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Pauli Murray was a queer Black woman who put her stamp on nearly every aspect of human rights. She worked tirelessly to push for social change as an activist, a priest and a legal scholar. But despite influencing some of the biggest legal names on the bench, Murray rarely received the recognition she deserved during her lifetime. On this episode of The Politics Podcast, we’re featuring an episode of “ Pauli ,” a new podcast series about one person’s fight to upend the status quo and change what’s possible for us all.

This month marks one year since the pandemic first hit North Carolina. Host Dave DeWitt and WUNC general assignment reporter Will Michaels reflect on milestones from an agonizing year, from the evolution of our understanding of COVID-19 to protests against racial injustice. Plus, UNC Professor of Epidemiology Lisa Gralinski reflects on how the media has handled information about the pandemic.

Bob Orr traces his Republican roots back to his great-grandfather, a farmer in western North Carolina conscripted into the Confederate Army.

When Scott Morningstar graduated high school, he knew college wasn’t what he was looking for. H e got a steady job bending tubes, but it wasn't much of a career.

The pandemic tanked small businesses at an alarming rate. Entrepreneurs of color were hit hardest. Carolina Small Business Development Fund President and CEO Kevin Dick tells host Leonede Inge about what is being done to help small businesses stay afloat during the crisis. Plus, Tina Travis founded Errand Girl concierge service during the last recession, and has grown and adapted the business ever since.

This week in state politics, legislative Republicans approved a $1.7 billion package of federal COVID relief, as they continued to fight the details of how to reopen schools. Meanwhile Congressman Madison Cawthorn faced additional allegations of lying, as his party stood silently by. Aisha Dew and Clark Riemer offer insights on some of the biggest political developments of the week.

You don’t have to love Britney Spears to have heard her story. She was the shiny celebrity with hits like “...Baby One More Time” and “Toxic” that have now become classics. And then she was the woman whose love life, family dynamics and run-ins with the paparazzi were blasted across celebrity magazines. Now, the recent New York Times documentary “ Framing Britney Spears ” reveals how the same media and cultural forces that brought her to fame tore her apart.

Research shows daters 50 and older are more likely than younger ones to say it’s very important that online dating profiles include race and political affiliation. Laura wonders if being too specific about race, religion or politics leads to overlooking some solid romantic options. Check out Dating While Gray on Facebook or s hare your stories and questions at datingwhilegray@wunc.org .

This week, North Carolina is getting its first shipment of a new COVID-19 vaccine — the CDC-authorized, single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccination. The state has also announced significant changes to its vaccine waitlist, with new categories becoming eligible for the shot as early as Wednesday.

North Carolinians have plenty of options for political news. From traditional newspaper and television outlets, to newer online-only non-profit outposts. And still more, in the form of organizations backed by dark money. On this episode of The Politics Podcast, an update on the array of news options, not all of which are created equal.

COVID cases are dropping and vaccine doses are becoming more plentiful. Scientists are even working on a pill that could prevent future coronavirus pandemics. But Lisa Gralinski of the UNC Department of Epidemiology reminds host Dave DeWitt that this pandemic is not over yet.

2020 was a banner year for fundraising at Historically Black Colleges and Universities as HBCUs received a number of high-profile corporate and private gifts. At the top of the list: philanthropist Mackenzie Scott, who gave more than $4 billion to organizations and HBCUs.

The red-cockaded woodpecker has been listed as endangered for more than half a century, but that could soon change. In the final months of the Trump administration, federal wildlife officials started a process to downgrade its status to “threatened.” Conservation groups say science doesn’t support the move, and that it could undermine gains made in part with the help of unusual public-private partnerships that have taken decades of work and millions of dollars.

When Sontina Barnes joined the Army in 1993, she was looking for something new. “I was a junior at N.C. State and I was burned out,” she recalled. At the time, she was working three jobs on top of school.

Governor Roy Cooper is easing COVID-19 restrictions, following pressure from the legislature, small business owners and parents. Meanwhile, under a proposed settlement with civil rights groups, 3,500 people who are incarcerated will be released in the next six months. And, the new chancellor of Fayetteville State is not being welcomed by all. Rob Schofield and Becki Gray review some of the stories from this week in North Carolina Politics.

In 1898, the elected government in Wilmington, N.C. was overthrown by white supremacists who sought to undermine Black progress. The impact of the violent insurrection still lingers in the city today and illuminates existing national political tensions. In this special episode, Phoebe Judge, host of the podcast “Criminal,” shares that show's exploration into events that led to the violence and its aftermath.

How comfortable do you feel in gyms, fitness studios and exercise classes? With COVID-19 in our midst, we all may feel a little iffy about spending time indoors with people breathing hard — but what about even before the pandemic? In and outside of gyms, we get inundated with messaging about what we should look like and how physically fit we should be. This fitness culture tells us that unless we exercise a certain way and achieve a certain ideal — of thinness, whiteness and heteronormative gender presentation — we’re doing it wrong.

Before the pandemic, Kristin Kanipe never expected she'd end up homeschooling her three kids. "I remember talking to a friend and specifically saying, 'God would have to smack me in the head and make it "you have to homeschool" for me to ever homeschool.' I had no desire to homeschool. I actually did not want to homeschool," Kanipe said.