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Angola Farm Line workers lawsuit and the history of prison labor; Treme residents tackle urban flooding issues

WWNO

Court hearings wrapped up last week in a case brought by inmates working the farm line at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola —an agricultural work assignment, where incarcerated men are forced to work long hours, sometimes in the heat of the summer.

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Kat Stromquist has been in court following this story and joins us to share more details.

As we await a ruling on whether the case will be certified as a class action lawsuit, we wanted to take a deeper look at the history of prison labor, something many have said is . rooted in racism and slavery.

Nina Mast, policy and economic analyst with Economic Policy Institute, evaluated the issue in a report titled “Forced prison labor in the “Land of the Free,” and joined us to share more.

Urban flooding has long plagued the Treme neighborhood in New Orleans. Now residents are taking matters into their own hands.

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Danny McArthur reports on how people living in Treme are figuring out and addressing the root causes of urban flooding.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. We get production support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App 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!

Adam is responsible for coordinating WRKF's programming and making sure everything you hear on the radio runs smoothly. He is Newscast Editor for the WRKF/WWNO Newsroom. Adam is also the Baton Rouge-based host for Louisiana Considered, our daily regional news program, and is frequently the local voice afternoons on All Things Considered.
Alana Schreiber is the managing producer for the live daily news program, Louisiana Considered. She comes to WWNO from KUNC in Northern Colorado, where she worked as a radio producer for the daily news magazine, Colorado Edition. She has previously interned for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul.