The Hometown Holler

The Hometown Holler
  • 4.9 (72)
  • Politics
  • Updated Daily

North Carolina's Front Porch

  1. 8h ago

    More Than Puppets: The Magic of Paperhand w/Donovan Zimmerman

    We sit down with Donovan Zimmerman, co-founder of North Carolina’s Paperhand Puppet Project, to talk giant puppets, art, community, and the strange kind of magic that happens when thousands of people gather together to experience something handmade.Donovan takes us inside the world of Paperhand—from discovering the magic of art as a teenager to building one of North Carolina’s most unique cultural institutions and the community that has grown around Paperhand over the past 26 years.Plus, we get a look at the 2026 production, "The Wild Wisdom of the World," complete with elemental dragons, giant creatures, original music, and a story about change, connection, and our relationship with the natural world.If you've ever seen Paperhand Puppet Project perform at the Forest Theatre in Chapel Hill or wondered what the hell those giant puppets are this one's for you.Join the Holler:Patreon: patreon.com/c/TheHometownHollerSubstack: substack.com/@thehometownhollerWebsite: www.thehometownholler.com

  2. Aug 10

    The Future of American Politics Runs Through the South

    People are moving here. Money is moving here. Culture is coming from here. And more and more, the biggest political fights in the country are playing out right here in our backyard.Jennifer Palmieri and Errin Haines hit the road across the South for Crooked Media's new series Long Play and naturally, they had to make a stop in North Carolina.They join us to talk about what they found here: why NC stays so close every election, what our massive unaffiliated vote actually means, the growing frustration over affordability, gerrymandering, rural Democrats, voting rights, and the question we seem to ask every election cycle:Is this finally the year North Carolina flips?Join the Holler:Patreon: patreon.com/c/TheHometownHollerSubstack: substack.com/@thehometownhollerWebsite: www.thehometownholler.com

  3. Aug 3

    Can Democrats Finally Flip NC? We asked NC's Top Political Strategist

    Political strategist Morgan Jackson on Mark Robinson's collapse, Trump's inroads with NC Democrats, and how it feels to watch a campaign come back from the dead. If you want to understand North Carolina politics, you gotta talk to Morgan Jackson. For nearly three decades, he's been behind some of the state's biggest political wins, including Roy Cooper's historic 2016 upset (the first defeat of a sitting NC governor), Cooper's 2020 re-election, and Josh Stein's landslide win in 2024. Co-founder of Nexus Strategies, Jackson now serves as chief political advisor to both Governor Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson, and he's a go-to source for outlets like the New York Times and Politico. He joins the Holler to explain how Mark Robinson's campaign imploded on its own words, why lifelong Democrats are voting for Trump, and what it actually takes to pull a campaign back from the dead.Join the Holler Here!

  4. Jul 27

    Sun Drop, Hurricanes, & Dominoes w/ Roy Cooper

    Round 2 with Roy Cooper! We sat down with the Former Governor and US Senate Candidate to crack a cold Sun Drop and find out what he's hearing across North Carolina on his "Make Stuff Cost Less" Tour. Along the way, we discuss why everything is so expensive now, what Medicaid cuts mean for NC families, whether members of Congress should be trading stocks, and who his favorite Hurricanes player is.Join the Holler Today!PatreonSubstackWebsite

  5. Jul 13

    She Beat Breast Cancer & Phil Berger

    Sheila Mikhail did everything right. She stayed healthy, saw her doctor regularly, and got her annual mammograms at Duke Cancer Center. Despite all of it, her breast cancer went undetected for seven years. The culprit: dense breast tissue, a common condition that can cause mammograms to miss up to half of all tumors. Now cancer-free, Sheila is on a mission to ensure all North Carolinians have access to the screening that could have caught her cancer years earlier. Having built a billion-dollar biotech company, she joins the Holler to share how she turned personal tragedy into a political fight and why she took on North Carolina's most powerful politician to win it. Join the Holler today and help us build a better North Carolina, one conversation at a time.

  6. Jul 6

    The Fourth Branch: How States Quietly Run America

    Why does one seat in the North Carolina State Senate matter more than almost anything happening in Washington? Daniel Squadron joins the Hometown Holler to make the case that state legislatures—not Congress, not the White House—are where American politics is actually decided. A former New York State Senator who took on a 30-year incumbent and won, Daniel went on to co-found The States Project, the only national organization hyper-focused on state legislative power, which helped break North Carolina's GOP supermajority in 2024. His new book, The Fourth Branch: How State Government Can Save Our Union, argues that marriage equality, the fight over the 2020 election, minimum wage, healthcare, and even January 6th were really state stories all along. We talk about the ALEC-written bill behind Trayvon Martin's death, the Michigan legislative leaders who held the line against Trump before January 6th ever happened, why "states' rights" got hijacked as conservative code, and what it actually means to answer the question "who am I and why am I here" in politics. Plus: Knicks talk, Duke's mayonnaise, and the McRib as a case study in political philosophy.https://www.patreon.com/c/thehometownholler/membership

  7. Jun 29

    Inside The Psychedelic Therapy Debate w/ Gina Giorgio Founder, Carolinas for Care

    Psychedelics have gone from a symbol of the hippie counterculture to a serious conversation in state legislatures and medical research labs.This week on The Hometown Holler, the Fellas chat with, Gina Giorgio founder of Carolinas for Care, about the growing movement behind psychedelic-assisted therapy, North Carolina's bipartisan HEAL Act, the mental health crisis facing veterans, and what the science actually says about treatments like psilocybin and MDMA.Whether you're skeptical or curious, this is a conversation worth having.Become a sustainer today!Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/thehometownholler/membershipSubstack: https://substack.com/@thehometownhollerWebsite: https://www.thehometownholler.com/

  8. Jun 22

    Why North Carolina Is Dead Last for Workers

    What does it mean to be the best state for business... and the worst state for workers? Quinn and Daniel sit down with Nikki Marín Baena, co-founder of Siembra NC, to talk about wage theft, workers' rights, immigration, and the growing movement to build a North Carolina that works for ordinary people. From helping workers recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen wages to organizing communities across the state, Nikki is on the front lines of the fight for working people in North Carolina. Learn more about Siembra NC at www.siembranc.org

See All (108)

4.9
out of 5
72 Ratings

About

North Carolina's Front Porch

Information

  • Creator
    The Hometown Holler
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    108
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Hometown Holler
  • Show Website
    The Hometown Holler