On this week’s episode, longtime political guru John Hood joins host Tim Boyum to discuss the early days of launching one of North Carolina’s first think tanks, and the impact all think tanks have in today’s political world. For over two decades, Hood directed the John Locke Foundation and presently authors a nationally syndicated newspaper column for over 50 newspapers. Recently, he’s written seven books, including a historical-fantasy novel. The pair also have a thorough conversation about red...
Dec 11, 2024•38 min
On this week’s episode of Tying it Together, top North Carolina Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson joins host Tim Boyum to break down the 2024 election from his perspective. The two break down North Carolina Governor-elect Josh Stein and other major positions going to Democrats, despite Donald Trump winning the presidency by a decent margin, and what national Democrats might learn from North Carolina. Jackson, from Nexus Strategies, is a top strategist for current Gov. Roy Cooper and Governor-...
Dec 04, 2024•37 min
After months of promises and debate, the 2024 presidential election likely came down to how people felt about the economy. On this week’s podcast, host Tim Boyum talks with two economists about the promises made, and what a Trump presidency might mean for the economy in terms of tariffs, product prices, interest rates, immigration and more. Our guests are N.C. State economist emeritus Dr. Michael Walden and UNC Charlotte economist Dr. John Connaughton.
Nov 26, 2024•33 min
As host Tim Boyum continues to look at the results of the 2024 election, longtime Republican Jim Blaine joins him to offer his perspective on why President-elect Donald Trump won. Despite Donald Trump’s more than 3-percentage point victory in North Carolina, Democrats celebrated Election Day victories in races for governor, attorney general and the legislature. With the 2026 and 2028 elections in sight, both parties are already maneuvering for position. Blaine breaks down those moving pieces....
Nov 20, 2024•46 min
Fresh off the campaign trail, Spectrum News political reporters Taylor Popielarz and Cassie Semyon join host Tim Boyum to talk about their time following President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. They reveal the struggles and triumphs of their journey, painting a vivid picture of life on the road, week after week, for months on end. Their time with both political campaigns and everyday citizens gives them a unique perspective on the country’s condition, something they also s...
Nov 13, 2024•40 min
Just hours after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley joins host Tim Boyum to discuss President Trump-elect’s win. The two also touch on topics like whether the election was fair and secure, and what Trump will focus on first in January. Later on, the discussion covers the North Carolina results and the potential impact of Mark Robinson’s candidacy on his fellow Republicans in the election.
Nov 07, 2024•19 min
Just days before election day, host Tim Boyum talks with two experts about the early voting numbers we are seeing and what it might mean in terms of momentum for one candidate or the other. Republicans are seeing higher numbers, but are they new voters or just voters that previously voted on election day? Dr. Michael Bitzer, from Catawba College, and Dr. Chris Cooper, from Western Carolina University, have been analyzing the data. They break it all down in these crucial last days of candidates’ ...
Oct 30, 2024•35 min
With early voting underway in North Carolina’s crucial battleground election, state elections executive director Karen Brinson Bell joins host Tim Boyum this week to talk about the storm’s impact on western North Carolina elections. She’ll also discuss what we can expect if races get close. It comes as Gov. Cooper visited Asheville earlier in the week to reiterate to residents that everyone’s voice will be heard in this year’s election. Bell tells some incredible stories about the lengths these ...
Oct 23, 2024•47 min
This week, host Tim Boyum returns to the studio after a recent road trip , sitting down with the region’s top pollsters to talk about the election as early voting begins and campaigns begin their final push. Tom Jensen , from Public Policy Polling, and Dr. Scott Huffmon , from Winthrop University, are on hand with the latest trends in the presidential race, explaining why they’re spending so much of their time in the Tar Heel state. Both pollsters believe this will be an election where it will t...
Oct 16, 2024•36 min
Front Porch Politics and Tying It Together podcast host Tim Boyum, with photojournalist John Stampf, are wrapping their cross-country trip in a rented Tesla to test the realities of electric vehicles. They’ve talked with everyday Americans and local leaders about the issues that matter to them this election season reporting along the way. Tim and John have arrived at Santa Monica Pier in California nine days after departing from the big apple in their Tesla, packed full of new political and elec...
Oct 09, 2024•12 min
Front Porch Politics and Tying It Together podcast host Tim Boyum, with photojournalist John Stampf, are on the road. They’re talking with everyday Americans and local leaders about the issues that matter to them this election season. And they’re making the journey in a rented Tesla, reporting as they go on the realities of charging stops and range anxiety while crossing the country in an EV. Host Tim Boyum looks back on this leg of his EV trip from the Las Vegas strip. He brought up the fact th...
Oct 08, 2024•11 min
Front Porch Politics and Tying It Together podcast host Tim Boyum, with photojournalist John Stampf, are on the road. They're talking with everyday Americans and local leaders about the issues that matter to them this election season. And they're making the journey in a rented Tesla, reporting as they go on the realities of charging stops and range anxiety while crossing the country in an EV. In his latest stop in New Mexico, he does an unusual interview from a hot air balloon during the annual ...
Oct 08, 2024•11 min
Oct 04, 2024•11 min
Front Porch Politics and Tying It Together podcast host Tim Boyum is on the road, talking with everyday Americans and local leaders about the issues that matter to them this election season. He is cranking out bite-sized podcasts along the way, and in his first edition, he is making his way up the Pennsylvania turnpike with photojournalist John Stampf in a rented Tesla. On this stop, Tim reports from Madison, Wisconsin, where getting a hotel room is hard to find. That’s because he and Mark plan ...
Oct 03, 2024•10 min
Front Porch Politics and Tying It Together podcast host Tim Boyum is on the road, talking with everyday Americans and local leaders about the issues that matter to them this election season. He is cranking out bite-sized podcasts along the way, and in his first edition, he is making his way up the Pennsylvania turnpike with photojournalist John Stampf in a rented Tesla. Host Tim Boyum continues his treck across America with recent stops in Pittsburgh, Buttler, Pennsylvania and then to Lordstown,...
Oct 02, 2024•10 min
Front Porch Politics and Tying It Together podcast host, Tim Boyum, is on the road, talking with everyday Americans and local leaders about the issues that matter to them this election season. He is cranking out bit-sized podcasts along the way, and in his first edition, he is making his way up the Pennsylvania turnpike with Photojournalist John Stampf in a rented Tesla. After leaving the Philadelphia area, they stopped in Morgantown, PA to charge up the vehicle. Tim did note, "range anxiety" is...
Oct 01, 2024•10 min
On this week’s episode of Tying it Together, Carter Wrenn joins host Tim Boyum to talk about his new book “The Trail of the Serpent”. Carter has been a fixture in Republican circles for over four decades, starting with Ronald Reagan’s 1976 campaign in North Carolina. His most famous work follows the path and career of U.S. Senator Jesse Helms in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Carter transports listeners back in time with his extraordinary accounts of North Carolina’s historic campaigns....
Sep 25, 2024•48 min
On this week’s episode, host Tim Boyum pulls back the curtain on the world of campaign fundraising. Democratic fundraiser and Parker Poe partner Bruce Thompson joins Tim to consider the ins and outs of a multi-billion dollar industry full of intrigue, controversy and misconceptions. Thompson was part of Hillary Clinton’s national fundraising committee and has played a prominent role in North Carolina campaigns for decades. He explains the common misconceptions surrounding fundraising and the tho...
Sep 18, 2024•37 min
The designation of North Carolina as a purple state is a common observation in the context of elections. But many might be asking, “what implications does that have and how might it affect the upcoming election?” Dr. Chris Cooper from Western Carolina University joins host Tim Boyum to talk about his new book, “Anatomy of a Purple State” to peel back the layers of North Carolina’s unique and ever changing politics.
Sep 11, 2024•34 min
Four years after his U.S. Senate race and personal turmoil collided, Democrat Cal Cunningham sits down with host Tim Boyum to open up about that period in his life. They talk about his affair with another woman , why he didn’t drop out and how it affected his defeat. They also break down the barbecue tweet that went viral, and why he says it made him more upset than just about anything else in the campaign. Later, you can listen to the stories between Cunningham and his then opponent Sen. Thom T...
Sep 04, 2024•50 min
Back from delivering a major speech at the Democratic National Convention, Durham Mayor Leo Williams joins host Tim Boyum this week for a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like in Chicago. Williams says his big speech almost didn't happen. He explains his range of emotions when he found out he was in the lineup, preparing for the speech, getting cut, then added back once again on the last night. Later on, they discuss how the speech has impacted his life and how he manages his personal, prof...
Aug 28, 2024•33 min
Recently on Tying it Together, host Tim Boyum discussed what had been a whirlwind of a month in politics with North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton. On this week’s podcast, it’s Republican Party Committee Chairman Michael Whatley’s turn. Whatley, thought a former NC GOP chair, is not to be confused with Clayton’s counterpart, Jason Simmons. Whatley provides a behind-the-scenes look at an eventful political summer, including an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, President Bid...
Aug 21, 2024•32 min
Earlier in the year, host Tim Boyum asked national pollster Tom Jensen with Public Policy Polling, or PPP, about what topics he thought would influence voters the most. This week, he rejoins Tim to revisit that conversation, and talk about how the 2024 election has shifted since President Biden dropped out and Democrats nominated Vice President Kamala Harris. They also discuss the status of races in North Carolina and how those changes could make a difference.
Aug 14, 2024•38 min
On this week’s podcast, Democratic consultant Morgan Jackson and Republican consultant Jonathan Felts provide insights on a politically eventful month in North Carolina. The two touch on topics like the impact of Biden dropping out of the race from the perspective of both sides, why Gov. Roy Cooper took his name out of the VP running before the vetting even began. The panel also uses their career expertise to hypothesise how President Joe Biden’s Press Secretary Andrew Bate, a North Carolina nat...
Aug 07, 2024•47 min
North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton rejoins host Tim Boyum this week to talk about the tumultuous month since the debate. Their conversation spans from President Joe Biden’s exit to her role in leading the state party’s delegation, which unanimously supported Vice President Kamala Harris during the uncertain time. “Every single delegate was exploding with excitement,” she said when holding a state call on Harris. “I didn’t want to go into that convention not unified.” She also...
Jul 31, 2024•37 min
Rep. Jason Saine of Lincoln County abruptly filed his resignation letter July 15, confirming he would step down from his 97th House District seat, effective Aug. 12. Rep. Saine tells host Tim Boyum his reasons for leaving public office while his party holds the supermajority and what’s next for him in the private sector. Boyum and Rep. Saine also talk freely about the financial and time challenges state lawmakers face in a part time system that requires full time work, mentioning that he’s tired...
Jul 24, 2024•40 min
On this week’s podcast, host Tim Boyum talks with 9th congressional district candidate Shelane Etchison. She’s becoming the first unaffiliated congressional candidate to ever appear on a ballot in North Carolina, but making history is not new to her. She was also among the first women to serve in combat in the Army and earn two master’s degrees from Harvard before coming back to her home state of North Carolina. This week on Tying it Together, she discusses those stories and the reasons behind h...
Jul 17, 2024•36 min
On this week’s episode, Tim talks with Rev. Dr. William Barber and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove about their new book, “White Poverty.” The book looks at historical myths about race and class and makes a case that addressing white poverty might be key to mitigating racism and uniting a massive group of voters to demand change.
Jul 10, 2024•49 min
Hurricane season continues to ramp up in North Carolina. Spectrum News 1 meteorologists are hard at work tracking the tropics and Atlantic for any forming storms and their impacts. This week host Tim Boyum sits down with Spectrum News 1 meteorologist Lee Ringer to talk about the upcoming hurricane season, the forecasting behind storms, misconceptions, climate change, and so much more.
Jul 03, 2024•40 min
It's one of the most hotly contested statewide races in the country between two members of Congress. North Carolina attorney general candidates Dan Bishop (R) and Jeff Jackson (D) go after each other from the first moment of the debate. On this week's episode, host Tim Boyum shares the debate he moderated for the North Carolina Bar Assocation on Friday, June 21, at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Jun 26, 2024•58 min
