The State of Things

  In North Carolina, when you purchase a handgun, your gun permit goes into the state's public records. Recently, however, Republican lawmakers have sponsored a bill that would remove this information from public access. Today on The State of Things we speak with local experts about the struggle between the first and second amendment.

The Americana music of The Gravy Boys hit the scene about eight years ago. They’re now three albums in and expanding their acoustic sound. Their newest album is called Crackerjack Whistle, and they’ll be playing in Raleigh tomorrow night.

  Out of the varied horrors of the Holocaust, a body of literature survives.  The most famous voice belongs to Anne Frank.  At 15-years-old, she wrote, “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.”  It's hard to believe that anyone, even a child, can be so big-hearted. 

Less well-known is the voice of an adult woman, Etty Hillesum.  And her writing is finally getting its day in the sun.

  The Hofmann Forest is referred to as the "crown jewel" of forestry research in North Carolina, and it’s one of the main educational sites for forestry students.

Baby boomers are coming of retirement age at a rapid pace. The ordinary path forward would be golf, retirement homes and taking it easy, but Bolton Anthony, founder of Chapel Hill non-profit Second Journey, wants to change that conception of old age. He wants the hippies of the ‘60s to become the idealists of the new millennium. Host Frank Stasio talks to Bolton Anthony about his ideas for changing retirement.

An increasing number of families each year in the United States decide to have home births. But in North Carolina, having a home birth conducted by a single Certified Professional Midwife is illegal.

Republican Senators are seeking to decriminalize Certified Professional Midwife practices as well as build a licensing process for midwives.They've recently introduced the Home Birth Freedom Act and a move to decriminalize direct entry midwifery.The bills have received a lot of criticism for allowing midwives without nursing credentials to practice independently. WUNC's Capitol Bureau Chief, Jessica Jones, joins Host Frank Stasio to discuss the perspectives surrounding Senate Bills 106 and 017.

When we talk about terrorism we usually think of drones, suicide bombers or some other kind of technological weaponry, but its roots go back much further.

  The nation’s wealth is now concentrated in so few hands, the wealth gap growing so fast, that even its most ardent defenders question whether our current form of corporate capitalism can survive. Gar Alperovitz is looking for the next American Revolution. He is a professor of political Economy at the University of Maryland and author of the book, “What Then Must We Do: Straight Talk about the Next American Revolution” (Chelsea Green/2013). Host Frank Stasio talks to him about what can be done to save capitalism.

As more domestic law enforcement agencies acquire drones, concerns are increasing about how the unmanned aerial vehicles will be used and regulated.

  Medgar Evers’s assassination was a spark that motivated social activists and inspired writers, poets and journalists. Artists like Bob Dylan, Eudora Welty and James Baldwin have contributed to the collective memory of Evers through their own works.

Minrose Gwin, professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, talks to host Frank Stasio about her new book, “Remembering Medgar Evers” (University of Georgia Press/2013).