On this Piedmont Arts podcast, we talk with Madeline Dierauf, an award-winning Appalachian fiddler and Davidson College student. She's a native of Brevard, North Carolina, who has been playing fiddle since she was eight. Hear more about her dual careers, her upcoming Rhodes Scholarship, and a bit of her music.

We’ve lived in a high-tech world for years, but new advancements in AI in Charlotte have further eroded the line between humans and machines.

Who needs N.I.H. grants? A lot of red-state universities, for one.

Some staffers were instructed by their supervisors to halt external communications.

“We’re talking about massive layoffs across the Triangle if this (rule) holds,” former UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp said.

The ivory tower has been breached.

Even before Trump’s return, Republican legislators in some states were rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The campaign continues in current legislative sessions. Last week, the Indiana Senate passed a bill targeting diversity, equity and inclusion across state government, including in K-12 and higher education. Senate Bill 289 would ban DEI consultants, internal DEI audits and any offices or workers whose “primary duties” include providing noncredit DEI programs at public colleges and universities. The state attorney general could ask courts to fine institutions up to $250,000 per violation.

The NIH’s decision late Friday to drastically shrink its reimbursement of indirect costs, which help pay for facilities, equipment, and staff to support grants, will have an immediate impact on higher ed.