Vacation
Johnston County has been selling to people who are just passing through for nearly a century. This episode looks at how Exit 95 turned transit traffic into an economy—and what gets lost when a place becomes a stop instead of a destination.
JoCoYo
One of the first descriptions of North Carolina by the English that would later colonize the area was given by Ralph Lane, the governor of the first attempted colony. In 1585, Gov. Lane referred to the land as "the goodliest soil under the cope of heaven" in his letters back to England. This podcast will tell the stories of its history, help people see the connections, not only between its "officials" but also between people that history either forgot or chose not to listen to. We will tell…
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World Leader Pretend
Johnston County is named for one man and defined by another. This episode unpacks two Johnstons, one Civil War surrender, and the difference between loyalty and pretending.
Coward of the County
History books and courthouse lawns tell a simple story of the Civil War: blue versus gray, with honor tied strictly to the battlefield. But in Johnston County, the reality was far more complicated. North Carolina led the Confederacy in desertions, driven by a quiet resistance of men who decided "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight" wasn't worth their lives. This episode explores the secret…
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Along Highway 210 in Johnston County, a forgotten cemetery tells a story of slavery, family, and memory. This episode follows Adam Sanders, who bought the land where his ancestors were buried and made sure the circle stayed unbroken.
The River
It’s two million years old, six miles wide at its mouth, and still manages to surprise us. This is the story of the Neuse River, Johnston County’s original highway—and its most persistent problem
My Hometown-Everything Must Go
Before the bankruptcy banners and empty storefronts, Heilig-Meyers was the furniture store that helped define small-town North Carolina. This is the story of how it started, how it grew, and why its collapse mattered far beyond the showroom
Night Moves
For over sixty years, Main Street in Benson was the center of the universe for Johnston County youth on a Friday night. From horse-drawn buggies in the 1930s to polished Mazda RX-7s in the 1990s, cruising wasn't just driving in circles—it was the most analog matchmaking system in the county, a ritual of belonging, and a reason for a small town to come alive. But when two thousand people start…
The Gambler
Every farmer is a gambler, but for sixty years, Johnston County's tobacco growers held a guaranteed winning hand. The federal quota system provided a vital safety net until 2004, when the government offered a buyout that forced every farming family into a midnight, kitchen-table decision. This episode explores the moment the agricultural rules changed in eastern North Carolina, asking who decided…
How to Save a Life
There is a bronze soldier standing on the courthouse lawn in Smithfield. He has been there since 1926. He stands at parade rest — chin up, eyes forward — with the posture of a man who doesn't yet know what's waiting for him. On the stone beneath his feet: forty-seven names. Buck Hill. Pearlie H. Harris. Maudius Godwin. Charlie Wall. Tobacco farmers. Mill workers. Farm boys from Four Oaks and Kenly…
A Change Gonna Come
There is a ledger in the North Carolina State Archives. Bound in leather. Column after column of names. It is titled Johnston County Permanent Registration of Voters, 1902 to 1908. Every name in it is white. That was the point. Smith Brooks had sat on the Smithfield Board of Commissioners. Mack Sowell would sit on the Selma Town Council. Between them: ninety-two years. Two names. And everything…