It's May 20th. This day in 1775, the town of Mecklenburg, North Carolina went ahead and declared independence from Britain, before anywhere else in the country had formally done so. Or, at least, that's the story that North Carolina likes to tell about itself.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Jeremy Markovich to discuss the Mecklenburg Declaration, what we really know about its origins -- and why North Carolina loves to be first.

Be sure to check out Jeremy's excellent newsletter "North Carolina Rabbit Hole."

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia