Louisiana Considered Podcast WWNO/WRKF Newsroom

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for the week in politics. Stephanie Grace, the Times Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, talks about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to back more military aid to Ukraine. That decision rattled several House Republicans this week. They’ve since called for his removal. 

Johnson also visited Columbia University in New York City this week to meet with Jewish students and leaders as anti-war protests there continue — and spread to other U.S. college campuses. 

State leaders decided again this year not to give teachers a permanent pay raise, opting for a one-time stipend instead. Many agree that educators are underpaid, but they point to Louisiana’s looming deficit as a reason to delay.

As costs rise and wages stagnate, Aubri Juhasz, WWNO/WRKF education reporter, spoke with teachers who are struggling to stay in the profession.

When disasters like hurricanes, floods and wildfires strike, an army of recovery workers usually descend on the affected area. They remove the debris, and typically move from one disaster to the next. 

Some workers are lured by higher than minimum wage pay, overtime and provided transportation. But an investigation by Futuro Investigates, The Center for Public Integrity, and Columbia Journalism Investigations found workers, who are largely Latino, face significant health risks.

Maria Ines Zamudio, with the Center for Public Integrity, is lead reporter on the podcast, Toxic Labor, from Latino USA, and joins the show.

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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.

All week, we’re hearing from public school teachers in Louisiana about how they’re feeling as living costs rise and wages stagnate.Yesterday we heard from a teacher who’s thinking of leaving the profession after only a year in the classroom because of low pay.

On today’s show, Aubri Juhasz, WWNO/WRKF education reporter, brings us the story of another teacher facing a tough decision.

In 2021, ecologists discovered that a group of whales residing exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico was a unique species of whale.

The Rice’s whale is now considered to be critically endangered, with a population possibly under 100 individuals. As we observe the 14th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the subsequent oil spill, ecologists are concerned how that environmental catastrophe affected this population of whales, and they’re working to further protect it.

Dan Moss is a senior government relations representative with Defenders of Wildlife. He joins the show.

The American Lung Association released its annual “State of the Air” report on Wednesday. It takes a look at air quality and how it affects health, and ranks metro areas nationwide.

Eric Weinzettle, a representative of the American Lung Association, shares more on how air quality is looking in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.


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.

Two tornadoes touched down in the city of Slidell, north of New Orleans, earlier this month. The severe weather damaged hundreds of buildings in the area. Thankfully, nobody was killed. 

But recovery efforts are expected to be ongoing for the next several months. Gov. Jeff Landry issued an emergency declaration after visiting the area last week. 

Greg Cromer, Slidel’s mayor, joins the show to share more on the city’s ongoing recovery efforts. 

Louisiana loses teachers every year. Some go to neighboring states. While others leave teaching completely. And a big part of the problem is pay.

Teachers in Louisiana make about $13,000 less a year than the national average. And regionally, they still make several thousand dollars less. 

All week, we’re hearing from public school teachers. Aubri Juhasz, WWNO/WRKF education reporter, interviewed several teachers about the difficult decisions they’re faced with, including whether to stay in the classroom.

The 2024 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, also known as Jazz Fest, kicks off this week. 

The Rolling Stones tops the list of headliners. And foodies will get some satisfaction too. Several vendors are offering a wide array of dishes featuring crawfish. 

We caught up with two of them Sonya DiCarlo of Clesi’s Seafood Restaurant & Catering and John Caluda of Caluda’s King Cakes Cottage Catering. 

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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!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a lot of uncertainty around whether a popular food assistance program will serve Louisiana families this summer. Gov. Jeff Landry rejected $71 million in federal aid earlier this year to help feed children when schools are closed.

Khalil Gillon, a reporter at Verite News, has been covering the fallout from Landry’s decision to decline federal funding and shares the latest. 

The Gulf South is getting hundreds of millions of dollars from settlements with some of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers and distributors. It’s part of a plan to help mitigate damage caused by the opioid crisis. And some are calling for more of the funds to be used for harm reduction to help people and their families.

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins recently sat down with Maia Szalavitz, author of Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction.

Land loss is an issue that most Louisianans are familiar with. But how often do you take stock of exactly what’s changed?

Virginia Hanusik is an artist who has dedicated her career to capturing the changing coastline. Her photography explores the relationship between landscape, culture and human-built infrastructure. She joins us to discuss her new book, Into the Quiet and the Light: Water, Life, and Land Loss in South Louisiana. 

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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!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we bring you the conclusion of part two of Sea Change’s special series All Gassed Up. 

Hosts Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker head to Germany, one of the world’s leaders in green energy. But they discover the country is also playing a huge role in the expansion of Liquefied Natural Gas on the Gulf Coast.

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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, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with Stephanie Grace, The Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist.

We’ll get the latest on efforts to hold a constitutional convention in Baton Rouge this summer. Plus, a new leader takes top role in the state’s Democratic Party. 

A former New Orleans police chief is calling on President Biden to support changing how marijuana is classified in the United States.

Ronal Serpas is one of 32 law-enforcement leaders who signed a letter to the president in support of moving marijuana to a less serious category of controlled substance law. The Gulf States Newsroom's Kat Stromquist spoke to the former head of the NOPD about what it would mean for criminal justice. 

Over 50% of Louisiana’s adults have experienced some form of intimate partner violence–including knife attacks, choking, or other physical threats.  Louisiana women are three times more likely than men to experience severe or fatal forms of IPV. 

A new report puts a price tag on the costs of intimate partner violence to everyone in Louisiana; and the economic cost is surprising. Anita Raj, Executive Director of the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University, joins the show to share more. 

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. 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.