A high-drama week at the North Carolina legislature brought quick action on an overdue state budget, following a decision by Republican leaders to drop a proposal to add four new casinos in rural counties. Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, shares her thoughts on the budget — and its non-monetary policy provisions — with WUNC’s Colin Campbell. She also provides a look behind the scenes at how the budget process works for legislators from the minority party. Then Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page joins to talk about his opposition to the casino idea. Page is a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who serves a county where one of the casinos would be.

Anita has no tattoos but plenty of admiration for the art form that gives us new ways to experience our bodies. She talks with a heavily-tattooed scholar who's interrogated how society treats tattooed women; a queer, Jewish tattoo artist reclaiming body art; and an artist who's pushing back on the misconceptions of tattooing melanated skin. Meet the guests: - Beverly Thompson, professor in the sociology department at Siena College in New York, talk about how gender impacts the perception of tattooed bodies - Joey Ramona, a queer tattoo artist, shares how their Jewish heritage has influenced their tattoo journey - Oba Moori, owner of PUSH Tattoo Studio in Delaware, talks about tattooing melanated skin and the power of a great tattoo Read the transcript | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram Leave us a message for an upcoming episode here! Dig deeper… …into tattoo history: https://theconversation.com/tattoos-have-a-long-history-going-back-to-the-ancient-world-and-also-to-colonialism-165584 …into tattoos as body reclamation: https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2023/06/01/for-the-colonized-body-tattoos-are-reclamation