The Broadside

This year, a record $12.3 billion will be spent on US political campaigns. The majority of that is earmarked for political advertising, particularly in battleground states like North Carolina. But where does that money go, and what exactly does it buy? The answers might surprise and alarm you.

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Links: 

• You can find a transcript of this episode here.

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If you walk through a cemetery, you’ll see some common phrases on the gravestones. Many of them are used so often, we tend to take these very public remembrances for granted. But what happens when one *really* stands out and contains a false murder accusation?

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Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

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Although Latinos make up some of the most diverse communities in the South, they're often portrayed as one people or newcomers with a fairly uncomplicated backstory in the region. But from the Civil Rights Movement to South of the Border, that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Featuring: 

• Cecilia Márquez, author of Making the Latino South: A History of Racial Formation

Links: 

• You can find a transcript of this episode here.

Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.

You might have noticed that the word “y’all” is popping up everywhere. For decades, linguists have noted that regional American accents are disappearing. But at the same time, use of this traditionally Southern pronoun is rapidly spreading — and the reasons may surprise you.

Featuring:

Links:

• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.

Over the past decade, universities across America embraced DEI policies. The University of North Carolina System enacted its own in 2019. After the racial justice protests of 2020, more schools across the country rushed to embrace efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. But then… came the backlash. 

UPDATE: Nearly 60 DEI positions eliminated from public universities in North Carolina

Featuring: 

• Brianna Atkinson, WUNC's higher education reporter

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Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.

Lights. Camera. Tax breaks, y’all. For decades, Hollywood has set up shop in the South. But in recent years, the industry has undergone some major changes. Today, tax breaks are bringing a flood of blockbuster franchises, hit TV shows and lots and lots of cash to the region. And each state has to adapt to stay in the game.

Featuring:

Links:

• You can find a transcript of this episode here.

Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.

In 1955, six Black men in Greensboro, North Carolina did something radical. They attempted to play a round of golf. Decades later, their legacy lives on.

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Special thanks to the Southern Oral History Program at UNC-Chapel Hill for audio of Dr. George Simkins.

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Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.

On February 10, 2015 three young Muslim Americans were murdered in a Chapel Hill, North Carolina apartment. What initially seemed like a clear case of a hate crime to many turned into a battle that would play out for years in the press and in the courts. Along the way, it renewed questions about how the United States handles hate. 

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Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.

Regional pro wrestling was once a major cultural institution throughout the South. For decades, each state had its own stars like North Carolina's Ric Flair who performed weekly at iconic venues like Raleigh's Dorton Arena. But by the late 1980s, the emergence of a handful of large national wrestling promotions like Vince McMahon’s WWF (now WWE) destroyed that territorial system. 30 years later, regional wrestling is making an unlikely comeback.

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Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.

Cheryl Shelton-Roberts and her husband, renowned photographer Bruce Roberts, worked for years to preserve North Carolina’s iconic lighthouses. Meanwhile, their relationship blossomed into a love story unlike any other.

This episode is an adaptation of a story that originally appeared in Our State magazine. 

Featuring:

• Cheryl Shelton-Roberts, co-founder of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society and former schoolteacher. 

Links:

• Check out “Chasing the Light” in Our State here.

Donate: The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation here.

Sign up for WUNC's new Politics Newsletter here.