BPR News Extended

Revolution Calling: How does someone find and buy NFT art? BPR's Matt Peiken takes steps toward a purchase

Revolution Calling: An Asheville collaboration makes an early pitch for NFTs in vinyl album releases

Revolution Calling: More than the artwork, investors are drawn to the community that comes with NFTs

Revolution Calling: Filmmaker-turned-NFT artist Kira Bursky is a model for success in this nascent platform

Revolution Calling: Artists are viewing NFTs as a gateway to validation and sustainability

The Porch: Growing older in the mountains

In this special episode of The Porch, we hear from rural retirees about what their lives are like in the mountains.

The Porch: Snakecharmer

On this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from -

The growing GOP schism, and will it matter at the polls

The nation's political eyes are on North Carolina. First, for the gerrymandering lawsuit that the state supreme court is expected to rule that will determine lines for U.S. House and General Assembly elections this year, but also for the U.S. Senate election which could determine which party controls the chamber next year.

Waiting on the NC Supreme Court

Bob Orr has had a long career in the public eye. His latest career move actually falls in line with what he first went to UNC Chapel Hill to study.The radio student is now hosting a podcast focusing on Western North Carolina's Congressional district, and all the candidates running to represent it. The Battle for NC 14 features interviews with candidates, plus Orr's insight from his career in law. He served as a North Carolina Supreme Court justice from 1994 to 2004, and ran for Governor in North...

The Porch: Pulling The Pin

On this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from -

Green burials: How to combat climate change from the grave

A lot contributes to climate change. A Warren Wilson College professor decided to examine one factor that many might find uncomfortable to talk about but is something we will all face - our death.Mallory McDuff is the author of 'Our Last Best Act: Planning For The End Of Our Lives To Protect The People And Places We Love.' It looks at the growing diversity of end-of-life choices in Western North Carolina, from 'green burials' that use only biodegradable materials, to body donation to body farms ...

Closing out 2021 into 2022's uncertainty

2021 in North Carolina politics saw a lot of what marked the state's politics in the prior decade - lawsuits and court rulings that left just as many questions as answers.Just as candidate filing for the 2022 primary election got underway this month, it was stopped by the North Carolina Supreme Court so lawsuits claiming new Congressional and General Assembly districts are illegal gerrymanders could be heard. The primary is now May 17th. That's about all that's set in stone says Dr. Chris Cooper...

The Porch: We Have All The Time In The World

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from -

It's not even 2022 yet

New maps made new lines. Those inspired Western North Carolina's Congressman to run somewhere else, meaning the region will have a member of Congress come 2023. Maybe.Republican Madison Cawthorn announced November 11th he would run in the newly-drawn 13th Congressional district in North Carolina, instead of the one he currently represents, which will be renumbered as the 14th district for next year's election. His decision has shifted the region's politics, not necessarily in ideology, but in pe...

Section 8 program in the South reinforcing segregation

A federal government housing voucher program is making the problems it was designed to alleviate only worse in the South. That's according to a six-month investigation done by the USA Today Network.Fred Clasen-Kelly is the reporter behind the investigation into Section 8 housing vouchers. He spoke about what he found out, including in both Asheville and Shelby in North Carolina, with BPR's Matt Bush. You can hear the full interview above, and listen to it during a new episode of The Porch premie...

Reparations - and the pace and need for them in Asheville - headline annual conference

Just one month after the protests following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Asheville City Council approved a resolution calling for reparations for the city's black community. 16 months later, most of the details are still being worked out.That pace has frustrated many local activists in the city, but organizers of this weekend's 8th annual African Americans in Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia conference at UNC Asheville want to put the focus back on the need for...

'It got worse': UNC Asheville faculty release annual Political Terror Scale

For almost 40 years, faculty at UNC Asheville have helped in the creation of the annual global Political Terror Scale. The report measures and codes human rights violations by countries across the globe.Mark Gibney is a professor at UNC Asheville and one of the principal researchers for the report. He said in general, things got worse in 2020. He told BPR he didn't believe it was necessarily pandemic related, but had more to do with the protests that followed the police murder of George Floyd in...

The Porch: The River

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from -

2021 Haywood County Floods, One Month Later: An Audio Postcard

On August 17th, historic flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred devastated Western North Carolina. Haywood County was hit hardest, as six people were killed in the Cruso, Canton, and Bethel areas.To mark the one-month anniversary of the floods, the BPR news team put together an audio postcard of those who were there that day. They told us what they saw, smelled, and felt - and how they're dealing and grieving one month later.

What Will It Take To Take It Seriously

On August 17th, flash floods caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred left six people dead in Haywood County, and devastated homes and businesses there and in neighboring Buncombe and Transylvania Counties. While the analysis is ongoing of what caused such rapid and destructive flooding in these tight spaces, one reason is inescapable - climate change.

'Embrace The Complexity' - North Carolina's New State Historian On His Approach

Dr. Darin Waters will take over next month as North Carolina's Deputy Secretary for Archives and History. The job in the state department of Natural and Cultural Resources comes with many responsibilities, including being North Carolina's state historian.Since 2017, Dr. Waters has co-hosted The Waters & Harvey Show with his former UNC Asheville colleague Dr. Marcus Harvey on Blue Ridge Public Radio. As new episodes of the show are released, Dr. Waters took some time to talk with BPR's Matt B...

The Porch: Summer Sun

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from:

How WNC Bucked The National Trend In The 2020 U.S. Census

The 2020 U.S. Census figures arrived last week eagerly anticipated - and late (for a variety of reasons). One of the big early takeaways from the initial Census data that was released was that rural areas all around the United States lost population. One region where that wasn't true was Western North Carolina. Dr. Chris Cooper, political scientist at Western Carolina University, crunched the numbers and found that only five of the 16 counties in Western North Carolina's 11th Congressional Distr...

The Porch: Viral Humor

Since BPR launched "The Porch" last summer, the news team has produced episodes centered on racial justice movements, policing, the insurrection on the US Capitol, all of this and more, while also navigating an unprecedented global pandemic.

The Porch: One Year Later, How Closer Are We To Racial Justice?

One year after the racial justice protests following the police murder of George Floyd, how much closer are we to the goals stated by the marchers in Asheville and Western North Carolina?That's the topic of this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team. Our guests include -

BPR News Presents: The Porch Episode 008

In this episode of The Porch, from BPR News, we explore this question: If communities benefit from the work and presence of artists, what is our collective responsibility to publicly pay for the arts? This episode includes: Interviews with Nate McGaha of Arts NC and Sheila Smith, recently retired from Minnesota Citizens for the Arts A look into our local arts councils, focusing on Transylvania County, Haywood County and the council serving Mitchell and Yancey counties. Interviews with educators ...

BPR News Presents: The Porch Episode 007

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from - BPR's Lilly Knoepp about her reporting on the independent monitor tasked with ensuring HCA holds to the promises it made when it purchased Mission Health Joel Burgess of the Asheville Citizen-Times about Asheville City Council's retreat this month which was at the center of a lawsuit filed by five local media outlets. Burgess also talks about the latest on how the city will set property taxes this year. Dr. Chris Coo...

BPR News Presents: The Porch Episode 006

In this episode of BPR News Presents: The Porch, we talk with-- Musician, poet and writer Chelsea Labate Mike Martinez of the ska-rock band Natural Born Leaders Autobiographical storyteller and actress Barbie Angell Melissa Hyman of the folk duo The Moon & You Psychologist and researcher Dr. Christa Taylor Psychologist and dance therapist Dr. Ilene Serlin (The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger).

BPR News Presents: The Porch Episode 005

In this episode of BPR News Presents: The Porch, we talk with - Emma Johnson, the climate science fellow for The Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting. She's been examining how climate change is hurting Western North Carolina's famed trout fishing, and whether the pandemic has slowed or continued the damage. Dr. Edward Lopez, the director of Western Carolina University's Center for the Study of Free Enterprise , which recently put out a report looking at North Carolina's potential for economic rec...

BPR News Presents: The Porch Episode 004

In this episode of BPR News Presents: The Porch - We feature an episode of WUNC's podcast Tested titled 'An American Coup' which looks at the only violent overthrow of a government in U.S. history, which occurred in 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina Western Carolina University political scientist Dr. Chris Cooper gives us a civics lesson on what it takes to remove and/or discipline sitting members of Congress, plus how an impeachment trial of President Trump can go on even when he is no longer ...