A conversation with Freeman Vines, maker of hanging tree guitars

The luthier's new book "Hanging Tree Guitars" chronicles his life's work through the lens of guitars he made out of a tree where a Black man was lynched near his home in Fountain, North Carolina. We recently spoke with him about his process and latest projects. (12/18/2020)

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McDonald's workers strike over low wages, lack of COVID-19 protections

Employees at one of the fast-food giant's outlets in Durham, North Carolina, say they were not notified when a coworker tested positive for COVID-19, putting their health at risk. They recently went on strike to demand better safety protections — as well as higher wages. (12/15/2020)

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George's poultry workers walk out in Arkansas to protest COVID-19 conditions

Employees of a Springdale, Arkansas, processing plant owned by George's, one of the top U.S. chicken producers, are pressing the company to re-implement staggered shifts and make social distancing possible. The walkout, which the workers plan to continue until their demands are met, was the first such action by poultry workers in the state, which leads the nation in poultry production. (12/9/2020)

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Los trabajadores de pollería en George's hacen huelga en Arkansas para protestar las condiciones del COVID-19

Empleados de George's Inc. en Springdale, Arkansas, dicen que la compañía necesita re-implementar turnos escalonados y hacer posible el distanciamiento social en la planta de transporte vivo de la compañía. (12/10/2020)

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N.C. commission grapples with giant courthouse portrait of slave-owning judge

For years, the North Carolina Supreme Court has faced calls to take down a large painting of a chief justice who trafficked in and brutalized enslaved people. A court-appointed commission wants to replace the portrait with a smaller version, but some members would like to see all of the portraits gone. (12/17/2020)

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Deep canvassing effort in Georgia aims to flip the U.S. Senate

With Georgians now casting early ballots in two runoff races that will determine partisan control of the U.S. Senate, organizers are going all out to mobilize voters — and that includes in-depth, heart-to-heart conversations about what's at stake for them.

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What Georgia's Senate runoffs mean for U.S. climate policy

The Jan. 5 runoff elections for two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia will determine which party controls the Senate — and that will be a critical factor for whether the Biden administration will be able to advance its ambitious policy goals and cut greenhouse gas emissions to a level that gives the international community a chance at staving off even more devastating climate disruption.