Talk Louisiana

(mikejohnson.house.gov) U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson of Shreveport joins us for a minute to talk with us briefly about Louisiana's flood recovery efforts, the reaction to Gov. John Bel Edwards' appearance in front of a congressional committee on Wednesday, and his role with Freedom Caucus on Health Care. Also on today's program , LSU's Len Apcar talks with us about fake news, here .

(wikimedia.org User:Infrogmation CC BY-SA 2.0) Ben Jaffe is the owner and creative director at Preservation Hall, and head bass player with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He grew up two blocks from Preservation Hall and his dad was previously the band's manager. Jaffe talks with us about the significance of this New Orleans institution. Also on today's program , LSU's Len Apcar talks with us abo...

(LRN) Len Apcar, Chair of Media Literacy at LSU Manship School of Mass Communication, on the label "fake news" and its impact on the 2016 election. Apcar says some politicians may appropriate the term "fake news" as a label to criticize stories they don't like or media outlets they don't agree with. He maintains the original concept of "fake news" refers to completely fabricated fictional stories...

(Texas A&M) Texas A&M historian Elizabeth Cobbs talks about her contention that American women consistently lag behind other countries in victories for equal rights. Cobbs is in New Orleans, and her discussion coincides with Gov. John Bel Edwards, who declares he will renew his push for equal pay legislation. Also on today's program : State Sen. Dan Claitor is proposing to end the death pe...

(Sue Lincoln) State Senator Dan Claitor of Baton Rouge is co-authoring a bill proposing to abolish the death penalty in Louisiana. The prohibition on the death penalty would take effect after July 30th.

(Twitter @alialmossawi) Ali Almossawi is author of "Bad Choices: How algorithms can help you think smarter and live happier." Almossawi works on the data science team at Mozilla. He's an alumnus of MIT and Carnegie Mellon and has worked at the MIT Media Lab. Also on today's program : State Sen. Dan Claitor is proposing to end the death penalty. He speaks with us about that here .

(kimberlywillisholt.com) National Book Award winning author Kimberly Willis Holt grew up in Louisiana and attended LSU. She talks about her latest book, "Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel." Also on today's program : LSU Faculty Senate President Kevin Kope on what budget cuts are doing to the university, here .

(lsu.edu) Louisiana State University Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope discusses the impact of budget cuts on the university and on faculty morale. He addresses the effect on students with the reduction in TOPS benefits. Cope says LSU's faculty has shrunk in the past two years from 1,425 to roughly 1,200 full-time people today.

(gov.louisiana.gov) Julie Baxter Payer, Deputy Chief of Staff for Gov. John Bel Edwards, gets us up to speed on the latest regarding the Restore Louisiana homeowners assistance program. It's been 7 months since the historic flooding of 2016 and people are still getting back on their feet. Over the weekend, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the state's action plan for th...

(Sue Lincoln) Michael Henderson, Director of the LSU Public Policy Lab, discusses his research finding Louisiana voters in some cases are receptive to tax increases. This is information that the governor and lawmakers may weigh as they prepare for the start of a legislative session in which the state budget is front and center.

(YouTube) Thomas Groome, Professor of Religion and Theology, says Democrats are losing ground in key rust belt states, with Catholic voters moving to the GOP. He notes that President Trump won the White Catholic vote by 23 percentage points over Hillary Clinton, a group that President Bill Clinton won in each of his presidential elections of 1992 and 1996. Professor Groome, in a recent editorial t...

(Sue Lincoln) WRKF Capitol Access reporter Sue Lincoln joins us to compare the "cookie" and the "cleaning the room" elements of the governor's comprehensive tax reform package. We also hear tape as Michael Henderson from the LSU Public Policy Research Lab reviews part of the Louisiana Survey and what it says about public perception and expectations regarding taxes. Also on today's program : Dan Co...

(preserve-louisiana.org) Fairleigh Cook Jackson talks about efforts by her group, Preserve Louisiana, to save state landmarks. Also on today's program : Dan Collins talks about battling environmental violations he uncovered while working for the state Department of Natural Resources, here .

(Wikimedia Commons) Dan Collins is a Baton Rouge land man who has been battling the state in court over environmental violations he uncovered while working for the Department of Natural Resources. Collins talks about his whistle-blower lawsuit regarding Bayou Postillion. Also on today's program : WRKF's own Capitol Access reporter Sue Lincoln gets us up to speed on this week's happenings at the st...

(YouTube) Elliott Stonecipher, veteran pollster and demographer, analyzes why, since the 1970s, Louisiana has lagged behind other states, including those in the South, in population growth. Stonecipher takes calls from listeners illustrating loved ones who have left Louisiana for opportunity and other reasons. Stonecipher also examines how the tax proposal by Gov. John Bel Edwards will resonate wi...

(WAFB Facebook) We hear from Matt Williams, WAFB-TV's morning show host and crime stoppers reporter. Williams discusses efforts to lower the homicide rate in Baton Rouge and what impact the perception of where crime happens and who is affected by crime has on our response to fixing underlying institutional problems that lead to crime. Also on today's program : Secretary of State Tom Schedler speak...

Historian David Nichols talks about his book, "Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower's Secret Campaign against Joseph McCarthy," analyzing the feud between our 34th President and the most powerful member of Congress. Nichols addresses how this historical lesson about McCarthyism is applicable to contemporary battles on Capitol Hill. Also on today's program : Secretary of State Tom Schedler speaks ab...

(Sue Lincoln) Secretary of State Tom Schedler addresses concerns about voter fraud in elections. He also details his efforts to register as many citizens to vote as possible in the state. Shedler says Louisiana boasts one of the highest voter registration rates in the nation, but getting those voters to turn out at the polls is an entirely different idea. Also on today's program : WAFB's Matt Will...

(Office of Congressman Trey Radel) Former U.S. Rep. Trey Radel, a Republican from Florida, recaps a two-year period in which he went from being a popular television anchor to being a congressman to getting convicted for cocaine possession. Radel has put his story about the political process in a book, "Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food." The former congress...

(Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana) Gov. John Bel Edwards plans to unveil his tax plan today. Public Affairs Research Council President Robert Travis Scott will help us analyze the tax plan and assess its impact on Louisiana businesses. Also joining us for this segment, we have State Rep. Steve Carter (R-Baton Rouge), who will discuss his push for a 17-cent gasoline tax to help restore...

(CPB) Today's featured guest was Beth Courtney, President and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Courtney is a former Vice Chair for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and has testified before Congress on numerous occasions. President Trump is proposing the elimination of all federal funding for CPB, which supports NPR and PBS. WRKF is a member station of NPR; LPB is a member station of PBS...

(YouTube) Best-selling author Greg Iles is a resident of Natchez. He has taken unsolved killings of black men in the South during the Civil Rights struggle to heart with his latest novel, "Mississippi Blood." We talk with Iles about his novel and the history behind it.

We took a couple of minutes out of our inaugural episode of Talk Louisiana to speak with Paul Maassen, General Manager and President at WRKF in Baton Rouge and also General Manager at WWNO in New Orleans. Maassen says he wants to see programs like Talk Louisiana become a place where we can have a thoughtful, civil discussion about politics, public affairs, and current events.

(Restore Louisiana Now) Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré joins us for the inaugural edition of Talk Louisiana. Honoré, who was regarded as a hero in leading the recovery from Hurricane Katrina, is now leading a group of environmental activists at the State Capitol. Honoré's Green Army will be active in the upcoming legislative session, pushing environmental reform. Honoré discusses the goals of the Green Ar...

Jim Engster is returning to WRKF to host new program, Talk Louisiana, weekdays at 9:00 a.m., beginning Monday, March 27. The one-hour show will immediately follow Morning Edition. Talk Louisiana will present interviews with local newsmakers, calls and emails from listeners, and original feature reporting. We are excited to have Jim back. His 30 years of experience in journalism and his knowledge o...