Guests
Near record-high numbers of young people voted during the midterms
The November 2022 midterms have come and gone, but there are still some potential lasting implications that could influence the next election season. One is that young people, aged 18 to 29, had one of the highest voter turnouts in a midterm election in recent history, according to our early analysis. Specifically, an estimated 27% […]
Who says we can’t say ‘Merry Christmas?’
You’ve seen the memes on social media and heard the loud complaints, usually coming from the same partisans. It even showed up on Saturday Night Live’s cold open this past weekend – the tired, old, and false claim that “they,” whoever “they” are, but the implication is always that it’s the “libs” and Democrats who are responsible for […]
What Georgia’s 2022 runoff can teach us about the 2024 White House race
Several years ago, several “Eat This, Not That” books took America by storm, dispelling a lot of myths about our eating habits, giving us smarter diets. Here’s a similar version, based upon lessons from the 2022 Georgia election and runoff, which can help candidates prepare for the 2024 election and avoid myths from prior ballot […]
From the Nile to the Mississippi, petrochemicals are the next big climate fight around the world
Recently I returned from the United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties, known as COP27, in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, where I joined global leaders, advocates and NGOs who are charting the global path forward on climate. As I met with people from around the world to highlight the importance of environmental […]
Environmental justice delayed for Gulf Coast does not have to be environmental justice denied
After a long, hot summer of helping people throughout the Gulf Coast who have lost their homes and livelihoods to hurricanes and calling on elected officials in Washington to stop the proliferation of fossil fuel plants, we decided energy officials needed to see what’s happening here firsthand. So we invited the commissioners of the Federal […]
In Louisiana, health inequities raise risks for Black community
Too many African Americans contract serious diseases and die much earlier than white Americans from preventable and treatable diseases due to a lack of information, access to and the affordability of quality health care. This is heath inequity. This is economically damaging for Louisiana, morally wrong, and something we can reverse if we act now. […]
Boosters of failed tort reform are blocking real insurance reform
In 2020, the Louisiana Legislature decided drivers should be stripped of some of the legal tools they have to force insurance companies to pay legitimate claims. Legislators, powerful business lobbyists and the insurance commissioner promised the sacrifice – branded as “tort reform”—would be worth it because auto insurance rates would go down quickly and significantly, […]
My students hosted a walkout to protest transphobic legislation; I proudly joined them
A bill proposed in Louisiana and similar legislation in other states seek to make a teacher’s job more challenging in an already overburdened profession while putting the lives of transgender students in peril.
Europe is again at war. The example Ike set is more important than ever.
There’s a lot of talk these days about leadership, but damned little of the stuff to be found. Never have we needed effective leadership more than now, as we watch Russian tanks rumble into Ukraine, in the biggest military offensive since World War II. The number of troops, estimated at up to 190,000, is about […]
Don’t pay too much attention to guesses about U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights
Predictions about Supreme Court rulings are often not correct
In Year Two, no more Mr. Nice Biden, please
The president has less than 10 months to push through Build Back Better and to finally get voting rights over the goal line. No more Mr. Nice Biden. It’s time to get it done.
Vaccine mandates have always faced resistance and saved lives
Vaccine hesitancy is not new. It has been around for as long as there have been vaccines. It is born out of the most basic and rational thought one can have about life and health: “Do the benefits outweigh the risks?”