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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

Koch grew up in Jacksonville, went to high school in Durham, got three degrees from NC State, and is now going to be the first woman to orbit the moon. Here's the long road that led her there. Produced by Jeremy Markovich & James Mieczkowski Some audio provided by: Houston, We Have A Podcast. Music in this episode: Closing Song: Dream Big, by Beau James (Greensboro) Special Thanks: NASA-TV This episode was originally produced as an episode of Our State's Away Message podcast in July 2019.

Jeremy Markovich and journalist Ben McNeely investigate Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson's brutal mispronunciation of "Raleigh," and play a game in which we award points based on how badly people are butchering the names of places of North Carolina. Conetoe! Ahoskie! Cherryville! Do you know how to say them? Maybe? Find this story (and more like it) by subscribing to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole Newsletter: ncrabbithole.com

Generations ago, leaders thought local elections should be protected from state and national issues. We're still dealing with the effects of that thinking today. Find this story (and more like it) by subscribing to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole Newsletter: ncrabbithole.com

The North Carolina Rabbit Hole's Jeremy Markovich and Outer Banks journalist Sam Walker talk about the collapses of oceanfront homes on the Outer Banks over the last month. What caused them? Why is this happening now? Why don't people just tear then down first? Who cleans them up? Read more from Sam Walker at samwalkerobxnews.com Get more perspective from Joy Crist at the Island Free Press at islandfreepress.org Find this story (and more like it) by subscribing to the North Carolina Rabbit Hole Newsletter: ncrabbithole.com

On September 11, 2001, Brett Sheats was a recent graduate from Wake Forest, had just been commissioned into the Army, and was working in the campus ROTC office. On that day, he heard someone say a single sentence that was "the most incredible thing I have ever heard a human being say." Later, in Afghanistan, he'd put that sentence, and the story that went with it, to good use. In this episode, Brett tells his story, and he and Jeremy discuss the nature of strange moments that happen during scary times. Past that, it's best if you don't know much than that before you listen. This story originally appeared in the North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter. Subscribe here! It's free if you want it to be. Here's Brett's original story, via Reddit. Here's its original appearance on the Shutdown Fullcast.

Last week, a lawyer dangled a baggie of cannabis in front of the North Carolina Supreme Court and dared the cops to arrest him. How did he get away with that? Today, we bring you a short story about the smell of weed, the state of pot in North Carolina, and why so many products somehow are able to hint that they'll get you high, legally.

UNC and Bowling Green are polar opposites, yet they both share a weird fight song. Why? Blame a man who the CIA drugged with LSD, wrote lots of erotic novels, and sang a song that makes no sense. This episode is based on a story from the North Carolina Rabbit Hole titled "Sex, Drugs, and Ay Ziggy Zoomba," and was recorded on the Ovies & Giglio Podcast on September 11, 2025. Learn more about the North Carolina Rabbit Hole and sign up for our weekly newsletter at ncrabbithole.com.