Hurricane season is just around the corner, and as many Louisianans know, how well you can grapple with the damage and flooding of these storms is often based on how prepared you are. One Louisiana-based tech startup is focusing on making communities better prepared for floods by crowdsourcing data from individual neighborhoods and spreading the information to residents.

Julia Kumari Drapkin, founder of the technology startup, ISeeChange, and Jessica Dandridge, executive director of The Water Collaborative in New Orleans, tell us how they envision this app leading toward actionable steps to combat climate change. 

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is designing a small solar-powered satellite — a ‘cube-sat’ — that will be used by NASA to do research into detecting radiation in space. Students from multiple departments at the university are collaborating on this project and its experiments. 

Jared Tessier, principal investigator with the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at ULL who is leading this project, tells us more. 

But first, less than two weeks into the official start of summer, record-breaking heat has already swamped Louisiana and much of the South. And forecasters say the dangerous heat will likely continue. The Coastal Desk’s Halle Parker tells us how to stay safe from the rising temperatures. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.

Just a few weeks ago, New Orleans' own Big Freedia debuted her new series, Big Freedia Means Business. The show follows the Queen of Bounce’s new music and entrepreneurial endeavors since her last documentary series, “Big Freedia Bounces Back.” 

We spoke to Big Freedia in January, ahead of the show’s release. Today, we listen back to that conversation. 

This month marks 157 years since a deadly riot at the Mechanics Institute, when a mob of white former Confederates attacked a group of Black residents marching for their right to vote, resulting in nearly 50 deaths and over 100 injuries. And while the event, which has come to be known as the New Orleans Massacre, was undeniably tragic, many argue it shaped positive Reconstruction-era policies. 

To remember this story, we bring you an episode of the Tripod Podcast, where NPR’s Laine Kaplan-Levinson aims to uncover the truth about this event and explore the relevance today. 

Content creator Joshua Darien started making videos on TikTok about Southern urban legends last summer. Since then, the Alabama native has amassed a loyal following. Today, we listen back to the Gulf States Newsroom’s Taylor Washington’s report on how he navigates telling otherworldly stories in the Bible belt. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.

We know that everyone has a role in tackling the climate crisis, so what about artists? Today on Louisiana Considered, we talk with Atlanta-based artist Heather Bird Harris, who has begun making her own paint out of the earth to talk about environmental problems in Louisiana. And we sit down with ecologist Ashley Booth and historian Jeffery Darensbourg to hear how art can combine with other disciplines to communicate in a way they can't.

Then, we go to A Studio in the Woods — literally, a studio tucked deep in the woods — to see a rock puppet show grappling with our increasingly extreme weather. Artists and musicians Quintron and Miss Pussycat then join us for a thoughtful conversation about the profound effect weather has on our lives. They discuss how they use their work to process their own experiences — and how it could help us give us a new perspective on long-standing problems.

To listen to the full episode, go to our website, wwno.org/podcast/sea-change

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Halle Parker and Carlyle Calhoun. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our digital editor is Katelyn Umholtz. Our engineers are Garrett Pittman and Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.

Back in 2020, Lake Charles, Louisiana suffered from back to back hurricanes, and while some areas of the city have since recovered, others look like the storms just blew through yesterday. Now, money from the Biden administration could help the area become more resilient, but some worry the investments won't get to the neighborhoods and people that need it most.

WWNO’s coastal reporter Halle Parker recently visited Lake Charles and spoke with residents. She joins us for more on her reporting.

According to a new report, Louisiana ranked 50th in children’s economic well-being and 49th in children’s health. The report found that the state lacks options when it comes to affordable child-care, and often affordable options cause parents to miss work or even quit their jobs. 

We hear more from Teresa Falgoust, director of data and research for Agenda for Children, Louisiana’s member of the KIDS COUNT network, which authored the report.

The Fourth of July holiday brought sweltering temperatures to the Gulf South as a deadly heat wave settled over the region. Experts say these extreme weather events are likely to become more common due to climate change. Drew Hawkins of the Gulf States Newsroom reports on how some of the people most vulnerable to the heat are dealing with it.

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Bob Pavlovich. Our digital editor is Katelyn Umholtz and our engineers are Garrett Pittman and Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.

LSU Libraries’ T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History recently partnered with the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs to unveil a limited-episode podcast. The series, Oral History and the Louisiana Veterans Experience, aims to uncover untold narratives of individuals who served in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Persian Gulf Wars. 

For more on this series, WRKF’s Karen Henderson spoke with Jennifer Cramer, director of the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History, and Brandee Patrick, Director of Communications at the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Louisiana Association of United Ways recently released a report on the economic conditions for people living in income-constrained households, in which people have limited assets and resources despite being employed. Sarah Berthelot, president and CEO of the Louisiana Association of United Ways joins us now for more on this report. 

But first, back in 2019, we lost NPR reporter, author, and analyst Cokie Roberts. The New Orleans native was known as one of the “founding mothers” of NPR and was a longtime supporter of local journalism initiatives in Louisiana. 

Back in 2018, Cokie Roberts spoke with NPR’s Noel King to answer listener questions on the history of Independence Day. In honor of July 4th, and Cokie Roberts, we’re giving this conversation a second listen. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.

In July of 1963 a group of activists held a ‘swim-in’ protest in which they attempted to enter the City Park Pool in Baton Rouge to protest segregationist laws. This came after years of African Americans often not having access to swimming pools in many parts of the American South. 

Now, that event from 60 years ago is the subject of an art exhibit opening this month at the Baton Rouge Gallery called ‘And We Went.’ Gallery president and CEO Jason Andreasen and exhibit curator Jonell Logan join us for more on how they are telling this story with a  modern lens. 

A flower shop being spruced up on a college campus in Uptown New Orleans is garnering attention as Little Shop of Horrors continues the season for Summer Lyric Theatre. The classic horror-comedy-rock musical, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics and a book by Howard Ashman, opens this week at Tulane University. Director Ray Proctor joins us for more.

But first, the fate of nearly two thousand families who’ve been living in trailers since Hurricane Ida is up in the air this summer, as the state program to provide temporary housing winds down. The Coastal Desk’s Kezia Setyawan has this report on how some renters still haven’t found anywhere else to live.

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.

Last week, we brought you the first part of our latest episode of Sea Change, in which WWNO’s Kezia Setyawan traveled around south Louisiana to meet with community members trying to keep history alive in a place where the land is rapidly disappearing. Today, we are continuing that conversation with Brian Davis, executive director for the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, and archeologist Marcy Rockman, who previously served as a US National Park Service climate change adaptation coordinator for cultural resources. 

The 2023 Louisiana election for governor is just five months away, and here at WWNO and WRKF, we have been bringing you a series of conversations with the candidates. Today we hear our final interview with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican gubernatorial candidate. He spoke with the Times-Picayune editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace, about his long career in politics, passion for fighting violent crime, why he believes in content-monitoring at libraries and what he would bring to the state’s highest office.

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.

This month marks one year since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional abortion rights. Currently, 14 states – including Louisiana – now ban nearly all abortions. That Supreme Court decision actually centered on one Mississippi abortion clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 

In a special episode of her award-winning podcast Banned, public health reporter Rosemary Westwood takes us back to Mississippi to report on the impact of that landmark case.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The city of New Orleans isn’t known for being easy to get around if you have a disability. It can even be hard to find a place to work out. But now, there’s Split Second Fitness, a gym specifically designed for people with disabilities. Louisiana Considered’s Managing Producer Alana Schreiber takes us inside. 

These days, many storefronts across downtown Baton Rouge are vacant. But now, the Downtown Development District and Baton Rouge Area Chamber are partnering in an effort to identify empty storefronts and recruit businesses to fill the spots. Whitney Hoffman Sayal, executive director of the Downtown Development District in Baton Rouge, tells us more.

A recent study from  Tulane found that racial and ethnic health inequities cost the U.S. economy $450 billion dollars in one year. These costs are a sharp increase from previous years when a similar study was conducted  and shows the disparities in healthcare costs for people of color.

Thomas LaVeist, dean of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, tells us more about this study and the economic burden of health inequities. 

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.

The LSU Tigers are champions once again. That’s right, earlier this year, the women’s basketball team clinched the March Madness tournament, and just last night the men’s baseball team won the College World Series.

For more on the team’s path to victory and what the future may hold for some of the Tigers biggest stars, WWNO’s Alana Schreiber spoke with LSU baseball and football beat writer for the The Times-Picayune | The Advocate, Leah Vann. 

The Helis Foundation John Scott Center is kicking off their summer events with ‘Scott Fest.’ The event will celebrate the life and legacy of New Orleans artist, teacher and mentor John T. Scott with an exhibition of his unfinished work and a panel discussion. 

Scott’s son and fellow artist Ayo Scott, along with project lead for the panel discussion Gian Smith, tell us more about how this exhibit offers insight into Scott’s artistic process. 

The 2023 Louisiana election for governor is just five months away, and here at WWNO and WRKF, we are bringing you a series of conversations with the candidates. Today Republican Sharon Hewitt, the lone woman in the race who currently serves as the majority leader in the state Senate, speaks with the The Times-Picayune | The Advocate’s  editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace.

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

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 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.