John Burnett John Burnett is the Southwest Correspondent on the National Desk.
Stories By

John Burnett

Story Archive

Thursday

On his long bike ride from St. Augustine, Fla., to New Orleans, John Burnett was often joined by his wife Margaret Justus, who pedaled part of the route and drove a support vehicle the rest of the way. John Burnett for NPR News hide caption

toggle caption
John Burnett for NPR News

Cyclist discovers voices of hope and anxiety on a 700-mile ride across the Gulf South

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5019493/nx-s1-6cdcbb5c-af2e-45dd-9c09-96d51891086e" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Herlin Riley performing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 30, 2011. Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images

Herlin Riley: master of drums in the cradle of jazz

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1222024064/1222493544" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

A proposal for a massive grain export terminal in Louisiana has run into trouble

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1208676903/1208676904" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

Leonardo Sanchez kneels beside some of his agave plants near Roma, Texas. John Burnett for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
John Burnett for NPR

As Americans drink more tequila, the agave industry in the Southwest grows

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197461166/1197461167" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

E.J. Cuevas (left) and his cousin, Joseph Martinez, stand in front of one of the family shrimping boats. "Every year it gets less and less," Cuevas says of Gulf shrimping. "This is our livelihood — for nothing." John Burnett for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
John Burnett for NPR

Americans love shrimp. But U.S. shrimpers are barely making ends meet

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1191164602/1191164603" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Conjunto music enjoys a resurgence, bridging a divide between old and new musicians

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1187646184/1187646185" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Prison-to-College Pipeline brings the Blues to Parchman Farm

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1176310479/1176310480" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

NPR National Correspondent John Burnett retires after 36 years at the network

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1147678871/1147678872" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

How musicians bring Americans together across party lines

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1145854082/1145854083" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Ray Benson, longtime leader of the Western swing group Asleep at the Wheel, in concert at the Palace Theatre in Corsicana, Texas, on Dec. 9, 2022. He says he steers clear of politics on stage because "now it's totally toxic." Ben Torres for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Ben Torres for NPR

Saturday

The "congregation" gathers on a Sunday morning in early November at the Battlefield Farm & Gardens in Knoxville, Tenn. Pastor Chris Battle, center, left the Baptist church and started the community garden and a free food delivery as a way to build community and "do church differently." Mike Belleme for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Mike Belleme for NPR

As attendance dips, churches change to stay relevant for a new wave of worshippers

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1141010320/1141750806" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday

Churches in Knoxville, Tenn. are experimenting with ways to draw young people back

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1141047779/1141063876" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Author Cormac McCarthy attends the premiere of "The Road" in New York on Nov. 16, 2009. McCarthy has two novels coming out this fall. Evan Agostini/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Evan Agostini/AP

After 16 years, author Cormac McCarthy gifts two new novels to readers

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1130439227/1130725648" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

Royal palm trees line both sides of McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers for miles. Nearly all of the trees survived Hurricane Ian. Saul Martinez for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Saul Martinez for NPR

Palm trees in Florida weathered Hurricane Ian's wrath just fine

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1127746570/1129355164" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Undocumented immigrant workers are helping clean up Florida after Hurricane Ian

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1128184363/1128197808" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

In this photo shot with a drone, shrimp boats lie grounded atop what was a mobile home park following the passage of Hurricane Ian on San Carlos Island in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., on Oct. 7. Rebecca Blackwell/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Hurricane Ian highlighted the vulnerabilities of older mobile homes

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1127714293/1127715795" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Saturday

Hurricane Ian highlighted the vulnerabilities of older mobile homes

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1127689323/1127689324" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

A group of angry library patrons in Texas has gone to court over book removals

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1126626935/1126626936" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Veterans of the civil rights movement of the 1960s see similarities today

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1124218235/1124218236" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Some compare today's political divide to the Civil War. But what about the 1960s?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1124142684/1124142685" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Anti-censorship protestors at a meeting of the Lafayette Library Board, defending a librarian who included queer teen dating in a book display in defiance of the board. John Burnett/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
John Burnett/NPR

Local libraries have become a major political and cultural battleground

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1119752817/1120076224" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday

Conservative Christian groups are targeting Louisiana libraries

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1120023684/1120023685" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Jackie Miller and Mike Perrone host the KVPI morning show in Cajun French in Ville Platte, La. Emily Kask for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Emily Kask for NPR

Le bon temps continue to roll on Cajun radio in Southern Louisiana

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1116386405/1116640612" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">