Louisiana Considered WWNO/WRKF Newsroom

At least two charter schools in New Orleans held their final graduations this past spring. One of them - the Living School in New Orleans East - was known for its unique approach to education. Instead of focusing on test scores, it promoted equity, community and project-based learning. But state assessments recently gave the school an “F” ranking on standardized tests. Still, leaders and parents of students have fought to keep it open. Reporter Nate Ha covered that fight - and joins us for more about the school. The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane is presenting “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged.” This show is a comical journey through all 37 of the bard’s plays in just 90 minutes. Actors Keith Claverie, Ian Hoch and Lauren Malara join us today for more.Between fast currents and submerged trees, there’s no shortage of dangers on the Mississippi River. But for more than two decades, a canoe company in the Gulf South has been working to teach kids not to fear the country's primary waterway.The Gulf States Newsroom’s Danny McArthur takes us on a ride down the river with a group of kids learning both about outdoor adventure and efforts to help protect the Mighty Mississippi.___Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is 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!

The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Marksville is gearing up for their third annual Louisiana Rural and Economic Development Summit in Marksville, Louisiana. At this summer’s LaRuE summit, industry leaders, business professionals, and experts in agriculture and technology will gather to discuss the challenges facing rural communities – with the goal of building more partnerships between agencies and Native American tribes.Chairman of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe Marshall Pierite joins us for more on this summit and what he hopes it can accomplish.Louisiana is the country's second largest seafood producer, but its commercial fishermen are, on average, among the oldest in the country, as  tough conditions are turning away younger generations.Reporter for Axios New Orleans Chelsea Brasted tells us how this trend is raising concerns for the industry and consumers. Louisiana has a connection to aviation history that many don’t know.  The first helicopter was invented in 1922 by a man from Alexandria named Leo Ortego. More than 100 years later, his niece Mariane Elizabeth Nevill, published the book, “Leo’s War,” that serves as a fictionalized account of her uncle’s life based on the stories she heard about him while growing up. She joins us to discuss this book and how she hopes it can celebrate the state’s aviation history.___Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is 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!

Today on Louisiana Considered, we hear the second part of the latest episode of Sea Change: Redfish Blues. We learn the story of the red drum, better known as the classic redfish, and whether the decline of this fish is a warning of a bigger collapse.This episode was produced in collaboration with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, an independent, nonprofit news organization. This episode was reported and hosted by Boyce Upholt. Halle Parker introduces the show. The episode was edited by Carlyle Calhoun and Morgan Springer. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Emily Jankowski is our sound designer, and our theme music is by Jon Batiste. Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production.To check out more of Boyce's work: Pick up a copy of his new book about the Mississippi River, coming out in June. It’s called The Great River. And, find other stories on his Substack called Southlands.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.You can reach the Sea Change team at seachange@wwno.org.

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to catch up on the week in politics with Stephanie Grace, editorial director and columnist of the Times Picayune/The Advocate.We’ll get the latest on the effort to hold a constitutional convention this summer, as well as the status of a few other pieces of legislation. Louisiana is getting very close to becoming the latest Republican-led state to approve education savings accounts, more commonly known as ESAs. The accounts give parents tax dollars to spend on private school tuition and other expenses. It’s Gov. Jeff Landry’s signature education proposal and he’s been pushing hard for it all session. Aubri Juhasz, WWNO/WRKF education reporter, joins the show with more on where the proposal stands. Hurricane season officially starts on June 1. We take a look at what state officials are doing ahead of a potential storm, and one local area’s efforts to make preparing for a hurricane a family affair.We begin with Jacques Thibodeaux, director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Corey Miller, community engagement director of the Pontchartrain Conservancy, also joins the show to discuss how residents can get ready for a major storm. ____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!

On May 29, Major League Baseball announced it’s officially changing some long-held records to include Negro League statistics. Josh Gibson, who played most notably for the Homestead Grays in a career that lasted from 1930-46, is now credited as having the highest career batting average. And Satchel Paige, former pitcher for the Birmingham Black Barons, takes the record for third lowest earned run average in a single season.While Birmingham is often remembered as one of the fiercest battlegrounds of the Civil Rights Movement, it's also a city where baseball was once king. Home to Rickwood Field, the oldest professional ballpark in the country, the city has seen segregated baseball,  Negro League baseball, a women’s suffrage event, a Klan rally and eventually, the first integrated sports team in Alabama.On June 20, Major League Baseball will host a regular season game at Rickwood as part of continued efforts to honor Negro League history. In the lead-up, “Road to Rickwood” podcast host Roy Wood Jr. returns to his hometown of Birmingham to tell the story of this legendary ballpark. In the first episode, we learn how Rickwood uplifted Black and white communities from the beginning, while also enforcing segregation. ___This episode was written and produced by Ben Dickstein and hosted by Roy Wood Jr.Our executive producer is Alana Schreiber and our senior producer is Ben Dickstein. Our producers are Jonah Buchanan and AL.com’s Cody D. Short. Mixing and sound design by Joaquin Cotler and story editing by Ryan Vasquez. Artwork by Xavier Murillo. Original music composition by Squeak E. Clean Studios. Voice tracking by Alt Mix Studio.Special thanks to Paul Maassen, The Friends of Rickwood Field, Birmingham Public Library archives, AL.com and WBHM. For more stories on Rickwood Field, check out https://www.al.com/rickwood-field/This podcast is a production of WWNO and WRKF. It’s distributed by the NPR Network. Support comes from Major League Baseball, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Explore St. Louis.

Louisiana’s Northshore is home to roughly 264,570 people, but it’s never had a Pride parade — until now. This year, organizers are hosting the area’s first-ever parade to celebrate LGBTQ pride along Lakeshore Drive in Mandeville. Event organizers Mel Manuel and Jeremy JF Thompson tell us about the more than 200 floats and krewes set to walk, and what it means to celebrate pride during a time when LGBTQ rights are under threat.Taxis and rideshares are a vital part of New Orleans’ economy, but they’re not always accessible for people with disabilities. In fact, there’s only one wheelchair-accessible taxi driver in all of New Orleans. Chelsea Brasted recently reported on this for Axios New Orleans. She joins us for more on the impacts of limited accessible transportation in the city.Artist Matt Scobey is turning heads towards the sky with his latest installation of a towing figure at the Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition, presented by The Helis Foundation. Jessie Haynes, managing director of the foundation, joins us for more on the latest works of art.___Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is 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!