Podcasts Archives • NC Newsline

  One of the most remarkable, and in the minds of many, most shameful, developments in North Carolina public policy over the last three decades has been the failure of state leaders of both parties to fulfill their constitutional duty to provide all children in the state with access to a sound basic education. It’s […]

  Unlike many others, North Carolina is not a “ballot initiative” state in which citizens can place constitutional amendments on the ballot by gathering enough signatures. Here, the power to advance constitutional amendments resides exclusively with the state legislature and right now, Republican lawmakers are proposing to do just that this fall with a proposal […]

  It’s been two years now since sports betting became legal in North Carolina, and it’s quickly become one of the most impactful and transformative law changes in state history. In a remarkably short time, sports gambling – and, indeed, all kinds of gambling – have overtaken our society and produced one of the biggest […]

  If you’re like most average consumers, you’re acutely aware of how your monthly energy bill has been rising steadily in recent years. And a new report from the nonprofit Energy and Policy Institute shines a bright light on one big factor behind those hikes that turns out to be very much in the utility […]

  If there’s a core public service in North Carolina that’s found itself most consistently in the crosshairs of hostile politicians the last several years, it’s public education. Thanks to the repeated enactment of budgets that have underfunded everything from teacher salaries to facilities to the number of administrators, nurses, and counselors, North Carolina’s public […]

  As the U.S. rapidly moves toward the one-month mark in President Trump’s highly controversial war with Iran, the costs – both in human lives and dollars and cents — continue to mount rapidly. And these costs are impacting virtually all Americans. Not only are direct expenditures on the war impacting the U.S. Treasury and […]

  As the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians are well aware, the economic news of late remains a mix of good and bad news. On the hopeful side, the official unemployment rate remains comparatively low. What’s more, there are some important ways in which our state remains better situated than many others. On the other […]

  How is North Carolina doing in building a workforce with the necessary degrees and job credentials for the 21st Century economy? While the challenges here are huge, this is one area in which state policymakers have created a nonprofit that’s charged with monitoring our progress and, where it can, helping to move things in […]

An especially noteworthy 2026 primary election has come and gone, and there were a lot of important and high-profile outcomes – some expected and some surprising. Topping the list of predicted results were the outcomes in the Democratic and Republican U.S. Senate primaries, where former Gov. Roy Cooper and GOP party official Michael Whatley cruised […]

  Among the many controversial actions taken by North Carolina public university leaders since Republicans at the state legislature took control of the system and campus boards, few have provoked greater concern than a recent announcement that administrators at UNC Chapel Hill would begin secretly recording classroom lectures and discussions. In addition to their concerns […]

  There’s been no bigger or more controversial national news story in recent weeks than the Trump administration’s unprecedented immigration crackdown. All across the country – and perhaps most notably in Minnesota – federal immigration officers have employed an array harsh and often discriminatory and violent tactics to round up people suspected of being undocumented […]

As you’ve no doubt noticed, the first several weeks of 2026 have featured a large complement of wintry and bitterly cold weather and that’s something that’s sure to drive up the electric bills that will soon hit thousands of residential ratepayers. And while there’s nothing that can be done to control the weather, there are […]

  If there’s a most egregious disconnect right now between state and national policy and what reams of scientific evidence and countless common-sense observations tell us about the world around us, it’s clearly in the realm of environmental protection and, in particular, climate change. As has been repeatedly and thoroughly documented, our planet currently faces […]

  Early voting is already well underway in this year’s primary election that concludes on March 3, but even as this process plays out, conservative activists and self-described “election integrity experts” are renewing their longstanding campaign to purge registered voters from the rolls in groups and geographic areas that generally tend to vote for Democratic […]

  During his 2024 campaign to return to the White House, President Trump promised American voters that he would almost immediately deliver a new era of peace and prosperity. Today, a little over a year since his return to office, it’s increasingly clear that most Americans do not believe he has delivered. In addition to […]

  If you celebrated Valentine’s Day over the weekend, chances are you noted that tariffs are driving up the cost of flowers, chocolates, and many other items associated with the holiday. Many of the products that define Valentine’s rely heavily on imports. The United States imports nearly all the cacao used to make chocolate, primarily […]

For those who had hoped the New Year would return a modicum and calm and normalcy to the nation, the past several weeks have been a profound disappointment. Between the Trump administration’s continued war on basic government services, rogue foreign policy threats, destructive and frequently lawless attacks on immigrant communities, and failure to address the […]

  For close to 90 years, most American universities and their faculty members have operated under a popular, useful and commonly understood definition of academic freedom – that is the notion that a free search for the truth and its exposition (one not beholden to politicians or the whims of public opinion) is at the […]

  The nation’s persistent affordability crisis continues to leave large majorities of Americans deeply concerned about the state of the country and dissatisfied with national political leaders and, as Newsline learned in a recent conversation with KFF senior survey polling analyst Dr. Shannon Schumacher, nowhere is this better evidenced than in the field of health […]

  One of the most worrisome trends impacting our nation’s public health right now is the spread of misinformation about the risks and benefits of vaccines. Tragically, this sobering development is on display right now in our state where multiple outbreaks of measles – a dangerous and sometimes deadly and debilitating illness – have emerged […]

North Carolina primary election is just weeks away, and it looks like our state will play host to one of the nation’s most expensive and important U.S. Senate races as former Democratic governor Roy Cooper heads toward a fall clash with one of three candidates seeking the Republican nomination. Of course, all of this comes […]

  Few organizations have had a larger impact on the honesty, transparency and overall health of North Carolina’s government over the few decades than the state chapter of the national nonprofit advocacy organization Common Cause. Recently, the group’s longtime executive director Bob Phillips moved on to retirement, turning over the reins to the longtime organizational […]

  All across the country, ICE and Border Patrol agents have conducted police-state-style raids and other actions that have terrorized communities and raised constitutional issues of profound importance. At the same time, numerous changes to immigration policy – many of them adopted without public knowledge or input – have made an already complex system more […]

  The headlines are making clear, big and important debates and actions – especially several controversial actions of the Trump administration and its allies — have continued to roil American policy and politics in the New Year. From the health care wars to the widespread immigration crackdowns to a bevy of contentious foreign policy moves, […]

  Commemorative services are planned across the state Monday as the nation pauses for a federal holiday in observance of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. MLK Day is a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer and improve their communities. Bishop William Barber – president of Repairers of the […]

  For those who had hoped the New Year might usher in a period of renewed calm in American policy and politics, this first week has been yet another profound disappointment. Topping the list of worrisome developments was President Donald Trump’s decision to use U.S. military personnel to arrest the president of Venezuela Niclas Maduro […]

  As we commence the New Year, few if any subjects raise greater concerns for the wellbeing of Americans than the ongoing global environmental crisis. From climate change to the growing and widespread prevalence of toxic chemicals, to the Trump administration’s ongoing war against environmental protection regulations, this past year has been another deeply worrisome […]

It’s common knowledge that the nation’s housing market – especially in growing areas like North Carolina – has become prohibitively expensive for millions of people, and a new report from researchers at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Center for Geospatial Solutions (which is housed at the institute) highlights a major culprit – […]

The rising cost of housing continues to be a huge problem for millions of Americans. But, of course, as just about any average person can also confirm, lack of affordability is not just a problem confined to housing – it’s spreading across the U.S. economy in dozens of areas. So, what’s going on here? During […]

  Few areas of modern American popular culture have undergone greater or more rapid changes in recent years that college sports. Thanks to a series of successful legal challenges, the nation’s longstanding practice of treating college athletes as amateurs has been completely upended and, especially at big schools engaged high-profile sports like football and basketball, […]