It’s been one year since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico. All week, The Takeaway is talking to Gulf Coast residents about how the spill has affected their lives. Today, we check in with Southern writer Rick Bragg, author of "All Over but the Shoutin."

Wednesday is the one-year anniversary of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. All week long on The Takeaway, we'll be speaking to residents of the Gulf region whose lives, businesses and communities were profoundly impacted by the oil gusher that followed the explosion.

A year after a an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig created a devastating oil spill in the region, how are fishing communities in the Gulf of Mexico dealing with the disaster? The BBC's Robyn Bresnahan visited the area to speak with people whose livelihood has been affected by the spill and the aftermath. She's witnessed everything from dead oysters to a resident so determined to increase awareness she walked to Washington D.C. from New Orleans on foot. Today we hear more from Bresnahan about her experiences in the Gulf. 

All week long we're talking with some of our favorite guests from the past year about the year that was, and what they foresee in the year ahead.

Today: a conversation about the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry…the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which leaked over 205 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf this past spring and summer. The leaking oilhead was capped in July: how are people in Gulf states doing today?

A new report released this week by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) warns that the "oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico poses... indirect threats to seafood safety." State and federal officials, however, say they are aggressively testing seafood from the Gulf Coast in order to protect the public from any potential health risks from the oil that gushed continuously into the water for nearly three months. With these conflicting messages, how difficult will it be for the Gulf's seafood industry to get back on its feet?

KUHF reporter Melissa Galvez took to the streets of Houston, Texas, and asked residents if the BP oil disaster changed the way they consume gas. She covered this for our friends Transportation Nation. The majority of responses she got was — no. She brings us voices of the people she talked to.

We also want to hear from you. Have you changed the way you think about and consume gas, energy, and how you travel, since the BP oil disaster?

It's been four days since BP put a cap on the Deepwater Horizon oil well and, with cautious optimism, people have begun talking about recovery. But just because the oil has stopped gushing doesn't mean the damage is done. In fact, say some scientists, more harm is soon to come.

Oil may have stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico yesterday, but the longterm economic damage caused by the BP catastrophe is only beginning to be seen. Workers along the along the Gulf Coast are not the only ones taking a hit. Columnist for The New York Times, Dan Barry found that the oil gusher will have far reaching consequences. He says it will impact everyone from the fishermen who mine the oyster beds in Louisiana to the Minnesota businessmen who rely on crushed oyster shells to be used as poultry feed.

Since the start of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, neither BP nor politicians nor the smartest engineers and technicians in America have been able to cap the well and contain the damage.

Some Americans say we are looking to the wrong people for answers, and should instead be directing our requests to a higher power.