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Author: Carolyne Heldman

About Carolyne Heldman
Carolyne Heldman has been in media for 35 years, most recently as Executive Director at an NPR member station in Colorado where she was responsible for new multi-platform content initiatives, strategic planning, research, branding, and non-traditional revenue generation. During her tenure she also created and launched four weekly news, public affairs and cultural affairs programs and monthly live Town Hall broadcasts. Heldman moved to New Orleans last summer with her husband and canine companion and they live happily in The Marigny.
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Energy Monsters: AI data centers prompt concern about a ‘Digital Cancer Alley.’ Also, the first U.S. climate refugees have regrets

October 3, 2025 Updated October 3, 2025
Gus Bennett on Big Tech data centers that threaten more environmental and economic harm in Cancer Alley. Terry Jones on climate refugees 10 years after relocation.
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Odorless, invisible and deadly: Exxon plans to lay carbon pipeline alarmingly close to La. residents

September 26, 2025 Updated December 7, 2025
Delaney Nolan and Emily Sanders on an Exxon pipeline set to carry highly compressed carbon dioxide in St. James Parish. And Elise Plunk on a Tulane study that found lizards in New Orleans are living with levels of lead in their blood that should be lethal.
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Ep. 283: After the Smitty’s Supply explosion, concerns for Lake Pontchartrain

September 19, 2025 Updated September 30, 2025
Reporter Delaney Nolan on environmental pollution concerns in the wake of the explosion at Smitty's Supply.
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Behind The Lens episode 281 part II: ‘Completely inadequate’

August 26, 2025 Updated August 26, 2025
Longtime environmental reporter Mark Schleifstein on the federal flood after the U.S. Army Corps’ levees failed and flooded 80 percent of the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Delaney Nolan on ongoing corrosion that could undermine the system again.
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Behind The Lens episode 281 part I: ‘Completely inadequate’

August 22, 2025 Updated August 26, 2025
Longtime Times-Picayune environmental reporter Mark Schleifstein on the federal flood after the U.S. Army Corps' levees failed and flooded 80 percent of the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
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Behind The Lens episode 281: ‘Crumbling’

August 15, 2025 Updated September 2, 2025
Reporter Marta Jewson, educator Deborah Richardson and advocate Ashana Bigard on John McDonogh High School's demise after a Los Angeles-based charter group took control.
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Behind The Lens episode 280: ‘The licensing of Essence’

August 8, 2025 Updated August 8, 2025
Bernard Smith on conditions at Angola as heat alerts persist across the country. Gus Bennett on Essence Fest's rapid expansion — and questions about who it's serving.
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Behind the Lens episode 279: ‘Incompetent or lying’

August 1, 2025 Updated August 1, 2025
Delaney Dryfoos on what the Alabo Street Wharf development may mean for neighbors. Matthew Wollenweber on NOPD's use of surveillance, including 5,000 cameras and partnerships that use facial recognition technology.
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Behind The Lens episode 278: ‘Failed to file’

July 25, 2025 Updated July 25, 2025
Matt McBride on a controversial candidate for the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. Marta Jewson on how state standardized test scores should serve the children who take the tests.
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Behind The Lens episode 277: ‘Hotter, hotter and hotter’

July 11, 2025 Updated July 11, 2025
Bernard Smith on New Orleans' notorious House of Detention and protections for Angola's Farm Line workers in summer heat. Marta Jewson on a student's suspension pending a mental health eval — a flagarent violation of special education law.

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About The Lens

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The Lens fights to reveal and report on issues that impact the community and the region. Staunchly defending the public's right to know and deeply committed to sharing our knowledge with the community at large. We center human impact in all our work.
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Our reporting has more urgency than ever.


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