Gulf States Gumbo

It’s been 20 years since a train service along the Mississippi Coast from Mobile to New Orleans was possible. Hurricane Katrina put a stop to that service. But in August, the train finally came back. 

In this week's episode, economic mobility reporter Stephan Bisaha takes the ride and stops at two locations along the Mississippi Coast to learn about the damage Katrina brought to the state and how it changed these communities two decades later. 

This episode is hosted by Joseph King, who is also our social producer. The podcast is produced by Stephan Bisaha, Kat Stromquist, Drew Hawkins, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme. 

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected]. 

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

On this week's episode, we stir the pot from the Saturn music venue in Birmingham. Recorded on August 9th, 2025, Joseph King interviews senior reporter Stephan Bisaha about nightmare utility bills. 

This episode is hosted by Joseph King, who is also our social producer. The podcast was produced by Stephan Bisaha, Kat Stromquist, Drew Hawkins, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme. 

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected]. 

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

We know what the heat in New Orleans feels like, and we know what the data can look like with charts and graphs. But what does it sound like? 

On this week’s episode, we “sonify” the heat data, using music to illustrate how hot New Orleans has gotten over the last few decades — and how quickly temperatures are increasing. 

Public health reporter Drew Hawkins takes us through the process of analyzing the data and converting it into an accurate sonic representation.

We also look at how increasing temperatures are impacting the city’s musicians. 

This episode is hosted by Ryan Vasquez. The podcast was written by Drew Hawkins and produced by Kat Stromquist, Stephan Bisaha, and Orlando Flores Jr. Joseph King is our social producer. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme. 

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected]. 

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

On this week's episode, we venture onto the Pearl River, which flows through Jackson, Mississippi, down into southeastern Louisiana. For more than 100 years, that river has flooded in northeast Jackson. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been trying to stop the flooding, but each plan has caused backlash and concern from Jackson down to Slidell, Louisiana. We talk with WWNO’s Michael McEwen and hear from Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s Shamira Muhammad about those worries. 

WWNO’s Eva Tesfaye also explains why a multi-billion-dollar plan to deal with Louisiana's land loss was recently cancelled. 

This episode is hosted by Kat Stromquist. The podcast was written by Stephan Bisaha and produced by Drew Hawkins, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Joseph King is our social producer. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme. 

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected].

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

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

In this week's episode, economic mobility reporter Stephan Bisaha visits an Alabama grocer bracing for the cuts.

Also, the Gulf South continues to be left out of the tech industry boom. Stephan also reports on the advantages of being a tech company in Mississippi —  and what’s holding the state back.

This episode is hosted by our sports and culture reporter Joseph King. The podcast was produced by Stephan Bisaha, Kat Stromquist, Drew Hawkins, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme.

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected].

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

Federal grants helped bring down opioid overdose deaths by supporting peer services, expanding treatment access and increasing the availability of overdose-reversal drugs — like Narcan. But the Trump administration has stalled that funding. 

In this week’s episode, we go to the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, to find out how losing the funding for overdose-reversal drugs could reverse progress made in the opioid crisis. We also hear from public health reporter Drew Hawkins and NPR’s Brian Mann, who first broke the story about the funding changes. 

This episode is hosted by community engagement producer Nellie Beckett and written by public health reporter Drew Hawkins. The podcast was produced by Stephan Bisaha, Kat Stromquist, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Joseph King is our social producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme. 

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected]. 

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

Major hacks at big companies like Sony and Equifax often get plenty of attention. But small businesses fall victim to cyber attacks, too — about four times as often as larger organizations, according to a report from Verizon.

For this week's episode, we go to a New Orleans neighborhood bar that lost about $10,000 because of scammers, along with losing access to her Facebook and Meta accounts — which helped drive a large part of its business. We also talk about how we helped get those accounts back. 

This episode is hosted and written by economic mobility reporter Stephan Bisaha. The podcast was produced by Kat Stromquist, Drew Hawkins, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Joseph King is our social producer. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme. 

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected]. 

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

As thousands in the United States die from opioid overdoses each year, the Dutch responded to their own opioid crisis by changing their approach. That included embracing harm reduction and an integrated public health model to policing drug use. 

In this week’s episode, public health reporter Drew Hawkins takes us to the Netherlands, where he explores how these different tactics could work in the Gulf South. 

And for this week’s Gulf States Gem: Drew went to Dutch Carnaval in a small village in the Netherlands. 

This episode is hosted and written by public health reporter Drew Hawkins. The podcast was produced by Stephan Bisaha, Kat Stromquist, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Joseph King is our social producer. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme. 

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected]. 

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

On this week’s episode, we’re handing the reins over to the NPR science podcast Short Wave. 

Our economic mobility reporter Stephan Bisaha went on the show last month to talk about how Alabama’s fortified roofs have become a model program, protecting residents from hurricanes and rising insurance costs. We also hear from NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer about a similar program in California meant to fight wildfires. 

This episode is hosted and written by Stephan Bisaha. The podcast is produced by Kat Stromquist, Drew Hawkins, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Joseph King is the social producer. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme. 

Special thanks to the Short Wave team for letting us re-air the episode and sharing our reporting. 

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected].

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

In this week’s episode, we share some good news from the region: our states are leading the way on third-grade reading skills, a vital benchmark that can be a positive sign for future success in school. 

Mississippi was once at the bottom when it came to third grade reading levels. Now, it's close to the top. Alabama and Louisiana are climbing the ranks faster than other states, and Louisiana is implementing a new rule to make more gains. 

Starting this year, students who don’t pass a reading test will be held back — a law already in place in Alabama and Mississippi. WWNO and WRKF’s education reporter Aubri Juhasz takes us into a Louisiana classroom to tell us more about the initiative. 

This week’s Gulf States Gem: Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, Alabama.

This episode is hosted by sports and culture reporter Joseph King, who is also our social producer. The podcast was produced by Stephan Bisaha, Kat Stromquist, Drew Hawkins, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme.

To get in touch with the team, email [email protected].

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.