North Carolina Rabbit Hole

Just after the Civil War, a soldier casually took North Carolina's copy of a priceless founding document. A century later, the feds set up a sting operation to recover it. Here's a true story involving a fake tech millionaire, the Antiques Roadshow, and vanilla milkshakes from Cook Out. Music in this episode: " Not Those Kind of People " by Bombadil Additional music: Blue Dot Sessions Special Than...

The Carolina Hurricanes just became NHL champions for the first time in 20 years, and during that run a lot of people noticed something unusual on their road uniforms: A cartoony, college-style pig on the shoulder. Today, we take a closer look at the long journey of a logo from the mind of an art teacher in South Dakota all the way to the Stanley Cup champions. Special thanks to Ross Hettinger, Da...

Is it real? Does it work? Is it safe? Was it hard to make? Why would anyone build one? Why is he selling it and trying to get a broken chainsaw in return? And, is this a singular piece of American ingenuity or is there an underground community of file cabinet smokers that I had never heard of before now? The seller, and an expert, tell us everything.  Special thanks to Tyius McKinney and Dana Hans...

Mike Smith's journey took him from a string of medical clinics to the music industry and, then, to a federal crime. In this episode, Wired senior writer Kate Knibbs joins Jeremy Markovich to talk about how a man from suburban Charlotte was able to make millions of dollars from music streaming services, and how his collaborator figured out something was fishy. Read Kate's original story at Wired: h...

How did a long-dead pizza restaurant give birth to not one but two beloved breakfast chains? Here's the overlap between Biscuitville and Tudor's Biscuit World, with a possible connection to Mayberry. Read the original story: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/west-virginias-most-legendary-biscuit-conceived-in-north-carolina-tudors-biscuitville Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newslett...

Koch grew up in Jacksonville, went to high school in Durham, got three degrees from NC State, and is now going to be the first woman to orbit the moon. Here's the long road that led her there. Produced by Jeremy Markovich & James Mieczkowski Some audio provided by: Houston, We Have A Podcast . Music in this episode: Closing Song: Dream Big, by Beau James (Greensboro) Special Thanks: NASA-TV This e...

Jeremy Markovich and journalist Ben McNeely investigate Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson's brutal mispronunciation of "Raleigh," and play a game in which we award points based on how badly people are butchering the names of places of North Carolina. Conetoe! Ahoskie! Cherryville! Do you know how to say them? Maybe? Find this story (and more like it) by subscribing to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole Newslet...

Generations ago, leaders thought local elections should be protected from state and national issues. We're still dealing with the effects of that thinking today. Find this story (and more like it) by subscribing to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole Newsletter: ncrabbithole.com  

The North Carolina Rabbit Hole's Jeremy Markovich and Outer Banks journalist Sam Walker talk about the collapses of oceanfront homes on the Outer Banks over the last month. What caused them? Why is this happening now? Why don't people just tear then down first? Who cleans them up? Read more from Sam Walker at samwalkerobxnews.com Get more perspective from Joy Crist at the Island Free Press at isla...

On September 11, 2001, Brett Sheats was a recent graduate from Wake Forest, had just been commissioned into the Army, and was working in the campus ROTC office. On that day, he heard someone say a single sentence that was "the most incredible thing I have ever heard a human being say." Later, in Afghanistan, he'd put that sentence, and the story that went with it, to good use. In this episode, Bre...

Recently, a lawyer dangled a baggie of cannibis in front of the North Carolina Supreme Court and dared the cops in the room to arrested him. So, how did he get away with it, and why did he do it? Today, a story about the smell of weed, the state of pot in North Carolina, and why so many products somehow are able to him that they'll get you high, legally. This episode is also available on the North...

UNC and Bowling Green are polar opposites, yet they both share a weird fight song. Why? Blame a man who the CIA drugged with LSD, wrote lots of erotic novels, and sang a song that makes no sense. This episode is based on a story from the North Carolina Rabbit Hole titled " Sex, Drugs, and Ay Ziggy Zoomba ," and was recorded on the Ovies & Giglio Podcast on September 11, 2025. Learn more about the...

In this episode, Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper joins Jeremy Markovich to talk about the things that drive the political scene in our state, why candidates do the things they do, and how the Roy Cooper of the past made things tougher for the Roy Cooper of the present. Read more at ncrabbithole.com . Check out Chris's new book, " Anatomy of a Purple State " Rea...

Once you've seen one broken-down junker with a white rag in the window, you start seeing them everywhere. Is this just a North Carolina thing? What's it supposed to mean? Why do so many people do it? And, if so many people are doing the same thing, then where did the idea come from? Reporter Jeremy Markovich investigates to get to the bottom of an old piece of highway folklore. Read more and see p...

MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) has more than 300 million total subscribers on YouTube and some of his videos have more viewers than the Super Bowl. He's opened restaurants. He's launched his own food company called Feastables. The MrBeast logo is now on the jerseys of the Charlotte Hornets. Also, MrBeast is 25-years-old. This multi-million dollar YouTube media empire? It's based in Greenville, Nort...

A sixth-grade student from the Raleigh area drew a boy riding a unicorn. It's now the official "I Voted Early" sticker for the Wake County Board of Elections. In this episode, artist Shannon Fisher explains some of the details and the background behind a sticker that's turning heads at polling places around Raleigh and beyond. See the sticker and read more about it: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/...

In this episode, host Jeremy Markovich and ESPN senior writer Ryan McGee talk about beer, old school racing, a man named Dick Trickle, and a quiet trick to to help you navigate a boisterous social situation. Read Jeremy's 2013 SB Nation story about Dick Trickle: " Elegy of a Race Car Driver " Subscribe to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter at ncrabbithole.com . Special thanks to Kenny Walla...

In this special holiday episode, host Jeremy Markovich meets the man from Gastonia who became the world's largest manufacturer of Christmas ornaments and used his power to make North Carolina more tolerant of all religions. This episode was originally released in 2018 and was adapted from: " The Unlikely Ornament King of Gastonia " which appeared in Our State  magazine's December 2016 issue. Addit...

North Wilkesboro Speedway is hosting the NASCAR All-Star Race, a quarter century after its last major event. Why did it sit empty for so long? And how did it finally reopen? In this episode, host Jeremy Markovich takes a look back as a historic place now looks toward a new future. More Reading: " Ghosts of North Wilkesboro " (2015) - SB Nation " The Inside Story of How a Dead NASCAR Track Finally...

Shortly after I moved to Charlotte in 2005, I became a Carolina Panthers fan because it was much better than being a fan of the Cleveland Browns. A few years later, I became the producer of the Panthers postgame show on a local television station. A few years after  that , the production moved from the station to the stadium. It was there that I first heard a piece of information that I hadn't act...

After 2 1/2 years, host Jeremy Markovich is breaking his silence to explain, well, where he's been all this time, why you haven't heard any new episodes since then, and what happens now. Read more here about the immediate plans for Away Message and its new home at the North Carolina Rabbit Hole .

In the season finale, our hikers reach the Outer Banks of North Carolina and end of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Now, more than a year later, we see where they've ended up and how the trip has affected their lives.

As our Mountains-to-Sea Trail thru-hikers approach the end, one final challenge remains: A kayak trip down two of North Carolina's most well-known waterways. All will have to grapple with problems that could potentially stop them from reaching their final destination.

In this bonus episode, host Jeremy Markovich talks with long-time hiking guide Jennifer Pharr Davis about how anyone can prepare for and pull off a trip on a trail, from day-trippers to thru-hikers on North Carolina's Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Read Davis's story about hiking the Appalachian Trail from the October 2015 issue of Our State magazine. Read more about her 2017 hike of the Mountains-to-Sea...

In this episode, we travel to Roseboro, a small eastern North Carolina town that sits on the route of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail but doesn't actually have any good places to hike. Yet. We also meet the trail angels that hikers depend on to get to the end, and talk to a woman who's attempting to finish the MST in just 30 days. Find out more about Tara Dower's attempt to beat the fastest known time...