The Broadside Podcast

Marlin fishing helps fuel a billion-dollar recreational saltwater fishing industry. Much of it is situated on the North Carolina coast, which also happens to be the site of one of the oldest and most celebrated fishing competitions in the world – the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. It’s an event filled with high stakes drama, and it continues to grow. But are there enough blue marlin in the ocean for the good times to keep rolling on?

Featuring:

• Ashley Bleau, owner of the Sensation
• Neal Conoley, author and former head of the North Carolina Aquarium Society
• Dr. John Graves, marine biologist and former professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Aaron Barr, first mate of the Never Enough

Links:

• The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament starts on June 6th in Morehead City, NC
• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

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Red wolves were declared extinct in the wild in 1980. A captive breeding program reintroduced the animal less than a decade later, but it's had mixed results. With fewer than 30 animals left in the wild, all located in an isolated corner of North Carolina, humans are once again attempting to bring the red wolf back from the brink of extinction.

This episode originally published on July 11, 2024. We're revisiting it because of ongoing successes in the captive red wolf breeding programs.

Featuring:

• Dr. Tara Harrison, Assistant Professor at NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine
• Sean Hubbard, NC State University’s Canine Conversation Crew
• Adam Wagner, climate change and environment reporter at the Raleigh News & Observer

Links:

• Check out Adam’s reporting on red wolves for the News & Observer.
• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Pokémon universe includes wildly popular anime shows, films, video games, and plushies. But Pokémon’s competitive trading card game has a culture all its own. The competition is global. The business associated with it is lucrative and secretive. And both run through an unexpected place: North Carolina.

Featuring: 

• Storms Reback, freelance journalist and contributor for The Assembly
• Brian Gordon, Technology & Innovation reporter for The News & Observer

Links: 

• Read Storms' feature about Pokémon culture in North Carolina at The Assembly here.
• Check out Brian’s reporting on Millennium Print Group here.
• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For much of the past two years, the debate over campus free speech has been front and center in America. While protests and punishments at private universities have grabbed most of the headlines, public schools have been grappling with the issue as well. That includes the country’s oldest public university: the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And unlike the Ivy League, what’s happening there could have much broader and lasting first amendment implications. 

Featuring: 

• Gaby Del Valle, policy reporter at The Verge
• Brianna Atkinson, higher education reporter at WUNC
• Reem Subei, attorney with Muslim Advocates
• Bill Link, historian

Links: 

• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tucked away in rural Chatham County, North Carolina there’s a giant concrete cube with a satellite dish on top of it. Built decades ago, the strange, windowless building is only the tip of an iceberg; below it is a massive bunker designed to withstand a nuclear holocaust. That secure site has become part of local lore and spawned countless conspiracy theories. It may have even inspired the Netflix show Stranger Things. But what’s really going on down there?

Featuring: 

• Jay Price, Military and Veterans Affairs reporter at WUNC and The American Homefront Project
• Drew Lasater, Chatham County resident
• Bobby White, former civilian AT&T employee at the Project Office site in Chatham County

Links: 

• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

The Broadside is made possible by contributions from listeners like you. Support WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio and this podcast by making a donation.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.