In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, then FEMA director Michael Brown took a beating for his lack of formal emergency management experience. It’s been three years since Brown stepped down as FEMA’s director. But in one way at least, he’s picked up where he left off: Brown now owns a crisis management firm. We check in with Michael Brown about life after Katrina, lessons learned, and how he thinks about that tragic moment now that he has the clarity that often comes with the passing of time.
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Rising gas prices are forcing school districts to cut back on school bussing of students. For many it means longer rides and longer walks. Still, in the world of heavy traffic, working parents and longer bus routes, the new reality fosters real thought and growing concern about safety.
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When Hurricane Katrina pounded New Orleans, the restaurant scene took a beating. Three years later, even though much of New Orleans is still hurting, many of the city’s famous restaurants are in full swing and new ones are thriving. But the restaurant Stanley is in a class all its own. Two weeks after hurricane Katrina, Chef Scott Boswell started flipping burgers at his impromptu restaurant, Stanley. Boswell closed the joint down for renovations almost two years ago. In a matter of days Stanley will make its second debut as a world-class diner. Chef Scott Boswell joins The Takeaway to talk about how Stanley’s trajectory is actually a metaphor for post Katrina New Orleans.
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Times Picayune reporter Lolis Eric Elie says that Hurricane Katrina has lessons for the nation. From a frail infrastructure, to a flawed emergency response system, to a society divided along race and class lines, Katrina pulled back the curtain on issues that have long plagued the country. As we mark the third year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we check in with Lolis Eric Elie on the state of New Orleans and what the nation can learn from this disaster.
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Soaring oil prices, coupled with climate change, is making commercial aviation not only unpopular but maybe impossible. Is the mile-high club about to end for good?
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Guest: Blair Heusdens, spokeswoman with the Florida Division of Emergency Management
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It turns out that in many parts of the United States, corporal punishment is still standard operating procedure. A joint Human Rights Watch and ACLU report finds that nearly a quarter of a million students were paddled or spanked last year. Adding insult to injury, black students and special education students received a disproportionate share of the punishment. The Takeaway explores what this says about the American school system and the culture that perpetuates these modes of discipline.
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Guest: Duncan Kennedy, correspondent for the BBC
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Guest: Jim Hayes, Acting Director of the Office of Detention and Removal of Operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
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Guest: Lamont Hiebert, lead singer and songwriter for the band Ten Shekel Shirt and co-founder of the organization Love146.
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Guest: Vincent Barbaccia, co-owner of “The Lemon Ice King of Corona”
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The Archdiocese of Chicago agreed to a $12.7-million settlement six years after the first Catholic Church sex abuse scandal broke. Despite the Pope’s call for change, has the church addressed this problem?
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New Orleans has experienced a boom in charter schools and a renewed sense and mission for public education. It’s a grand experiment, and Paul Tough, an editor for the New York Times magazine, tracks it in this Sunday’s edition. Is this is a model for the nation or is it yet another dream deferred?
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Guest: Sam Roberts, The New York Times
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Agriculture is a $31-billion industry in California — no state is bigger for farming. But with California in a drought, state-enforced water rationing is forcing farmers to abandon fields and lay off workers. The Takeaway talks to the mayor of Mendota, California, where hundreds have been left hungry, and with Sacramento Bee reporter Matt Weiser about the difficult choices the state is facing.
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China is tightly managing every aspect of the Olympics, even trying to control the weather. They’re using cloud-seeding techniques, both to create rain to reduce smog and to steer rain away from outdoor events. The Takeaway takes a closer look at the often colorful efforts to control the weather.
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Guest: Karla Raettig, Legislative Representative for Wildlife Conservation at the National Wildlife Federation, and Kaush Arha, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
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Guest: Chad Hart, agricultural economist, Iowa State University, in Ames, Iowa
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Guest: Lee Israel, biographer, copy editor, author of “Can You Ever Forgive Me? Memoirs of a Literary Forger”
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A Michigan judge ordered Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail for breaking a bond agreement Thursday. Kilpatrick, who is facing eight felony charges for allegedly lying under oath, says he went to nearby Windsor, Ontario, on official business to push the sale of the city’s Michigan-to-Ontario underwater link.
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The FBI has arrested two people in connection with a multimillion-dollar Medicaid/Medi-Cal scam involving three private hospitals and hundreds — possibly thousands — of homeless people. This is an ongoing investigation — more arrests could come.
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Guest: Jonathan Mahler, author and New York Times contributing writer. Mahler wrote the book "The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power."
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Guest: Abdullah Faruuq, Imam of the Mosque for the Praising of Allah. Aafia Siddiqui attended his mosque.
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The Department of Justice said yesterday that Army scientist Bruce Ivins was the sole person responsible for anthrax deaths in 2001. New documents in the investigation have been made public. View and discuss the documents in the case of Bruce Ivins, suspect in the 2001 anthrax mailings.
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Osama bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan, was found guilty of war crimes, but acquitted on conspiracy charges Wednesday.
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The Department of Justice released 66 documents Wednesday related to the case against federal laboratory scientist Bruce Ivins. Ivins was suspected of mailing anthrax-lined letters, causing a second terrorism scare in 2001, before committing suicide last week. The FBI says Ivins acted alone; Ivins' lawyers say the case has "heaps of innuendo." As questions remain over why it took investigators 6 years to create a case against Ivins, The Takeaway is offering the documents for you to analyze and discuss with other readers.

• Document #1 motion to unseal read | comment
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The cost to heat your home could be up more than $1,000 this winter. Joining us to give the grim prognosis and what we should do to prepare for a cold winter is Mark Wolfe, Executive Director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association.
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Jim May, President and CEO of Airline Transit Association, and Michael E. Levine, formerly a government regulator and senior airline executive now teaching Law at NYU, explain the Port Authority's decision to reject a Federal plan to auction off take-off and landing slots at New York City airports.
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