The Broadside

During this holiday break, we're sharing an episode from the podcast series Our Common Nature, produced by our friends at WYNC. 

When the world stopped in 2020, cellist Yo-Yo Ma started thinking about how music can reconnect people to the natural world, and how story and song can help us grapple with America's complicated history. Our Common Nature is a 7-episode series where Yo-Yo Ma travels around the country to make music and meet people who have deep connections to the earth. In this episode, host Ana González joins Yo-Yo in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, to tell two stories of people who are reclaiming their connections to the land.

Episode description: In the Smoky Mountains, traditions layer and intersect. Yo-Yo Ma believes that story and song can help us grapple with America’s complicated history. This episode highlights two stories of people who are reclaiming their connections to the land. The first brings us to Cherokee, North Carolina, where Lavita Hill and Mary Crowe are working to change the name of the tallest mountain in the range back to its original Cherokee name.

Then, we go to the other side of the mountains, where musician Eric Mingus meets up with some long-lost family, and grapples with the weight of his family’s history. His performance reconnects him to a lineage he never thought he’d find.

Featuring music by Eric Mingus, Rhiannon Giddens and Yo-Yo Ma.

“Grinds My Bones/The Mill” was composed and performed by Eric Mingus. 

Flute and vocal performance in this episode by Jarrett Wildcatt. Additional audio recording provided by Taylor MacKay.

Credits: Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings 

• Hosted by Ana González
• Produced by Alan Goffinski
• With editing from Pearl Marvell 
• Sound design and episode music from Alan Goffinski
• Mixed by Joe Plourde
• Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
• Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays
• Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell
• Episode photo by Austin Mann
• Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

And if you want to listen to more music from this series, you can check out the Our Common Nature EP, featuring Yo-Yo playing with Eric Mingus, Jen Kreisberg and an Icelandic choir, now available on all streaming platforms.

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies.

Visit the website at ourcommonnaturepodcast.org

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On our 100th episode there are no small stories… just short ones. In the past two years, we've crisscrossed the state of North Carolina. From Manteo to Murphy and many points in between. And we’ve done our best to connect you – wherever you live – to the people and places that make our region so fascinating. Along the way, we’ve collected a few stories that, for whatever reason, didn’t fit into a full-length episode. But we thought our 100th episode special was the perfect excuse to break out some of these shorties but goodies. 

This week, we explore the effort to raise up a beloved hip-hop anthem, learn that much of our fate was randomly drawn on a map and dig into a tale about one of the most infamous crime scenes in American history.

Featuring:

• Adrienne Berney, outreach coordinator for the State Archives of North Carolina
• Katie Hatton, editor of the North Carolina Colonial Records Project
• Allison Hussey, writer

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s easy to overlook the importance of mini golf. But this tiny game has played a pivotal role in breaking down class barriers to golf. And the story of how a bite sized version of golf made it from one man’s lawn in North Carolina to the rest of the world is utterly fascinating.

Featuring:

• Audrey Moriarty, Executive Director at Given Memorial Library and Tufts Archives
• Carolyn Cole, owner of Thistle Dhu
• Katie Boyce, PhD, Adjunct Lecturer in History at William & Mary

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina are one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. The region is home to a whopping 4,000 species of plants and thousands of species of fungi. And many of them are edible. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, some folks (including children) are embracing this supermarket in the woods by learning how to forage for wild food… and how not to get poisoned in the process.

Featuring: 

• Emily Cataneo, freelance journalist

Links:

• Check out Emily’s article on foraging for The Guardian.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This Thanksgiving we're sharing an interview from our friends and colleagues at Due South, WUNC’s daily talk show. Hosted by Leoneda Inge and Jeff Tiberii, the program is a source for news, information and perspectives from across North Carolina and the South.

In this conversation, Leoneda chats with Dr. Brittany Hunt. Hunt is a professor at the Virginia Tech School of Education, where she teaches the teachers about how schooling practices have been rooted in anti-Indigeneity and how to upend that system to center Indigenous stories.

Hunt is also co-host of the Red Justice Project podcast, which tells stories of missing and murdered Indigenous people, and is the author of a children’s book Whoz Ya People.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian Trail form the backbone of the eastern portion of the US National Park system. Together, they welcome 15 million visitors every year. But they likely wouldn't exist as we know them today, if it weren't for the work of a pioneering photographer in North Carolina named George Masa. This week, we find out how an immigrant from Japan became the eyes of the American conservation movement and unearth the dark secrets that motivated his life’s work.

Featuring:

• Paul Bonesteel, documentary filmmaker and co-author of the book George Masa: A Life Reimagined
• Mami Kikuchi, researcher and translator

Links:

• To learn more about Paul's new George Masa documentary film click here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A little over a hundred years ago, there was an abundance of Black farmers in the U.S., and the vast majority of them farmed in the South. But today, less than 2% of farmers are Black, and what was once a flourishing vocation in Black America has now become something of a novelty. Yet despite decades of decline and documented discrimination, Black farmers are finding ways to thrive as they inspire the next generation of growers.

Featuring:

• Shirlette Ammons, creator of the podcast series Tending
• Aallyah Wright, rural issues reporter for Capital B News

Links:

• You can listen to Tending here.
• Check out Aallyah Wright’s reporting on USDA policy changes and Rev. Bennie Brown in Jonestown, MS.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The North Carolina State Fair is the biggest event of its kind in the South. Every October, nearly a million visitors flock to Raleigh in search of fried food and carnival fun. And while everyone loves a good funnel cake… each year, one section of the fair is by far the most popular: the giant pumpkin exhibit. This week, we dig into the mushy guts and glory of competitive giant pumpkin growing and find out what it takes to harvest a champion.

Featuring:

• Jonathan Schultheis, horticultural science professor at North Carolina State University
• Randy Collins, Graham County Extension Director (N.C. Cooperative Extension)
• Susie Zuerner, giant pumpkin grower
• Sam Jenkins, giant pumpkin grower

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Driven by unprecedented energy demand from data centers, the US is in the midst of one of the biggest energy infrastructure expansions of all-time. For many energy companies, the solution to this crisis runs through natural gas pipelines in places like Rockingham County, North Carolina. But does it come with a price?

Featuring: 

• Celeste Gracia, environment reporter for WUNC
• Ben Lefebvre, deputy energy editor for POLITICO 

Links:

• You can read Celeste’s reporting on MVP Southgate here.
• Check out more of Ben’s reporting here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

North Carolina is home to one of the oldest electronic music traditions in the world. From synthesizer builders in Asheville to Grammy-nominated musicians in Durham, the state’s small but influential scene remains healthy. But how did it come to be? This week, we go on a strange trip through the early days of electronic music in America and find out how the synthesizer became an unlikely Southern instrument.

Featuring: 

• Suzi Analogue, musician
• Michelle Moog-Koussa, co-founder of the Bob Moog Foundation
• Tony Rolando, synthesizer builder and owner of Make Noise
• Nick Sanborn, musician and member of Sylvan Esso

Links:

• You can find a transcript of the episode here.
• Check out more audio and video reporting from Broadside contributor Saleem Reshamwala here.

We're hosting a walking tour in Durham, NC. Come join us at the kickoff event on October 29th at 6pm! Learn more and register for free here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.