Val (left): "I work and shop and drink and have a radio show. Everything I do -- except sleep -- is in Carrboro. This is a very special place."

Jackie (right): "I was born in Indiana but I grew up in Carrboro. This, was my higher education."

Along with Val, Jackie (a.k.a. "Wac" Stern) hosts The Wacqueline Stern Show where each week the duo interviews a compass of arts professionals: visual, performing, writing, designing, producing...on and on. "We meet the coolest people," Jackie says over a drink at the Orange County Social Club in Carrboro.

The radio show broadcasts live from downtown Carrboro at 6 pm Fridays on WCOM 103.5 FM, Carrboro/Chapel Hill's volunteer radio station. From a 100-watt signal via an antenna at Mary Scroggs Elementary School in Southern Village, WCOM transmits more than 70 live shows each week -- proudly, programs are produced locally.

(photograph taken at Orange County Social Club on Main Street in Carrboro)