Tying It Together with Tim Boyum

Host Tim Boyum travels to Tennessee to meet up with Lee Greenwood. As America celebrates 250 years, Greenwood tells us the incredible story behind his hit, "God Bless the USA." From the inception on the tour bus to the stage with Ronald Reagan to an emotional story of singing it after 9/11, the song has defined his career. What you don't know is that the song almost never made it. A limousine trip to a record label executive's house on Halloween changed the course of history.

On this week's episode of Tying it Together, Quinn Ray and Daniel Ayers from The Hometown Holler join host Tim Boyum. They talk about how they went from back porch conversations to a podcast and an Instagram feed racking up millions of views talking about North Carolina and politics, and bringing on some big-name guests.

On this week's episode of Tying it Together, host Tim Boyum is joined by former Charlotte city council members Tariq Bokhari and Larken Egleston to talk about potentially one of the most consequential months of Charlotte politics in at least a decade. The council recently reversed course and canceled a major transportation plan. It is poised to potentially ban data centers in the coming weeks, and this all comes after the mayor announced she was stepping down at the end of June, long before her term expires. Bokhari, a Republican, and Egleston, a Democrat, work at The Southern Group and host their own podcast, R&D in the N.C.

On this week's episode, Tim talks about a group of center-left Democrats trying to make waves as partisanship continues to dominate the electorate. His guests are Debbie Cox Bultan, CEO of NewDEAL, and Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers. The national group held a conference in Raleigh and stopped by while in town. NewDEAL is a network of center-left elected leaders who are self-described pragmatists focusing on expanding opportunity and spurring growth. Alums of the group include Pete Buttigieg, Josh Shapiro and Stacey Abrams.

On this week's episode, host Tim Boyum talks with Greg Barnes from Inside Carolina about perhaps the most controversial and hot topic of the future of UNC basketball. To many, it appeared the Tar Heels were poised to announce a new arena on a future campus site. But then a legendary coach released a video pleading to renovate the current arena. It's a fascinating and emotional debate for the country's oldest public university, which enjoys one of college basketball's most storied programs.

On this week's episode of Tying it Together, Dr. Bruce Jentleson joins host Tim Boyum to explain the story behind all the foreign policy battles garnering the attention of President Trump — from Iran, Venezuela, Ukraine, to Greenland. Jentleson is a professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. He's a former senior adviser at the State Department under the Obama and Clinton administrations. He also served as a senior foreign policy advisor to the Al Gore presidential campaign and lectures around the world on foreign policy.

Tim sits down with a Colombian native and U.S. citizen with his unique perspective on the November immigration raids by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Manolo Betancur owns a bakery but shut it down when the raids began.