Understand SC

In the months since his wife and son were killed, South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh has had a dramatic fall from grace, one that's still unfolding and raising new questions. Investigative reporter Avery Wilks and editor Glenn Smith break down everything that’s recently come to light about the disgraced attorney.

What does a community lose when it loses its newspaper? This week, reporters Jennifer Berry Hawes and Stephen Hobbs explain what they found in trying to answer that question. They took a close look at two communities — one that still has a locally-owned paper in print and one that recently lost its newspaper

This week, Hillary Flynn, editor of The Post and Courier’s Education Lab, a recently-launched watchdog enterprise unit covering systemic issues in the state's education system, explains how the spread of the delta variant created a chaotic first seven weeks of the school year in South Carolina.

In honor of National Newspaper Week, we talk with The Post and Courier's new executive editor, Autumn Phillips, about some of the big things happening for the paper, like fundraising to support investigative journalism and expanding to other markets in the state. She also shared how her newspaper career began.

Dr. Thaddeus John Bell is a physician and the founder of Closing the Gap in Healthcare, a nonprofit dedicated to decreasing the health disparities experienced by African Americans and underserved communities in the Carolinas. He shares what he is doing to help people, particularly Black South Carolinians, overcome hesitancy about the COVID-19 vaccine — and some of the reasons why that hesitancy exists.

Reporter Tony Bartelme and photographer Lauren Petracca give us a behind-the-scenes look at their latest project, which took them to Greenland, where melting ice has a profound effect on Charleston's coastline.

Earlier this year, with vaccines available and cases dropping, many South Carolinians were hopeful that the worst of the COVID pandemic was behind the state. Instead, lagging vaccine uptake and the rise of the delta variant brought on a third surge of the virus for the state. Dr. Brannon Traxler, public health director for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control gives us an update on the state of the pandemic in S.C., and reporter Avery Wilks shares what he learned about how stress and burnout is affecting people working behind the scenes during this pandemic.

Natalie and Ron Daise share the journey of how their storytelling led to the creation of the TV show "Gullah Gullah Island" and how they're still telling stories today in this first in an occasional Understand SC series, SC Voices.

The fight over requiring face masks in South Carolina schools reached the state's highest court this week. A decision on one case has already been issued, and it strikes down a school mask mandate passed by the city of Columbia. Reporter Stephen Fastenau breaks down what this decision means for S.C. schools.

Olympian Charleston native Raven Saunders captured the world's attention when she made a gesture of support for oppressed people from the medal podium. The champion shot putter triumphed at the Olympics, but that high was followed just two days later by the loss of her mother. Saunders reflected on what she's been through and what's next for her, as an Olympian and as a mental health advocate.