We begin with a consideration of geographic security – the very land under our feet, and the waters that threaten it. Which takes us south, into the gulf, where Wen Billiot and his brother-in-law Albert Naquin introduce us to the Isle de Jean Charles. It's a small community on a narrow ridge of land, shrinking from erosion and ever more vulnerable to hurricanes. Residents homes have gone up, up, up after each flood. But they say change is hard to accept.

Every neighborhood of New Orleans is protected by the system of levees, walls, gates and pumps that pull floodwaters out of the city after a storm surge. We hear five perspectives on hurricane protection. David Berczek manages the Risk and Reliability program for the Army Corps of Engineers. In Hollygrove, engineer Joe Sherman says the Monticello canal floods even in a heavy rain. Anne Milling lives Uptown, and founded the Congressional lobby "Women of the Storm." Amy Sins is sick of uncertainty in her devastated Lakeview area. Matt McBride has left Broadmoor, in no small part because of a lack of storm protection.

We then turn to Louisianans who are managing economic risk, and trying to protect cultural foundations.

Veteran shoeshine man George Mitchell runs the stand at the Hilton Riverside Hotel. From his big leather chair he takes the pulse of New Orleans tourism, and the city’s economic strength.

Before Katrina, New Orleans music thrived on a low cost of living and a tight system of mentorship. Musicians must look harder for both now. Club owner Charlie Sims struggles to keep his venue open, and young members of the Next Generation Brass Band Eric Gordon, John Perkins, and Jake Ali take a shot at making it on his stage. The Tipitina Foundation's Bill Taylor sees new ways to continue traditions, and Hot 8 Brass Band leader Bennie Pete sees an old one: keep hustling.