Under the Dome

In the first episode of this special Under the Dome series, we explore the rules of redistricting – the drawing of new electoral maps. Those rules often conflict, and that friction is a prime reason why North Carolina sits center stage during battles over gerrymandering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NC Insider editor Brian Murphy and state politics reporter Dawn Vaughan preview this week in North Carolina politics, with predictions of when the budget may be finalized, if marijuana legislation will pass and what's next for redistricting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State politics reporter Will Doran talks with education reporter T. Keung Hui about Congressman Madison Cawthorn's visits to school board meetings and the heated debate about whether to require masks in schools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Week Ahead for Sept. 13, 2021, The News & Observer's Dawn Vaughan tells you about the three big things to pay attention to in North Carolina politics this week: redistricting public hearings, vaccination and mask mandate decisions made at the local level, and our perennial favorite: the state budget process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State politics reporter Lucille Sherman talks with Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper about whether North Carolina's state legislature should get a pay raise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What kind of ripple effects do we expect the Texas abortion case to have here in North Carolina? How can the public get involved in redistricting? And what’s next in the voting rights court case we’ve been following?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Under the Dome Look Ahead episode for Aug. 30, reporters Danielle Battaglia and Dawn Vaughan discuss where things stand in NCGA budget negotiations and touch on other legislative topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NC Insider editor Brian Murphy and News & Observer reporter Virginia Bridges discuss her reporting about North Carolina's lowest-in-the-nation age for having young children appear in court and state lawmakers' attempts to raise the age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State politics reporter Will Doran gives us a preview of what's happening in North Carolina politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State politics reporter Lucille Sherman talks with NC state Rep. Grier Martin and Afghanistan veteran, a Democrat from Wake County, about the Taliban's takeover of the country following President Joe Biden's ending the U.S.'s military involvement in Afghanistan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State politics reporter Dawn Vaughan and outgoing NC Insider Editor Colin Campbell give us a preview of what's happening in North Carolina politics, including but not limited to: budget talks, a confirmation for Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper's second appointee for DEQ secretary and a bill, sponsored by House Speaker Tim Moore, that would harshen penalties for rioters. Learn more about your ad choices....

Visitors to North Carolina's 1960s-era Legislative Building often get lost and comment on the unusual architecture. Host Colin Campbell talks with Gerry Cohen, a retired legislative attorney who worked there for nearly four decades, about how the building was built and how it's changed over time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Under the Dome Look Ahead episode for Aug. 9, host Danielle Battaglia discusses what's on deck at the North Carolina legislature for the week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

News & Observer reporter Brian Murphy talks to state Sen. Natalie Murdock, D-Durham, about a recent rally in Washington, DC, where she and other state lawmakers pressured the U.S. Senate to address voting rights legislation before they leave town for August recess. The two also discuss proposed legislation in North Carolina, as well as the 2022 U.S. Senate race in the state.  Learn more about your...

In this Under the Dome Look Ahead episode for Aug. 2, host Dawn Vaughan tells you about what the August budget process could look like as well as things to watch this week on Critical Race Theory, high school sports and potential legislation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State politics reporter talks with fellow News & Observer reporter Avi Bajpai about Republican lawmakers' attempt to dissolve and replace the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, citing the association's neglect of its member schools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The legislature won’t be doing much this week, since lots of top Republicans are heading to Utah for the national ALEC conference. But while they’re gone, there are potentially massive changes in the works for high school sports and who gets to run them in North Carolina. Is it about politics? Money? Racism? Transgender issues? We examine the many angles to this bill. Learn more about your ad choi...

Reporters Will Doran and Nina Pasquini examine the case of Dontae Sharp. He was wrongfully convicted of murder in Greenville and spent 26 years in prison before being freed two years ago. But Gov. Roy Cooper has not given him a formal pardon, which means he can't get even a penny in restitution for all the years of his life that the state took from him. The governor is now facing increasing pressu...

In this Under the Dome Look Ahead for Monday, July 19, 2021, reporters Danielle Battaglia and Will Doran discuss what's on deck at the North Carolina General Assembly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The N&O's Washington correspondent Brian Murphy talks with U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, a Wake County Democrat, about the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, how she has approached her first months in office, the ongoing controversies at the University of North Carolina and what it will take for a Democrat to win a Senate race in the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Under the Dome Look Ahead for Monday, July 12, 2021, host Dawn Vaughan, with Colin Campbell, tell you the important North Carolina politics things to watch for this week: medical marijuana, House budget watch and cobra-like surprises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State politics reporter Lucille Sherman talks with The News & Observer’s higher education reporter Kate Murphy about what happened June 30, the day UNC’s Board of Trustees voted to give Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure after months of declining to take the issue up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The News & Observer's Will Doran looks ahead to the legislative topics on deck at the North Carolina General Assembly. We've got an interview with NC Attorney General Josh Stein on medical marijuana, the latest on a budget fight that could lead to criminal charges against lawmakers, and the latest on what the NCAA and NIL rules are changing for local universities Learn more about your ad choices....

NC Insider editor Colin Campbell talks with Sen. Kirk deViere, who was one of four Democrats who voted in favor of the Senate budget. He explains why he voted yes, and why he’s optimistic about a bipartisan budget compromise rather than a repeat of 2019’s stalemate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State politics reporter talks with House majority leader Rep. John Bell and gubernatorial expert and beat reporter Dawn Vaughan about the legislature's attempt to limit the governor's powers in a state of emergency, and Gov. Roy Cooper's arguments for keeping the current coronavirus state of emergency in place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices