Duke Podcast Show

Good morning, This is Summer and I will be sitting in for Duke this week.  Today’s story takes us into the tall grass and fence lines of the countryside, where a small brown bird with a big reputation makes its mark — the cowbird. Now, the cowbird might not look like much — dark plumage on the males, soft brown on the females — but behind those calm eyes is one of nature’s most cunning survival st...

Here's something wild - Americans now drink more bottled water than soda, spending billions on something that literally flows from their taps for pennies. How did we get here? That's such a fascinating shift in consumer behavior, especially considering bottled water has only dominated the market since 2016. The numbers are pretty staggering. Well, let me take you back to where this all sta...

Here's something wild - back in 1993, streaming just 10 minutes of audio over the internet took longer than actually listening to it. Now we stream crystal-clear audio to billions of devices instantly. The transformation of internet radio might be one of the most underappreciated tech revolutions of our time. You know what's fascinating about those early days? The technical requirements we...

The North Carolina housing market just did something unprecedented - homes that used to sell in hours are now sitting for weeks, and it's completely transforming how 11 million residents think about buying and selling property. Well, let me paint the picture of what we're seeing. The urban centers like Charlotte and Raleigh are still holding strong because of their tech and banking sectors...

Artificial intelligence isn't just changing how we work, it's fundamentally transforming what it means to be human. Recent studies show AI is already making 68% of the decisions we encounter in our daily lives, from traffic routes to medical diagnoses. 72% of people said they were initially worried about AI in their workplace, but after six months of using it, that number dropped to just 3...

Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to the Afternoon Ride with Duke — where we celebrate Carolina stories that took off, from dirt-road dreams to household names. I’m your host, Duke Tyner, and today we’re talkin’ about a business that started with a biscuit and built a Southern empire. Yep — I’m talkin’ about Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ’n Biscuits. It all started right here in Charlotte, North Caro...

Here's something that might surprise you - during the Great Depression, when most businesses were failing, a woman with just a wooden cart and a hand-cranked ice cream churner built what would become a $50 million Southern ice cream empire. That's such an incredible story about Violet's Ice Cream. You know what fascinates me most? How she started in 1935 using only wild mountain bluebe...

Two men, James Maynard and William F. Carl , had a simple idea: afamily restaurant that offered affordable, all-you-can-eat comfort food with Southern hospitality baked right in. They opened that first Golden Corral Steakhouse & Grill on BraggBoulevard , and before long, folks were drivin’ from all over just to fill aplate with steak, rolls, and mashed potatoes that tasted like home. By the 19...

You know what fascinates me about Southern cuisine? The way a simple ball of fried cornmeal became not just food, but a cultural touchstone that tells the story of American ingenuity and resourcefulness. That's such an interesting way to look at hush puppies. Most people just see them as a side dish, but they really do carry centuries of history in every bite. The story goes back to the early...

Carolina soul for generations — barbecue sauce. But not just any sauce. We’re talkin’ about North Carolina originals that have gone fromsmall-town pits to grocery store shelves across America… and even overseas. So roll down that window, breathe in that imaginary smoke, and let’s ridethrough the story of Carolina Gold. Here in North Carolina, sauce isn’t just a condiment — it’s a birthright. From...

Here's something that might surprise you - North Carolina's barbecue sauce traditions have sparked more heated debates than college basketball, with a billion-dollar market that's literally divided the state in half for nearly a century. That's fascinating - and you know what makes it even more interesting? These sauces aren't just condiments, they're actually time capsules...

Here's something that might surprise you - there's a 180-year-old product sitting in 95% of American homes right now, and it all started with a baker and a doctor who saw potential in a simple white powder. That's fascinating about Arm & Hammer! You know, I always wondered how a box of baking soda became such a household staple. Well, it's quite a story. Back in the 1840s, John Dwight and his...

Our story starts with Harland Sanders , born way back in 1890 in Henryville, Indiana. He wasn’t born a colonel — that title came later. He tried his hand at a littlebit of everything: farmhand, streetcar conductor, insurance salesman, even agas-station operator. But during the Great Depression, while running a small service station in Corbin, Kentucky , Sanders started cooking meals for hungry tra...

The pretzel’s roots go way, way back — to around the 6th or 7thcentury, deep in Europe. Most historians believe monks in Southern Germany or Northern Italy first bakedthem. They say a monk twisted leftover dough into the shape of a child’s folded arms— a symbol of prayer. He baked it, sprinkled a little salt, and called it “pretiola,” whichmeans “little reward” in Latin. So those early pretzels we...

Hey folks, welcome back to The Duke Teynor Podcast — where we dig intothe stories that flavor America, one bite or beat at a time.  I am Summer and I will be sitting in for Duke until tomorrow. Now, I don’t know about you, but if you put a bowl of potato chips in front ofme… I’m probably not stoppin’ until the bottom of the bowl shows up. Salty,crunchy, and downright addictive — they’ve become Ame...

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to the Duke Teynor Podcast . Today,we’re firing up the pit, stoking the coals, and taking a long, slow walkthrough one of the South’s most beloved traditions — barbecue. Not just food…but history, culture, and pride on a plate. Now, when I say barbecue , I’m not talkin’ about just throwin’ burgers ona grill. No, sir. I’m talkin’ about low and slow. Wood smoke, spice...

Cheerwine was born right here in North Carolina, back in 1917 , inthe small town of Salisbury. The story goes that L.D. Peeler, who was running abottling company, got hold of a new cherry-flavored syrup recipe at the heightof World War I. Sugar was in short supply, but Peeler managed to make it work,blending that syrup with carbonation and creating a soda that stood out fromanything else on the ma...

The concept of car service dining really took off in the 1920s. Automobiles were booming, roads were expanding, and people wanted quick,convenient meals without having to step out of their shiny new cars. The firstreal drive-in is credited to a chain called Kirby’s Pig Stand , foundedin Dallas, Texas, in 1921. Picture it: waiters, known as carhops ,rushing out to cars with trays of fried pork sand...

Today we’re diving into the fascinating history of one of the world’smost recognizable drinks: Pepsi . From its humble beginnings in a smallpharmacy in North Carolina, all the way to becoming a global brand, this is thestory of how Pepsi went from local soda to worldwide icon. It all started in 1893, when a pharmacist named Caleb Bradham inNew Bern, North Carolina, created a refreshing, sweet carb...

Root beer - that sweet, foamy drink we all know and love. But what if I told you this American icon actually started as an indigenous medicine thousands of years before it hit the soda fountain? That's such a fascinating origin story - the way these traditional Native American medicinal brews eventually transformed into something completely different. You know what really gets me? The sophisti...

Here's something that might surprise you - the billion-dollar breakfast empire we know today started because someone literally forgot about a pot of boiled wheat. The story of corn flakes is actually a tale of accidental innovation that changed how the entire world eats breakfast. Well that makes sense when you think about it - America was becoming more urban, people were busier, and suddenly...

Here's something that might surprise you - Americans consume over 150 million hot dogs on July 4th alone, enough to stretch from LA to DC five times over. And that's just one day in our national love affair with this iconic food. That's such a mind-blowing statistic! And what's even more fascinating is that this quintessentially American food actually started as an immigrant story....

Music shapes every aspect of our lives, but here's something wild - scientists discovered that just 15 minutes of the right music can alter your brain chemistry as much as some prescription medications. Let's dive into how these invisible soundtracks are literally rewiring our minds. That's such a fascinating comparison because most people think of music as just entertainment, but the...

Well, research suggests three key factors: maintaining genuine human connections, engaging in creative activities, and practicing mindful presence. It's interesting that these align perfectly with traditional folk wisdom about keeping your soul "bright. That makes me think about how many of our modern conveniences might actually be making it easier to become hollow. You know, that's a...

Have you ever looked into someone's eyes and felt like nobody was home? Today we're exploring a chilling phenomenon from the American South about "soul-less" humans – and it's not what you might expect. That's such an unsettling concept. What exactly do they mean by soul-less humans? Well, we're not talking about supernatural creatures or horror movie monsters. These...