North Carolina politics, patiently explained.
Carolina Newsmakers follows North Carolina politics and public life through long-form interviews with officials, strategists, advocates, and analysts. Its strength is practical translation: budgets, polls, schools, infrastructure, immigration, and national crises are brought back to state-level stakes.
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Carolina Newsmakers is a North Carolina public-affairs interview show with a plainspoken broadcast style. It favors patient conversation over speed. Don Curtis typically begins with a broad, practical question and lets a public figure, analyst, advocate, or strategist supply the detailed argument. The show’s center of gravity is state civic life: government, elections, schools, public money, rural development, polling, and the way national decisions reach North Carolina households. Recent episodes have examined the state treasurer’s work with pensions, retirement plans, health care, university facilities, and taxpayer dollars. They have also looked at education priorities such as the science of reading, school choice initiatives, advanced teaching roles, and teacher apprenticeships. Rural North Carolina receives sustained attention through infrastructure, broadband, transportation, water, wastewater, energy, housing, and child care. Political analysis is frequent but usually grounded in consequences. A discussion of Middle East conflict becomes a conversation about inflation and affordability. Tariffs are framed through timing, legal decisions, and the difficulty of responding when events move quickly. Polling episodes track Republican primary voters, Hispanic voter registration, Senate races, and the broader movement of public opinion. The program also returns to unresolved national controversies, including the Epstein matter, immigration enforcement, and questions about accountability. Its tone is steady and civic-minded. It can be grave, but it is rarely performative. Guests often carry the analytical weight, while the host keeps the conversation moving from one public issue to the next. The format feels close to traditional radio: introduction, segment reset, break, continuation, and a closing reminder of where the full broadcast can be heard. Carolina Newsmakers is best for listeners who want North Carolina politics explained through institutions and everyday stakes, not reduced to slogans.
Made for: For civically engaged North Carolina listeners who follow state government, elections, education, public finance, and rural issues. It also suits anyone who wants national news interpreted through state and local consequences.
What sets it apart: Its distinguishing habit is bringing large political stories back to practical North Carolina questions: budgets, classrooms, roads, polls, pensions, and voter reactions. The interview style gives guests space to make the case without turning the conversation into a shouting match.
A weekly public affairs program featuring stories that affect our day-to-day lives - from the local economy to crime to social programs to taxes and education.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Carolina Newsmakers turns interviews with North Carolina officials and political observers into clear accounts of public decisions, electoral pressures and their consequences.
Don Curtis builds Carolina Newsmakers around extended one-on-one conversations that connect North Carolina government and politics to decisions people can actually follow.
Don Curtis keeps North Carolina politics at table height, where polls meet pensions and football buyouts.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A steady discussion of Trump's war posture and the Bondi dismissal.
The segment keeps its attention on Don Curtis's interview with Travis Fain, a communications consultant and former journalist, and on two linked political questions: how President Trump defends a war many Americans do not support, and what the administration is trying to…
A plainspoken look at North Carolina's books, pensions, health care, and AI-assisted scheduling.
Carolina Newsmakers keeps its focus on North Carolina's finances, starting with the pension system and the state's long record of making its full required contribution.
Carolina Journal polling, Republican primary uncertainty, and Hispanic and Latino registration patterns.
Carolina Newsmakers stays on a recent Carolina Journal poll, the Republican primary, and what North Carolina registered Republicans are saying ahead of next week.
A steady North Carolina politics segment on tariffs and the long-running Epstein matter.
Carolina Newsmakers keeps its focus on North Carolina politics while Don Curtis and Dr. David McLennan work through the Supreme Court's tariff ruling and the long-running Epstein matter. The conversation moves at a plain, steady clip.
A clear look at shutdown blame and the politics around college sports money.
Tom Jensen uses a familiar public affairs conversation to trace where blame is landing, starting with the government shutdown and then widening into the politics around sports money.
North Carolina politics, laid out in patient, practical radio.
Carolina Newsmakers stays with Mitch Kokai as he talks through North Carolina redistricting, the shutdown, and Trump's governing style. Don Curtis keeps the questions open enough for Kokai to spell out the practical stakes, and Kokai's mix of journalist and analyst gives the…
A plainspoken political interview about dark money, campaign ads, and the choices that shape them.
Pat McCrory and Don Curtis spend the conversation on a rough week, dark money, lobbying, and the way campaign ads get softened before they reach the air.
Fargo morning-drive radio with Bo and Megan, NDSU Bison football previews, and listener call-in games.
Travis Fain, a 25-year journalism veteran turned communications consultant, joins host Don Curtis on Carolina Newsmakers to assess Trump's Iran war, the firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Epstein files, and North Carolina's political landscape.
The guest comes back with pocketbook questions on the table.
Political strategist Brad Crone discusses the Middle East conflict's impact on inflation and the necessity of containing Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Brenda Berg discusses North Carolina's education priorities, including budget delays, science of reading initiatives, school choice, advanced teaching roles, and new teacher apprenticeship programs.
Patrick Woodie discusses the upcoming NC Rural Summit focusing on infrastructure challenges in rural North Carolina, including broadband, transportation, and housing.
A Republican-only poll comes first.
Dr.
Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr discusses federal immigration policy changes, ICE actions in Minnesota, and public opinion on these issues.
Tom Jensen from Public Policy Polling discusses North Carolina's political landscape heading into the 2026 elections, focusing on the Senate race and judicial elections.
Former Governor Pat McCrory discusses the flip-flop on states' rights versus federal control in immigration policy.
Sam Hayes, Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, discusses his first eight months in the role, the constant election cycle in the state, and preparations for the upcoming March 3rd primary election.
Host Don Curtis interviews David Crabtree, CEO of PBS North Carolina, about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's board vote to dissolve and the structure of public broadcasting.
Host Don Curtis interviews North Carolina Secretary of Commerce Lee Lilly about the state's record-breaking job creation in 2025 and outlook for the coming year.
A news special remembering former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt, featuring an interview with a political correspondent who covered his second term.
Host Don Curtis interviews North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey about legislative changes in insurance over the past year and what to expect in the coming year.
Host Don Curtis interviews North Carolina Commissioner of Labor Luke Farley about the department's role in protecting workers and ensuring workplace safety.
Dr.
Host Don Curtis interviews Travis Fain about government issues, focusing on insurance and Obamacare subsidies after the federal shutdown.
This episode features an interview with Andy Ellen, President of the NC Retail Merchants Association, discussing the state of retail in North Carolina during the 2025 Christmas shopping season, including economic trends and consumer concerns.
Host Don Curtis interviews former North Carolina Insurance Commissioner and DMV head Wayne Goodwin about DMV challenges and improvements due to population growth and Real ID requirements.
Host Don Curtis interviews former North Carolina Community College System president Thomas Stith about the role, financing, and challenges of the state's community college system.
Host Don Curtis interviews Alan Thomas, new president of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, about the state's hospitality industry and economic growth.
Tom Jensen returns to Carolina Newsmakers.
Redistricting comes first.
Host Don Curtis interviews Matt Calabria, executive director of Grow NC, about the organization's role in coordinating hurricane recovery efforts in western North Carolina.
Host Don Curtis interviews former NC Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr about the state's new death penalty law.
Host Don Curtis interviews North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler about the upcoming state fair and agricultural issues.
Host Don Curtis interviews Mike Orlander, state director of AARP North Carolina, about the organization's 1.1 million members and the state's growing aging population.
Host Don Curtis interviews lobbyist Bob Phillips about the role of lobbyists in North Carolina government.
Pat McCrory returns for a steady conversation after a hard week for the country and North Carolina.
Host Don Curtis interviews political commentator Travis Fane about the unexpected jobs covered under Trump's no tax on tips plan and its implications for North Carolina.
Interview with North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner discussing the financial hangover from COVID-19 and its impact on state and local budgets.
Host Don Curtis interviews North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey about hurricane season, flood insurance, and beach safety.
Host Don Curtis interviews Donna King about a recent statewide poll on the 2026 North Carolina governor's race.
An interview with former Judge Robert Orr discussing tariffs and constitutional limits on presidential power.