Talk Louisiana

(Sue Lincoln)Director Paul Catalanotto of Hammond is a graduate of the University of New Orleans. He discusses his film, "When the Rivers Rise." The film takes a look at 2016's historic flooding in our state. Catalanotto's film will show next week at the Louisiana International Film Festival in Baton Rouge.Also on today's program: Patrick Mulhearn on Louisiana's film industry, here.

(elbertguillory.com)Former State Senator Elbert Guillory (R-Opelousas) and Faye Williams (D-Alexandria), President of National Congress of Black Women, discuss efforts by the Louisiana GOP to attract more Republicans. There are 22,000 black Republicans out of three million registered total voters in the state.Also on today's program: Patrick Mulhearn on Louisiana's film industry, here.

Dr. Paul Offitt, author of “Pandora’s Lab,” argues that science is a process of learning from one’s failures. He notes seven historical examples of significant missteps by science.Also on today's program: Elbert Guillory and Faye Williams on the GOP's need to attract the black vote, here.

Dr. Rebekah Gee, Louisiana's Secretary of Health, talks with us about the uncertain future of the Affordable Care Act, the state’s reliance on the federal Medicaid provision, the dangers of additional budget cuts to the state's largest agency.Also on today's program, IEM's Madhu Beriwal on disaster management and equal pay, here.

Mary Durusau is the Director of Museums at the Old State Capitol. She gives us an update on the latest at Huey Long's old haunt, including a new exhibit, "The Power of Children."This exhibit, which opened last week, shares the stories of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Ryan White. These three children's lives teach us about overcoming obstacles to make a positive difference in the world."The Power of Children" is on display now through May 25.Also on today's program, IEM's Madhu Beriwal on disaster management and equal pay, here.

Madhu Beriwal is the CEO of IEM, a global consulting firm focused on emergency management and homeland security. Beriwal is one of Louisiana’s pioneer female CEO's. She is here to talk about equal pay and her role in the disaster management industry for the past three decades.Also on today's program: Louisiana's Secretary of Health Dr. Rebekah Gee on the Medicaid expansion and budget cuts, here.

(LRN)Jonathan Ferrara has produced over 170 exhibitions in New Orleans, across the United States, and Europe on his book "Guns in the Hands of Artists."Ferrara, who lives in New Orleans, created a provocative exhibition 20 years ago that merged guns with artists.Louisiana is the most homicidal state in America per capita in a country where every day, there are 35 gun homicides, 60 gun suicides, and 200 people who survive getting shot.

(EJ Ourso Business School, Louisiana State University / EJ Ourso Business School, Louisiana State University)LSU Economist Jim Richardson heads the State Revenue Estimating Conference. Jan Moller is president of the Louisiana Budget Project. We speak with Richardson and Moller about the opening of Louisiana's 2017 Legislative Session. They will also address the feud simmering between Gov. John Bel Edwards and Garret Graves on flood recovery money coming to Louisiana.

(United States Marine Corps)Maj. Gen. Ronald G. Richard calls in to talk about President Trump's ordering of air strikes on Syria this week and what it may do to relations with Russia.Also on today's program, East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome on her first months in office, here.

(Kelly Tate)WRKF's Sue Lincoln joins us for our Friday look at politics. This week, we examine what appears to be the loss of civility in civil discourse as illustrated by Gov. John Bel Edwards' appearance before a U.S. House Oversight Committee hearing this week. We also preview the state legislative session, which opens Monday.Also on today's program, East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome on her first months in office, here.

East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome talks to us about her first three months in office and her vision for the state's largest parish. She says flood recovery is still the first thing on the minds of many of the people she encounters at community meetings.

(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 about fake news, here.

(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 masquerading as news stories on what he calls phony websites that get picked up and spread by social media.

(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 penalty. He speaks with us about that here.

(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 the $1.6 billion in federal flood aid that Congress approved.On Monday, April 10, Restore Louisiana is asking every flooded homeowner seeking assistance from the program to fill out an initial survey at the Restore Louisiana program's website. Payer says the 15-minute survey is an important first step for determining eligibility.You'll find more information about Restore Louisiana, including the survey available next week, at restore.la.gov.

(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 to the New York Times, urges Democrats to change the debate on abortion or risk losing more ground with Catholic voters.

(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 Collins talks about battling environmental violations he uncovered while working for the state Department of Natural Resources, here.

(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 state capitol, including the governor's revelation of his tax reform plan, here.

(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 with lawmakers and the electorate and explains why he sees a correlation between taxation and population stagnation.Also on today's program: Dan Collins talks about battling environmental violations he uncovered while working for the state Department of Natural Resources, here.

(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 speaks about voter registration rates and voting turnout, here.

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 about voter registration rates and voting turnout, here.

(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 Williams talks crime in Baton Rouge, here.

(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 congressman was a talk radio host, television anchor, and a newspaper publisher before representing Florida's 19th congressional district. Radel says a series of bad choices ended with him losing it all after a drug arrest. He says while he's cynical of the politics in general in general and despite today's environment of partisanship, there are good people in congress trying to do good things for our country.Also on today's program: Public Affairs Research Council President Robert Travis Scott and State Rep. Steve Carter (R-Baton Rouge) talked about taxes, here.

(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 state roads and bridges.Also on today's program: Former U.S. Rep. Trey Radel, a Republican from Florida, speaks on his two-year journey from into and out of politics, here.

(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. Today, Courtney addresses the options available to retain support for public broadcasting and answers your questions about your local PBS station.

(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 Army and provides his impressions about the state and national political system.

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 of Louisiana's people, business, and politics are ideal for this type of long form discussion program.Jim Engster previously hosted The Jim Engster Show on WRKF from 2004 to 2014 and currently hosts Ask the Governor, a monthly call-in show. Ask the Governor can be heard every third Wednesday of the month, at 2 p.m. on WRKF and radio stations throughout the state.In addition to the weekday morning broadcast, live on 89.3 FM, streaming live at wrkf.org, and streaming live on the WRKF APp, Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster will also be available as a podcast on the WRKF App.NPR’s national issues and public affairs program, 1A, will continue on WRKF, following Talk Louisiana at 10 a.m.