You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr — though today it's Louis flying solo, since Stephen is taking some well-deserved time off. This is the full show for September 14, 2026. 

We open by digging into President Trump's proposed $5,000 "dividend" for every adult American citizen, unpacked after his announcement at the midterm convention in Dallas. We walk through House Speaker Mike Johnson's insistence that any such payment requires congressional approval, weigh the price tag — north of $1.2 trillion against a national debt that has already topped $40 trillion — and ask the uncomfortable question of where that money would actually come from. We also address Congressman Jamie Raskin's "political bribe" characterization and explain why the dividend, as proposed, would go to every eligible adult regardless of how they vote.

From there we run through our Top 3 things to know before tomorrow: encouraging news on Louisiana's insurance crisis as Property Insurance Company of America moves to take over commercial policies from Louisiana Citizens; a horrifying quadruple homicide out of Houma that left a young child critically injured; and the expanding search for missing Louisiana women Stephanie Hevia and Madison Bates Allen, now past 700 man-hours.

We take a quick detour to the Saints' heartbreaking overtime loss before turning to a serious conversation about crime and jail capacity, using Caddo Parish's chronically overcrowded jail as a jumping-off point to argue that being tough on crime has to include being honest about where offenders actually go.

We also cover Mitch McConnell's return to the Senate after a three-month absence amid health concerns, Gavin Newsom's declaration that he won't run for president in 2028 if Kamala Harris does, fresh polling showing Harris well ahead of Newsom among Democrats, and reporting that Barack Obama is quietly lining up donors and betting on AI ahead of 2028. We close the hour with a lighter look at San Francisco's "guttural scream at the sea" event, then push back on former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms' remarks tying black women's self-reliance to a "post-traumatic slave mentality," walking through the historical data on black family structure before and after the Great Society programs.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. 

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 11, 2026.

We open in New Orleans, where NOPD, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, State Police, the National Guard, and the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office all say they've gathered intelligence pointing to another illegal street takeover this weekend — the kind where stunt drivers, promoters, and spectators flood an intersection, block traffic, and spin five-thousand-pound cars through smoke while crowds stand six feet away with their phones out. After a takeover event back in June, law enforcement says they're not looking the other way this time, and Louisiana's new reckless operation law, effective August 1st, now allows qualifying vehicles to be seized for forfeiture. We talk about why this isn't the same as hanging out in a parking lot back in the eighties, how a street takeover puts one group's pursuit of happiness ahead of everybody else's right to travel, and what happens when kids grow up without anyone in their lives telling them there are consequences.

In the Top 3 things you need to know, LSU walks away without sanctions after the SEC's video conference meeting, following the league's suit over the school's effort to put former NFL players on its roster and the dropped proposal to remove LSU from the conference. The first cannabis dispensary opens on Bourbon Street — three stories, 1,600 square feet of retail, telehealth consultations for medical cards, and neighbors already complaining about the smell. And Azimuth Renewables holds an option on more than a thousand acres north of Moss Bluff for a proposed data center, though the land is zoned agricultural and State Rep Brett Gaiman says the community will be firmly opposed.

Then we get into childcare, where a new survey finds more than 600 early childhood education providers are watching their costs outrun their revenue, absorbing the difference rather than passing it to families, with three-fourths unsure they can stay open another six months. We dig into insurance costs, the accumulated consequences of decades of policy decisions, whether excessive regulation is part of the squeeze — including the daycare that could hand out packaged cookies but needed a food prep license to peel a banana — and why the answer isn't government paying for childcare but government getting out of the way.

Digging Deep takes us to the LIV golf deal, where Louisiana put taxpayer money behind a tournament that isn't happening and a league now in bankruptcy, plus millions more toward renovations at Bayou Oaks at City Park. We make the conservative case plainly: government has no business funding sporting events, the economic impact projections almost never pan out, and Republicans in this state will lose voters if they don't relearn that lesson.

On the 25th anniversary of September 11th, we look at newly declassified presidential daily briefings stretching from December 1998 through the morning of the attacks, including the August 6, 2001 briefing delivered to President Bush in Crawford. We go back and forth hard on this one — how much of it was actionable, what confidence levels were attached, whether seven or eight mentions across roughly 900 days should have triggered action on airport security and flight schools, and whether we're all just playing Monday morning quarterback 25 years later.

We also mark Nashville's airport being renamed in honor of Dolly Parton and talk about a woman who managed to bring people together across every line in America by simply being herself. Then we play a game on state unemployment rates, where the national number holds near 4.3% but the top ten tells a story: Oregon and Connecticut lead at 5.2%, and not one red state makes the list, while the Dakotas sit at the bottom. And we close with AOC crediting divine intervention for Utah's redrawn congressional maps — and ask whether she'd apply that same theology to Texas, to Maryland, and to two Trump elections.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 10, 2026. 

We look at Louisiana’s emerging nuclear-energy renaissance and the proposed Project Amberjack, a small modular reactor campus that could become part of a much larger expansion of nuclear power in the state. What will it take to meet America’s growing demand for electricity as manufacturing, data centers, and other energy-intensive industries expand? We examine the opportunities—and the questions surrounding safety, land use, infrastructure, financing, and local opposition.

In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, we cover New Orleans’ plan to take control of the Sewerage and Water Board, another New Orleans police officer accused of overtime fraud, and FBI Director Kash Patel’s visit to Louisiana to meet with Governor Jeff Landry and state law enforcement leaders.

We also take a closer look at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas and President Trump’s praise of Speaker Mike Johnson. We discuss what political conventions are actually designed to accomplish between presidential election years, why political parties need to bring their coalitions together, and the difference between unity and unanimity.

Then we take a surprising detour into professional basketball as President Trump comments on the Dallas Mavericks’ trade of Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers—and debate whether his remarks are simply an example of a president engaging with popular culture or something more political.

We dig into the jury deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy case and the debate that followed interviews with several jurors. The discussion raises a broader question about the role of jurors: How do you balance the facts of a case with questions of mental illness, reasonable doubt, and the law?

Our Bright Spot highlights Congressman Brandon Gill and his speech at the Republican convention, while we examine his argument about how Americans acknowledge the nation’s history and the people whose work and sacrifice helped build the country.

We also revisit Charlie Kirk’s legacy and the larger principle at stake after his assassination: Freedom of speech means protecting the right to speak even when we strongly disagree with what someone is saying.

And in a lighter segment, we test our knowledge of history as we run through an Ipsos survey asking Americans which events have been the most significant of their lifetimes—from 9/11 and COVID-19 to the election of Barack Obama, the election of Donald Trump, the moon landing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and more.

Finally, we examine President Trump’s statement that the conflict with Iran could end after the November midterm elections and consider the political and strategic questions surrounding that timeline.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 9, 2026.

We open with Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux's proposal to give city police officers and firefighters a 6% pay increase without raising taxes or dipping into the city's reserves. We look at the new economic activity coming to Shreveport, including major data centers, and examine how economic development is supposed to expand the economic pie, create new revenue, improve quality of life, and ultimately make investments like better public safety salaries possible.

In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, we cover Louisiana's argument before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals over the FDA's rules allowing abortion drugs to be prescribed remotely, LSU's apparent removal from the SEC's agenda after the university said its 2026-27 roster does not include the former NFL players at the center of the dispute, and Shreveport's proposed $7 million annual investment in police and firefighter pay based on anticipated revenue from new data centers.

We take on a viral claim about Speaker of the House Mike Johnson allegedly working only 20 days since July. We examine what members of Congress actually do beyond voting on the House floor, including committee work, constituent services, negotiations, fundraising, campaigning, and recruiting other candidates. We also look at where the current congressional logjam actually exists and ask whether criticism of Johnson's schedule is fair when the Senate has yet to act on legislation passed by the House.

We dig into what it means to be fair and accurate in political debate. We talk about the temptation to post something online as absolute fact without taking the time to consider the full picture, and why being partisan or passionate doesn't have to mean abandoning fairness. We may disagree with people, challenge their arguments, and be tough in our criticism—but accuracy still matters.

We also take a look at the Republican Party's midterm convention in Dallas, where we check in live with KTBS anchor Jeff Beimfohr from the American Airlines Center. We hear what he's seeing on the convention floor, the response to speakers including Senator Tim Scott, the appearances by Christopher Macchio, Newt Gingrich, and Dean Cain, and what attendees are expecting from President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson.

Then we revisit Texas Senate candidate James Talarico's changing statements about biological sex, gender, and God, asking what changed and why voters should accept a walk-back of positions that were previously presented as fact. And in a lighter moment, we settle an important question: Which Girl Scout cookies are America's favorites? Thin Mints lead the way, followed by Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos, and Trefoils.

We close by examining the criticism surrounding the Republican convention being held in Dallas County and the argument that holding a political event in a predominantly Democratic area somehow demonstrates racism. We consider what political parties are supposed to do—build coalitions, reach voters, and bring together people with different backgrounds and priorities—and why political disagreement doesn't have to mean abandoning reason or fairness.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 8, 2026. 

We start with the growing showdown between the SEC and LSU, breaking down the conference's amended lawsuit seeking a court's blessing to expel the Tigers over reinstated former NFL players, the associational-rights argument at the center of it, and why we think this sets a dangerous precedent if member schools can simply opt out of rules they don't like.

From there we hit our Top 3 things you need to know: the LSU-SEC expulsion vote set for Thursday, a police chief candidate in the small village of Elizabeth, Louisiana arrested on decades-old rape charges, and a Louisiana Legislative Auditor's report showing a dozen public defender's offices across the state running budget deficits.

We dig into an unusual lawsuit out of Harahan, where a man is suing his own family business after coming out as gay, alleging his role was diminished and he was ultimately let go, and we talk through the complicated dynamics of family, trust, and the narratives around estrangement that come with it. We dig deep on Caddo Parish's proposed $60 million bond for a new sports complex, walking through a consultant's own data showing similar facilities across the country consistently underperforming their revenue projections, and question whether it's a smart use of taxpayer money.

We also mark the approaching 25th anniversary of September 11th, including Mayor Mamdani's handling of the commemoration pin controversy, and highlight Rutgers and Boston College honoring the anniversary on the football field this weekend. We say what we really think in nominating Senator John Kennedy for a new cabinet post, Secretary of Common Sense, breaking down his five-point common-sense case on data centers, water use, energy costs, and tax breaks.

We tackle the hard conversation around mentally ill criminals following the Times Square stabbing death of a new mother, and what it means for public safety when treatment and accountability both fail. We test our college football TV ratings knowledge in a quick trivia game, and close with a public service announcement on teens buying and injecting so-called GLP-3 peptides sold online despite "not for human consumption" warnings.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 4, 2026.

We kick off Labor Day weekend by digging into the wild legal fight between LSU and the Southeastern Conference over former NFL players Daquan Wright and Xavier Harris suiting up for the Tigers. We break down the federal lawsuit, the SEC's First Amendment associational rights argument, Governor Landry's pushback that LSU is being singled out, and the bigger question of whether two players are really worth all this litigation for LSU and its taxpayers. From there we hit the Top 3 things you need to know: the preliminary injunction keeping LSU's players eligible for now, East Baton Rouge Parish being ordered to pay a church $17.7 million over a land seizure for a road project, and the desecration of Civil War leader Philemon Thomas's tomb in Baton Rouge's Magnolia Cemetery.

We move into ICE setting a new monthly arrest record with nearly 51,000 illegal aliens taken into custody in August, and talk through the case for enforcing immigration law without being anti-immigrant. We also cover Secretary of State Marco Rubio's conversation with Brian Kilmeade on the complex, long-term nature of today's geopolitical threats, from Iran to Ukraine, and how that mindset shaped the Trump administration's approach to Iran's nuclear program. We play a quick game guessing which states have the most data centers currently in development, with Texas, Virginia, and Pennsylvania topping the list. We close out the hour with a sobering story out of a family argument over enchiladas that turned deadly, and a reminder to keep things in perspective heading into the holiday weekend.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 3, 2026.

We open by digging into Bossier Parish's new ordinance making it a crime to use a restroom that doesn't match one's biological sex in parish-owned buildings, walking through the penalties, how it builds on Louisiana's 2024 Women's Safety and Protection Act, and why we think giving law enforcement a real enforcement tool is worth it.

From there we hit our Top 3 things you need to know: the SEC suing LSU over its recruitment of former NFL players, the town of Homer, Louisiana halting payments on an unconstitutional water meter contract after Attorney General Liz Murrill stepped in, and two former St. Tammany Parish elementary school principals pleading guilty to failing to report child abuse.

We talk LSU football ahead of the Clemson home opener and Lane Kiffin's Death Valley debut as head coach, including the swirling allegations from an upcoming book about his past off-field conduct at Alabama, and what it means for the university if any of it turns out to be true. We Dig Deep into a legislative audit finding dozens of Louisiana's roughly 500 state boards and commissions are dormant, inactive, or exist only on paper, and what that says about political patronage in state government.

We break down the new gold Trump dollar coin marking America's 250th anniversary, debate whether Rahm Emanuel's comment about wanting to hit Hasan Piker with a two-by-four was a legitimate call to violence or just a figurative jab, and react to Maria Bartiromo's abrupt departure from Fox News after more than a decade. We play a quick game guessing the states with the highest and lowest overall tax burden per capita, and close out talking about the Trump administration's unprecedented level of media access and JD Vance's praise for outgoing Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. 

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 2, 2026. 

We start by breaking down Louisiana joining a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against Amazon, along with 22 other states, alleging the company rigged its advertising auctions with a fake bidder to drive up prices for the 500,000 small and medium-sized businesses that advertise on its platform, and we walk through how that cost ultimately trickles down to consumers.

In our Top 3, we cover the resignation of the lead prosecutor on the East Baton Rouge Parish corruption probe, the state of Louisiana moving to take over the finances of the town of Cullen after it fell more than $332,000 in debt, and Medicaid provider Healthy Blue's exit from the Louisiana market, which will force nearly 300,000 customers to switch plans.

We dig into the controversy over LSU adding former NFL players and fifth-year transfers to its roster under Lane Kiffin, arguing college football has become a full-fledged farm league for the NFL, and we contrast Colin Kaepernick's new memoir and victimhood narrative with Tim Tebow's post-NFL path of faith and charity work.

We say what to a gripping House committee moment where Marcus Coleman, father of a girl severely injured by an illegal immigrant driver, confronted Democrats over their handling of Delilah's Law, a bill that would bar states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

We also push back on director Maggie Gyllenhaal's complaints about too few female directors in Hollywood, arguing merit and audience approval, not quotas, should decide who gets to direct, before running down a WalletHub survey on the best and worst U.S. cities to retire in, noting the best-ranked cities skew heavily Republican and the worst skew heavily Democrat.

We close by taking aim at Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, dubbed "Talafrico," over his push to dismantle capitalism, making the case that capitalism remains history's fastest path from poverty to prosperity while socialism has failed everywhere it's been tried.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 1, 2026.

We open by digging into what college football has become, using LSU's addition of Daquan Wright — released from the Cleveland Browns' preseason roster just days before enrolling at LSU — to ask whether "student-athlete" still means anything, why Louisiana taxpayers keep subsidizing money-losing college programs, and what Clemson coach Dabo Sweeney had to say about it.

From there we run through the top things you need to know: Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins refusing to vote for Senate-passed bills over the SAVE Act standoff, New Orleans turning down federal Model Cities grant money rather than cooperate with ICE and crack down on homeless encampments, and Ascension Parish phasing out its emergency sirens in favor of digital alerts through the Everbridge app.

We dig into Louisiana's move to allow higher-ethanol gasoline blends, weighing the state's push for cheaper fuel against the corrosion risks to older engines, before turning to the corruption case against East Baton Rouge Superintendent Lamont Cole, who sat down for his first interview since being indicted on bribery, money laundering, and malfeasance charges tied to COVID relief contracts.

We call out Rosie O'Donnell's viral comparison of the U.S. to fascist regimes and her claims about ICE detention facilities, and we break down President Trump's blunt response to a reporter's question about using nuclear weapons against Iran, walking through why Iran's military — navy, air force, and all — is already effectively defeated. We also mark 25 years since 9/11 with new data showing more than 57,000 certified 9/11-related cancer cases among survivors and responders.

We play a preseason college football ranking game working through the AP Top 10 and the top-grossing programs nationally, and we close by looking at how far the Democratic Party has drifted on socialism, from 86 House Democrats backing an anti-socialism resolution last year to just eight doing so this time around.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 31, 2026. 

We open with a close look at the case of State Rep. Michael Mallory, whose car ended up in a ditch in Bossier Parish after what may have been a medical emergency, and we dig into the bodycam details, the missing blood draw, and whether an elected official was given a level of deference an ordinary citizen wouldn't have received in the same circumstances.

We run through the Top 3 things you need to know: the family of a New Orleans teen who died urban exploring in an abandoned plaza tower says they're preparing to sue, Governor Jeff Landry has tapped State Rep. Mark Wright to head the Louisiana DOTD's Office of Multimodal Commerce, and a former Doerun, Louisiana mayor convicted of sex with a minor will not get a harsher sentence despite an acknowledged judicial error.

We turn to a string of violent incidents in Times Square under Mayor Mamdani, including a woman who stabbed multiple people at random before being shot by police, and we talk about what it means for a city's sense of safety, and for the officers who have to make split-second calls. We break down why the U.S.-Canada trade deal collapsed, unpacking Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's on-record comments and the political calculations tied to upcoming provincial elections in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta.

For Say What, we look at Rahm Emanuel's new insistence that Democratic Socialists aren't really part of the Democratic Party, and whether that holds up against the party's own recent history. We also play a quick geography game on America's biggest export and import partners, and close by talking about the Dallas Stars dropping Pride Night in favor of a new "Hockey Unites Us" theme.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.