The story of the Civil Rights activists known as Freedom Riders is well-known. But the Freedom Riders’ nonviolent efforts to integrate interstate bus transportation in the era of lawful racial segregation were inspired by the Journey of Reconciliation, a two-week bus trip across the Jim Crow South in 1947. The Journey of Reconciliation was taken by 16 men – eight black, eight white – and the riders were arrested many times, including in Chapel Hill, NC where they were sentenced to serve on a chain gang. Derek Catsam, an associate professor of history at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, joins host Frank Stasio to talk about the legacy of the Journey of Reconciliation and what happened when their bus rolled through the Tar Heel State.

Pittsboro writer Ashley Memory never thought she had the endurance to complete a novel, but her dad’s encouragement changed all that. Seeing all the other novels out in the market, he told Memory that she could do it too. Her debut novel, "Naked and Hungry" (Ingalls Publishing Group/2011) features a protagonist who is a lot like her father. It’s the story of a man down on his luck who takes on big business when it tries to pollute the small town he loves. Host Frank Stasio talks to Memory about her debut novel, "Naked and Hungry."

The latest numbers show an increase in unemployment across the state.  But private sector jobs are growing and SAS is an example of that growth. 

At the bottom of Beaufort Inlet sits an eight-foot cannon that once fired from the decks of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. It’s been there since the ship sank in 1718, and the famous pirate Blackbeard was captured. A crew of archaeologists heads out to bring the cannon to the surface today. Mark Wilde-Ramsing is the director of the Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck project and an underwater archaeologist with the state. He joined WUNC's Eric Hodge to talk about the project.

Researchers at N.C. State are working with Cumberland County Schools in an effort to improve education among foster children. The university's Department of Social Work says it will examine issues that might interrupt the learning process such as frequently switching schools. Dr. Joan Pennell is a professor of social work at N.C. State and the program's principal investigator.

Firefighters in Durham will now be equipped to save more lives when they're called to rescue families from burning homes and apartments. Many survivors emerge distraught to find little can be done for their pets because of severe smoke inhalation. But now, every one of Durham's 16 fire stations will have kits containing oxygen masks to help resuscitate man's best friends.

In High Point the twice-annual furniture market is bringing business as well as back-ups to the Triad.

Earlier this year IMC (International Market Centers) purchased about 1 billion dollars of showroom space in High Point. The company now has 11.5 million square feet of exhibition space in High Point and Las Vegas, offering a bridge between two markets that have competed against each other in recent years. Tom Conley is the new President and CEO of the High Point Market Authority. He says the influence of IMC makes the market stronger.

In 1989, soldier Timothy Hennis walked out of a North Carolina courtroom a free man, acquitted of the gruesome murders of Kathryn Eastburn and her two young daughters in Fayetteville in 1986. It was the second time he had been tried for the crimes. Jurors in the first trial found him guilty, but the N.C. Supreme Court overturned the verdict. The story of his 1989 acquittal prompted a book and a TV movie in the 1990s. Then, last year, Hennis faced charges for the Eastburn murders a third time. In that case, a military jury convicted him based on newly discovered DNA evidence.

John Jeremiah Sullivan is a journalist, but not the kind who gathers the facts. His long form magazine pieces start with his personal obsessions and branch out from there. He has covered Michael Jackson, Axl Rose, post-Katrina New Orleans and his own house in Wilmington, North Carolina, which served a location for the popular teen TV melodrama "One Tree Hill." Sullivan’s work has been collected in a new book called "Pulphead" (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux/2011) and he joins host Frank Stasio today to talk music, television and other high parts of middle brow culture.

The publication of Anita Hill's new book, “Reimagining Equality,” has refocused the media spotlight on the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that took place on the floor of the U.S. Senate 20 years ago. In 1991, Hill, a former attorney-adviser to Thomas, publicly alleged that the judge sexually harassed her on many occasions during their time working together.