Big Picture Science: Katrina and the River
REPEAT
“The
Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can
persuade it to do otherwise,” said Mark Twain. In this, our final episode
marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we consider how efforts to
control the Mighty Mississippi – a river engineered from its Minnesota
headwaters to its Gulf Coast outlet – have responded to the devastating storm,
and how New Orleans’ relationship to the river has changed. Can the city keep
up with the pressure that climate change is putting on this engineered system,
or is retreat the only viable response?
Plus, a
wetland recovery project that aims to bolster protection from hurricanes and
flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward.
Guests:
- Boyce Upholt – Journalist and author of “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi River”
- Nathaniel Rich – Author of “Second Nature: Scenes From a World Remade” and the New York Times Op-Ed, “New Orleans’ Striking Advantage in the Age of Climate Change”
- Harriet Swift – New Orleans resident
- Andrew Horowitz – Historian, University of Connecticut, author of "Katrina: A History, 1915-2015"
- Rashida Ferdinand – Founder and Executive Director of Sankofa Community Development Corporation, overseeing the Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail in New Orleans
- Jason Day – Biologist, wetland Scientist, Comite Resources in Louisiana
Originally aired August 18, 2025
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/katrina-and-the-river
You
can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
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