After Hurricane Katrina, state officials in Louisiana accelerated their takeover of New Orleans’ lowest-performing schools.  WWNO's Aubri Juhasz discusses the state of New Orleans' schools 20 years after Katrina. 

Then, 20 years ago, actor Wendell Pierce managed to evacuate his parents from the Ponchartrain Park neighborhood in the hours before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Pierce joins us. 

And, the animal welfare crisis that followed Hurricane Katrina spurred the nation to change the way it thinks about pets during natural disasters. NPR's Nate Rott reports.

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President Trump has proposed scaling back federal funding for low-income renters as part of his budget for the next fiscal year that starts in October. Developers are already responding by scaling back projects that rent to people who depend on that aid to pay their rent. Denice Wint of EAH Housing, a low-income housing developer, explains more.

And, Gov. Kim Reynolds explains why she went around the legislature to overhaul the state's child care system.

Then, rising costs, tariffs and funding cuts to public education are heightening the debate over who should be paying for school supplies — parents or teachers? Chabeli Carrazana, an economy and child care reporter for The 19th, joins us.

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One year ago, during the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched the Make America Healthy Again movement. Now as the head of Health and Human Services, Kennedy is trying to push through changes to policies around vaccines and food safety, and end the chronic disease epidemic. STAT reporter Isabella Cueto explains how much progress the movement has made.

And, when 19-year-old Viraj Dhanda starts his first year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he’ll be the first student with non-speaking autism. Viraj Dhanda and his father, Sumit Dhanda, join us to detail his journey to MIT.

Then, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students are studying in the U.S., but only 1,200 U.S. students are studying in China. Linguistics professor and author David Moser explains why.

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President Trump is using the full force of the presidency to go after critics and people he believes are criminals. Law professor Kim Wehle talks about the implications of Trump's push to use the attorney general as his own personal lawyer. Then, Trump has suggested that Chicago could be the next U.S. city where he deploys National Guard troops after doing so in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The Chicago Sun-Times' Tina Sfondeles gives more context. And, an undocumented teen is trying to get an education at a Bronx school for immigrants as the Trump administration amps up ICE actions. Chalkbeat reporter Michael Elsen-Rooney tells us more.

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Research shows that developing a daily routine can positively impact mental health by creating a structure that helps reduce stress and anxiety. Mental health counselor Samantha Zhu explains how to create and stick to a routine.

And, exercise improves not only physical health, but mental health too. It can be hard to start a fitness regimen, but fitness instructor Aubre Winters shares some tips for working regular exercise into your life.

Then, according to the American Psychiatric Association, more than 30% of Americans say their sleep quality is poor, or they aren’t getting enough sleep each night. Psychologist Shelby Harris details how to create morning and bedtime routines that can help you get more restful sleep.

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New data shows the Democratic Party is hemorrhaging voters. New York Times national political correspondent Shane Goldmacher broke the story and joins us to explain what the numbers mean as Democrats try to find their way out of the political wilderness.
And, with voter enrollment numbers down, Democrats are working on new strategies to win elections again. Democratic strategists Rebecca Kirszner Katz and Jamal Simmons explain what they think the party needs to do to connect with voters.



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After the Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights in 2022, voters in Ohio and Missouri approved state abortion protections. Now, conservatives in the states are working to roll those rights back. Reporters Karen Kasler and Jason Rosenbaum break down those efforts.

And, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised "a massive testing and research effort" to determine what he calls environmental causes of autism. But now, the government is ending funding for some of those studies. ProPublica’s Sharon Lerner shares more.

Then, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a set of vaccine recommendations that strays from the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. AAP president Dr. Susan Kressly explains why. 

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The Kremlin is demanding that Ukraine give up the entire Donetsk Oblast as part of any ceasefire agreement. Russia analyst Kateryna Stepanenko explains why Donetsk is so important to Ukraine and why Russia wants control of it. 

Then, Brennan Center for Justice CEO Michael Waldman talks about President Trump's push to end mail-in voting, baselessly claiming it is "corrupt." 

And, Trump kicked off a nationwide race to redraw political maps after he urged Texas Republicans to draw five more GOP-leaning seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Author David Daley writes that the "true architect" of the gerrymandering fight is Chief Justice John Roberts and the conservative Supreme Court.

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As many as 5,000 migrants may soon be detained at a new facility at Fort Bliss in Texas. The center opened on Sunday. KTEP’s Angela Kocherga joins us to explain more.

And, just seven months into President Trump’s second term, nearly half of the goals outlined in Project 2025 have been achieved. During the 2024 campaign, Trump distanced himself from the conservative Heritage Foundation's governing blueprint. Law professor Kim Wehle details what’s left on the checklist.

Then, Elon Musk's The Boring Company is moving forward with its planned tunnel under Nashville. The tunnel, called the Music City Loop, has faced questions about its environmental impacts. Environmental reporter Caroline Eggers at WPLN joins us.

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