Podcast Summary: The Dream – "Remembering Hurricane Katrina"

Host: Jane Marie (Little Everywhere)
Guest: Lisa Pollock
Date: August 29, 2025

Overview

In this special episode commemorating the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Jane Marie reunites with her old reporting partner Lisa Pollock to reflect on their firsthand experiences covering Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath for This American Life. The hosts revisit their on-the-ground reporting from Houston’s Astrodome, explore the chaos and humanity within the relief efforts, recount the confounding and often discriminatory housing process for evacuees, and share the uplifting story of a high school football team's improbable post-Katrina season. The episode uses archival tape, reflective commentary, and in-depth storytelling to illustrate the catastrophe’s long-lasting impacts—especially on the “American Dream” for those most affected.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Arrival in Houston (Starts at 02:15)

• Jane Marie recalls being a junior producer with little disaster reporting experience.
• The logistics chaos: the team rents a moving van, as no normal vehicles or hotels are available.
• “[Houston] is over an hour side to side, that city. So we were kind of all over the place.” (Jane Marie, 03:40)
• Motel experience underscores the scale of displacement: “People had nowhere to live. But also, a lot of the hotels in Houston were being used… booked up kind of right away by giving people a free place to stay for a little bit.” (Jane Marie, 04:25)

2. The Astrodome: Chaos & Displacement (06:00)

• Astrodome as a chaotic, makeshift shelter: cots crammed together, endless PA announcements, bright fluorescent lights always on.
• Health & hygiene concerns noted: “You could tell that, like, a lot of people were ill. And so it had, like, a germ haze… big bottles of sanitizer that probably weren’t that effective.” (Lisa Pollock, 07:10)
• Loss of identity and resources: “Not everybody had their cell phone. Not everybody had their wallets or anything… didn’t have IDs, they didn’t have money or driver’s licenses or anything that you would need.” (Jane Marie, 08:20)

3. The “Science Fair” of State Relocation Offers (11:00)

• Nonprofits and state reps set up tables (often little more than poster boards) to recruit evacuees to relocate to places like Wyoming, Michigan, or Colorado.
• Few people initially interested—offers felt both random and insufficient, but became appealing when FEMA announced the end of temporary housing.

Memorable Quote

“It felt like being at a science fair… so low tech. Poster board with the word Colorado written on it. The Colorado table.” (Jane Marie, 12:10)

4. The Story of Two Little Girls and their Family: Uprooting to Colorado (12:45 – 17:00)

• Focus on 6-year-old twin sisters, Kokini and Kayla, first to board the Colorado bus.
  • Child’s perspective: “It’s a beautiful place and it has lots of mountains… I heard it from a snow movie... Snow Dogs...” (Kayla, 15:30)
• Their mother’s pragmatic decision: avoiding high cost of living in NYC and hurricane risks in Florida, Colorado seemed safe.
  • “I only had 14 days to get everything done. Otherwise, we’d be on the street… so when I heard Colorado, I jumped on it.” (Coquina, 16:55)
• Heartbreaking reality: Kokini and Kayla are missing their brother and sister since the storm, sending out an on-air plea in case they hear the show.

5. Confronting Systemic Racism & Housing Discrimination (19:00 – 28:00)

• Jane confesses her struggle to remain an objective reporter in the face of racism, both subtle and overt.
  • “Everybody was so racist and I kept stepping in to try to help people and you and Ira would have to be like, you know, like, shut up. Like, don’t… just let them be racist… let the story happen.” (Jane Marie, 19:50)
• Casual racism in everyday encounters: “The bartenders… and people kind of sitting near the bar were just like using the N word and talking about how their city’s being overrun…” (Lisa Pollock, 20:55)
• The official narrative in Houston is panic over “crime” and “refugees,” belying the struggles of displaced persons.

Housing Voucher Mayhem

• “It makes the DMV look like a day spa.” (Lisa Pollock, 22:25)
• Frustrated evacuees sent from one line to another—the system is opaque and arbitrary.
• Guy Rankin, head of Houston’s Housing Choice Center, insists that progress is happening: “The 25,000 people that are in Dome now, we’re down to 3,000.” (24:40)

Notable Moments

• Evacuee Ina May voices exhaustion and anger:

  “If we get loud… they gonna put us in jail… Give us a break. What you mean all that? I could scream to the top of my... Do he understand the pressure I’m under?” (Ina May, 23:55)

6. The Housing Gauntlet: From Hope to Disillusionment (28:00 – 36:00)

• The bus ride to Timber Ridge Apartments is tense; evacuees are asked for paperwork (social security cards, birth certificates) lost in the disaster.
• Complex rules mean those with prior evictions or felonies are denied housing.

LaShawn Price’s Ordeal (31:50)

• Very pregnant LaShawn, with nowhere to go: “It’s got a roof and a door and I can sanitize it and have a new baby. That’s all I’m looking for now.” (LaShawn Price, 35:55)
• She, unlike others, accepts an apartment at the less desirable Villa del Sol when turned away elsewhere.

Reflection on Discrimination Cycle

• Some evacuees voice discomfort with being housed in Latino neighborhoods—a candid look at how discrimination and alienation intersect on all sides.

7. The Refugee Experience: Desperation, Line-Waiting, and Bureaucratic Shuffle

• Continual changes to systems; confusion and skepticism about whether people can eventually choose their own apartments.
• Many are separated from family, losing not just homes but communities and support systems.

Notable Quote

“After a while, it’s starting to be… then you can’t even go home to somewhere and relax… You can’t even sit down and have a peace of mind for a second. I wish I had an answer for myself right now, but I don’t.” (LaShawn Price, 34:25)

8. A Glimpse of Normalcy: The Bay St. Louis Tigers’ Return to Football (40:00 – 58:00)

• Lisa recounts her favorite story: following a high school football team in Mississippi, their season revived as a symbol of hope.
• Football becomes a metaphor for rebuilding:
  • “They wanted something that reminded them of what life was before. The thing that a lot of them were saying is it only takes 11 to play.” (Coach Brennan Compretta, 43:00)
• The odds are bad—missing players, no school, no equipment—but football provides pivotal purpose.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Tyler, the quarterback: “I still needed to come back… I didn’t want to let the team down.” (Tyler Brush, 44:20)
• The new, donated uniforms are the wrong color, but the kids don’t care: “We’re not getting picky here. Just relax, buddy.” (46:55)
• Banter about MREs (meals ready to eat): “Meal number 20 and meal number 22… the best. I told my mama she needs to step it up because that stuff is… I’m going to start getting MREs just regular.” (Brandt, the 10th grader, 48:00)
• Football game serves as the first town gathering since the storm.
• Comeback drama: The Tigers narrowly defeat a much larger, better-equipped team 21–19.
• Postgame reflection:

  “If you lose tonight… you go home and you’re sitting in a trailer and you have no AC and you… and you lost a football game. But, no, it’s a little easier to go home and sit in a trailer with no AC when you just won a football game that nobody gave you a chance to win.” (Coach Luke, 57:10)

Notable Reflections & Closing Thoughts (59:00 – End)

• Lisa and Jane discuss the power of finding and telling hopeful stories, even amidst devastation.
• They express a desire to reconnect with the families they reported on, especially Kokini and Kayla.
• Jane muses about using TikTok to help find lost people, underscoring how technology and community connection have changed since Katrina.

Selected Timestamps

• 02:15: Arrival and logistical struggles in Houston
• 06:00: First impressions of the Astrodome
• 11:00: State recruitment “science fair” and eventual relocation
• 15:30: Interview with Kokini and Kayla about going to Colorado
• 19:50: Jane and Lisa discuss casual racism encountered in Houston
• 22:25: Housing center chaos—“DMV look like a day spa”
• 23:55: Ina May vents frustration at the system and the police
• 31:50: LaShawn Price’s tense attempt to secure housing
• 34:25: LaShawn reflects on the emotional burden of endless lines
• 40:00: Introduction to Bay St. Louis Tigers football team
• 43:00: Coach Compretta on the importance of returning to play
• 44:20: Tyler Brush chooses to come back and play, despite hardships
• 48:00: Banter about living off MREs (meals ready to eat)
• 57:10: Coach Luke on the difference a win makes for a devastated town

Tone, Language & Final Impressions

The tone is candid and raw, balancing heartbreak with humor and hope. Jane and Lisa bring an intimate, human perspective—sometimes self-deprecating about their reporting inexperience, sometimes outraged by injustice, always attentive to the small details that define each person’s story. Their approach invites listeners to reckon with the bureaucratic failures, systemic racism, and profound resilience that shaped Katrina’s aftermath, offering lessons that remain vital two decades on.

If you, or someone you know, recognizes the story of Kokini, Kayla, Coquina, or their family, contact the show’s tip line at 323-248-1488.