Raki McGregor sat with me for five hours this spring, before Crystal Hill’s memo put his name at the center of the CMS contracting scandal. In October, he and his family sat down again.
29 Oct 2026
The Many Jim Nobles
He has 16 restaurants, a bakery he waited 40 years for, and a letter some people can’t forgive him for. Now one of Charlotte’s most successful chefs wants to build 32 houses for people with nowhere to live.
22 Oct 2026
Lessons From Chicago
Chicago’s great park opened four years late and everyone forgot about the delay. Charlotte’s council is arguing over six weeks for its airport. … A morning walk, a bridge, and the faceless “they” who build cities.
22 Oct 2026
Charlotte's Optimism Gap
A new UNC Charlotte survey finds a region that’s satisfied today and doubtful about tomorrow. What’s behind the gap, and the case for practicing optimism anyway.
23 Sept 2026
It's Been 10 Years Since Keith Scott
Ten years after Keith Scott, an essay on the night at the Omni and how Charlotte’s changed in the decade since.
16 Sept 2026
What West Boulevard is worth
A two-hour walk with Rickey Hall through the neighborhood he’s spent his life defending. And why he now wants his neighbors to stop fighting the I-77 toll lanes and name their price.
9 Sept 2026
Charlottes Other Lost Films
It’s not just Hunting Wives. Two prominent filmmakers were planning to shoot in Charlotte — one of them the granddaughter of the man who made It’s a Wonderful Life, the other a Broadway legend. Then North Carolina’s film money ran out.
2 Sept 2026
Communications is everything in Charlotte
Charlotte has about seven PR pros for every journalist. The gap between who can design their message and who can survive a bad one shapes everything you know about this city.
25 Aug 2026
It's Been Real: Why Queen City Nerve closed
Queen City Nerve closed in mid-August 2026, eight years after rising from Creative Loafing’s ashes to become Charlotte’s new alt-weekly. Here’s what actually happened, and what Charlotte will miss about it.
11 Aug 2026
Rock Hill's rebound
Four years removed from a failed project with the Panthers, Rock Hill is now moving on. The city just landed 1,500 six-figure jobs from Octapharma and a large investment from Novant. But there's more beneath the surface, in places like Baxter Mill Arch...
28 Jul 2026
Let's Build a Bridge
Dae-Lee Arrington is mounting a campaign to reconnect the people who run Charlotte — before the city’s biggest decisions arrive this fall. He started by asking nine of the city’s most accomplished artists to make a song.
24 Jul 2026
Raise Em Up
While Charlotte debates a curfew, Monique Perry-Graves and Road to Hire are staging a different kind of teen takeover.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Contact The Charlotte Optimist
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
