April 2023

Putting It All On The Table

Courtesy of University of Georgia Press

A new book from Erica Abrams Locklear explores what “mountain food” and people really means.

The Short Track to the Governor’s Mansion

N.C. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson at his campaign kickoff event. (Cornell Watson for The Assembly)

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s official announcement that he’s entering the 2024 race at Ace Speedway was an appeal to a certain kind of nostalgia.

What is Blue Cross NC Up To?

The Blue Cross Blue Shield NC headquarters. (Photo by Rose Hoban)

Legislation under discussion would grant the nonprofit insurer broad leeway to operate like a for-profit. But what is Blue Cross NC really after?

Buzz Around the Beard Awards

Why everyone was so displeased with this year’s nominations for the James Beard Foundation Awards.

The Thrill of the Fossil Hunt

Members of the North Carolina Fossil Club at a quarry in Onslow County, N.C. (Courtesy of Linda McCall)

N.C.’s unique geography has made it a prime location for finding buried evidence of ancient life.

What’s Behind Tricia Cotham’s Democratic Divorce

Rep. Tricia Cotham at a press conference announcing her party switch in April 2023. (Kate Medley for The Assembly)

She says Democrats drove her away. Her former allies are puzzled—and say Cotham doesn’t seem to be the same person they knew before.

The skull, jaw and other bones of someone who donated their body to WCU’s forensic anthropology program sit on a metal tray in a lab after being cleaned by students on Feb. 7, 2023. (Julia Wall for The Assembly)

A Western Carolina research facility is teaching us new things about what happens to our bodies when we die.

Inside Raleigh’s Fake-Heroin Scandal

Illustration by Lily Qian, for The Assembly

Digging into more than 1,300 pages of testimony in Irving et. al v. City of Raleigh.

Every Apple Has Its Purpose

A Junaluska apple. (Photo courtesy Big Horse Creek Farm)

An emerging North Carolina orchard asserts the apple’s Cherokee past.

Rise of the ‘Street Kids’

Epiphanie Mujawimana (Bob Seligson for The Assembly)

How a North Carolina charity and a Rwandan woman created a new model of empowerment for orphaned children.

Month: April 2023