Floodlines

Some call it Hurricane Katrina. Some call it the Federal Flood. Others call it the day the levees broke. On August 29, 2005, the city of New Orleans was submerged. That story of hubris, incompetence, and nature's wrath is now etched into the national consciousness. But the people who lived through the flood and its aftermath have a different story to tell. A story of rumors, betrayal, and one of the most misunderstood events in American history. Hosted by Vann R. Newkirk II. Floodlines has been named an Apple Podcasts Series Essential.

Episodes

Richard

March 3, 2020 • 5 mins

A preview of the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Antediluvian

March 11, 2020 • 32 mins

Part I: It all started long before a hurricane named Katrina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Come Sunday

March 11, 2020 • 24 mins

Part II: In New Orleans, the disaster wasn’t the hurricane. The disaster was what happened after. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Through the Looking Glass

March 11, 2020 • 29 mins

Part III: A universe of rumor and misinformation plays out on television. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The Bridge

March 11, 2020 • 25 mins

Part IV: Rumor becomes tragedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Exodus

March 11, 2020 • 31 mins

Part V: A hero arrives. But not the one everyone expected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Reckoning

March 11, 2020 • 36 mins

Part VI: How could the levees have failed? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Destiny

March 11, 2020 • 30 mins

Part VII: People try to come home. But does home want them anymore? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The Wake

March 11, 2020 • 55 mins

Part VIII: Water, like history, repeats itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Introducing Holy Week

February 28, 2023 • 5 mins

Holy Week: The story of a revolution undone. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, is often recounted as a conclusion to a powerful era of civil rights in America, but how did this hero’s murder come to be the stitching used to tie together a narrative of victory? The week that followed his killing was one of the most fiery, disruptive, and revolutionary, and is nearly forgotten. Over the course of...

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Rebirth

August 1, 2025 • 39 mins

Part IX: After Hurricane Katrina and the breach of the levees in 2005, Floodlines examined what went wrong in New Orleans and what those errors meant for the people left behind. Now, 20 years later, the host, Vann R. Newkirk II, revisits New Orleans to meet up with Le-Ann Williams again and learn more about how time has shaped the role she holds in her family and her city. You can support this work, and the work of all Atlantic ...

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