Durham · Chapel Hill · Raleigh · October 1, 2026

A MacArthur "Genius" at Duke

⚡ Quick Hits

  • 🧠 Duke philosopher and neuroscientist Felipe De Brigard won an $800,000 MacArthur "genius" grant.
  • 🚲 Blackwell, Corcoran, and Foster streets in Durham close to cars Sunday afternoon for Move-A-Bull City Open Streets.
  • ⚾ Vintage baseball, played by 1860s rules, comes to the Durham Athletic Park on Saturday.

First Up

Felipe De Brigard studies how memory and imagination work, including how memories of trauma can be reshaped so they stop doing as much harm, and on Wednesday he was named one of 20 new MacArthur Fellows — a grant worth $800,000. He got the news a month ago at a retreat in Asheville and was, in his word, "floored." He's Duke's fifth. In his home country of Colombia, he led a project on whether forgiveness could help victims of political violence feel differently about what happened to them without forgetting it.

📰 Around the Triangle

  • Near-record heat today and Friday, then rain: highs approach the Oct. 1 record of 90, set in 1986, before a cold front brings a chance of weekend rain and a much cooler next week. (ABC11)
  • Nearly 20 cars broken into at a Durham hotel: it happened overnight in the parking lot of a La Quinta Inn. (WRAL)
  • Still no jury in the Faith Hedgepeth trial: day two ended without a single juror seated, and seven more potential jurors were dismissed on day three. (9th Street Journal)
  • Wake County schools want to move students around: proposed reassignments touch more than 13 schools, driven by overcrowding and next year's new Morrisville High. (ABC11)

📅 Plan Your Week

🎬 Thursday, October 1 (Today)

  • Fluid Master: The Zen of Auto Mechanics: Center for Documentary Studies parking lot, Durham, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Artist Kenya (Robinson) turns an oil change into a piece about documentary film. (Details)
  • "Sherman's March," new 4K restoration: Rubenstein Arts Center Film Theater, Durham, 7 p.m. Ross McElwee's 1986 documentary. His new "Remake," about Hollywood trying to adapt it, screens Friday at 7. Both free. (Details)

🏳️‍🌈 Friday, October 2

  • Queer History of Durham Tour: Downtown Edition: starts at the Museum of Durham History, 3, 4:30, or 6 p.m. A one-mile Pride Week walking tour. Free registration. (Details)
  • MAJOR: Reynolds Industries Theater, Duke, 7:30 p.m. Five dancers take on majorette dance, its power and its memory. Tickets from $40. (Details)
  • Raleigh Wide Open: Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, Friday and Saturday. PineCone's free roots festival, with several stages and a jam tent. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)

⚾ Saturday, October 3

  • Vintage Base Ball Day: Historic Durham Athletic Park, gates at 10 a.m., games at 11, 12:30, and 2. Period uniforms, 19th-century equipment, and base-running for kids between games. $10, under 4 free. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)
  • Movies in the Park: "Beetlejuice": Durham Central Park Pavilion, 7:30 p.m. Bring a blanket or a chair. Free. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)
  • Falling for Local: The Big Field at Dix Park, Raleigh, from 11 a.m. More than 180 local makers, food trucks, inflatables, and hayrides. Free. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)

🎸 Sunday, October 4

  • Move-A-Bull City Open Streets: Blackwell, Corcoran, and Foster streets, Durham, noon to 4 p.m. The streets close to cars and fill with music, art, food, and things to do on foot or on wheels. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)
  • Bull City Blues Ramble: Pickleback 2, Motorco, the Blue Note Grill, and two outdoor stages, Durham, noon to 8 p.m. A youth showcase, a tribute to the late Skeeter Brandon, and a closing jam. Free. (Details)
  • Blessing of the Animals: Duke Chapel Quad, Durham, 3 p.m. Well-mannered pets welcome. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)

🎞️ Monday, October 5

  • Ackland Film Forum: "Set It Off": The Lumina Theater, Chapel Hill, 7:30 p.m. F. Gary Gray's 1996 heist picture. Free, RSVP through the Lumina. (Details)

For everything else, including October's big weekends, check the calendar.

💬 Heard Around Town

  • Dampf Good BBQ, the Michelin-recommended food truck that planned to open in the old Pit space near Geer Street, says it's now undecided after a week of pushback over the owner's past social media posts. (Thread)
  • A Durham shopper got towed from the Whole Foods lot, receipt in hand, after stepping across the street for five minutes to photograph the sunset. (Thread)
  • Jordan Lake is low enough again to expose old railroad spikes from the towns under the water. (Thread)

🍴 Openings & Closings

  • Sam Jones BBQ is opening a second downtown Raleigh spot: Sam Jones BBQ Pit Stop, a whole-hog stall at Morgan Street Food Hall, is due by the end of the year. (Raleigh Magazine)
  • The State Fair gets a food hall: the two-story Midway Event Center next to Dorton Arena opens to fairgoers during the fair, Oct. 15-25. (Raleigh Magazine)

🏡 Triangle Pulse

UNC laid the cornerstone of Old East, its first building, on Oct. 12, 1793. That's University Day. The original plaque from that cornerstone vanished from campus for more than 40 years and turned up at a foundry in Tennessee. This year it's on display at Wilson Library for one day only, Oct. 12, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (UNC)

Before You Go

After six years baking without a kitchen of her own, Ashleigh Ratchford has Ashleigh Bakes Daily upstairs at 111 W. Main St. in downtown Durham: magenta walls, oversized cookies, flavors like dark chocolate pistachio toffee. At nearly 11 p.m. on a Wednesday, the 9th Street Journal found friends still there, trying to choose.

🧠 Brain break: today's Daily Fury is live. Five questions, the same five for everyone. Defend the Triangle's honor.

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