What does it take to be calm when your brain tells you to be afraid? A tower climber explains.
The Masters and the Man from Morganton
In 1954, Billy Joe Patton, an amateur golfer from North Carolina, qualified for the sport's most storied tournament. He almost won.
The Legend of Ocracoke’s Old Quork
In Ocracoke lore, a hermit-like fisherman named Old Quork supposedly went fishing on March 16 and never returned. Sailors, be warned.
Artist Selma Burke’s 1943 Presidential Portrait Might’ve Inspired Dime Design
In 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt sat for a portrait by a young African-American artist from Mooresville. Decades later, historians still want to know whether Selma Burke’s sculpture inspired the image on the dime.
Wilson, 1952: Happy Feet
The 1950s hit song “Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy” by Red Foley inspired Wilson’s shoeshining competition and Curtis Phillips’s smooth moves.
If You Give a Kid a Goat Cart
A discovery of archival photographs begged the question: Did everyone have a goat cart in the 1930s?
Need a podcast for your Thanksgiving road trip?
Here are some of our favorite shows from the past three seasons of Away Message, guaranteed to give you something to talk about at the dinner table this week.
A Christmas Village at the North Carolina Governor’s Mansion Creates Childlike Wonder
Charlie always liked building small towns. Very small towns. Small ceramic towns, to be exact. During the holidays, he has a kindred spirit at the governor’s mansion.
The Outer Banks Society That Believes the Wright Brothers Never Flew
The Man Will Never Fly Memorial Society was created in 1959 because, in the words of its founders, they were bored.
