Behind The Lens

Behind The Lens


Latest Episodes

Behind The Lens episode 270: ‘The wrong schools’
April 11, 2025

Education reporter Marta Jewson on the state's request that the courts free them from a special education consent decree, the city council seeks to send $10m to schools and NOLA Public Schools has a n

Behind the Lens episode 269: ‘They are not forgotten’
March 28, 2025

This week, two St. James Parish residents who recently wrote a piece for the Lens on their families deep roots in the region and how local histories like their own are threatened by the oil, gas, and

Behind the Lens episode 266 Carnival Part II: ‘The best spot on Fat Tuesday’
March 27, 2025

Mizani Ball on family and friends settling in to their traditional parade watching spots on the route. Katy Reckdahl on a Black Masking Indian continuing his father's tradition.

Behind The Lens episode 268: ‘Cruel and unusual’
March 21, 2025

Special guest Ned Randolph on Entergy's proposal to build a massive AI data center in an impoverished section of north Louisiana that Meta is eyeing. Nick Chrastil on the state's push to use nitrogen

Behind the Lens episode 266 Carnival Part I: ‘Throw less, throw better’
March 02, 2025

Nick Chrastil on how gun laws clash during Carnival, including on the parade route. Delaney Dryfoos on krewes' efforts to make parades greener. And Marta Jewson on high school marching bands and the

Behind The Lens episode 265: ‘That’s just a payday loan’
February 21, 2025

Nick Chrastil on records that show plans for Gov. Jeff Landry's "transitional center" were well underway before the terrorist attack. Marta Jewson on the ongoing dispute over a supposed $90 million se

Behind The Lens episode 264 Part II: ‘Our Katrina narrative’
February 17, 2025

The Lens spent January talking to Lower 9th Ward residents to tell their stories, narratives a Super Bowl committee wanted to control.

Behind The Lens episode 264 Part I: ‘Our Katrina narrative’
February 07, 2025

The Lens spent January talking to Lower 9th Ward residents to tell their stories, narratives a Super Bowl committee wanted to control.

Behind The Lens episode 263: ‘They never paid’
January 24, 2025

Nick Chrastil and Katy Reckdahl on a temporary shelter Gov. Jeff Landry opened in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and local concerns about the process. Delaney Dryfoos on The Descendants Projec

Behind The Lens episode 262: ‘A new generation’s fight’
January 17, 2025

Delaney Dryfoos on the sale of Entergy New Orleans' natural gas arm to a new entity and La'Shance Perry on the legal challenge to Act 246, the nation's strongest law blocking certain reproductive heal