A missing flute. The solar eclipse and the northern lights. The lumpfish. Mount Washington. Moose. And "Taylor Swift" -- in Salem.
NHPR's "Best of 2024" list is teeming with some of the most memorable stories of the year. They are stories audience members found deeply engaging and shared with family, friends, and neighbors.
Investigative and narrative-storytelling projects proved to resonate with listeners and readers, as well. That includes coverage of climate change and extreme flooding, politics and criminal justice -- including reporting on decades of abuse at New Hampshire's youth detention facilities, the largest government scandal in recent state history.
And in totality -- yes, that's an eclipse pun -- all the stories below combine to showcase reporting that sought to tackle tough subjects and to elevate uniquely New Hampshire voices.
The selection also aims to reflect NHPR's broad coverage over the year, from broadcast and podcast to digital and visual journalism (our Instagram and Tiktok videos generated over 10 million views in 2024).
They are but a small sample of more than a thousand stories NHPR editors, reporters and producers reviewed before whittling the list down.
So let's get on with it. Thanks for making the time to read and listen again to these stories.
Do you have a favorite story that didn't make this cut? Please let us know. Email us at [email protected].
Getting back in tune: The story of Justin and his missing flute
In late March, NHPR's inbox received a curious note.
"I am here to write you to ask you if you would be willing to spread the word about a missing flute," the email began.
Every missing flute, one could argue, is an urgent matter. But Justin Selkow, a Dartmouth student, was facing a particularly tricky problem with his missing woodwind. NHPR's Todd Bookman took on the case.
'It'll change your life': A view of the 2024 total eclipse from across NH's North Country
Clear, sunny skies and spring temperatures greeted crowds for April's total solar eclipse in Northern New Hampshire. NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian and Zoey Knox spent time in several North Country spots talking with travelers and locals about the day.
Mountain lions in NH? Some locals believe the big cats still roam the Granite State
The last mountain lion in New Hampshire was killed in Lee in 1853 -- at least, that's if you believe the state's Fish and Game department. And plenty of people don't.
Despite a lack of any conclusive evidence for the past 150 years, people across the state have been swearing for decades that mountain lions still roam New Hampshire.
Birds found an improbable home next to a Market Basket parking lot. Now they're gone.
One day this spring, Caelin Graber drove from her home in Greenville to do some grocery shopping at a nearby Market Basket, and noticed a backhoe digging up a small pond in the parking lot designed to catch stormwater runoff. Thus began a spat over a tiny ecosystem that had grown on the edge of a shopping plaza.
She looks like Taylor Swift. And NH crowds are loving it.
Three times a day, almost every day this past summer, guests at Canobie Lake Park in Salem could attend the Eras Tour -- New Hampshire's version.
The Gulf of Maine is warming up. To see potential effects, consider the lumpfish.
The lumpfish is small. As its name suggests, it's rather lumpy -- not streamlined, like the fish that interest most recreational and commercial anglers. It isn't eaten or harvested in New England.
But to anyone who has interacted with one, the lumpfish is beloved. NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian took us closer to this little sea creature.
Something Wild: The fir wave phenomenon and other challenges in NH's White Mountains
Forests growing at the highest elevations in the White Mountains experience the most extreme conditions in the Northeast. Alpine trees tolerate factors that have defined and shaped these mountaintop forests for thousands of years. NHPR's Something Wild team took us to the top of New Hampshire for this story.
Meet the people behind the loon cam, a NH-bred YouTube sensation
On a busy day, the corner of YouTube run by the New Hampshire's Loon Preservation Committee gets hundreds of visitors.
Viewers come for the close-up views of loons: striking black and white feathers, ruby red eyes. But they stay for the drama, as the birds mate, lay eggs and protect their nests. And the day everyone's waiting for, when a chick hatches.
All aboard The Cog: 'Railway to the Moon,' nestled in the White Mountains
When you get to the highest peak in the Northeast by a steady (or not so steady) drumbeat of placing one foot in front of the other, you tend to wave aside those who reach this destination by train. Earlier this fall, that little voice in my head said, Get over yourself. And so I welcomed the chance to experience this iconic railway.
About 5% of NH restaurants are Mexican. One Manchester spot aims to be a place for everyone.
Jose Garcia used to work in the fields as a kid in northern Mexico. Looking for new horizons, he immigrated to Texas 22 years ago. There he found a community of young people like him.
"There was a lot of music and places to go to dance," he said. "But there weren't many jobs."
He ventured to the northeast looking to open a restaurant that could mimic the festive ambiance he found in the immigrant community in Texas. Garcia also dreamed of offering real Mexican food. He has nothing against Tex-Mex tacos, but he says the real flavors of Mexico are unbeatable. Now, he owns a taqueria in Manchester -- one of more than 155 Mexican restaurants in New Hampshire.
The year's first big snowstorm brings challenges, memories, and surprises to Granite Staters, old and new
As they dipped their feet playfully in the snow, Isa Kusumari climbed on top of a playground -- taking a lot of pictures and selfies along the way. Later, he would send them friends and family in Senegal who had never seen the snow. The pictures are like postcards of the little things that make their new life in New Hampshire exciting, he said.
Half a year after floods, three North Country residents are still wading through recovery
Months after major flooding washed out roads and wrecked homes in Northern New Hampshire, life was still not back to normal for many of the people touched by the storm. For three North Country residents, the flood has been the central focus of every day since, as they navigate the liminal space between disaster and recovery.
Emelia's Thing: Trauma and resilience in the wake of Jan. 6
A young police officer unexpectedly finds herself back in New Hampshire, and she's not the same person she was when she left. Something happened to her -- to all of us. But for Officer Emelia Campbell, this thing still lives in her brain and her body.
Lauren Chooljian of NHPR's Document team brings you Emelia's story of survival and resilience in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021.
NH troops from the border: 'We have to adapt every night to every scenario'
Gov. Chris Sununu deployed 15 New Hampshire National Guard soldiers to Eagle Pass, Texas, in early April to help that state stop undocumented migrants and drugs from coming into the country illegally. Reporter Annmarie Timmins spent several days with the soldiers, bringing their experiences to NHPR readers and listeners.
Fish and Game catches criticism from fly fishermen concerned about rule changes
Speaker after speaker at a Fish and Game hearing said the proposals currently published on the agency's website risk harming the fly fishing industry and the very populations of fish that regulators seek to protect. Some also argued that the state hasn't shared the science it says it is relying on to guide its new proposals.
Documents detail U.S. soldiers shot by their own Sig Sauer guns; military says no reason for concern
Sig Sauer maintains that the P320 -- which is now the standard-issue pistol for U.S. soldiers across the globe -- is safe. The company noted in a statement to NHPR that it has prevailed in several legal cases in which a judge or jury ruled they weren't liable for any injuries.
But an NHPR investigation found nine separate incidents involving the U.S. military that echo the claims made in many of the lawsuits against Sig Sauer from individual gun owners and police officers who say their pistols fired without a trigger pull.
They needed psychiatric care. Instead, they died after confrontations with NH corrections officers.
Since 2017, at least two men with serious mental illness have died in the psychiatric unit of the New Hampshire State Prison, after being restrained face down by corrections officers. The state maintains the cases are fundamentally different. But advocates say they reflect long-running problems with how the state cares for people in its custody.
How NH Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut used his office in the culture war
Through interviews with nearly 40 educators, parents and political activists -- and hundreds of pages of public records -- an investigation by New Hampshire Public Radio and APM Reports found that New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut leveraged his oversight powers to elevate grievances against the public education system and, at times, individual educators.
New Hampshire has sent its most troubled children to the same juvenile detention center for more than a century. The goal has been to shelter, educate, and nurture kids who break the law instead of sending them to adult jails and prisons.
But now, about 1,300 of those individuals have come forward to say they were severely abused by adults in charge. It's become one of the biggest youth detention scandals in American history -- and people are still coming forward.
How did this happen -- and how did it finally come to light?