The State of Things

Augie Turak is a successful businessman with two software companies under his belt. For the past 17 years, he’s studied the business strategies of a group of Trappist Monks living in South Carolina.

His new book about them is called, “Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO’s Quest for Meaning and Authenticity” (Columbia Business School Publishing/2013). Host Frank Stasio talks to him about what he learned.

The late ‘80s and early ‘90s were a good time for funny television. The Kids In The Hall sketch comedy show took to the airwaves and amused a generation of viewers with their unique brand of sketch comedy.

Kevin McDonald was one of the founders, and he’s going to be at Dirty South Improv in Carrboro this weekend to teach a class on sketch comedy.

The latest research suggests that for veterans, social support is just as important as medical care.

Host Frank Stasio talks with UNC Chapel Hill Associate Professor of Psychiatry Eric Elbogen, about his study showing that vets lacking social and financial stability are more likely to engage in violent behavior than those with posttraumatic stress disorder. Joining the conversation are Pete Tillman, public affairs officer for the Durham VA Medical Center, and Jason Hansman of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have been waiting months - sometimes years - for their disability claims to be processed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Recently, piled up claims threatened to buckle the floor at the Winston-Salem office. 

Rucho resigned his co-chairmanship of the finance committee in protest of Berger's plan, which passed the Senate Thursday.

Regardless of what ultimately passes, Jessica Jones, WUNC Capitol Bureau Chief, said on the State of Things that the implications could be far reaching.

Jeanne Jolly visited our studio a year ago in the early stages of working on her album, “Angels.” Now, she is back in the midst of a national tour promoting her album.

  Forty years ago, the controversial supreme court decision Roe Versus Wade ushered in a new era of reproductive rights and touched off a culture war that has waged ever since.

South Carolina lawyer Jon Buchan is fond of saying that all journalists and attorneys have at least one good novel in them. He's been mulling his for years, but he's finally finished and published it. "Code of the Forest" tells the story of a scrappy newspaper, trying to survive an onslaught by a senator determined to silence it. It examines the subtle underpinnings of corruption.

Buchan says that corruption, as he portrays it in his book, is a much more subtle form of influence. One that might infect a politician before they realize it's too late.