What Really Happened During the Cooper Years?

<p>I sat down with journalist AP Dillon to talk about something a lot of North Carolinians are still trying to make sense of: the lasting impact of the Cooper years.</p><p>Like many families, AP&#39;s life was turned upside down during COVID. We talked about homeschooling, school mask policies, vaccine concerns, and what it was like trying to navigate those years while also covering state government as a reporter.</p><p>But our conversation didn&#39;t stop there.</p><p>We dug into transparency in state government, Governor Roy Cooper&#39;s record in office, disaster recovery efforts after major hurricanes, school choice battles, public safety issues, and the ways political power gets exercised behind the scenes.</p><p>Along the way, AP shared what she learned from years of following Cooper&#39;s administration—tracking executive orders, public records, vetoes, and the decisions that shaped North Carolina during some of its most contentious years.</p><p>Whether you agree with her conclusions or not, the conversation raises bigger questions about accountability, transparency, and who gets heard when major decisions are being made.</p><p>Because politics isn&#39;t just something that happens in Raleigh.</p><p>It shows up in our schools, our churches, our businesses, our communities, and sometimes right at our own kitchen tables.</p><p>And if there&#39;s one thing North Carolina has taught me, it&#39;s that the stories worth telling are usually a lot more complicated than the headlines make them seem.</p><p>00:00 Lockdown Life Hacks</p><p>00:45 Kite Science Day</p><p>01:50 Masking School Chaos</p><p>02:50 Kids Get Radicalized</p><p>03:50 Vaccine Heart Scare</p><p>06:16 Cooper Briefings Blackout</p><p>06:35 How She Tracks Cooper</p><p>08:07 HB2 And The 2016 Playbook</p><p>09:35 Vetoes And Progressivism</p><p>10:48 Transparency And Records</p><p>15:57 Campaign Dirt And Rumors</p><p>19:05 Kristin Cooper Controversy</p><p>20:43 Make Stuff Cost Less</p><p>23:49 NCORR Disaster Recovery Fail</p><p>30:22 Helene Aftermath And Volunteers</p><p>33:57 Rebuilding and Resentment</p><p>35:01 Common Core Clash</p><p>37:58 School Choice Fight</p><p>43:22 Party Pressure and Veto Power</p><p>46:26 COVID Orders and Loss</p><p>50:46 Riots and Double Standards</p><p>57:26 Untested Rape Kit Backlog</p><p>01:00:48 Curated Politics and Transparency</p><p>01:02:03 Prison Releases and Soft Crime</p><p>01:04:48 National Guard and Next Chapter</p><p><strong>Support Where the Dogwood Bloom