Floodlines podcast

Hurricane Katrina was a watershed moment for how we understand the aftermath of disasters. For many people, this was the event that convinced them that the concept of a ‘natural disaster’ isn’t a thing – a natural hazard might exist, but when a hazard becomes a disaster, the forces in play are much more complex.

Floodlines is a podcast produced by The Atlantic and hosted by Vann Newkirk about experiences of the hurricane and what came after in New Orleans. It is an 8 part series that follows a number of people who had different experiences of the hurricane, the flooding and the consequences of the event. These people reflect on their experiences of that time and since. In the longform journalistic style that The Atlantic is known for, Floodlines uses storytelling, history and political analysis to unpick many of the issues of race, class and power that are present in all disaster events.

This is one of those podcasts I go back to again and again (a colleague of mine and I are currently developing a short course and we’re looking at using Floodlines as one of the teaching resources because it’s so great). While the topics are serious, it’s easy to listen to and Newkirk does an exceptional job at navigating the breadth of challenges facing the communities in New Orleans and threading it all together.

I recommend listening to Floodlines for the storytelling, the analysis and the way that it links issues that face our society all the time such as racism, wealth disparity, availability of choice, politics and shows how these play out in disasters. It helps us understand how what is happening before a disaster influences what happens during and after a disaster and how any attempts to see these as separate will mean that we can’t really understand much at all.

Listen to Floodlines here or wherever you listen to podcasts.