Louisiana Considered

Karl Lengel hosted this Wednesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Associated Press Baton Rouge correspondent Melinda Deslatte tells us what she’s learned in her coverage of how Louisiana K-12 schools and university systems plan to start the 2021 - 2022 school year during the state’s worst surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to date. WWNO/WRKF education reporter Aubri Juhasz gives more...

Patrick Madden and Stephanie Grace hosted this episode of Louisiana Considered on Friday, August 6, 2021. LSU Manship School of Mass Communication professor Bob Mann tells us the latest from a meeting of LSU’s board of supervisors on the topic of vaccination mandates for enrollment at the University. Several University faculty members pleaded that the board institute a COVID-19 vaccine requirement...

Diane Mack hosted this Tuesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. In a report filed today for NPR’s Morning Edition, WWNO/WRKF public health reporter Rosemary Westwood explains a topic of concern as COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb statewide: vaccine hesitancy among Louisiana’s healthcare workers . Ogden Museum of Southern Art executive director William Pittman Andrews tells us about on...

Patrick Madden hosted this Monday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Host Patrick Madden gives us the latest COVID-19 statistics published by the Louisiana Department of Health. COVID-19 hospitalizations now number 2,720, a new state record, up 37% from one week ago. In an interview aired two days ago , NPR Weekend Edition host Scott Simon spoke with  president and CEO of North Oaks Health System...

Adam Vos hosted this Thursday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. WWNO/WRKF public health reporter Rosemary Westwood tells us how the state’s fourth surge in COVID-19 cases is affecting the region’s hospitals and reports on what healthcare workers are seeing, including a drastic spike in COVID-19 cases among children younger than 12. Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center vice president of mi...

Karl Lengel hosted this Wednesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. A&S Transportation General Manager Brad Kerrigan tells us about the effects the pandemic has had on his company’s business, especially regarding operation of school buses for charter schools nationally and in South Louisiana. Galactic bassist Robert Mercurio updates us on the band and their operation of Tipitina’s as the stat...

Patrick Madden hosted this Tuesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Host Patrick Madden gives us the latest on the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant in Louisiana. Governor Edwards reinstated the statewide mask mandate , effective Wednesday, August 4. 4,725 new cases were reported to the state since yesterday. 2,112 people are hospitalized statewide according to the most recent data. Hospitals...

Patrick Madden hosted this Monday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Washington Post health and science policy reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb explains the reasoning behind updated guidance from the CDC in response to the national surge in cases of the delta variant of COVID-19 . WWNO/WRKF capitol access reporter Paul Braun discusses the probable topics of this afternoon’s gubernatorial press conference...

Patrick Madden and Stephanie Grace hosted this episode of Louisiana Considered on Friday, July 23 2021. Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter describes his frustration with federal programs for failing to send aid to Lake Charles for more than 11 months after Hurricane Laura caused catastrophic damage to the city which was compounded by several other storms in the meantime. WWNO/WRKF public health reporte...

Adam Vos hosted this Thursday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. St. Vincent de Paul of Greater Baton Rouge CEO Michael Acaldo joins us to discuss what the city-parish government has done to help unhoused residents during the pandemic, and what can be done to prevent residents from losing their housing once the federal eviction moratorium ends on July 31st. Louisiana Environmental Action Network c...

Karl Lengel hosted this Wednesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Host Karl Lengel and WWNO/WRKF public health reporter Rosemary Westwood give us the latest updates on Louisiana’s ongoing surge in COVID-19 delta-variant cases and hospitalizations . Gulf States Newsroom lead coastal reporter Tegan Wendland reports on the state’s preparedness for the 2021 storm season , which is projected to riva...

Patrick Madden hosted this Monday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Ozanam Inn CEO Clarence Adams, Sr. tells us about his organization’s efforts to help homeless people in New Orleans find housing and notes that many of those recently seeking shelter are newly homeless because of factors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. WWNO/WRKF reporter Bobbi-Jeanne Misick spoke to immigrants recently released...

Adam Vos hosted this Thursday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Louisiana Community and Technical College System President Dr. Monty Sullivan tells us about the M.J. Foster Promise Program , a new program funded in the most recent legislative session which provides grants for Louisiana adults seeking education at the community-college level. LSU Department of Petroleum Engineering Assistant Profe...

Karl Lengel hosted this Wednesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. WRKF/WWNO Capitol Access Reporter Paul Braun updates us on the state legislature’s historic veto override session, happening this week. New Orleans Business Alliance CEO Norman E. Barnum, IV joins us to introduce himself as NOLABA’s new leader and to discuss the directions in which he plans to take the Alliance. Meteorologist Dan...

Diane Mack hosted this Tuesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. WWNO/WRKF Public Health Reporter Rosemary Westwood reports on the recent surge in Delta-variant cases of COVID-19 and speaks with Louisiana State Nurses Association President Ecoee Rooney and Louisiana State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter about low vaccination rates among nurses. Director Jon Greene tells us about the upcoming pro...

Patrick Madden hosted this Monday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. WWNO/WRKF Capitol Access Reporter Paul Braun tells us what to expect from tomorrow’s first-ever veto override session in the legislature under Louisiana’s new constitution. NPR Southwest Correspondent John Burnett reports on an industrial grain silo construction project which residents of Wallace, LA say will destroy their commun...

Adam Vos hosted this Thursday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. WWNO/WRKF Capitol Access Reporter Paul Braun and WWNO/WRKF Public Health Reporter Rosemary Westwood discuss the bills that Republican state lawmakers hope to approve later this month during what could be Louisiana’s first veto override session under the new constitution, including bills that would hinder COVID-19 vaccination efforts....

Karl Lengel hosted this Wednesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Baton Rouge Associated Press correspondent Melinda Deslatte discusses last Thursday’s news release about several Louisiana law enforcement officers supporting Governor Edwards’ veto of a bill that would get rid of the training and background checks required for firearm owners to carry concealed handguns. Republican legislators pl...

Diane Mack hosted this Tuesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre Artistic Director Michael McKelvey joins us to discuss the Theatre’s final run of shows for this summer and his final production at Tulane: a 50th-anniversary presentation of "Jesus Christ Superstar." Ochsner Health Center Internist Dr. Padma Sahu tells us the best practices for proper hydration during ho...

Patrick Madden hosted this Monday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Talk Louisiana host Jim Engster discusses the life and legacy of former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards, who passed away Monday morning. The Times-Picayune | The Advocate business reporter Kristen Mosbrucker discusses plans to build seven solar power industrial developments in rural Louisiana and how Louisiana’s solar power indu...

Adam Vos hosted this Thursday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Environment journalist Bob Marshall talks about the links between the recent condo collapse in Surfside, FL and Louisiana’s dwindling coastal wetlands. Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan could help us stave off some effects of climate change if the state can find the funds. LIGO-Caltech Lead Scientist Dr. Brian O’Reilly describes one of...

Karl Lengel hosted this Wednesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. The New York Times’ Alexandra Eaton and New Orleans-based researcher and artist Imani Jacqueline Brown tell us about their team’s use of forensic architecture to find lost gravesites of enslaved people on chemical plant construction sites owned by petrochemical companies like Formosa in St. James Parish. RISE St. James organizer...

Patrick Madden hosted this Monday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. Author, journalist and Tulane University history professor Walter Isaacson discusses his new book, “The Code Breaker.” It’s a biography of Dr. Jennifer Doudna , winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for her work on the CRISPR gene editing system. The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate Food Writer Ian McNulty describ...

Karl Lengel hosted this Tuesday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. City of New Orleans Cemetery Superintendent Emily Ford and New Orleans Mayor’s Office Deputy Communications Director David Lee Simmons tell us about efforts to preserve New Orleans’ iconic cemeteries. Tulane University Assistant Professor Jennifer Whitten tells us about her work on NASA’s VERITAS spacecraft , designed to create map...

Adam Vos hosted this Thursday’s episode of Louisiana Considered. WRKF/WWNO Capitol Access Reporter Paul Braun joins us to discuss the latest on Louisiana state house conservatives’ push to hold a session to override Gov. Edwards’ vetoes of multiple pieces of recent legislation. Mississippi Public Broadcasting reporter Ashley Norwood informs us about Mississippi’s state supreme court’s overturning...