Shows / News & Views
News & Views
Conversations with prominent state and national newsmakers – politicians, advocates, analysts, academics and activists — about the news, events and public policy debates that shape life in North Carolina.
Episodes
- News & Views
Do North Carolinians have an appetite for impeachment? Here’s what a new poll finds.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 21…
- News & Views
‘Wow. Just… wow’: Political scientist Chris Cooper on North Carolina’s historic 2026 midterms
Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper Tectonic. Generational. A Blue-nami. A bloodbath. Just a few of the terms out there today…
- News & Views
National pollster says ‘message discipline’ to benefit NC Democrats in 2026 midterms
Tom Jensen, director of Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling (Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline) Months of campaigning and endless political commercials draw to…
- News & Views
Mack Paul discusses “Miracle Road: The Story of Research Triangle Park”
Mack Paul (Courtesy photo) One of the most successful public economic development projects in modern American history is North Carolina’s Research Triangle…
- News & Views
NC Budget and Tax Center’s Alexandra Sirota on a trio of proposed constitutional amendments
Alexandra Sirota (Photo: NC Budget & Tax Center) The latest public opinion survey shows generally strong support amongst voters for a trio of proposed…
- News & Views
Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center, on AI and the future of work
Lee Rainie, director of Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center President Donald Trump created a new task force last week focused on artificial…
- News & Views
Amanda Rosa of Extreme Weather Survivors discusses Helene recovery and weather-related disasters
Amanda Rosa of Extreme Weather Survivors It’s been two years now since Hurricane-turned-Tropical Storm Helene devastated a large swath of the southeastern…
- News & Views
Matt Calabria, director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina
Matt Calabria, director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina It was two years ago this past week that Hurricane-turned-Tropical Storm…
- News & Views
UNC Health infectious disease expert David Wohl on the respiratory virus season
Dr. David Wohl We’re now several years, thankfully, past the COVID-19 pandemic, but as even a casual glance at daily news headlines reminds us, the challenge…
- News & Views
Emily Donovan of Clean Cape Fear discusses the enormous problems posed by PFAS pollution
Emily Donovan, Clean Cape Fear One of the most important and worrisome threats to our natural environment and human health to emerge in recent decades is a…
- News & Views
Elon University’s Jason Husser shares the most recent survey of public opinion ahead of the midterms
Jason Husser (Photo: Elon.edu) The fall midterm elections are just six weeks away and that means that North Carolinians will soon cast their ballots in an…
- News & Views
NC Budget and Tax Center’s Alexandra Sirota on a trio of proposed constitutional amendments
Alexandra Sirota (Photo: NC Budget & Tax Center) The latest public opinion survey shows generally strong support amongst voters for a trio of proposed…
- News & Views
Amy Beros and Liz Reasoner discuss NC’s growing food insecurity during Hunger Awareness month
Amy Beros and Liz Reasoner (Courtesy photos) Thanks to soaring prices and big cuts to federal food assistance, hunger is quickly growing worse across North…
- News & Views
Former Chapel Hill police chief Chris Blue on the NC Law Enforcement Trust & Legitimacy Project
Chris Blue, North Carolina Law Enforcement Trust & Legitimacy Project (Courtesy photo) One of the big problems confronting law enforcement departments in these…
- News & Views
Senator Natalie Murdock discusses energy equity and voting rights
Senator Natalie Murdock (Photo: NCGA) As the cost of living continues to soar across the country and worsen the growing divide between the wealthy and everyone…
- News & Views
Oxfam’s Patricia Stottlemyer ranks the best and worst states in the country to work
Patricia Stottlemyer (Courtesy photo) Each year around the Labor Day holiday, the international nonprofit, Oxfam, conducts and releases a study in which it…
- News & Views
Common Cause of NC’s Brooks Fuller on efforts by election officials to erect new hurdles for voters
Brooks Fuller (Courtesy photo) With Labor Day right around the corner, it means that the fall election season is upon us, and this year, there’s another…
- News & Views
Emily Mason of Environment NC on a new report that spotlights solar schools
Emily Mason(Photo: Environment NC) Despite the efforts of the Trump administration and climate change deniers, solar energy continues to make enormous strides…
- News & Views
NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty executive director Noel Nickle
Noel Nickle (Courtesy photo) This month marks the 20th anniversary of the last time the state North Carolina put a person to death in punishment for a crime…
- News & Views
Elon University Poll director Jason Husser discusses the 2026 NC Political Landscape report
Jason Husser (Photo: Elon.edu) If you pay any attention to politics and elections you know that the coming weeks will feature an avalanche of so-called horse…
- News & Views
Former NC Court of Appeals Judge Chris Brook on the increasingly politicized state judiciary
Former NC Court of Appeals Judge Chris Brook If there’s a branch of North Carolina state government that’s undergone the largest transformation in recent…
- News & Views
Former NC Court of Appeals Judge Chris Brook on the increasingly politicized state judiciary
If there’s a branch of North Carolina state government that’s undergone the largest transformation in recent decades – both in its role and its make-up – it’s…
- News & Views
Veteran pollster David McLennan discusses attitudes toward online gambling
Meredith College political scientist and pollster David McLennan (File photo) As anyone who’s watched a college or professional sporting event in recent years…
- News & Views
Wake Ed Partnership President Keith Poston on their efforts to equip public school classrooms
Keith Poston, Wake Ed Partnership (Courtesy photo) All across North Carolina, students, parents and teachers are preparing for the start of a new school year…
- News & Views
Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg discusses PFAS litigation and other top environmental stories
Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg One of the most worrisome challenges to human health to emerge in recent decades has been the growing environmental…
- News & Views
WCU political scientist Chris Cooper on the ongoing battles over election laws and voting rights
With the 2026 midterm elections less than 100 days away, it a great time to check in with one of the state’s foremost experts on politics and elections…
- News & Views
WCU political scientist Chris Cooper on the ongoing battles over election laws and voting rights
Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper With the 2026 midterm elections less than 100 days away, it a great time to check in with one of…
- News & Views
Sara Walker and Melissa Evers of Wake County Meals on Wheels discuss food insecurity among seniors
Director of Development and Communications Sara Walker and main office Home Delivery Site Manager Melissa Evers One in four Americans is 60+ and one in two…
- News & Views
Rep. Marcia Morey discusses budget shortcomings, election law changes and ‘teen takeovers’
Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) (Photo: NCGA) State Rep. Marcia Morey of Durham County is one of the many experts who’ve expressed concerns about how the state…
- News & Views
Rep. Marcia Morey discusses budget shortcomings, election law changes and ‘teen takeovers’
  State Rep. Marcia Morey of Durham County is one of the many experts who’ve expressed concerns about how the state budget debate played out. While she’s…
- News & Views
Public Ed Works executive editor David Rice on education funding in NC’s new state budget
Public Ed Works executive director David Rice After more than a full year of delay at the legislature, North Carolina finally has a new state budget and as is…
- News & Views
Public Ed Works executive editor David Rice on education funding in NC’s new state budget
  After more than a full year of delay at the legislature, North Carolina finally has a new state budget and as is almost always the case, what the new…
- News & Views
Ardis Watkins, executive director of the SEANC, discusses shortcomings in the state budget
SEANC Executive Director Ardis Watkins (Courtesy photo) Despite listing many concerns, Gov. Josh Stein signed the $34 billion state budget bill into law on…
- News & Views
Newsline state government reporter Brandon Kingdollar on the policy changes packed into the budget
NC Newsline government and politics reporter Brandon Kingdollar. North Carolina’s new state budget runs more than 600 pages and includes dozens of other…
- News & Views
Catawba College Dr. Michael Bitzer on shifting political attitudes and America’s 250th anniversary
Catawba College political scientist and pollster Michael Bitzer There’s a longstanding pattern in American politics that in most off-year elections, the party…
- News & Views
Catawba College Dr. Michael Bitzer on shifting political attitudes and America’s 250th anniversary
  There’s a longstanding pattern in American politics that in most off-year elections, the party of the president tends to lose support and right now…
- News & Views
NC Black Alliance executive director Marcus Bass on recent partisan election changes
North Carolina Black Alliance Director Marcus Bass (Photo: Claire Michal/NC Newsline) Republican leaders at the North Carolina General Assembly have pursued…
- News & Views
WRAL-TV Documentary Producer Cristin Severance on news deserts and the future of local journalism
Documentary producer Cristin Severance (Courtesy: WRAL.com) News deserts. At first blush, it seems like strange term in an era in which most people are…
- News & Views
Rep. Deb Butler on budget negotiations, voting rights, and a possible repeal of NC’s seawall ban
Rep. Deb Butler (Photo: NCGA) After more than a year of waiting, it appears the North Carolina General Assembly will vote later this week on a comprehensive…
- News & Views
Rep. Deb Butler on budget negotiations, voting rights, and a possible repeal of NC’s seawall ban
  After more than a year of waiting, it appears the North Carolina General Assembly will vote later this week on a comprehensive budget for the new fiscal…
- News & Views
Senator Lisa Grafstein discusses the state budget debate and an effort to curb voting rights
Sen. Lisa Grafstein (Photo: NCGA) With a new state government fiscal year set to commence on July first, North Carolina state legislators have still yet to…
- News & Views
Senator Lisa Grafstein discusses the state budget debate and an effort to curb voting rights
  With a new state government fiscal year set to commence on July first, North Carolina state legislators have still yet to pass a budget for the year…
- News & Views
EDF policy director Will Scott discusses Duke Energy’s Carbon Plan and NC’s future energy needs
Will Scott, North Carolina Policy Director (Photo: Courtesy EDF) When a utility company like Duke Energy plans for the future, it tries to predict how much…
- News & Views
EDF policy director Will Scott discusses Duke Energy’s Carbon Plan and NC’s future energy needs
  When a utility company like Duke Energy plans for the future, it tries to predict how much electricity its customers will need a decade from now…
- News & Views
Author Dr. Katharine Wilkinson discusses efforts to combat the global climate emergency
Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson (Courtesy photo) As the effects of climate change continue to grow and spread at an alarming rate, it can be easy to become…
- News & Views
Author Dr. Katharine Wilkinson discusses efforts to combat the global climate emergency
  As the effects of climate change continue to grow and spread at an alarming rate, it can be easy to become overwhelmed. But as author Dr. Katharine…
- News & Views
Dr. Hope Thompson of the Natural Resources Defense Council on rising homeowner’s insurance
Dr. Hope Thompson is an expert on climate adaptation policy, comprehensive risk management, and equitable disaster resilience. (Courtesy photo: NRDC) One of…
- News & Views
Dr. Hope Thompson of the Natural Resources Defense Council on rising homeowner’s insurance
One of the most expensive and worrisome immediate impacts of climate change and the weather disasters it spawns is the fast-rising cost of homeowners…
- News & Views
States Newsroom’s Jonathan Shorman on voting rights, Trump and the GOP’s efforts to cling to power
States Newsroom national democracy reporter Jonathan Shorman Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, hardly a day goes by in which there is not some…
- News & Views
Amy Beros discusses the persistent hunger crisis that plagues central and eastern North Carolina
  Genuine food insecurity in which people don’t know where their next meal is coming from is a subject that merits a lot of attention. By any fair…
- News & Views
Amy Beros discusses the persistent hunger crisis that plagues central and eastern North Carolina
Amy Beros, president and CEO of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina Genuine food insecurity in which people don’t know where their next meal is…
- News & Views
Brooks Fuller of Common Cause North Carolina on proposals to make voting in our state harder
Brooks Fuller (Courtesy photo) Ever since Republicans captured control of the state legislature at the outset of the last decade, North Carolinians have been…
- News & Views
NC Newsline reporter Brandon Kingdollar discusses an array of bills being advanced by GOP lawmakers
NC Newsline government and politics reporter Brandon Kingdollar. North Carolina state lawmakers are in the midst of the 2026 legislative session and, as had…
- News & Views
NC Budget and Tax Center director Alexandra Sirota on the problematic new constitutional amendments
Alexandra Sirota (Photo: NC Budget & Tax Center) Republican state legislative leaders made headlines in recent days by announcing that they have finally…
- News & Views
Duke University’s Jackson Ewing on a massive merger between NC’s two largest electricity providers
Jackson Ewing (Photo: Courtesy Duke University) Earlier this month, regulatory commissions in North and South Carolina approved a merger between the two energy…
- News & Views
Rep. Phil Rubin on education funding and why a new property tax scheme could make problems worse
Wake County State Rep. Phil Rubin It appears that, finally, after a year-long delay that has left North Carolina the only state in the union without a budget…
- News & Views
NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan on making government deliver better results
NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan (Courtesy photo) When it comes to politics and policymaking, the present era is among the most divided and rancorous in modern…
- News & Views
Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s Chris Shenton on the gutting of the Voting Rights Act
Southern Coalition for Social Justice Senior Counsel Chris Shenton (Courtesy photo) One of the greatest achievements of the American Civil Rights movement was…
- News & Views
The message NC public school educators desperately want budget writers to hear
Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline Last week was national Teacher Appreciation Week, a time to celebrate educators who show up for their students every day…
- News & Views
Charlotte-Mecklenburg educator Justin Parmenter on public education funding and the May Day rally
Justin Parmenter (Courtesy photo) Thousands of North Carolina public school teachers and their supporters converged on Raleigh this past Friday to demand that…