Episode 110: First in Future: Principal Founder of Community Food Lab Erin White
Summary: Agriculture is an $84B industry in North Carolina that supports more than 600,000 jobs. North Carolina has set a goal of growing that industry by...
First in Future: The Emerging Issues Podcast
First in Future: Where Emerging Ideas Take Flight is a podcast of the Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State University that connects you with people thinking big thoughts about the future of North Carolina. Each week, we talk with business leaders, elected officials, researchers, people working bottom up and top down to make North Carolina great. We hope you’ll use their thinking to jumpstart your thinking about our state – where it is and where we might go together. At the end of each episode, our guests will identify the biggest issues they think our state is facing; they recommend books; they’ll identify up-and-coming leaders; and they’ll answer at least one completely off-the-wall question as they tackle the IEI Five!
Know a North Carolinian who’d be a great guest for our podcast? We want to connect with the people you know – the forward-thinkers, the problem-solvers, the futurists, the leaders, the movers and shakers and changemakers. Scour your LinkedIn and cross-check your Rolodex; if you know someone working to make North Carolina a better place to work, live and play, we want to talk with them! Submit your guest ideas here!
First in Future is proud to partner with UNC-TV and the North Carolina Channel in production of its special TV series, recorded in UNC-TV’s Legislative Studio in downtown Raleigh. Taped segments air on the North Carolina Channel, which focuses on “civic affairs, issues, entertainment and educational programs relevant to North Carolina.” Visit UNC-TV for specific show air dates.
First in Future airs on the North Carolina Channel on:
- Tuesdays @ 8:30 P.M (original airing)
- Sundays @ 10:30 A.M. and 4:00 P.M.
- Wednesdays @ 9:00 A.M.
- Thursdays @ 7:30 A.M.
The First in Future/UNC-TV podcast series can be viewed over-the-air on the following channels:
| Asheville 33.4/25.4 | Linville 17.4 |
| Triangle 4.4/25.4 | Lumberton 31.4 |
| Concord/Charlotte 58.4/44.4 | Roanoke Rapids 36.4 |
| Edenton/Columbia 2.4/20.4 | Wilmington 39.4/29.4 |
| Greenville 25.4/23.4 | Winston-Salem 26.4/32.4 |
| Jacksonville 19.4 | Canton/Waynesville 27.4 |
The North Carolina Channel can also be seen on Spectrum Cable channel 1276 (for former Time Warner Cable subscribers) and on other select cable systems throughout the state. The channels will be different for Spectrum Cable subscribers on former Charter systems. Visit UNC-TV’s Channel line-up here for more information.
First in Future is also available for online digital streaming on the NC Channel website. New “audio only” podcast episodes are available each Tuesday, available for download on iTunes or on the First in Future website.
Episode 109: First in Future: President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Dr. Patrick Conway
Summary: Think about these five guiding leadership principles: family first, health impact, people and culture, learning, and joy in work, that is what this week’s First...
Episode 108: First in Future: co-founder and partner at Plexus Capital Kel Landis
Summary: If you were looking to identify a poster child for citizenship, you could do a lot worse than Kel Landis, co-founder and partner at Plexus...
Episode 107: First in Future: Vice President of Culture, Engagement & Stewardship for Coca-Cola Consolidated Reginald Bean
Summary: Growing up in the streets of Detroit, you could become a victim or become a victor. Reginald Bean chose to become a victor. He...
Episode 106: First in Future: Golden LEAF Foundation President Dan Gerlach
Summary: In the late 1990’s, North Carolina leaders did something remarkable. As part of the national settlement agreement with tobacco companies, North Carolina was projected...
Episode 105: First in Future: Chief Content Officer with UNC-TV and Public Media North Carolina Travis Mitchell
Summary: How do you keep people’s attention in a discarded world? There is the “addiction” model of telling people what they want to know, watch...
Episode 104: First in Future: Executive Director at Kenan Institute for the Arts Corey Madden
Summary: The Institute for Emerging Issues, as part of our ReCONNECT NC series, is trying to figure out how communities can get more people at...
Episode 103: First in Future: Senior Policy and Program Manager at the Institute for Emerging Issues Sarah Langer Hall
Summary: The idea that the rural and urban parts of our state seemed to be getting further and further apart, and this is on the...
Episode 102: First in Future: Explore Elkin Jeff Eidison
Summary: What makes a small town thrive? Downtowns where people come together to see each other and do things. Their story and what makes their...
Episode 101: First in Future: President of the NC Community College System Peter Hans
Summary: What better way to start our next hundred episodes of First in Future, than talking with someone who is looking at our state’s future...
Episode 100: First in Future: Director of ncIMPACT UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government Anita Brown-Graham
Summary: For our 100th First in Future episode we chose a guest who represents IEI’s history, Anita Brown-Graham, director of the Institute for 10 years....
Episode 99: First in Future: Site Administrator for the NC Capitol Building Terra Schramm
Summary: As Halloween fast approaches, did you know SCARY stories abound about Raleigh’s Capitol Building? BAHAHA! Tis TRUE! You see . . . the decades...
Episode 98: First in Future: Rural Opportunity Institute in Edgecombe County Seth Saeugling
Summary: As we get closer to our November 27 Forum called ReCONNECT to Community, we wanted to give you a preview of how citizens are...
Episode 97: First in Future: President of the Student Advisory Board at the Institute of Politics, UNC-Chapel Hill Lucy Russell
Summary: In 2015, the Institute for Emerging Issues found that young people aged 18-29 are less likely to volunteer, give money, participate in groups or...
Episode 96: First in Future: Associate Vice Chancellor for community engagement at East Carolina University Sharon Paynter
Summary: Universities often serve three main roles in society: teaching, researching and engagement (a fancy word for service.) A huge part of community engagement is...
Episode 95: First in Future: Senior Policy Specialist Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA Scott Marlow
Summary: Hurricane Florence really couldn’t have come at a worse time or in a worse way for farmers in southeastern North Carolina. Many farmers were...
Episode 94: First in Future: VP of Partner Services and Public Policy Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC Earline Middleton
Summary: Hurricane Florence has been felt with 1100 roads closed, grocery stores running out of food and farmers loosing their crops and many local food...
Episode 93: First in Future: NCSU Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Co-Director for Coastal Dynamics Design Lab Andrew Fox
Summary: This week, our guest isn’t just a community builder, he’s also a community listener. We talk with Andy Fox, a landscape architect from NC...
Episode 92: First in Future: Tryon International Equestrian Center COO Sharon Decker
Summary: What does one do after leaving the job of top salesperson for an entire state? For Sharon Decker, that doesn’t mean retirement. After serving as Secretary of Commerce...
Episode 91: First in Future: President and CEO of Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Elizabeth Brazas
Summary: Here is a fact, North Carolina citizens are getting older. Currently, there are about 1.6 million citizens who are over 65. Over the next 20...
Episode 89: First in Future: Founder of Kinston Teens Chris Suggs
Summary: Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t...
Episode 88: First in Future: Editorial Strategy Director at The College Board Eric Johnson – Back to School
Summary: This week thousands of freshmen enter college in hopes that in four years they emerge with more knowledge and maturity and a deep substantive understanding...
Episode 87: First in Future: CEO and editor-in-chief of EducationNC Mebane Rash
Summary: The words “public policy” conjure up images in the mind of legislative or municipal hearings or cubes of bureaucrats, but this week’s guest want to...
Episode 86: First in Future: Founder of Highland Brewing Company Oscar Wong – Western NC Week
Summary: In honor of our upcoming forum on civic engagement, ReCONNECT to Community, being held Sept. 17 in beautiful, scenic Asheville, we’re doing something special. This...
Episode 85: First in Future: Mayor of Canton, NC Zeb Smathers – Western NC Week
Summary: In honor of our upcoming forum on civic engagement, ReCONNECT to Community, being held Sept. 17 in beautiful, scenic Asheville, we’re doing something special. This...
Episode 84: First in Future: Executive Director of Community Engagement at UNC Asheville Darin Waters- Western NC Week
Summary: In honor of our upcoming forum on civic engagement, ReCONNECT to Community, being held Sept. 17 in beautiful, scenic Asheville, we’re doing something special. This...
Episode 83: First in Future: President and CEO of Mission Health Dr. Ron Paulus – Western NC Week
Summary: In honor of our upcoming forum on civic engagement, ReCONNECT to Community, being held Sept. 17 in beautiful, scenic Asheville, we’re doing something special. This...
Episode 82: First in Future: President and CEO of Asheville Chamber of Commerce Kit Cramer – Western NC Week
Summary: In honor of our upcoming forum on civic engagement, ReCONNECT to Community, being held Sept. 17 in beautiful, scenic Asheville, we’re doing something special. This...
Episode 80: First in Future: President and CEO of Biltmore Farms Jack Cecil – Western NC Week
Summary: The Asheville of today is a many-splendored thing. It’s appeared on numerous “Best of” lists and received countless titles – like “One of the Best...
Episode 79: First in Future: Founder and CEO of the Listen First Project Pearce Godwin
Summary: Just listen to someone else. Hear what they are saying. Recognize that other people see things from a different angle, and it changes the way...
Episode 78: First in Future: Chancellor of University of North Carolina at Pembroke Dr. Robin Cummings
Summary: Just think about the impact on southeastern North Carolina of a place like UNC Pembroke—an institution originally built to train Native Americans teachers and nurses,...
Episode 77: First in Future: Senior Vice President of North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives Nelle Hotchkiss
Summary: In the 90s, it was recommended that every resident state should have access to affordable high-speed internet. General thinking was that with broadband speeds...
Episode 76: First in Future: Executive Director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Mo Green
Summary: This week’s First in Future guest was a New York born, Georgia raised and Duke educated law clerk, and former school superintendent who’s now the...
Episode 75: First in Future: Senior Fellow, NC Institute of Minority Economic Development Andrea Harris
Summary: This week’s First in Future guest, Andrea Harris, is the Senior Fellow at NC Institute of Minority Economic Development. The past 50 years she’s been...
Episode 74: First in Future: Secretary of North Carolina Department of Military & Veterans Affairs Larry Hall
Summary: In honor of Independence Day, July 4th, First in Future’s guest is the secretary of North Carolina Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, Larry Hall....
Episode 73: First in Future: Co- Director of the New Leaders Council of North Carolina Michael Cooper
Summary: A scene is repeated in cities across the state, this company leaves, that plant closes or fails, and it rocks the town to it’s core....
Episode 72: First in Future: Executive Director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina Keith Poston
Summary: What do you think about public schools? Do teachers get paid enough? Are there too many administrators? Do we test students too much? Not enough?...
Episode 71: First in Future: President and CEO of Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Elizabeth Brazas
Summary: Here is a fact, North Carolina citizens are getting older. Currently, there are about 1.6 million citizens who are over 65. Over the next 20...
Episode 70: First in Future: Director of The Shelton Leadership Center at NC State University Barbara Mulkey
Summary: In order to lead people, a leader must know what they think and why and then “bake” that into the culture of their organization—at...
Episode 69: First in Future: Four-time High School Chess Champion Emmanuel Carter
Summary: Imaging how strange it must be to walk down the halls of your high school, the best in the state at something, and nobody...
Episode 68: First in Future: Head of Rural Initiative for UNC School of Medicine Dr. Robert Bashford
Summary: Seventy out of eighty rural North Carolina counties are described as “medical deserts”, meaning they have no primary care doctors. Finding solutions to rural...
First in Future: NC State Vice Provost Dr. Warwick Arden
Summary: How many of you are doing what you thought you would be when you graduated? That is a question that our guest asks when...
Episode 66: First in Future: Jessica Hong, DECA President at Apex Friendship High School
Summary: This week, we talk to Jessica Hong, a junior at Apex Friendship High School and president of her school’s DECA club, an organization that...
Episode 65: First in Future: NC State linguistics professor Walt Wolfram
Summary: If you make judgements about someone based on what they are wearing or how their hair looks or how they talk, you have an...
Episode 64: First in Future: Carolina Demography Founding Director Rebecca Tippett
Summary: Sometimes we try to avoid looking forward, almost like if we ignore the pending changes, they won’t happen. The state’s population is growing and...
Episode 63: First in Future: North Carolina State Senators Jay Chaudhuri and Danny Britt
Summary: A recent survey showed that only a third of millennials consider public service an appropriate career track. A group of young NC legislators want...
Episode 62: First in Future: North Carolina State Treasure Dale Folwell
Summary: “Tell the truth, do the right thing, and let the chips fall where they may.” Those are the words that motivate North Carolina State...
Episode 61: First in Future: Duke Energy Stakeholder Philanthropy Manager Amy Strecker
Summary: In this week’s First in Future, Institute for Emerging Issues Director Leslie Boney talks to Amy Strecker, the stakeholder philanthropy manager for Duke Energy,...
Episode 60: First in Future: NC Spin Host Tom Campbell
Summary: North Carolinians are good people, strong people, people who want to do the right thing, even if it involves debate. Tom Campbell, the host of...
Episode 59: First in Future: Professor at NCSU College of Engineering Larry Silverberg (March Madness Special)
Summary: It’s the middle of March, which means it is time to talk about . . . mechanical and aerospace engineering, and March Madness. The “Sweet...
Episode 58: First in Future: Rural Economic Development Center Board Chair Grant Godwin (Season 2 Premier)
Summary: First in Future begins it’s second season today. Want to know how rural North Carolina’s doing these days? Well, here’s a statistic to think...
Episode 57: First in Future: Transylvania County Commissioner Page Lemel
Summary: Next month the Institute for Emerging Issues will be launching KidsReadyNC, a four-county Tier 1 and Tier 2 focus on early childhood education.This initiative is an...
Episode 56: First in Future: Read Charlotte Executive Director Munro Richardson (Toss-back)
Summary: This week we wanted to revisit our conversation with Read Charlotte Executive Director Munro Richardson and his approach to tackling the goal of doubling...
Episode 55: First in Future: William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations CEO Abdul Rasheed (Toss-back)
Summary: A few months ago, we heard from Abdul Rasheed, CEO of theWilliam C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations, on how to make a difference in...
Episode 54: First in Future: Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina Chair Frank Emory (Toss-back)
Summary: Frank Emory, of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, sat down with us in the summer of 2017 for us to discover many insights, such...
Episode 53: First in Future: Carolina Journal Editor John Hood
Summary: If you’re looking for someone to give you a thorough political summary on the political history of North Carolina and where the Old North State...
Episode 52: First in Future: Duke Endowment President Rhett Mabry
Summary: Well before his passing, James. B. Duke already had a vision for his philanthropic legacy, and he created the Duke Endowment with specific issues...
Episode 51: First in Future: Duke Sanford School of Public Policy Professor Ken Dodge
Summary: Did North Carolina’s investments in pre-kindergarten programs like SmartStart make a difference for our state’s children? How long did the effects last? Did they...
Episode 50: First in Future: UNC-TV Director of Children’s Media and Educational Service Joy Potts
Summary: Over the 31 years of the Emerging Issue Forum, we have had CEOs, governors, and presidents as speakers. The first time ever, we have booked...
Episode 49: First in Future: East Durham Children’s Initiative President & CEO David Reese
Summary: If you are talking to the smartest people in the state, you have to talk to David Reese. He’s figured out how to deliver a...
Episode 48: First in Future: Former Governor James B. Hunt (Part 2)
Summary: As we move into the new year, we sat down with former Governor Jim Hunt to try to exact some of what he has...
Episode 47: First in Future: Former Governor James B. Hunt (Part1)
Summary: Through out his long service to the state, even former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt’s opponents admit that he was a man perfectly suited...
Episode 46: First in Future: Holiday Tree Economics with Mike Walden and Tommy Burleson
Summary: The use of the evergreen trees to symbolize the arrival of winter goes back well beyond 2000 years. But over time they came to...
Episode 45: First in Future: GES Center Co-Director Jennifer Kuzma
Summary: What should we be learning – or having our kids learn – to get them ready for the future? Should we be preparing students with...
Episode 44: First in Future: Golden LEAF Foundation President Dan Gerlach
Summary: In the late 1990’s, North Carolina leaders did something remarkable. As part of the national settlement agreement with tobacco companies, North Carolina was projected...
Episode 43: First in Future: Center for Creative Economy Executive Director Margaret Collins
Summary: What sector of North Carolina’s economy is comprised of 380,000 people, pays $16 billion in wages each year, and generates another $200 million in...
Episode 42: First in Future: NC Department of Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler
Summary: This week’s podcast promotes domestic harmony. You’ll be able to use what you hear around the table to change the subject if one of...
Episode 41: First in Future: Leadership North Carolina President Brian Etheridge
Summary: Brian Etheridge, the president of Leadership North Carolina, each year finds a new crop of 50-some individuals from business, nonprofits, education and government and...
Episode 40: First in Future: Reborn Clothing Co. Co-Founder Emily Neville
Summary: Next week marks the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week – seven days celebrated around the world, with events designed to recognize and encourage more...
Episode 39: First in Future: SEPI Engineering & Construction, Inc. President & CEO, Sepi Saidi
Summary: A couple of weeks ago I went to the Southeast Raleigh Innovation Challenge, a pitch competition designed to get more people thinking about a...
Episode 38: First in Future: Plexus Capital Co-Founder and Partner, Kel Landis
Summary: If you were looking to identify a poster child for citizenship, you could do a lot worse than Kel Landis, co-founder and partner at...
Episode 37: First in Future: NC League of Municipalities’ “Municipal Equations” Host Ben Brown
Summary: When solving big problems, local folks are the canaries in the coalmine – they are likely to notice a problem before anyone else, and more...
Episode 36: First in Future: The N.C. Rural Center President Patrick Woodie
Summary: In the late 1990’s, I worked on a project called the North Carolina Rural Prosperity Task Force. The idea was to develop a series...
Episode 35: First in Future: RTI International President and CEO Wayne Holden
Summary: From the beginning, it was a romantic idea. In 1954, a building contractor named Romeo got together with North Carolina’s state treasurer and a...
Episode 34: First in Future: Entrepreneur, Sift Founder and CEO Jud Bowman
Summary: The old joke about economic developers is that they like to be buffalo hunters; they are always looking for a giant beast of a...
Episode 33: First in Future: Envested Founder and CEO Isa Watson
Summary: If you are a nonprofit wondering how to raise money more effectively, this episode is for you. If you are a business trying to...
Episode 32: First in Future: NC State University Dean for College of Education Dr. Mary Ann Danowitz
Summary: The hardest job I’ve had in my life was my first job out of college. I worked regular 80-90 hour weeks – 106 was...
Episode 31: First in Future: NC State University Professor and Economist Mike Walden
Summary: A couple of years ago, the Institute for Emerging Issues took on a challenging topic: what will all of us be doing for work...
Episode 30: First in Future: Jamie Kirk Hahn Foundation Board President and Co-Founder Nation Hahn
Summary: Today’s show starts in an unusual place. With a question: why do bad things happen to good people? The writers of the Bible were...
Episode 29: First in Future: Conetoe Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Rev. Richard Joyner
Summary: It is the middle of August, and ridiculously hot these days. It’s the time of year Reverend Richard Joyner hated, growing up in Pitt...
Episode 28: First in Future: North Carolina State University Chancellor Randy Woodson
Summary: Tomorrow, about 34,000 students, 2,300 faculty and 6,700 staff will run into each other at North Carolina State University, the start of another year...
Episode 27: First in Future: North Carolina Community Foundation President & CEO Jennifer Tolle Whiteside
Summary: Why is it that anybody gives something to someone else? Today’s guest, Jennifer Tolle Whiteside, has asked herself that question more than maybe anyone...
Episode 26: First in Future: Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina Chair Frank Emory
Summary: Three years ago, the state of North Carolina launched a new approach to economic development. Essentially, we bet that we would have a better...
Episode 25: First in Future: North Carolina Community College System President James “Jimmie” Williamson
Summary: Across the state, North Carolina’s community colleges pop up like beautifully spaced dots on a map, and if you put all 58 of them—plus...
Episode 24: First in Future: William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations CEO Abdul Rasheed
Summary: Why is it that some communities take off, and others, even if they appear to have the same kinds of assets, don’t. Today’s guest...
Episode 23: First in Future: NCSU Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Co-Director for Coastal Dynamics Design Lab Andrew Fox
Summary: This week, our guest isn’t just a community builder, he’s also a community listener. We talk with Andy Fox, a landscape architect from NC...
Episode 22: First in Future: Immigrant. Entrepreneur. Citizen. Redress Raleigh Co-founder Mor Aframian
Summary: For most of us listening, becoming a citizen was an involuntary act—we were born here, so we were citizens. But, for about 750,000 people...
Episode 21: First in Future: James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal President Jenna Robinson
Summary: If you had to pick out the most outspoken critic of higher education in North Carolina, it wouldn’t take you long to find the...
Episode 20: First in Future: Read Charlotte Executive Director Munro Richardson
Summary: A few years ago, some people in Charlotte got ticked off by a number – 39. Just 39 percent of third graders in Charlotte...
Episode 19: First in Future: City of Wilson Chief Planning and Development Officer Rodger Lentz, with IEI Policy Manager Sarah Langer Hall
Summary: At the Emerging Issues Forum on Innovation a couple of years ago, one of the clear findings was that outside of the Triangle and...
Episode 18: First in Future: Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust President Dr. Laura Gerald
Summary: On the one hand, who could have predicted it? Laura Gerald grew up in Robeson County, went to Harvard and Johns Hopkins for her...
Episode 15 | Part 2: First in Future: Biltmore Farms, LLC President Jack Cecil (Pt. 2)
Episode 15 | Part 1: First in Future: Biltmore Farms, LLC President Jack Cecil (Pt. 1)
