Brungardt Law's Lagniappe

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In this episode of Brungardt Law’s Lagniappe, I sit down with Tommy Oliver, founder and owner of Coffee Science in New Orleans, for a conversation about coffee, entrepreneurship, and the realities of running a small business. Drawing on nearly four decades in the coffee industry, Tommy discusses what makes a café succeed, the importance of location and speed, the global forces affecting coffee prices, managing employees and customers, and the lessons learned from building a neighborhood business. Ultimately, it is a conversation about much more than coffee—it is about risk, adaptability, community, and the experience of building something of your own.

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New Orleans is celebrated around the world for its music, art, food, and traditions. So, what protects the people who create that culture?

In this episode, Maurice Brungardt speaks with Ashlye Keaton and Gene Meneray of The Ella Project about the legal, business, and policy challenges facing Louisiana artists. From intellectual property rights and Mardi Gras Indian copyright protections to arts funding, affordability, artificial intelligence, and the future of New Orleans' cultural economy, they explore what it takes to sustain the artists and culture bearers who drive one of America's most distinctive creative ecosystems.

Ashlye Keaton is a New Orleans-based intellectual property and entertainment attorney, educator, and cultural advocate. She co-founded The Ella Project, where she provides pro bono legal services to artists, musicians, filmmakers, and culture bearers throughout Louisiana. She is widely recognized for her work protecting Mardi Gras Indian intellectual property rights and teaches at both Tulane Law School and the University of New Orleans.

Gene Meneray is a co-founder of The Ella Project and a longtime arts administrator and cultural advocate. A native New Orleanian, he has held leadership roles with the Arts Council of New Orleans, the Louisiana Crafts Guild, and YAYA (Young Aspirations Young Artists), and currently serves as Chair of the Louisiana State Arts Council. His work focuses on strengthening the intersection of culture, entrepreneurship, and economic development. 

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What happens when corruption stops being an isolated scandal and becomes part of the operating system itself? In this episode of Brungardt Law’s Lagniappe, Maurice Brungardt speaks with Jodi Vittori about the intersection of corruption, illicit finance, national security, and institutional decline. Drawing from her experience with the U.S. Air Force, NATO’s counter-corruption task force, Transparency International, and Georgetown University, Jodi explains how corruption evolves from individual misconduct into systemic kleptocracy — “government by thieves” — and why societies often fail to recognize the transition until public institutions begin to erode around them.

This conversation explores corruption as both a legal and cultural phenomenon, examining how narratives, polarization, weak governance structures, and economic extraction can normalize institutional decay. Jodi discusses organized crime in the Balkans, mission failure in Afghanistan, the influence of money in democratic systems, the rise of “kakistocracy,” and the growing role of AI in scams, illicit finance, and governance. The discussion ultimately raises a difficult but increasingly relevant question: at what point does influence, access, and concentrated wealth begin reshaping governance itself?

Jodi Vittori is a Professor of Practice and co-chair of the Global Politics and Security Program at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. A former U.S. Air Force officer, she served in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and NATO assignments focused on corruption, terrorism finance, and national security. Jodi previously worked with Transparency International and is widely recognized for her research on corruption, kleptocracy, illicit finance, and state fragility.

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Organizations cannot succeed when leadership fails to clearly define mission legitimacy, objectives, or measurable outcomes. Yet it is individuals who bear the cost.

In this episode of Brungardt Law’s Lagniappe, Maurice Brungardt speaks with Vietnam veteran Rick McAllister, who served with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division in 1970, including duty as a tunnel rat — one of the Vietnam War’s most dangerous and psychologically demanding roles.

Rick reflects on combat, underground tunnel warfare, PTSD, survivor’s guilt, veteran mental health, and the long-term psychological effects of war that followed him home for decades. He also discusses the disconnect between political leadership and battlefield realities, the silence many veterans carried after Vietnam, and the importance of trauma recovery and human connection.

After years of struggling with the aftermath of combat and health complications tied to Agent Orange exposure, Rick discovered an unexpected path toward healing through the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. What began as physical rehabilitation after open-heart surgery became a transformative journey centered on reflection, reconciliation, resilience, and peace.

This is the first part of a two-part conversation documenting Rick’s preparation to return to Vietnam for the first time in 56 years to meet former North Vietnamese and Viet Cong veterans in pursuit of understanding and reconciliation.

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In this quarterly reflection, Maurice Brungardt examines Louisiana’s coastal crisis and the recent Supreme Court ruling involving Chevron through a lens rarely applied to environmental litigation: culture as institutional infrastructure. Drawing from conversations with diplomats, artists, military leaders, educators, and civic figures featured on Brungardt Law’s Lagniappe, this episode explores how wetlands, fisheries, neighborhoods, rituals, music, food, and collective memory form part of the social architecture that sustains communities over generations.

Rather than approaching the Chevron litigation solely as a legal or environmental dispute, this reflection asks a broader question: what happens when extraction outpaces stewardship? Through insights shared by guests including Jamar Pierre, Raelle Myrick Hodges, Sophia Riggio, Ambassador Luis Moreno, Tim Davis, Harry Thomas, Linda Taglialatela, and others, the discussion examines how culture preserves resilience, identity, institutional trust, and civic continuity in times of disruption.

This reflection discusses the intersection of environmental degradation, institutional legitimacy, economic development, leadership, and long-term societal resilience. It considers how strong societies depend not only on physical infrastructure, but also on preserving the human relationships and cultural systems rooted in place.

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In this episode, we hear from retired U.S. Ambassador Timothy Davis whose career encompassed the Foreign Service and the Marine Corps. Whether he was leading our diplomatic mission in Qatar, serving as executive assistant to several U.S. Secretaries of State, or guiding troops in the field, Ambassador Davis shares lessons learned from over 30 years of public service.

Ambassador Davis reflects on the evolution of leadership from the military to diplomacy, where authority gives way to influence, persuasion, and long-term strategy. He offers candid insight into what it means to lead when outcomes are uncertain, decisions have consequences, and success often depends on navigating institutional culture as much as external threats. Ambassador Davis discusses transitioning from military decisiveness to diplomatic patience; how timing, luck, and institutional awareness shape career trajectories; State Department dynamics; misconceptions about the Middle East; as well as the relevance of culture and subnational diplomacy to New Orleans.

A conversation on leadership, service, and perspective grounded in experience at the highest levels of government, yet deeply personal in its reflections on purpose and growth.

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New Orleans has long been a mix of tradition and innovation in the arts. From its early role in shaping opera in the New World to its continued influence across musical genres, the city remains a place where history and ingenuity meet. It is where artists find their means of expression.

In this episode, we explore what it takes to build a creative life in the city with Sofia Riggio, a New Orleans–based conductor and soprano whose work reflects both deep classical training and a commitment to contemporary expression. Originally from New York City, Sofia brings a multidisciplinary and linguistic background in operatic and musical theatre performance, combined with experience as an educator working with students of all ages.

A graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, where she became the first student to complete a master’s degree in conducting. Sofia serves as Co-Director of Symphony of New Orleans (SONO) and choirmaster of The Voices of New Orleans (VONO), where she leads both choral and orchestral performances that blend professional excellence with community accessibility. She represents a new generation of artists navigating multiple roles while maintaining a cohesive artistic identity.

Together, we discuss the discipline required to master an art form, the adaptability needed to evolve within it, and the influence of a place in shaping both artistic direction and opportunity. What does it mean to honor tradition without being confined by it? How do emerging artists sustain themselves creatively and professionally? And in a city like New Orleans, how does community shape not just performance, but purpose?

This conversation offers a thoughtful look at the mindset and vision required to sustain a life in the arts, while highlighting the broader cultural ecosystem that makes such a path possible.

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In this deeply candid conversation, former Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent Kemmi Sadler reflects on a 26-year career spanning local law enforcement, post-9/11 deployments, and high-risk diplomatic assignments overseas. From an officer-involved shooting just days into her law enforcement career to the devastating loss of a colleague in Iraq, Sadler shares how trauma, often unrecognized in the moment, accumulates over time. Yet, this is not just a story about service, it is a story about what happens after.

Kemmi discusses survivor’s guilt, moral injury, and the culture of compartmentalization within the first responder community. She explores the long-delayed realization that the job had changed her, and the difficult process of confronting what had been buried for decades.

Now the author of From the Badge to the Vine, Kemmi discusses her unconventional path toward healing, the role of vulnerability in leadership, and her goal to create a wellness retreat in the Ozarks for first responders carrying invisible wounds.

This episode is a powerful reminder that healing is not one-size-fits-all, and that acknowledging the need for it may be the most important step of all.

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From a childhood in Harlem and Queens to the highest levels of American diplomacy, retired U.S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. reflects on a career defined by leadership, resilience, and service. In this conversation, Ambassador Thomas shares how early family influences, lessons from mentors, and firsthand experiences in global crises shaped his approach to decision-making.

Ambassador Thomas is a former U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe, and has held senior leadership roles at the U.S. Department of State, including Director General of the Foreign Service and Executive Secretary. He currently serves as a Senior Kissinger Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute.

Ambassador Thomas offers candid insights into the realities of diplomacy: balancing American values with strategic interests, engaging difficult counterparts, and leading teams through uncertainty. He also speaks to the personal sacrifices of Foreign Service life, the importance of empathy in leadership, and the enduring belief that most people around the world seek dignity, opportunity, and a voice in their future.

This episode is a lesson in leadership grounded in decades of lived experience at the intersection of policy, people, and global events. 

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In cities like New Orleans, culture isn’t a luxury—it’s infrastructure and people. Sustaining that infrastructure and retaining the people requires more than creativity. Culture demands leadership, financial discipline, and a willingness to confront hard truths about institutions, communities, and ourselves.

In this episode, Raelle Myrick-Hodges, Executive Director of the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans (CACNO), engages in a candid and deeply personal conversation about the realities of leading a cultural institution. She shares her unconventional path from a self-taught artist navigating neurodiversity to founding Azuka Theatre and ultimately stepping into leadership at one of our most prominent arts institutions. Raelle offers a frank look at the pressures facing organizations like the CACNO, from financial constraints and staffing challenges to the lingering weight of institutional history and public perception.

Raelle leads beyond the CACNO to explore broader questions: What do arts institutions owe their communities? Why are artists often undervalued as leaders? And how can cities like New Orleans better harness their cultural capital as both an economic engine and a source of civic identity?

Throughout, Raelle challenges assumptions—about passion, leadership, and even what it means to be an artist—while emphasizing a central idea: artists are not simply entertainers; they are problem-solvers, builders, and essential contributors to how society functions.

This conversation is about people, institutions, and a city that continues to define itself through creativity, risk, and reinvention.