Louisiana Considered

All this year, we’ve been checking in with Christiaan Mader, founder of the Current in Lafayette, Louisiana, for updates on the Acadiana region. He joins us now to reflect on some of the biggest stories from the past year and look to what’s ahead. 

On December 20th, Tulane will face off against Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff. If Tulane wins, they’ll go to the Sugar Bowl for the first time since 1939. And while the Green Wave suffered a pretty brutal defeat from Ole Miss back in September, the university’s recent coaching drama may...

The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council passed the city-parish’s 2026 budget Tuesday. This budget season was marked by an attempt to make up for a budget deficit. Ultimately, Mayor-President Sid Edwards proposed a budget that features near-across-the-board 11% cuts and a 33% reduction in staff. 

Baton Rouge metro reporter and Report for America corps member Alex Cox joins us to break down the budget. 

Earlier this fall, an exhibit opened at the Whitney Plantation to pay tribute to enslaved women whose hands were stained blue with dye. Titled “Indigeaux: Yes, Spirit. I’ll Go…” the exhibit features han...

Plastics are everywhere. In the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and even running through our brains. While environmental concerns like pollution, toxic spills and trash islands make the problem feel insurmountable, a new book aims to break down the major issue into solvable problems. 

“The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late" was written by Judith Anck, founder and president of Beyond Plastic, and Adam Mahoney, climate and environmental reporter for Capital B News. Adam joins us for more on the book.

The National Insti...

It's official: Tulane is headed to the college football playoff. The Green Wave punched their ticket in a Saturday 34 to 21 win against North Texas. Now, they’ll face Ole Miss, along with their new coach, Pete Golding, on December 20 in Oxford.

Jeff Duncan, reporter for the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, spoke with WWNO’s Alana Schreiber for more on Tulane’s journey to the playoffs.

The Black Film Festival of New Orleans, now in its 8th year, opened over the weekend and continues through the weekend in venues across the Crescent City. The festival aims to pro...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection ramped up enforcement in the New Orleans area last week. Officials say the operation, known as “Catahoula Crunch,” aims to arrest 5,000 criminals who are in the country illegally.

Reporter for The Times-Picayune/The Advocate, Lara Nicholson, joins us with an update. 

The United Way of Southeast Louisiana is expanding its footprint of one-stop financial capability centers, called Prosperity Centers. They open in areas where more than half of parish households are facing financial hardship. The latest center opened this month in St. Bernard Parish and will offer an assortment of fr...

This is part 1 of a 2-part series exploring the future of farming seafood in the Gulf. Americans eat a lot of farmed seafood — but the vast majority of it comes from overseas. We just don’t farm fish on a big scale in U.S. waters. Now that might start to change. There are proposals to build massive fish farms in U.S. federal waters. And guess which coast is likely to be the first home for these new farms? You guessed it, the Gulf.

So is this a miracle cure or a looming ecological disaster?

...

Conditions at an ICE processing center in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, are reported to have deteriorated over the past year. There are multiple reports of overcrowding, and a lack of beds, hygiene products and medical care at the Evangeline Parish facility.

Verite News’ Bobbie-Jeanne Misick joins us for more on these findings. 

Often, the conversation around childcare revolves around the high costs of enrollment, low wages for workers and barriers to access. But a new study by the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children offers insights into at-home childcare options that can support working or struggling families. The...

Louisiana’s surgeon general has been critical of vaccines. Now, Dr. Ralph Abraham has a new job as the second-in-command at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

WWNO and WRKF’s Rosemary Westwood has spent the year reporting on Abraham’s leadership at the Louisiana Department of Health. She joins us for more on his appointment and why some doctors have been critical. 

The once-mundane process of college accreditation has become political, ever since the Trump administration began targeting universities’ diversity, equity and inclusion mandates. Now, six southern schools have formed their own accreditation agency rat...

Over the weekend, LSU announced that Lane Kiffin would take on the job of head football coach. This comes after a weekslong search following coach Brian Kelly's ouster earlier this season. Kiffin will come to LSU from Ole Miss, and the mid-season switch is already generating a strong reaction, with the New York Times dubbing the move an “all-time hypocrisy in college football.”

Koki Riley covers LSU baseball and football for the Baton Rouge Advocate. He joins us for more on Kiffin’s decision and Gov. Jeff Landry’s role in his hiring. 

A new study fro...

After New Yorkers elected democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as their new mayor, Louisiana’s Economic Development (LED) forum took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal that said, “In Louisiana, we value capitalism, not socialism.” Gov. Jeff Landry was also on Fox News to promote the campaign to attract New York-based businesses to the state. 

Capitol Access reporter Brooke Thorington spoke to LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois about the advertisement.

Louisiana company NovaSpark Energy says it has developed the world’s first mobile atmospheric hydrogen generator. The machine uses electricity and air to produce hydrogen...

Last week, news broke that roughly 250 U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were headed to south Louisiana for an operation dubbed “The Swamp Sweep.”  As agents aim to arrest close to 5,000 undocumented people, fear and concern are growing within immigrant communities, and among educators and advocates. 

To help us understand what’s ahead — and what rights people have — WWNO’s Sara Henegan spoke with Marco Balducci, an immigration attorney in New Orleans, and Laila Hlass, professor of Immigration Law at Tulane University.

Report cards are out for Louisiana’s public schools. The state’s overall score inch...

You’ve probably heard of Ruby Bridges, the first grader who helped desegregate New Orleans’ public schools in 1960.

But have you heard of the three other girls who desegregated another local elementary school that same morning? Aubri Juhasz takes us to that school — now a museum — where students are learning why the fight for equitable education isn’t over.

The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has resigned. David Richardson only spent about six months in the position, and was known for being inaccessible during the early hours of the Texas flood disa...

As AI technology gets bigger and bigger, so do data centers. Meta is building the largest data center in the world in a small Louisiana town. It’ll have a footprint nearly the size of Manhattan, and the construction has brought an onslaught of heavy traffic.

An investigation from the Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins found that trucks contracted to work at the Meta facility are causing delays and dangerous roads for the people who live there.

There are few writers as closely associated with New Orleans as Anne Rice. Born and raised in the...

Over 4000 anthropologists have descended on New Orleans for the American Anthropological Association’s annual meeting. They’re here to share their latest research, professionally develop and do a little networking. 

Their theme is Ghosts, thanks to New Orleans’ reputation as “the most haunted city in America.” Anthropologist and host of the podcast Sonic Anthropology Radio, Tom Miller, joins us with more. 

Each week, award-winning columnist Tammy C. Barney publishes a column in “Back in the Day,” a series from Verite News. She explores often-overlooked chapters in Louisiana history, including profiles on historical figures and deep dives into the s...

Roughly 250 agents are set to come to New Orleans for an immigration crackdown dubbed the “Swamp Sweep.” Agents are aiming to arrest 5,0000 undocumented people in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi. 

Jack Brook reported this story for The Associated Press. He joins us with the latest. 

Loyola University’s School of Music and Theatre Professions was recently recognized as a top music business school of 2025 by Billboard Magazine. Loyola joins the ranks of schools like Berklee College of Music, the University of Southern California and Belmont University in Nashville.

This comes as Loyola is building its own...

Over the weekend, Thrive EBR, the tax rededication plan meant to help pull East Baton Rouge out of a $21 million deficit, failed on all three measures. This means the 2026 budget will include nearly 11% cuts to departments across the board and 33% cuts to staff, at the very least.

Report for America Corps member Alex Cox tells us more about what this means for the parish. 

Residents of New Orleans and Baton Rouge weren’t the only ones to go to the polls last weekend. On Saturday, voters in Lafayette Parish weighed in on millages to fund inf...

Over the weekend, New Orleans voters returned to the polls for the second time this fall. The Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace joins us to break down the results of the elections, including city council runoffs, bond propositions and one race that captured national attention.

The LSU women’s basketball team's season began earlier this month, and so far, the Tigers are undefeated. The team has some familiar faces like Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams, and an unusually large class of first-years already making names for themselves.

Reed Darcey covers...

On November 15, New Orleans voters will go to the polls for the second time this fall. Earlier this week, we discussed the race for clerk of criminal court and the city council positions still at play. Today, we’ll discuss the propositions and amendments voters will consider. 

For more, we’re joined by Katie Jane Fernelius from Verite News.

After Brian Kelly was fired as head football coach at LSU, word soon broke that Gov. Jeff Landry played a part in that decision. But this is hardly the first time a Louisiana governor got involved at LS...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time for our weekly politics review with the Times Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. She breaks down the upcoming New Orleans elections for clerk of criminal court and city council.

On Tuesday, we observed Veterans Day and those who have served the United States during times of conflict. To continue our observation, we’re speaking with a Louisiana native who has served the U.S. in many positions in South Korea, Germany, Washington, D.C. and southeast Louisiana, among others. 

Lt. Gen. Russel Ho...

The Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court race on the ballot this Saturday will see voters choosing between incumbent Darren Lombard and challenger Calvin Duncan. 

Lombard has been in the position since 2022, while Duncan began as an inmate counsel substitute, otherwise known as a jailhouse lawyer, following a wrongful conviction that led him to spend more than 28 years behind bars. 

Writer and producer Eve Abrams joins us for the latest in the race.

It’s no secret that political polarization is a major problem in the United States. Now, there’s a new projec...

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, many wondered: Is a city below sea level worth rebuilding? Answers to that question came in the form of music and dance collaboration, featuring the company Bodytraffic and The Preservation Hall Band. 

Now, on the 20th anniversary of Katrina, the New Orleans Ballet Association is reviving the performance “Why New Orleans Matters.” We hear from NOBA executive director Jenny Hamilton and choreographer Trey McIntyre for more. 

Today, November 11th, is Veterans Day, a time to honor those who have served our country in times of armed conflict. And many L...

Shortly after LSU head football coach Brian Kelly was fired, athletic director Scott Woodward resigned under pressure. Last week, LSU announced the appointment of a new athletic director, Verge Ausberry. Ausberry most recently served as the deputy athletic director and has been with the department for 24 years.

The Baton Rouge Advocate’s baseball and football reporter Koki Riley tells us more about Ausberry, and the ongoing search to replace Kelly. 

For years, the Chitimacha tribe of Louisiana has been working with linguists to revitalize the Chitimacha language. While the language lost its last native fluent spe...

What does it take to stay rooted on the Gulf Coast, even as the land and weather change around us? We meet individuals, from a poet to a minister to a computer programmer, each finding their own creative ways to adapt and fight for the future of their communities. From amphibious homes to inland retreats to processing our changing environment through poetry, we hear how people's ingenuity is helping chart a new path forward.

To hear more from Rachel Nederveld's oral history series, No Matter the Water, click here or find it wherever you get your podcasts.<...

As Xavier University of Louisiana was in final preparations for its homecoming and 100th anniversary celebration, the university announced the layoff of 46 full-time workers, citing the need to ensure its long-term health.

President of Xavier University, Reynold Verret, joins us for more on the 100th anniversary and the current moment the school finds itself in.

On November 15, voters in Orleans Parish will be asked to approve a $510 million capital bond authorization. The half a billion dollars will go toward infrastructure, water and drainage and affordable housing. 

The President and CEO of the Bureau o...

Head Start is a federal program that provides child care and early learning for low-income families. But the ongoing government shutdown has caused some programs to close, while others are taking out loans. 

WWNO’s education reporter Aubri Juhasz tells us what this looks like in Louisiana.

Three property taxes will be on the ballot in Baton Rouge next week. They’re all renewals, but they’ve been made a bit more complicated by a series of budget shortfalls, one of the largest reasons being the incorporation of breakaway city of St. George, a city that no...

East Baton Rouge is facing a major budget shortfall. Parish officials need to find an extra $21 million, and one way they hope to save money is by getting more public service retirees to switch to government-funded health care. 

Report for America corps member Alex Cox has the story.

Last weekend, the Governor’s Mansion in Baton Rouge hosted a screening of “Ancestral Artistry: The Influence of Africans and Creoles of Color on Louisiana Architecture.” The film explores centuries of craftsmanship, culture and resilience passed down through generations of diverse communities who contributed to the state’s archite...

When there's an outbreak of an infectious disease, state health officials usually rush to alert doctors and the public about what's going on. But this year, during Louisiana's worst outbreak of whooping cough in decades, health officials did not appear to follow that playbook. 

WWNO’s health reporter Rosemary Westwood tells us more.

This Veterans Day, Laura Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana will hold a special event to honor the enslaved men from Laura Plantation who fought in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. This comes out of a partnership with the African-American Civil War...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. We discuss what’s on the ballot in the November elections, including city council runoffs and ballot proposals. 

The St. Tammany Parish Economic Development Corporation appointed a new President and CEO in late August. A northshore native, Russell Richardson brings his experience from the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Louisiana Economic Development to the position. 

He joins us for more on his plans to develop the area without losing its char...

Let’s say you’re in the car-making business and wanting to avoid tariffs. You can buy American, but how do you meet those American suppliers? One option: speed dating. 

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Stephan Bisaha reports from a carmaker matchmaking day.

A partnership between LSU and the global agricultural technology corporation Syngenta is aimed at advancing a tool that’s used in industry. They’re called “digital twins” and they’re used as a prototype of sorts to help model and test physical objects in a virtual space.

LSU’s College of Art & Design is...

The once-vibrant Louisiana film and television industry has dramatically slowed down. There are five independent feature films in pre- or full production in the state, a stark contrast from previous years.

CEO of The Ranch Film Studios in Chalmette and president of Film Louisiana, Jason Wagespack, breaks down the situation and the efforts of lobbyists to revive the industry.

A spooky, creepy, unique adventure, just in time for Halloween, awaits those who dare to step inside 

The Delaporte Manor is hosting a spooky adventure just in time for Halloween. The former funeral home w...

On Sunday night, LSU fired head football coach Brian Kelly following a 49-25 loss to Texas A&M. What began as a discussion on staffing changes ended with Kelly’s firing, according to multiple news outlets. Koki Riley covers LSU baseball and football for The Advocate and joins us for more. 

2025 marks 100 years since the founding of Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. To this day, it’s the nation’s only historically Black and Catholic University. Now, a new exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art celebrates the centennial. Dubbed “Each One Teach One” the exhibit...

The New Orleans government may not be able to make payroll this year as the city faces a $160 million deficit and severe cash flow problems. This means that city employees may not receive another paycheck before the end of the year.

The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s Ben Myers joins us for more.

Louisiana has one of the highest populations of deaf and blind people in the nation. To support this community at LSU, the university has been making all sorts of accommodations, including hiring a blind and low vision specialist, creating a braille library an...

During Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people were locked in the Orleans Parish jail complex as the storm made landfall.

In the third of a series remembering that crisis, The Gulf States Newsroom’s Kat Stromquist visits with a mom whose son survived the storm in the jail — and speaks with experts, who say disaster planning could improve in jails and prisons.

New research out of Tulane University’s Newcomb Institute has found a definitive link between long heat waves and the incidence of domestic violence. The data came out of New Orleans and it’s especial...

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing Callais v. Louisiana, a seminal redistricting case that focuses on the constitutionality of the state’s congressional map. The court will consider whether Louisiana’s creation of a second majority-Black district in 2024 — which was required by the Voting Rights Act — is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th and 15th Amendments. 

John Cusick serves as Assistant Counsel for the Legal Defense Fund, the organization arguing to keep the map as it is. He spoke with WRKF’s Report for America Corps Member, Alex Cox, for more.

The Symph...

US prosecutors have accused a Louisiana man of participating in the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. Mahmoud al-Muhtadi allegedly joined a paramilitary group that fought alongside Hamas in 2023, before traveling to the U.S. 

Christiaan Mader, founder and editor of the Current, tells us more. 

All this week, the New Orleans film festival is hosting screenings, panel discussions, and workshops, uniting some of the biggest names in independent filmmaking today.

One of the guests is Benh Zeitlin, the Oscar-nominated director of the 2012 film “Beasts of the Southern Wild”. He’s teaching a mastercl...

A resident of the Carrollton neighborhood in New Orleans was gardening in her backyard when she came across an unusual engraved stone. After reaching out to anthropology departments at the University of New Orleans and Tulane, they discovered the relic was a 2,000-year-old headstone for a Roman sailor. The headstone went missing from a museum in Italy during World War II. 

Ryan Gray, professor of anthropology at UNO, tells us more about this incredible discovery and what they know about the headstone’s journey across the Atlantic.

The shine from the Saints' first victory of the...

Louisiana’s GUMBO broadband program has been expanding internet access in rural areas for three years now. But because the state program relies on federal funding, recent changes to federal spending are impacting the initiative.

Camden Doherty has been covering the GUMBO broadband program for The Current. He joins us for more.

One of Louisiana’s largest hospital systems has been studying how to prevent sepsis infections, a persistent problem in health care settings that can even lead to death. And now, they’re seeing dramatic results.

Dr. Christopher Thomas, vice president and chief...

On Saturday, New Orleans’ city council president, Helena Moreno, won the election to become the city’s next mayor. She did so without forcing a runoff, having secured more than 50% of the primary vote.

The Times-Picayune/The Advocate's editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace, joins us to break down this race and the other elections on the ballot.

Last April, former LSU wide receiver and NFL prospect Kyren Lacy died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following a police car chase in Texas. The incident came days before Lacy was due in court after being char...

It’s been a long road to election day here in New Orleans, but we’re in the home stretch. On October 11, anyone who didn’t vote early will cast their ballots in several races, including for the city’s next mayor. 

Verite News reporter Katie Jane Fernelius, WWNO education reporter Aubri Juhasz and the coastal desk’s Eva Tesfaye join us to share what the candidates are saying about key issues.  

Southern University has gotten off to a rough start this fall. Since August, the campus has shut down four times due to threats of violence...

For the last two weeks, on Louisiana Considered, we've brought you interviews with the top candidates to be mayor of New Orleans. Today, we bring you the final conversation. 

The Times-Picayune/Editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace spoke with City Council President Helena Moreno. The two discussed restoring collaboration between the council and the mayor’s office, the city’s budget problems and some creative solutions.

Arthur Hardy’s name is synonymous with Mardi Gras. He began writing and publishing the Mardi Gras Guide in the 1970s, informing people about what parades were coming up and how...

President Trump has been sending the National Guard throughout the US, with the latest deployment being to Portland, Oregon, before it was blocked by a judge. 

But in Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry is welcoming the idea of federal troops. Roughly one week ago, he announced that he'd asked President Trump to send the National Guard to New Orleans, Shreveport and Baton Rouge. 

Capital Access reporter Brooke Thorington spoke with East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards about his view of troops coming to the capital city, and how he hopes they would help address problems of cr...

Festivals Acadiens et Créoles is celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend. The three-day Cajun and Zydeco music festival in Lafayette’s Girard Park is an authentic celebration of Acadiana’s vibrant traditions, complete with food, art and performances by local musicians. 

Festival founder and Acadiana folklorist Barry Ancelet and Cajun singer-songwriter Zachary Richard tell us more about the festival’s history and what to expect this year. 

The City of Baton Rouge is redesigning its website and is asking residents to help by taking and submitting pictures that help capture the beauty, culture and character...

The primary election in the New Orleans mayor’s race is just over a week away, and here on Louisiana Considered, we’re bringing you conversations with the top 3 candidates. 

Today, we’ll hear from state Senator Royce Duplessis (D-LA). He spoke to the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace about the tactics behind his campaign, his plans if elected and why he believes his lack of city council experience is an asset. 

Solitary confinement is the subject of a new book co-written by incarcerated journalists and outside experts. It argues tha...

If you’ve had trouble getting a COVID shot lately, you’re not alone. People in Louisiana are running into a new obstacle when it comes to getting themselves or their kids vaccinated: confusion about who can get the shot and whether they need a prescription.

As the Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins reports, pharmacies are creating their own rules — and they aren’t consistent.

The Port of New Orleans is moving forward with its plan to build a grain transfer facility on the Mississippi River in the Lower Ninth Ward.

The facility w...

Early voting is underway in the New Orleans mayor's race primary. For the next two weeks on Louisiana Considered, we'll be bringing you interviews with the top three candidates. 

Up first, The Times-Picayune/Editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace spoke with city councilmember Oliver Thomas. He discussed his long political career, successes and failures of previous administrations and what he's learned from his time in prison 15 years ago after pleading guilty to bribery charges.

In 1837, the children of Frédéric Frey, a German-born New Orleans merchant and financier, sat down for a portrait with Fre...

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and researchers at Pennington Biomedical say they’re focused on finding solutions for improved metabolic health. Louisiana is ranked third in the nation for childhood obesity, so this new initiative is connecting with parents, teachers, coaches and students to get to the heart of the issue.

Melissa Martin, executive director of Greaux Healthy, and Dr. Kara Denstel, lead researcher on the Pennington Generation health study, join us for more.

In 2022, New Orleans Public Library launched Crescent City Sounds, a music streaming platform made up entirely of local musicians. 
...

For the last two weeks on Louisiana Considered, we’ve been bringing you Wetlands Radio, a series on coastal restoration from producer Eve Abrams. Today: the final episodes.  

First we explore glass recycling, and how one innovative idea can make a huge impact. Then we take the longview, and learn why our understanding of the coastline is perhaps Louisiana’s greatest weapon against climate change. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Alana Schreiber. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. Today, she tells us about the likelihood that President Trump will still send the national guard to New Orleans — and why that puts Gov. Jeff Landry in a precarious position. 

Every two years, the state of Louisiana selects its Poet Laureate through its Endowment for the Humanities. The poet then travels the state encouraging fellow Louisianans to explore and engage with poetry.

The latest Poet Laureate, Gina Ferrara, tells us...

Driving down St. Claude Avenue in New Orleans’ Bywater neighborhood, the St. Roch Market is hard to miss. The historic public food hall first opened in 1875 and is where many popular restaurants and chains — like the Daily Beet and CR Coffee — got their start. 

Now, the St. Roch Market is celebrating 150 years with a birthday party on Saturday 27 at 2pm.

Kevin Pedeaux, operator at the St. Roch Market, tells us about the food hall’s history, significance and upcoming celebration.

This week on Louisiana Considered, we continue bringing you Wetlands Radio, a series

abou...

Last week, pro football hall of famer Emmitt Smith and reality star-turned recovery advocate Zac Clark stopped at Louisiana State University to discuss the opioid epidemic and how to combat it. LSU was the latest stop on their college tour with the Ready to Rescue Initiative, an organization that aims to fight the stigma of opioid addiction and teach people how to save lives with naloxone nasal spray.

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins was in the room, and joins us now for more. 

This week on Louisiana Considered, we continue bringing you Wetlands Rad...

The last few years have seen an influx of Northern college students flocking to big Southern Universities. Whether they’re attracted to college football season, a robust Greek life, cheaper tuition prices or HBCUs, the impact remains the same: an increased “southernization” of American culture.

Jonquilyn Hill, host of the Explain It to Me podcast at Vox, has been exploring the newfound appeal of the American South. She joins us for more. 

Our airing of  Wetlands Radio, a series about coastal restoration from producer Eve Abrams, continues this week. Last week, we explored ways to build mo...

This week on Louisiana Considered, we’re bringing you Wetlands Radio, a series about coastal restoration from producer Eve Abrams. Today, diversions: how the river builds land and why many people want to mimic it. Then, we dive into dredging, the process of underwater excavation that allows humans to build land from what the river brought us. 

It’s been two years since the Louisiana Department of Education launched the Steve Carter Tutoring Program, which provides $1500 in vouchers for private after-school tutoring for students with reading or math scores below grade level. And after a slow start, the p...

It’s Thursday and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. 

Today, we break down the latest in the New Orleans mayor’s race, including fundraising, poll numbers and what it means to be a “New Orleanian.” 

Louisiana schools have made some big strides in recent years. Math and reading scores are as high – or higher – than they were before the pandemic. According to one analysis, Louisiana is the only state that has made a full recovery in both subjects and has c...

The Louisiana Economic Development (LED) agency is charged with bringing new industry to the state and helping expand existing businesses. Recently, the organization has launched four new initiatives to give businesses the tools, visibility and support to thrive. 

Capitol Access reporter Brooke Thorington joins us for an overview of the new programs.

Congress will cut funding to the educational component of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the end of this month. The program, known as SNAP-Ed, is primarily a community outreach effort to deliver nutrition education and food purchasing assistance to low-income people. Duration: 00:24:29

The deaths of two bicyclists on a busy New Orleans roadway have energized a long-running conversation about making the city's streets safer.

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Kat Stromquist takes a ride down St. Claude Avenue to report on the push for change.

Musical siblings Marlon and Rachel Jordan’s southern tour is making a stop in Baton Rouge. The Jordans are the children of legendary New Orleans jazz saxophonist, Edward “Kidd” Jordan. 

Rachel, the classical violinist in the group, joins us for more on the tour and her family’s musical influences.

This w...

Increasing temperatures in New Orleans are driving up utility bills as air-conditioners struggle to keep up. And some people are more vulnerable than others, like seniors.

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins worked with the climate research group, Climate Central, and reports from the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood in New Orleans, where seniors with lower incomes struggle to deal with the heat — both physically and financially.

The U.S. rice industry has made impressive gains in sustainability over the last 40 years. Yet the crop is still at risk due to climate change, dise...

The LSU Museum of Art recently opened a new exhibit, “A Bayou State of Mind,” that tells individual stories of the Louisiana experience. Chief Curator of Exhibitions Michelle Schulte brought together 33 artists and over 100 contemporary artworks that tell different stories about Louisiana. 

Schulte joins us to discuss the exhibition, along with one of the featured painters, New Orleans-based multimedia artist Carl Joe Williams. 

This year, LSU’s Golden Band from Tigerland introduced a new member, Kent Broussard. But the freshman isn’t your typical student. The 66-year-old retired accountant is roughly 40 years older than his bandmates...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. Today, she breaks down the latest poll numbers in the New Orleans mayor’s race. 

After a decade of haggling, disposing, redesigning and modifying, the state’s Public Service Commission finally approved an energy efficiency program on August 20.  So far, it has the support of utility companies, advocacy groups and PSC commissioners.

Alaina DiLaura, policy coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, joins us to explain the program and how it w...

Louisiana is dealing with its worst whooping cough outbreak in decades. Hospitalizations have continued to rise over the summer, and two babies have died. 

Health reporter Rosemary Westwood joins us for more on the outbreak and why the disease is so dangerous for young babies.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) has released its annual scorecard, an analysis of the legislature’s performance on a number of policy issues from a business and industry perspective including tort reform, education, energy diversity and taxes.

Will Green, President and CEO of the LABI, joi...

Earlier this year, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, broke ground on a $10 billion data center for artificial intelligence in the middle of a Louisiana cornfield. Located in the town of Holly Ridge, the unfinished data center is already turning Richland Parish into a boomtown.

Stephanie Riegel has been covering this for the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate. She tells us about her recent trip to the region.

Renowned painter, author and illustrator Alex Beard might be known for his Magazine Street Studio, but the artist is waxing poetic in a new collection of bird artwork and or...

The nonpartisan, public policy organization, Leaders for a Better Louisiana, recently released its latest Louisiana Fact Book. It’s a list of 35 indicators over five key areas used to measure the state’s overall wellbeing. 

The organization’s chief policy officer, Barry Erwin, joins us to discuss this year’s slight upward trend.

The documentary “City of A Million Dreams - Parading for The Dead In New Orleans” explores the history and evolution of the New Orleans jazz funeral. That final goodbye is a mix of grief and joy, sadness and elation, weeping and second line dancing...

For the first time since Hurricane Katrina made landfall 20 years ago, you can take a train ride across the Gulf Coast, from Mobile to New Orleans. And all these years later, the cities along that route are still living with the storm's aftermath. In this episode, we hop aboard the train and make four Gulf Coast stops along the way to share that story. About what happened during Katrina. How some places built back better, and how others are still trying to figure out how to rebuild.

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This episode was reported and hosted by...

It’s Thursday, and time for our Week in Politics with the Times Picayune’s/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. Today, we discuss President Trump’s proposal to send the National Guard to New Orleans and how Gov. Jeff Landry has responded. 

Ask anyone in New Orleans, and they know: Hurricane Katrina was such a devastating disaster because of the catastrophic failure of the city’s levee system. In the storm’s wake, the federal government built an entirely new levee system, and the state created entirely new organizations to oversee it. 

Despite the...

In 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that non-unanimous jury verdicts – previously legal only in Louisiana and Oregon – were unconstitutional. Yet there are more than one thousand people in our state who had been convicted by non-unanimous juries before the court ruling and who remain behind bars. 

Richard Webster joins us for more on what happens next to those who have been convicted by split juries.

Last month, Second Harvest Food Bank announced it will open two new facilities in south Louisiana, one in Lake Charles and the other in Houma. Second Harvest says these facil...

The New Orleans arts community, which was scattered across the nation post-Katrina in 2005, provided a healing balm for the city when artists finally made their way back home. Fast forward to 2008, an idea spawned at WWNO by general manager Paul Maassen provided a platform for those struggling artists to bring the community together.

That platform is what we now know as Culture Collision, a preview of the arts and cultural season, which is celebrating 15 years. WWNO business manager and spokesperson Jameeta Youngblood tells us more about what’s on deck for this year’s Sept. 10 event. 

Hur...

When Hurricane Katrina happened 20 years ago, 4-year-old Nigel Tapp evacuated from the Lower Ninth Ward to Montclair, New Jersey – the hometown of managing producer Alana Schreiber. When his pre-K classmates learned that his family had lost their house to the storm, they wrote a book and sold it to raise money. 

Twenty years after Katrina – and the publication of “Nigel and the Hurricane,” Schreiber reunited Nigel with his classmates and the pre-K teacher who started it all.

Check out the full story here.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Alana Sc...

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall 20 years ago, New Orleans East was especially hard hit. This part of the city is home to a large Vietnamese population, many of whom had experienced fleeing their home in the aftermath of the Fall of Saigon. 

Yet the Vietnamese community bounced back, in larger numbers, and at a faster rate than many other enclaves. 

Cyndi Nguyen is a New Orleans East resident and former city council woman who currently serves as the community outreach strategist for New Orleans Regional Transit Authority.  She tells us more about how this community rec...

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall 20 years ago, many residents were looking to find their way out of New Orleans, but journalists were descending upon the city looking for a way in. In the days and weeks that followed, the country was overwhelmed with a variety of media narratives, as journalists worked to report honestly on the situation without ignoring the fear and desperation they saw. For many, they had to toe the line between telling the story and getting involved in the story. 

Jeré Longman, a longtime New York Times sports reporter now on the Obituaries Desk,

After Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans 20 years ago, public education in the city came to a complete stop. And when schools reopened, many of the city's educators didn't get their jobs back. Instead, they were replaced with young people who were new to teaching and new to New Orleans.

Education reporter Aubri Juhasz spoke with two teachers on opposite sides of that divide.

While all New Orleans public schools were forced into this all-charter system, the ways in which the schools bounced back were uneven. And some schools were dramatically different than they had been...

Hurricane Katrina destroyed an estimated 320 million trees in the Gulf Coast. This was not only a dramatic shift in the look of the landscape, but left the region more vulnerable to further disasters without the trees to absorb carbon and intercept stormwater.

Over the last 20 years, NOLA Tree Project has planted tens of thousands of trees to help rebuild New Orleans’ canopy. Executive director Connie Uddo joins us to talk about the project. .

Climate change is making hurricanes stronger than before. Five years ago, the Federal Emergency Management Agency started a program to fund projects th...

Two decades after Hurricane Katrina and its devastating aftermath reshaped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, we gathered to remember all that was lost, reflect on the lessons learned, and pay tribute to all the good that has been done in the two decades since. And, we look to the future: where do we go from here, and how can this region not just survive but thrive?

Renowned jazz musician Dr. Michael White performs original music written in response to Katrina and reflects on connections between recovering from the tragedy and the city's jazz culture. (Dr. White...

The Katrina 20 Local Planning Committee is commemorating Hurricane Katrina with performances, art and more, throughout the city, stretching to Mississippi and Alabama.

The Coastal Desk’s Eva Tesfaye spoke with Asali deVan Ecclesiastes, executive director of the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, to learn more about the events and how you can get involved. 

For months, the Trump administration has been cutting funding for university-based scientific research across the nation. But the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network recently logged a ‘win’with the renewal of one of its grants from the National Institute of Health–$20 million spread out over f...

MakeGood is a New Orleans-based nonprofit that creates custom-designed, 3D-printed prosthetics for people with disabilities and limb differences. We speak with Noam Platt, the organization’s founder, and James Robert III, director of advanced fabrication, about how the group works directly with people to design devices tailored to their needs.

Next week, more than 75 young New Orleans actors will commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with “504: The Hip-Hop Musical,”  a production by the Anthony Bean Community Theater and Acting School. The one-night-only performance will take place on Saturday, Aug. 30. ABCT founder and artistic directo...

It’s been nearly 20 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, destroying countless communities in its wake. One neighborhood that suffered the wrath of the storm and never fully recovered is the Desire Area in the Upper Ninth Ward. 

Back in 2018, NPR’s Laine Kaplan Levinson reported on the history of this neighborhood and misconceptions about an area known for its public housing. Today, we give that story a second listen.

WWNO and WRKF have partnered with the producers of the PBS documentary, Caregiving, to shine a spotlight on America’s caregiving crisis. We talked to people...

It’s Thursday and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. Today we hear about the latest polls, dropouts and endorsements in New Orleans’ mayor’s race.

At the end of July, Jefferson Parish lost its bond rating. It wasn’t downgraded or reduced – it was lost completely, pulled by Moody’s and S&S Global Ratings. 

The Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s Lara Nicholson has been covering this story. She joins us to discuss the impact of this loss and more...

Steep cuts are coming to SNAP benefits, better known as food stamps. And that’s bad news for grocery stores that see the bulk of their sales from SNAP dollars. 

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Stephan Bisaha reports from one independent grocery store in Alabama bracing for the cuts.

An unprecedented natural disaster is a dramatic way to learn hard lessons about how we plan and construct our cities. Yet Hurricane Katrina, 20 years ago, did just that for New Orleans. Since Katrina, New Orleans has been trying to make buildings and infrastructure more resilient, while prese...

The Friends of the New Orleans Public Library organization is holding its first-ever all-children’s book sale. And it comes as a new school year begins. 

The organization’s director, Shannan Cvitanovic tells us more about the event and who is invited. 

The NOLA Project: Theatre for the BOLD, recently announced its 2025-26 season, and this year’s works revolve around iconic texts. 

Artistic Director Tenaj Wallace joins us with a sneak peek at what’s to come.

The StoryCorps Mobile Tour visited Baton Rouge last November and invited volunteers to record conv...

August signals the end of summer break, and students across Louisiana are heading back into the classroom. Monday  is the first day of  school for public school students in Orleans, Jefferson and Lafayette parishes. Students in Baton Rouge returned to class last week – and were met with a host of changes.

Charles Lussier covers education for The Baton Rouge Advocate. He joins us to break down those changes.

The Louisiana Shakespeare Company is presenting an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” And many Louisianans will find the story of a storm that decimates a town rathe...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with Stephanie Grace, editorial director and columnist for The Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate. We hear about the latest candidate to challenge Sen. Cassidy’s (R-La.) seat in Congress, and whether or not President Trump will weigh in on the election. 

Earlier this month, the Trump administration issued a two-year exemption to an EPA rule that aims to curb  pollution and cancer risks for those who live near industrial plants.

The move affects a dozen Louisiana petrochemical companies and the communities that sur...

A new police accountability law, passed by lawmakers this past legislative session, aims to keep law enforcement officers from using excessive force. This comes after a sheriff’s deputy was caught on video dragging a woman by her hair and slamming her into the ground. 

Richard Webster has been covering this for Verite News and Pro Publica. He joins us for more. 

The Louisiana Children’s Museum in New Orleans received a major grant that will be used to help the museum better connect to an older audience. The $2.5 million grant will be used to target...

The 25th annual Satchmo Summerfest, an event celebrating the life and legacy of New Orleans jazz visionary Louis Armstrong, kicks off this weekend. Emily Madero, CEO of French Quarter Festivals, Inc., tells us what festivalgoers can expect during the two-day celebration.

Researchers from Pennington Biomedical and Tulane University are collaborating to find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gherig’s disease. We speak with the two doctors leading the project, Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Jeffery Keller and Tulane’s Dr. Aron Culotta, about how they’re using artificial intelligence to discover new drug...

As the qualifying period for the Oct. 11 election closed earlier this month, multiple seats were left without qualifiers. A majority of these vacant seats are in rural parts of northern Louisiana. Report for America Corps Member Alex Cox tells us more. 

A yearlong federal investigation resulted in the arrests of four local lawmen accused of participating in a paid scheme in order to bypass immigration laws. Now, residents in Western Louisiana parishes are left trying to make sense of it all. 

Joseph Cranney has been investigating this story for Th...

El Bosque, Mexico, a tiny fishing village on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, is quickly vanishing into the sea. In this episode, we journey to El Bosque to meet the town’s most unlikely hero—one person determined to fight for a future as her neighbors flee the encroaching waves.

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This episode was reported by Alvaro Céspedes. It was hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Alvaro. Editing by Johanna Zorn, Carlyle Calhoun, with additional help from Ricardo Lopez Cordero. Translation by Elsa Gil (as Lupe Cobos) and Sofia Garfias (as Cristina Pacheco). Fact-checking by Garrett Hazelwo...

Last Friday, Congress approved the Trump administration’s request to rescind federal funding for National Public Radio and PBS. While this move will impact all NPR stations, the smaller, rural ones are most vulnerable.

Today, we are dedicating an entire episode to discuss the impacts of these cuts, hearing community reactions, and discussing potential solutions with a panel of guests from NPR stations across the country.

Philip Manning, general manager of KTNA in Talkeetna, Alaska; Jarle Kvale, program director at KEYA on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota; and Lori Gilbert, Morning Ed...

Louisiana is one of 30 states with laws that criminalize exposing or transmitting HIV. This past legislative session, time narrowly ran out on a bill that would’ve expanded Louisiana’s law to other/additional sexually transmitted infections.

Louisiana has some of the highest rates of STIs in the nation, including HIV, but a growing body of evidence shows criminal penalties hurt efforts to solve the public health crisis. Verite New’s Halle Parker joins to talk about these laws and their consequences. 

If you’re looking for materials about Louisiana’s historical heritage, one of the places...

The state recently announced it will cancel the Mid-Barataria sediment diversion plan, the biggest-ever coastal restoration project in Louisiana history. The project was nixed because costs got too high,, and will be replaced with a scaled-down  version. 

The Coastal Desk’s Eva Tesfaye has been reporting on the Mid-Barataria project. She joins us today with an update. 

July is Disability Pride Month and Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser has made it his mission to improve accessibility throughout the state. Over the past few years, he’s helped the state add  more all-terrain wheelchairs and paved nature t...

Under a new law, law enforcement officers who don’t comply with immigration authorities like ICE could face criminal charges. This could bring big changes for local jailers, including the Orleans Parish Sheriff, along with everyday Louisiana residents. 

Bobbi-Jeanne Misick has been reporting this story for Verite News and joins for more.

An observatory hidden in the woods in Louisiana recently detected a black hole merger. And while it took less than a tenth of a second, it was the largest collision of two black holes ever observed.
 
The discovery was made at Lase...

Every summer, Baton Rouge General Burn Center and Foundation offers pediatric burn survivors the opportunity to attend a summer camp. Since 2019, Camp Catahoula has offered these young burn survivors a chance to meet others who have faced the same obstacles with a week full of horseback riding, art and crafts, fishing and other summer camp activities. 

Sadie Stockwell, co-director and physical therapist assistant at the Baton Rouge Burn Center, and Shay Shay Turner, a burn survivor and camper-turned-counselor, tell us more about Camp Catahoula.

Earlier this week, the Major League Baseball draft took even the t...

The field for New Orleans’ fall elections is now set, and there were a few last-minute surprises before the candidate filing deadline. The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace joins us to break down the crowded field of candidates. 

Last week, the National Federation of the Blind National Convention came to New Orleans. The convention is the largest gathering of blind people in the world, and it offers  training, support, networking and more to people from all over the country who are blind.

Edward Bell was one of the guests that m...

Pedestrian fatalities tend to rise nationwide over the summer months, and Louisiana consistently ranks among the top 10 states with the highest numbers. Capitol access reporter Brooke Thorington spoke with Greg Fischer, spokesperson of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, about how pedestrians and drivers can better follow safety protocols.

The shortage of healthcare professionals — in particular, nurses — has been a perennial problem. But one nursing program in New Orleans is combating this issue by catering to working professionals and non-traditional students.

University of Holy Cross president, Dr. Stanton McNeely, and chair of the Department of Nursing, Dr...

Day 2 of the MLB draft wrapped up Monday, and now several Louisiana college ballplayers know where they’ll be continuing their careers. Nine  LSU prospects were selected along with three from Tulane, and a handful more from Southern, Southeastern and Louisiana Tech – but some of the picks took baseball experts by surprise. 

Koki Riley covers LSU baseball for The Baton Rouge Advocate. He joined us to break down the selections. 

The Pulitzer-Prize winning drama, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” continues the  10th anniversary season at the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company. This production is complete with the sel...

The last remaining piece of a damaged American ship from World War II has been found. A team of scientists and explorers discovered the bow of the USS New Orleans off the coast of the Solomon Islands more than 70 years after the battle.

Mark Ballard has been reporting this story for The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate and joins us to talk about  the discovery.

In June, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 675, a law that restricts the ability of prisoners to try and prove their innocence once they’re behind bars. The law’s passa...

Climate change is bad news for almost everyone. Emphasis on almost, because believe it or not, one marine species is absolutely thriving as the Gulf warms: Bull sharks!

Get ready for some shark science as we learn why bull sharks are increasing in numbers across the Gulf and getting hungrier.

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This episode was hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Katelyn Harrop. Katelyn conducted the interview. Our theme music is by John Batiste, and our sound designer is Emily Jankowski. Carlyle Calhoun is the executive producer. Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. We're pa...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time for our week in politics with Stephanie Grace, the editorial director and columnist for the Times-Picayune/The Advocate. Today she breaks down a reignited feud between Mayor Cantrell and the city council, and discusses the latest entrant in the New Orleans mayoral race.

If you’ve spent time in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, then you’re probably familiar with Rosetree, a studio and store, where artist Mark Rosenbaum has been blowing glass for decades. He’s created wine glasses, vases, bowls, commissions for corporations and presidents, and other...

Thanks to a new law, Louisiana homeowners can now get a $10,000 tax credit if they install a fortified roof on their home. That’s in addition to the $10,000 Fortified Grant Program. 

Capitol Access reporter Brooke Thorington spoke with state Sen. Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge), who authored the legislation, about the program and some of its limitations.

A rare election for the  Crescent Soil and Water Conservation District Board drew an unexpectedly high level of interest for a governing body that is accustomed to operating in the background.

Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) help...

Yesterday on Louisiana Considered, the Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins brought us to the Netherlands to learn how the country was navigating the opioid epidemic. Today we hear how a different European country is handling this crisis – and what Louisiana could learn from it.

Delaney Nolan recently reported on how harm reduction practices in Ukraine are providing a possible model for Louisiana addiction treatment. She joins us today to share more information. 

The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane continues its season with the Bard’s romantic comedy, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Directed by Graham Bur...

If you’re a regular NPR listener, you know that our organization is under serious threat. The House of Representatives recently approved a request from President Trump to cut funding to the broadcast network.

While this could be a major blow to all stations, the smaller ones are most at risk. Oftentimes,  it’s just a small team of people bringing news to an underrepresented region. Or in this case,  just one person.

Jeff Ferrell is the news director and sole full-time staff member at Red River Radio KDAQ in Shreveport, Louisiana. He walks us throug...

It’s Thursday and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. Today she tells us about State Sen. Royce Duplesis’ decision to join the New Orleans mayoral race, and goes over Gov. Landry’s recent line item vetoes. 

Café Reconcile, a modern soul food cafe tucked away in Central City, is a safe space for at-risk youth to learn culinary and life skills. 

As it celebrates 25 years in business, the restaurant is rebranding, and has 

updated its mission an...

More than 40 years after the 1979 Iranian revolutions, relations between the United States and Iran remain frayed. This has largely been due to Iran’s advancing nuclear program.

But tensions escalated even further when Israel launched surprise attacks on key nuclear and military facilities in Iran. This prompted the U.S. to get involved, with President Trump ordering strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites. And while the nations have since come to a peace agreement, relations remain fragile. 

Andrew Leber is an assistant professor at Tulane’s Department of Political Science and the Middle East and North...

Its storm season in the Gulf South, and the National Hurricane Center has been tracking tropical disturbances headed towards the coast. Tropical Storm Barry formed over the weekend, and now forecasters are looking at more worrisome weather near Florida.

Meteorologist Jennifer Narramore joins us to share an update and discuss how this year’s hurricane season compares to previous ones.

The Tony-award winning Sondheim musical “Company,” debuts at the Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre next weekend, July 10-13. The comedic performance is directed by Leslie Castay, a film and Broadway veteran with roots in LaPlace. She joins...