In this week’s episode, we visited Down Home North Carolina, a non-profit organization that builds rural, multiracial and working-class power across the state through local campaigning and community organizing.

Guests:

Taí Coates-Wedde, Director of Communications at Down Home North Carolina

Jon Council, western North Carolina regional campaigner at Down Home North Carolina

Voices:

Tatiana Jones, operations manager at Down Home North Carolina

Emily Miller, Down Home North Carolina member and Guilford County organizer

Kate Daley, health justice campaigner at Down Home North Carolina

Todd Warren, statewide campaign strategist at Down Home North Carolina

In our first episode, we ask: Who gets to shape the stories that define rural communities?

Welcome to Rural Narratives, a new podcast about public health in North Carolina’s rural communities. In this series, storytelling isn’t just about the news — it’s a way to listen, learn, and understand how meaning is made.

We speak with:

• Dee Davis, President of the Center for Rural Strategies

• Makani Themba, Chief Strategist of Higher Ground Change Strategies

• Mik Moore, CEO of Moore + Associates

Together, they explore how dominant narratives take shape, how culture influences politics, and why trust in public health begins with who controls the story.