Pollster Bernie Pinsonat on Governor John Bel Edwards’ official announcement as a gubernatorial candidate and the election of October 19. Pinsonat will also assess the politics in Louisiana of the border wall demanded by President Trump. Veteran Actor Demond Wilson on his days as Lamont Sanford on Sanford and Son and his current work nearly a half-century later.

Governor John Bel Edwards joins us for a campaign announcement. Edwards announced his candidacy for governor on this program six years ago and is making his official announcement for re-election today. The election is October 12. Secretary of Health Rebecca Gee reflects on her three years heading the state’s largest agency with a budget of more than $14 billion annually. Ernest Gaines 2019 Literary Award winner Jamel Brinkley talks about his book, “A Lucky Man,” and his appearance Thursday to accept his honor at the Manship Theatre. Dr. Joel Nitzkin, Public Health Physician in New Orleans and Senior Fellow for Tobacco Policy, compares regulation of e-cigarettes to the old fashioned kind of cigarettes.

Steven Pinker, best selling author and professor of psychology at Harvard, on his latest work: “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress.” Former Louisiana GOP Chairman Roger Villere and conservative commentator Quin Hillyer on differences regarding President Trump in GOP circles.

Mark Ballard, Capitol Bureau Chief for the Advocate, assesses a major vote against Exxon-Mobil last night by the EBR Parish School Board and the latest on the 2019 governor’s election. Dr. Loren Scott, longtime LSU economist, looks at how the Trump tariffs are affecting Louisiana and defends the state’s decision to not raise its minimum wage. 

Advocate Editor Peter Kovacs, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, surveys the state of media in America with the mantra of fake news, accusations of bias and a host of options for consumers. Kovacs has led the state’s daily newspaper of record for nearly six years. University of North Carolina Professor Melinda Maynor Lowery discusses her book “The Lumbee Indians: An American Struggle. Lowery is director of the Center for the Study of the American South.

Bicycling activist Mark Martin on the light sentence received by the driver who killed Baton Rouge Councilman Buddy Amoroso last year as Amoroso was riding his bicycle in West Feliciana Parish. CNN Political Analyst Julian Zelizer, a Princeton professor, on the reasons for polarization in America. Racheal Hebert, CEO of Sexual Trauma Awareness and Assault comments on the impact of the government shutdown on services provided by STAR.

Ara Rubyan previews the 13th annual Jewish Film Festival in Baton Rouge. Democratic activist Faye Williams and Republican Darrell Glasper share views about the president’s trip to New Orleans, the partial government shutdown and possible collusion with Russia.

Attorney Morgan Lamandre, who lost an Ethics Board ruling for child care expenses, comments on the decision. Lamandre is a legislative candidate and was seeking to defray costs historically covered by campaign accounts. Sportswriter Mark Kram looks at the playoff clash between the Eagles and Saints, the 50th anniversary of Joe Namath and the New York Jets beating Baltimore 16-7 in Super III and the 75th anniversary of the birth of former Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier, a biographical subject of Kram.

University of Florida Professor Jack Davis, author of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning book, “The Gulf, Making of the American Sea,” talks about the Earth’s tenth largest body of water, one of the planet’s most productive marine ecosystems. His work covers the history of the Gulf of Mexico from geological formation to the present. Former State Senator Elbert Guillory of Opelousas, Director of Minority Outreach for the Louisiana GOP, analyzes President Trump’s speech from the White House in favor of a border wall with Mexico. Democratic activist Susan Nelson assesses the partial government shutdown in its 19th day.

Mary Patricia Wray, the strategist who helped Gov. John Bel Edwards win the governor’s election four years ago joins Republican activist Scott Wilfong to weigh in on the 2019 governor’s election and the federal government shutdown as President Trump addresses the nation tonight. Wilfong was a Louisiana elector for Trump. Libertarian Mike Wolf, a prominent Baton Rouge lawyer, comments about the government shutdown and assesses a controversial case involving Louisiana Judge Wayne Ray Chutz. The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal Judge has sued an ex-girlfriend, seeking the return of a $62.000 diamond ring and reimbursement of more than $30,000 in expenses. Talk Louisiana remembers Elvis Presley on the 84th anniversary of his birth.