Shoresides
A local solutions journalism podcast by and for BIPOC communities in coastal North Carolina. Through news stories, interviews, updates, and special programs we keep you engaged with local news from across the region.
Shoresides News is a nonprofit newsroom covering the stories that matter most to coastal North Carolina. Got a question or a tip? Reach out to our team at info@shoresides.org. Shoresides News is made possible through community support. To help sustain this vital local reporting, visit https://givebutter.com/shoresides
Episodes
86 episodes
When SNAP Cuts Hit Home: How H.R. 1 and the Shutdown Are Straining North Carolina’s Food Banks
As the effects of H.R. 1 ripple across the country, North Carolinians are feeling the strain of new SNAP work requirements and a month-long government shutdown. In this episode of Shoresides, host Nicolas Magrino speaks with Emily Kraf...
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Season 5
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Episode 30
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12:18
Sweetpotato Country
As the holidays approach, sweetpotatoes are finding their way onto tables across America — but nowhere are they more rooted than in North Carolina. For more than half a century, the state has led the nation in sweetpotato production, shaping bo...
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Season 5
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Episode 29
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8:44
Sounds of Coastal North Carolina
Take a slow listen to coastal North Carolina. This Shoresides soundscape moves through ordinary places that shape life along the coast — the surf at Wrightsville Beach, a trawler crossing the Intracoastal, a walk through the pines at Carolina B...
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Season 5
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Episode 28
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5:56
Shrimp, Trawlers, and Tradition: North Carolina’s Fight for Local Seafood
Along North Carolina’s coast, shrimping isn’t just an industry — it’s a way of life. This summer, a proposed state ban on shrimp trawling nearly upended that tradition. The measure, added quietly to an unrelated bill, would have outlawed the pr...
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Season 5
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Episode 27
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7:29
Hurricane Humberto and Hurricane Imelda: How Accurate Are Our Forecasts?
In this episode of Storm Stories, Shoresides talks with Joe Friday—longtime meteorologist, former director of the National Weather Service—about how staffing shortages and fewer weather balloon launches have recently made forecasts les...
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Season 5
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Episode 26
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12:58
Gatortown: The Gator Problem
As more people move to the N.C. coast—and winters grow warmer—human encounters with alligators are on the rise in North Carolina. In this episode, Shoresides speaks with John Henry Harrelson, district wildlife biologist with the North Carolina ...
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Season 5
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Episode 25
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10:28
The Sports Betting Game: Are Schools Like UNC Wilmington Winning?
In this episode of Shoresides, we talk with sports-betting expert Steve Bittenbender about the impacts of legal mobile sports betting in North Carolina. We explore what betting apps like FanDuel and DraftKings (and their tax dollars) mean for t...
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Season 5
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Episode 24
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17:43
This NC Rep Opposed a Federal AI Moratorium: Here's Why
This episode, Shoresides captures a pivotal moment in AI policy as North Carolina State Representative Zack Hawkins discusses a federal proposal that would have blocked state-level AI regulation for a decade and drew bipartisan criticism. Speak...
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Season 5
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Episode 23
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12:15
The Carolina Beach Shark Invasion That Wasn't—And What It Reveals About a Vital Emergency Information Network
When a false shark sighting shut down Carolina Beach, the confusion that followed revealed something deeper: how much we rely on the local National Weather Service office and its communication networks to keep coastal communities safe. In this ...
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Season 5
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Episode 22
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7:26
The Cost of Making Waves — What Federal Cuts Mean for North Carolina’s Public and Community Radio
Public radio stations across North Carolina — especially in rural and coastal communities — are facing devastating funding cuts following the passage of the Rescissions Act of 2025. That includes WRVS in Elizabeth City, which could lose up to 7...
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Season 5
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Episode 21
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20:28
Gatortown: The Gator Catcher of Southport
When alligators show up in swimming pools, under cars, or at the local Bojangles drive-through, Kate Marshall gets the call. As Southport's jurisdictional alligator handler, she's seen relocations quadruple this year alone. She tells Shoresides...
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Season 5
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Episode 20
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14:25
Gatortown: A man and his dog encounter a giant reptile in Southport
Lately, the town of Southport, North Carolina has had some excitement, 20 alligator removals since May, setting a new record. For a resident named Bonner Herring and his trusty Labrador Strike, that almost ended in tragedy. In this episode, Sho...
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Season 5
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Episode 19
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16:49
A Store of Our Own: Northside’s Fight for Food Justice
In this episode of Shoreside, host Nicholas Merino explores the long-standing struggle for food access in Wilmington’s Northside neighborhood—classified by the USDA as a food desert. But as guest Sierra Washington, Executive Director o...
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Season 5
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Episode 13
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12:52
Friday Night Lights, Rising Heat — High School Athletics in a Changing Climate
In this final episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza steps into one of North Carolina’s most cherished traditions: high school sports. But instead of focusing on touchdowns and rivalrie...
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Season 5
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Episode 18
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32:24
Field Medicine and Fierce Care — A Day with the North Carolina Farmworkers Project
In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza takes us on a journey into the heart of rural North Carolina alongside Jeanette Tapia, outreach coordinator for the
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Season 5
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Episode 17
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40:11
Storms, Sweat, and Survival — Farm Workers on the Frontlines of Climate Change
In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza shifts the focus inland to explore the profound impact of climate change on North Carolina’s farm workers. She speaks with Mario Vargas, c...
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Season 5
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Episode 16
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26:44
Temperature Check: Marine Life, Wastewater, and Oysters
In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza dives beneath the surface to explore how climate change is disrupting marine life and infrastructure along North Carolina’s coast. She’s joined b...
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Season 5
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Episode 15
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21:57
Temperature Check: Understanding Life in a Warming Coastal Region
In this introductory episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, hosted by Natalia Sanchez Loayza, we explore the impacts of extreme heat in coastal North Carolina. Natalia speaks with Jordan Clark, a climatologist and senior policy...
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Season 5
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Episode 14
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23:27
Defunded: Youth Violence Prevention Cut in Robeson County
In Robeson County, North Carolina—home to some of the state’s highest youth violence rates—community-led prevention efforts were working. Until they weren’t.In this episode of Shoresides, host Nicolas Magrino speaks with Paul...
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Season 5
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Episode 12
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18:55
Thinking of Eating Fish From the Cape Fear River? Don't...
In this episode of Shoresides, we follow a community-led effort to uncover chemical contamination, protect public health, and rethink how we communicate environmental risk in places where food insecurity runs deep.Read more abou...
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Season 5
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Episode 11
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14:35
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Temperature Check: Coastal Edition
A New Series About Rising Temperatures in Coastal North Carolina hosted By Natalia Sanchez Loayza According to a public records request submitted by Shoresides, at least three New Hanover High School student-athletes have experienc...
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Season 5
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Episode 10
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12:52
Bridging the Care Gap: North Carolina’s Nursing Workforce Challenge
On this episode of Shoreside, host Nicholas Merino speaks with Catherine Moore, director of the Health Professions Data System at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the Univer...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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16:32
What's Behind That Proposed North Carolina Octopus Farming Ban?
This episode, Shoresides delves into the strange, ethically murky world of octopus aquaculture with scientist Dr. Jennifer Mather—to ask: Should North Carolina go ahead with banni...
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Season 5
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Episode 8
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16:16
What It's Like to Grow Up In North Carolina's Vietnamese Fishing Tradition
In this episode, Shoresides talks with Jessica Thai, who grew up with immigration, tradition, and economic shifts shaping daily life and collective identity in a place that rarely makes the headlines—but offers powerful lessons about family, pe...
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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17:13
Whatever Happened to the Fisheries Where NCs Black Coastal Communities Were Once Central
Cultural anthropologist Barbara Garrity-Blake takes us into the world of North Carolina’s menhaden fishery — a once-thriving industry built by coastal communities, African American crews, and the haunting work songs they sang. In this episode, ...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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16:09
