspective.

Almost year after Helene, it's probably time to start preparing for the next storm, and how we can avoid making the same mistakes again. In this episode, Conserving Carolina aquatic biologist Hans Lohmeyer shares his thoughts on how we can do better.

Notes:

• Hans Lohmeyer at Conserving Carolina
• Damage to WNC
• The government stepped in to clean up a disaster in North Carolina. Then they created another one. Vox, July 23, 2025.
• Army Core of Engineers response

A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump ordered Congress to stop funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Congress, including Polk County’s two congressmen, complied. That saved US taxpayers about a billion dollars, but it put in peril scores of public radio stations like WNCW that used to rely on the corporation for at least part of their budget. Plenty of stations are laying off staff and some of them probably won’t survive. 

I asked Joe Kendrick, programming and operations for WNCW how things are going in the face of the new reality for public radio in America.

Useful links:

• Donate to WNCW
• Joe Kendrick
• The Spirit of Radio by Rush
• Project 2025

Myles Freeman is about to graduate from Polk High School, so as part of my attempt to revisit some of the guests and topics I’ve covered over the past three years on Polk Lore, I asked him to come back and tell me how he, as a trans man, is doing at what is a critical juncture in anyone’s life.

Dig deeper

• All Blissed Out Live Playlist (YouTube)
• John Oliver Tonight: Transgender Rights II (YouTube)
• Sex Redefined (Scientific American)
• Non-binary sex (Substack)

• Sarah McBride, first trans member of Congress (Apple Podcasts)
• UK Court ruling (BBC) on binary sex
• Passport changes (New York Times)

Twenty years ago, Democrats could win seats in Polk County. without too much difficulty. Today, they can't even beat a Republican organization that needs to call police to break up their meetings. Is there anything they can do about that?

I asked NC Democratic Party First Vice-Chair Jonah Garson, who was in Columbus recently for the Polk Democrats County Convention. It's a long conversation, but stick around for the last few minutes when he really gets fired up about how his team can win.

Further reading:

• NC Democratic Party  leadership
  
• The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics
• Kat Abughazaleh for Congress 
  

Everyone says they appreciate our firefighters and other first responders. But when you find out just how little we pay the people who put their lives on the line to protect our homes and businesses — and accept a lifespan that is, on average, ten years shorter than what the rest of us can expect to enjoy — it becomes pretty clear that maybe we don’t actually appreciate them as much as we should. Is thirty thousand dollars a year really the best we can offer?

I asked, Virginia Purdy, who  trains paramedics at Blue Ridge Community College and volunteers for more than one of Polk County’s fire departments.

Resources

Change.org petition:

https://www.change.org/p/support-better-pay-and-staffing-for-polk-county-fire-departments

Firefighter lifespan:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-firefighters-life-saving-work-puts-them-at-a-higher-risk-of-cancer

Jon Klimstra is not a high-value target in the war that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are waging on the imperfect but mostly successful post-war, liberal consensus on how to expand freedom, equality, and prosperity in America and around the world. He and his wife are just apple farmers.  

But here they are in the midst of it all. In this episode, Jon and I talk about how he’s being affected by the cuts to the Department of Agriculture, and why everyone in the county should be worried.

Further reading

USDA cuts:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/usda-cuts-over-1-billion-funding-schools-local-food-purchases-2025-03-11/

Climate project cuts:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/climate/epa-climate-grants-canceled.html

ICE kidnapping:
https://apnews.com/article/tufts-student-detained-massachusetts-immigration-6c3978da98a8d0f39ab311e092ffd892

Department of Education elimination:
https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5179987-trump-executive-order-department-of-education-linda-mcmahon/

Elite capitulation:
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/31/trump-institutions-grovel-law-media-business-028840

Health and Human Services cuts:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-to-gut-vaccine-promotion-and-hiv-prevention-office-sources-say/

SNAP program ROI:
https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2019/july/quantifying-the-impact-of-snap-benefits-on-the-u-s-economy-and-jobs