Archives of State of Things' broadcasts prior to May 22, 2006 can be found at our old archive site. Archives after May 22, 2006 are below. Recent stories are also available as a podcast . Our audio archives are also available as a RSS feed:

N.C.’s Probation Violations

Thursday, August 28 2008 by Eric Hodge and Katy Barron | Send to a friend

Two new reports on the state’s probation system reveal a department in disarray. Cases slip through the cracks, officers are overloaded with work and there are huge communication gaps between adult and juvenile law enforcement agencies. Probation department officials admit even they are shocked by how bad it is. But the new reports simply repeat findings from a similar report completed four years ago. So what will it take to finally start fixing the problems that everyone knows exist? News and Observer reporter Joseph Neff joins guest host Eric Hodge to discuss the probation system and public safety.

Lights...Camera...Orgeron!

Thursday, August 28 2008 by Eric Hodge and Lindsay Thomas | Send to a friend

"Movie Night" means something completely different in the Orgeron household.  Devin and Marsha Orgeron are film scholars, authors, and professors at North Carolina State University.  Their shared passion for the silver screen shows up in their work (both have books on the film industry that were recently published), their community involvement (organizing activities like Home Movie Day in Raleigh), and their home life (nothing like a healthy debate about "The Big Lebowski" with your spouse).  The couple join guest host Eric Hodge to talk about their complementary careers and ideas about some of the great films of the past.

Age & Alcohol

Wednesday, August 27 2008 by Daniel Zola, Eric Hodge, Katy Barron, and Susan Davis | Send to a friend

cover of "Binge"

Last week's proposal from the Amethyst Initiative, an organization of college presidents and administrators, to lower the national minimum drinking age from 21 to 18 has revived the debate over whether or not an age of responsibility exists.  The group suggests that a reduced drinking age will help combat problems like binge drinking on college campuses, but opponents of the proposal are criticizing the initiative's argument for exaggerating potential effects of changing the law. 

Guest host Eric Hodge discusses the issue with: Tom Szigethy, Duke University associate dean and director of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Center; Robb Foss, director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center; Georgia Ringle, Health and Substance Abuse Educator at Davidson College; Barrett Seaman, author of "Binge: What Your College Student Won't Tell You" (Wiley/2006); and Mike Males, principal investigator, Youth Facts.org.  Listener Call-in/E-mail.

Gunning for Games

Tuesday, August 26 2008 by Daniel Zola, Eric Hodge, and Katy Barron | Send to a friend

Wake County wants to become the East Coast hub of the video game industry. But a recent legislative attempt to gain state economic incentives for the industry failed miserably. Wayne Watkins, project manager for Wake County Economic Development, and Mike Capps, president of Epic Games, join guest host Eric Hodge to discuss the Triangle’s burgeoning video game industry and its role in the new economy.

Winning Isn’t Everything

Tuesday, August 26 2008 by Daniel Zola and Eric Hodge | Send to a friend

The UNC Women’s Soccer team is one of the most successful teams in all of college sports, winning 19 of their past 26 national championships. Soccer legend Cindy Parlow and UNC-Chapel Hill Documentary Professor Hap Kindem stop by to preview Hap’s new documentary: “Winning Isn’t Everything,” an inside look at 2007 season and the team’s attempt to uphold an NCAA dynasty.

Playing for Keeps

Tuesday, August 26 2008 by Katy Barron and Eric Hodge | Send to a friend

A rag-tag team of B-list superfriends populate Durham author and podcaster Mur Lafferty’s new book, “Playing for Keeps” (Swarm Press/2008).  Keepsie can’t be stolen from; Peter can find out your secrets by sniffing you; Patricia can sober you up with a wave of her hand; Michelle can’t drop a loaded bar tray; and Jason has total control over…elevators. But the friends soon discover their powers are more useful than they thought. Mur Lafferty joins guest host Eric Hodge to discuss her novel, our cultural obsession with superheroes, and her extraordinary success as a podiobook publisher. 

Meet Glenda Gilmore

Monday, August 25 2008 by Frank Stasio and Lindsay Thomas | Send to a friend

www.yale.edu

Glenda Gilmore grew up in Greensboro during the Civil Rights movement. But her wake-up call about race in America didn’t come until much later in her life. She was teaching American History in a predominantly black classroom when she realized  she was the one who needed an education-- everything she thought she knew was colored by white supremacy. Host Frank Stasio speaks to Glenda about her North Carolina roots and her current career researching gender and race in the American South as the Peter V. and C. Vann Woodward Professor of History at Yale University.