The Broadside

The completion of the Swannanoa Tunnel brought the railroad to western North Carolina and transformed the region. For almost 150 years, the legacy of the project has been one of growth and economic progress. But recent research about its construction has unearthed a tragic lost history. And surprisingly, the key to it all – was hidden in a song.

Featuring:

• Jefrey Keith, professor of history and college archivist at Warren Wilson College

Links:

• The Bitter Southerner: Somebody Died, Babe: A Musical Cover-Up of Racism, Violence, and Greed

Cover image: Incarcerated laborers circa 1880 working at Swannanoa Cut on the Western North Carolina Railroad near Round Knob in Buncombe County, North Carolina.

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On a chilly evening in 1961, a B-52 crashed in rural eastern North Carolina near the town of Goldsboro. Any plane crash is bad, but this one was particularly dangerous because onboard that bomber were two nuclear weapons. The event was perhaps the closest the United States has ever come to accidentally detonating a nuclear bomb—and kicking off a nuclear war.

This episode originally published on January 2, 2025.

Featuring:

• Jay Price, Military and Veterans Affairs reporter at WUNC and The American Homefront Project
• Stephen Schwartz, independent nuclear weapons expert and author of “Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940”

Links:

• Read Jay's article from 2018 marking the 50th anniversary of the Goldsboro nuclear accident. 
• View photos of the Mars Bluff Crater left behind by the nuclear accident in Florence, South Carolina.

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Like millions of Africans, Omar ibn Said was brought to the New World against his will where he spent the rest of his life enslaved in the Carolinas. But there was something remarkable about this man from present day Senegal; he was an incredibly well-educated Muslim scholar who could write Arabic. Now, 200 years later, we're finally getting to properly read Omar's letters to America.

Featuring:

• Rhiannon Giddens, musician, actor and co-writer of the Pulitzer-winning opera Omar
• Mbaye Lo, professor at Duke University and co-author of I Cannot Write My Life: Islam, Arabic and Slavery in Omar ibn Said's America

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A little over 40 years ago, filming began in North Carolina for an ambitious movie called Maximum Overdrive. The project was led by a legendary producer who’d made some of the greatest films of all-time. And it was written and directed by the most famous author in the world—Stephen King. It seemed like a can’t miss production. But then… everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The result was a 'cocaine-fueled' disaster that helped put the Southern film industry on the map.

Featuring:

• Bob Gunter, cameraman and actor
• Dan Brawley, executive director of the Cucalorus Film Foundation

Links:

• Jengo's Playhouse in Wilmington, NC
• The Assembly: After 40 Years, Maximum Overdrive Is Still Bad Enough to be Good

Cover image: A still from the 1986 cult classic horror film Maximum Overdrive. It starred Emilio Estevez, was produced by Dino De Laurentiis, and was directed and written by Stephen King. Maximum Overdrive was one of the first major movies filmed on location in Wilmington, North Carolina and is considered one of the pioneering productions of the modern Southern film industry.

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For most people, whistling is just a casual way to pass the time. But there’s a small worldwide community of whistling enthusiasts who've taken the artform to a whole new level. This week, we tell the strange story of competitive whistling in America and follow one man’s journey from North Carolina all the way to Japan in a quest to become one of the greats.

Featuring:

• Leslie Boney, competitive whistler and contributor at The Assembly

Links:

• The Assembly: The Trill of the Chase

Cover image: Masashi Ebihara performing in the final round for A Cappella Adult Division at the 47th World Whistlers Convention 2026 at Scrum21 Hall in Kawasaki, Japan (Photo by KQuhen via Wikimedia Commons)

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The cafeteria has been a cultural and culinary touchstone in the South for generations. But recently, many of these restaurants have shuttered their doors. In 2025, the long-serving North Carolina chain K&W Cafeterias closed its last location, marking the end of an era. But the spirit of the communal serving line still lives on in a few remaining restaurants. This week, we visit one of them in search of the perfect tray and find out what’s lost when the cafeteria serving line stops.

Featuring:

• Nikki Miller-Ka, food and travel writer and contributor for The Assembly

Links:

• The Assembly: The End of the Line

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For over a decade, no holds barred conservative populism has dominated the political conversation in the US. But that hyper-partisan brand of media savvy politics is nothing new and can be traced back over 70 years to an uncompromising politician from North Carolina: Jesse Helms. With the rise of MAGA and the politics of opposition, new research is reassessing Helms' legacy and laying out the case for why he just might be one of the most influential politicians of all-time.

Featuring:

• Bill Link, author of Jesse Helms: Modern Conservatism and the Politics of Opposition and Righteous Warrior

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College football has become a money-sucking machine, with schools spending every dollar possible to keep up in an athletics arms race. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill entered the fray this year in spectacular fashion, betting big on legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick in the hopes that he’ll elevate the school’s football program. But why are universities, especially those with academic and research clout, pouring all of this money into athletics in the first place?

This episode originally published on September 4, 2025. The 2026 college football season officially kicks off later this month when UNC plays TCU on August 29th in Dublin, Ireland.

Featuring:

• Scott Dochterman, national college football reporter for The Athletic
• Matt Hartman, higher education reporter for The Assembly 

Links:

• Check out Scott’s reporting on money in college athletics.
• Read Matt’s work on UNC-Chapel Hill's big bet on Bill Belichick.
• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

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Marlin fishing helps fuel a billion-dollar recreational saltwater fishing industry. Much of it is situated on the North Carolina coast, which also happens to be the site of one of the oldest and most celebrated fishing competitions in the world – the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. It’s an event filled with high stakes drama, and it continues to grow year after year. But are there enough blue marlin in the ocean for the good times to keep rolling on?

Featuring:

• Ashley Bleau, owner of the Sensation
• Neal Conoley, author and former head of the North Carolina Aquarium Society
• Dr. John Graves, marine biologist and former professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Aaron Barr, first mate of the Never Enough

Links:

• Marlin Magazine: Marlin Fever Rewrites Big Rock History
• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

Cover Image: The crew of Marlin Fever pose with a massive 919.9 pound blue marlin caught off the coast of Morehead City, North Carolina on June 9, 2026. The catch broke the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament record and earned the crew a staggering $6.5 million in prize money. Credit: Big Rock Tournament

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The yellow-legged hornet is an invasive wasp that first showed up in Georgia in 2023. Since then, it’s rapidly expanded its footprint in the South and become a serious threat to an important pollinator: the honeybee. But a small army of scientists and beekeepers are fighting back and setting up a new line of defense in North Carolina.

Featuring:

• Emily Cataneo, contributor at The Assembly

Links:

• The Assembly: Is North Carolina Ready for an Invasion of Bee-Killing Hornets?
• WUNC News: Here's how you can help protect honey bees from Invasive yellow-legged hornets

Cover image: North Carolina agricultural inspectors share information about the yellow-legged hornet at the N.C. State Beekeepers Association annual conference in Winston-Salem. Credit: Cornell Watson for The Assembly

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