Wuncpolitics

WUNC's Jeff Tiberii hosts a conversation with Becki Gray from the conservative John Locke Foundation and Rob Schofield with the progressive NC Policy Watch about personal freedom vs public health/Covid vaccines and the scheduling of redistricting public forums on Yom Kippur.

Vaccine mandates aren’t new. Neither is the hysteria (by some) against them. Yet what was once a fringe argument has become a mainstream political position. Following months of comment-section debates, and the latest round of misinformation, Covid vaccine rates in the U.S. have sputtered. Host Jeff Tiberii talks with Dr. Jeffrey Engel, the former North Carolina state epidemiologist and state health director, and WUNC health reporter Jason deBruyn, about the struggle for public health during yet another wave of the pandemic.

In this week's review of political news, host Jeff Tiberii discusses President Joe Biden's six-pronged approach in the ongoing fight against COVID-19, an e-cigarette maker's plans to open a research facility in Durham, and reflections twenty years after September 11th with Clark Riemer and Aisha Dew.

Two separate shooting incidents at North Carolina high schools in recent days have left many unanswered questions, adding to an already significant strain of public-school anxiety, and to diverging opinions about safety, bullying, possible gang involvement and guns in school. Host Jeff Tiberii speaks with Ben Schachtman, the News Director at WHQR in Wilmington; and Paul Garber, a reporter at WFDD in Winston-Salem, about what is known about the shootings at New Hanover High School and Mount Tabor High School.

Host Jeff Tiberii looks at the lack of progress with the state budget - and who that may benefit - with Aisha Dew from the progressive organization Higher Heights, and Becki Gray from the conservative John Locke Foundation. They also discuss Rep. Madison Cawthorn's latest inaccurate and inflammatory comments and whether a Texas-like abortion law could ever come to North Carolina.

Host Jeff Tiberii looks at how the General Assembly has done in the 2021 long session with longtime political reporter Colin Campbell, formerly with the News and Observer and The Insider, and now at BusinessNC Magazine.

Criminal justice legislation and a significant expansion of voting rights, for the time being. Those are just two of the topics that come up as host Jeff Tiberii is joined by Becki Gray from the conservative John Locke Foundation and Rob Schofield with the progressive NC Policy Watch.

Host Jeff Tiberii speaks with Jordan Wilkie, a reporter with Carolina Public Press who covers election integrity, open government, and civil liberties, about the legal ruling in the CSI v. Moore lawsuit that enfranchises tens of thousands of North Carolina citizens.

Host Jeff Tiberii looks at the week in North Carolina politics with Rob Schofield and Becki Gray.

Lawmakers came together to pass major spending proposals at the state and federal levels this week. New U.S. Census numbers confirm North Carolina's growing urban and suburban populations. And school districts around the state continue to waver on mandating masks in the classroom. Guest host Anita Rao gets analysis from Clark Reimer and Aisha Dew on some of the big political stories of the week.

Sample an episode of WUNC's new podcast CREEP, all about the creatures invading our state and region. Learn more at wunc.org/creep.

North Carolina's vaccination rate ticked up last week, but millions of the state's residents are still not vaccinated. WUNC's Dave DeWitt talks to Rose Hoban from North Carolina Health News about the doubts, the data and the Delta variant.

North Carolina's Republican-led legislature will soon start the decennial redistricting process. WUNC's politics reporter Rusty Jacobs looks at lessons learned from the past decade's legal battles over North Carolina's voting maps.

Parents across the country began receiving monthly payments from the federal government this week. Meanwhile, the North Carolina legislature considers legislation about critical race theory and medical marijuana. Host Jeff Tiberii reviews the week in politics with Mitch Kokai of the John Locke Foundation and Rob Schofield from NC Policy Watch.

Nikole Hannah-Jones' bombshell decision to reject UNC's offer of tenure makes it easy to draw some parallels between the journalist's very public fight with the university and another Black scholar who took the school to task for equitable treatment decades ago.

Reporter Rusty Jacobs speaks with two North Carolina lawmakers about controversial GOP-backed voting legislation.

Reporter Will Michaels interviews Jeff Tiberii about the state Senate's budget proposal and explains the many steps left in the budget reconciliation process.

Republican state senators passed three new measures along party lines that aim to change North Carolina election law. Meanwhile in the state house, a long-awaited 47-page energy bill made a controversial debut, and municipalities around the state celebrate Juneteenth for the first time against the backdrop of ongoing conversations about how to teach history in public schools.

Host Charlie-Shelton Ormond explores how a multimillion dollar jail expansion proposal in Haywood County is causing a rift within the community and raising questions about the importance of rehabilitation and the effectiveness of incarceration.

It is a busy week in North Carolina Politics. Former President Donald Trump headlines the NCGOP Convention in Greenville; there are new revelations in the Nikole Hannah-Jones saga; and at the General Assembly: the governor’s pick to oversee environmental issues was turned away as budget talks remain stalled. Host Jeff Tiberii talks with Rob Schofield of NC Policy Watch and Becki Gray of the John Locke Foundation about the state political stories of the week.