Due South

“Due South” is WUNC News’ weekday current affairs radio program and podcast. Broadcast from the American Tobacco Historic District in downtown Durham, co-hosts Leoneda Inge and Jeff Tiberii put life in the Triangle region into perspective and present a unique sense of place.   From interviews with state lawmakers and local luminaries to Friday news roundups with statewide journalists, “Due South” puts current events into context and offers audiences a greater sense of connection. Each hour-long show sparks deeper conversation and understanding of life in and beyond the Triangle.

  1. 2D AGO

    Epstein’s connections to NC and higher ed. Plus, how natural disasters are contributing to a growing mold problem.

    0:01:00 The fallout from Epstein’s connections in Higher EducationConvicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to a Duke professor, and other fallout from the latest release of files by the Department of Justice.  Leoneda Inge speaks with a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Emmy Martin, reporting intern at The Chronicle of Higher Education, previously Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Tar Heel during the 2023-24 academic year. Read Martin's article "'A Moment of Reckoning’: After Epstein, Higher Ed Faces Hard Questions About Its Proximity to Power" here. 0:13:00 Climate change, natural disasters, and a growing mold problem in Western NCHumidity and heat in the South are creating another housing problem: mold.  Multidisciplinary researchers at Duke University are collaborating to understand mold’s impact on human health. Two reporters in Asheville have been studying the phenomenon, and how mold is a growing problem. Their article for Grist is titled "A hotter, wetter South is becoming a breeding ground for mold." Asiya Gusa, microbiologist, Duke Climate and Fungi Research Group (CLIF) Laura Hackett, Helene Recovery Reporter at Blue Ridge Public Radio Katie Myers, reports on climate change in Appalachia through a partnership between Grist and Blue Ridge Public Radio 0:33:00 Local music roundup with NC music journalistsWhat critics are saying about Fayetteville native J. Cole’s newest album “The Fall-Off."  Plus, whether the Triangle’s biggest music festivals will even happen this year, and the state of North Carolina music. Due South's Leoneda Inge speaks with a panel of NC music journalists. Brian Burns, Music Reporter WUNC News Ryan Cocca, Founder and Editor of Super Empty, a North Carolina hip-hop outlet Mir.I.Am, founder of Carolina Waves, a multiplatform outlet about North Carolina music, and the host of the platform’s weekly radio show on K97.5

    50 min
  2. 5D AGO

    Michael Regan rebuilt EPA with an eye toward environmental justice. Now, he's watching those efforts get knocked down.

    0:01:00 Michael Regan rebuilt the U.S. EPA with an eye toward environmental justice. Now, he’s watching those efforts get knocked down.Former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and North Carolina native Michael Regan started his career at the agency, eventually led North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality, and returned to the EPA for the top job during the Biden administration. Regan joined Due South's Leoneda Inge in our Durham studio for a wide-ranging conversation about his career, his enduring connection to North Carolina's environmental justice movement, and the impact of politics on environmental policy. This Due South encore conversation originally aired January 13, 2026. Michael S. Regan, Former Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 0:33:00 The Broadside: The forgotten heroes of Pea Island When disaster strikes in the water, we turn to the U.S. Coast Guard. Today, it’s renowned for its fast-moving cutters, skilled helicopter pilots, and daring rescue divers. But 150 years ago, the Coast Guard's predecessor, the U.S. Life-Saving Service, was in total disarray and in desperate need of reform. In North Carolina's treacherous Outer Banks, an extraordinary group of Black men answered the call and saved hundreds of lives against all odds. Brad Campbell, writer for Our State Magazine Joan Collins, Director of Outreach and Education for the Pea Island Preservation Society This episode of The Broadside was hosted by Anisa Khalifa and produced by Jerad Walker.

    50 min
  3. FEB 26

    Meet the Mayors: Leonardo Williams on Durham gun violence, goals for his second term, and his path to politics

    0:01:00 Meet the Mayors: Durham's Leonardo WilliamsLeonardo Williams has been Durham’s mayor since 2023. Before that, he was on the City Council from 2021 through his election as mayor.  Williams shares his criticisms of decisions by the City Council to end programs he says would help curb gun violence, including using a technology called ShotSpotter, and his vision of what would help. A string of shootings killing children and other Durham residents led Williams to publicly address gun violence. On Feb. 20, he held a news conference to discuss the shootings, and a partnership between the city and the Violence Reduction Center at the University of Maryland. Durham announced the partnership in 2025. Leonardo “Leo” Williams, Mayor of Durham since 2023, and a member of the City Council since 2021. Before that, he was a teacher at Durham Public Schools, and he is a restaurant co-owner with his wife Zweli Williams. 0:33:00 An ancestor’s coded journals led a NC author on a path to understand himselfJeremy Jones found the encrypted journals of his great, great, great, great grandfather, William Thomas Prestwood. After sharing some salacious stories with relatives, he dug into the journals and learned some previously unknown secrets about his ancestors. Jeremy Jones, author of the memoir Cipher: Decoding My Ancestor’s Scandalous Secret Diaries and a professor of English Studies at Western Carolina University

    50 min
  4. FEB 25

    UNC professor on measles, public health, and being fired from CDC vaccine committee

    0:01:00 UNC professor on measles, public health, and being fired from CDC vaccine committeeHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired UNC professor Noel Brewer and the 16 other members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices last year. Brewer talks about vaccine policy now and his concerns over the future of public health. Noel Brewer, PhD., Gillings Distinguished Professor in Public Health and Professor of Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Related: Guidance on measles from NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) NC dashboard on measles cases from NCDHHS 0:33:00 Durham architect Zena Howard on the Smithsonian museum she helped design — and its moment in the political spotlightThe 2025 White House Executive Order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” cites content from the National Museum of African American History and Culture as an example of “divisive, race-centered ideology” at the Smithsonian. The museum has deep ties to Durham, where the late Phil Freelon, the museum’s architect of record, built his career. Architect Zena Howard worked with Freelon for many years and was senior project manager for building the museum. Howard joins Due South’s Leoneda Inge to reflect on the impact of the museum and the challenges that many public spaces focused on history face today. (This Due South encore edition originally aired April 22, 2025.) Zena Howard, Principal and Global Cultural and Civic Practice Chair, Perkins&Will

    50 min
4.7
out of 5
31 Ratings

About

“Due South” is WUNC News’ weekday current affairs radio program and podcast. Broadcast from the American Tobacco Historic District in downtown Durham, co-hosts Leoneda Inge and Jeff Tiberii put life in the Triangle region into perspective and present a unique sense of place.   From interviews with state lawmakers and local luminaries to Friday news roundups with statewide journalists, “Due South” puts current events into context and offers audiences a greater sense of connection. Each hour-long show sparks deeper conversation and understanding of life in and beyond the Triangle.

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