A look at our favorite stories of 2022

I've been covering sports as a professional journalist for about 10 years, and and I've written dozens of stories about football, basketball, lacrosse, and others. This story really gave me the chance to dive into something that was totally new to me... This was also the first full-length radio feature I ever did for WUNC, so piecing the story together for our listeners, with the help of my colleagues, is something I'll never forget.

This one stood out because it was fun and light. You know, as I was scanning through stories, I saw that I was reporting on lots of bad news in education this year. Whereas this was a very positive story that featured a student community that we don't hear from very often explaining how they celebrate the day...It was a really nice moment of cultural exchange, which is a big part of the college experience, right, learning from your classmates.

Liz Schlemmer

One of my favorite and most meaningful pieces of work I produced in 2022 centered around a story that is not new at all. I got the chance to remind listeners about the life and brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi. The Black teenager was killed by white men in 1955. But it wasn't until 2022 that Congress finally passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act.

Leoneda Inge

Basically what we were trying to do is encapsulate the pulse, the vibe, the feelings of teachers and where they are right now, public school educators in North Carolina, why some are leaving or have left, why some are on their last little inch of hope and patience, and why others are sticking with the profession, continuing to deal with many of the hurdles and so much of the the acrimony and politicization of public education that that really wasn't there when they got into the profession.

Jeff Tiberii

We know that we have an epidemic of Black men being shot by law enforcement. And that's exactly what happened in a small town here in North Carolina. Being able to go back to that town and tell the stories of those who are impacted - and those who have been fighting for a change - was both humbling and gratifying.

Jason deBruyn

Through the process of creating the show, I've really had to do some deep thinking about my own relationship with money and whether or not the way that I use money and save money and think about money aligns with my values as much as I thought it did.

Anita Rao

This stands out as my favorite because although there were lots of logistical hurdles that we had to get around, I feel like we met some really, really incredible people who have dedicated a lot of their time and effort and even money to hunting lionfish and to finding practical and creative solutions to taking on a really complex ecological crisis.

Laura Pellicer

Once the interview started, and Elisa [Wall] started sharing about her own personal journey, we were all totally wrapped by what she was saying, and knew that this was something that needed to be out there for a lot of people to hear and needed to be preserved in its totality. So that's kind of how this episode came to be. And I hope you enjoy listening back to it. It's definitely one of my favorite episodes I've ever worked on.

Amanda Magnus

My favorite story of the year was one of the few I did that wasn't on the military. It was on gravel racing. The sport of racing bicycles on gravel roads, gravel racing, has exploded in popularity. And it got so big, so quickly that the race organizers were able to essentially start with a clean sheet of paper and redefine what racing means. And that meant that they could do it their way, their way was diversity and inclusion. So it's not just professional racers, although there are plenty. It's everyone: their grandfathers, grandmothers, people of all races and ethnicities, all shapes and sizes... it was just the most fun story to report.

Jay Price

Film has always been something that I've loved to talk about and analyze. Growing up, it was a way that my dad and I connected. And I learned a lot of cool history and got to work with guest host Omisade Burney-Scott, and learn about her connection to this topic... It also made me appreciate the horror genre a little bit more and taught me why we like scary movies and what scary movies have to teach us about the world and ourselves and why it's important to find joy in horror.

Kaia Findlay

It was my favorite because of how much I learned about southeast Raleigh and how zoning laws have historically marginalized Black and brown folks. I mean, Jessica, telling the story of her fight against environmental racism, and structural racism and how her father's corner store-turned-speakeasy turned into this beacon of health and wellness. It was all just mind blowing.

Kamaya Truitt

What surprised me the most was the number of people who we talked to while we were there reporting who had really deep, sentimental ties to the location. I talked to more than one [person] who had really big life events kind of revolve around this, this restaurant, this burger joint.

Josh Sullivan