The State of Things

Orquesta GarDel has been playing a type of high-energy Latin and jazz fusion for ten years. However, the 13-piece band has gone through several iterations as band members have come and gone, but the group has maintained its mission to bring traditional Latin sounds with jazz influences to local audiences. Host Frank Stasio talks with the group's co-director Eric Hirsh and lead vocalist Christina Alamo about the band's progress. Orquesta GarDel also performs live in the studio with Hirsh on

All signs point to the fact that North Carolina has become a battleground in the race for the White House. New polls out this week indicate a tight race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and both campaigns are spending large sums of money on campaign advertisements. The Senate race between Richard Burr and Deborah Ross is also in a dead heat. Will North Carolina's voters help the Democrats take back the Senate? Host Frank Stasio talks with Ken Rudin, the political junkie, about the 2016

For a century the National Park Service has established and preserved parks, seashores and memorials across the country. Sites range from Yellowstone National Park to the César E. Chávez National Monument. In 2015, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, both partially located in North Carolina, were two of the top three most visited sites in the National Park system. However, growing concerns about climate change and big maintenance bills threaten preservation

What is life and its meaning? That question has perplexed philosophers and other theoretical scientists for centuries. They have sought both spiritual and intellectual guidance to come up with intricate conclusions for what it means to be alive. But mechanical engineer Adrian Bejan says there is a much simpler conclusion: physics. Bejan's new book, "The Physics of Life," (St. Martin's Press/2016) argues that everything follows an evolutionary path, whether it be a human being or a flight

Music can transport people to a particular time and place in a way that not many other things can. And for that reason, it has become an essential element of film. Sometimes music is used as a tool to underscore a particular emotion or theme, and in other instances it is so distinct and memorable that it becomes a character of its own. In this edition of Movies On The Radio, host Frank Stasio talks with film experts Laura Boyes and Marsha Gordon about listeners' favorite music movies. They

Legislative leaders are at odds with environmentalists over a new policy initiative at UNC-Chapel Hill. The state budget sets aside $1 million for scientists to conduct environmental research and make public policy recommendations. But some professors worry about potential ties to the legislature that could pressure them to sway their findings for political gain. Host Frank Stasio talks with WUNC's Dave DeWitt about the new program, which has been dubbed the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory.

Wilma Dykeman published 18 books in her lifetime, including meditations on environmental conservation, race, birth control and chemically-altered food. She addressed many of these issues long before they were hot topics in public discourse. In her first book, "The French Broad," (Rinehart, 1955) she became one of the first writers to argue that clean water could be an economic development tool. After her death in 2006, her son discovered a typewritten manuscript in her home that turned out to

In 2001, Enron Corporation, which was once the sixth-largest energy company in the world, filed for bankruptcy. It has since become one of the most notorious examples of accounting fraud and corporate crime. However, incidents of corporate crime persisted after the Enron scandal and led to further economic turmoil in the 2008 financial crisis. In his new book, "Capital Offenses: Business Crime And Punishment In America's Corporate Age" (W.W. Norton & Company/2016), Samuel Buell, professor of

This program originally aired July 11, 2016. Growing up in the small town of Snow Hill, N.C., Marlanna Evans, a.k.a Rapsody, wasn't exposed to much hip-hop music. She would listen to the songs her older cousins played in the car, but she didn't develop a love for rap until college. While attending North Carolina State University, Evans helped a hip-hop culture grow on campus with a student music group that would meet in a dormitory lounge to rap battle. She eventually started making her own

Dewey Phillips made history in the 1950s as one of the first white radio disc jockeys to play music by black artists. He was opinionated, eclectic, and gained notoriety for being the first DJ to play Elvis Presley’s music on the radio. Decades after his death, his life and career inspired the Tony Award-winning musical "Memphis." The production tells the story of Huey, a character loosely based on Dewey, and his quest to help a club singer named Felicia make her big break. The production opens