Isaac-Davy Aronson

Hope talks about her efforts with host Frank Stasio, and performs some of her original songs, along with Mary Johnson Rockers and Will Ridenour.

Federal regulators are investigating the Shearon Harris nuclear plant near Raleigh. They want to know how a flaw in the reactor vessel went undetected or unreported for over a year. News & Observer reporter John Murawski fills in host Frank Stasio on the latest.

After spending some time on instrumental projects, Triangle music scene fixture Ryan Gustafson decided it was time to write lyrics again.  His latest project is The Dead Tongues, which released an album earlier this year. 

  The Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina has been collecting the stories of the state's Jews for years. Now, those recorded interviews are part of an original musical composition - "Down Home: The Cantata."

When Katie Ricks became the Associate Pastor of the Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill last year, she was the first openly lesbian pastor in the country ordained by the Presbyterian Church. 

Two public hearings are scheduled this week in the ongoing fight over whether Alcoa should be allowed to continue operating dams on the Yadkin River. 

The hydroelectric dams are about 60 miles south of the Triad, and they powered Alcoa’s aluminum plant in Badin for decades. The factory is now closed, but Alcoa is seeking another 50-year federal license to operate the dams and sell the electricity on the open market.

During the Great Depression, the New Deal funded a project to collect the narratives of former slaves.  Sarah Gudger came forward to give an account of her life as a slave in Buncombe County.  Her testimony was the same brutal story that is familiar to many of us.  She described a “hard life” of nothing but “work, work, work,” under the threat of abuse. 

The United States has for centuries been a nation of multiculturality, with many cultures and communities existing within it, but not necessarily integrated. Many scholars say that the way to true peace is through interculturality, where cultures are educated about other culture through methods like language, arts and education.

As Washington debates immigration reform, more and more undocumented young people are coming out of the shadows.  One local group is engaging their struggle with their identities through art.

Guest host Isaac-Davy Aronson speaks with artist Annabel Manning about her exhibition, now on view at Duke University. She is also joined by one of the undocumented young artists, Marco Cervantes, and by Jose Torres-Don, a member of the advocacy group NC Dream Team.

North Carolina companies are in the midst of a sustainable energy boom. Solar farms have bloomed, wind farms could be on their way, and local entrepreneurs are experimenting with biofuels and solar power. But cheap natural gas and new legislation could slow sustainable energy growth.

Experts are discussing these advancements at the North Carolina Department of Commerce's 10th Annual Sustainable Energy Conference in Raleigh today. Keynote speaker Marilyn Brown is a professor from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She said today on The State of Things that many people are looking to fracking for natural gas to solve our energy needs.