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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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Special Thanks: The Rauch Family, Jack Betts, Don Walser, Kimberly Simpson, Alexis Castanos, and Todd Dulaney.

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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. 

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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.

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• Steve Riley, contributor at The Assembly

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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.

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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. 

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• You can find a transcript of this episode here.

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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?

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This week we're launching a new kind of episode where we spend an ordinary day in the life of someone doing something extraordinary. Join us as we tag along with renowned North Carolina-based muralist Dare Coulter while she works to bring a very big and very public artistic vision to life.

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