Staff Selects: WUNC's favorite stories of 2023

As 2023 comes to end, we asked WUNC’s producers and reporters to reflect on their favorite stories of the year. Journalists at North Carolina Public Radio responded quickly and accurately to breaking news, while also taking time and effort to craft longform features and podcast episodes filled with detail and context that highlighted communities, issues and trends across the state.

Here are our staff favorites of the year:

• Jay Price: 'Alive Day' sparks memories of a wartime brush with death and an extraordinary post-war life

Jay Price 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:35

• Anita Rao: Mixed: Owning Your Multiracial Story | Mixed (Parent Edition): The Rao Family Talks Racial Identity

Anita Rao 2023 Favorite

Listen • 2:34

• Brianna Atkinson: ‘Bridge the gap': How North Carolina HBCUs use video games to increase diversity in esports

Matt Ramey

/

For WUNC

Brianna Atkinson 2023 Favorite

Listen • 2:00

• Charlie Shelton-Ormond: My next-door neighbor is a weapon of mass destruction

Charlie Shelton-Ormond 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:01

• Colin Campbell: Among the last of its kind in North Carolina, a 66-year-old department store will close

Colin Campbell 2023 Favorite

Listen • 2:08

• Cole del Charco: How the U.S. became 'Gun Country'

Cole del Charco 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:58

• Jason deBruyn: Restricting trans health care could increase suicide rates | Transgender advocate: Athlete ban is 'cruel' and 'abusive'

Jason deBruyn

/

WUNC

Jason deBruyn 2023 Favorite

Listen • 2:01

• Kaia Findlay: Seen: Living With The Schizophrenias

Kaia Findlay 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:01

• Bradley George: Raleigh's First Citizens is the new owner of failed Silicon Valley Bank

Bradley George 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:18

• Kamaya Truitt: A Voice at the Table: A WUNC Youth Reporting Radio Special

Kamaya Truitt 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:43

• Mitchell Northam: Speedway saved: NASCAR returns to its roots at North Wilkesboro

Mitchell Northam

/

WUNC

Mitchell Northam 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:01

• Anisa Khalifa: At last, Asian American Studies has arrived in the South

Anisa Khalifa 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:12

• Sophie Mallinson: A cacophony of howls could be heard this Halloween. The source? Coyotes.

Sophie Mallinson 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:05

• Paige Miranda: Poop scoop: NC State and Zoo researchers find new clues for rhino conservation | Dominated: Getting Kinky With BDSM

Paige Miranda 2023 Favorite

Listen • 2:35

• Liz Schlemmer: Motherhood inspired her to finish her degree, after disability disrupted her plans

Lynn Hey

/

For WUNC

Liz Schlemmer 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:11

• Sharryse Piggott: State honors 108-year-old Montford Point Marine veteran from Fayetteville

Sharryse Piggott 2023 Favorite

Listen • 1:09

• Celeste Gracia: After more than 20 years of work, a North Carolina wetland is brought back to life

Celeste Gracia 2023 Favorite

Listen • 0:53

• Josh Sullivan: Snowboarding isn't new to North Carolina, but younger riders are putting it on the map

Josh Sullivan 2023 Favorite

Listen • 2:10