Amber Nimocks

In the pre-colonial era, vast forests of long leaf pines stretched along the eastern seaboard from what is today upstate New York as far south and west as east Texas. By the time Helen Boyd Dull came south to visit the North Carolina Sandhills in the early 1900s, millions of acres of long leafs had fallen to logging or been gutted to make tar and turpentine. At her urging, Helen Boyd Dull's father preserved a stand of these old trees that became known as Weymouth Woods in Southern Pines, NC. Historian and artist Ray Owen has created an homage to Helen Boyd Dull and the trees she saved in a new performance piece called "Bleeding Pines of Turpentine." Owen and choirmaster Rod Brower of the Together-N-Unity Choir join host Frank Stasio to talk about the story of the long leaf pine and telling it through music, dance and spoken word.

Stephanie Tyson left her hometown of Winston-Salem, NC as a young woman with her sights set on Broadway. She didn't make it big on the Great White Way, but in recent years she has gained national renown - as a chef and restaurateur. Tyson and her partner Vivian Joiner are the women behind Sweet Potatoes, a Southern-food restaurant that has helped shore up revitalization efforts in downtown Winston-Salem. Tyson joins host Frank Stasio to talk about starting a restaurant, her journey back home and her new cookbook "Well, Shut My Mouth! The Sweet Potatoes Restaurant Cookbook" (John F. Blair Publisher/2011).

For most of the 20th century, the small, northeastern North Carolina town of Murfreesboro was the basket-making capital of the world. The Riverside Basket Company employed 600 people, loaned its employees money to buy homes and even issued its own currency. Historian and educator Frank Stephenson has cataloged the history of Murfreesboro's basket-making heyday in his newest book. It is the 25th book he has written about northeastern North Carolina. He joins host Frank Stasio to talk about the past and present of the region that he calls home.

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.

It’s been more than 50 years since Wanda Jackson first tore the paint off the walls with her signature rockabilly tune, “Let’s Have a Party,” and she’s still rockin’ today. These days, she’s getting some help from producer Jack White. Host Frank Stasio talks to Wanda Jackson about her rockabilly sound and her musical staying power.

Most Biblical scholars recognize that many books of the Bible were not written by the authors commonly attributed to them. But academics often excuse this because they believe writing in the name of another was a commonly accepted practice in the ancient world. In his latest book, "Forged" (HarperOne Publishers/2011), Bart D. Ehrman argues that forgery was not sanctioned in the ancient world. What does this mean for our understanding of the Bible as a historical document and a theological text? Host Frank Stasio talks with Ehrman, head of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about the authors of the New Testament.

Steve Stoute has been in the middle of the hip-hop revolution since the early days, first as a music producer and promoter, then as a million-dollar marketer. He founded his own company, Translation, which has brokered deals between uber-corporations and megastars like Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and Justin Timberlake. In a new book, "The Tanning of America" (Gotham/2011), Stoute reflects on the power of hip-hop culture to transform not just what we buy and sell but how we see one another. Host Frank Stasio talks with Stoute in advance of his appearance on Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal's webcast “Left of Black” tonight at the John Hope Franklin Center in Durham.

Lucy Daniels has spent years exploring the connection between mental trauma and artistic creativity. She is a writer, a psychologist and the founder of two non-profit groups. The Lucy Daniels Foundation fosters emotional and creative freedom through psychoanalytic treatment. The Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood promotes the emotional development of young children. In a new documentary, "Breakthrough," Daniels and seven other artists recount their stories of finding freedom and artistic power through psychoanalysis. Host Frank Stasio talks with Daniels about the film and her story.

A study by the Pew Research Center reveals that marriage has increasingly become a privilege of the well-off and highly educated. The study also found that fewer Americans are choosing to get married and that they are waiting longer before they tie the knot.

North Carolina's Department of Environment and Natural Resources has begun collecting opinions from the public on the subject of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The process is used to extract natural gas from shale, and geologists have determined that large deposits of natural gas reside in the shale of central North Carolina, especially in Lee, Chatham and Moore counties. The North Carolina General Assembly is considering changes to the laws that govern fracking in the state.