All Episodes

Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center, on AI and the future of work

Amanda Rosa of Extreme Weather Survivors discusses Helene recovery and weather-related disasters

Matt Calabria, director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina

UNC Health infectious disease expert David Wohl on the respiratory virus season

Emily Donovan of Clean Cape Fear discusses the enormous problems posed by PFAS pollution

Elon University’s Jason Husser shares the most recent survey of public opinion ahead of the midterms

NC Budget and Tax Center’s Alexandra Sirota on a trio of proposed constitutional amendments

Amy Beros and Liz Reasoner discuss NC’s growing food insecurity during Hunger Awareness month

Former Chapel Hill police chief Chris Blue on the NC Law Enforcement Trust & Legitimacy Project

Senator Natalie Murdock discusses energy equity and voting rights

Oxfam’s Patricia Stottlemyer ranks the best and worst states in the country to work

Common Cause of NC’s Brooks Fuller on efforts by election officials to erect new hurdles for voters

Emily Mason of Environment NC on a new report that spotlights solar schools

NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty executive director Noel Nickle

Elon University Poll director Jason Husser discusses the 2026 NC Political Landscape report

Former NC Court of Appeals Judge Chris Brook on the increasingly politicized state judiciary

Veteran pollster David McLennan discusses attitudes toward online gambling

Wake Ed Partnership President Keith Poston on their efforts to equip public school classrooms

Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg discusses PFAS litigation and other top environmental stories

WCU political scientist Chris Cooper on the ongoing battles over election laws and voting rights

Sara Walker and Melissa Evers of Wake County Meals on Wheels discuss food insecurity among seniors

Rep. Marcia Morey discusses budget shortcomings, election law changes and ‘teen takeovers’

Public Ed Works executive editor David Rice on education funding in NC’s new state budget

Ardis Watkins, executive director of the SEANC, discusses shortcomings in the state budget

Newsline state government reporter Brandon Kingdollar on the policy changes packed into the budget

Catawba College Dr. Michael Bitzer on shifting political attitudes and America’s 250th anniversary

NC Black Alliance executive director Marcus Bass on recent partisan election changes

WRAL-TV Documentary Producer Cristin Severance on news deserts and the future of local journalism

Rep. Deb Butler on budget negotiations, voting rights, and a possible repeal of NC’s seawall ban

Senator Lisa Grafstein discusses the state budget debate and an effort to curb voting rights

EDF policy director Will Scott discusses Duke Energy’s Carbon Plan and NC’s future energy needs

Author Dr. Katharine Wilkinson discusses efforts to combat the global climate emergency

Dr. Hope Thompson of the Natural Resources Defense Council on rising homeowner’s insurance

States Newsroom’s Jonathan Shorman on voting rights, Trump and the GOP’s efforts to cling to power

Amy Beros discusses the persistent hunger crisis that plagues central and eastern North Carolina

Brooks Fuller of Common Cause North Carolina on proposals to make voting in our state harder

NC Newsline reporter Brandon Kingdollar discusses an array of bills being advanced by GOP lawmakers

NC Budget and Tax Center director Alexandra Sirota on the problematic new constitutional amendments

Duke University’s Jackson Ewing on a massive merger between NC’s two largest electricity providers

Rep. Phil Rubin on education funding and why a new property tax scheme could make problems worse

NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan on making government deliver better results

Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s Chris Shenton on the gutting of the Voting Rights Act

The message NC public school educators desperately want budget writers to hear

Charlotte-Mecklenburg educator Justin Parmenter on public education funding and the May Day rally

State Rep. Renee Price on efforts to improve Black maternal health

Wake Ed Partnership’s Keith Poston on why education must be a priority this legislative session

How well states are doing in funding and supporting high quality pre-school

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira on the rise in state lottery ticket sales

NC Budget and Tax Center’s Sally Hodges Copple on the legislature’s worrisome tax triggers

Public School Forum’s Lauren Fox on the top education needs facing North Carolina

New York Times reporter Eduardo Medina on the seismic change in the NC Senate

Elon University pollster Jason Husser on the war in Iran, Trump and attitudes of North Carolinians

Former Senator Graig Meyer on his recent decision to leave elected office

NC State political scientist Steven Greene on the war in Iran and NC’s latest political earthquake

Sam Hiner of the Young People’s Alliance on holding big social media corporations accountable

NC Justice Center analyst Kris Nordstrom on the legislature’s refusal to fully fund public schools

UNC law professor Marcus Gadson discusses a proposed constitutional amendment on property taxes

WRAL TV’s Cristin Severance on her new documentary: “The Gamble: Sports Betting in North Carolina”

Energy and Policy Institute’s Sue Sturgis on ratepayers footing the bill for soaring utility profits

Kimberly Jones, former North Carolina Teacher of the Year, on education funding and retention

Veterans for Responsible Leadership’s Scott Peoples on why the group is criticizing the war in Iran

NC Budget and Tax Center Policy Analyst Alex Campbell on the economic winds buffeting the state

Cecilia Holden, president and CEO of myFutureNC, on the state of educational attainment

Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper analyzes the 2026 primaries

Dr. Abigail Hatcher discusses the debates over academic freedom and a scrapped surveillance policy

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy on efforts to locate large ICE detention centers across the country

Environmental Defense Fund Policy Director Will Scott on what’s behind rising energy costs

Meech Carter with the NC League of Conservation Voters on rising energy costs and data centers

NC Newsline reporter Lynn Bonner on a questionable effort to purge the voter rolls

Professor Michael Bitzer on why North Carolinians are increasingly anxious about the economy

North Carolina small business owners on how tariffs are negatively impacting their bottom line

Congresswoman Deborah Ross on efforts to place guardrails on Homeland Security and ICE

Professor Anneliese Mennicke of UNC Charlotte on the debate over academic freedom

Dr. Shannon Schumacher of KFF on the latest national polling results on health care costs

Pediatrician Dr. Arthur Lavin on the spread of measles in the Carolinas

Veteran political consultant Thomas Mills on the state of North Carolina politics

Common Cause NC’s Sailor Jones on voting rights and other front burner election issues in 2026

Raul Pinto of the American Immigration Council on the national crisis surrounding immigration policy

Political scientist David McLennan on the political environment and the pivotal elections in 2026

Bishop William Barber discusses his unifying vision for the nation and reflections on MLK Day

Congresswoman Valerie Foushee on Trump’s takeover of Venezuela and U.S. healthcare affordability

Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg on forever chemicals and top environmental stories of 2025

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira on the widespread corporate takeover of residential housing

NC State economist and professor Mike Walden on the affordability crisis that’s plaguing the economy

For Bowl Season, Elon University’s Jason Husser revisits the changing world of college athletics

Sam Hiner of the Young People’s Alliance on efforts to protect young people from evolving technology

Dr. Latonya Agard with the NC Coalition to End Homelessness on affordability and homelessness

Common Cause NC’s Bob Phillips about his organization’s long and ongoing effort for fair elections

Inter-Faith Food Shuttle CEO Ron Pringle on how funding cuts are worsening NC’s hunger problem

Helene survivor Jon Council warns of a growing national crisis in disaster preparedness

NC State economist and professor Mike Walden on the affordability crisis that’s plaguing the economy

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira on the widespread corporate takeover of residential housing

Natalie Murdock on North Carolinians struggling to cover healthcare and the loss of food assistance

Andrew Willis Garcés of Siembra NC on the chaos and fear caused by the latest immigration crackdown

NC Newsline reporter Brandon Kingdollar on the impact of the Border Patrol’s immigration crackdown

NC Newsline reporter Greg Childress on the state’s vexing affordable housing shortage

UNC law professor and author Gene Nichol discusses his new book on the troubled state of democracy

Meech Carter of the NC League of Conservation Voters on climate change and Trump policy changes

NC farmer Mary Carroll Dodd on the economic tariffs that continue to roil the U.S. economy

Newsline government and politics reporter Galen Bacharier on the government shutdown and SNAP cuts