In each episode of In The Wild Coastal Plain, we meet a plant or an animal endemic to the southeastern North Carolina biodiversity hotspot – so we can better understand our coastal plain ecosystem and who lives here with us.Today, we’re exploring Holly Shelter, a nature preserve and game land in Pender County that boasts tens of thousands of acres -- one of the last great pieces of connected natural area in southeastern North Carolina. That’s because humans are rapidly building all around it.

Environmental justice can be complicated. The way studies are set up, the way the researchers communicate with the subjects of the study, and what the scientists do with the results – all those protocols are part of what Dr. Britt Moore calls “culturally-responsive science”.

Environmental justice can be complicated. The way studies are set up, the way the researchers communicate with the subjects of the study, and what the scientists do with the results – all those protocols are part of what Dr. Britt Moore calls “culturally-responsive science”.

“A fundamental question that each of us must answer is: Who are the victims of racism? Upon careful investigation, it seems quite clear that the answer is ‘everyone’.” Dr. Catherine Meeks, Exec. Director, Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing

Black Barbie, the documentary film by Lagueria Davis, explores the way the doll shapes culture, and ultimately the way people think about themselves. It’s a close look at representation, starting with the filmmaker's aunt, Beulah Mae Mitchell, who was on the original Barbie manufacturing line with Mattel and played a key role in bringing Black Barbie to life.

Kevin Maurer, an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author has written extensively about and inside war zones. When he heard of the mysterious disappearance of retired Marine and Wilmington resident Grady Kurpasi during a Russian ambush in Ukraine, he started investigating. That led to an article about the extraordinary life and death of Grady Kurpasi in Rolling Stone Magazine. Former Marine and close friend Don Turner also joins us to shed light on Grady's disappearance and the efforts to bring him home.

Down Here We Come Up, which took more than fifteen years to write, started as an exploration of the jarring class differences between the northern and southern United States. But the novel Sara Johnson Allen actually completed, set just outside of Wilmington, NC, raises even deeper questions about what defines family and a home place, and whether ancestral ties are enough.

As natural areas disappear, we’re taking a closer look at what we’re losing, species by species, in a new series called In The Wild Coastal Plain. In this second episode, we explore the intertwined fates of the red-cockaded woodpecker and longleaf pine.

As natural areas disappear, we’re taking a closer look at what we’re losing, species by species, in a new CoastLine series called In The Wild Coastal Plain. On this edition of CoastLine, we explore why the intertwined fates of the red-cockaded woodpecker and longleaf pine are important harbingers of the area's fate.

Alice Brooks says when she learned that her son, Darien, had profound autism spectrum disorder, she cried on the front porch all night. Today, she says Darien and his diagnosis are the greatest blessings of her life.