Anita Rao

6 days ago | wunc.org | Audrey Smith |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

American men are in a friendship recession. Compared to a few decades ago, five times as many men have no close friends. So what’s going on? Anita talks with Mark Pagán, creator and host of the podcast Other Men Need Help, about what makes close friendships among men so fraught — and what we can do about it. They talk about everything from why Mark loves secret handshakes to his ongoing journey of making himself say the hard stuff out loud.

2 weeks ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

Ever since Kate Downey got her first extremely painful period at age 14, every month feels like playing Russian roulette with her uterus. Will she get “normal” abdominal discomfort — or excruciating, life-disrupting “death cramps”? “ You don't know if you're gonna spend six hours in the bathroom throwing up every ten minutes and passing out, or if you're gonna be able to go about your normal life,” Kate said.

Jan 21, 2025 | wunc.org | Anita Rao

At 37 years old, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall is the youngest person to hold that position in 200 years, writes Jim Morrill in a recent article for The Assembly. WUNC's Anita Rao talks with Morrill, a former political reporter for The Charlotte Observer, about Rep. Hall's early years in Caldwell County and his legislative priorities for the current session.

Feb 9, 2024 | wunc.org | Anita Rao

AI chatbots garner millions of daily users, filling a variety of roles from customer support to text generator. But what about their romantic potential?

Dec 7, 2023 | wunc.org | Anita Rao

Legendary singer-songwriter John Prine is best known for writing "Angel from Montgomery," "Sam Stone," and "Paradise." His musical career began humbly in the late 1960s while he was still working as a mailman in Illinois. Five decades later, Prine is a Nashville icon who has won a litany of awards, including two Grammys and a lifetime achievement award for songwriting from the Americana Music Association.