If you care about the debate over Syrian refugees and what's happening in Syria, you will want to listen to this episode. Tom Bullock discusses his reporting on the debate, and his experience as a journalist in Syria. He was part of a NPR team that interviewed Syria President Bashar al-Assad. We’ve also posted pictures Tom took of Syrian monuments, some which have since been destroyed by ISIS.

Republicans held the Charlotte mayor's seat for 22 straight years. That run ended in 2009. As the city's Democratic and unaffiliated voter rolls grow, do Republicans have a chance at winning the seat again? Plus, Sarah Delia discusses her interview with musician Ben Folds. And our newest reporter is...well, you'll have to listen to find out.

This edition of WFAE Talks has Sarah Delia, Lisa Worf, and Greg Collard in the studio. Sarah discusses her experiences in covering the reaction to video from South Carolina that showed an officer flip a student over in her chair and then dragging her. That officer has been fired . Also, they discuss some of the races up for grabs in Tuesday’s election.

You wouldn't expect someone to be named chairman of a county's elections board when posting on social media statements such as: “To hell with the Lesbos, Queers, Liberals and baby killers.” Or, “God Bless the Confederate States of America," -- and then noting it's been "illegally occupied" since 1865 . Yet, this summer Malcolm "Mac" Butner became chairman of the Rowan County Board of Elections. That changed Thursday, when the state Board of Elections removed him by a 3-2 vote. Reporter Tom

The North Carolina General Assembly finally ended its session this week, but not before some lawmakers tried to sneak through controversial legislation concerning the authority of local governments and charter school funding.

Reporters Michael Tomsic and Duncan McFadyen join News Director Greg Collard on this episode of WFAE Talks .

Greg, Lisa and Ben discuss the politics surrounding a religious advertisement featuring Governor McCrory. The group responsible for the ad says it mistakenly mischaracterized the governor’s upcoming address to a religious gathering called The Response. They also discuss early effects of the region’s drought, school grades, and graduation rates. Oh, and one more thing: It’s Ben’s last appearance on WFAE Talks .

For the last month, WFAE's Gwendolyn Glenn has been covering jury selection and testimony in the Randall Kerrick trial. She joins Greg Collard and Lisa Worf to discuss the trial and offers some of her behind-the-scenes observations.

In this episode, the trio of WFAE's Greg Collard, Lisa Worf and Ben Bradford discuss lawmakers' tardiness in approving a state budget and the uncertainty that's giving school districts. The Charlotte area finally meets a federal ozone standard, but probably not for long. Plus, we discuss our upcoming coverage of the Charlotte mayor's race and a package of candidate interviews that we're calling The 15th Floor .

It's been a very busy week for WFAE's newsroom. The removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina's capitol grounds dominated our coverage, but there were other stories. Among them: Mecklenburg County commissioners deciding to leave a Confederate monument alone, and a jobs announcement that turned into a political rally of sorts for lawmakers to expand the economic development incentives program known as JDIG.