When the AC died at Courtney Bowman's Raleigh Cheesy shop during the summer heat, she did something that required real courage - she got vulnerable on Instagram. No script, no polish, just honest desperation. The community's response was immediate and overwhelming: over $15,000 in orders within days. Meanwhile, Jared Haworth of Lightship Neon is fighting Raleigh's 1970s signage rules that keep creative neon signs from adding personality to our neighborhoods. His hot-pink neon chicken at Little Rey doesn't just advertise - it winks at you, saying "something good is happening here." Both stories ask the same question: What happens when we let people see who we really are? From struggling businesses to city character, these Wake County stories show that authenticity creates stronger community bonds than polished perfection. Sometimes the best moments happen when we stop hiding and let our real selves - and our neighborhoods - glow.

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When the same Raleigh rideshare trip costs $14 on one app and $84 on another, you know something's broken. Steve explores how algorithmic pricing is turning getting home into a high-stakes gamble, then discovers a local Wake County startup using AI to actually make government services work better for residents. From surge pricing mysteries to multilingual government support, these overlooked stories reveal what happens when technology gets too smart—and when it gets smart in the right direction.

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Two strangers. Two different places. But the same decision — to show up when no one was watching.

In Raleigh, a retired Enloe High School theater teacher named Koko Thornton just won a national award, thanks to a former student who decided she deserved recognition. For 24 years, Thornton focused not just on theater skills but on helping students "see their own potential inside of them." Connor Kruger, now studying acting at USC, nominated his former teacher for the 2025 Inspiring Teacher Award at the Jimmy Awards.

Meanwhile, on a Nebraska highway, a pregnant woman made a split-second decision to help a stranger whose pickup truck caught fire. She was hospitalized after being overcome by smoke and heat, but her instinct to help rather than drive past reveals something worth noting about human nature.

Both stories share the same thread: people who see what needs doing and just do it, whether it's recognizing potential in students for decades or stopping to help someone in danger on a Sunday afternoon. Plus, a skeleton joke that might shake you to your bones.

Good Morning Wake County brings you authentic conversations about overlooked stories that matter, delivered from Wake Forest, North Carolina, for people who want to know what's really happening without being told how to feel about it.

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You ever have that moment where your brain blanks and your body just moves? Today we've got two stories about exactly that kind of decision-making.

First: Eddie Hunnell, a 57-year-old software engineer from Holly Springs, was at his son's wedding rehearsal when Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina. When he saw 66-year-old Leslie Worth swept into the flooded North Fork New River, his Plan A with a canoe didn't work. So he jumped in himself. Now he's receiving the Carnegie Medal—North America's highest honor for civilian heroism.

Then: Sydney commuters are discovering that sharing their morning ferry rides with 40,000 migrating humpback whales is just part of life now. These school bus-sized creatures are turning one of the world's busiest harbors into the gentlest traffic jam you've ever seen. It's a conservation success story happening in real-time, complete with whales who seem genuinely curious about the humans they're meeting.

Both stories reveal something about what happens when the unexpected shows up and people—or whales—decide to engage instead of look away.

Plus: a dad joke that might actually make you groan out loud.

From Wake Forest, North Carolina, this is Good Morning Wake County—where we find stories that remind you what's possible when ordinary people decide to jump in.

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James Watson, 64, bought his first home in Southeast Raleigh for $850/month through a housing model most people have never heard of. Steve discovers how Community Land Trusts work, why a former real estate developer had no idea they existed, and the surprising origins that make it all possible.

Learn exactly how James saved 22% below market value and why this 50-year-old solution feels revolutionary in 2025.

Plus: a dad joke about getting tired.

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EPISODE DESCRIPTION:

This episode explores two remarkable examples of human problem-solving under impossible constraints. At the University of Alabama, Dr. Jalai Wang and the engineering team have developed a revolutionary process to transform potato skins and agricultural waste into sustainable construction materials, capturing carbon while reducing cement emissions. The $6 million National Science Foundation project involves collaboration with researchers from the University of Idaho and the University of New Mexico, combining fermentation technology with large-scale 3D printing to create metamaterials with properties not found in nature.

The second story examines the extraordinary endurance required for B-2 bomber missions lasting up to 44 hours. Captain Mike Haffner from the 13th Bomb Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri details the planning and physical demands pilots face during these extended flights. Lieutenant General Steve Basham, who flew B-2s for nine years before retiring as deputy commander of U.S. European Command, shares insights about nutrition and sleep management in cramped cockpit conditions. The episode reveals how crews adapt commercial solutions like Walmart cots and rely on flight surgeons' expertise to maintain peak performance over marathon missions.

Both stories demonstrate how professionals excel when working within seemingly impossible limitations - whether solving climate change with kitchen scraps or maintaining combat readiness during multi-day flights.

Join our community at https://tapyournews.com/podcast for show reminders and to suggest stories you think we should cover. The best reporting often starts with neighbors who know where to look.

A Florida surgeon performs the first FDA-approved transcontinental robotic surgery on a patient in Angola, Africa, an Indiana good Samaritan stops a drunk driver with a potentially fatal BAC of .40, and UK researchers develop tiny robots that could revolutionize water infrastructure maintenance. Steve explores three stories about intervention, medical, personal, and technological, that show how the most important work often happens where we can't see it.

Join our community at https://tapyournews.com/podcast for show reminders and to suggest stories you think we should cover. The best reporting often starts with neighbors who know where to look.

Three overlooked stories worth knowing: A Cary nuclear engineer's true impact had nothing to do with his PhD or judicial career, Australian engineers copied 400-million-year-old shark skin to save airlines billions in fuel costs, and why your plumber has more job security than corporate executives in the AI age. Featuring Jeff Jeffries' mentorship approach that touched "numerous men," MicroTau's biomimicry breakthrough saving 4% fuel per flight, and Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison's honest assessment of which jobs AI can't replace. Real stories from Wake Forest, North Carolina about what actually lasts versus what we think matters.

Join our community at https://tapyournews.com/podcast for show reminders and to suggest stories you think we should cover. The best reporting often starts with neighbors who know where to look.