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 you might go is LSU Libraries’ Special Collections. And you don’t necessarily have to physically go digging for the records anymore– much of their materials are accessible online through the Louisiana Digital Library.

They recently secured a grant to help digitize more of their materials and make those documents and images more easily available to the wider world on their online interface. Gina Costello, associate dean of Technology & Special Collections, LSU Libraries joins us to discuss how the library is expanding its reach.

Last November, the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visited Baton Rouge and invited volunteers to record conversations about topics of their choosing. Two participants, “Patience” Carter and Precious McCray, discussed poetry, their friendship of 20 years and McCray’s recent opportunity to meet her biological family for the first time at age 35. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. We get production support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer Aubry Procell.

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