Recently, I talked to the Asheville Watchdog about the right-wing site set up to impersonate Cardinal & Pine. (🔗 below) Don't be fooled if "Pine & Cardinal" pops up in your feed. We're us and they're, well, whatever the hell they are. avlwatchdog.org/pink-slime-j...

Pink-slime journalism comes to North Carolina’s Senate race • Asheville Watchdog

Let’s start with the term “pink-slime journalism,” political propaganda dressed up to look like local news. Now add the term “dark money,” secretive campaign donations from the ultrarich to politician...

avlwatchdog.org

In a new Billy Ball Explains NC for Cardinal & Pine (🔗 in thread), we talked about being a theater kid, sitcom families (remember "TGIF"), and the breakneck speed of the news. Helfrich had a lot to say about feeling overwhelmed and trying to be a "human" connection to politics through it all.

One of the most relentlessly curious/deflating things about my work is the DMs and texts from MAGA family members of mine telling me that I’m incompetent, mentally ill, or ignorant. Any other folks in this business got something like that?

Recently, the NC GOP posted an AI-generated image of Roy Cooper in a Bernie Sanders T-shirt. In a new Billy Ball Explains NC, we fact-check them and explain why Republicans are trying to create a "red scare" where there isn't one in North Carolina. Tap below 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK46...

What's a Democratic Socialist? Are they communists? And are they really taking over the Democratic Party in North Carolina? Share this new Billy Ball Explains NC from @cardinalandpine.bsky.social and help spread good information. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK46...

Why Republicans are calling NC Democrats ‘socialists’

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

It's believed to be the first time immigration police conducted a raid in one of NC's national forests. So what does this mean? 👇

Cardinal and Pine@cardinalandpine.bsky.social · 2w ago

ICE came to a popular swimming hole in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest. Here's what happened next, and why it matters. The latest from @billyball.bsky.social 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8zl...

North Carolina teachers are FINALLY getting a raise, but there's a big catch. At Cardinal & Pine, we broke it down in a new Billy Ball Explains NC + plus the big picture for public schools now that the budget is final. Watch it 👉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM9h...

People in 49 states know much, much more about a candidate in Maine than they do about their own local candidates. We need a local news revolution in this country.

True story: Social media tends to amplify something only if it pisses you off. Show some love for stories that aim for more. 👇

Cardinal and Pine@cardinalandpine.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The Carolina Museum of the Marine was years in the making, but it's open now. We talked about it—and North Carolina's close history with the Marines—in a new Billy Ball Explains NC. 🔗 in the thread.

Watch the video here. And don't forget to tap "like" and "subscribe" so you never miss our news. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NSl...

214,000 North Carolinians dropped health insurance. Here’s why

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

NC leads the nation in people who lost their enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans. That's going to make health care more expensive for everybody, whether you have a plan or not. In a new Billy Ball Explains NC (🔗 in thread), we talk about why Republicans in Congress could have stopped this.

North Carolina leads the nation in people dropping their Affordable Care Act plans, @nclocal.bsky.social reported. Those folks are losing coverage because they can't afford it anymore. Republicans were warned this would happen during the 2025 government shutdown. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NSl...

214,000 North Carolinians dropped health insurance. Here’s why

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

Geriatric millennial post I'm 43 and my eyes said they can't take the news cycle anymore without some help. 🥸

There's a right-wing, AI slop-looking website pretending to be us on the internet and calling itself "Pine & Cardinal." It's so great what modern times have given us.

Getting real about medical cannabis or marijuana or the sticky icky or whatever the heck you want to call it 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=o06p...

The real reason cannabis is still illegal in North Carolina

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

😅 I call the hat-wearing, trash-talking heckler in these videos "Bill" and "he" channels the stuff my 12yo says to me. In the new one, I talk about a bill filed by North Carolina reps to limit corporate spending on elections. Hope it's informative and fun. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtbk...

This could change politics forever in North Carolina

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

No remorse. This is the face of a stone-cold biter.

The dominos are falling and our democracy is sick. You can really see it in the South, where the destruction of the Voting Rights Act is going to wreak havoc. This week, I talked about it on @wunc.org's "Due South." It airs Wednesday, May 13 around 12:40 pm on WUNC.

Excited to have a convo this afternoon with candidates in two of North Carolina's biggest elections—former Gov. Roy Cooper and NC Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls. You can join this virtual event for free 👇 us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Cardinal and Pine@cardinalandpine.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Today at 4:30 pm, Cardinal & Pine talks the 2026 elections with US Senate candidate Roy Cooper and NC Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls. Register to attend this free virtual event 👇 us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

In 2022, when gas prices soared post-COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Republicans unfairly blamed it on Joe Biden and Democrats. Now, with the Iran war is directly driving up fuel prices, the GOP is telling us not to worry so much about gas. Watch new vid at 7 pm youtu.be/XeBiLFHHfGo

Republicans don’t want you to know THIS about rising gas prices

In late February, before the US and Israel bombed Iran, AAA reported the national average price of regular unleaded at $2.98 per gallon. Today in North Carolina, it's about $4. And right now, you can draw a straight line between the war that President Trump started in Iran and the cost of gas. In a new Billy Ball Explains NC, we break down the math behind what you pay at the gas pump. And why the people you vote for to represent you in Congress can play a direct role in it right now. Billy Ball Explains NC is a weekly conversation about North Carolina politics, culture, and news, led by @cardinalandpine Senior Newsletter Editor Billy Ball @thelivingsouth. Make sure to like and subscribe to Cardinal & Pine so you never miss an episode! --- Subscribe to our free, award-winning newsletter https://cardinalpine.com/newsletter/ Funding our reporting: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=6G3SVQZ7CDGSC Stay connected and follow us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cardinalandpine Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cardinalandpine/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cardinalandpine/ Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/@cardinalandpine Explore our work: https://www.cardinalandpine.com

l.facebook.com

So far, the story of AI regulation is what North Carolina and federal politicians AREN'T doing. 🤖 In the new Billy Ball Explains NC, we break down the AI revolution, the good and the bad, and what policymakers are doing (or not doing) to protect people from the bad. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRA0...

Who's regulating AI in North Carolina and the United States?

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

#Breaking The Republican-dominated state Supreme Court just threw out the Leandro case. It is a devastating blow for public education advocates. Here's why. 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPAQ...

BREAKING: Republican judges in NC issue devastating ruling for public schools

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

This is a huge story.

Cardinal and Pine@cardinalandpine.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The Republican-dominated NC Supreme Court just dealt a devastating blow to public education in North Carolina. 🔗 below for this breaking news story cardinalpine.com/2026/04/02/n...

Get this: ICE has three of these "hold rooms" in North Carolina. To find out where they are, watch the new Billy Ball Explains NC at the 🔗 below. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWso...

🤯 ICE is reportedly keeping detainees indefinitely in temporary “hold rooms” across the country, with little oversight. And get this: These hold rooms are not required to have beds. Or even toilets. ICE has three of them right here in North Carolina. Watch 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWso...

ICE ‘hold rooms’ are in NC. Here’s where.

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

You might have a direct line to the White House—like Sen. Phil Berger appeared to have—but that doesn't mean you've won over voters in your local district. Thanks to @timboyumnews.bsky.social for having me on Wednesday. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEq_...

Why Phil Berger, North Carolina's most powerful politician, lost

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

Phil Berger conceded, but the GOP still has a HUGE problem with election denial. Watch the new Billy Ball Explains NC at the link below. Make sure to like and subscribe so you never miss an episode! www.youtube.com/watch?v=39FH...

In the story of America, land has mostly moved one way—out of Native hands, and into the hands of white people. But recently, leaders in one western North Carolina town came to a remarkable decision. A new Billy Ball Explains NC has the story for Cardinal & Pine. 🔗 is in the thread.

In the new BB Explains NC, we wanted to tell the stories of NC women who don't get enough roses. So we have the first recorded women-led protest in US history, the NC woman who co-founded Mother’s Day, and a NC woman who broke a 90-year drought in Congress. 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgSv...

3 North Carolina women who changed American history

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine

youtube.com

Grief warning ✋ For @cardinalandpine.bsky.social, I wrote about the war in Iran, specifically about the alleged US-Israel bombing of a school in Minab, and about the terrible position our troops find themselves in today, caught between one liar and the other. cardinalpine.com/2026/03/06/n...

Opinion: North Carolina has a lot to lose in Trump’s already unpopular war in Iran

The madness of Trump’s war in Iran, and why North Carolina has so much to lose in the fighting.

cardinalpine.com