WUNC State of Things - North Carolina Public Radio

Kevin Maurer, the local news editor for the Wilmington Star-News embedded with the Green Beret and walked away with a book, “Gentlemen Bastards: On the Ground in Afghanistan with America's Elite Special Forces” (Berkley Hardcover/2012).

Duke graduate student, Angela Mace solves the mystery of Mendelssohn’s “Easter” sonata.

A two-year Department of Justice investigation has concluded that the Alamance County Sheriff, Terry Johnson, and his department have been carrying on a routine of discrimination against Latinos.

Joseph Bathanti is North Carolina's newest poet laureate.

Nathan Kotecki's first young adult novel is haunted by the moody alternative rock of the 1980s which haunted his own youth.

Gary Kueber went to medical school and became a doctor in Durham, but being an M.D. wasn’t enough for him. He also had a passion for architecture and turned it into his blog, Endangered Durham.

Classically trained cellist-turned jazz vocalist Shana Tucker joins us for a live performance.

With films like “Coffy” and “Foxy Brown,” actress Pamela Suzette Grier introduced a new character, the black heroine, to mainstream movie audiences.

Writer Sam Greenlee’s controversial 1969 novel “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” told the story of Freeman, an African-American man with CIA training, a militant spirit and a seething anger at America’s racial and social injustices.

A new study shows that with the right prompting, people can be led to forgo their selfish desires in favor of leaving an altruistic legacy.

Photographer Kevin Kunishi documents the aftermath of Nicaragua's decade-long civil war in his new book “Los Restos de la Revolución."

Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" launched the environmental movement and changed the way we think about man-made chemicals.

Many professional storytellers travel, working the festival circuit. Donald Davis is on the road 42 weekends this year, entertaining audiences with tales about identity, spirituality and everyday life.

"You Wouldn't Expect," a play by Marilynn Anselmi, addresses the violent history of eugenics in North Carolina.

Wage theft has been called "America's silent crime wave." It’s when businesses steal from their employees through a variety of unconscionable methods.