WEDNESDAY: Author Greg Iles, New Orleans Gambit, Feminism and the Restaurant Industry, and BP Oil Disaster

HOUR ONE: 

Author Greg Iles comments on his book The Bone Tree.  He shares his experience of a car crash, and how it inspired him to "tell the story the way it should be told" regardless of others' opinions.  It is the second book in a trilogy.  He tried to tell the story as close to the truth as he could write fiction.  

Greg Iles comments on his lead character Penn Cage.  "He's much more of a boy scout than I am."

He speaks on the death of the character Viola Turner.  He is producing a television series of the trilogy with Toby McGuire "I would like to shoot at least half of this show in Concordia parish," Iles says, in hope to sway the people of Louisiana in favor of film tax credits.  

Publisher of the New Orleans Gambit Clancy DuBos joins us to talk about the Louisiana Legislation.  "We are not bringing in enough revenue to meet the annual commitment we have made," DuBos says.  He continues saying that Louisiana should not be selling off assets just to "keep the lights on." 

A listener asks, "Is it really the role of the taxpayer to pay for education?"  

HOUR TWO:

Las Vegas Waitress Britney Bronson shares her article on feminism and the restaurant industry.  She is an English instructor at the UNLV.  She has been a waitress in Las Vegas for four years.  "Often my approach is to make a joke or feign humor at inappropriate behavior," she says of her waitressing job, "because these people are paying my bills I often excuse the treatment."  

Bronson describes a story in which a man asked for her phone number repeatedly to which she declined each time.  The man waited for her until the end of her shift and asked for her phone number for money.  

"When I leave work, work is over," she says, "but ultimately it does create relief." 

She reveals she does not always tell her students of her part time job.  

Former State Senator Dr. Mike Robichaux comments on the BP Oil Disaster.  He identifies as a populist.  He speaks about people who are impacted by illness from being exposed to the BP oil spill, some of which are his patients.  

"The number one thing they had was headache.  The number two thing and most prominent thing is memory loss."  He speaks about a class law suit, but that there is no compensation for individual suits.  

"Rashes were one of the things that they (BP) compensated," Dr. Robichaux says.

Today is the 79th birthday of Glen Campbell.  Rhinestone cowboy was ranked as the number 1 song in 1975.  

TUESDAY: Photography, Oklahoma City Bombing, State Treasurer John Kennedy, and Cuba Policy

HOUR ONE: 

Photographer Lynsey Addario shares her book It's What I Do.  "I sort of try to start every story with a blank page... but so often it's tragic... very devastating things." 

Addario shares her experiences working in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  She focuses a lot on women's issues.  "Yes, these stories take a toll, but I remember the fact that I was raised in privilege and can leave at any time." 

She speaks about her experience as an American in foreign countries and what the general opinion of Americans is.  "I think people hold a real grudge towards America because of its policies." 

She has one the Pulitzer Prize for her work.  She describes a time in which she was kidnapped and beaten with other journalists.  Addario is currently working on a story about the African migrants.  

Scott Bud Welch is a father of one of the victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995.  He remembers the tragedy with us today.  He describes the year following his daughter's death.  "I finally came to the conclusion that the day they took Tim McVay from his cage would not be part of my healing process... You cannot go through the healing process as long as you're living with revenge."  He speaks about how his protests against the death penalty allowed him to heal.  

"When your parents die, you go to the hilltop to bury them.  When your children die, you bury them in your heart.  It never goes away," Welch says.  

HOUR TWO: 

State Treasurer John Kennedy comments on the budget.  The budget deficit now is projected at 1.8 billion.  The hospitals are short 142 million dollars.  

He is running for reelection.  

We get 50 million dollars in settlement with the tobacco companies per year for the next 8 years.  

Kennedy says, "I'm especially conservative fiscally... I would go to Republicans in a different party and they would help me... so I switched." 

Linguist, Historian, and Author Aviva Chomsky gives her insight on the new policy to do with Cuba.  "Cuba has repeatedly made overtures to try to achieve relations with the United States."  The United States is the only country in the world that has tried to make trade embargoes against Cuba.  

The Cuban American Right Wing is the only section of the United States that Chomsky feels is against relations with Cuba.

"Pretty much every country in Latin America has carried out policies that you or I or the US Government might not like... how do they compare to Cuba's policies?" Chomsky says, asking why the United States is so hostile towards Cuba.  

A caller remarks against her views.  

MONDAY: News Anchor Jean West, Baton Rouge Symphony, Eagles and Tim Teebo, The BP Oil Spill, and Billy Nungesser

HOUR ONE: 

One of the first African-American Anchors Jean West comments on her 30 year career and her move to WAFB.  She is from Louisville, KY.  "I think inherently we are all introverted geeks," West says of people in the news.

She recounts the film Broadcast News.  "You have to be prepared," she says, "you have to know a little bit about everything."  

"People find some comfort in knowing a person in a market for awhile," she says of aging as an anchor.  

"I think if you work hard and show that you're doing your best, you can be around for awhile," she says.  

Conductor Tim Muffitt joins the show from the Baton Rouge Symphony.  He discusses the members of the orchestra and their primary jobs, which are often teachers.  This coming Thursday will be the finale of the season.  Their next season begins in September.  

Sports Writer from Philadelphia Mark Kram Jr. comments on the Eagles getting Tim Teebo. 

HOUR TWO: 

Attorney Keith Jones remembers the BP oil spill.  His son Gordon Jones died in the oil spill. "My life is in two parts.  The part before Gordon was killed and the part after Gordon was killed." 

Gordon was about to come home from Deep Water Horizon for the birth of his second son.  "What I take solace in is that the explosion was so big and so strong, those men died instantly." 

"This was not a spill.  Nobody dumped anything overboard.  This was a blowout." 

"No one from BP has ever said that they were sorry Gordon was killed on their rig," Jones says.  

He describes meeting the President of BP America and the exchange they had.  

"Bitterness would show a bit of a character weakness on my part, but there it is.  I'm bitter," Jones says.  

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser also remembers the BP oil spill.  

Nungesser publicly apologizes for the incorrect report that was put up that those 11 men were found in a capsule.  

He discusses the local oil spills that have happened since and speaks of their local companies taking responsibility.  

Nungesser is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana.  He comments on tourism.  

FRIDAY: Happiness, Rep. Garret Graves, Oklahoma City Bombing, and the Louisiana Legislative Session

HOUR ONE: 

French author Federic Lenoir shares his book Happiness.  "Happiness is a state of being," Lenoir says.  

"You have to know what is good for you and what is bad for you so you can make the good choice," Lenoir says, "To be happy you have to have pleasure, but in moderation."  Lenoir gives a list of necessary things to be happy such as love, health, and acts of joy.  He says that faith is a major component of leading a happy life.  

"The people have to know how to be happy by themselves," he says.  "I think sex with love is much better than sex without love. If you have a good sexual life with love, you will be very happy." 

"Happiness must not be an obligation," he concludes.  

Representative Garret Graves comments on the 1732 legislative piece.  "They're trying to right a uniform standard for everywhere in the United States," Grave says, "The amount of water coming down from our state is greater than any other." 

"I think you can very clearly see the correlation between land loss and land gain in regards to federal action." 

Former News Director at Oklahoma Radio Network Matt Skinner comments on the Oklahoma City Bombing because the 20th anniversary is Sunday.  He describes his experiences in the building and with the FBI.

 "We were all saying that looks just like the video in Bosnia." 

Jim comments that there are those who believe that President Clinton would not have won reelection were it not for the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995.  

Political Consultant Scott Wilfong comments on the Marriage and Conscience Act.  Jim comments that Governor Jindal placed the bill at the top of his agenda, second only to Common Core. 

Wilfong says that it is just "smart politics" for Governor Jindal to support the bill Marriage and Conscience Act regarding religious liberty and marriage equality.  

Wilfong says that asking people to put their creativity into something they don't believe in is wrong.

He thinks there is a greater percentage of homosexuals in San Francisco, California.  

"It's about not letting the government get their fingers in businesses," he says.  

ACLU Executive Director Marjorie Esman shares her opinion on the Marriage and Conscience Act.  "It starts out creating a blanket exception for conduct otherwise prohibited by the law," she says, "All you have to say is it's my moral conviction to do this... if that's not what the bill intends, that's what it says." 

"It allows people to kind of preemptively sue the state if they feel their moral convictions are threatened, not even infringed," Esman says.  

"It would mean for a judge to refuse to sign divorces," Esman says.  

She discusses the high rate of incarceration in Louisiana.  "We spend more on incarceration than on LSU," she says.  

"Something that is legal in one state ought not to deserve a 20 year sentence in another," she says.

Esman says that about 40,000 people are incarcerated at any given time in Louisiana.

THURSDAY: Mayor of Baton Rouge Kip Holden, Louisiana Politics, Governor Jindal, and The Stelly Plan

HOUR ONE: 

Mayor of Baton Rouge Kip Holden is running for Lieutenant Governor.  He is the only Democrat running currently.  

He comments on the Miss USA pageant.  "The ratings were the highest they've had in 7 years," Holden says.  The Mayor goes on to say that Donald Trump said that the people of Baton Rouge were the happiest he's ever encountered.  

"The people of Baton Rouge are my best story tellers," Holden says as his greatest asset to show how he has changed things for the better.  "Why not have a Baton Rouge not just adopt a city... why not have an exchange program with volunteers from Baton Rouge?" 

A listener asks about the Mayor's stance against St.George.  He says, "I believe in people being together." 

He shares personal history about his mother.  "Failure is not in my vocabulary... if you don't get your life straight, you're going to meet a dead end... Start talking to your kids." 

He speaks of his collegiate experience.  "You have to apply yourself and ask for help because they are not mind readers." 

The Mayor discusses what to do about film tax credits.  

HOUR TWO: 

Representative Vic Stelly joins us to talk about The Stelly Plan and why it was repealed, and what exactly happened in 2009.  

"The most the bracket increase of taxes could affect was $900." Stelly affirms that there is no way people's income taxes could have gone up thousands of dollars.  

They discuss Governor Jindal's reaction to the Stelly Plan.  

Stelly says that the Stelly Plan could never be palatable again.  "It's not fair to tax the poor people on income taxes," he says.  

Rep. Stelly takes questions from listeners regarding various issues of Louisiana including the budget and the coastline.  

He identifies as an Independent.  

He says, "You can't deny the fact that he {David Vitter} is undefeated." 

WEDNESDAY: Army War College, Louisiana Legislative Session, Lieutenant Governor Candidate John Young, Robert Durst

HOUR ONE: 

Colonels Frank Harrar and Warren Wells join us in studio from the Army War College.  They spoke at the LSU law center about sexual harassment prevention in the military.  

"The biggest heroes in my mind are the military families," Wells says, "especially spouses who stay behind to be single parents." 

Author Matt Birkbeck shares his book about Robert Durst.  Durst's wife disappeared in 1982.  Birkbeck reports the strange and erratic behavior of Durst in the 1980s in which he lived among the homeless, dressed as a woman, learned how to dismember bodies, and moved frequently.  

Birkbeck says, "He's got severe psychological problems... which stem back to witnessing his mother's suicide when he was 7."  

He says, "The FBI believes he (Durst) is a serial killer." 

"I would say it's 50/50 that he'll be convicted," Birkbeck says.  

Jeremy Alford of LaPolitics discusses the legislative session.  Alford comments on David Vitter and the SuperPacs.  He also comments on the religious freedom bill.  "This may be the most important bill for Governor Jindal this year," he says. 

Alford gives his opinion on Hillary Clinton's announcement to run for President. 

HOUR TWO: 

Jefferson Parish President John Young is running for Lieutenant Governor.  

"People aren't going to come invest in our community if they don't feel safe," he says.  "I became a Republican as a result of Ronald Reagan." 

He discusses how he has been through the BP oil spill, Hurricane Katrina and Gustav, and how this prepares him to be Lieutenant Governor.  

"I'm certainly a proponent of the oil and gas industry." 

Young asserts that he has worked with the sheriff's department and the municipalities surrounding it to help eradicate crime.  "The crime rate in Jefferson Parish is the lowest it's been in 40 years." 

"New Orleans is the magnet that brings them here," he says.  

Political Consultant Gus Weill comments on Governor Jindal and the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.  

"The governor is the closest thing to a king in our country," Weill says.  

Weill comments on Governor Jindal potentially seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency.  "He's not even in a national poll yet," he says.  

They also talk about the legacy of Percy Sledge, the Blues legend who passed away yesterday.  "When a Man Loves a Woman," will have been released 49 years ago tomorrow.