Louisiana Considered

Election Day is a month away, and the latest polls predict a blue wave in both the House and the Senate. Special education teacher, union member and DSA-backed candidate Lauren Jewett is one of the Democrats hoping to unseat Republican incumbent Steve Scalise for Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District. 

Jewett joins us to talk about what she’s learned from her previous campaigns, her political views, her platform and what she would bring to Congress. 

A day-long music event inspired by the removal of Confederate monuments is coming to New Orleans on Saturday (Oct. 10). The event, which is presented by the Shockoe Institute and Jazz Generations Initiative New Orleans, will feature scholars, activists and artists from across the country to discuss how music and collective action can inspire healing.

Leyla McCalla, local Grammy Award-winning artist and Artistic Director of The Shockoe Institute, joins us with more about the event. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Sara Henegan. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber, and our assistant producer is Aubry Procell. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman. Our intern is Ryann Goldberg. 

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App, and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

Last December, officers with Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement embarked on Operation Catahoula Crunch, arresting more than 350 Louisiana residents. While operations have scaled back, arrests targeting immigrant communities are back on the rise. 

The Lens reporter Delaney Nolan recently published a data analysis of who ICE is arresting and where. She joins us for more on her findings. 

“Dry Bones” is a new video series from The Center for Louisiana Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette that breathes new life into archival Louisiana roots music. Each episode brings contemporary musicians face-to-face with the center’s archival collection and ends with a studio performance inspired by the experience. 

Director of the Center for Louisiana Studies and Grammy-nominated musician and producer, Joshua Caffery, joins us with more.

A 1956 concert by Elvis Presley marked the young star’s return to his Mississippi home of Tupelo — and, it may be what put the city on the map.

Elise Gregg of the Gulf States Newsroom went to a recreation concert to hear what makes that homecoming so special, and why residents are still celebrating the occasion 70 years later.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. We receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell. Our intern is Ryann Goldberg.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

For the last several months, Gulf States Newsroom reporter Drew Hawkins has been investigating non-disclosure agreements that Louisiana politicians have been signing regarding data centers — in particular, the massive data center underway in Richland Parish.

Recently, he learned of ties between Meta, the company that owns the data center, and the owner of the media group that runs the Times-Picayune/The Advocate. Drew recently sat down with the owner, John Georges, to discuss his relationship to Meta, sponsored content for the center and where he sees AI changing the nature of journalism. He joins us with the latest.

New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno recently released her proposed 2027 city budget. Reports suggest the New Orleans Police Department will take a 2% cut in 2027 in the force's civilian ranks.

How will that affect the officer on the street?  And how does that affect efforts to hire more officers and professionals? Ronal Serpas, professor of Practice in the Criminology and Justice Department at Loyola University New Orleans, joins us with his take and what he’s learned from his 34-year career in law enforcement. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

 Country music legend and world-renowned philanthropist Dolly Parton passed away just over a month ago. Among the hundreds of commemorations across the world, New Orleans honored her by doing what the city does best: a second-line jazz funeral.

Louisiana Considered intern Ryann Goldberg joined in on the fun, speaking with some of the thousands of participants. 

The Capital Area Autism Network is releasing its latest analysis of activism, awareness and resource-building benefitting neurodivergence in Baton Rouge. The first-annual State of Neurodiversity in the capital area will discuss the report. 

Drew Walker, executive director of the Capital Area Autism Network, joins us with more on the event. 

Art markets are a cultural staple in south Louisiana, bringing together artisans, makers and community members. It returns to Baton Rouge in conjunction with the Red Stick Farmers Market on the first Saturday of every month. 

Baton Rouge Arts Market manager and owner of Jewel of Havana, Ana Andriacani, tells us more. 

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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. Our intern is Ryann Goldberg.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you!

Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

Social media has changed who gets to tell stories—and who audiences turn to for information. Influencers can reach thousands of people instantly, sometimes faster than traditional news organizations. But at the end of the day, influencers are not journalists. 

New Orleans influencer Aubrey Avocado joins us to discuss the power of having an audience, the trust that comes with it, and the distinction she sees between content creation and investigative reporting.

New Orleans’ independent music venues face rising costs and growing competition from larger entertainment companies and ticketing platforms. 

Now, The Howlin’ Wolf is taking one of those platforms to federal court. The venue is suing StubHub, alleging its practices can make tickets appear scarce and push fans toward the resale market where they may pay more. StubHub says the venue’s claims are without merit. 

Howie Kaplan owns The Howlin’ Wolf and is a longtime advocate for independent venues. He’s also the former director of the city’s Office of Nighttime Economy. He joins us with more. 

Across Mississippi, dozens of residents made their voices heard at hearings hosted by Mississippi’s Joint Legislative Redistricting Committee. The Gulf States Newsroom's Maya Miller visited Natchez and Meridian to hear their concerns about mid-decade redistricting. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App, and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

Last month, Gov. Jeff Landry announced a SpaceX launch site is coming to South Louisiana. Educational and economic development organizations are now retooling their workforce training programs in preparation for potential job opportunities. 

Christiaan Mader, founder of the Current in Lafayette, tells us more.  

New Orleans may be losing its accent. In a recent study by the American Dialect Society, Katie Carmichael, a linguistics professor at Virginia Tech, found a slow disappearance of New Orleans’ trademark “Yat”  accent — so named for the ubiquitous greeting, “Where Y’at?” 

Mel Bridges spoke with Professor Carmichael about why the accent is changing, and what it’s changing into.

Back in July, the University of New Orleans officially rejoined the LSU system. While enrollment levels are not quite what administrators hoped for, the faculty says the school is slowing its decade-long loss of students. 

Jeanette Weiland, interim chancellor and chief administrative officer, tells us more about the start of the school year at LSU NO and what the numbers are telling us. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

We love our beaches. We build homes beside them, vacation on them, and spend billions of dollars trying to keep them from disappearing. But beaches are supposed to move—and as sea levels rise, keeping them in place is becoming more expensive, more difficult, and possibly impossible.

So what happens when the sand, the money, and the time start running out? Coastal geologist Rob Young says we’re going to have to make some hard choices about what we protect, what we let go, and who pays for the risk.

For more information, studies, and data about beach nourishment, buyouts, and adaptation at the coast, check out the Program for the Study of the Developed Shoreline's website.

Additional resources:

Rebuild by Design

NOAA's Sea Level Rise Viewer

The Water Institute's Community Resilience Center

This episode was hosted by Executive Producer Carlyle Calhoun. Our theme music is by Jon Batiste, and our sound designer is Emily Jankowski. Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX. Sea Change is made possible with major support from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. WWNO’s Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Meraux Foundation, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to hear the latest on politics with The Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. Today we discuss the New Orleans budget and the plan to dig the city out of its major deficit. 

Federal funds that helped unhoused people get off the streets could be taken away by the state, forcing them to move into a temporary shelter in Baton Rouge. 

Verite reporter Katie Jane Fernelius joins us with more. 

Nearly half of Louisiana residents have reported symptoms of anxiety or depression. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southeast Louisiana, or NAMI-SELA, has been working to help Louisianans know they don’t have to navigate their mental health journey alone.

This Saturday (Sept. 26), NAMI will hold its annual walk for mental health to raise funds for mental health services in New Orleans. 

Joining us to talk about it, as well as a new effort to construct supportive housing for those struggling with severe and persistent mental illness, is Nick Richard, NAMI SELA Executive Director, who tells us about the walk and the organization’s upcoming plan to construct supportive housing for those struggling with severe and persistent mental illness.

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

People on probation and parole are responsible for covering part of the cost of their community supervision. Some of those are one-time expenses. But many of them are monthly payments that can add up.

Elise Gregg from the Gulf States Newsroom spoke to people across the region about the financial burdens that come with being on parole.

For years, Anita Raj, executive director of Tulane’s Newcomb Institute, has been studying gender equity, global health and violence. Now, she’s taking her work national. 

This week, Newcomb released the first nationally representative study that looks at rates of gender-based? violence in Louisiana compared to other states. Raj joins us for more on these findings. 

“Marketplace” host Kai Rysdall is coming to Louisiana. He'll be making appearances in both Baton Rouge, and in New Orleans, where he’ll headline a Q&A at Le Petit Theatre on Thursday, September 24. Today on @LAConsidered, Bob Pavlovich spoke with Kai about his life, hosting “Marketplace” and the future of public radio.

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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, Adam Vos and our assistant producer Aubry Procell. Our intern is Ryann Goldberg.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you!

Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

Every year, COVID case numbers spike at the end of the summer, and this year is no exception. 

 Dr. Jennifer Avegno, an emergency medical physician and New Orleans Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services, joins us to discuss the latest spike.

Orleans Parish students are seeing some of the biggest academic gains in the country, according to a new report from Stanford and Harvard researchers, ranking them in the 99th percentile for reading growth and 98th percentile for math growth.

Jamie Carroll, executive director of the Education Research Alliance at Tulane, joins us to discuss what is driving the gains and the areas still lagging. 

Black Americana Fest is returning to New Orleans this weekend. This year’s theme: “Still We Sing.” The festival celebrates Black heritage, music and history. 

Dusky Waters, founder and executive director of Black Americana Fest, joins us with the details.

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App, and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!