The Hometown Holler

Welcome to the Holler! Each week we chat with the people shaping North Carolina’s culture, history and public life. Pull up a chair and sit a spell!

The Hometown Holler is a news podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 107 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Hometown Holler, a news show with 107 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  The Hometown Holler

  More Than Puppets: The Magic of Paperhand w/Donovan Zimmerman

  Aug 17, 202646 min

  We sit down with Donovan Zimmerman, co-founder of North Carolina’s Paperhand Puppet Project, to talk giant puppets, art, community, and the strange kind of magic that happens when thousands of people gather together to experience something handmade.Donovan takes us inside the world of Paperhand—from discovering the magic of art as a teenager to building one of North Carolina’s most unique cultural institutions and the community that has grown around Paperhand over the past 26 years.Plus, we get a look at the 2026 production, "The Wild Wisdom of the World," complete with elemental dragons, giant creatures, original music, and a story about change, connection, and our relationship with the natural world.If you've ever seen Paperhand Puppet Project perform at the Forest Theatre in Chapel Hill or wondered what the hell those giant puppets are this one's for you.Join the Holler:Patreon: patreon.com/c/TheHometownHollerSubstack: substack.com/@thehometownhollerWebsite: www.thehometownholler.com

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  The Hometown Holler

  The Future of American Politics Runs Through the South

  Aug 10, 202640 min

  People are moving here. Money is moving here. Culture is coming from here. And more and more, the biggest political fights in the country are playing out right here in our backyard.Jennifer Palmieri and Errin Haines hit the road across the South for Crooked Media's new series Long Play and naturally, they had to make a stop in North Carolina.They join us to talk about what they found here: why NC stays so close every election, what our massive unaffiliated vote actually means, the growing frustration over affordability, gerrymandering, rural Democrats, voting rights, and the question we seem to ask every election cycle:Is this finally the year North Carolina flips?Join the Holler:Patreon: patreon.com/c/TheHometownHollerSubstack: substack.com/@thehometownhollerWebsite: www.thehometownholler.com

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  The Hometown Holler

  Can Democrats Finally Flip NC? We asked NC's Top Political Strategist

  Aug 3, 20261h 7m

  Political strategist Morgan Jackson on Mark Robinson's collapse, Trump's inroads with NC Democrats, and how it feels to watch a campaign come back from the dead. If you want to understand North Carolina politics, you gotta talk to Morgan Jackson. For nearly three decades, he's been behind some of the state's biggest political wins, including Roy Cooper's historic 2016 upset (the first defeat of a sitting NC governor), Cooper's 2020 re-election, and Josh Stein's landslide win in 2024. Co-founder of Nexus Strategies, Jackson now serves as chief political advisor to both Governor Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson, and he's a go-to source for outlets like the New York Times and Politico. He joins the Holler to explain how Mark Robinson's campaign imploded on its own words, why lifelong Democrats are voting for Trump, and what it actually takes to pull a campaign back from the dead. Join the Holler Here!

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  The Hometown Holler

  Sun Drop, Hurricanes, & Dominoes w/ Roy Cooper

  Jul 27, 202625 min

  Round 2 with Roy Cooper! We sat down with the Former Governor and US Senate Candidate to crack a cold Sun Drop and find out what he's hearing across North Carolina on his "Make Stuff Cost Less" Tour. Along the way, we discuss why everything is so expensive now, what Medicaid cuts mean for NC families, whether members of Congress should be trading stocks, and who his favorite Hurricanes player is.Join the Holler Today! Patreon Substack Website

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  The Hometown Holler

  She Beat Breast Cancer & Phil Berger

  Jul 13, 202654 min

  Sheila Mikhail did everything right. She stayed healthy, saw her doctor regularly, and got her annual mammograms at Duke Cancer Center. Despite all of it, her breast cancer went undetected for seven years. The culprit: dense breast tissue, a common condition that can cause mammograms to miss up to half of all tumors. Now cancer-free, Sheila is on a mission to ensure all North Carolinians have access to the screening that could have caught her cancer years earlier. Having built a billion-dollar biotech company, she joins the Holler to share how she turned personal tragedy into a political fight and why she took on North Carolina's most powerful politician to win it. Join the Holler today and help us build a better North Carolina, one conversation at a time.

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