Talk Louisiana

(LRN) April Ryan is the ranking member of the White House Press Corps. She joins us to talk about covering President Donald Trump. Ryan shares about her writing on discussion of racial issues in America. Named "Journalist of the Year" recently by the National Association of Black Journalists, Ryan is the author of "At Mama’s Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White." Also on today's program : Ken...

(LRN) Ken Perret is president of the organization Louisiana Good Roads. He addresses the last-minute push for approval of a gas tax hike in the state legislature. Also on today's program : Jane Leavy addresses the recent death of NPR sports commentator Frank Deford, here .

(LRN) Capitol reporter Julia O'Donoghue for the Times-Picayune assesses the final eight days of the state legislative session. She also critiques national coverage of freeman U.S. Senator John Kennedy. Also on today's program : Melissa Flournoy and Quin Hillyer on the division in politics, here .

(LRN) Former lawmaker Melissa Flournoy and conservative commentator Quin Hillyer exchange views on state and national politics as legislators in Baton Rouge and in the beltway weigh their support for initiatives from Gov. John Bel Edwards and President Donald Trump. Also on today's program : The Times Picayune's Julia O'Donoghue on the final eight days of the legislative session, here .

(LRN) Joey Strickland. Also on today's program : Rinaldi Jacob on economic development in north Baton Rouge, here .

(LRN) John Wirt, veteran entertainment writer, on summer entertainment opportunities in southern Louisiana as well as the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' famous album "Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band." Also on today's program : Rinaldi Jacob on economic development in north Baton Rouge, here .

Rinaldi Jacobs, Interim Execution Director of the Baton Rouge North Economic Development District, discusses efforts to revitalize the area north of Florida Boulevard. Jacobs says North Baton Rouge would be the sixth largest city in the state if were a stand-alone incorporated city. -

(LRN) Paula Poundstone, the popular personality on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, joins us to talk about her latest work,  "The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness." Also on today's program : State Rep. Pat Smith on challenges between the legislature and the governor, here .

(LRN) State Represntative Pat Smith (D-Baton Rouge) talks with us about the governor’s challenges with the GOP dominated House and Senate. -

(Kelly Tate) WRKF's Sue Lincoln, with Capitol Access, updates us on what's getting accomplished and what isn't getting accomplished as we approach the home stretch of the 2017 legislative session. Also on today's program : State Rep. Pat Smith on challenges between the legislature and the governor, here .

(LRN) Lee Berger is a paleoanthropologist and is associated with the discovery of an ancestor to the modern human. Also on today's program : Secretary of State Tom Schedler on Saturday's special election to fill a vacant state Senate seat, here .

(LRN) Memorial Day weekend is approaching and it's a heavy travel holiday. Katara Williams is highway safety director for the state. She's here to speak with us about holiday weekend travel challenges. Also on today's program : Secretary of State Tom Schedler on Saturday's special election to fill a vacant state Senate seat, here .

(LRN) Secretary of State Tom Schedler speaks with us about the upcoming special election on Saturday for the Louisiana Senate seat vacated by Troy Brown. Schedler also visits the Supreme Court decision on gerrymandering of Congressional districts and President Trump's voter fraud commission. Also on today's program , Katara Williams on holiday weekend travel challenges, here .

Advocate editor Peter Kovacs speaks with us about the future of the largest newspaper in Louisiana. Also on today's program : Journalist Bill Moyers on the imprisonment and the criminal justice system, here .

(LRN) Bill Moyers speaks with us about his newest PBS documentary about New York City's infamous Rikers Jail and the issues surrounding imprisonment in America. Also on today's program : Advocate editor Peter Kovacs on the newspaper business, here .

(LRN) Steve Clifford talks to us about "The CEO Paying Machine." He says CEO pay is why others may not get the same kind of income. Also on today's program : Beth Kobliner on the millennial approach to personal finance, here .

(LRN) Beth Kobliner outlines for us how millennials handle money differently from their elder generations. Kobliner wrote the book "Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties." Also on today's program : David McCullough and the American political landscape and how it relates to our history, here .

Historian David McCullough assesses the American political landscape and its relationship to our ancestors in his latest book, "The American Spirit, Who We Are and What We Stand For." -

(LRN) Singer B.J. Barham appears tonight at the Dyson House. Also on today's program : Bodi White on flood assistance, here .

(LRN) State Senator Bodi White of Central discusses his effort to get more of his constituents to sign up for flood assistance. Also on today's program : David Madden on Confederate monuments, here .

(LRN) David Madden addresses the removal of New Orleans monuments as state lawmakers take action to prevent future removals of statues of military icons. Madden is a former head of the U.S. Civil War Center at LSU. Also on today's program : Bodi White on flood assistance, here .

(LRN) Jerome Loving talks about the wild nexus between writer Norman Mailer and fellow author Jack Henry Abbott, a convicted killer who was captured in Morgan City after writing the well-received "In the Belly of the Beast." Loving is a professor at Texas A&M. Also on today's program : McKinley High School principal Herman Brister on this weekend's shooting death of a student of his, here .

(LRN) Ron Faucheux talks about the changing electorate in Louisiana and its impact on the state’s voting patterns. Faucheux is a former state lawmaker, pollster, and columnist. Also on today's program : McKinley High School principal Herman Brister on this weekend's shooting death of a student of his, here .

McKinley High School principal Herman Brister responds to the shooting death this weekend of quarterback and honor student Bryant Lee. -

Professor Godon Lafer on his book "The One Percent Solution." Lafer believes the 2010 Citizens United decision at the U.S. Supreme Court revolutionized American politics and business. He says it sparked the nation's domination by a small segment of the economic elite. Also on today's program : Danny Heitman remembers Curt Eysink, here .