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

Due South

Dispute over mental health evaluations for criminal suspects. 2026 resolutions: Tressie McMillan Cottom. Comedian Sherri Shepherd.

By Jeff Tiberii,

Published January 15, 2026 at 12:23 PM EST

UNC Chapel Hill professor, author, and New York Times columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom — UNC Chapel Hill professor, author, and *New York Times* columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom

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Mental health evaluations for criminal suspects

WRAL’s Paul Specht shares his recent reporting on a dispute between hospitals and sheriffs about where mental health evaluations for criminal suspects should happen.

Paul Specht, WRAL state government reporter

Related content: Paul Specht's recent reporting for WRAL:

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2026 New Year’s Resolution: Tressie McMillan Cottom

Public scholar, author and UNC-Chapel Hill associate professor Tressie McMillan Cottom joins Due South to share her thoughts about potential societal shifts in 2026 and sociopolitical expectations for the new year.

Tressie McMillan Cottom, public scholar, New York Times columnist, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science

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Comedian Sherri Shepherd returns to the stand-up stage with tour stop in Durham

Comedian and daytime talk show host Sherri Shepherd brings her new stand-up comedy routine to Durham on January 17. Leoneda Inge talks to the longtime actress and entertainer about her career and her latest tour.

Sherri Shepherd, comedian, Daytime Emmy Award-winning TV personality, actress

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.

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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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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.

See stories by Stacia Brown