Immigration
Why the ICE killings in Minneapolis could change everything
There can be no silver lining to the ICE killings. But there can be change when brave people document it, demand action, and never let it go.
Billy Ball
Billy Ball is an award-winning journalist from North Carolina and senior editor at Cardinal & Pine, an online news site. He has bylines in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, MSNBC, and others.
Politics
Trump is getting richer. The Southerners who voted for him are getting poorer.
For many of the people who voted for him in 2024, Trump has made their lives tangibly harder and he's getting richer by the minute.
South Carolina
The South has a lot at stake in what happens next in Venezuela
Of the 10 states with the most active duty military personnel, six are in the South—Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia.
Civil Rights
The Living South's top 5 of 2025
In the first year of The Living South, I did my best to tell the stories that captured this complicated place. In year two, I want to go bigger and deeper.
Civil Rights
Trump drops MLK Day celebration at National Parks
Make no mistake, racists cheer decisions like the Trump administration's MLK Day change at the National Park Service.
North Carolina
Law enforcement isn't supposed to act like this
Law enforcement's power is derived from a bargain with the people they serve. They're not supposed to be ideologues. They're not supposed to wear masks and lie.
North Carolina
What the obsession with Bill Belichick's girlfriend says about us
The sexism and misogyny baked into the American media's fascination with Bill Belichick and his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.
North Carolina
Something to actually, really be grateful for in the South
Nobody likes forced gratitude. It's cloying and annoying. This season is filled with artificial pleas for it. So I'm not going to do that. But I want to talk about something I saw this month that's making me give thanks for the people of the South.
Politics
The South has seen masked kidnappers before
ICE and Border Patrol agents are acting less like cops and more like the white terrorist groups that plagued the South for generations.
History
The Voting Rights Act changed the South. Here's how to save it.
The Voting Rights Act, perhaps the most important piece of legislation in the 20th century South, is a shadow of its former self. Restoring it is an existential matter.
Music
Why 'Born in the USA' could be the soundtrack of America, again
In the north, south, the midwest, and the west—anywhere someone has ever felt like they were getting ripped off—"Born in the USA" spoke directly to the same disaffected white men who are voting for President Trump.
North Carolina
I'm gonna try to explain North Carolina
Introducing a new video series called "Billy Ball Explains North Carolina"—the point being to cut through all the noise and make some sense in my home state.