Baskets of Plenty

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.