The State of Things on WUNC

A self-driving car hurtles toward an individual and their dog. The car’s brake-lines are cut and the machine must decide — kill the person or the pet. What would you do? What if the dog were yours and the person were a stranger?

Humans have associated dogs with death for millennia. Ancient Persians believed a dog’s stare drove the demon Nasu out of a corpse. Some Mayan traditions say a black dog carries the newly deceased to the land of the dead. Cat Warren brings that heritage into the present with Solo, a bouncy cadaver-sniffing German shepherd. Host Anita Rao talks with Warren about Solo’s story featured in her upcoming young readers edition of her New York Times best-selling book, “ What the Dog Knows: Scent,

Of all federal agencies, the Department of Defense manages the highest density of threatened and endangered species, more than even the National Park Service. The special relationship between the Pentagon and environmentalist organizations originates at Fort Bragg .

Taxidermists can have a hard time finding a date. Stereotypes and disgust surround the practice, however Asheville film director Erin Derham doesn’t think that judgment is deserved. True, she was repulsed when a colleague initially pitched the idea of a documentary about taxidermy (Derham is vegan), but her reaction soon transformed into a deep respect for the field and its practitioners. Her journey led her down the rabbit hole to animal rescues and safaris where she discovered the significance

State Treasurer Dale Folwell wants to move the State Health Plan to a government-priced model he calls the Clear Pricing Project . As the debate escalates, the more than 727,000 North Carolinians on the State Health Plan face uncertain healthcare coverage and costs in the new year.

It’s been nearly a year since Hurricane Florence slammed into North Carolina’s coast. After a major storm, the focus is often on the material needs of communities: food, shelter and clothing. But what about how these communities are grieving and coping with natural disasters? Loni Crumb and Janeé Avent Harris conduct research on how Eastern North Carolina responded to Hurricane Florence and other devastating storms, from a mental health perspective. Crumb is a licensed professional counselor and

Ocean City Beach sits along a one-mile stretch of land on Topsail Island. A coalition of interracial business owners founded the community in 1949 as a vacation spot for black North Carolinians. Its establishment created t he first beachfront town where people of color could purchase or build property in North Carolina. Seventy years later, first and second-generation Ocean City locals feel the historical significance of the community may be lost to commercial property development and the

Eleanor Spicer Rice spent her childhood fascinated by ants, flies, maggots, bones and other natural curiosities. Her family encouraged that inquisitiveness — her father would take her on walks in the swamps near their Goldsboro home, and her parents never told her the bugs that enchanted her were gross.

What is the impact of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony in Congress this week? Since the seven hours of testimony on Wednesday, five more Democratic U.S. representatives endorsed the idea of impeachment : including Reps. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Andre Carson of Indiana, Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware.

The Carrboro-based band Dissimilar South is focused on transitions right now. Their recent debut EP, “ Treehouse ,” tracks the bittersweet flavors of change as a relationship ends. It contrasts the desire for nostalgia with dreams of the future. All of the band members have recently graduated from college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where they met and began the band.