College basketball is back at the top of sports’ fans’ minds. The annual March Madness tournament kicked off this week. Two Louisiana men's teams — McNeese State and Grambling State — will compete. LSU will participate in the women’s tournament.

Beyond what happens on the court, another question has dominated as of late: How much should college athletes be paid? 

Jamira Mitchell is a Baton Rouge-based career and technical education teacher at University View Academy, a K-12 virtual school and host of the podcast the NIL Spot. It’s a place for parents, student-athletes and coaches to understand the ins and outs of “Name, Image and Likeness” rights in high school and college sports. Mitchell joins Louisiana Considered for more. 

And an effort to legalize some forms of gambling is underway in Louisiana’s neighbor, Alabama. A plan has once again hit stiff opposition in the state’s legislature.

Joseph King, reporter with the Gulf States Newsroom, looks to neighboring states that have taken the leap, including Louisiana, to find out more.

Marriage, madness and murder are in the mix as the New Orleans Opera Association closes its 81st season with Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Katrina Galka, award-winning soprano, takes center stage as Lucia. She joins us to discuss her role and performance.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber; our contributing producers are Matt Bloom and Adam Vos; we receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 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.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group of self-described “non-Black voters” is suing Louisiana over the state’s new congressional maps. The suit alleges a new second majority-Black district violates racial gerrymandering laws. 

The lawsuit is expected to go to court in early April, and could result in another shakeup in the state’s long running legal battle.

Jared Evans, senior policy counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, joins Louisiana Considered to discuss what’s at stake. The NAACP has advocated for the creation of a second majority-Black district for years. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the map into law earlier this year. 

Ouachita Parish, in north Louisiana, is home to an ancient archeological site that’s older than the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge. The collection of 11 man-made mounds connected by an oval-shaped ridge is known as “Watson Brake.”

Diana Greenlee, archaeologist and professor at the University of Louisiana Monroe, joins the show and tells us more about the ancient structures. 

A team of researchers at Louisiana State University recently made waves in the world of quantum physics. Omar Magana-Loaiza, LSU associate professor of physics, is a part of the LSU quantum photonics group, which published their research in the journal Nature Physics. He joins the show to explain what the research means for the production of everyday medical and household products. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 pm. 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louisiana is one of just nine states that still require students to pass exit exams in order to graduate. Briefly last year, there was an appeals process for students. 

And while the change was widely supported by educators, it quickly became a political issue. Gov. Jeff Landry killed the policy as soon as he took office. So now, Louisiana is once again the only state where students can’t appeal.

And the kids most likely to miss out are recent immigrants. Earlier this year, Aubri Juhasz, WRKF/WWNO education reporter, spoke with teenagers stuck in the middle.

To talk more about exit exams, Anne Hyslop, director of policy development for All4Ed, a nonprofit that focuses on improving high schools and making sure students succeed after they graduate, joins the show.

She’s researched exit exams over the last decade. She also worked in the U.S. Department of Education under President Barack Obama.

LGBTQ+ candidates have campaigned for seats in Louisiana’s state legislature for decades. And despite a growing number of out candidates winning office nationwide, the state’s residents have never elected one.

Matt Bloom, producer for Louisiana Considered, wrote about this for the Advocate, a national magazine focused on LGBTQ issues. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Aubri Juhasz. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber; our contributing producers are Matt Bloom and Adam Vos; we receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 pm. 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with Stephanie Grace, The Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist. This week, she shares the latest on the start of the regular legislative session in Baton Rouge. 

Under a law passed during the recent special session on crime, 17-year-olds can now be tried as adults in many criminal cases. Gov. Jeff Landry says the new rules will help make communities safer. 

But many researchers say similar juvenile justice policies have actually led to more crime.

One of those researchers is Anita Raj, executive director of Tulane University’s Newcomb Institute and the Nancy Reeves Dreux endowed chair. She’s also a parent, and wrote about child incarceration recently for the Louisiana Illuminator.

Hunger in Louisiana has reached startling levels. Close to 20% of residents receive some type of public assistance to buy groceries or eat meals at school. Last month, the Landry administration turned down $71 million dollars in federal food assistance. The money was part of the summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, that’s mainly used to feed children when schools are closed.

Natalie Jahroe, Second Harvest president and CEO, explains how the refusal affects local food banks. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Bob Pavlovich. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber; our contributing producers are Matt Bloom and Adam Vos; we receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 pm. 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louisiana gives massive tax breaks to chemical manufacturers and the contentious program is facing renewed scrutiny. 

Gov. Jeff Landry recently signed an executive order removing some job retention requirements from Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, known as ITEP. 

Proponents of the change say it will stabilize the incentive program. While critics argue it removes a level of accountability and unravels some of the reforms made to the program in 2016 under former Gov. John Bel Edwards. 

Today, we dive deep into the program’s economic impacts. 

Nick Messenger is an economist with the Ohio River Valley Institute, a non-partisan non-profit economics and energy policy research think tank. He recently released a report detailing the impacts ITEP has and hasn’t had.

Greg Bowser, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association, represents the interests of more than 60 chemical manufacturing companies in Louisiana. He shares how businesses are benefiting.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber; our contributing producers are Matt Bloom and Adam Vos; we receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 pm. 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Faubourg Brewing, formerly Dixie Beer, has deep roots in New Orleans. Its new owner, a private equity firm, announced last fall that they would scale back operations locally due to crime and utility costs. 

The decision left a lot of employees and beer fans scratching their heads, including Drew Hawkins, reporter at the Gulf States Newsroom. He recently published an investigation into the decision to close Faubourg for Antigravity Magazine and the Louisiana Illuminator. He joins Louisiana Considered to share his findings. 

The PBS docuseries “Gospel” hosted by Harvard scholar, executive producer and writer Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. takes viewers on a journey that brings to life the rich history of Black spirituality through Sunday sermons and song. Gates talks with clergymen, scholars and singers about their connection to this African American art form of prayer and praise that also embraces elements of blues and jazz.

New Orleans is known around the globe as the cradle of jazz. We caught up with singer Charmaine Neville, daughter of the late Charles Neville of the famed Neville Brothers to find out how gospel music informed her musical career.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by [host]. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber; our contributing producers are Matt Bloom and Adam Vos; we receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 pm. 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beginning next year, Louisiana’s high school seniors will no longer have to complete the federal student aid form to graduate. The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted last week to scrap that requirement. Supporters of the move argued it put an undue burden on students and their families. 

Aubri Juhasz, WWNO/WRKF education reporter, has been following this story from New Orleans and joins the show with more.

Gov. Jeff Landry issued a disaster declaration for Louisina’s crawfish industry last week in response to the state’s record bad catch. Landry said his executive order will unlock federal aid for farmers, and that the shortage is not only affecting Louisiana’s economy but also the state’s “way of life.”

Mike Strain, state agriculture and forestry commissioner, discusses why he was one of many voices calling for federal assistance and the details of the declaration.

Many have played cornhole casually. It’s a backyard game that involves tossing a bean bag into a hole cut out of a board located several feet away. But did you know it’s also a serious sport?  And that the Shreveport-Bossier City area is hosting a major upcoming tournament?

Frank Grees, founder of the American Cornhole Organization, tells us about the sport’s growth and April’s planned competition. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with Stephanie Grace, the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist. We discuss how the state’s new Republican supermajority functioned during the legislature’s recent special session on crime/ And we look ahead to the regular session which starts on March 11. 

The loss of protective marsh along Louisiana’s coast continues. A $3 billion project to help slow things down broke ground last August. Halle Parker, coastal desk reporter, tells us how a lawsuit filed by Plaquemines Parish earlier this year against the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has brought the effort, known as the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project, to a halt.

While the sounds of brass bands, card readings and drumming waft through New Orleans’ Jackson Square, University of New Orleans archaeology students are inside Saint Louis Cathedral excavating. Contractors discovered that the 1849 cathedral foundation wasn’t the only one there during a recent renovation. 

Ryan Gray, anthropology professor and New Orleans urban historical archaeologist, shares more on the ongoing dig. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. Today’s episode was produced by Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell. It was engineered by Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 pm. 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can go to some of the most remote corners of Louisiana and you still won’t have to look far to find a dollar store. In fact, the state has more than 650 Dollar Generals alone. A new report says the chains threaten small businesses and local economies. The Louisiana Workforce Commission shared a report last week with state legislators about the issue.

Stephan Bisaha, reporter with the Gulf States Newsroom, joins Louisiana Considered to talk to us about the report and its recommendations.

Also, we hear the biggest takeaways from a new poll published by the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC). The “Louisiana Child Care Parent Poll” takes the temperature of how the childcare system in the state is working for parents of children under the age of five. 

Libbie Sonnier,  LPIC executive director, breaks down the findings. Sonnier says the state needs an additional investment of $115 million over the next eight years to meet current childcare needs.

And the committee preparing New Orleans to host the Super Bowl is spearheading an effort to increase the diversity of the subcontractors and suppliers who work with the big event. They’re looking to open opportunities for local businesses led by minorities, women, people with disabilities, veterans, and LGBTQ community members.

Chincie Mouton, director of community engagement for the New Orleans 2025 Super Bowl Host Committee, shares more about the program and how local businesses can get involved.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. Today’s episode was produced by Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell. It was engineered by Garrett Pittman. 

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:00 pm. 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s Louisiana Considered, we hear how Baton Rouge Community College’s Port Allen branch is helping train truck drivers. 

The school recently relaunched a course for students looking to get a commercial driver’s license, which is required to drive 18-wheelers and other large ground transport vehicles. The school hopes it can help address the state’s driver shortage. 

Heather Guidry, BRCC’s dean of technical studies and adult education, spoke with WRKF’s Adam Vos about the program. 

We also chat with Bobby Hjortsberg, captain of the Krewe of Freret, about his decision to ban plastic beads next Mardi Gras. 

The krewe made headlines last week when it announced it would shift to more sustainable throws for the 2025 Carnival season. Hjortsberg says the move will help protect NOLA’s storm drains and “inject some sustainability” into Mardi Gras culture. 

And we take a tour of a new immersive play in New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood. The Nola Project theatre company and the New Orleans African American Museum have partnered to present Tony Award-winning dramatist George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum. Performances run through March 9. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. Today’s episode was produced by Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell. It was engineered by Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12 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!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.