CarolinaCast

CarolinaCast: The ‘cultural currency’ of Taylor Swift

Time magazine has named Taylor Swift its “Person of the Year” for 2023, and the Washington Post and Research company QuestionPro found that she was responsible for nearly $4.6 billion in consumer spending in the U.S. But there’s more to Swift than her music. For some fans, she represents a new concept of modern femininity, in which women can talk about their emotions, wear glitter, be hurt by a breakup, and still be strong, financially literate, politically influential, and unapologetic about their accomplishments.

On this edition of CarolinaCast, Samatha Hoffman talks with Sierra Pfeifer about the Swift phenomenon.

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2023

CarolinaCast: The changing of the guard at the Stone Center, UNC’s hub for Black cultural expression

The Sonja Hayes Stone Center for Black Culture and History is UNC’s hub for Black issues and cultural expression on campus. The former director, Joseph Jordan, has now handed the role to Laronda Manigold Bryant.

Carolina Connection’s Denise Stroud talked with both Jordan and Bryant to discuss what the role means and what the future of the Stone Center looks like.

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2023

CarolinaCast: ‘We’re human beings’: Homeless Chapel Hill residents ask for kindness, respect

Since the early 1960s, the Inter-Faith Council has worked to provide food and supplies to struggling citizens in Chapel Hill and Orange County. Today that work continues, and it’s more necessary than ever as citizens grapple with economic issues stemming from the pandemic.

Carolina Connection’s Will Christensen went to the IFC SECU Community House Shelter to speak to some of these people and hear their stories.

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CarolinaCast

CarolinaCast: Recent initiatives aim to reduce inequality in Chapel Hill’s housing market

One of Chapel Hill’s most consistent problems is a lack of affordable housing for students and residents alike. But it’s not a new issue. In this edition of CarolinaCast, Will Christensen and Lorelai Sykes discuss the history of racial discrimination in the housing market and recent initiatives to make housing more inclusive in the area

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CarolinaCast

CarolinaCast: 25 years after it started, the Leandro education funding case awaits an N.C. Supreme Court decision

In 1997, the NC Supreme Court delivered a decision in the original Leandro case. The decision said that every North Carolinian has a constitutional right to a sound, basic education. More than 20 years later, the Leandro case was back before the N.C. Supreme Court this fall.

This time, the issue in the case is whether the judicial branch can force the Legislature to fund a plan that would seek to address inequity in public education funding.

In this edition of CarolinaCast, Walter Reinke discusses the case with William Christensen.