We Were Wondering... What news story that you heard or read on WFDD really stuck out to you from this past year?

I really enjoy Neal Charnoff's morning email, '88.5 WFDD Morning Update.' At a time when I often feel hesitant to look at the morning's news, I know I can count on Neal! He almost always starts his morning update with a light, engaging, and often totally bizarre story then he eases into the more pressing issues of the day. I can handle the heavier headlines because Neal strikes such a good balance of pointing out the fun and the absurd while also acknowledging the challenges of our time.

I've learned a lot of interesting things from Neal's WFDD emails. Most recently, the fun fact that "Ants don't have ears or lungs but come equipped with two stomachs." I've also learned that Rock and Roll Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, has launched a new beauty collection - that the orange grainy stuff you get on your fingers when you eat Cheetos is officially called "Cheetle" - and that there's a life-size bread sculpture of Star Wars' Hans Solo outside a California bakery!

I've appreciated Neal's reporting on serious issues, such as the rates of RSV and other respiratory illnesses here in the Triad and Supreme Court decisions that affect NC and our entire country.

I also love the good news he routinely shares, such as the Triad receiving $100,000 in environmental grants. It's always great to start the morning with good news – thank you, Neal!

- Rebecca H.

In a year marked by a National Teen Mental Health crisis, Dispatches from Within gave us, and our listeners, a unique opportunity to hear about these issues straight from the source. While every installment of the series is extremely powerful and revealing in its own way, “I’m Fat, I’m Ugly, and I’m stupid” was the one that stood out to me the most. Working in radio, I have listened to a lot of stories… A LOT, and I don’t think that I’ve ever heard such a personal and raw account of what is like to deal with body image issues. The shame, the secrets, the struggle to learn to love oneself. Our youth reporters did an incredible job presenting an extremely delicate issue. To me, this story, this series, is the perfect example of what happens when we create spaces for people to express themselves.

-Gabriel Maisonnave, HIVE Education Manager