Louisiana Considered Podcast WWNO/WRKF Newsroom

We’re dedicating today’s show to a special conversation about the expansion of liquefied natural gas. 

Sea Change hosts Halle Parker and Carlyle Calhoun sit down with grassroots leaders from across the world to discuss the industry’s local and worldwide impacts. 

Andy Gheorghiu, an independent campaigner from Germany; Hiroki Osada a development finance and environment campaigner for Friends of Earth Japan from Japan; and James Hiatt, founder of For A Better Bayou in Lake Charles, Louisiana, join the show to share more about their work and research on the LNG industry.  

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Ryan Vasquez. 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, which means it’s time for our look at the week in politics. Joining us is Stephanie Grace, the Times Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist.

This week, we’re discussing the latest news in the legal saga around Louisiana’s new congressional district map. We’ll also get an update on Gov. Jeff Landry’s efforts to hold a constitutional convention this summer. 

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students’ rights are at the center of another clash between Landry’s administration and President Biden. 

Late last month, the state’s Republican attorney general, Liz Murrill, sued the federal government alongside several other Republican-led states over changes to Title IX. The 1972 law prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. And protections now explicitly apply to LGBTQ students. 

Louisiana’s top education official Cade Brumley called the new rules “radical” and has told school districts to not follow them.

To help us get up to speed, we’re joined by Aubri Juhasz, WWNO/WRKF’s education reporter. 

The French Quarter in 1920’s New Orleans was part slum, part tourist trap, and part incubator. It was a time of rebellion and freedom, of prohibition and free-flowing alcohol. One informal group of residents and friends at that time included William Faulkner, Sherwood Anderson, and Caroline Durieux.

Among them was Genevieve Pitot, a young pianist, trained in Paris, and described by one group member as crazy as could be.

Pitot was a piano prodigy whose travels also took her to New York where she worked with some of the formative choreographers of the early 20th Century, the Federal Dance Project of the Great Depression, and then Broadway.

Denise Tullier-Smith, Pitot’s niece, joins the show to preview her upcoming lecture about the pianist at the Pitot House in New Orleans.

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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’s death penalty law got a big rewrite earlier this year as part of the state’s special session. Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill that adds electrocution and nitrogen hypoxia to the list of state-approved methods for carrying out capital punishment.

Now, the latter method is getting some pushback late in the legislative session. Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers are hoping to remove the use of nitrogen gas as an execution method. Notable supporters include some prominent leaders in Louisiana’s Jewish community.

Sara Lewis is chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, and she is on the steering committee for Jews Against Gassing. She joined the show to discuss her group’s efforts.

Alternative funding plans, or AFPs, are a growing tool used by health insurance coverage providers nationwide. The plans have been causing some consternation for policyholders who thought they were covered by their health insurance, but discovered they weren’t for certain chronic health conditions.

Ashley Castello is executive director of the Louisiana Hemophilia Foundation, and she joined the show to share more about AFPs and how they can impact you.

A national nonprofit has filed a lawsuit against the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services on behalf of 4,000 foster children in the state. It claims the state’s child welfare system is failing its most vulnerable children. Alleged failures include too few social workers and placements for children.

To tell us more about the situation, including what the lawsuit claims and how DCFS is responding we heard from Andrea Gallo, a reporter with The Advocate/Times Picayune who has been covering the story.


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.

Extremely active. Those are the words used by scientists to describe forecasts for the 2024 hurricane season. Researchers at Colorado State University estimate that this year’s Atlantic season could see 23 named storms, the highest on record. Other forecasts also predict high numbers of storms. 

To help us better understand why forecasts are so high, we’re joined by Jay Grymes, Louisiana’s interim state climatologist and meteorologist at WAFB in Baton Rouge. 

Climate change is affecting all of our lives, but it’s also affecting the dead. Louisiana has been dealing with flooded cemeteries and caskets washing away for decades.

But the problem is only getting worse and more widespread. Many other states are now grappling with hurricanes, flooding, mudslides and other natural disasters that are destroying cemeteries.

And some are looking to Louisiana for help. Eva Tesfaye, reporter with the Coastal Desk reports in collaboration with Science Friday.

New Orleans Ballet Theatre presents a world premiere of Dracula as it closes its 2024 season. 

This new ballet, a reimagined  presentation inspired by Bram Stoker’s classic vampire tale, is a dance created by resident choreographer Oliver Halkowich who joins the show to discuss the performance. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Matt Bloom. 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!


See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A federal court has thrown out Louisiana’s new congressional district map. Judges ruled last week in favor of a complaint that stated the 6th District was drawn with the racial makeup of voters as the main motivator. The district was set to become the state’s second majority-Black district. 

To help us understand the ruling and what happens next, we’re joined by Piper Hutchinson, a reporter with the Louisiana Illuminator. 

NPR’s Tiny Desk has a new series host and producer, Bobby Carter. A St. Louis native, Carter’s public radio journey started in the South at Jackson State University. 

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Maya Miller recently sat down with Carter to talk about bridging the gap between music and news and his advice for young people hoping to become journalists.

Louisiana has been dubbed the  "sportsman's paradise" for its regions that present world class hunting and fishing. A new state website hopes to also brand it as a paradise for bird watchers. 

The state is located along one of the primary migration routes in North America, the Mississippi Flyway, and offers opportunities to see over 470 unique species. 

For more insight, we’re joined by David Booth, president of the Louisiana Ornithological Society.  

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Matt Bloom. 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!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to catch up on the week in politics with Stephanie Grace, editorial director and columnist with the Times Picayune/The Advocate.

This week, we’ll be discussing the status of a potential constitutional convention in Baton Rouge this summer. 

Protests against Israel’s war in Gaza continued this week on many college campuses, including some in South Louisiana. 

Tulane University closed parts of campus and suspended several students after demonstrators set up an encampment on Monday. 

Protests off campuses have been happening, too. New Orleans police arrested multiple people in Jackson Square when they refused to leave the park after hours.

Drew Hawkins, reporter for the Gulf States Newsroom, and Matt Bloom, producer with Louisiana Considered, discuss their coverage.

Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans and Ochsner Health announced earlier this week that they will create the first historically Black college and university medical school in the Gulf South. 

Reynold Verret, president of Xavier, joins the show to share more about the plan. 

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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.