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

Due South

How will the 'Big Beautiful Bill' take shape in North Carolina? Plus, popular picks for summer reading.

By Leoneda Inge,

Jeff Tiberii, Rachel McCarthy, Stacia Brown

Published July 28, 2025 at 11:59 AM EDT

President Donald Trump at the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act at the White House, July 4, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

0:01:00

The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is now law. How will it take shape in North Carolina?

Now that the “one big, beautiful bill” has passed, how are the provisions likely to take shape here in North Carolina for individuals and for communities? Jeff Tiberii talks with an economist about what to expect.

Bharat Ramamurti, Senior Advisor for Economic Strategy at the American Economic Liberties Project, former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council in the Biden Administration

0:13:00

Due South’s ‘Meet the Mayors’ series continues with the mayor of Fletcher, NC

As our “Meet the Mayors” series continues, we get an introduction to Fletcher, North Carolina. At 30 years old, Mayor Preston Blakely may be young, but his roots in Fletcher and the Asheville region run deep. He talks with Leoneda Inge about recovery after Helene and his grandmothers’ legacies of activism and service.

Preston Blakely, Mayor of Fletcher, NC

More from Due South's 'Meet the Mayors' series

0:33:00

Summer Book Picks from Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books’ Maggie Robe joins Leoneda Inge to recommend some of this summer’s hottest literary selections and quick beach reads. From romance and mystery to nature and poetry, there’s something for everyone in this roundup of popular picks.

Maggie Robe, marketing and events manager, Flyleaf Books

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Stacia Brown

Stacia L. Brown is a writer and audio storyteller who has worked in public media since 2016, when she partnered with the Association of Independents in Radio and Baltimore's WEAA 88.9 to create The Rise of Charm City, a narrative podcast that centered community oral histories. She has worked for WAMU’s daily news radio program, 1A, as well as WUNC’s The State of Things. Stacia was a producer for WUNC's award-winning series, Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon and a co-creator of the station's first children's literacy podcast, The Story Stables. She served as a senior producer for two Ten Percent Happier podcasts, Childproof and More Than a Feeling. In early 2023, she was interim executive producer for WNYC’s The Takeaway.

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