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The word "Due" read from top-down and "South" left-right, with the U shared between them. Reminiscent of a compass.

Due South

Meet BJ Leiderman, the NC composer behind many of public radio's theme songs

By Jeff Tiberii,

Leoneda Inge, Rachel McCarthy

Published July 23, 2025 at 12:00 PM EDT

BJ Leiderman

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From Asheville with love. WNC organization sends support to Texas in aftermath of flooding.

When news hit about the devastating flooding that struck Texas Hill Country, many in western North Carolina immediately thought of their own experiences with Helene. BeLoved Asheville is one of several WNC groups that have put their collective grief into action by reaching out and delivering supplies to communities in Texas – communities that helped them in the aftermath of their own devastation last fall. (This interview originally aired July 17, 2025.)

Amy Cantrell and Ponkho Bermejo, Co-Directors, BeLoved Asheville

Correction: This interview erroneously refers to Tropical Storm Chantal as the cause of devastating flooding in Texas. It was Tropical Storm Barry.

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Meet BJ Leiderman, the NC composer behind many of public radio's theme songs

BJ Leiderman illustration

If you’re an avid public radio listener, you’ve heard composer BJ Leiderman’s name countless times in the credits of NPR shows like “Morning Edition” and “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.”

But have you ever heard his voice? Due South hosts Leoneda Inge and Jeff Tiberii get the chance to interview the man behind those timeless tunes from his home studio in western NC, where he’s still making music. (This encore interview originally aired November 20, 2024.)

BJ Leiderman, songwriter, composer, and musician

Due South

Jeff Tiberii

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Jeff joined WUNC in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and WUNC’s Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary “Right Turn,” launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.

See stories by Jeff Tiberii

Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

See stories by Leoneda Inge

Rachel McCarthy

Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.

See stories by Rachel McCarthy