From public syllabi to surveillance, universities across the country are embracing unprecedented policies that professors say are undermining their academic freedom. And North Carolina is front and center.

Featuring:

• Brianna Atkinson, higher education reporter for WUNC News
• Keith Whittington, director of Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech at Yale Law School and author of “You Can’t Teach That!: The Battle Over University Classrooms”

Links:

• You can find more of Brianna Atkinson’s reporting here

Cover Image: Liz Schlemmer

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When disaster strikes in the water, we turn to the US Coast Guard. Today, it’s renowned for its fast-moving cutters, skilled helicopter pilots and daring rescue divers. But a hundred and fifty years ago, the Coast Guard's predecessor, the US Life-Saving Service, was in total disarray and in desperate need of reform. In the treacherous waters of North Carolina's Outer Banks, an extraordinary group of Black men answered the call and saved hundreds of lives against all odds.

Featuring:

• Brad Campbell, writer for Our State Magazine
• Joan Collins, Director of Outreach and Education for the Pea Island Preservation Society

Links:

• Check out Brad's article about the Pea Island surfmen here.

Cover image provided by Joan Collins: The US Coast Guard's Herbert M. Collins served at the Pea Island Life-Saving Station in North Carolina's Outer Banks during World War II.

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As the story goes, hip-hop music was born a little over 50 years ago at a house party in the Bronx. But that version of history doesn't account for an entertainer from Durham, North Carolina with the incredible name Pigmeat Markham. In 1968, Markham released a hit song called “Here Comes the Judge.” The tune fused comedy, funk, and what can only be described as an early form of rapping—years before hip-hop officially burst onto the scene. So was this largely forgotten figure actually the first rapper?

Featuring:

• Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University

Links:

• Check out a playlist of the songs mentioned in this episode and some others inspired by Pigmeat Markham here.

Cover image: The album cover art for Pigmeat Markham's 1968 single "Here Comes the Judge”

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