N.C. Culture News and In-Depth Reporting

‘Hot Mess Express’ Transforms Lives—One Swiffer at a Time

Katie Hill reacts to her freshly cleaned and organized home, thanks to the Hot Mess Express. (Carolyn de Berry for The Assembly)

What began as a small group of Triad women cleaning strangers’ homes for free has become a national movement.

Beaufort County health inspector Vera McConnell on the job. (Photo by Jimmy Ryals)

As counties struggle to hire and retain health inspectors, lawmakers, regulators, and scientists look to ease caseloads and develop new talent.

"Did Duke Win?" uses a famously simple style to update fans on men's basketball results. (Illustration by Matt Hartman for The Assembly)

The untold story of how a Duke student accidentally made UNC-Chapel Hill basketball fans’ favorite website.

Dried okra pods at the Princeton Seed Farm. (Photos courtesy of Tessa Desmond)

Okra seeds yield a liquid comparable to extra-virgin olive oil, but the crop isn’t ready for commercial production.

Children take pictures with Santa Claus, played by Stafford Braxton, CEO of Santas Just Like Me. (Cornell Watson for The Assembly)

For 12 years, a Raleigh man has been making Black Santas a holiday tradition.

Chapel Hill's Southern Season store decorated for the 2014 holiday season. (Credit Mx. Granger via Wikimedia Commons)

It’s been nearly five years since the demise of the beloved food emporium. Many who loved it still wonder what went wrong.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski speaks at a news conference in April 2022. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A new book offers the ultimate insider’s view of Duke’s success, but is just as noteworthy for what it leaves out.

Some of Lenny Widawski's recovered belongings. (Allison Joyce for The Assembly)

Nearly three months after Hurricane Helene, Yancey County musician Lenny Widawski remains one of the few whose bodies have not been found.

A sign for one of the Men's Night Out establishments. (Bryan Regan for The Assembly)

Men’s Night Out, a party oasis built by hand on the Tar River, has bonded a generation of men. Can it survive in the 21st century?

Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton, a moonshiner from Maggie Valley. (Photos by Neal Hutcheson)

Fifteen years after the death of a tradition-bearer, an unlikely folk hero emerges in the Carolina mountains.