In 1965, the Rev. James Reeb was murdered in Selma, Ala. No one was ever held to account. We return to the town where it happened, searching for new leads in an old story.
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco: a carpet cleaner’s daughter from New Iberia turned school teacher turned stay-at-home mom turned…Louisiana's first female governor. In 2003, her focus was on education reform, juvenile justice, and economic development. And halfway into her first and only term, it looked like she had a good chance at re-election. But that all changed, with Hurricane Katrina.array(3) {
[0]=>
string(69) "https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wwno/audio/2018/12/StickyWicketBlancoDec19.mp3"
[1]=>
string(0) ""
[2]=>
string(1) "0"
}
In 1979, Ernest "Dutch" Morial became the first black mayor of New Orleans. He won the election with 95% of the black vote, and just 20% of the white vote. He campaigned on a platform of police reform, but it wasn’t just Dutch who wanted to re-organize the NOPD – they were organizing themselves. They wanted a union, pay increases, and better working conditions. Soon after Dutch took office, the police wasted no time. They staged their first strike, in history. Their bargaining tool? Mardi Gras.array(3) {
[0]=>
string(70) "https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wwno/audio/2018/12/StickyWicketDutchPodREAL.mp3"
[1]=>
string(0) ""
[2]=>
string(1) "0"
}
When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd, 1963, people around the country quickly rejected their government's conclusion that a sole assassin committed the crime. A slew of conspiracy theories took hold, but only one conspiracy theorist transferred his theories into actual arrests. Jim Garrison, District Attorney of New Orleans, was media savvy, and skillfully attracted TV cameras, reporters, and supporters with his giant claims. In 1967, the world watched Garrison insist that he had “solved the assassination.” But who was at fault?array(3) {
[0]=>
string(71) "https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wwno/audio/2018/12/StickyWicketGarrisonNov28.mp3"
[1]=>
string(0) ""
[2]=>
string(1) "0"
}
Sticky Wicket: Louisiana Politics Versus the Press is a new mini series out of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio that takes on four historic clashes between Louisiana politicians and the media, one at a time. These relationships have always been love/hate in the Pelican state.array(3) {
[0]=>
string(55) "https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wwno/audio/2018/11/SWtrailer.mp3"
[1]=>
string(0) ""
[2]=>
string(1) "0"
}
A dramatic blow by blow account from then Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the bank bailout. Along with Chancellor Alistair Darling at the Treasury, Governor Mervyn King at the Bank of England, and BBC Business Editor Robert Peston, witness the race against time to deliver a bold plan to stabilise the financial system before the banks go bust.
Taking us inside incredible scenes: in the Oval Office where Gordon receives a fax saying Bradford and Bingley has gone bust whilst trying to persuade President Bush to recapitalise; bank Chief Executives being bundled in the back door of the Treasury for secret meetings that are immediately leaked; Alistair trying to keep a straight face at a boring Finance Ministers meeting in Luxembourg whilst RBS goes belly up; heretical invitations from President Sarkozy for Gordon to attend Euro Group meeting at the Elysee Palace when Britain isn’t even in the Eurozone; phone calls from bankers saying they just need a bit of spare cash to tide them over, and their inevitable downfall.
This is the story of what happened as the drama unfolded, without analysis, interpretation, or hindsight; because at the time nobody knew whether the biggest injection of cash into banks in British history would be enough to stave off Armageddon.
Highlighting the epidemic of exceptionally capable professionals driven by a profound belief in their own inadequacy. Their ability and relentless drive to excel make them likely to succeed in the competitive environment of elite professional and financial firms, but the work culture is also taking advantage of their vulnerabilities.
Ten years ago, the world watched as the biggest financial meltdown in history unfolded. The crash plunged the world into recession, lost millions of families their homes and its shadow still hangs over our politics today. And when the Queen went to the London School of Economics, she asked the question everyone wanted the answer to: why did no one see it coming?
Aditya Chakrabortty, senior economics commentator at the Guardian newspaper, chairs a discussion between four economists who can claim they did.