As Carolina Journal Radio marks its 700th weekly episode, we look back at some of the most interesting guests who have analyzed political, public policy, and historical developments over more than a dozen years. You’ll hear from Fred Barnes, Arthur Brooks, Charles Cooke, Steve Forbes, Jonah Goldberg, Mary Katharine Ham, Bill Kristol, Ed Morrissey, Deroy Murdock, Charles Murray, Peggy Noonan, Michael Novak, P.J. O’Rourke, Ramesh Ponnuru, Virginia Postrel, John Stossel, Cal Thomas, Walter Williams, and Gordon Wood. The Cato Institute’s latest Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors assigns Pat McCrory of North Carolina one of only five A grades awarded across the country. McCrory joins the governors of Arizona, Florida, Indiana, and Maine on that distinguished list. Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies for Cato and editor of DownsizingGovernment.org, analyzes the policies that helped McCrory and North Carolina secure such a high mark. North Carolina recently completed the new version of Cherry mental hospital in Goldsboro. Now the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is focusing its attention on a similar project replacing Broughton mental hospital in Morganton. DHHS Secretary Rick Brajer recently answered lawmakers’ questions about efforts to ensure the Broughton project moves forward as quickly and efficiently as possible. A special branch of North Carolina’s legislative staff spends much of its time searching for waste, duplication, and inefficiency within state government programs. While the Program Evaluation Division tends to focus on individual projects, director John Turcotte recently updated lawmakers on common problems that tend to crop up frequently during his staff’s work. Those problems include dysfunctional operational structures and operating procedures, poor performance standards, bad data, and inefficiency. The latest report was designed to help lawmakers look beyond problems within a specific agency and focus instead on issues that can plague multiple areas within state government. The John Locke Foundation approaches Election Day with a couple of interesting events involving presidential history. On Monday, Oct. 17, JLF co-hosts attorney and author Talmage Boston as he discusses Cross-Examining History, his book of 31 edited transcripts of on-stage interviews with leading presidential historians and insiders. One week later, Oct. 24, presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams return to Raleigh for their latest meeting in a JLF-sponsored “Living History” event. Expert actors from Williamsburg portray the second and third American presidents as they discuss important issues from their day that still generate political debate in 2016. JLF President and CEO Kory Swanson discusses both events.