Leila Fadel, host of NPR's Morning Edition and the Up First podcast, came to Wilmington last month for WHQR's luncheon. On this episode of The Newsroom, we've got her keynote speech, a Q-and-A session with the audience, and a one-on-one interview with WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman.

On this episode: Rachel Keith recently hosted a panel for N.C. Project LEAD, asking elected officials and community leaders some tough policy questions. We’ll hear what they said about universal basic income, collective bargaining, and more. Plus, Nikolai Mather unpacks legislative efforts to fund school meals for all.

On this episode, Rachel Keith takes stock of what the New Hanover County Schools’ turnaround task force has accomplished in two years, and what’s next for them – and Nikolai Mather sits down with Representative Ted Davis to talk about his PFAS legislation

On the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, WHQR's Ben Schachtman sat down with Curt Farrison, president of Chapter 885 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, to talk about coming home from war, understanding and managing PTSD, and what the country could do better for men and women who have worn a uniform.

On today’s show, host Rachel Keith talks about the groundbreaking Healthy Opportunities Pilot—one of the first in the country—where some Medicaid recipients get assistance for food, rent and utilities, and counseling for interpersonal violence or toxic stress needs. Service providers helping these people get reimbursements from the HOP program.

On today’s show, Rachel Keith celebrates Sunshine Week, an annual event focused on open government and transparency. In honor of this year’s sunshine week, we’re taking a look at government speech policies — we’ll dig into how much public employees, including college professors, can say when they talk to journalists or speak out on political issues. And, later on today’s show, Aaleah McConnell takes a personal look a being a Blerd — that’s a black nerd – and the art, music, and film that exists at the intersection of those two cultures.

The entire Cape Fear Region is growing at a blistering pace: and residents worry about the impact on traffic, trees, and stormwater. But growth here is moulded by planners who want to make sure residents don’t get left behind. We’ll hear from a panel of those experts on this week's episode of the Newsroom.

On this episode, WHQR's Ben Schachtman sits down for a conversation with Frankie Roberts, executive director of LINC, about community safety.For a quarter century, Roberts has run LINC, a non-profit dedicated to helping people rejoin the community after being incarcerated. We’ll talk about how that work has expanded over the years — and how Roberts sees the challenges facing the community today.

On this episode, WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman sat down with reporter Rachel Keith to talk about the work of SYNC — Strengthening Systems for NC Children. Keith joined about 20 other members who, starting last August, worked to develop a better, broader understanding of how adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, impact the quality of life for children in New Hanover County.

On this episode, WHQR's Ben Schachtman sat down with Abdul Hafeedh Bin Abdullah, co-founder of Sokoto House and the Quality Life Blueprint, to talk about how he sees the issue of community safety through a public-safety lens, and where some other efforts — like Tru Colors and Port City United — may have fallen short.