WUNC Politics

Mar 06 2025 408 ep. 24 mins 82

WUNC Politics Podcast artwork

The WUNC Politics Podcast is a free-flowing discussion of what we're hearing in the back hallways of the General Assembly and on the campaign trail across North Carolina.

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NC's high healthcare cost and Senate efforts to tackle it

Mar 06 2025 26 mins

N.C. Sen. Benton Sawrey, R-Johnston, landed an influential role in his second term this session as co-chair of the Senate’s committees on healthcare. He joined WUNC's Colin Campbell to talk about efforts to address the unusually high costs of healthcare in North Carolina, including a recent bill to limit insurance coverage mandates and some other proposals in the works for later

New Senate minority leader talks Democrats' strategy for 2025

Feb 27 2025 29 mins

After a decade of being led by longtime Sen. Dan Blue, Democrats in the state Senate decided to elect a new leader this year. Sen. Sydney Batch became Senate minority leader last month. She’s a family law attorney who represents western Wake County since she was first elected to the House in 2018. Batch joined the WUNC Politics Podcast to talk about her approach to the leadershi

Stein's top Helene recovery official makes the case for more funding

Feb 20 2025 29 mins

As state lawmakers debate how much money is needed for the latest Helene recovery package, Gov. Josh Stein’s administration is making the case for $1.07 billion to help western North Carolina rebuild. Matt Calabria, director of the newly created Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), spoke with WUNC's Colin Campbell about Stein’s Helene funding propo

Influential GOP consultant looks back at 50 years in NC politics

Feb 13 2025 29 mins

Raleigh-based Republican consultant Carter Wrenn has had a front-row seat to decades of political history. He’s worked for the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and Ronald Reagan starting in the 1970s. He’s now written a book on his experience that offers an inside look at some key moments and controversial figures in politics. He spoke with WUNC's Colin Campbell about the bo

Main Street NC: Midway tries to stay rural while becoming a town

Feb 06 2025 25 mins

This is the fifth episode in a new season of our Main Street NC series. We're visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face. Midway is one of North Carolina's newer towns formed to avoid becoming part of a neighboring city. The town in Davidson County that borders Winston-Salem boasts one

Main Street NC: Aurora builds infrastructure to lure jobs

Jan 23 2025 22 mins

This is the fourth episode in a new season of our Main Street NC series. In the coming months, we’ll be visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face. The Beaufort County town of Aurora, population 450, is one of a number of rural communities staking their economic futures on industrial

Main Street NC: Southeast Raleigh's gentrification challenge

Jan 09 2025 31 mins

This is the third in a new season of our Main Street NC series. We're visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face. Historically Black neighborhoods in southeast Raleigh are rapidly changing, as older homes get torn down to make way for pricey new houses -- and many longtime residents are

Main Street NC: Mitchell County's Helene recovery needs

Dec 19 2024 36 mins

This is the second in a new season of our Main Street NC series. In the coming months, we’ll be visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face. Mitchell County, about an hour northeast of Asheville, was hit hard by Helene in September. The storm flooded its downtown business districts, wi

Main Street NC: Fountain's musical rebirth

Dec 12 2024 29 mins

This is the first in a new season of our Main Street NC series. In the coming months, we’ll be visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face, from storm recovery to gentrification to job development. Nationally touring bands play regularly at the R.A. Fountain General Store in Fountain,

Why women are underrepresented in NC politics

Nov 21 2024 25 mins

"Women are underrepresented at every level of North Carolina politics": that’s the eye-catching title of a chapter in a new book called "Anatomy of a Purple State: A North Carolina Politics Primer." The book’s author, Chris Cooper, professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University, has compiled statistics around the issue. Only 30% of next year's