Carolina Connection

Following a contentious midterm election, students at UNC say the young vote played a big role in Democrats’ historic victory. North Carolina Representative Valerie Foushee is now part of the majority party in Congress, and we talk with her about her legislative priorities.  North Carolina has paused the gas tax, but high prices still are straining consumers.  UNC starts an artificial intelligence minor that it says will teach students to use AI responsibly. A local equine center helps veterans and first responders connect and heal through horse therapy.

For the second time in recent months, UNC has conducted a high-profile investigation of alleged misbehavior, but failed to release the results. The latest investigation concerns alleged inappropriate behavior in the football program. The earlier investigation looked at management issues in the School of Civic Life and Leadership. Now, legal experts and the university are at odds about the balance between privacy and transparency. Carolina Connection’s Harper Stumb talks about the investigations with host Lauren Mallett on the Carolina Connection podcast.

Despite the growing number of chain stores and restaurants on Franklin Street, small businesses are finding ways to compete alongside them. It's National Bullying Prevention Month, and a UNC expert has advice for parents and teachers alike. A new mail-in ballot rule is sparking concern that some votes won’t count. A student organization helps train service dogs that can help cancer patients. On campus, students are pummeling each other with foam-covered sticks for a unique club sport.

On the edition of the Carolina Connection podcast, we discuss the nationwide controversy over Flock cameras - security cameras, owned by a private company, that record images of cars and people. UNC says it has installed 23 of the cameras on campus to assist law enforcement. But in widely reported incidents in North Carolina and elsewhere, police and other officials have been disciplined or arrested for using Flock data inappropriately.  Now, a UNC student group is urging the university to not renew its contract with Flock when it expires later this school year.  Carolina Connection reporter Meredith Peele discusses the issue wi...

A student movement is pushing back against UNC’s use of Flock cameras on campus. UNC faces backlash for not releasing findings of its Tar Heel football investigation. Students worry about parking and housing as the Board of Trustees plans to add 5,000 undergraduates. UNC’s First Amendment Day approaches at a perilous time for foundational freedoms. A small North Carolina mountain town hosts hundreds of Bigfoot believers for a weekend dedicated to the legendary creature. 

UNC declares the investigation of its football program over after two high-profile resignations. We hear from an expert on sports scandals and from students and other fans. A  threatening incident on campus raises concerns among students and staff about UNC’s campus safety program, Alert Carolina. The Trump Administration’s immigration policies are forcing some international students to make tough choices. A niche sport offers a space for community and a way to jump-start friendships.

UNC is facing growing pressure to release its investigation of the internal turmoil within the School of Civic Life and Leadership. Amid backlash against DEI, professors in UNC's Women and Gender Studies department continue to promote open dialogue. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials are defending library books with LGBTQ+ content that state lawmakers deem inappropriate. We hear how poetry can help us pay attention to the world around us. Who's inside UNC's Rameses costume? Graduating seniors are posing for their last moments as U-N-C students.

On the latest edition of CarolinaCast, Carolina Connection’s podcast, reporter Lauren Mallett talks with Maddie Policastro about the significance of protests ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. She spoke with protestors and organizers at the recent No Kings protests in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, along with Western Carolina University Professor Christopher Cooper, who studies American politics. While Cooper says we are in the midst of a highly polarized political climate, he affirmed that protests do have a place in the order of a functioning democracy. 

A North Carolina death row inmate works with a UNC music professor to produce an album. Media organizations sue to force UNC to release the findings of its seven-month investigation into the School of Civic Life and Leadership. The curator of Coker Arboretum is trying to help plants through the drought and has some advice for your garden, too. A group of people goes to RDU not to catch flights, but to watch them. North Carolina boys may soon be able to play a new official high school sport - volleyball.

Hundreds of Rohingya refugees live under tarps, tin scraps, and spare sheets of wood they've found in the heart of New Delhi, India. They fight the unforgiving heat, inconsistent water supplies, and the threat of deportation to Myanmar, where they fled brutal violence. A United Nations report has recognized the Myanmar army's campaign against the country's Rohingya minority as genocide. While Indian officials have expressed their support for the people of Myanmar, the Rohingya's future is uncertain as human rights experts warn that a lack of legal protection and rights granted by the Indian government jeopardizes their safety. Gowri Abhinanda...

Eating disorders are typically stereotyped as a girl thing, but boys and men struggle with an obsession over gaining muscle and bulking up – sometimes referred to as "bigorexia." Research shows nearly a third of teen boys in the U.S. report trying to gain weight … and about a quarter report taking supplements, steroids, or eating more. Rachel Moody reports in this edition of the Carolina Connection podcast.

A new men's basketball coach comes to Carolina, joining his daughter, a student athlete, as a Tar Heel. The April Fools’ satire edition of the Daily Tar Heel wasn’t funny to a lot of people on campus and around the country. Several of the newspaper's staff members have resigned after readers complained the satire was insensitive to marginalized communities. North Carolina has a special reason to celebrate the first mission to carry people to the moon in over 50 years. And you’ve heard about a family man; now UNC has a family ram.

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities are reshaping what it means to be a student athlete. But not every sport is benefiting in the same way. As NIL continues to evolve, women in non-revenue sports are finding that success in the marketplace often depends less on performance in competition, and more on the personal brands they build online. Zoe Behrendt, a non-revenue female athlete herself, discuss the situation with host Reyna Drake.

After a Chapel Hill bar was charged in connection with a second fatal car wreck, a former employee speaks out. The firing of Hubert Davis as Carolina's men's basketball coach may end the program's long connection to Dean Smith and usher in a new culture. Artists reimagine noise pollution through an installation in the Coker Arboretum. Triangle residents find community through fixing broken devices. A walking tour around campus marks generations of women’s history. UNC grad and soccer legend Carla Overbeck helped transform women’s sports. 

Patients can no longer receive gender affirming care at UNC Health if they’re under the age of 19. This limit exceeds North Carolina state law, which only bans these treatments for minors — or those under 18. Now, doctors and patients at the Triangle’s largest health system are adapting to the new regulation. Carolina Connection's Alice Scott discusses the new restrictions with host Anthony Guerra-Flores.

Climate activists say they're still hopeful despite the Trump Administration’s attacks on environmental regulations. After a fatal crash, a Chapel Hill nightclub is being investigated for serving underage customers – the same nightclub that faced similar charges two years ago. The North Carolina Zoo prepares to welcome visitors and animals to a new Asia exhibit. A local sanctuary allows visitors to cuddle their stress away with cows. 

UNC faculty have raised concerns about academic freedom and their rights after three new policies were implemented that change the rules on classroom procedure. One policy, which allowed University administrators to record classrooms without instructor knowledge, was recently scrapped by the Chancellor after faculty pushback. Other policies remain in effect, including a new systemwide academic freedom policy, and a decision by UNC System President Peter Hans that declared syllabi to be public records. Carolina Connection's Alice Scott joined Anthony Guerra-Flores to discuss the controversies.

Fourth District Congresswoman Valerie Foushee’s slim victory highlights tensions in the Democratic party. The war in the Middle East has left people at UNC feeling the weight of the conflict. Experts say rising gas prices are closely related to the Middle East conflict. Students return from Milan, where they helped document the Winter Olympics. A controversial artist demonstrates the power of printmaking as political expression. 

After pushback from faculty, UNC has abruptly reversed a controversial new policy that allowed administrators to record classes with the instructors' knowledge. Tuition is increasing throughout the UNC System. Some North Carolina university students have to make long, treacherous walks to purchase fresh food. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education is considering closing schools. An exhibition at the Ackland Art Museum dismantles notions of masculinity and gender through high school students. 

A Triangle community is limiting its use of lights and sirens on EMS vehicles to reduce ambulance accidents. Doctors say vaccine hesitancy is one of the causes of this year's active flu season. A local Black History Month event remembers the past by encouraging action today. As Name Image and Likeness reshapes college athletics, some players in less prominent sports are building their own brands. North Carolina is in a severe drought and this month's rain - and snow - isn't helping much. The Triangle rings in the year of the fire horse with Lunar New Year celebrations.