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When is the last time you read the North Carolina constitution? It’s an exercise generally reserved for the ... most passionate political followers. So, it may come as a surprise that our state still has a literacy test on the books. On The Politics Podcast, a law professor and state legislator explain why a literacy test — even if not enforceable — remains the law in North Carolina and what efforts are underway to remove it.

Democratic Governor Roy Cooper rolled out his spending proposal this week. He asks again for Medicaid expansion and sizable teacher raises. And in the wake of our nation’s latest mass shooting, what – if anything – would help to reduce gun deaths in our country? Rob Schofield and Becki Gray review the week in politics.

Since unfounded claims of election fraud proliferated last November, proposals to change election law have surfaced in nearly every state house in the country. Some restrict voting access while others expand a voter's ability to cast a ballot. On the latest WUNC Politics Podcast: why North Carolina has largely avoided controversy on this issue and a look at existing proposals from around the country.

In the wake of mass shootings in Atlanta, Democratic State Senator Jay Chaudhuri has renewed a push for a hate crime law in North Carolina. Will this legislation get a hearing? Plus, a resolution to call for a constitutional convention and set Congressional term limits advanced at the General Assembly this week. And Cheri Beasley will soon announce her candidacy seeking the Democratic nomination for a 2022 U.S. Senate race. Aisha Dew and Clark Riemer offer insights on some of the biggest political developments of the week.

More than half of North Carolina’s counties are considered a news desert – with depleted local journalism. On this episode of The Politics Podcast: what could be done to fill the news void and how the emergence of social media has reshaped how politicians share their message.

Guest host Will Michaels returns from a reporting trip to Elizabeth City, NC where a community is contending with the recent police killing of Andrew Brown Jr. There is body camera footage of the incident, but who gets to see the tape and how much of it is made available is up to a controversial state law. | Support this show with a donation at wunc.org/give.

A voter ID law is on trial again in North Carolina. Is it in line with the Constitution this time? Or is it once again targeting Black voters? Guest host Will Michaels talks to reporter Rusty Jacobs about the history of voter ID in the state and what arguments activists, lawyers and lawmakers have made before the court in the past two weeks. | Support this show with a donation to wunc.org/give.

Synthesizing American history is not a simple exercise. What periods, figures, and narratives should emerge in public school classrooms, and who gets to decide? Republicans are decrying some educational standards as having a leftist bent, lacking patriotism. While educators, and advocates for a more complete narrative say we must trust the teachers. On this episode of The Politics Podcast teaching our complicated history to our youth.

A trio of Republican state senators filed an anti-transgender bill at the state legislature this week. Another new proposal calls for political parties to get equal time in classroom lessons, and a powerful lawmaker backs legalization of medical marijuana. Clark Riemer and Aisha Dew offer analysis on some of the big political stories of the week.

Governor Roy Cooper joins the politics podcast to explain why he thinks his latest push for Medicaid expansion might yield a different result. The Democrat also reflects on the last 13 months of pandemic times and explains why he and Senate Leader Phil Berger owe it to North Carolina voters to seek middle-ground.