Talk Louisiana

Darryl Gissel, Chief Administrative Officer for Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, comments on issues that are permeating in the mayor’s third year at City Hall, including city finances, traffic, crime, police pay and the prospect of the Village of St. George. Robin McCullough-Bade, Executive Director of the Interfaith Federation of Greater Baton Rouge, and Baton Rouge Islamic Cente...

State Representative Pat Smith of Baton Rouge on a busy docket at the Legislature and her quest to become a state Senator. Lamar White of the Bayou Brief comments on the acquisition of the Times-Picayune by John Georges, the Louisiana governor’s election and a collision in the Beltway over the Mueller Report.

State Representative Royce Duplessis and Peter Robins-Brown, Communications Director for the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice on House Bill 422, which would repeal the state preemption of local  control of minimum wage and family and sick leave policies. Mark Ballard, Capitol Bureau Chief for the Advocate, notes that social issues remain vibrant in the Legislature and Ballard assesses the Lo...

   Advocate Editor Peter Kovacs comments on the Pulitzer Prize won by the newspaper last month on the sixth anniversary of the change of ownership of the state’s largest newspaper. Conservative Activist, Colonel Rob Maness, surveys the national and local political landscape with Attorney General William Barr testifying before Congress and the Louisiana Legislature weighing the merits of capital pu...

Businesswoman Beverly Brooks Thompson talks about her quest to succeed Dan Claitor in the Louisiana Senate. Claitor is term limited with two GOP House members, Steve Carter and Franklin Foil, vying for the post in the October 12 primary. Thompson is a Democrat who helped spearhead the Forever LSU Campaign which raised almost 800 million dollars for the university. Glenn Guilbeau, LSU beat writer w...

Political strategist Mary Patricia Wray and LSU-Shreveport Political Scientist Jeff Sadow examine the politics of the Equal Rights Amendment in the Louisiana Legislature. Last week, a Senate panel advanced the measure on a party line vote 47 years after the Louisiana Senate approved ERA on a 25-13 vote. The Louisiana House killed the measure in 1972. Dr. Fiona Citkin, a Fulbright scholar from Ukra...

Veteran Associated Press Reporter Beth Gardiner comments on her book “Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution.” Gardiner says research shows that air pollution prematurely kills seven million people every year. Jan Moller, President of the Louisiana Budget Project,  discusses issues of importance at the State Capitol: Medicaid Reform, Minimum Wage, Equal Pay and the Equal Rights Amendm...

Fabled Political Consultant Raymond Strother chimes in on the announcement that Joe Biden will run for president, the fallout from the release of the Mueller Report a week ago today and 20 years since the death of New Orleans trumpet legend Al Hirt. Mark Ballard, Capitol Bureau Chief for The Advocate, reflects on sports betting prospects in the Legislature, the admission by Senator Karen Carter Pe...

Louisiana Family Forum Executive Director Gene Mills reviews legislation to allow sports betting in Louisiana. University of Kentucky Law Professor Joshua A. Douglas makes the case for more access to voting in America and the stopping of gerrymandering.

Louisiana Parole Project Executive Director Andrew Hundley comments on criminal justice reform in the state. Conservative Commentator Quin Hillyer, former top aide to Congressman Bob Livingston, sounds off about the Mueller Report. Washington Post Editorial Board member Charles Lane discusses his book “Freedom’s Detective, the Secret Service, the Ku Klux Klan and the Man Who Masterminded America’s...

LSU Professors Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein on the cult of personality and U.S. Presidents dating to John and John Quincy Adams. Their book is “The Problem with Democracy.” Dr. Steven Gundry, Director of the International Heart and Lung Institute in California, discusses his book “The Longevity of Paradox, How to Die Young at a Ripe Old Age." Alexandria native Faye Williams, head of the Nati...

Investigative Reporter Dan Moldea, the journalist who exposed the sex scandals of Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston and David Vitter, comments on the release of the redacted 448-page Mueller Report. Board members Greg Davis and Linda Johnson of the T.M. Landry College Preparatory School in Breaux Bridge assess the investigation into the small private school that gained national attention for sending u...

Stephanie Riegel of the Baton Rouge Business Report on the hiring of Scott Woodward to replace Joe Alleva as Athletic Director at LSU. Riegel and Fairleigh Jackson of Preserve Louisiana comment on the fate of the iconic Crawford House in Baton Rouge. Mark Ballard of the Advocate comments on Louisiana reaction to the release of the Mueller Report and the Advocate winning its first Pulitzer Prize.

Former Louisiana lawmaker Elbert Guillory, an Opelousas lawyer and head of Minority Outreach for the State GOP, talks about the three church fires at historically black churches in his parish of St. Landry, assesses the comeback of Tiger Woods and the prospect for re-election of Gov. John Bel Edwards and President Donald Trump. Ameen Walker of First Financial Tax and Accounting Services surveys th...

Lieutenant Gov. Billy Nungesser on a huge month for tourism in Louisiana and the ninth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and BP oil spill. Chris Meyer, CEO of New Schools for Baton Rouge, assesses charter schools in Baton Rouge and the hunt for new superintendent of schools.

Democrat Eddie Ashworth and Republican Scott Wilfong exchange views of the political landscape exactly six months before the Oct. 12 primary. Music Critic John Wirt looks at Blues Fest in Baton Rouge and the French Quarter Fest in New Orleans. Author Lisa Wingate talks about her appearance at the Main Library tomorrow night and her book about a notorious scandal in wich the director of Memphis ado...

Former Trump Administration official George Papadopoulos on his status as the first person convicted in the Mueller probe. His book is “Deep State Target.” Capitol Bureau Chief Mark Ballard on the opening of the Legislative Session and an election six months from the October primary. Trumpeters Brian Shaw and Wayne Bergeron preview their concert with the LSU Jazz Ensemble. Legendary cartoonist Cat...

Racheal Hebert, President and CEO of Sexual Trauma Awareness Response, comments on five members of the Louisiana U.S. House delegation voting against renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which passed the House by a 263-158 margin. Congressman Cedric Richmond was the lone member of the state delegation to vote for the measure. Stephanie Grace, editorial writer of the Advocate, discusses her c...

University of Louisiana System President Jim Henderson assesses funding for higher education in Louisiana as college leaders hold a rally at the State Capitol. LSU Manship School Director of the Public Policy Research Lab Michael Henderson provides information on voter opinion of the Louisiana economy and a potential gasoline tax increase. Henderson also unveils polling indicating strong support f...

University of Houston Law Professor David Dow on his novel about the death penalty and a move from the Louisiana Legislature to abolish capital punishment in the state. Robert Travis Scott, President of the Public Affairs Research Council, comments on the opening the Louisiana Legislative Session. Tyler Kepner, Baseball writer for the New York Times, details his book about the art of pitching and...

Republican Rob Maness and Democrat Dayne Sherman exchange views on state and national politics. Former Assistant Secretary of State and Assistant Defense Secretary John Kirby comments on classified communications. Su King of the Baton Rouge Concert Band on Sunday’s concert as part of the Ebb and Flow Festival. Singer Carson McHone previews her appearance at Zeeland Market.

Advocate Investigative Reporter Bryn Stole analyzes the saga of suspended LSU basketball coach Will Wade. Mark Ballard, Capitol Bureau Chief of the Advocate, comments on the upcoming regular legislative session and discusses votes likely to come  from the Louisiana delegation in the U.S. House on taking gun rights away from those convicted of domestic abuse and the Democratic majority request for...

Former State Lawmaker Erich Ponti, who heads the Louisiana Coalition to Fix Our Roads, comments on the prospect of the Louisiana Legislature embracing a boost in gasoline taxes during an election year. WRKF Station Manager Paul Maassen discusses funding for Public Radio in Baton Rouge as the station approaches its 40 th anniversary of broadcasting to South Louisiana. New Orleans Author Samantha Do...

Mike Bertaut, Chief Health Care Economist for Blue Cross Blue Shield Louisiana, reviews possible changes to the Affordable Care Act, now nine years old. What will happen to public health care in Louisiana if Congress or the courts strike down Obamacare? Bertaut notes that 53 percent of state residents are recipients of Medicaid or Medicare benefits. Actor and singer John Schneider discusses his li...

WAFB Morning Show Host and Crime Stoppers Reporter Matt Williams comments on the prospect of Village St. George. Sportswriter Ron Rapoport on the baseball legacy of Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks. Clive Thompson of the New York Times discusses his book “Coders, The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World.”