New podcast from LSU Libraries highlights untold stories of Louisiana Veterans

By Adam Vos,

Published July 5, 2023 at 12:10 PM CDT

Tara Jones (center) is the Incarcerated Veterans Liaison and Louisiana National Guard Disability Benefits Administrator for the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs. She was a staff sergeant in the Louisiana Air National Guard (1988-1997) and more recently the subject of an LSU student-led oral history interview about her military experience. Ajalynn Crum from Lake Charles, La., (right) served as the interviewer while Amara Bordelon from Baton Rouge, La., (left) served as the audio engineer. Both students are Ogden Honors College freshmen studying mechanical engineering.

LSU Libraries’ T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History recently partnered with the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs to unveil a limited-episode podcast. The series, Oral History and the Louisiana Veterans Experience, aims to uncover untold narratives of individuals who served in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Persian Gulf Wars.

For more on this series, WRKF’s Karen Henderson spoke with Jennifer Cramer, director of the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History, and Brandee Patrick, Director of Communications at the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Louisiana Association of United Ways recently released a report on the economic conditions for people living in income-constrained households, in which people have limited assets and resources despite being employed. Sarah Berthelot, president and CEO of the Louisiana Association of United Ways joins us now for more on this report.

But first, back in 2019, we lost NPR reporter, author, and analyst Cokie Roberts. The New Orleans native was known as one of the “founding mothers” of NPR and was a longtime supporter of local journalism initiatives in Louisiana.

Back in 2018, Cokie Roberts spoke with NPR’s Noel King to answer listener questions on the history of Independence Day. In honor of July 4th, and Cokie Roberts, we’re giving this conversation a second listen.

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our digital editor is Katelyn Umholtz. Our engineers are Garrett Pittman and Aubry Procell.

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