A decade ago, thousands of tons of toxic coal ash poured into the Dan River. The spill—the third largest of its kind in US history—was a devastating environmental disaster. But today, the event is perhaps best known for its legacy of legislation, as environmental activists and communities across North Carolina turned a local disaster into a national rallying cry for change.

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North Carolina and South Carolina are home to the most restrictive public sector collective bargaining laws in the country. In fact, they’re the only two states that ban all government employees from unionizing. And that doesn’t show signs of changing anytime soon. But a group of educators in Durham, North Carolina isn’t letting that stop them from fighting for a seat at the table. 

This week on the Broadside, we ask what it means to call yourself a union in a state where striking and collective bargaining are both illegal—and what that says about the history of labor organizing in the South.

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• Liz Schlemmer, Education Reporter at WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio

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Women have been playing basketball since the game was invented, but the most fervent fandom has always been reserved for the men's game — until now. We explore why it took so long for us to pay attention to women's basketball, and what that means for the future of the sport.

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Special thanks to WUNC’s Mitch Northam, whose expertise was invaluable in the reporting of this story. Thanks also to Annabelle Myers and Matti Smith at NC State, and Dana Gelin at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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Each year, as March fades into April, violent storms unleash dozens of tornadoes across a huge swath of the country. The Midwest is where most of these events occur, but scientists have begun to observe a major shift in traditional tornado patterns and the South is directly in the path. 

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• 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.

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The South is the birthplace of all the big cola brands. Since the first Coca-Cola was poured in Atlanta in 1886, it's become an American icon. For many of us, these drinks are part of key childhood memories. But whether we're loyal to Coke, Pepsi, or something else, we don't drink as much soda as we used to. So why do we care so much about these brands and does soda even matter in this new beverage age?

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Special thanks to Jordan Blackwell at the University of Maryland College Park for technical assistance.

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• 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

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As the president of the local chapter of the NAACP, Robert F. Williams led the small town of Monroe, North Carolina in protesting racism and segregation during the 1950s. But he was also head of a local NRA chapter that urged African Americans to defend themselves by meeting violence with violence. His story is one of the most fascinating and unusual in American history, and, in Monroe and elsewhere, it’s challenging how we talk about the Civil Rights Movement today.

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Special thanks to the Henry Hampton Collections at Washington University Libraries, the Southern Oral History Program at UNC-Chapel Hill, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and WBTV in Charlotte. 

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• 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

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In 1988, the NBA finally came to North Carolina — and the newly minted Charlotte Hornets made an unconventional choice to hire a fashion designer to create their jerseys. They lost 60 games that year, but they looked incredible while doing it. The iconic fit, inspired in part by Michael Jordan, would launch a global fashion trend that endures today.

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Electric vehicles and renewable energy sources are in their boom era — and that means the need for electricity is higher than ever before. The construction of an expanded energy grid to meet that demand is going to require a lot of raw minerals, metals… and a surprising commodity: lumber. This week, we take a trip to the forests of the Southern Pine Belt where demand for big trees far outstrips the supply and find out what's being done to prevent a pole-ocalypse.

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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.

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In the last decade, the craft industry’s boom has steadily spread across Southern states. There are now thousands of breweries in the region (400 in North Carolina alone). But what exactly is a Southern beer?

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• Check out Owen Racer's Gulf Coast beer reporting at Good Beer Hunting.

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.

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

At the turn of the 20th century, the epicenter of America’s Black middle class was in a midsize city in central North Carolina. Durham was home to NC Mutual, an insurance company that provided a foundation for Black wealth in the South amidst Jim Crow segregation. Recently though, NC Mutual closed its doors, marking the end to more than a hundred years of business.

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• 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.

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