You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 1, 2026.

We open by digging into what college football has become, using LSU's addition of Daquan Wright — released from the Cleveland Browns' preseason roster just days before enrolling at LSU — to ask whether "student-athlete" still means anything, why Louisiana taxpayers keep subsidizing money-losing college programs, and what Clemson coach Dabo Sweeney had to say about it.

From there we run through the top things you need to know: Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins refusing to vote for Senate-passed bills over the SAVE Act standoff, New Orleans turning down federal Model Cities grant money rather than cooperate with ICE and crack down on homeless encampments, and Ascension Parish phasing out its emergency sirens in favor of digital alerts through the Everbridge app.

We dig into Louisiana's move to allow higher-ethanol gasoline blends, weighing the state's push for cheaper fuel against the corrosion risks to older engines, before turning to the corruption case against East Baton Rouge Superintendent Lamont Cole, who sat down for his first interview since being indicted on bribery, money laundering, and malfeasance charges tied to COVID relief contracts.

We call out Rosie O'Donnell's viral comparison of the U.S. to fascist regimes and her claims about ICE detention facilities, and we break down President Trump's blunt response to a reporter's question about using nuclear weapons against Iran, walking through why Iran's military — navy, air force, and all — is already effectively defeated. We also mark 25 years since 9/11 with new data showing more than 57,000 certified 9/11-related cancer cases among survivors and responders.

We play a preseason college football ranking game working through the AP Top 10 and the top-grossing programs nationally, and we close by looking at how far the Democratic Party has drifted on socialism, from 86 House Democrats backing an anti-socialism resolution last year to just eight doing so this time around.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.