How about some good news? Everywhere I looked, western NC's Christmas tree farmers are feeling optimistic, after Helene damaged thousands of trees in 2024. www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4p7...

🤑 7 reasons why everything’s too expensive right now, and one reason for why giving to others is more important than ever. Like actually, truly, life-savingly important. cardinalpine.com/2025/12/03/7...

I despise forced gratitude. This isn't that. But I want to talk about something I saw this month that's making me give thanks for the people of the South. (link in thread) Every Tuesday, I'm writing about the South for free at The Living South.

For 4 days from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, the “We Ain’t Buying It” movement wants Americans to avoid shopping at Amazon, Home Depot, and Target. Here's what to know. 👇

The first thing Border Patrol agents asked 18-year-old Fernando Vazquez was “Where are you from?” Read how a U.S. citizen in Cary was handcuffed and detained amid the immigration crackdown in North Carolina:

Important thread alert, NC. Keep reading. 👇 Border Patrol says they’re targeting “the worst of the worst.” But the News and Observer reports that a woman they arrested in Raleigh, Fatima Issela Velasquez-Antonio, is 23, a high school graduate, a homeowner, with two traffic violations on her record.

(Share) Every Tuesday, I'm publishing my take on something important in the South at The Living South. This week, the topic was obvious. Whatever their intentions, ICE and Border Patrol agents are acting less like cops and more like white terrorist groups. www.thelivingsouth.com/the-south-bo...

I wrote about the feds coming to Charlotte 👇 Trump has been exposed for what he is: a false populist, lifted to the White House by working-class voters he doesn’t appear to care about. The Border Patrol invasions are meant to distract voters from these truths. www.ms.now/opinion/msnb...

One of the many problems spinning out of the decimation of local media: Political coverage is dominated by national storylines. Bet you a $100 more liberals in NC know Zohran Mamdani more than they know the Democrats who won in NC.

Well, that’s a new one.

On Sunday night, seven Democrats and one independent made everyone forget for a minute that the least popular person in America is President Trump.

One more thing: The SNAP freeze isn't JUST about the shutdown. This year's Republican budget bill—the "Big, Beautiful Bill"—included a $186B cut to SNAP. It was one of many programs, including Medicaid, that got budget reductions to pay for Republican tax cuts. www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2gu...

Putting on my education reporter hat (I did that for a long time 😅): Early childhood ed is the game. You take it out and the pieces break down, not just for the children but for the parents too.

It's not who you think.

In March 1965, eight days after police beat votings rights activists senseless on Alabama's Pettus Bridge, a reluctant President Lyndon Johnson told Congress there was a new legislative priority: Protecting voting rights. Keep reading. This is important today. 👇 www.lbjlibrary.org/object/video...

👋 Every Tuesday, I'm writing about the South. I don't do paywalls, so sign-up is free. Please share. This week, I wrote about the single most important bill of the 20th century, and what we have to do to save it. www.thelivingsouth.com/saving-the-v...

Springsteen's most popular album could be a concept album about today, with the irony that the alienated, working-class men he sang to have adopted fascism as an ethos. This album was about complicated patriotism. People still don't get it. www.thelivingsouth.com/why-born-in-...

In North Carolina, because of gerrymandering, you could argue we're not even a democracy anymore, but we're not powerless to stop it. Here's the latest "Billy Ball Explains NC." Please share 👏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5fS...

The name on this is mine, but this stuff is a team effort. It takes a lot of work from editor Kim Lawson, graphic designer Desirée Tapia, video editor Melanie Duran, and a lot of eyes and ears to tell me what works and what doesn't. 2nd "Billy Ball Explains NC" 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5p_...

Full video 👇 Make sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLQh...

Who TF is Billy Ball (@billyball.bsky.social) and why is he trying to explain North Carolina? 🔥 For the full video series, click the 🔗 in the thread below.

"Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them." www.propublica.org/article/immi...

In September, following the killing of Charlie Kirk, I wrote about the way social media has broken political dialogue in the US, and what we can actually do about it. Recently, I appeared on Spectrum News 1 NC's "Capitol Tonight" to talk about it. www.thelivingsouth.com/video-how-to...

Important 🧵, North Carolina, please share 🙏 👨🏽‍⚕️⚕️Former NC Gov. Roy Cooper unveiled a first-of-its-kind program in 2024 that, as of today, has wiped out $6.5 billion in medical debt, state leaders say. Keep reading the thread to find out what to know. 👇

Important 🧵 alert, please share: An impasse among GOP leaders in the General Assembly has delayed passage of a formal budget and caused a Medicaid $$ shortfall, but NC GOP lawmakers say their priority when they return next week will be keeping Republicans in power in Washington in 2026. More 👇

Don’t have time to read? 👂 Listen to the incredible story of K-pop, an emerging K-pop star from the South, and, of course, “K-pop Demon Hunters” at the 🔗 below 👇 www.thelivingsouth.com/audio-nathan...

Sixteen school districts in NC have no full-time psychologists, including three counties in WNC: Cherokee, Mitchell and McDowell. Avery and Madison counties only have one full-time psychologist each, @blueridgepublic.bsky.social reports. www.bpr.org/education/20...

For my free, solo gig, instead of taking the bait and focusing on who's to blame, I wrote about who has more skin in the game. Spoiler alert: It's the South. By a lot. www.thelivingsouth.com/the-federal-...

#Breaking in North Carolina: North Carolina Democratic leaders have called on state Rep. Cecil Brockman to “resign immediately,” after news broke on Thursday that he’d been arrested and charged with raping a 15-year-old. cardinalpine.com/2025/10/09/n...

The federal government shut down last week, and though it may take time to see the worst effects, time is ticking. If the gov't doesn’t open in the next two weeks, a major federal program that helps mothers provide their young children nutritious food, could run out of money. Keep reading 👇

A kid from Arkansas and two North Korean defectors make up a new K-pop group with a remarkable origin story. 👇 My latest at The Living South. www.thelivingsouth.com/nathan-kouso...

Hi y'all, we're rebooting "BB Explains NC." The goal is to make a difference over on YouTube, which is a male-dominated space for a lot of right-wing points of view and flat-out bad information. Go follow @cardinalandpine.bsky.social there and watch my latest. 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNGg...

Dallas Woodhouse, who led the state GOP from 2015 to 2019, will serve as the election liaison in Auditor Dave Boliek’s office.

"American media reported on the social media reaction to Iryna Zarutska and then social media responded to the reporting and then media reported on the reaction to the reporting on the reaction and we're all a little dumber now." My latest. Sign-up is free. 👇 www.thelivingsouth.com/iryna-zaruts...

My latest: In 21st century America, our politicians take their cues from social media, and not the other way around. It's made debate more performative, less nuanced, and much, much dumber. The right-wing debate around Iryna Zarutska is a perfect example. 👉 www.thelivingsouth.com/iryna-zaruts...

The state will cut Medicaid reimbursement rates on Oct. 1 without additional funding, and though the General Assembly unanimously passed two separate bills to try and solve the problem, Republican infighting derailed the effort. Click 👇 cardinalpine.com/2025/09/24/h...

Take a trip to Mayberry, race a wooly worm, or hit up the rodeos at Benson's Mule Days. Here are eight of our favorite autumn festivals in North Carolina. 🔗 below to read. cardinalpine.com/2025/09/22/m...

Most of us know bone-deep that there is something wrong with social media. I wrote about what we can do about it recently for my pet project, The Living South (link in the thread), and tonight, I'm on Spectrum News' "Capital Tonight" talking about it. Show airs at 7 pm.

This is the White House using regulatory power to pressure a company into removing someone (Jimmy Kimmel) because they don't like what they said. There's been a big pushback against people referring to Trump and his allies as "fascists" but this is textbook. www.vox.com/politics/461...

There is a problem with the left's rhetoric. And there is a problem with the right's rhetoric. And folks needs to drop the "one side is worse than the other" mess because it's: 1. Not true. 2. Not helpful. Full stop.

Social media, the way it is constructed in 2025, is malignant. It is a civilizational succubus, a meta-sized Munchausen's syndrome, the guardian who gives you a spoonful of poison every day to keep you sick. But there is a solution. Google "Section 230." www.thelivingsouth.com/the-case-for...

This weekend, I thought about a lot of things and wrote about it. One of the few things left and right can agree on right now is that we're being played by social media companies. There is a solution. 🔗 below. www.thelivingsouth.com/the-case-for...

WATCH: Some advice from Senior Editor Billy Ball (@billyball.bsky.social) in this dark moment for American politics. 🇺🇸 For Billy's daily breakdowns of North Carolina news, sign up for Cardinal & Pine's free, award-winning newsletter at the 🔗 below. cardinalpine.com/newsletter/

Human life is precious. What happened to Charlie Kirk, however you feel about him, is sickening. We have to solve our problems any other way but this.

Senior Editor @billyball.bsky.social caught the 15th anny of Hopscotch, a sprawling music fest in Raleigh. It featured lots of NC artists like Blue Cactus (below). In today's newsletter, he wrote about why these artists, and this festival, show our state's eclecticism and resilience. 🔗 in thread.

In 2024, I wrote a lot and went on tv talking about the lies Trump was telling about disaster relief in western NC after Helene. Some time has passed and a few things are clear. I wrote about them @cardinalandpine.bsky.social. Click and pls share 👇 cardinalpine.com/opinion/opin...

Always wanted to see these guys. ❤️ cardinalpine.com/2025/08/29/g...

Some days, I just feel done with it. With journalism, with politics, with the whole thing.

Important thread alert: We need our media to meet the moment. This story from WCNC in Charlotte, which reads like a re-written press release from the Trump administration, leaves out the context that federal officials have funded just a small percentage of Helene recovery in western NC.

Unsolicited thought: In journalism, having diverse sources, panels, and editorial leadership isn’t a function of wokeness or any trend or social moment. It’s a function of good journalism. You simply can’t do as good a job with a homogeneous newsroom.