North Carolina Rabbit Hole

So far, more than a million people from North Carolina have voted early in this year's election. Only one of those people cast a ballot from Antarctica. We found him, and found out how he did it. * Read more: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/one-person-in-antarctica-voted-in-north-carolina-s-election-we-found-him * Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe * Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade

Two friendly Floridians came to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole with a mystery about a mixtape from the late 90s: Why would anyone add the "Lunch menu for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools" as the closing track? Whose strange voice is describing coleslaw, green beans, and a roll? And how did this get popular enough to end up on a hand-made cassette tape in Gainesville? In this episode, Jeremy Markovich finds some long-overlooked audio, meets a guy who was messing around and accidentally created a nationally-known character known as the Lunch Menu Man, learns what it was like to go viral in the 1990s, and discovers how a lunchtime superhero has been hiding in plain sight for the last 30 years. Listen to Tim and Lynn's mixtape, share clips of the Lunch Menu Man with unsuspecting friends, and check out some of David Price's books at https://ncrabbithole.com. Listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/north-carolina-rabbit-hole/id1254488006 Listen to more episodes on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4wBaGxCXSNQmQ3wHpjZBm8 Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade

Cary Brabham never played in a regular season game for the Panthers. So how did he end up gracing the front of a legendary video game franchise? Host: Jeremy Markovich Photos via Wikimedia Commons Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade

You've heard of Honolulu, Hawaii (I hope). There's also a Honolulu, North Carolina. Here's the story of that place and its confounding founding.   Music by Blue Dot Sessions.   Listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/north-carolina-rabbit-hole/id1254488006 Listen to more episodes on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4wBaGxCXSNQmQ3wHpjZBm8   Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade

Back in the day, pet crime was treated equally. That all changed in 1989, thanks to a spat between lawmakers that turned a seemingly harmless bill into a legislative dogfight.   Music by Blue Dot Sessions   Read the original story: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/stealing-a-dog-is-an-automatic-felony-in-north-carolina-stealing-a-cat-is-not-why   Listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/north-carolina-rabbit-hole/id1254488006 Listen to more episodes on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4wBaGxCXSNQmQ3wHpjZBm8   Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade

Just after the Civil War, a soldier casually took North Carolina's copy of a priceless founding document. A century later, the feds set up a sting operation to recover it. Here's a true story involving a fake tech millionaire, the Antiques Roadshow, and vanilla milkshakes from Cook Out. Music in this episode: "Not Those Kind of People" by Bombadil Additional music: Blue Dot Sessions Special Thanks: North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Joe Torsella and the Pennsylvania Treasurer's Office 2005 press conference audio provided by WRAL-TV This episode was originally entitled "Stealing Bill," and was produced in 2018 as an episode of Our State magazine's "Away Message." Production help from James Miezckowski. Additional Reading: Lost Rights: The Misadventures of a Stolen American Relic, by David Howard Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures, by Robert K. Wittman and John Shiffman

The Carolina Hurricanes just became NHL champions for the first time in 20 years, and during that run a lot of people noticed something unusual on their road uniforms: A cartoony, college-style pig on the shoulder. Today, we take a closer look at the long journey of a logo from the mind of an art teacher in South Dakota all the way to the Stanley Cup champions. Special thanks to Ross Hettinger, Dan LaTorraca, and Doug Warf. See the original sketches at https://ncrabbithole.com Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade Music by Blue Dot Sessions used under a Creative Commons License.

Is it real? Does it work? Is it safe? Was it hard to make? Why would anyone build one? Why is he selling it and trying to get a broken chainsaw in return? And, is this a singular piece of American ingenuity or is there an underground community of file cabinet smokers that I had never heard of before now? The seller, and an expert, tell us everything.  Special thanks to Tyius McKinney and Dana Hanson. See more pictures and videos of file cabinet smokers at https://ncrabbithole.com Learn more about NC State's annual BBQ Camp here: https://cals.ncsu.edu/news/hot-ticket-nc-state-bbq-camp/ Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade Music by Blue Dot Sessions used under a Creative Commons License.

Mike Smith's journey took him from a string of medical clinics to the music industry and, then, to a federal crime. In this episode, Wired senior writer Kate Knibbs joins Jeremy Markovich to talk about how a man from suburban Charlotte was able to make millions of dollars from music streaming services, and how his collaborator figured out something was fishy. Read Kate's original story at Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/ai-bots-streaming-music/ Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade

How did a long-dead pizza restaurant give birth to not one but two beloved breakfast chains? Here's the overlap between Biscuitville and Tudor's Biscuit World, with a possible connection to Mayberry. Read the original story: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/west-virginias-most-legendary-biscuit-conceived-in-north-carolina-tudors-biscuitville Sign up for the weekly North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/subscribe Already a fan? Support the Rabbit Hole here: https://www.ncrabbithole.com/upgrade