Louisiana is home to the country's largest hotspot for toxic air — an industrial corridor nicknamed “Cancer Alley.” More than 150 petrochemical plants line the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Amid the boom, many Black communities live with a disproportionate amount of pollution.

But years of protest have begun to bear fruit. We travel the Mississippi River to learn what has allowed the industry to flourish on its banks, see how the tide might turn in one neighborhood’s fight for clean air, and ask what’s next for a growing environmental justice movement as federal regulators take firmer action.

Find more information on local activists' tug of war with Denka Performance Elastomers and other environmental justice updates here.

To hear a reflection from Louisiana's former Department of Environmental Quality Secretary, Chuck Carr Brown, listen here.

Explore how the EPA is looking at environmental justice, their pending civil rights investigations and their updates on Denka and air monitoring at these links. Find a copy of the EPA's letter of concern to Louisiana's Department of Health and Department of Environmental Quality here.

You can find Denka Performance Elastomers website here.

A special thanks to members of the Concerned Citizens of St. John Robert Taylor, Mary Hampton, and Larry Soraporu for being so generous with their time. Find their group here.

Hosted by Halle Parker and Kezia Setyawan.

Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Editing help was provided by Carlyle Calhoun, Rosemary Westwood Priska Neely, Patrick Madden, and Eve Abrams. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti.

Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

We talk with people working at the intersection of music and the environment and ask how one can influence the other. Grammy-award-winning Cajun punk musician Louis Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers and Rev. Lennox Yearwood, who leads the national environmental advocacy group, the Hip Hop Caucus, tell us about how they use music to inspire action on the climate crisis and environmental injustice.

Hosted by Halle Parker and Carlyle Calhoun. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti.

Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

We love shrimp in the United States. As a country, we eat over 2 billion pounds a year, making it the most consumed seafood in the country. So times should be really good for shrimpers, right? But shrimpers say things have never been worse and that their whole industry here in the United States is on the brink of extinction.

This narrative episode goes on a journey from the fishing docks to shrimping in the bayous exploring land loss, climate change, and other issues endangering the future of the Gulf shrimp industry. We also uncover the threats imported shrimp pose to a way of life and human health.

Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker.

Editing help was provided by Patrick Madden, Rosemary Westwood, and Eve Abrams. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti.

Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

Living on the coast means living on the front lines of a rapidly changing planet. And as climate change transforms our coasts, that will transform our world.

Every two weeks, we bring you stories that illuminate, inspire, and sometimes enrage, as we dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We have a lot to save, and we have a lot of solutions. It’s time to talk about a Sea Change.

Sea Change is a new podcast hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Join us as we investigate and celebrate life on a changing coast.

Based in New Orleans, Sea Change is a production of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio, WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio, and PRX. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Our theme song is by Jon Batiste.

Available March 28, wherever you get your podcasts.