By all measures, 2020 was an extraordinary election year. Record-setting voter turnout, a tsunami-like surge in mail-in ballots and deep partisan rancor - all amid a global pandemic. These factors posed unprecedented challenges for elections officials across North Carolina and the country. In many places, private donations helped pay for things like hand sanitizer and other support efforts. Host Rusty Jacobs looks at a proposed law that would stop private donations like this, and at the deeper i...
Sep 27, 2021•21 min
Unvaccinated Covid-19 patients have flooded hospitals around North Carolina. Because of the surge, many vaccinated patients who go to the hospital needing treatment for non-Covid-19 illnesses feel they aren't getting the same level of care they would normally get. Host Jason deBruyn looks at the ethics of triaging vaccinated and unvaccinated patients - something health providers and health ethicists are having to hash out in real time.
Sep 23, 2021•22 min
As COVID continues to inundate Robeson County, health officials and local leaders are working tirelessly to get more Lumbee tribal members vaccinated.
Sep 17, 2021•19 min
As of Sept. 14, Robeson County had the lowest vaccination rate in North Carolina with less than one-third of the population fully vaccinated.
Sep 15, 2021•23 min
On this episode of Tested, we’re featuring a special from the podcast "Me and My Muslim Friends." It’s a show produced in partnership with WUNC that tells nuanced stories about the Muslim American experience.
Sep 10, 2021•13 min
In their last two weeks in the country, U.S. troops evacuated more than 123,000 people out of Afghanistan. The process has been called “two weeks of chaos and 20 years of war.”
Sep 03, 2021•23 min
Dr. Whitney Robinson, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology/UNC Gillings School of Public Health, speaks about how she is personally and professional navigating the pandemic.
Aug 30, 2021•16 min
Now that classes are back in session in North Carolina schools, how do they respond to a new phase of the global pandemic in which we know a lot more about the virus, including the fact that it can still spread so quickly especially among children?
Aug 27, 2021•15 min
Reporters from WUNC's Youth Reporting Institute share their experience in the program this summer.
Aug 23, 2021•34 min
For many small business owners, PPP loans from the federal government were a lifesaver. That Paycheck Protection Program money was right on time and picture perfect for a lot of people... a lot of white people. Many Black and Hispanic businesses didn’t get paid that way.
Aug 20, 2021•21 min
Health care is notoriously expensive in the United States. And it’s often the patient’s responsibility not just to pay, but to make sure they aren’t paying too much. But where do those numbers come from? And how would you know if you’re paying too much?
Aug 13, 2021•17 min
As the heat of summer lingers and the pandemic hits another peak, many North Carolinians are considering one more "staycation" before school begins.
Aug 06, 2021•11 min
Host Dave DeWitt speaks with Rose Hoban, editor and founder of North Carolina Health News, about how we should feel toward those who have chosen to remain unvaccinated, the efforts to increase North Carolina's vaccination rate, and why some of them might still work.
Jul 30, 2021•14 min
Which beats, melodies and voices eased the pain of the pandemic for you? Host Leoneda Inge explores the power of music to help us maintain our mental health in trying times. | Love this podcast? Support it today with a donation to wunc.org/give.
Jul 23, 2021•18 min
Frustrated business owners are scrambling to find people to fill positions they lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to revive their businesses, but our favorite spots just don’t have the workforce they did before COVID. And many of those who are returning to these generally low-paying, high-traffic jobs are afraid of going back to work they now see as high-risk, and maybe not worth it.
Jul 21, 2021•14 min
Host Charlie Shelton Ormond looks at the tragic case of Marcus Smith with his family members, and examines the use of hog-tying as a restraint tactic used by some law enforcement agencies with Joe Neff, reporter for the Marshall Project.
Jul 16, 2021•19 min
North Carolina's Republican-led legislature soon will start the decennial redistricting process. One question is, will they look back on a decade's worth of litigation to carve a path towards fairer political maps or to gain as much political advantage as possible before courts take up the inevitable lawsuits?
Jul 14, 2021•22 min
America’s Favorite Drive. That’s what the National Park Service calls the Blue Ridge Parkway, and they have the numbers to back it up: 14 million visitors in 2020. But like the rest of the South through which it winds, the Blue Ridge Parkway wasn’t always welcoming - or even accessible - to all of America.
Jul 09, 2021•17 min
Decades before Nikole Hannah-Jones' tenure battle with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill made national headlines, another Black scholar was slighted by UNC, inspiring a brave decision to hold the university accountable. | Support this show with a donation at wunc.org/give.
Jul 07, 2021•28 min
Host Leoneda Inge speaks with James Williams, the retired public defender for Orange and Chatham Counties, and Kimberly Probolus, a fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, about where Confederate Monuments in North Carolina have been taken down, where they still stand, and how these symbols of hate stand in the way of an honest reckoning with systemic white supremacy in the South.
Jul 02, 2021•16 min
Host Rusty Jacobs talks to two North Carolina lawmakers about GOP-backed legislation that would eliminate a three-day grace period for counting mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day. Democrats and voting rights advocates say Republicans are pushing a false narrative about election fraud.
Jun 30, 2021•25 min
Whenever signs exist that a child is being abused or neglected, it’s a social worker’s job to determine whether it’s best to step in and remove that child from their home.But the likelihood a child is removed from their home varies depending on where they live in North Carolina.
Jun 28, 2021•18 min
The North Carolina General Assembly is months away from finishing the state budget for the next two years, but the state Senate has unveiled its proposal. WUNC's Jeff Tiberii outlines the Senate's priorities and explains why there may not be a budget before the end of the year, let alone the fiscal year.
Jun 25, 2021•17 min
Some faculty of color at UNC Chapel Hill have resigned amid the UNC Board of Trustees' refusal to give tenure to acclaimed journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. But they say their departures are the result of years' worth of marginalization by university administrators.
Jun 23, 2021•19 min
When broken down by county, North Carolina's vaccination rate against Covid ranges from "not bad" to pretty awful.
Jun 21, 2021•16 min
Host Leoneda Inge marks Juneteenth with two guests: Joseph McGill, the founder of the Slave Dwelling Project and the history and culture coordinator at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston; and Kevin Jones, a master barber in Wendell, about the importance of Black fatherhood.
Jun 18, 2021•14 min
Like many businesses, independent live music venues in North Carolina and across the country are emerging from restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But they're still waiting on much needed federal assistance.
Jun 16, 2021•15 min
The major health care program that serves low-income and disabled North Carolinians is getting a major overhaul on July 1. But some Medicaid beneficiaries are frustrated and confused about what their care will look like after the transformation.
Jun 14, 2021•18 min
The bridge over the Oregon Inlet on North Carolina's Outer Banks is vital to the residents of Hatteras Island, so it's hard to imagine there was a time when there were serious disagreements about building the bridge in the first place.
Jun 11, 2021•8 min
A multimillion dollar jail expansion proposal in Haywood County is causing a rift within the community and raising questions about the importance of rehabilitation and the effectiveness of incarceration.
Jun 09, 2021•12 min
