The Charlotte Ledger Podcast

Charlotte has a new mayor at a pivotal moment. The city is closing in on 1 million residents, wrestling with questions about growth, affordability and transportation, and navigating political divisions over how to shape its future.  Just days after taking the oath of office, Mayor Rob Harrington sat down with The Charlotte Ledger's Ashley Fahey to talk about how he plans to lead through those chal...

Charlotte's political landscape is shifting. Mayor Vi Lyles is preparing to leave office after nearly nine years, a new mayor is stepping in and City Council is wrestling with some of the biggest issues the city has faced in years — from I-77 toll lanes and airport negotiations to data centers and the future direction of city government. On this week's Charlotte Ledger Podcast episode, Tony Mecia...

The Charlotte region adds roughly 150 new residents every day, but beyond the statistic are thousands of individual stories about why people choose to make the region home. In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, Ashley Fahey talks with Charlotte filmmaker and videographer Duvale Murchison about his new micro-documentary series, "150+ A Day: Everybody's Moving to Charlotte." Inspired by t...

Kristen Wile has spent more than a decade documenting Charlotte’s restaurant scene, and in that time she’s watched the city transform from a place searching for its culinary identity into one drawing national attention. Michelin stars, Top Chef contestants and James Beard semifinalists may dominate the headlines today, but Wile argues Charlotte’s rise didn’t happen overnight. Instead, it’s the res...

Charlotte’s growth has made it one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. But what does the city look like through the eyes of the developers betting millions of dollars on its future? In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, The Ledger's managing editor Ashley Fahey sits down with two industry leaders helping shape Charlotte’s next chapter: Adam McMichael of Republic Developme...

May was one of the busiest months Charlotte has seen in recent memory. Mayor Vi Lyles announced her resignation, city leaders reversed course on the controversial I-77 toll lane expansion, data centers sparked heated debate at City Hall and the region continued grappling with a months-long drought.  In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, Ledger editors Tony Mecia, Ashley Fahey and Lindse...

After losing her 2-year-old son Mitchell to leukemia, Meg McElwain found herself navigating unimaginable grief while also trying to help her surviving son process the trauma that had reshaped their family. What began as a donor-advised fund supporting other pediatric cancer families eventually evolved into Mitchell's House — now the first nonprofit counseling center in the country focused specific...

Charlotte’s restaurant scene has changed dramatically over the past two decades, and few people have helped shape it more than Jamie Brown. Alongside her husband, Jeff Tonidandel, Brown has built some of the city’s most recognizable restaurants — from Growler’s Pourhouse and Haberdish to Supperland, Ever Andalo and Leluia Hall — while also helping define what Charlotte’s food culture can become. I...

The Levine Museum of the New South is preparing for a major new chapter — one that museum leaders hope will help redefine how Charlotte engages with history, community and public conversation. After years without a permanent home, the museum plans to relocate to a new South End campus that blends modern design with the preservation of a historic church site, while expanding its role as both a cult...

Applying to college has always been stressful, but for today’s students and families, the process can feel more overwhelming than ever. Acceptance rates are shrinking, expectations are shifting and the pressure to stand out — academically and personally — starts earlier than many realize. For parents in Charlotte and beyond, it can be hard to know when to step in, when to step back and how to help...

Charlotte didn’t become the city it is today by accident — and many of the forces that shaped its neighborhoods, growth patterns and economic divides are still at play. From the rise of streetcar suburbs to the legacy of segregation written into deeds, the city’s past continues to influence everything from where people live to why housing has become so difficult to afford. In this episode of The C...

Charlotte’s brief run as a music festival city hit pause this year, raising bigger questions about what it takes to sustain live music at scale. After two years of big crowds, major headliners and a sense that Charlotte had finally “arrived” as a festival destination, Lovin' Life Music Fest abruptly went quiet — leaving fans, artists and industry watchers wondering what went wrong and whether it c...

Charlotte is growing fast — adding jobs, people and new development at a dizzying pace — but for all its momentum, the city still struggles to answer a basic question: what, exactly, is Charlotte? In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, Steve Dunn talks with Michael Graff, founder of The Charlotte Optimist, about the city’s evolving identity and whether it even needs one. Their conversati...

Charlotte landed one of its biggest job announcements in years this week, with Japanese banking giant Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) planning a major hub that could bring up to 2,000 jobs . It’s a significant win not just for the sheer number of jobs, but for what it signals: Charlotte continues to draw global financial firms looking for talent, lower costs and room to grow. The deal a...

Charlotte Ballet is entering a new chapter under artistic director Alejandro Cerrudo, a dancer and choreographer whose career has taken him from Madrid to Germany, the Netherlands, Chicago and now Charlotte. As the city continues to define itself culturally, Cerrudo sees ballet not as a relic of the past, but as a living, evolving art form — one that can surprise people, move them and help shape C...

Longtime state Senate leader Phil Berger — one of the most powerful figures in Raleigh for more than a decade — lost his primary by just 23 votes. In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, editor Tony Mecia sits down with former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory to unpack one of the most surprising political upsets in recent memory. McCrory walks through how it happened, from local backlash o...

As thousands of people move to the region each year, the gap between housing supply and affordability continues to widen, leaving many working families priced out of homeownership.  In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, Ledger managing editor Ashley Fahey talks with Laura Belcher, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte region, about how the organization is evolving t...

For many people, personal finance feels overwhelming until life forces the issue — a first 401(k), a divorce, a diagnosis, retirement or the sudden realization that no one ever really taught them how money works. In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, that uncertainty is at the center of the conversation: how people build financial confidence, why so many avoid planning and what changes...

The weather forecast has never been more precise — or more distrusted. In an era of viral storm posts, default phone apps and nonstop social media chatter, even a mostly accurate forecast can feel like a failure if the worst-case scenario doesn’t come true. For meteorologists, the job is no longer just predicting what the atmosphere might do. It’s also pushing back against hype, calming nerves and...

Interstate 77 has been one of Charlotte’s most frustrating stretches of pavement for years. Now, as state leaders move closer to widening that corridor with new toll lanes, a fresh political battle has erupted — not just over tolls, but over what the expansion would mean for neighborhoods already divided by the highway decades ago. In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, Ledger editor Ton...

In this live video chat recorded Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, Charlotte Ledger reporters discuss some of their coverage from the week: * American Airlines and Charlotte’s airport work toward a new lease that could shape the future of the airport and the airline * Development moratoriums are popping up in the Charlotte region, as communities outside Charlotte contend with rapid growth * High school and c...

Sam Hart didn’t grow up in the kitchen. Fast food and corporate dining were more familiar than family recipes. But a broke stretch in Utah turned cooking into a daily necessity — then into an obsession. In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, host Steve Dunn sits down with Hart, creator of Counter- and founder of Irreverently Refined Hospitality Group , to talk about how a sketchbook idea...

In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger podcast, Ledger editor Tony Mecia talks with Sucharita Kodali, executive director of The Election Hub, about the Republican ballot in Mecklenburg County. The primary election is March 3, 2026. Early voting runs through Feb. 28, 2026 . Registered Republicans and unaffiliated voters can cast ballots in the Republican primary, which features races for U.S. Sena...

In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger podcast, Ledger editor Tony Mecia talks with Sucharita Kodali, executive director of The Election Hub, about the Democratic ballot in Mecklenburg County. The primary election is March 3, 2026. Early voting runs through Feb. 28, 2026 . Registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters can cast ballots in the Democratic primary, which features races for U.S. Senate...

Economics can sound like a subject you suffered through once and never wanted to revisit — but Michael Blanco , president of the Charlotte Economics Club , argues it’s actually the stuff people talk about every day: jobs, housing, inflation, interest rates, tariffs, AI, and where the economy is headed. In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, Tony Mecia sits down with Blanco to talk about...