The Broadside

By WUNC NewsNews

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The Broadside episodes

January 16, 2025Segregation academies and a forgotten migration
Throughout the South, state legislatures are adopting and expanding school voucher programs designed to allow parents to use public funds to pay for private school tuition. But this modern day push for school choice is connected to a dark past that recalls America’s long and sometimes forgotten history of resisting integration in the classroom.
Featuring:
Jennifer Berry Hawes, reporter with ProPublica
Crystal Sanders, author of “A Forgotten Migration: Black Southerners, Segregation Scholarships, and the Debt Owed to Public HBCUs”
Links:
Read Jennifer Berry Hawes reporting on segregation academies and school vouchers here.
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
23 min
January 09, 2025The gambling gold rush is here
In 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled that states could legalize sports gambling. Since then, 38 states have taken the plunge, including our home state of North Carolina. The payoff has been lucrative. But it also has a human toll.
Featuring:
Jason deBruyn, Supervising Editor for Digital News at WUNC
Jason Quick, Senior Writer at The Athletic
Links:
Check out Jason Quick's incredible reporting about gambling addiction.
You can find a transcript of this episode here.
If you or a loved one need help with problem gambling you can find it at the National Problem Gambling Helpline. That number is 1-800-GAMBLER. There are also state programs across the country like the North Carolina Problem Gambling Helpline which is 1-877-718-5543.
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
24 min
January 02, 2025That time we almost destroyed the world
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.
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.
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
19 min
December 26, 2024The ballad and the flood
This week, we visit the small town of Marshall in western North Carolina, a region ravaged by Hurricane Helene earlier this year.
But this story isn’t about the storm or climate change or the walls of water that rushed through the Black Mountains in September. It’s about what happened after. How people create systems to help each other. And how the best aspects of humanity can shine in the wake of a disaster.
This episode comes to us from Outside/In. Produced by our friends at New Hampshire Public Radio, it’s a podcast where curiosity and the natural world collide.
Credits:
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, written, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis
Edited by Taylor Quimby
The Outside/In team also includes Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Kate Dario.
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie
Special thanks to the folks at Poder Emma and Collaborativa La Milpa in Asheville. Thanks also to Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR).
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
40 min
December 19, 2024Deck your halls with Rauch balls
In this special holiday episode, we meet the Jewish man from Gastonia, North Carolina who became the world's largest manufacturer of Christmas ornaments and used his power to make his home more tolerant of all religions.

This episode comes to us from Jeremy Markovich. Jeremy is the creator of a newsletter and podcast called the North Carolina Rabbit Hole, where he explores the strange and quirky corners of his home state. You can find all of his incredible work at ncrabbithole.com.
This story was adapted from: "The Unlikely Ornament King of Gastonia" which appeared in Our State's December 2016 issue.
Music in this episode:
"Dad, Get Up" by Peter Lamb and the Wolves (Raleigh)
Additional Music: Blue Dot Sessions, U.S. Marine Band
Special Thanks: The Rauch Family, Jack Betts, Don Walser, Kimberly Simpson, Alexis Castanos, and Todd Dulaney.
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
25 min
December 12, 2024Tony Hawk and the skateboard rabbit hole
On a rainy day in 1979, a photograph was taken of a young girl skateboarding down a street in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 45 years later, that photo went viral with a little help from the most famous skater who ever lived: Tony Hawk. This week, we find out who the mystery girl in the picture was and why the snapshot was so ahead of its time.

Featuring:
Jeremy Markovich, writer of the North Carolina Rabbit Hole
Tony Hawk, skateboarder
Shaunda Shane, skateboarder
Links:
Check out Jeremy's article about tracking down Shaunda Shane.
View photographs of Shaunda skateboarding from the Fayetteville Observer.
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
19 min
December 05, 2024Can we save Christmas (trees)?
From the White House to your living room, North Carolina’s iconic Fraser fir is the most popular Christmas tree in America. But this holiday season, something is threatening to wipe it out — and the $250 million dollar industry associated with it.
Special thanks this week goes out to Kate Sheppard of The Assembly.
Featuring:
Steve Riley, contributor at The Assembly
Links:
Check out Steve's article about the race to save America's favorite Christmas tree here.
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
20 min
November 28, 2024 The mystery of the Brown Mountain lights
For more than a century, people near Brown Mountain have witnessed unusual displays of shimmering and sometimes even exploding lights. A skeptical scientist has spent years trying to solve the mystery.
This week, we’re heading to the mountains of western North Carolina for an episode produced by Atlas Obscura in partnership with Visit North Carolina.
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
18 min
November 21, 2024Storytelling's surprising digital age revival
Trading stories is an ancient and deeply human experience. But today, most of the stories we consume come to us through a digital screen. So it might surprise you to find out that we're in the midst of a revival of the old school style of storytelling. Turns out, sitting in a crowded room with other people, sharing funny and tragic and unbelievable stories live and in person has never been bigger.
Thank you to Nancy Reeder of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild for reaching out and pitching this show idea.
And special thanks also goes out to linguist and former Broadside guest Brody McCurdy for providing us with audio from the Voices of Chatham project, an ongoing oral history and documentary recording the history, culture, and language of Chatham County. Voices of Chatham was created in collaboration between NC State’s Language & Life Project and the Chatham County Historical Association.
Featuring:
Ellen Bland, organizer of Mill Town Yarns in Chatham County, NC
Willa Brigham, professional storyteller
Alan Hoal, founder and chair of the Old North State Storytelling Festival in Cary, NC
Jeff Polish, founder and executive director of The Monti in Durham, NC
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
19 min
November 14, 2024The world's biggest video game is from North Carolina
Fortnite was an unlikely hit from an unlikely place: North Carolina-based Epic Games. Innovative game design and smart leveraging of social media and live streaming catapulted it into becoming one of the world's biggest video games. And today, Fortnite is a bona fide cultural phenomenon. But can the memes and viral dance moves go on forever?

Featuring:
Brian Gordon, Technology & Innovation reporter for The News & Observer
Jamal Michel, video game and culture critic
Links:
Check out Brian’s multi-part series on Epic Games and Fortnite.
Read Jamal’s recent piece in The New York Times about the history of female characters in video games.
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.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
21 min

About The Broadside

From the publisher's feed

Each week, host Anisa Khalifa tells one story from our home in North Carolina, at the crossroads of the South. From news to arts and culture, WUNC News’ “The Broadside” dives…