Lindsay Foster Thomas

During the Civil War, the Union Army had an increasing supply of something the Confederacy lacked: food. Canning operations in the North kept the Union’s bellies full while Southern soldiers faced starvation. In his new book, “Starving the South: How the North Won the Civil War” (St. Martin’s Press/2011), author and culinary historian Andrew F. Smith explores the role of food in the outcome of the war. Smith joins host Frank Stasio to talk about his research and the connection between the Civil War and the industrialization of America’s food supply.

The 2012 election season is gearing up to be extremely contentious. North Carolina is once again a battleground state and the gloves are already off in the fight for Tar Heel votes. Republican legislators are using a special political strategy that would allow the legislature to submit their redistricting plan to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. instead of the Justice Department. Their tactic would also let the legislature take the State’s Attorney General, Democrat Roy Cooper, off the case.

America was a highly religious nation during the Civil War era and spiritual believers on both sides of the conflict turned to their faith to understand the causes and consequences of the war. The concept of divine providence - the idea that God’s will was being played out on the battleground - was a common theme in the messages of preachers and political leaders of the day. For African-Americans in South, the freedom to worship came slowly and black ministers found themselves facing the exciting challenge of emancipation in different ways.

Drilling for natural gas contained inside of a sedimentary rock called shale has taken off in recent years in some states. But a team of environmental scientists at Duke University recently released a report to illustrate how that process can contaminate groundwater supplies with methane. Their research is calling more public attention to the shale gas drilling process, known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking."

On a night in 1994, Patricia Young of Nashville, Tennessee was asleep in her bed when she was startled awake by a masked man who had broken into her house. The man, undressed from the waist down, brutally attacked Young and attempted to rape her. Young, an attorney, put up a fierce struggle, biting off a piece of his finger. Eventually the man left, but not before sexually violating Young with his hands.

Skin color is the most influential factor behind racial identity, but determining race has never been black and white. A new book by legal scholar Daniel Sharfstein called “The Invisible Line: Three American Families and the Secret Journey from Black to White” (The Penguin Press/2011) reveals that there was a time when the legal definition of race was so blurry that families considered African-Americans in one part of the country could be classified as white in another.

Drilling for natural gas contained inside of a sedimentary rock called shale has taken off in recent years in some states. But a team of environmental scientists at Duke University recently released a report to illustrate how that process can contaminate groundwater supplies with methane. Their research is calling more public attention to the shale gas drilling process, known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking."

Quick: name a black superhero. Now, name five more. Well, even if you were able to rattle off a list of well-known African-American superhumans, you'd be hard pressed to find one as bad and funky as Herald M.F. Jones, the caped crusader of Jade City. In "Jade City Chronicles - Vol. 1," a new play by Durham-based writer Howard Craft, we meet Herald, his friends and a cast of charismatic villains willing to run the fictitious metropolis into the ground for financial gain.

Next week, Moog Music will open doors to its new headquarters and studio in Asheville, NC. The electronic musical instruments manufacturer is known for producing Theremin kits, synthesizers and other analog equipment, but digital music era artists are crazy for the Moog sound. Bands like Rush, Coldplay and Weezer and pop singers like Lady Gaga, Ke$ha and Beyoncé have all scooped up sets of Moog gear for their recording sessions and concert performances.

The YWCA of the Greater Triangle’s Racial Justice Initiative aims to empower women and eliminate racism through dialogue, action and advocacy. Luckily, the ambitious goals are being taken on by a team that includes two women who have been challenging people to address racism head-on for many years. Crystal Hayes and Julia Dawson met in college where they began their advocacy work in favor of racial justice. In the beginning, Hayes, an African-American woman from New York, rejected the idea of a friendship with Dawson, a white Southerner who is about 10 years her junior. Eventually, their shared passion for bringing an end to racism brought them together – first as partners in activism, then as pals.