Louisiana Considered

This is part 2 of our 3-part series about elements. Last time we met nitrogen, today, it’s partner in crime and in life – phosphorus. WLRN Environment Editor Jenny Staletovich has gotten to know the main character of this story pretty well after reporting on the environment in South Florida for more than a dozen years. Bone Valley in Central Florida has quietly fed the world’s hunger for phosphoru...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to talk politics with The Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s Stephanie Grace. Today, we hear about the latest on the indictment of Attorney General Liz Murrill and its political implications.  State lawmakers passed a legislative package this past session to eliminate three judge positions  from Orleans Parish Criminal Court. Supporters say the move was t...

The system for dealing with stormwater in New Orleans is hundreds of years old and isn’t getting any younger. The Sewerage and Water Board (SWBNO)’s maintenance budget is short, more than $20 million a year, and that gap is only going to get bigger as a tax to address it expires next year. Public officials, experts and advocates all agree a stormwater fee is needed. Coastal desk reporter Eva Tesfa...

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill was indicted by an Orleans Parish grand jury on sixteen felony charges last week for allegedly intimidating elected officials in New Orleans. Her bond was set at $4000 and an arrest warrant was issued. Less than a week later, the only thing that remains are the charges. Murrill successfully petitioned the Louisiana Supreme Court to have the bond and warrant r...

Money is coming to Acadiana. Lawmakers recently approved funding to build the new I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge in Lake Charles after state lawmakers gave the project priority status in the new state budget. Legislators also allocated millions to help the University of Louisiana-Lafayette with a budget deficit.   Christiaan Mader, founder of the Current in Lafayette, tells us more about the influx o...

Louisiana teachers will get another stipend this coming school year. In previous years, the legislature added money to the state’s budget to cover them. This time, the funding will be deducted from what the state already planned to send to schools.  WWNO and WRKF education reporter Aubri Juhasz joins us with the latest. In March of last year, President Donald Trump announced that Hyundai, the Kore...

Many Republican-led states have passed programs that will eventually give any parent, regardless of how much money they make, thousands of dollars a year to spend on private school, and in some places, homeschool expenses. For the Gulf States Newsroom, Elise Gregg looked at an exception — Mississippi, where lawmakers, so far, have held the line. Agrivoltaics is the practice of using land for both...

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams has come under fire for taking on a case with his private law practice. This is typical among Louisiana’s top prosecutors, and Williams has been lending his name to cases for five years. But this case, which involves a New Orleans man who made a fortune investing in Raising Cane’s, has become high-profile. Joey Cranney, a reporter with the Deep South...

The primary season for Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race is finally behind us, and we know who the Republican and Democratic candidates in the fall election will be. The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace tells us how Republican Julia Letlow and Democrat Jamie Davis made it this far.  The Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual Year in Hate an...

For Haitians living in the Big Easy, many things remind them of home, from Second Line parades to the architecture to the food. Red beans and rice, boudin, jambalaya… all these iconic Louisiana dishes have connections to Haiti. That’s because Haitian migrants profoundly shaped New Orleans culture. At the turn of the nineteenth century, enslaved people on the island of St Domingue broke free from t...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to talk politics with The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s Stephanie Grace. Today, we discuss the final stretch of the Senate primary runoff and how State Treasurer John Fleming has been catching up to the Trump-endorsed Julia Letlow in the polls.  There’s a spit of land out in New Orleans East. Thousands drive past it every day and don’t give it much o...

The 2026 World Cup is in full swing, and for the first time in 50 years – and second time ever – the country of Haiti is making an appearance. Even though the team has already been mathematically eliminated, fans are  gathering to watch their country’s games at the local Haitian restaurant, Fritai. WWNO’s Mel Bridges attended one of those watch parties. We are nearing the end of Pride Month, a tim...

10 years ago, Mother Jones investigator Shane Bauer went undercover at a private prison in Louisiana. Disguised as a prison guard, he observed the violence and neglect at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana. His report drew the attention of many, including President Obama, who stated the government would discontinue sending federal inmates to private prison, which was ultimately unful...

If you live in South Louisiana, you probably saw the headlines last month raising alarm about the region’s vulnerability to climate change. Like this one in The Guardian: ‘Point of no return’: New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level rise, study finds.  WWNO and WRKF reporters Aubri Juhasz and Eva Tesfaye have been looking at the study, media coverage and how locals are responding. T...

In this three-part series, we’re giving some of the most misunderstood characters on the periodic table a fuller story. We dive into the fascinating double lives of these elements that are both the makers and unmakers of our world. In part one, reporter Olga Loginova travels to Cape Cod to meet nitrogen. In this episode: we trudge through the marsh, avoid great white sharks, and find out how we ha...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to talk politics with The Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s Stephanie Grace. Today, we preview the upcoming elections for Public Service Commission and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.   Many South Louisianans awoke early Thursday morning to the sound of  loud claps of thunder and pouring rain. The remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur drench...

When Baton Rouge voters head to the polls later this month, they’ll have the opportunity to decide on the fate of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s funding. The library is asking voters to approve its dedicated property tax.  Report for America corps member Alex Cox joins us for more on this story, and why the fate of the library is continually on the Baton Rouge ballot. Louisiana is among at...

The driverless car company Waymo announced plans to expand in New Orleans last year. But so far, all of the cars have human drivers, so they aren’t currently autonomous.  The Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s Blake Paterson tells us why the cars are not yet autonomous, and when that process might begin. June is Pride Month, and on Louisiana Considered, we are looking back at some of the state’s key pl...

A second New Orleans district judge has recused himself from presiding over the case of former Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, who was accused of misconduct in a bombshell indictment unleashed days before she was set to leave office. Matt Bruce has been reporting on this for The Times-Picayune | The Advocate. He joins us for more. The nonprofit organization 100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge...

Earlier this month, the organizations EverythingALS and Vision 2030 announced a partnership with the Allen Institute to accelerate research into the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS. The disease is a progressive neurodegenerative condition where patients lose the ability to walk, use their hands, talk and eventually breathe. But the new invest...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to talk politics with The Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s Stephanie Grace. Today, we hear why New Orleans is gaining access to unspent Katrina money from FEMA. We also learn about Mayor Moreno’s recent win: bringing the Sewerage and Water Board under more city control.  A sports medicine physician has opened one of the world’s first clinics and treatme...

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais has set off a wave of redistricting across the Gulf South. Elise Gregg from the Gulf States Newsroom reports on how smaller communities in the South are being affected by new state voting maps that mostly favor Republican candidates. Student researchers at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette have made a finding that could change the way s...

A New Orleans immigration court is set to increase the number of hearings judges oversee each day dramatically. This is due to the Trump administration’s push to accelerate deportation decisions.  Bobbi Jeanne Misick has been covering this for Verite News. She joins us for more on the so-called “mega” hearings.  The André Cailloux Center for Performing Arts and Cultural Justice, located on histori...

In May, University of New Orleans president Kathy Johnson announced she will be leaving her position at the end of June. This comes after she helped the university navigate its financial crisis and return to the LSU system. She’s accepted a role as the executive vice president and provost of Saint Louis University.  WWNO and WRKF education reporter Aubri Juhasz tells us what this means for the ins...

Want to feel better? Get unstuck? Be inspired? Remake the world? Then this episode is for you. We talk with Katherine Wilkinson, author of the book Climate Wayfinding, and Colette Pichon Battle, lawyer and co-founder of Taproot Earth, about finding our way through the climate crisis. To read more about Climate Wayfinding, or order a copy of the book, click here. This episode was hosted by Carlyle...