Cemeteries

Mar 29, 2026

The Mall Cemeteries of North Carolina

What happens when a graveyard gets in the way of something that somebody wants to build?

Jeremy Markovich

Helene

Mar 12, 2026

A Minor Mystery in Meat Camp

A reader asked what was up with an old sign on a two-lane road up in the mountains. It may be the last of its kind! Unless you can prove me wrong.

Jeremy Markovich

How Christina Koch went from North Carolina to a Moon Mission

Jacksonville

Apr 2, 2026

How Christina Koch went from North Carolina to a Moon Mission

Koch grew up in Jacksonville, went to high school in Durham, got three degrees from NC State, and is now going to be the first woman to orbit the moon. Here's the long road that led her there.

Jeremy Markovich

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Insurance

Mar 3, 2026

What To Do When Your Popular Sheriff Loses His Insurance

Counties get insurance policies to cover their costs in case someone sues the sheriff or his or her deputies. But what happens when the people who pay the bills can't tell the sheriff what to do?

Jeremy Markovich

AMA

Mar 1, 2026

Once again, I ask you to ask me stuff

Hit me up with your North Carolina-related questions! Nothing is too big! Or small! Or stupid!

Jeremy Markovich

Latest Video

Podcast Episodes

A Starter Kit of Rabbit Holes

Raleigh

Jan 9, 2025

The Short Story of Raleigh's Greatest Snow Picture

Is there a winter storm coming? Then it's time to re-live a really rough day in 2014.

Jeremy Markovich

You can't get a DWI on a horse in North Carolina. But why?

Christmas

Dec 10, 2024

You can't get a DWI on a horse in North Carolina. But why?

There's a viral video where a man (correctly) states you can't be charged with drunk driving on horseback. It wasn't always this way. Blame, maybe, a chaotic Christmas parade and a wily lawmaker.

Jeremy Markovich

Tony Hawk

Nov 4, 2024

Tony Hawk wanted to track down a mysterious skateboarder from 1979. We found her.

A photographer snapped a shot of Shaunda Shane skating down her street in Fayetteville when she was 10. How did the world's most famous skateboarder see that picture 45 years later?

Jeremy Markovich

The complete story of the time a monster truck drove across the Currituck Sound

Independence Day

Jul 4, 2024

The complete story of the time a monster truck drove across the Currituck Sound

In 1994, someone asked if Dennis Anderson could bring Grave Digger to a July 4th celebration on the Outer Banks. Dennis said he could drive it there. Over the water. The rest is history.

Jeremy Markovich

North Carolina's unkillable 41-year-old license plate

Raleigh

Sep 28, 2023

North Carolina's unkillable 41-year-old license plate

"First in Flight" has been this state's standard license plate since 1982. It replaced a controversial slogan and came from a different era, when it was okay to clown on the Wright Brothers.

Jeremy Markovich

Apr 27, 2023

Panthers Aren't Real

I looked into a thing that I'd heard a long time ago: That the screaming cat noise that's played at Carolina Panthers games doesn't actually come from a panther. But this—THIS—goes much deeper.

Jeremy Markovich

Jul 19, 2022

The Man In The Yellow Hat

Steven Spielberg wore a North Carolina Highway Patrol hat while directing an Indiana Jones movie 34 years ago. You asked me to find out more. I found the man who gave it to him.

Jeremy Markovich

Sep 30, 2021

Mick Jagger went to a dive bar in Charlotte and literally everybody missed him

One of the world's most recognizable men walked into a beer joint and nobody recognized him. Here is how that happened, according to the people who were there and the owner who's mad that he wasn't.

Jeremy Markovich

How Christina Koch went from North Carolina to a Moon Mission

Koch grew up in Jacksonville, went to high school in Durham, got three degrees from NC State, and is now going to be the first woman to orbit the moon. Here's the long road that led her there.

Jeremy Markovich

Cemeteries

Mar 29, 2026

The Mall Cemeteries of North Carolina

What happens when a graveyard gets in the way of something that somebody wants to build?

Jeremy Markovich

Helene

Mar 12, 2026

A Minor Mystery in Meat Camp

A reader asked what was up with an old sign on a two-lane road up in the mountains. It may be the last of its kind! Unless you can prove me wrong.

Jeremy Markovich

Insurance

Mar 3, 2026

What To Do When Your Popular Sheriff Loses His Insurance

Counties get insurance policies to cover their costs in case someone sues the sheriff or his or her deputies. But what happens when the people who pay the bills can't tell the sheriff what to do?

Jeremy Markovich

AMA

Mar 1, 2026

Once again, I ask you to ask me stuff

Hit me up with your North Carolina-related questions! Nothing is too big! Or small! Or stupid!

Jeremy Markovich

Greensboro

Feb 22, 2026

Football brought Jesse Jackson to Greensboro. His time there molded him into a civil rights leader.

Jackson, who died last week at age 84, was once the quarterback at North Carolina A&T. His position on the field was a foreshadowing of his singular role in American life.

Jeremy Markovich

Beef

Feb 13, 2026

A reader found a strange snippet of North Carolina law. Turns out it's a six-decade old beef.

An old statute says the state DMV can't buy a plane without special permission. It came out of a fight between the Highway Patrol, lawmakers, and a former FBI guy who was frighteningly good at checkers.

Jeremy Markovich

The Untold Story of the Guy Who Broke Into a Pizza Shop And Started Selling Pizzas

Kinston

Feb 8, 2026

The Untold Story of the Guy Who Broke Into a Pizza Shop And Started Selling Pizzas

The news from the Kinston Little Caesars rocketed around the internet this week. A police report and some Facebook posts shed a little more light on what went down.

Jeremy Markovich

The Mall Cemeteries of North Carolina

A Minor Mystery in Meat Camp

How Christina Koch went from North Carolina to a Moon Mission

Get a deeply reported story of trifling importance delivered to you weekly.

What To Do When Your Popular Sheriff Loses His Insurance

Once again, I ask you to ask me stuff

Latest Video

Podcast Episodes

A Starter Kit of Rabbit Holes

The Short Story of Raleigh's Greatest Snow Picture

You can't get a DWI on a horse in North Carolina. But why?

Tony Hawk wanted to track down a mysterious skateboarder from 1979. We found her.

The complete story of the time a monster truck drove across the Currituck Sound

North Carolina's unkillable 41-year-old license plate

Panthers Aren't Real

The Man In The Yellow Hat

Mick Jagger went to a dive bar in Charlotte and literally everybody missed him

Archive

How Christina Koch went from North Carolina to a Moon Mission

The Mall Cemeteries of North Carolina

A Minor Mystery in Meat Camp

What To Do When Your Popular Sheriff Loses His Insurance

Once again, I ask you to ask me stuff

Football brought Jesse Jackson to Greensboro. His time there molded him into a civil rights leader.

A reader found a strange snippet of North Carolina law. Turns out it's a six-decade old beef.

The Untold Story of the Guy Who Broke Into a Pizza Shop And Started Selling Pizzas

North Carolina Rabbit Hole