There’s a lot of uncertainty around whether a popular food assistance program will serve Louisiana families this summer. Gov. Jeff Landry rejected $71 million in federal aid earlier this year to help feed children when schools are closed.

Khalil Gillon, a reporter at Verite News, has been covering the fallout from Landry’s decision to decline federal funding and shares the latest. 

The Gulf South is getting hundreds of millions of dollars from settlements with some of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers and distributors. It’s part of a plan to help mitigate damage caused by the opioid crisis. And some are calling for more of the funds to be used for harm reduction to help people and their families.

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins recently sat down with Maia Szalavitz, author of Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction.

Land loss is an issue that most Louisianans are familiar with. But how often do you take stock of exactly what’s changed?

Virginia Hanusik is an artist who has dedicated her career to capturing the changing coastline. Her photography explores the relationship between landscape, culture and human-built infrastructure. She joins us to discuss her new book, Into the Quiet and the Light: Water, Life, and Land Loss in South Louisiana. 

___

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12 and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!