Beneath the Surface: A Bonus Episode from Made in Carolina

Today, I’m sharing a bonus episode of Made in Carolina—a moment to pause before we begin the Lake Norman series.

This episode is about the Catawba River. About the people who lived alongside it. And about the vision that would eventually reshape it into something entirely different.

Before Lake Norman became what we know today—a place for boating, fishing, and lakefront living—it was something else entirely.

A river that sustained lives. A landscape filled with farms, roads, churches, and communities. A place where history was lived, not yet submerged.

In this bonus episode, I step back to explore the early vision behind hydroelectric power in the Carolinas—when companies like Southern Power began to imagine the river not just as a natural resource, but as a system to be controlled and transformed.

But this isn’t just a story about industry.

It’s a story about change. About what is gained—and what is lost—when landscapes are reshaped.

Because beneath Lake Norman’s surface lies a much older story. And this episode is just the beginning.

🎧 Listen to the bonus episode here

What’s Next

In the next episode, Lake Norman, Part 1: Before the Land, we move closer to the land itself—before the dams, before the rising water—and into the lives of the families and communities who called this place home.

Because every lake has a story. And sometimes…those stories are still there—just beneath the surface.