After decades of exploration – or exploitation – Louisiana is covered with thousands of orphaned wells. Now, there are new efforts to plug up these sites, like a $12.7 million grant in Federal funding from the Bipartisan Jobs Act to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. WWNO’s Coastal reporter Kezia Setyawan spoke with Senior Advisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jim Guthrie, for more.

Earlier this month the new docu-series, Making Black America: Through the Grapevine, premiered on PBS. Hosted by renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, and directed by Stacey Holman and Shayla Harris, the four part series examines the Black experience over the past 250 years, diving into everything from post-emancipation Black schools to the social media phenomenon of Black Twitter. Co-director Stacey Holman, shares more about this ambitious project.

From King Cake Fest to Gumbo Fest, New Orleans is no stranger to exciting food events. But just last week attendees had the chance to taste African, African American, and Caribbean cuisine as part of the annual Black Restaurant Week. Event cofounder, Falayn Ferell, and co-owner and executive chef of Café Sbisa, Alfred Singleton, tell us more about the week and the importance of supporting minority-owned businesses.

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our digital editor is Katelyn Umholtz. Our engineers are Garrett Pittman, Aubry Procell, and Thomas Walsh. 

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