It's almost football time at Carolina. With the opening kickoff only a few days away, we're talking with Voice of the Tar Heels Jones Angell about his broadcast career and the upcoming football season, which begins Saturday evening against the University of Georgia.

Well Said: Jones Angell and Carolina football

Carolina’s classrooms are changing.

Professors Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy are transforming theirs to be more interactive and inclusive — an effort that has helped overcome achievement gaps.

This week, we’re talking about the teaching innovation with Hogan, a senior STEM lecturer and the director of instructional innovation at the College of Arts and Sciences, and Sathy, Special Projects Assistant to the Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and a senior lecturer in the department of Psychology and Neurosciences.

Well Said: Interactive and inclusive classrooms

As news organizations continue to pay closer attention to the bottom dollar of the business, the fate of local newspapers and community journalism hangs in the balance.

In this week's episode, Penny Muse Abernathy, the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the UNC School of Media and Journalism, discusses her recently released report “The Rise of a New Media Baron and the Emerging Threat of News Deserts," and how many communities could soon become "news deserts" by losing their of local news.

Well Said: News deserts

People are always trying to be more creative. But is it a learned trait or are some people just wired to be more creative than others?

In this week's episode, we talk about creativity and how people can hone the skill with R. Keith Sawyer, the Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations from the UNC School of Education.

Well Said: Creativity

Whether it's youth sports or the NFL, talk about concussions and their damaging effects has dominated the sports world for the past several years.

With fall sports gearing up in the coming weeks, we talk about concussions and managing them with Johna Register-Mihalik, an assistant professor of exercise and sports science with the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center and the Injury Prevention Research Center.

Well Said: Concussions

This week, Carolina will celebrate its 224th birthday at University Day.

In this week's episode, we look back on the founding of the University with Jim Leloudis, the Peter T. Grauer associate dean for Honors Carolina, a professor of history and the co-chair of the Chancellor's History Task Force.

Join Carolina in celebrating University Day on Oct. 12 at 11 a.m. in Memorial Hall. Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s 75th Governor, will deliver the keynote address.

Well Said: University Day

Throughout his three-decade career as a professional artist, Patrick Dougherty has designed and constructed more than 300 stickwork sculptures across the world.

Now, the world-renowned Carolina alumnus has brought his talents back to Chapel Hill with his recently finished "Step Right Up" sculpture, which will be on display outside the Ackland Art Museum for the next year.

In this week's episode, we talk with Doughtery about his artistic process and his most recent sculpture on Carolina's campus.

Well Said: Patrick Dougherty

With 1.1 million Americans already living with HIV and another 40,000 new cases every year, Carolina researchers have been working to hone treatments and find a cure for the virus for decades.

Through partnerships with pharmaceutical and collaborations with units across campus, the University's HIV researchers are getting closer to discovering a cure.

In this week's episode, we're talking about Carolina HIV research and the next step toward a cure with Nancie Archin, an assistant professor of medicine at the UNC School of Medicine.

Well Said: HIV research at Carolina

After a decorated career in Hollywood writing for “Carol & Company,” “JAG,” and “Bones,” Dana Coen came to Chapel Hill to teach the next generation of writers for television, film, stage and web.

As the director of the Writing for the Screen and Stage minor in the communication department, Coen inspires students to find their voices and compels them to say something meaningful in everything they write. One way he does that is a production called, “Long Story Shorts,” an annual festival of short plays written by students in the program.

In this week’s episode, we talk about how the writing for the screen and stage minor prepares Tar Heels for a career in Hollywood and briefly preview the upcoming Oscars with Coen, the director of the program.

Well Said: Carolina’s Writing for the Screen and Stage minor

In 1985, Carolina elected its first woman student body president, Patricia Wallace.

It was a campaign and election that paved the way for future student leaders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

But with unexpected media attention and naysayers, it wasn’t an easy path for Wallace.

In this week’s episode, we talk to Wallace about her legacy as the University’s first woman student body president, leadership styles and those who have inspired her.

Well Said: Patricia Wallace

John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Mitch Prinstein always found himself interested how popularity influence the way we see the world and have relationships with those around us.

On this episode of Well Said, Prinstein discusses his research and explains the different forms of popularity and why it doesn’t always pay to be the most popular.
Prinstein’s book, “Popular: Finding Happiness and Success in a World that Cares Too Much About the Wrong Kinds of Relationships” dives deeper into his research and was selected as the 2018 Summer Reading Program book for incoming first-year and transfer students.

Well Said: Mitch Prinstein and Popularity

Two Carolina journalism professors have set out to change the narrative around one of the most pressing global issues of our time: sex trafficking.
 
In today’s episode, we talk with Anne Johnston and Barbara Friedman about their organization, The Irina Project, and how they’re empowering journalists to report on human trafficking in a responsible and ethical way.
 
This episode features music by So Far As I Know (“The Conqueror”), Lee Rosevere (“Keeping Old Letters”) and Scott Holmes (“Epic Cinematic.”)

Well Said: The Irina Project

As part of her role in UNC Athletics, Rachel Manor works with student-athletes on a weight-neutral approach to food consumption, which she likes to call “fueling.”

She teaches students not about diets, but about intuitive eating  — the intentional body check-ins before eating a meal.

“I tend to steer people away from diets,” Manor explained. “Research has shown that not only do diets not work, but restrictive eating is actually harmful in the college population for individuals of all sizes.”

On this episode of Well Said, Manor discusses the benefits of intuitive eating and some strategies anyone can use to be more mindful to eat healthier and the right amount, leading to weight loss and a healthier mindset.

Well Said: An anti-diet approach to your resolution

As the son of Kenny Moore, founder of Hwy 55 Burgers and Fries, Andy Moore helped the national burger chain throughout his childhood and formative years. He had several responsibilities, including working behind the counter and at the grill.

After graduating from Duke University, however, Andy Moore applied for jobs outside of the restaurant industry, ultimately relocating from North Carolina to New York City.

“You know, after a couple of years I kind of  — not kind of I really did — miss the job,” Andy Moore explained. “I missed the people I had worked with, and I felt like I wanted to do something meaningful with my family's business. So I made a pretty tough decision to come back, but I don't regret it.”

Since returning to the restaurant chain in 2014, he has transitioned from his role as director of communications to area developer, focusing on expansion efforts in Texas, while also enrolled in the MBA@UNC program at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Not only is Andy Moore learning practical skills he can immediately implement at Hwy 55, but he also works with the school’s Family Enterprise Center, launched with the mission of preparing next-generation family business leaders through conferences, workshops and personalized resources.

On this episode of Well Said, he tells the story of Hwy 55, discusses the unique nature of a family business and explains his experience as an online MBA student at Carolina.

Well Said: Growing the family business

As a husband, father, faculty member and full-time student, Kessonga Giscombé is no stranger to stress, but he doesn’t let stress affect him by staying in the moment.

Specifically, he uses mindfulness, which he defines as paying attention to the present moment on purpose without judgment.

Giscombé, a faculty member in the UNC School of Medicine’s Program on Integrative Medicine, teaches mindfulness courses at Carolina designed to introduce people to the practice of mindfulness and to reinvigorate the practice of others. These courses are open to the public, and his next course for beginners starts Jan. 29.

On this week’s episode, we discuss mindfulness — what it is and what it isn’t — and the benefits that can come from its practice.

Well Said: Reducing stress through mindfulness

In the workplace, the terms “status” and “power” are often used interchangeably, but they're not really true synonyms.

“Status and power are both associated with hierarchy in groups and organizations,” said Alison Fragale, associate professor at UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business, “but they have different definitions. They are theoretically and conceptually different.”

According to Fragale, power is measured by the number of resources one controls — like the office budget. Status, on the other hand, is a measurement of how well-liked someone is. These two factors, when considered together, consequently cause people to stereotype their co-workers.

These stereotypes are hard enough for many to manage when a person holds a leadership role, but it's an especially difficult balance for women, Fragale said.

“Women are supposed to show up as high on the warm-cold dimension,” she explained, “and leaders are supposed to show up as high on the dominant dimension. That doesn't mean they can't be warm as well, but what ends up happening is if those stereotypes conflict. What I expect of a good leader is to be confident, assertive, ambitious and decisive. And what I expect of a good woman is to be other-oriented, nurturing, caring and kind.”

And when those stereotypes clash, it can create problems.

In this episode of Well Said, Fragale of UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business discusses stereotype conflict often found in the workplaces of female leaders, and how it can be managed.

Well Said: Status is in the eye of the beholder

With video streaming services such as Netflix becoming more and more popular, associate professors of economics Brian McManus and Jon Williams are researching the economic implications of these services and the impacts of net neutrality laws on consumers’ wallets.

The increase in Americans’ reliance on video streaming services has, according to McManus and Williams, also forced internet service providers to provide faster speeds, leaving cord-cutting consumers with internet and streaming services costs equaling their original cable bill. 

Despite the popularity of video streaming services in the United States, McManus and Williams explained that there is little research on the economic impact of this new trend.

On this episode of Well Said, McManus and Williams describe their preliminary research and explain other interesting hypotheses they plan to investigate.

Well Said: The economic impact of net neutrality

The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is underway in France, and the United States is looking to defend its title from 2015. With three World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals, the American team is certainly a dynasty in international women’s soccer.

The foundations for that dynasty were laid by Carolina’s legendary women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance, who coached the national team from 1986-1994 and led the United States to victory in the first Women’s World Cup in 1991.

Throughout that time, he was still coaching the Tar Heels, too. His Carolina team is another women’s soccer dynasty. More than half of the national titles awarded in women’s soccer history have been won by the Tar Heels.

On this week’s episode, Dorrance discusses how his two dynasties come together at the World Cup — when former Carolina student-athletes represent their countries on the world’s biggest stage. He also shares what excites him about this upcoming Carolina season, when the Tar Heels will return to Chapel Hill after playing their home games off campus for two years while a new stadium was under construction.

Well Said: Anson Dorrance’s dynasties

On Oct. 12, 1793, the cornerstone of Old East was laid, making Carolina the first public university in the nation. To mark that occasion and to celebrate Carolina’s future, we celebrate University Day on Oct. 12 every year.

“Our history as the nation’s first public university gives us a unique opportunity to celebrate what makes us uniquely Carolina,” said Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.

What makes Carolina unique is its commitment to serving the state of North Carolina, which is this year’s University Day theme.

“We’re celebrating the fact that we are passionately public, that we are the leading global public research university that has stayed true to its mission,” Guskiewicz said.

As a member of the faculty since 1995 and the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Exercise and Sport Science, Guskiewicz knows how fundamental serving the state is to Carolina’s identity. Before serving as interim chancellor, Guskiewicz led the Department of Exercise and Sport Science and was dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

What keeps him committed to Carolina is the faculty, staff and students who are devoted to serving our state.

“I stepped foot on this campus 24 years ago and felt something special. It just felt right, and it’s felt right for 24 years,” he said. “It comes back to the people and the mission.”

On this week’s episode, Guskiewicz explains what he thinks differentiates Carolina from its peers.

Well Said: Celebrating Carolina’s birthday with Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz

When you think of critical moments in American history, what do you think of? The Mayflower, the Declaration of Independence, Pearl Harbor?

This year is the 400th anniversary of another seminal moment in American history — when African slaves were first brought to an English-speaking colony in the Americas.

“This anniversary is an important moment to go back and interrogate the meanings in different ways, from different perspectives and with a new eye,” said Joseph Jordan, the director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History.


The Stone Center will investigate the meanings of this moment with its 1619 Collective Memory(ies) Project, which will feature a conversation among a panel of experts engaged with their audience.

“We want to have a multi-vocal conversation where different voices are able to talk about their interpretation of the events,” Jordan said. “It opens up so many possibilities for new discoveries.”

On this week’s episode, Jordan shares details behind the collective memories project, explains why it’s so important to remember this moment in American history and examines how this project fits in Carolina as a place for intellectual discoveries.

Well Said: The collective memories of 1619

Do you remember what the internet was like back in the early ‘90s? It wasn't at all like what it is now.

There were about 1,000 websites then. Today, there are more than a billion, and that's growing every second.

“The coming of the World Wide Web set a different expectation about how the internet would be used,” said Paul Jones, a clinical professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science.

The internet was initially mostly used to share files, like email, audio or software. Now, we use it for nearly everything, including streaming media. Jones was instrumental in creating the internet as we know it today.

Jones led a group of students to work with emerging technology and archive the digital world in 1994. The archive was called SunSITE, but is now known as ibiblio.org. One of those students was working as a student DJ at WXYC — Carolina’s student radio station — and asked a groundbreaking question, “Why can’t we broadcast the radio everywhere?”

That question led Jones and Michael Shoffner, the student DJ, to organize the first radio broadcast streamed over the internet on Nov. 7, 1994.

On this week’s episode, Jones and Shoffner, who is also a faculty member at the School of Information and Library Science, explain the challenges they had to overcome to make history.

Well Said: WXYC and the first internet simulcast

When Nikole Hannah-Jones ’03 (MA) was in high school, she became obsessed with one year: 1619 — the year African slaves were first transported to an English-speaking colony in the Americas.

As the 400th anniversary of that voyage was approaching, Hannah-Jones found herself at the New York Times Magazine, where she works as an investigative reporter. She pitched a project to re-examine the legacy of slavery in this country tied to that event.

“I feel like my whole career and, in some ways, my whole life was geared toward this moment,” said Hannah-Jones, who received her graduate degree from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

Her 1619 Project debuted in August with essays, poems, short fiction, a photo essay and an audio series, and they all work together to build a case that slavery is one of the foundational elements of the country’s development.

“We can’t understand why things are like they are in the country until we grapple with the fact that slavery is at our foundations,” she said.

Significant amounts of research, investigation and fact-checking went into this project, and Hannah-Jones learned those skills at Carolina.

“I think you see what I learned here in my work every day,” said Hannah-Jones, who was a Roy H. Park Fellow at the journalism school.

And she’ll be returning to Carolina on Nov. 16 to officially kick off a collaborative relationship between Carolina and the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a national organization she co-founded to train investigative journalists of color.

On this week’s episode, Hannah-Jones will explain how Carolina helped prepare her for that pivotal moment to lead the 1619 Project and why she’s returning to Carolina to train more journalists.

Well Said: Learning and teaching investigative reporting

It’s hard to describe a “typical” classroom experience at Carolina. From makerspaces to research labs, learning spaces are designed to provide hands-on experiences.

On this episode of Well Said, Katz shares what drew him to research and teach hip-hop and discusses the culture of DJing.

The room is decorated with graffiti Katz commissioned from alumni artists and filled with turntables, recorders and CD players for his Art and Culture of the DJ and Rap Lab classes.


On this episode, Katz shares what drew him to research and teach this hip-hop and discusses the culture of DJing.

Well Said: The art of hip-hop

What’s your favorite food?

How you answer that question probably isn’t only about how the food tastes but also the memories you associate with the food.

For Andrew Hardaway, a research assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine, his favorite food is mashed potatoes. Specifically, his mother’s mashed potatoes. He’ll make sure to go back for a second — or even a third — helping of them on Thanksgiving.

As a member of Thomas Kash’s lab, Hardaway researches how food interacts with the brain. He recently found that cells in the central amygdala — the area of the brain associated with memory, decision-making and emotional responses — drive the consumption of food after basic needs are met.

“At Thanksgiving, when you sit down and you think about your favorite food, think about how your amygdala is being activated in that moment,” Hardaway said.

It’s not something that most of us need to think about, but it’s crucial for helping treat people with binge eating disorders. In addition to eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time, binge eating is also associated with a loss of control. People with binge eating disorders cannot control their eating behavior, which can lead to other problems, like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular issues.

Although there are some treatments and medications available, understanding what’s going on in the brain can help treat people with binge eating and other food disorders.

“For those people, it’s very difficult to just flip a switch in their brain and change behaviors,” Hardaway said. “They need another tool in the toolbox, and that’s what we’re going to provide.”

On this week’s episode, Hardaway shares his favorite Thanksgiving traditions, defines comfort foods and explains the differences between binge eating and the overeating we all might do to celebrate the holiday.

Well Said: It's OK to have seconds

Everyone gets stressed. It’s a natural part of life. We all face many stressors every day.

Stressors can take many forms — jobs, relationships, children. For college students, final exams are one of the stressors they face throughout the semester. Final exams begin Dec. 6 at Carolina.

To appropriately deal with stress, Anthony Zannas said, you don’t want to avoid it.

“There are certain things in life that we have to come to terms with,” said Zannas, an assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine who studies how stress interacts with our bodies. “There are many studies showing that the more you avoid a stressful situation, the more stressful it will become when you actually face it.”

Zannas researches epigenetics and examines how stressors influence the chemicals on top of DNA that determine whether genes will be active or not. His research can help identify people with stress-related disorders earlier.

“If we can detect these epigenetic changes that happen in response to stress early on,” he said, “then we might have a chance of targeting those individuals earlier.”

On this week’s episode, Zannas explains the differences between good and bad stress and shares some tips on how we can better deal with the stressors we face every day.

Well Said: This is your brain on stress

More than 1,500 undergraduate, graduate and professional students turned their tassels to signify their graduation Sunday at Winter Commencement.

The celebration acknowledged more than just the students, as commencement speaker Bill Ferris reminded the graduates to consider the contributions they have received from friends and family.

“When you see a turtle sitting on a fence post, you know he had some help getting there,” said Ferris, a two-time Grammy Award-winner and beloved Carolina professor. “Each of us are like that turtle, and the families and special friends who helped us arrive at this place, we are celebrating today.”

Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz presided over the ceremony, which was his first as chancellor after he was named to the position Dec. 13. He called upon the words of Fred Rogers, who defined a hero as someone who responds to the needs of the world, to inspire the graduates to be heroes of whom their hometowns would be proud.

On this week’s episode, we share the excitement surrounding the Winter Commencement ceremony and the thoughtful advice graduates received.

Well Said: The sounds of Winter Commencement

Today is the first day of classes of the spring semester, but before we jump into all the excitement it has in store for campus, we are revisiting some of our top stories from this past fall — the Tar Heel Bus Tour and FallFest.

In October, Maria Estorino, the associate university librarian for special collections and director of Wilson Library, rode one of the three buses that together covered more than 1,600 miles across North Carolina. Jovan Sheshbaradaran is a first-year student from Gastonia, North Carolina, who began his time as a Tar Heel the same way as thousands of others — signing up for many Carolina student organizations at FallFest in August.

On this week’s episode, Estorino shares the new perspective participating in the Tar Heel Bus Tour gave her regarding her role at Wilson Library, and Sheshbaradaran reflects on his experiences from his first semester at Carolina.

Well Said: The fall season rewind

“It really does change your life and the trajectory that your life can take,” said Erin Hager, a senior psychology student from Wilmington who studied abroad in Santiago, Chile, for the fall semester in 2018.

Those changes in trajectory come from the personal and social growth you experience while abroad.

“A big realization was that I can do anything that I want to by myself,” she said. “That squashes a lot of fear because if you want to do something, you know you can do it by yourself.”

And those changes affect academic and professional opportunities, too, with study abroad participants traditionally doing better in the classroom, said Heather Ward, the associate dean of UNC Study Abroad and International Exchanges.

By 2023, Carolina wants more than half of its students to study abroad before graduation to give more students the opportunity to have those benefits.

“It’s our obligation as a public university to make that opportunity available for every student and to not make it a privilege for some,” Ward said.

Ahead of the Study Abroad Fair and the Feb. 10 application deadline for summer, fall and year-long programs, Hager shares what she learned in Chile and how those lessons shaped the rest of her Carolina career.

Well Said: Growing from study abroad experiences

Daniel Wallace wasn’t a voracious reader growing up.

“I was an average reader. I was an average writer. Nobody took me aside when I was a kid and said, ‘You’re one of the lucky ones, you’ve got that special spark,’” Wallace said.

But Wallace had that spark after all. Today, he is Carolina’s J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English and the director of the College of Arts and Sciences' creative writing program. He’s also the author of "Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions."

“All I wanted to do is a book,” Wallace said. “Once I got that published, or once I was told, ‘We are going to publish your book,’ I was so happy. I thought, and this is not an exaggeration, ‘I’m going to be happy forever.’”

At Carolina, he shares with his students what being a writer is really like.

“I feel like everything that I’m working on, when I’m working on it, is wonderful. It’s only the next day that I realize that it’s not,” Wallace said. “I have a lot of rejection. In other words, I understand the process.”

On this week’s episode, Wallace shares his writing journey from the beginning — the good, the bad and the creative.

Well Said: A profession of mythic proportions

Growing up, Lindsey James always loved solving problems and puzzles. She even majored in chemistry in college because it combines science with the problem-solving she liked about math.

James liked chemistry so much, she earned her doctoral degree in it from Carolina in 2010, and she’s been here ever since.

Now at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, her research into possible treatments for cancer, HIV and other diseases helps to add pieces to the puzzles of these diseases. In her lab, she creates molecules that target specific proteins that are believed to play roles in the development of those diseases.

In December 2019, Pinnacle Hill, the medical innovation investment partnership between Carolina and Deerfield Management Company, awarded James with funding to continue trying to develop better treatments for multiple myeloma, the second most prevalent blood cancer in the country.

“The Pinnacle Hill funding definitely takes everything to a new level,” James said.

This project is trying to create a compound that inhibits a specific protein that research literature suggests plays a significant role in the progression of a specific subtype of multiple myeloma. If she’s successful, James’ research will lead to greater understanding about the diseases and might lead to more effective treatments.

James knows that her success might reveal more problems about the disease that need solving, but that’s what she loves about her career.

“There’s a lot of failure, but then those successes are really rewarding,” James said. “You tackle it one day at a time and solve problems.”

On today’s episode, James explains how she tackles medical problems one day at a time and why she loves doing it at Carolina.

Well Said: Investigating potential cancer treatments

“Each day, each event measured in hours, minutes, seconds and then lost to eternity. A precious few are not. They linger, committed to memory, treasured. This rivalry is just that, timeless.”

Those are the words of Freddie Kiger ’74, ’77 (M.A.) describing Carolina’s rivalry with Duke. It’s a subject he knows well, having watched about 100 basketball games between them from courtside. While finalizing his master’s degree in history, Kiger began working with the men’s basketball team as a statistician.
The first time he worked a Carolina-Duke game in Chapel Hill was on March 2, 1974. That game featured a Carolina comeback from eight points down with only 17 seconds to play. Walter Davis made a buzzer-beater to send the game to overtime, which the Tar Heels then won comfortably.

“I thought Carmichael’s roof was going to collapse,” Kiger said.

On Saturday, as Carolina hosts Duke in the latest installment of the rivalry, Kiger will be at the scorer’s table relaying statistics to the television broadcasters. He’s worked with ESPN, CBS, NBC and other networks for major events like the Olympics and the X-Games, but nothing, he said, compares to a Carolina game against Duke because of the success of both men’s basketball programs.

“Let’s just talk NCAA titles,” Kiger said. “You’re talking about two schools eight miles apart who have won 11 national championships. That’s staggering.”

On this week’s episode, Kiger will share the stories he’s accumulated over nearly 50 years of being involved with Carolina basketball and what he’s learned along that journey.

Well Said: Sitting courtside with Freddie Kiger

Love songs have the power to define big moments in our lives.

“You have a proposal song or a wedding song or a prom song, and then people remember that moment and they remember that song,” Jocelyn Neal said.

The Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor of Music in the College of Arts & Sciences, Neal specializes in Southern music studies, but she said love songs fulfill the same purpose in all genres.

“They come in so many different layers,” she said. “There's been a number of people who've done great research on what songs are about, and without a doubt, three-quarters of songs in country music — and slightly higher in pop— are either about happy love or lost love, and that's the framing device.”

No matter what state of love someone might find themself in, there’s a song out there to express it.

On this week’s episode, Neal shares what makes a good love song.

Well Said: Falling in love with love songs

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Negro Leagues — professional baseball leagues comprised mostly of African American players. The leagues were created in 1920 as a response to non-white players being kept out of major league baseball.

“As long as there has been baseball, there have been African Americans playing baseball,” said Matthew Andrews, a teaching associate professor in the College of Arts & Sciences' history department. “But as baseball got organized, African Americans found themselves excluded from organized baseball.”

Andrews and other historians study the Negro Leagues using primary sources like newspapers, but a large portion of the leagues’ history is actually unknown.

On this week’s episode, Andrews shares the history of the Negro Leagues, tells some of the leagues’ stories that have survived the test of time and examines the true reasons that the leagues were created in the first place.

Well Said: Honoring the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues

There are 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week and 366 days in 2020.

“The Earth doesn't orbit the sun in exactly 365 days. There's a little bit extra,” said Jordan Sheely, a senior astrophysics major and science educator at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. “It's about .24 days, so just about a quarter of a day. Every year we're behind by just a little bit.”

That means people like Carolina sophomore Lauren Stiller only get to celebrate their true birthday every four years.

“Every year that passes is basically a fourth of a year for me,” Stiller said. “So, as a 19-year-old, I say, ‘I'm four and three fourths.’ So, I'll be turning 5 this year.”

On this week’s episode, hear about the little struggles and big celebrations that come with having a rare birthday and the science behind it, too.

Well Said: 2020's extra special day

Morganton, North Carolina, has historically been known for its strong manufacturing and textile industries, but those industries took a significant hit during the 2009 recession and companies moved much of their operations overseas. Unemployment in the town rocketed to 15%.

Carolina alumna Sara Chester '07 saw that critical time as a chance to reshape the city's economy and build a better future by encouraging businesses to plant their roots in Morganton.

She is now working to bring Morganton back to life as the co-executive director of the Industrial Commons, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing an inclusive economy throughout western North Carolina and creating a culture of dignity for manufacturing workers.

On this week's episode, Chester talks about how Industrial Commons is redefining Morganton and the industries it has relied on for decades by harnessing the power of local workers and small businesses.

Well Said: Revitalizing Morganton

From March Madness to Cuban relations, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill community is playing a role in some of the most important topics and issues making headlines around the world.

Join us every Wednesday for the UNC-Chapel Hill's “Well Said” podcast as we talk with Carolina’s newsmakers and experts. Each week, students, faculty, staff and alumni will discuss whats going on in classrooms, labs and around campus, and how it pertains to the local, national and international headlines.

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